This is the link to Phil Twyfords excellent rebuttal of the nonsense that Heather du Plessus (National's regular cheer leader in the Herald) wrote re Labours roading programme.
It is a shame it is pay-walled I eventually succumbed that is very interesting to read, as is this story on how ANZ – I see they have stepped up the advertising again – did its best to hide how useless their oversight methods are and which cost losts of investors money.
Those who lost out were kept completely in the dark re litigation information that they should have had, hopefully they will join in the action that is now being provided free to them.
My apologies to those who, for good reason, did not pay the sub to access all Herald articles. I am seriously debating whether or not I will continue with mine when it runs out. However I am pleased that Phil Twyford was given the opportunity to state his case and to debunk the rubbish that was written.
Likewise I will see after a couple of months how I feel but I bypass a lot of the Hoskings etc tripe, but items on how many financial institutions and insurance companies need to be brought into line tempted me over for a while.
Just read that Rapunzel. A fascinating read but outstanding is the gall of one John Key claiming transparency as with the Hisco affair while for three years the ANZ was blocking transparency on a massive scale involving millions of investors money.
Key regards reporters, investors courts and voters with contempt.
Yes I know I try, I'm not sure why, to be specific as to otherwisw only brings down contempt re "personality" politics and is used to deflect away from the true details of many things that are only slowly over time being revealed.
Point of the story which may have been missed is that IF you were an investor in Ross Asset Management (RMA) they are taking a court case which is already funded (further explained in the article towards the end). You have only until September 2019 to sign up so decide now.
Phil Twyford: Spending more on roading projects while prioritising safety
Phil Twyford says the Government is investing $1.4 billion in upgrades on more than 1500km of dangerous roads to prevent 160 deaths and serious injuries every year.
[Please do not do that again, ever! You are breaching the policy of this site and making this site liable to copyright violation. Next time will result in an instant permanent ban without prior warning, as this is very serious – Incognito]
Who was it said Twyford was "incompetent" and inferred he was not capable of dotting the i’s and t’s?
When he was a candidate (twice) for the North Shore electorate we had to gently suggest it might be a good idea to reduce the number of i’s and t’s on his pamphlets because it would put off the average voter from reading them.
Twyford is incompetent. His transport plans are weak at best. Hiding behind “safety on the current roads” is pathetic as well his ministers and governments policy aims will result in thousands more car trips, exponentially increasing the risk of deaths on the road.
[lprent: Thousands more car trips isn’t in any policy. I consider that is just a lie. And you didn’t bother to present any supporting argument or link. If you can’t present a link or an argument to support it by this time tomorrow then I will ban you for 3 months. Looking at your comments, you are just a very stupid troll, so I can’t be bothered warning you. ]
Yes, I know, thanks. I didn’t want to delete the text without leaving and repeating the link; it was deliberate on my behalf.
To me, it looked like a clear case of copyright violation. I am quite sure that it was not (from) a press release but it there’s one it still doesn’t excuse Kevin’s mistakes of not providing a link, not providing attribution, and quoting the complete (!) text instead of selectively quoting from it.
I’m sure it was a genuine mistake but ignorance is no defence. If you want to use this site, you must read the site’s policy. https://thestandard.org.nz/policy/
Not trying to excuse it but also think it was probably a genuine mistake. IIRC K is an old timer here going back to Nov 2008 – originally as K W…h. Pretty sure that is the same avatar.
You are correct, he goes back a long way here, which really means he should know better than to risk the site. The warning was not just for him but also for everyone else, i.e. a general reminder that even helpful comments can have dire consequences. I hope it’ll serve as a lesson and that we can all move on from here without blowing it out of proportion. After all, it was likely a genuine mistake, as I said in my comment 1.2.3.1.1.
Over the past 20 years our Politicians seem to have dropped the ball. In spite of having told us over and over how brilliant they are.
Not a single one of them has matched rise in population with equivalent production of housing.
Winston Peters muttered some words about too much people flow into gods own mess but has done nothing about it. The Right Honourable Sir John Key actually built one House in the year 2017, but ran a sub political national ratbag outfit in parliament for the purpose of secrecy, staffed by unknowns, as well as hecttingly tying knots in liitle girls Ponytails for suspected Senual satisfaction. Without getting Consent.
Bernard Hickey did the equivalent of running a forklift through the economy every now and again. But nothing straight forward – such as a penguin might do. Namely we have thousands of people happening and little housing happening.
Only Phil Twyford had the sense and the Guts to say that New Zealanders were being sold down the river without so much Crusha Kayak.
The screaming against Twyford was horrendous. Sir John got back on the Ponytails. And the Pretty Morsel Bennett declared Racism – whilst selling off New Zealand houses to unknown purchasers of houses in NZ and Abroad. I kid you not. Talk about Hypocrit !
In Twenty years Parliament did stuff all.
I put it to you, that the Current Government unlatches itself from the Free Martket, stops all immigration, and builds quaility 3 bed room houses / or apartments.
Further, Parliament shall immediately make it a crime to allow immigration when there is no quality Housing available.
Finally, Phil Twyford should be given Highest honors by the Governor of New Zealand.
Perhaps as a current director he does not have the knowledge of history ??
But his comments are starting to come back, wonder if anyone on the ANZ board has made themselves available for follow up interviews/comments ?
Not sure who a suitable reporter would be, able to ask the tough questions, especially given the $ that banks spend with tv, print etc. to further their profile & to give confidence to the market ? As how would we know that the interview wasn’t a paid Advertorial
John Key’s reputation is worth gold to ANZ. However, if the bank’s reputation is becoming (more) damaging to John Key’s reputation, I reckon he’ll step down (soon). The captain is not going to go down with the Titanic; watch the space.
'I put it to you, that the Current Government unlatches itself from the Free Martket, stops all immigration, and builds quaility 3 bed room houses / or apartments.'
can you imagine the mayhem if they did that!
The elite,aided by the NSA would use 'Venezuela' tactics.
While Israeli lobbies relentlessly and shamelessly bully activists all over the World, without any pushback or a peep from any of our media, the apartheid state of Israel continues it's occupation and violent repression of Palestinian people and land, also without any pushback from most MSM media.
'the first shipment of a Russian missile defense system has arrived in Turkey, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Friday, moving the country closer to possible U.S. sanctions and a new standoff with Washington.'
'The deliveries make it almost certain the Middle East’s largest economy will be subject to punitive U.S. action. By law, Trump needed to pick at least five out of 12 different sanctions — ranging from mild to harsh — under the sanctions act, once delivery was certified.
The administration has been weighing when to punish Turkey, according to a person familiar with the deliberations who asked not to be identified discussing the sensitive situation. Washington is wary of announcing sanctions too close to the anniversary of the July 15, 2016, coup attempt that Erdogan blamed on Fethullah Gulen, an ally-turned-enemy now in exile as a Muslim cleric in Pennsylvania.'
And India wants some too.
'A senior Trump administration official said on Thursday there were “serious concerns” about India’s planned acquisition of Russian S-400 missile defense systems that could not only leave India vulnerable to sanctions but also “limit” interoperability between US and Indian militaries, a key focus of growing ties between the two countries.
India’s acquisition of S-400s “effectively could limit India’s ability to increase our own interoperability”, Alice Wells, head of the state department’s South and Central Asia bureau told lawmakers at a congressional hearing.'
After months of debate and legal manoeuvres the city of Berlin has put its money where its mouth is (and remember this city is always pretty skint) and spent nearly 100€ to buy back nearly 700 apartments on Karl-Marx Allee that were privatised in the 90s. It’s the latest salvo in the city’s ongoing battle to rein in housing costs (earlier this year the city Senate enacted laws to freeze rents for the next five years). https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/07/berlin-apartment-rent-control-affordable-housing-landlord/594055/
Thanks francesca. It's disconcerting to see how eager some still are to smear Assange, or simply accept and propagate such smears uncritically. After all, he's in prison and will be extradited to the US, so what's in it for the smearers?
Yes, knowing 'what' 'Assange smears' were used, and 'how' the smearing occurred are important, but does the CNN "exclusive" news item you linked to @8 add much in that regard?
I'd like to see some analysis of 'why' the mainstream media is persisting with these 'Assange smears' – some explanation of why this is still considered helpful/necessary/newsworthy, and by whom? Just a slow news day?
This bloke Andre is the sort of stooge that, in other regimes, would have published Kremlin propaganda against "Jewish doctors" or joined in with the Red Guards denouncing "revisionists" and "running dogs of imperialism."
Anyone you like who rapes someone. Hell, if you like them enough you'll even reject all evidence to the contrary and claim that nobody accused them of rape in the first place.
If the "bizarre fantasy case" doesn't allege Assange did anything, then there is no case. If it does allege something, there are allegations. So what do you think the "bizarre fantasy case" alleges?
Well, the difference is this, Alien: I despise Peter Williams—I note that the fool has written another anti-science rant today*— but I would not want to see him pursued by criminals, tortured, unjustly imprisoned, and contemned by fools like Andre.
“Helen is 96 and now lives in Florida. At the end of World War II, Helen and her two sisters wound up in a refugee camp in Southern Europe having fled Poland. Homeless and displaced, they finally ended up in America.
In Poland, Helen had been smuggled into the Warsaw Ghetto. There was a corpse run every morning, transferring the corpses out of the ghetto and she snuck back in on the returning transport. I think she snuck back out that way, amongst the corpses, too. Inside the ghetto, she started teaching the local girls arithmetic and grammar. At that point in time, books were illegal and there was a death sentence for anyone found possessing one. However, Helen had a Polish translation of Gone with the Wind and she kept it hidden behind a loose brick in the wall. She would stay up late every night reading so that when the girls came in the next day she could tell them what had happened in the chapters she had read the previous night and just for that hour these girls got out of the Warsaw Ghetto and they got to visit the American South.
Helen’s story – this story – made me realise that what I do is not trivial. If you make up stuff for a living, which is basically what I do, you can feel kind of trivial sometimes but this made me realise that fiction is not just escapism, it can actually be escape, and it’s worth dying for.” – Neil Gaiman
I’d suggest that you keep your opinions of other TS commenters reserved for posts on your own blog site. Even better, keep them to yourself and address the points made rather than trying to attack their perceived character flaws.
That was a response to another “scurrilous lie” @ 8.1.2, it seems.
At the back-end, we read comments in reverse order, most recent first. When I send a signal, I like to think that the most recent ‘violation’ is the most appropriate place and time. I’d also like to think that others read my signal too and take heed. Ignorance is not an excuse.
One day, I will lose my patience, go in Lynn-moderation mode, and ban a regular (culprit) for a very long time. His reasoning is starting to sound more compelling to me that the element of surprise will keep everyone on their toes and at good behaviour.
Oh, and BTW, there are only a few moderators active here and we all have full-time jobs and busy lives. That is why the site relies on self-moderation by mature adult commenters 😉
[lprent: Or I roll the dice and decide that the border is close enough. ]
Have you even for a moment considered the possibility that you could avoid all this aggro with moderators by not dumping your personal assessments of other commenters' characters on their blog? It would also reduce the volume of the hostile responses you get from other readers who don't rate your personal opinion as highly as you do.
Fair point, but IMHO you’re conflating “a long established tradition” with ‘bad habits that have crept in over time’. In any case, "having a go" is a euphemism for ‘robust debate’ but not a green light for ‘personal insults and attacks’. Lastly, you may have noticed that moderators have changed here on TS and consequently moderation has too. Change is the only constant 😉
That's just a slur. The only long established tradition of "having a go" at one another is in your fanciful characterisation of the conversation on Public Address.
You must have linked here to that tired post of yours half a dozen times over the last couple of years. Obsessed much?
Morrissey – all seems change, but the eternal is the need to support each other, try to improve, choose to cast aside the hating and those enjoying assaults on each other, verbal, literate, physical. So join in the good and limit the desire to snipe.
Neil Simon says it – These are the days of miracles and wonders and don't cry baby don't cry.
the need to support each other, try to improve, choose to cast aside the hating and those enjoying assaults on each other, verbal, literate, physical.
I'm more than happy to be positive and supportive of my fellow Standardisti, but when they post scurrilous fantasies and black propaganda from the secret police, please don't expect me or anyone else to take it with equanimity. When the people currently heaping the foulest imprecations and calumnies against Julian Assange and the democratically elected leader of Venezuela cease their foul behaviour, we can all get some much needed rest.
Until then, my friend, the fight goes on.
So join in the good and limit the desire to snipe.
Speaking of sniping, we have a couple of creatures on this site who loudly applaud snipers killing or maiming doctors, nurses, journalists, children, and crippled people. What "good" is there in those people?
When you have a difference of opinion and cannot agree to disagree, it is best to walk away rather than to attack other commenters personally. Taking aim at public people and off-load a barrage of expletives is one thing, and gets on people’s nerves after a while, but to engage in a willy-waving ball-kicking contest with other commenters is another.
Did you see Lynn’s note @ 5:15 PM? I don’t have a dice handy but I can use a random generator any time …
Inciting violence is not acceptable and neither is “applauding” it. However, the TS is not the place to fix people’s perceived or real ‘character flaws’. We are interested in robust debate and a bit of banter and can tolerate a little bit of (friendly) jostling and ‘discourage’ behaviour that gets in the way of that; we go as far as necessary …
Serious people derive their thoughts and opinions from reading books, conversation, rumination, meditation, listening to learned and worthy people speaking.
Does it matter what sets a train of thought in motion?
If you don’t like the T-shirt, don’t buy it, don’t wear it. Why look down on somebody who does? If they change garment, do you still look down on them?
This touches on what I tried to explain in my comment …
a leninesque useful idiot is old Morrissey. Pointing at his reflection calling it the traitor as he pretends he wouldn’t need be on the forefront of the cultural revolutions red guards
He says nothing that he hasn't gleaned from newspaper reports .As he said, he's never met the guy, he has nothing to offer as an "insider"
The complaint that stuff about Trump wasn't published smacks of whataboutism, the charge many like to lay on Russia. The information about Clinton's and the DNC's dishonesty was 100% accurate, and can't be discounted because ..Russia! Trump!
Never mind that you would rather that info had been suppressed.
Publishing truthful information is not election fuckery.We're in deep shit if we subscribe to that view.
CNN published plenty of damning info about Trump , while whitewashing Clinton.
CNN published plenty of damning info about Trump , while whitewashing Clinton.
Did they engage in election fuckery?
They're certainly engaging in election fuckery now—they're continuing to invest in this ludicrous "Russiagate" fantasy, and virtually ignoring stories of the Trump regime's actual crimes. They're up to their eyeballs in fake news; instead of simply covering the news which alone would damn Trump, they're purveying insane fantasies hatched by the "brains trust" of the DNC—the same people that brought us the Hillary Clinton campaign. No one with a lick of common sense trusts anything on CNN.
He says nothing that he hasn't gleaned from newspaper reports.
Right – I mean, he was just the president of Ecuador at the time, it's not like he'd be allowed to see any reports by Ecuadorian diplomats or anything.
Dreaming about a car that's solely powered by solar panels on the car's body? It's doable, if you live somewhere sunny and only want to do less than 50km/day.
An information piece by Anne Salmond (with concerns about NZ effort to plant tonnes of trees) on Newsroom was spotted by Save NZ who put it up on The Daily Blog. I am spreading it further as Robert G and WtB will be interested.
As I learned recently from forestry experts in Germany, these are not the only factors affecting the future of plantation forestry. Recent articles in Nature and Science strongly advocate growing trees as an effective way to tackle climate change, but point out that on average, natural forests sequester forty times more carbon than plantation forests.
According to the author of one of these studies, "There is a scandal here. To most people forest restoration means bringing back natural forests, but policy makers are calling vast monocultures 'forest restoration'. And worse, the advertised climate benefits are absent."
Hi Grey, here is a fascinating item from RNZ, about Hugh Wilson who, 30years ago, decided to work with nature and used gorse as a shelter plant for the restoration of 10's of thousands of hectares of native forest.
He is of the opinion that the regrowth happens quicker than 'managed' forest plantings.
I had glanced at that and wondered about the difference that gorse can make, it was always such a no-no especially when you stood on it. Perhaps it would be good as a co-plant with honey producing manuka. The thieves for hives would have to suffer for their dishonesty, it might put them off, and be good for the soil too. The bees would likely not be affected.
Corbyn has been attacked on antisemitism by Labour Lords protecting the brand no doubt. He really has to get off the pot if he isn't going to do anything dramatic – or another cliche' – might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb!
Anand Menon, director of The UK in a Changing Europe, said politicians could only find policies to heal the country’s Brexit divisions if they know what caused them. He added that the UK’s planned departure from the EU was a rare chance to re-examine the laissez faire economic model Britain has adopted since the 1980s. “We have a unique moment in British politics,” said Prof Menon. “Anything is possible.”
This is an interesting report and readers are asked to support the work.
It'd be helpful to see some specific examples of this antisemitism a bit more recent than Ken Livingston, that aren't just Labour disagreeing that they're antisemitic.
I feel that the antisemitic thing is puzzling and rather amorphous? There seems the same sort of logic behind it as in the old joke about the kid told by his mother to wash behind his ears who replied, 'How can they be dirty when they are so far off the ground'. I feel that people who are assiduous at unearthing antisemitism wherever it is lurking, will find some dirt wherever they look, by hook or by crook.
Just like NewstalkZB, Magic Talk is an outlet for racist bilge and pernicious nonsense. (Magic Talk, Monday 8 July 2019, 10:20 a.m.)
Peter Williams always cut a rather ridiculous and awkward figure on television. When he was a young sports broadcaster he was embarrassingly callow and loud, trying and failing to trade witticisms in the broadcast booth with, of all people, Henry Blofeld. But that could be forgiven; other cricket commentators, like John "Mystery" Morrison, also came across as stumble-tongued bumpkins compared to the incomparable "Blowers."
Less forgivable was Williams's insensitivity and lack of common sense, as well as his brassplated bumptiousness and insensitivity. These unfortunate traits are memorably illustrated by two incidents, equally disastrous, but separated by more than fifteen years. The first, showing his insensitivity and lack of common sense, was in 1983. Williams, from the studio in Wellington, fronted what was supposed to be a live broadcast from the World Rowing Championships in Germany. He started the broadcast in his usual voluble manner, chattering as the satellite feed was being teed up. Then the rowing broadcast began—except it wasn't the rowing, it was a telecast of an American college basketball game. Sports fans all over the nation sat up straight with excitement and incredulity—in 1983, our coverage of U.S. sports was virtually non-existent, and this was like manna from heaven. The basketball game continued, unbelievably, for several minutes.
But then something horrible and stupid happened. The basketball game was suddenly gone, and Peter Williams's grinning physog filled the screen. He was snorting with a mixture of amusement and mortification. This is what he said: "Ahhhh, it looks like there's been a MISTAKE! We WERE going to bring you the World Rowing Championships from Duisburg, but—ha ha ha!—it looks like we've inadvertently booked the WRONG satellite and we've got a COLLEGE BASKETBALL GAME from the United States instead! Ha ha ha! So while our technicians get that SORTED, in the meantime I'll just talk to you and go over a few of the New Zealand prospects for the rowing! Ha ha ha! Well…." This playing for time continued for what seemed like several minutes. All over the nation, no doubt, people were screaming at their television sets: "Get that fucking idiot off, and put the fucking BASKETBALL back on! That fucking clueless fucking MORON!"
At any rate, that's what the situation was at Chez Breen. After several minutes of preventing sports fans from seeing the basketball, Williams touched his earpiece and said: "Oh! Apparently we have received many, many phone calls from our viewers, and you're telling us that you want to see the basketball, and not listen to me talking! All right then…." Mercifully, viewers were spared any more of Williams and they were allowed to watch the rest of the basketball unmolested by nincompoops.
For a mortifying example of his bumptiousness and insensitivity, we will fast forward a decade and a half, to the late 1990s. Williams, for some obscure and hellish reason, had been appointed as the "Australian correspondent" for Television One. Now, that's a position that requires someone with "people skills." Even if you do what most of these "correspondents" do, and just ask a few questions of the odd celebrity passing through the airport, you still have to establish at least a modicum of rapport with that celebrity. Williams, who since his early days as a grinning sports guy, had developed into a sour, surly, taciturn grouch, seemed like precisely the last person you'd appoint to the position. Predictably enough, he proved to be even worse in that role than Jack Tame was a few years later as One's "U.S. correspondent". [1] In his short-lived career in Sydney, Williams sent in interview after interview where the subjects winced, frowned, and stared in frustrated wonderment at the questions he put to them. Williams seemed to rub nearly everyone up the wrong way; it's obviously a lot harder conducting an interview than it looks.
The short career as an "Australian correspondent" of this anti-Larry King came to a screeching halt after his catastrophic interview—at Kingsford Smith Airport, naturally—of the supermodel Cindy Crawford. The atmosphere in the room was wrong from the very beginning: Cindy Crawford frowned a couple of times as he asked her highly personal and inappropriate questions, which some mischievous staffer had obviously given to him. But he never took the hint, never divined that she was getting impatient and, eventually, angry. She became extremely agitated and actually ended up shouting her disapproval of his questions, and looking desperately off camera for someone to save her. Cruelly, someone at Television One made the decision to go ahead and screen that abortion. Within weeks, Williams was back in New Zealand and someone else had been appointed to the vital role of sitting in Australian airports waiting to accost a celebrity.
Williams eventually was re-installed as a TV newsreader, where he developed something of a cult following for his Gloomy Gus countenance and his dependably sour, and inexpert, takes on whatever topic took his fancy. In the lead-up up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, after an item about Ma'a Nonu struggling to find his form, Williams scowled and snarled in a stage whisper: "Get RID of him!" He continued his one-man campaign of denigration and belittlement for months, then lapsed into silence after Nonu made the All Black squad and ended up being the outstanding player of the entire tournament.
Recently, Williams ended his career as Television One's resident curmudgeon and took up a position as a grouch on the pisspoor chat station MagicTalk. Predictably, he's been as awful as people feared: his political opinions are on the Leighton Smith end of the spectrum, and he's still exhibiting a lack of nous about sports—providing a platform for and encouraging the hopeless "Man in the Stand", who sufferers of Radio Sport a generation ago will not be happy to learn is still polluting the airwaves. [2]
Last Monday, July 8th, Williams had the perfect program set up for the morning: a "discussion" (I use the word loosely) about a TVNZ1 program from the previous evening, entitled That's a Bit Racist. Williams informed his listeners that he had not actually seen the program because he had been traveling at the time of broadcast.
For the first hour, Williams took calls from mean and twisted individuals who were outraged at the premiss of the program—the very idea that we are a racist society! They expressed support for poor, beleaguered, saintly Don Brash, a man hated by the "P.C. crowd" simply because he "has the courage to tell the truth." Several callers took advantage of yet another opportunity to castigate Maori for abusing children.
However, at 10:20 a.m. the stream of ridicule and abuse of Maori was interrupted. A caller named Dion pointed out that Pakeha also abuse children, but it's always Maori that are emphasized in the media, and by nasty politicians like Don Brash.
PETER WILLIAMS: Oh, I'm sure, Dion, that if a Pakeha killed a child, it would be ROBUSTLY covered. The media are always concerned about the victim first, and then the perpetrator.
After seeing off Dion, the next caller was "Stephen", and the program was back on track….
STEPHEN: I watched that program for five minutes. Don Brash was on, and yes, what they showed of him, it did make him look like a racist, but they didn't show EVERYTHING he said.
PETER WILLIAMS: The Stuff review I read described him as a "racist". That's a LUDICROUS way to describe one of our leading thinkers.
At 10:40 a Denise L'Estrange-Corbet soundalike rang in and bellowed: "Don Brash tells the truth! Maori seats are JUST LIKE APARTHEID! And that Jack Tame said this morning that he was "ashamed" that the Crusaders didn't announce after the Super Rugby final on Saturday night that they would change their name.
PETER WILLIAMS:[grimly] I wouldn't pay too much attention to anything THAT particular person says. ….
ad nauseam.
As bad as this was, things only got worse in the afternoon. The host was…. Sean Plunket.
Three men went out for the day in a ute that got trapped in a river. They had a nine-year old boy with them. The three men got out and the boy was drowned. They were in charge of a minor. Are they up for manslaughter or at least wilful neglect. Women are charged when children in their care get harmed. These men should have read the website with precautionary information and known it was "only recommended for experienced parties with suitable vehicles". And that may not have applied as it was a flooded river. Strong, outdoor men should have had the ability to save that young boy. If they weren't strong or outdoor-experienced men then they should not have even started, wilfully irresponsible and neglectful.
(There were three flood-related calls for help for the Canterbury Westpac helicopter on Sunday 14/7 alone. The third incident was when two men got stuck in the middle of a river, plus one other who had tried to help them out.
I wonder how many men cause callouts for emergencies while they are out there in the wild? It wouldn't do to reduce our community services for them, as much as we have limited our care for pregnant mothers who are very vulnerable with spasms, contractions and pain and the baby-to-be needing care as well.)
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
I see this disgraceful animal is hiding from the law. There's more than a little evidence he's still writing for Whaleoil yet his family claims he can't show up to court because, "he had to be isolated from stress".
Perhaps the shit-stain should have thought of that before peddling the misery he did. Let's not forget this is one of John Key's best mates…
Let's not forget this is one of John Key's best mates…
Not best mates since "Dirty Politics". Key disentangled himself from Slater while at the same time claiming the book was “all lies” and the media stayed mute. It was just before the 2014 election.
There is a book to be written about the part the media – and certain National Party luminaries – played in assisting Slater and co. to cause so much political and personal upheaval in this country. It was as if the journalists had collectively descended into hysterical mode and they were fawning over him like he was some kind of anointed political god. Even a former SIS Director got into the act at one point.
It was a disgraceful period in our political history and it's no coincidence it began soon after Key became PM and ended soon after he left office.
Yes, the media themselves were entangled with Slater because they relied on him for stories, and he got them on a direct line from the highest levels of government.
It should also be remembered that the ponytail pulling happened about six months after Dirty Politics so Key learned nothing.
The fallout from the ponytail pulling eventually forcing him to resign.
If he was to be a god or an acolyte who anointed him – Michelle Boag? I had an uneasy feeling in a recent image of her looking squarely at the camera between two Mayoral hopefuls, great shot of her like a self-contained spring.
If he was to be a god or an acolyte who anointed him – Michelle Boag?
Good grief no. Michelle Boag was an enemy of Slater's from day one. She was never forgiven by Slater junior for ousting his father, Slater senior from the presidency of the National Party back in the 1990s.
Please God send down an angel from above to your benighted people in the USA who have bowed to Mammon and the golden calf, and taken to themselves your Old Testament, which you hoped to revise, and now want to send disease and pestilence on whomever transgresses against their august plans or happens to be in the way of the righteous.
Cleo that young fella is a idiot chasing that Chinese family around and terrorising them.
The Australian government is saving heaps of money by deporting anyone who's was born in Aotearoa and trained as a criminal in Australia it the usual the big bully tipical Neanderthals
trump will play ang card to con his supporters even if he puts other people lives in danger Ka kite ano
It would be cool if the Maori Wardens got more funding for the great mahi they do in Maori communities.
Kia ora Mike Smith I tried to take the JUSTICE system to court but can't find a lawyer to represent Eco Maori. I will file my own court actions.
Tupapa story telling the story about turanga the plarks should be respected it's good to have the true story of turanga and Te Tairawhiti .
Got the genny going and the sky dish turned into to watch Te Ao Maori News and Newshub the solar system is coming courier delivery services seems to always take 5 days to deliver Eco Maori goods I wonder why thank for the mana sandflys they still don't get It ka kite ano
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
Wellington City Council should keep its 34% ownership share in Wellington International Airport, argue Unions Wellington spokespeople Finn Cordwell and Ashok Jacob. Insanity, as the saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Wellington City Council (WCC) is yet again proposing to dispose ...
New Zealand’s largest book publisher has undergone drastic changes this week, leaving its future role in local publishing uncertain. Two of the most recognisable local publishers in New Zealand are among those restructured out of Penguin Random House, it was announced this week. Head of publishing Claire Murdoch will leave ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist A former Tuvalu prime minister says while the New Zealand government’s oil and gas plans show it is concerned about its economy, he is more concerned about the livelihoods and survival of the Tuvalu people. Enele Sopoaga — who still serves as an MP ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Many people who follow federal budgets know about the magnificent “budget tree” in a parliamentary courtyard, which turns a glorious red in time for the May event. This week Treasurer Jim Chalmers posed by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Bennett, Professor of Music, Australian National University Richard P J Lambert/flickr, CC BY The future belongs to the analogue loyalists. Fuck digital. As a tsunami of CDs, DAT tapes and samplers swept the recording industry in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate professor, Music Industry, RMIT University This week American rapper Macklemore released a new track, Hind’s Hall, which has gained a lot of attention because of its explicitly political nature. The track is unapologetically pro-Palestine. It declares the artist’s ...
Explainer - The government from 2025 is mandating how state schools teach children to read. But what is structured literacy and how does it compare to other teaching methods? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danica Jenkins, Lecturer in European Studies, University of Sydney On a freezing spring night in March, Georgia’s national soccer team beat Greece in a nail-biter penalty shootout to qualify for the Euro 2024 championships. The atmosphere on the streets of the capital ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam G. Arian, Lecturer (Accounting & Finance), Australian Catholic University Loic Manegarium/Pexels Imagine every ton of carbon dioxide a company emits is slowly inflating its costs — not just in terms of potential fines or fees but in the capital it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Somwrita Sarkar, Senior Lecturer in Design and Computation, University of Sydney The “latte line” is the infamous, invisible boundary that divides Sydney between the more affluent north-east and the south-west. Historically, people north of the line enjoy better access to jobs and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dowdy, Principal Research Scientist in Extreme Weather, The University of Melbourne Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock In media articles about unprecedented flooding, you’ll often come across the statement that for every 1°C of warming, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture. This ...
RNZ Pacific Former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has been sentenced to one year in prison, Fiji media are reporting. Bainimarama, alongside suspended Fiji Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho appeared in the High Court in Suva today for their sentencing hearing for a case involving their roles in blocking a police ...
Acting Chief Human Rights Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo says, “Addressing violence and abuse remains New Zealand’s most significant human rights issue affecting women. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Symons, Macquarie School of Social Sciences, Macquarie University Michael Schiffer / Unsplash Life has transformed our world over billions of years, turning a dead rock into the lush, fertile planet we know today. But human activity is currently transforming Earth ...
One woman’s quest to watch Challengers without ruining her body clock. Every Saturday morning, I wake up with a screaming demon inside my head urging me to “Do. Something. This. Weekend.” I run through the possibilities in my head in a defensive mental crouch, reminiscent of that one time I ...
The PSA is alarmed that ACC is proposing to shed 309 jobs including 29 dedicated injury prevention jobs at a time when the number and cost of injuries is rising. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Baker, Associate Professor in Human Geography, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images As local and regional councils struggle with inadequate infrastructure and unsustainable costs, New Zealand will be hearing a lot more about the potential solution offered by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Sacks, Professor of Public Health Policy, Deakin University Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock In recent years, there’s been increasinghype about the potential health risks associated with so-called “ultra-processed” foods. But new evidence published this week found not all “ultra-processed” foods are linked ...
Fears that New Zealand is relying too heavily on low-cost forests to absorb its carbon dioxide emissions have been reignited by a report from the OECD. ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed the total dollar savings target from public sector cuts has been met, but the reductions have not been felt evenly across public agencies. Government departments were told to make savings set at 6.5 percent or 7.5 percent where headcount had grown by more than ...
She doesn’t have a single kind word for me and it’s getting under my skin.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,I have two amazing friends that I absolutely adore. Grace (all names have been changed) and I lived together across 2023 and Olivia moved in with us this ...
Can Western science and Māori science work together to support our well-being? The Te Ohu Mō Papatūānuku (TOMP) Trials Project was a landmark case for healing the land and people with the guidance of Māori science and leadership. This is what happened when Papatūānuku (Earth) was contaminated by toxic discharge, ...
The District Plan is a blueprint for a bigger, better Wellington, through tens of thousands of new apartments and townhouses and a new approach to urban growth. Joel MacManus lays out the vision. The process of putting together Wellington’s new District Plan has been long and excruciating. As a city, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Williams Veazey, ARC DECRA Research Fellow, University of Sydney DavideAngelini/Shutterstock In the 2007 film The Bucket List Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play two main characters who respond to their terminal cancer diagnoses by rejecting experimental treatment. Instead, they go ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mohan Singh, Professor of Agri-Food Biotechnology, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences at the University of Melbourne., The University of Melbourne Tanja Esser/Shutterstock Australia’s vital agriculture sector will be hit hard by steadily rising global temperatures. Our climate is already ...
The Acumen Edelman Trust barometer reported that New Zealand’s political trust score now sits below the global average, a topic explored in a recent discussion paper by Maxim Institute. ...
Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director Russel Norman says, "The Fast-Track Bill is the most damaging piece of environmental legislation any Government has introduced in living memory. People are angry, and it’s time to march." ...
The school lunches programme has been retained – and will be extended to some preschoolers. So how is it going to cost $107 million less? To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. The minister with many hats David Seymour wears a number of hats, but this week ...
“Show us the bird,” I found myself muttering at times while reading Hard by the Cloud House by Peter Walker, a deeply thoughtful, often hilarious, at times rambling – but somehow delightfully so – search for the story of a big bird. But not just any bird: the bird. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Marley, Environment + Energy Editor, UK edition DPVUE .images/Shutterstock Your home was probably designed for a climate that no longer exists. As long as humanity continues to burn fossil fuel, padding the heat-trapping blanket of gases in Earth’s atmosphere, the ...
A senior lawyer has filed a complaint about tikanga becoming a required law school module. Law lecturer Carwyn Jones explains what he’s getting wrong. “…the first law of Aotearoa, a law that served the needs of tangata whenua for a thousand years before the arrival of tauiwi.”– Ani Mikaere ...
In 2019, an Auckland woman woke up from surgery to find that she had undergone a treatment she didn’t consent to. She tells Alex Casey about her experience. From her very first period at the age of 14, Laura experienced “debilitating” levels of pain that forced her to withdraw from ...
Comment: Concerns about the state of the economy are creeping up to the top of firms’ list of challenges. That’s evident in both surveys and the tone of our recent client discussions. Skimming the past few weeks of eco-news, it’s not hard to see why. – Retail card spending fell ...
Opinion: Could former co-leader James Shaw still make a difference to working with National? The post How the Greens could be contenders appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: What if we got rid of our existing drug laws and replaced them with a new law that legalised and carefully regulated all psychoactive substances, from cannabis to MDMA, methamphetamine and LSD to magic mushrooms? And which also included legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine. “Wow,” you might ...
In the gloom following director-general Al Morrison’s job cuts in 2013, the Department of Conservation restructured its operations arm. Eleven conservancy districts were whittled into six new “conservation delivery” regions, under which the Rēkohu/Wharekauri/Chatham Islands area, comprising 40 scattered islands more than 800km east of Christchurch, was tethered to the ...
One of th e country’s top litigation lawyers says New Zealand is seeing a lift in court action between companies. Chapman Tripp partner Justin Graham, who oversees a team of around 80 litigation specialists, says the courts are now so log-jammed that it’s taking over two years to get cases ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 9 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government is talking up the crucial role of gas as a transition fuel “through to 2050 and beyond”. In a gas strategy to be released on Thursday, the government envisages the fuel’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Next week the government will again next try to get its legislation through to deal with non-citizens who won’t cooperate with efforts to deport them. The bill, which the opposition and crossbench refused to rush ...
A long-term project that will set out an alternative vision for Aotearoa that looks beyond the narrow confines of the policy straight jacket adopted by successive governments. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bree Hurst, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Law, QUT, Queensland University of Technology TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock A much-awaited report into Coles and Woolworths has found what many customers have long believed – Australia’s big supermarkets engage in price gouging. What started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Ghezelbash, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney The Albanese government wanted to avoid an inquiry into its migration amendment bill. The report, handed down yesterday by a senate committee that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne Lobbying is at the heart of government. Who has access to and influence over key government officials shapes the decisions governments make – and how they make them. The ability to influence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myfany Turpin, Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology, Linguistics and Ethnobiology, University of Sydney The act representing Australia at this year’s Eurovision contest has sadly not qualified for the grand final. Yet for Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross, the duo that makes up Electric Fields, ...
In announcing changes to the school lunches programme, David Seymour said kids would no longer be served ‘woke’ foods. To clear up any confusion, The Spinoff has compiled a guide to the wokeness levels of some common food items. Apple = NOT WOKE Avocado = WOKE Avocado, smashed = EVEN ...
This is the link to Phil Twyfords excellent rebuttal of the nonsense that Heather du Plessus (National's regular cheer leader in the Herald) wrote re Labours roading programme.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12249942
I can never understand why the Herald gives her print space, her articles are so lacking in balance.
It is a shame it is pay-walled I eventually succumbed that is very interesting to read, as is this story on how ANZ – I see they have stepped up the advertising again – did its best to hide how useless their oversight methods are and which cost losts of investors money.
Those who lost out were kept completely in the dark re litigation information that they should have had, hopefully they will join in the action that is now being provided free to them.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/07/17/685359/anz-loses-the-key-to-transparency
My apologies to those who, for good reason, did not pay the sub to access all Herald articles. I am seriously debating whether or not I will continue with mine when it runs out. However I am pleased that Phil Twyford was given the opportunity to state his case and to debunk the rubbish that was written.
Likewise I will see after a couple of months how I feel but I bypass a lot of the Hoskings etc tripe, but items on how many financial institutions and insurance companies need to be brought into line tempted me over for a while.
Just read that Rapunzel. A fascinating read but outstanding is the gall of one John Key claiming transparency as with the Hisco affair while for three years the ANZ was blocking transparency on a massive scale involving millions of investors money.
Key regards reporters, investors courts and voters with contempt.
Yes I know I try, I'm not sure why, to be specific as to otherwisw only brings down contempt re "personality" politics and is used to deflect away from the true details of many things that are only slowly over time being revealed.
Point of the story which may have been missed is that IF you were an investor in Ross Asset Management (RMA) they are taking a court case which is already funded (further explained in the article towards the end). You have only until September 2019 to sign up so decide now.
Phil Twyford: Spending more on roading projects while prioritising safety
Phil Twyford says the Government is investing $1.4 billion in upgrades on more than 1500km of dangerous roads to prevent 160 deaths and serious injuries every year.
[https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12249942]
[Please do not do that again, ever! You are breaching the policy of this site and making this site liable to copyright violation. Next time will result in an instant permanent ban without prior warning, as this is very serious – Incognito]
Thanks for that Kevin.
Who was it said Twyford was "incompetent" and inferred he was not capable of dotting the i’s and t’s?
When he was a candidate (twice) for the North Shore electorate we had to gently suggest it might be a good idea to reduce the number of i’s and t’s on his pamphlets because it would put off the average voter from reading them.
He was good boy and obliged. 🙂
Twyford is incompetent. His transport plans are weak at best. Hiding behind “safety on the current roads” is pathetic as well his ministers and governments policy aims will result in thousands more car trips, exponentially increasing the risk of deaths on the road.
[lprent: Thousands more car trips isn’t in any policy. I consider that is just a lie. And you didn’t bother to present any supporting argument or link. If you can’t present a link or an argument to support it by this time tomorrow then I will ban you for 3 months. Looking at your comments, you are just a very stupid troll, so I can’t be bothered warning you. ]
Thanks for printing in full the article I was referring to. I wasn't if that was allowed.
Seems to be a clear copyright violation to me,
No quotation marks; no attribution; paywalled article —- uuuhhhhm
Your first instinct was sound. From this site's policy:
it isn't. On the other hand I would also argue that granny is a bit naughty putting what looks like a press release behind a paywall.
When I get back to a large screen I will have a look at it.
Ok, but I have taken the precautionary step of deleting the material and added a link to NZH. In the end, it is your call.
See my Moderation note @ 10:29 AM.
I put the link in my original post. Cheers.
Yes, I know, thanks. I didn’t want to delete the text without leaving and repeating the link; it was deliberate on my behalf.
To me, it looked like a clear case of copyright violation. I am quite sure that it was not (from) a press release but it there’s one it still doesn’t excuse Kevin’s mistakes of not providing a link, not providing attribution, and quoting the complete (!) text instead of selectively quoting from it.
I’m sure it was a genuine mistake but ignorance is no defence. If you want to use this site, you must read the site’s policy. https://thestandard.org.nz/policy/
Not trying to excuse it but also think it was probably a genuine mistake. IIRC K is an old timer here going back to Nov 2008 – originally as K W…h. Pretty sure that is the same avatar.
You are correct, he goes back a long way here, which really means he should know better than to risk the site. The warning was not just for him but also for everyone else, i.e. a general reminder that even helpful comments can have dire consequences. I hope it’ll serve as a lesson and that we can all move on from here without blowing it out of proportion. After all, it was likely a genuine mistake, as I said in my comment 1.2.3.1.1.
penguins are smart
Over the past 20 years our Politicians seem to have dropped the ball. In spite of having told us over and over how brilliant they are.
Not a single one of them has matched rise in population with equivalent production of housing.
Winston Peters muttered some words about too much people flow into gods own mess but has done nothing about it. The Right Honourable Sir John Key actually built one House in the year 2017, but ran a sub political national ratbag outfit in parliament for the purpose of secrecy, staffed by unknowns, as well as hecttingly tying knots in liitle girls Ponytails for suspected Senual satisfaction. Without getting Consent.
Bernard Hickey did the equivalent of running a forklift through the economy every now and again. But nothing straight forward – such as a penguin might do. Namely we have thousands of people happening and little housing happening.
Only Phil Twyford had the sense and the Guts to say that New Zealanders were being sold down the river without so much Crusha Kayak.
The screaming against Twyford was horrendous. Sir John got back on the Ponytails. And the Pretty Morsel Bennett declared Racism – whilst selling off New Zealand houses to unknown purchasers of houses in NZ and Abroad. I kid you not. Talk about Hypocrit !
In Twenty years Parliament did stuff all.
I put it to you, that the Current Government unlatches itself from the Free Martket, stops all immigration, and builds quaility 3 bed room houses / or apartments.
Further, Parliament shall immediately make it a crime to allow immigration when there is no quality Housing available.
Finally, Phil Twyford should be given Highest honors by the Governor of New Zealand.
Billy English at her side.
How not surprising that John Key says one thing but does the opposite.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/114291409/anz-loses-the-key-to-transparency
a liar and a cheat to the end
Not sure if someone at Stuff has it in for ANZ or the increasing coverage of them is just desserts.
New account has been opened 😀
Those who have money invested in ANZ better withdraw it quickly before the run on the bank gets underway.
I mentioned to someone recently that it seems a lot of people have Key in their sights… and this is more evidence of that I think
Perhaps as a current director he does not have the knowledge of history ??
But his comments are starting to come back, wonder if anyone on the ANZ board has made themselves available for follow up interviews/comments ?
Not sure who a suitable reporter would be, able to ask the tough questions, especially given the $ that banks spend with tv, print etc. to further their profile & to give confidence to the market ? As how would we know that the interview wasn’t a paid Advertorial
Very well said.
As if we didn't know already; trust, honesty and integrity are totally foreign concepts to Key. Always have been.
John Key’s reputation is worth gold to ANZ. However, if the bank’s reputation is becoming (more) damaging to John Key’s reputation, I reckon he’ll step down (soon). The captain is not going to go down with the Titanic; watch the space.
Totally. He'll be elbowing Kate Winslet off that raft in no time.
After a little tug on her ponytail.
Something to hang onto..
'I put it to you, that the Current Government unlatches itself from the Free Martket, stops all immigration, and builds quaility 3 bed room houses / or apartments.'
can you imagine the mayhem if they did that!
The elite,aided by the NSA would use 'Venezuela' tactics.
No NZ politicians have the balls to face that.
While Israeli lobbies relentlessly and shamelessly bully activists all over the World, without any pushback or a peep from any of our media, the apartheid state of Israel continues it's occupation and violent repression of Palestinian people and land, also without any pushback from most MSM media.
Israeli Army Vet’s Exposé – “I Was the Terrorist”
Surely he's been smeared by now. Has no UK Labour membership card surfaced yet?
Tension with Turkey a NATO member.
'the first shipment of a Russian missile defense system has arrived in Turkey, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Friday, moving the country closer to possible U.S. sanctions and a new standoff with Washington.'
'The deliveries make it almost certain the Middle East’s largest economy will be subject to punitive U.S. action. By law, Trump needed to pick at least five out of 12 different sanctions — ranging from mild to harsh — under the sanctions act, once delivery was certified.
The administration has been weighing when to punish Turkey, according to a person familiar with the deliberations who asked not to be identified discussing the sensitive situation. Washington is wary of announcing sanctions too close to the anniversary of the July 15, 2016, coup attempt that Erdogan blamed on Fethullah Gulen, an ally-turned-enemy now in exile as a Muslim cleric in Pennsylvania.'
And India wants some too.
'A senior Trump administration official said on Thursday there were “serious concerns” about India’s planned acquisition of Russian S-400 missile defense systems that could not only leave India vulnerable to sanctions but also “limit” interoperability between US and Indian militaries, a key focus of growing ties between the two countries.
India’s acquisition of S-400s “effectively could limit India’s ability to increase our own interoperability”, Alice Wells, head of the state department’s South and Central Asia bureau told lawmakers at a congressional hearing.'
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic…ssian-missiles
Kind of makes the hundreds of billions invested into the F35 a bit redundant now.
No wonder the USA is pissed.
The aircraft manufacturers will be rubbing the skin off their palms in glee.
After months of debate and legal manoeuvres the city of Berlin has put its money where its mouth is (and remember this city is always pretty skint) and spent nearly 100€ to buy back nearly 700 apartments on Karl-Marx Allee that were privatised in the 90s. It’s the latest salvo in the city’s ongoing battle to rein in housing costs (earlier this year the city Senate enacted laws to freeze rents for the next five years).
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/07/berlin-apartment-rent-control-affordable-housing-landlord/594055/
That's important Scott GN thanks.
More on how Assange filled his days at the embassy…
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/15/politics/assange-embassy-exclusive-documents/index.html
How you can post that with all its "potentials" and fact less conjecture points to a pretty gullible mind set
Yes I watched the original segment on CNN. A story woven around pictures with not a skerrick of fact or proof presented.
Caitlin Johnston puts it down like the rabid dog it is
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1907/S00110/new-cnn-assange-smear-piece-is-amazingly-dishonest.htm
Thanks Gordon Campbell for directing it to my inbox
Thanks francesca. It's disconcerting to see how eager some still are to smear Assange, or simply accept and propagate such smears uncritically. After all, he's in prison and will be extradited to the US, so what's in it for the smearers?
It's worth getting the picture of what was done and how it was done. Because sure as shit it's going to be done again.
Yes, knowing 'what' 'Assange smears' were used, and 'how' the smearing occurred are important, but does the CNN "exclusive" news item you linked to @8 add much in that regard?
I'd like to see some analysis of 'why' the mainstream media is persisting with these 'Assange smears' – some explanation of why this is still considered helpful/necessary/newsworthy, and by whom? Just a slow news day?
Harping on so frightening off the others?
That would be the Caitlin Johnstone referred to in this story? Beloved of all the "Saint Julian can do no wrong" cultists?
https://thinkprogress.org/seth-rich-conspiracy-among-far-left-756a2a04d07e/
Cait's been trying to clean up. Mostly dead links tho but hey, enterprise.
https://web.archive.org/web/20190512170952/https://relevantbrilliant.tumblr.com/post/171703309137/the-rise-of-caitlin-johnstone
http://archive.li/rFtMb
This bloke Andre is the sort of stooge that, in other regimes, would have published Kremlin propaganda against "Jewish doctors" or joined in with the Red Guards denouncing "revisionists" and "running dogs of imperialism."
Whereas you just try to make the world safe for rapists.
Such as?
Anyone you like who rapes someone. Hell, if you like them enough you'll even reject all evidence to the contrary and claim that nobody accused them of rape in the first place.
Everything you've said is false, and deliberately false.
See what I mean?
You literally wrote only two days ago that Assange has not even been accused of rape.
Easily refuted by linking to an article titled "The rape allegation against Julian Assange, explained".
He hasn't. This whole bizarre fantasy case is concocted by the U.K. and U.S. secret police.
Cognitive dissonance, much?
If the "bizarre fantasy case" doesn't allege Assange did anything, then there is no case. If it does allege something, there are allegations. So what do you think the "bizarre fantasy case" alleges?
He must be crushed that such a renowned psychoanalyst as yourself has made this unflattering diagnosis of his character.
Andre doesn't care, obviously. He's a fanatic.
Wrote the bloke who can't let an incident on TV go from 1983 lol
Well, the difference is this, Alien: I despise Peter Williams—I note that the fool has written another anti-science rant today*— but I would not want to see him pursued by criminals, tortured, unjustly imprisoned, and contemned by fools like Andre.
* https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/07/peter-williams-the-science-is-never-settled-on-climate-change.html
On nos not Morrissey and McFlock again? Gather round children while all the bad in the world is solved.
Or you could think about something else. I thought this piece good from Neil Gaiman, who I think has written with Terry Pratchett.
https://antonysimpson.com/2016/the-story-of-neil-gaimans-cousin-helen/
I’d suggest that you keep your opinions of other TS commenters reserved for posts on your own blog site. Even better, keep them to yourself and address the points made rather than trying to attack their perceived character flaws.
Fair comment. But why did that scurrilous lie at 8.1.2.1. go without comment by any moderators?
<sigh>
That was a response to another “scurrilous lie” @ 8.1.2, it seems.
At the back-end, we read comments in reverse order, most recent first. When I send a signal, I like to think that the most recent ‘violation’ is the most appropriate place and time. I’d also like to think that others read my signal too and take heed. Ignorance is not an excuse.
One day, I will lose my patience, go in Lynn-moderation mode, and ban a regular (culprit) for a very long time. His reasoning is starting to sound more compelling to me that the element of surprise will keep everyone on their toes and at good behaviour.
Oh, and BTW, there are only a few moderators active here and we all have full-time jobs and busy lives. That is why the site relies on self-moderation by mature adult commenters 😉
[lprent: Or I roll the dice and decide that the border is close enough. ]
Have you even for a moment considered the possibility that you could avoid all this aggro with moderators by not dumping your personal assessments of other commenters' characters on their blog? It would also reduce the volume of the hostile responses you get from other readers who don't rate your personal opinion as highly as you do.
Very good points, well made. However, there's a long established tradition here of "having a go" at one another….
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-clobbering-machine-strikes-again.html
Same goes for Mr Brown's site…..
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/12/mr-browns-boys-part-2-of-3-dec-31-2013.html
Fair point, but IMHO you’re conflating “a long established tradition” with ‘bad habits that have crept in over time’. In any case, "having a go" is a euphemism for ‘robust debate’ but not a green light for ‘personal insults and attacks’. Lastly, you may have noticed that moderators have changed here on TS and consequently moderation has too. Change is the only constant 😉
Good points well made, Mr. Cognito. Fair play to you!
https://i.imgflip.com/1cx5fe.jpg
Déjà vu 😉
That's just a slur. The only long established tradition of "having a go" at one another is in your fanciful characterisation of the conversation on Public Address.
You must have linked here to that tired post of yours half a dozen times over the last couple of years. Obsessed much?
Morrissey – all seems change, but the eternal is the need to support each other, try to improve, choose to cast aside the hating and those enjoying assaults on each other, verbal, literate, physical. So join in the good and limit the desire to snipe.
Neil Simon says it – These are the days of miracles and wonders and don't cry baby don't cry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy5T6s25XK4
the need to support each other, try to improve, choose to cast aside the hating and those enjoying assaults on each other, verbal, literate, physical.
I'm more than happy to be positive and supportive of my fellow Standardisti, but when they post scurrilous fantasies and black propaganda from the secret police, please don't expect me or anyone else to take it with equanimity. When the people currently heaping the foulest imprecations and calumnies against Julian Assange and the democratically elected leader of Venezuela cease their foul behaviour, we can all get some much needed rest.
Until then, my friend, the fight goes on.
So join in the good and limit the desire to snipe.
Speaking of sniping, we have a couple of creatures on this site who loudly applaud snipers killing or maiming doctors, nurses, journalists, children, and crippled people. What "good" is there in those people?
sigh
When you have a difference of opinion and cannot agree to disagree, it is best to walk away rather than to attack other commenters personally. Taking aim at public people and off-load a barrage of expletives is one thing, and gets on people’s nerves after a while, but to engage in a willy-waving ball-kicking contest with other commenters is another.
Did you see Lynn’s note @ 5:15 PM? I don’t have a dice handy but I can use a random generator any time …
Inciting violence is not acceptable and neither is “applauding” it. However, the TS is not the place to fix people’s perceived or real ‘character flaws’. We are interested in robust debate and a bit of banter and can tolerate a little bit of (friendly) jostling and ‘discourage’ behaviour that gets in the way of that; we go as far as necessary …
The guys and gals over at Mr Farrar's salon enjoy the occasional "barney" as well….
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/01/encounter-on-kiwiblog-feat-dime-brito.html
As the popular saying goes ..
https://www.etsy.com/listing/530643196/everything-before-the-word-but-is
Serious people derive their thoughts and opinions from reading books, conversation, rumination, meditation, listening to learned and worthy people speaking.
But Sacha gets hers from a T-shirt.
Does it matter what sets a train of thought in motion?
If you don’t like the T-shirt, don’t buy it, don’t wear it. Why look down on somebody who does? If they change garment, do you still look down on them?
This touches on what I tried to explain in my comment …
"Serious people" don't post pointless, obviously-untrue shit like "Sacha gets hers from a T-shirt."
Some “serious people” get their
bullshitinspiration from other people’s T-shirts and behold it as the Truth.a leninesque useful idiot is old Morrissey. Pointing at his reflection calling it the traitor as he pretends he wouldn’t need be on the forefront of the cultural revolutions red guards
"leninesque"? John, Julian, Sean or that piece of slime Moreno?
Sorry, but CNN is just not a credible news source on pretty much anything.
And now the Ecuadorian president that allowed Assange to hide in the embassy confirms they knew about Assange's election fuckery.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/16/politics/ecuador-response-assange-wikileaks/index.html
About Correa, from your link
He says nothing that he hasn't gleaned from newspaper reports .As he said, he's never met the guy, he has nothing to offer as an "insider"
The complaint that stuff about Trump wasn't published smacks of whataboutism, the charge many like to lay on Russia. The information about Clinton's and the DNC's dishonesty was 100% accurate, and can't be discounted because ..Russia! Trump!
Never mind that you would rather that info had been suppressed.
Publishing truthful information is not election fuckery.We're in deep shit if we subscribe to that view.
CNN published plenty of damning info about Trump , while whitewashing Clinton.
Did they engage in election fuckery?
CNN published plenty of damning info about Trump , while whitewashing Clinton.
Did they engage in election fuckery?
They're certainly engaging in election fuckery now—they're continuing to invest in this ludicrous "Russiagate" fantasy, and virtually ignoring stories of the Trump regime's actual crimes. They're up to their eyeballs in fake news; instead of simply covering the news which alone would damn Trump, they're purveying insane fantasies hatched by the "brains trust" of the DNC—the same people that brought us the Hillary Clinton campaign. No one with a lick of common sense trusts anything on CNN.
He says nothing that he hasn't gleaned from newspaper reports.
Right – I mean, he was just the president of Ecuador at the time, it's not like he'd be allowed to see any reports by Ecuadorian diplomats or anything.
read for yourself what he actually said .
1980-88: Reagan was President "at the time" his "administration" terrorized Central America.
1984-9: Lange was P.M. "at the time" his cronies Douglas, Prebble, De Cleene, and Moore were tearing our institutions apart.
2000-08: George W. was President "at the time" the U.S. raped Iraq and Afghanistan.
2016-present: Trump is president.
Did and do ANY of the above have a fucking clue what was/is happening under their watch?
Dreaming about a car that's solely powered by solar panels on the car's body? It's doable, if you live somewhere sunny and only want to do less than 50km/day.
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/07/this-prius-can-harness-the-power-of-the-sun-god-ra/
An information piece by Anne Salmond (with concerns about NZ effort to plant tonnes of trees) on Newsroom was spotted by Save NZ who put it up on The Daily Blog. I am spreading it further as Robert G and WtB will be interested.
As I learned recently from forestry experts in Germany, these are not the only factors affecting the future of plantation forestry. Recent articles in Nature and Science strongly advocate growing trees as an effective way to tackle climate change, but point out that on average, natural forests sequester forty times more carbon than plantation forests.
According to the author of one of these studies, "There is a scandal here. To most people forest restoration means bringing back natural forests, but policy makers are calling vast monocultures 'forest restoration'. And worse, the advertised climate benefits are absent."
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/07/16/682858/forestry-facing-a-perfect-storm#
The policy makers just see the trees as something to be cut down at a later date to make money off.
Are you sure about that Kevin – I think they have a bigger capacity of understanding than that – even if it could be better.
Hi Grey, here is a fascinating item from RNZ, about Hugh Wilson who, 30years ago, decided to work with nature and used gorse as a shelter plant for the restoration of 10's of thousands of hectares of native forest.
He is of the opinion that the regrowth happens quicker than 'managed' forest plantings.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018703481/gorse-for-the-trees-how-one-man-brought-back-a-forest
I had glanced at that and wondered about the difference that gorse can make, it was always such a no-no especially when you stood on it. Perhaps it would be good as a co-plant with honey producing manuka. The thieves for hives would have to suffer for their dishonesty, it might put them off, and be good for the soil too. The bees would likely not be affected.
Corbyn has been attacked on antisemitism by Labour Lords protecting the brand no doubt. He really has to get off the pot if he isn't going to do anything dramatic – or another cliche' – might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb!
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/16/tom-watson-backs-labour-motion-auto-exclude-racism
Boorish Johnson feels Corbyn enables him to shine apparently. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/conservative-leadership-race-boris-johnson-plans-early-election-to-hit-corbyn-h7d0rq090
Brexit:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu/eu-braces-for-no-deal-brexit-or-another-delay-under-boris-johnson-idUSKCN1UB1GF
https://www.ft.com/content/89bff8c8-95dd-11e9-9573-ee5cbb98ed36 What the UK’s ‘left-behind’ areas want after Brexit
Anand Menon, director of The UK in a Changing Europe, said politicians could only find policies to heal the country’s Brexit divisions if they know what caused them. He added that the UK’s planned departure from the EU was a rare chance to re-examine the laissez faire economic model Britain has adopted since the 1980s. “We have a unique moment in British politics,” said Prof Menon. “Anything is possible.”
This is an interesting report and readers are asked to support the work.
It'd be helpful to see some specific examples of this antisemitism a bit more recent than Ken Livingston, that aren't just Labour disagreeing that they're antisemitic.
I feel that the antisemitic thing is puzzling and rather amorphous? There seems the same sort of logic behind it as in the old joke about the kid told by his mother to wash behind his ears who replied, 'How can they be dirty when they are so far off the ground'. I feel that people who are assiduous at unearthing antisemitism wherever it is lurking, will find some dirt wherever they look, by hook or by crook.
I feel that people who are assiduous at unearthing antisemitism wherever it is lurking, will find some dirt wherever they look, by hook or by crook.
https://twitter.com/jewssf/status/1151431986222964736
How is Ken Livingston anti-Semitic?
Just like NewstalkZB, Magic Talk is an outlet for racist bilge and pernicious nonsense. (Magic Talk, Monday 8 July 2019, 10:20 a.m.)
Peter Williams always cut a rather ridiculous and awkward figure on television. When he was a young sports broadcaster he was embarrassingly callow and loud, trying and failing to trade witticisms in the broadcast booth with, of all people, Henry Blofeld. But that could be forgiven; other cricket commentators, like John "Mystery" Morrison, also came across as stumble-tongued bumpkins compared to the incomparable "Blowers."
Less forgivable was Williams's insensitivity and lack of common sense, as well as his brassplated bumptiousness and insensitivity. These unfortunate traits are memorably illustrated by two incidents, equally disastrous, but separated by more than fifteen years. The first, showing his insensitivity and lack of common sense, was in 1983. Williams, from the studio in Wellington, fronted what was supposed to be a live broadcast from the World Rowing Championships in Germany. He started the broadcast in his usual voluble manner, chattering as the satellite feed was being teed up. Then the rowing broadcast began—except it wasn't the rowing, it was a telecast of an American college basketball game. Sports fans all over the nation sat up straight with excitement and incredulity—in 1983, our coverage of U.S. sports was virtually non-existent, and this was like manna from heaven. The basketball game continued, unbelievably, for several minutes.
But then something horrible and stupid happened. The basketball game was suddenly gone, and Peter Williams's grinning physog filled the screen. He was snorting with a mixture of amusement and mortification. This is what he said: "Ahhhh, it looks like there's been a MISTAKE! We WERE going to bring you the World Rowing Championships from Duisburg, but—ha ha ha!—it looks like we've inadvertently booked the WRONG satellite and we've got a COLLEGE BASKETBALL GAME from the United States instead! Ha ha ha! So while our technicians get that SORTED, in the meantime I'll just talk to you and go over a few of the New Zealand prospects for the rowing! Ha ha ha! Well…." This playing for time continued for what seemed like several minutes. All over the nation, no doubt, people were screaming at their television sets: "Get that fucking idiot off, and put the fucking BASKETBALL back on! That fucking clueless fucking MORON!"
At any rate, that's what the situation was at Chez Breen. After several minutes of preventing sports fans from seeing the basketball, Williams touched his earpiece and said: "Oh! Apparently we have received many, many phone calls from our viewers, and you're telling us that you want to see the basketball, and not listen to me talking! All right then…." Mercifully, viewers were spared any more of Williams and they were allowed to watch the rest of the basketball unmolested by nincompoops.
For a mortifying example of his bumptiousness and insensitivity, we will fast forward a decade and a half, to the late 1990s. Williams, for some obscure and hellish reason, had been appointed as the "Australian correspondent" for Television One. Now, that's a position that requires someone with "people skills." Even if you do what most of these "correspondents" do, and just ask a few questions of the odd celebrity passing through the airport, you still have to establish at least a modicum of rapport with that celebrity. Williams, who since his early days as a grinning sports guy, had developed into a sour, surly, taciturn grouch, seemed like precisely the last person you'd appoint to the position. Predictably enough, he proved to be even worse in that role than Jack Tame was a few years later as One's "U.S. correspondent". [1] In his short-lived career in Sydney, Williams sent in interview after interview where the subjects winced, frowned, and stared in frustrated wonderment at the questions he put to them. Williams seemed to rub nearly everyone up the wrong way; it's obviously a lot harder conducting an interview than it looks.
The short career as an "Australian correspondent" of this anti-Larry King came to a screeching halt after his catastrophic interview—at Kingsford Smith Airport, naturally—of the supermodel Cindy Crawford. The atmosphere in the room was wrong from the very beginning: Cindy Crawford frowned a couple of times as he asked her highly personal and inappropriate questions, which some mischievous staffer had obviously given to him. But he never took the hint, never divined that she was getting impatient and, eventually, angry. She became extremely agitated and actually ended up shouting her disapproval of his questions, and looking desperately off camera for someone to save her. Cruelly, someone at Television One made the decision to go ahead and screen that abortion. Within weeks, Williams was back in New Zealand and someone else had been appointed to the vital role of sitting in Australian airports waiting to accost a celebrity.
Williams eventually was re-installed as a TV newsreader, where he developed something of a cult following for his Gloomy Gus countenance and his dependably sour, and inexpert, takes on whatever topic took his fancy. In the lead-up up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, after an item about Ma'a Nonu struggling to find his form, Williams scowled and snarled in a stage whisper: "Get RID of him!" He continued his one-man campaign of denigration and belittlement for months, then lapsed into silence after Nonu made the All Black squad and ended up being the outstanding player of the entire tournament.
Recently, Williams ended his career as Television One's resident curmudgeon and took up a position as a grouch on the pisspoor chat station MagicTalk. Predictably, he's been as awful as people feared: his political opinions are on the Leighton Smith end of the spectrum, and he's still exhibiting a lack of nous about sports—providing a platform for and encouraging the hopeless "Man in the Stand", who sufferers of Radio Sport a generation ago will not be happy to learn is still polluting the airwaves. [2]
Last Monday, July 8th, Williams had the perfect program set up for the morning: a "discussion" (I use the word loosely) about a TVNZ1 program from the previous evening, entitled That's a Bit Racist. Williams informed his listeners that he had not actually seen the program because he had been traveling at the time of broadcast.
For the first hour, Williams took calls from mean and twisted individuals who were outraged at the premiss of the program—the very idea that we are a racist society! They expressed support for poor, beleaguered, saintly Don Brash, a man hated by the "P.C. crowd" simply because he "has the courage to tell the truth." Several callers took advantage of yet another opportunity to castigate Maori for abusing children.
However, at 10:20 a.m. the stream of ridicule and abuse of Maori was interrupted. A caller named Dion pointed out that Pakeha also abuse children, but it's always Maori that are emphasized in the media, and by nasty politicians like Don Brash.
PETER WILLIAMS: Oh, I'm sure, Dion, that if a Pakeha killed a child, it would be ROBUSTLY covered. The media are always concerned about the victim first, and then the perpetrator.
After seeing off Dion, the next caller was "Stephen", and the program was back on track….
STEPHEN: I watched that program for five minutes. Don Brash was on, and yes, what they showed of him, it did make him look like a racist, but they didn't show EVERYTHING he said.
PETER WILLIAMS: The Stuff review I read described him as a "racist". That's a LUDICROUS way to describe one of our leading thinkers.
At 10:40 a Denise L'Estrange-Corbet soundalike rang in and bellowed: "Don Brash tells the truth! Maori seats are JUST LIKE APARTHEID! And that Jack Tame said this morning that he was "ashamed" that the Crusaders didn't announce after the Super Rugby final on Saturday night that they would change their name.
PETER WILLIAMS: [grimly] I wouldn't pay too much attention to anything THAT particular person says. ….
ad nauseam.
As bad as this was, things only got worse in the afternoon. The host was…. Sean Plunket.
[1] https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/jack-tame-emotes-after-newtown.html
[2] https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/05/one-of-most-hapless-talk-radio-tragics.html
dinner at the house of breen must be a scream with the declamation in full of news articles by morrissey, with real celebrity impressions
It was morning teatime, actually, and yes, there was a lot of anguished screaming.
The caravan was rocking with joy.
Indeed it was, Sacha. You can join in with the Breen caravanserai any time you like, by the way.
https://media1.tenor.com/images/aedf0a83eba45622947b6c988131ded1/tenor.gif?itemid=4731328
Three men went out for the day in a ute that got trapped in a river. They had a nine-year old boy with them. The three men got out and the boy was drowned. They were in charge of a minor. Are they up for manslaughter or at least wilful neglect. Women are charged when children in their care get harmed. These men should have read the website with precautionary information and known it was "only recommended for experienced parties with suitable vehicles". And that may not have applied as it was a flooded river. Strong, outdoor men should have had the ability to save that young boy. If they weren't strong or outdoor-experienced men then they should not have even started, wilfully irresponsible and neglectful.
(There were three flood-related calls for help for the Canterbury Westpac helicopter on Sunday 14/7 alone. The third incident was when two men got stuck in the middle of a river, plus one other who had tried to help them out.
I wonder how many men cause callouts for emergencies while they are out there in the wild? It wouldn't do to reduce our community services for them, as much as we have limited our care for pregnant mothers who are very vulnerable with spasms, contractions and pain and the baby-to-be needing care as well.)
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
This is a tragic story about yet another preventable death of a child.
How does it relate to the post? I’m inclined to move this to OM unless you can explain.
It just seemed to stem from that dead, dinosaur thinking we are hearing. I think it should go to Open Mike.
Ok, thanks.
Jesus Christ morpissey,
19 EIGHTYFUCKINGTHREE. Fucking BASKETBALL.
You really need to get a grip.
Don't forget the crucial factor in that traumatic episode: FUCKING PETER fucking WILLIAMS.
I see this disgraceful animal is hiding from the law. There's more than a little evidence he's still writing for Whaleoil yet his family claims he can't show up to court because, "he had to be isolated from stress".
Perhaps the shit-stain should have thought of that before peddling the misery he did. Let's not forget this is one of John Key's best mates…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz//nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12250358&ref=clavis
Frankly, I don’t think he’s unwell at all, apart from being sick in the head, but that was always so.
Let's not forget this is one of John Key's best mates…
Not best mates since "Dirty Politics". Key disentangled himself from Slater while at the same time claiming the book was “all lies” and the media stayed mute. It was just before the 2014 election.
There is a book to be written about the part the media – and certain National Party luminaries – played in assisting Slater and co. to cause so much political and personal upheaval in this country. It was as if the journalists had collectively descended into hysterical mode and they were fawning over him like he was some kind of anointed political god. Even a former SIS Director got into the act at one point.
It was a disgraceful period in our political history and it's no coincidence it began soon after Key became PM and ended soon after he left office.
Those were the days!
Yes, the media themselves were entangled with Slater because they relied on him for stories, and he got them on a direct line from the highest levels of government.
It should also be remembered that the ponytail pulling happened about six months after Dirty Politics so Key learned nothing.
The fallout from the ponytail pulling eventually forcing him to resign.
If he was to be a god or an acolyte who anointed him – Michelle Boag? I had an uneasy feeling in a recent image of her looking squarely at the camera between two Mayoral hopefuls, great shot of her like a self-contained spring.
If he was to be a god or an acolyte who anointed him – Michelle Boag?
Good grief no. Michelle Boag was an enemy of Slater's from day one. She was never forgiven by Slater junior for ousting his father, Slater senior from the presidency of the National Party back in the 1990s.
Maybe just a quiet 'leave Fatcambo alone, or no free lunches for you' kind of thing.
America spreading a good old dose of democracy and freedom via ticks
How to weaponise nature
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/16/pentagon-review-weaponised-ticks-lyme-disease
Please God send down an angel from above to your benighted people in the USA who have bowed to Mammon and the golden calf, and taken to themselves your Old Testament, which you hoped to revise, and now want to send disease and pestilence on whomever transgresses against their august plans or happens to be in the way of the righteous.
They're more the wolf coming down on the fold greysie, the cities of the plains an all that.
Some Eco Maori music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/SKprXO-f2pM
Some Eco Maori music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/5Yj4j_lZMBo
Still getting a off grid TV going for Eco Maori posting
Kia ora Newshub.
That was a big explosion in Christchurch.
Cleo that young fella is a idiot chasing that Chinese family around and terrorising them.
The Australian government is saving heaps of money by deporting anyone who's was born in Aotearoa and trained as a criminal in Australia it the usual the big bully tipical Neanderthals
trump will play ang card to con his supporters even if he puts other people lives in danger Ka kite ano
Kia ora Te Ao Maori News.
It would be cool if the Maori Wardens got more funding for the great mahi they do in Maori communities.
Kia ora Mike Smith I tried to take the JUSTICE system to court but can't find a lawyer to represent Eco Maori. I will file my own court actions.
Tupapa story telling the story about turanga the plarks should be respected it's good to have the true story of turanga and Te Tairawhiti .
Got the genny going and the sky dish turned into to watch Te Ao Maori News and Newshub the solar system is coming courier delivery services seems to always take 5 days to deliver Eco Maori goods I wonder why thank for the mana sandflys they still don't get It ka kite ano