For a political marketing expert, Labour's campaign slogan to examine…
Lee, who is an associate professor in the University of Auckland’s marketing department, said before he could really analyse the slogan’s potential, the competition had to publish theirs.
There was an appetite for change, he said, and this slogan could have missed an opportunity to tap into that desire. If National and the Greens were to “play their cards right”, their campaign slogans should do just that.
“I can bet it will be something that is encouraging people to change, for something new.”
I wouldn't. Clueless dork syndrome has all parties in its relentless grasp. I'll be a war of evasive banalities. One of bomber's commentators defined the Labour target niche for us with succinct elegance:
Transgender Maori vegan cyclist members of the Wellington bureaucracy.
Wellington bureaucrat number 28,054 or 0.5% of our community. They comprise 44% of all of our civil servants.
All in all, our clueless dork has insulted two fifths of the population. If he showed 'succinct elegance', then I'm glad I'm a wordy wearer of ill-fitting hand-me-downs.
Not that I support insulting anyone, but looking at the quoted figures.
That seems like a very high population percentage for Vegans.
Do you have a source for this?
I can't find any official surveys – but one research project from 2021 indicates that there are around 6% vegetarians and vegans.
It is difficult to know exactly how many people living in Aotearoa New Zealand are vegetarians as different statistics are reported by different organisations and researchers. A national poll in 2019 suggested that 1 in 10 New Zealanders were vegetarian, up 3% from the year before. A larger scale national research project in 2021 found that 6% were vegetarian or vegan.
I agree that minorities have nothing to be ashamed of. Any attempt to selectively correlate Labour's campaign strategy with a select nexus of such minority groups is proceeding upon a flawed assumption: it's the Greens who are more likely to do what the commentator expects.
The entire point of Labour is to seem different to National in the tiny minds of sheeple. So Labour will inevitable target the soft underbelly of National poll supporters. For another insight into that, tune into 1News tonight. RNZ's deputy political editor told us earlier this morning that they will feature another poll.
You wrote "I agree that minorities have nothing to be ashamed of." Do you agree that minorities should not be disrespected, as our clueless dork did?
The same clueless dork who you quoted approvingly with "succinct elegance".
Sorry, Dennis, but you don't walk away from this one without acknowledging that you approved of, and re-quoted to us, a racist, prejudiced, bigoted and shameful comment.
I don't have that sectarian view of things. Usage of categories in political commentary is endemic, so why anyone would be fussed about any particular usage by leftists or rightists isn't ever likely to be evident to a centrist.
The entire point of any particular usage is whether it is effective propaganda or not. You're aware of how toxic wokeism has become for leftists? Important to learn from such unhealthy cultural trends whenever they occur.
Unless it learns how to do effective political framing, the left isn't likely to get much attraction amongst floating voters. Merely virtue-signalling at them has failed. Are you trying to suggest that such failure can't be learnt from?
"Transgender Maori vegan cyclist members of the Wellington bureaucracy."
This is a political framing of a point of view that is the opposite of what I stand for- literally, in my case, because I have been a political candidate.
Belittling terms have always been around. I choose to object to them when I feel that if I don't object then I become complicit.
I'm old enough to remember 'political framing' aka insults, such as 'bleeding heart liberal', 'pinko', 'commo', 'lefty', 'peacenik', 'and more recently 'virtue-signalling', 'politically correct' and a 'woke' practitioner of the 'politics of envy'.
Are you arguing that we should also be into such political framing in order to compete?
I much prefer 'In it for you".
Yes, you. All those pakeha, meat-loving, car-addicted, straight(-ish), provincial self-employed persons included.
At least, there was no mention of women in our 'clueless dork' friend's statement.
Because that issue raised itself on the Standard with misogynistic rants in the time of PM Jacinda Ardern. I rebutted them, too.
Look where that pile of insults got those mysogynistic 'political framers' in 2020 when women turned out for Labour.
The level of insults in this election is now, and will be high- as a counter to the politics of inclusion, fairness, compassion and "in it for you'.
I do understand where you are coming from, as a result of your articulation of it. There's a spectrum tween framing and insult. Seems to me some folks will see an insult where none was intended. One often sees that with satire, irony, etc. Some folks see a motive that the framer doesn't have.
My view is akin to that of an amateur social scientist: I note framings that achieve resonance because they then operate similarly to levers or portals, inasmuch as resonance tends to constellate collective opinion.
In my view a commentator has a mental interface with the public arena, as well as a tech interface. Each of those being driven by a triad (user/interface/public) plus a tetrad (user/interface/network/public) when you incorporate the systems view. Such is the basis of ecosystemic human relations in the Deep Green view, but one must to go further & include stuff like mimesis/memetics that generate field effects between people & systems.
Philip, I left out a lot of things. I am all of those things I listed though I do own a bike that is unusually ridden (unusual in terms of frequency but especially since I don't often pedal as it's battery electric). But it sticks in my craw to read jokes based on 'othering'.
I believe in joking at my own expense so I can take the piss of Irish and Scottish traits happily, being a Mac1, but not of others. One little trick I learned is to tell Irish jokes but change the subject of the humour to a Kiwi- suddenly it's not funny any more!
"How do you get a Kiwi up onto a roof?" "Tell him the drinks are on the house…."
Against my better judgement I ventured over to The Daily Blog for a wee gander. I soon vacated the blog site very rapidly. What a vapid next of vipers the commenters (and of course B B himself) have degenerated into. I used to make TDB one of my daily reads but thank Dog, no longer. I do wonder who 'they' will ultimately vote for, if at all.
This last weekend we went on a road trip from Nelson to Hokitika to celebrate a 100th birthday of a whanau and made it a round trip. (Via Reefton one way then Westport the other) Never saw 1 pothole. Never had a ramrade in our parts for about 20 years either for that matter!
Interesting. A conspiracy theorist would deduce that this regional paradise effect was produced by a Labour strategy to grow their support base in the top of the South Island and west coast. As if departmental maintenance is regionally-driven, I presume.
Although such regional bias would be denied by both the departmental heads and the minister, to reassure sheeple. In order to import ram-raids into your region, you must first import the foreigners to establish attractive shops! Worked well in Ak.
I've been watching TV coverage of the Tour de France lately. No road potholes, although on one stage the riders had to contend with cobbles, which were very tricky and led to crashes.
Seen this way France looks terrific, with its mountains and picturesque old towns.
What's striking is how much vegetation cover the French have retained. A contrast with good old NZ, where the odd macrocarpa stands in a sea of grass.
My memory of 3000 kms of driving on French provincial roads was their quality, similar to our two-lane SH1 standard but mostly I remember the 70 km/h speed limit. A speed that respected safety, the road surface and the views to be had.
The Crown Range is still 100km/h at the moment and there are regular accidents. I would speculate that many are caused by people being distracted by the wonderful views.
A clear case for either 70km/h or 80km/h between Cardrona and SH6 at the Arrow Junction.
Ad says (above) that he drives it most days-I wonder what he thinks.
France is happy to run national debt at 90-100% of GDP. It has been doing so for decades to prop up its excellent healthcare and aged care sectors, with retirement at 60y. Personal tax runs at ~40%.
Dr David Jenkins and Eileen Corcoran sketch out three general directions Aotearoa urbanism might follow. Jenkins is a lecturer in political theory at the University of Otago. Corcoran is completing a Masters in Politics at the University of Otago
According to Loneliness NZ, more than 650,000 Kiwis have felt lonely within the past four weeks, with 137,000 of them feeling lonely most or all of the time. Especially worrying is that loneliness is highest among 15-24-year-olds, a demographic in this country that has the highest rate of suicide within the OECD countries.
First, rather than focus on moving materials around our cities, we should prioritise improving tenants’ rights. Improving security of tenure, imposing price controls and more strictly enforcing sanctions against errant landlords can help people put down the kinds of deep roots that turn neighbourhoods into communities.
The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020 signals improvements in the right direction but Aotearoa can continue to strengthen tenants’ rights and, perhaps, develop more proactive government provision of high-quality social housing, of the kind enjoyed by 60 percent of the residents of Vienna, the most liveable city in the world, according to a report by the Economist.
For second, they just go for extending the Greener cities trend. Third, they just go for rejuvenating centers of cities, which has also been happening for years. Would've been better to devise collaborative projects folks can join into.
I'm okay on the principle of their policy: satisfactory resolution of problems created by past maladministration. Natural justice. I'll reserve judgment on their proposed method until I see if others find any flaws.
Yeah…Riiight. Complete with two hands in pockets, pothole plonkers.
Reality….
The government was spending $2.8 billion on highway maintenance, saying it was a 65 percent increase on what the previous National government had spent.
And beside that, NZ's chronic car culture addiction is just exacerbating any existing problem . To say nothing of the fkn heavy truck trailers rooting the roads/highways.
Should we spend more money on "fixing" something that should be being replaced….by major Public Transport and Rail networks ?
F#$@%ing Joyce back in 2010 permitted trucks as heavy as 53 tonnes on NZ roads. This greatly increases the level of road wear per truck, where truck road wear was already massive compared to a family 4WD.
I'm expecting Nationals Pot Hole Policy to dovetail with their Corrections Policy next – prisoner chain gangs filling pot holes with shovels and buckets of gravel being dragged behind them. /sarc
Danielo Dolci, a most remarkable man known as the Ghandi of Sicily, organised unemployed men in what is known aa a 'reverse strike' to work on roads in Sicily in the early Fifties.
Instead of prisoners he used the unemployed who showed their willingness to work and thus denied the claim that some use to vilify the out- of-work as lazy. He also challenged the local government, the Mafia and the corrupt by so doing. He also used hunger strikes and non-violent resistance, resisted war and gave up a comfortable existence as an architect for the wealthy, instead to work as a toilet cleaner and gardener in an orphanage after WW2.
Leggett said $500m over three years was a good place to start.
The same Nick?
Following Nick Leggett’s departure to Infrastructure New Zealand at the end of April, Dom Kalasih becomes the Interim Chief Executive of Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand. Board Chair Warwick Wilshier says “Dom is passionate about road transport
How's a city allowed to keep expanding on already polluted harbours that are regularly closed to human food gathering and recreation due to human sewage over flows??
The Green party appears to have a death wish. The same sort of activist fanaticism that led to anti-smacking debacle that saw the Left in opposition for 9 years appears to be back with the insane suggestion that private property be subject to Maori land claims. Talk about lunatics with a death wish!
Apart from anything else, who is this policy meant to appeal to? It is the sort of insanity you'd expect from a bunch of unwashed anti-capitalist student anarchists living in squat, not a party with mainstream aspirations.
The Green Party has unveiled its plan to return land wrongly taken from Māori.
If part of the next government, the Greens would amend the Public Works Act to prevent Māori land being taken in future.
It would repeal the 2008 deadline to lodge new Treaty claims and reinstate the ability for the Waitangi Tribunal to make recommendations on privately-owned land, as it comes on the property market.
The Greens also want to establish a Royal Commission to investigate land taken through breaches of the Treaty.
I think it should be mainstream to attempt to resolve the illegal breaches of our nation's founding document by the state. Private property would only be included as it was sold by current owners. Try and read before you react.
Right so your the sort of person who thinks telling every person in NZ who owns their own home or farm or factory, or has a mortgage pursuant to that end, that what they've purchased in good faith can now be subject to a Maori land claim is a vote winner?
It us ridiculous policy no one asked for and seems to be mainly designed as a masochistic desire to upset 98% of the electorate.
The Greens keep whining that they are a serious party. On the basis of this policy I say bullshit to that.
[“… that what they've purchased in good faith can now be subject to a Maori land claim is a vote winner?”
You appear to be implying that land would be taken off non-Māori and given to Māori. This is not true, it’s been pointed out to you that it’s not true, and you’ve repeated it. Even if you didn’t mean that, both your comments can easily be construed by people reading to mean that.
If I see you run this line again, I will consider you to be knowingly lying and I will ban you until well after the election. Only warning.
Current market value at the time………..would have to agree with Sanctuary though that its a very problematic proposition and in reality would have many fish hooks to extract………………
I was trying to recall over the weekend how many times I’ve voted Green, Labour and collectively other parties to date. At a reasonable guess I think about one third each. But there is no way on planet earth I’d consider voting Green in their current incarnation – trying to out manoeuvre TPM to see who can steer hardest left. Meanwhile they drag Labour down with then. Hopefully somewhere in the inevitable election postmortem someone asks the very basic question – what does an environmental based party look like?
The Greens keep whining that they are a serious party.
There’s much more whining around election time – potholes, tax/cut, iwi/kiwi, bene bashing, light bulbs, shower heads and the madness of the nanny state.
In days gone by, such whining might have fetched the whiners a smack as part of good voter correction – whether/weather that's still the case, time will tell.
It is sad to see that the green party has no real interest in Green issues that really matter. Like a marine sanctuary or an end to bottom trawling. Even the damage of the land and infrastructure through iwi owed forest companies is not mentioned and the taxpayer has to foot the bill. I am interested how all the claims are set vis a vis the billions already paid in reparation and the tax exemption of iwis.
Lets not forget, it is not the "Crown" who pays but the taxpayer.
As an immigrant, settling here some 37 years ago, this discussion is provoking the feeling that I to have to uproot again. It was psychologically some work to feel "at home" but it seems I need to be prepared to move as the situation here is getting more and more unsettling.
In that vain, I think all immigrants and people thinking about coming back should be told in an unambiguous way what they will have to expect and expectations about their contribution.
Look at the policies and you will find what you claim is not there:
Establish a well-resourced and politically independent Ocean Commission to develop and establish Te Tiriti-based ocean governance of our entire marine area, including the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and to advise Government on legislative, policy and institutional reform. (1.1)
Reform fisheries and marine protection legislation and establish a national, comprehensive, and coherent system of no-take, marine protected areas. (2.1)
Resource mātauranga Māori organisations and promote the use of marine cultural health indices to empower community action and well-being to inform policy, management, and operations. (2.4)
Halt any further degradation of marine and estuarine habitats through the extraction of natural resources, destructive fishing practices or inappropriate construction of our built environments. (4.1)
Phase out bottom trawling, prioritising seamounts and areas with high levels of sequestered carbon and biodiversity for protection. (5.1)
Enable kaitiakitanga, including upholding and underpinning Māori fisheries rights in the transition of the QMS to an ecosystem-based management. (5.4)
Move away from exploiting the environment for the economy, and towards a circular economy. (1.2)
Protect and restore populations of native species to ensure healthy ecosystems; access to these species for the purposes of tikanga Māori, and build resilience to a changing climate. (2.2)
Honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi by resourcing tangata whenua to exercise tino rangatiratanga as kaitiaki, including through the return of land. (5.1)
Resource youth-led research on environmental issues, and protect and restore the environment for future generations. (5.6)
Implement and strengthen measures to rapidly reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions. (6.6)
Uphold and resource the kaitiaki role of tangata whenua, and work with them to protect taonga species and significant places, including through the return of whenua. (1.1)
Establish a complete linked network of ecologically representative areas – terrestrial, marine and aquatic – under protective management. (3.2)
Work with local government and communities to ensure a minimum 5% of the land area of all ecological districts in Aotearoa New Zealand is in native vegetation or set aside for the restoration of nature. (3.3)
Establish legal protection for indigenous plants and ensure legal protections for indigenous wildlife are robust enough for all threatened species. (3.8)
Implement strategies for climate-change adaptation of native ecosystems and species (…). (4.1)
Manage human activity outside of public conservation land in a way that supports the wellbeing of natural ecosystems, indigenous species and habitats (…). (5.1)
Bit of a racist remark there? You will be surprised to know that I have been told twice that pakeha ate only "allowed" to be here to pay for the upkeep of Maori. Seems to be confirmed.
By Maori on a hui no less. But never mind, people like you have made up their mind that anybody else is just out to exploit. Thats ok. I will make my decision and thats that.
New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has been under pressure from rising costs. Down on the farm, this has been hitting hard. But there was more positive news this week, first from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where prices rose, and then from a report ...
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Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
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First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
David Farrar writes – 1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR:PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some of the economic issues confronting New Zealand. It may take time for some new ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the changes that ...
TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In 2023, ...
The fear and loathing among legacy journalists is astonishingGraham Adams writes – No one is going to die wondering how some of the nation’s most influential journalists personally view the new National-led government. It has become abundantly clear within a few days of the coalition agreements ...
TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere for Wednesday November 29, including:The early return of interest deductibility for landlords could see rebates paid on previous taxes and the cost increase to $3 billion from National’s initial estimate of $2.1 billion, CTU Economist Craig Renney estimated here last ...
The day after being sworn in the new cabinet met yesterday, to enjoy their honeymoon phase. You remember, that period after a new government takes power where the country, and the media, are optimistic about them, because they haven’t had a chance to stuff anything about yet.Sadly the nuptials complete ...
Wellington Council hoardings proclaim its preparations for population growth, but around the country councils are putting things on hold in the absence of clear funding pathways for infrastructure, and despite exploding migrant numbers. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Cabinet meets in earnest today to consider the new Government’s 100-day ...
Though New Zealand First may have had ambitions to run the infrastructure portfolios, National would seem to have ended up firmly in control of them. POLITIK has obtained a private memo to members of Infrastructure NZ yesterday, which shows that the peak organisation for infrastructure sees National MPs Chris ...
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’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In ...
Labour’s immigration spokesperson Phil Twyford is calling on the Government to follow the example of Australia and help New Zealanders’ close family members stuck in Gaza to escape and take shelter here. ...
The Green Party is urging the Government to recognise its commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi so our tamariki and mokopuna can grow up in an Aotearoa where their language is celebrated, their health is prioritised, and their whenua is protected. ...
By scrapping Aotearoa’s world-leading smokefree laws, this government is sacrificing Māori lives to fund tax cuts for the wealthy. Not only is this plan revolting, but it doesn’t add up. Treasury has estimated that the reversal of smokefree laws to pay for tax cuts will cost our health system $5.25bn, ...
Figures showing National needs to find another $900 million for landlords highlights the mess this coalition Government is in less than a week into the job. ...
Community organisations, mana whenua and the Greens have written to the incoming Minister of Oceans and Fisheries to call for the progression without delay of the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill. ...
"On behalf of the Labour Party I would like to congratulate Christopher Luxon on his appointment as Prime Minister,” Labour Party Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
NZ First has gotten their wish to ‘take our country back’ to the 1800s with a policy program that will white-wash Aotearoa and erase tangata whenua rights. By disestablishing the Māori Health Authority this Government has condemned Māori to die seven years earlier than Pākehā. By removing Treaty obligations from ...
Te Pāti Māori have called for the resignation of the Ministry of Foreign and Trade chief executive Chris Seed following his decision to erase te reo Māori from government communications. While the country still waits for a new government to be formed, Mr Seed took it upon himself to undermine ...
The New Zealand Labour Party is urgently calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel to put a halt to the appalling attacks and violence, so that a journey to a lasting peace can begin, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids. The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber. I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States. This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael J. I. Brown, Associate Professor in Astronomy, Monash University The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder in the Western Australian desert.CSIRO Supermassive black holes reside in some of the biggest galaxies in the universe. They tend to be billions of times ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Baker, Associate Professor in Human Geography, University of Auckland It was scarcely mentioned during the election campaign, but we will undoubtedly be hearing more about “social investment”. As the National Party’s election platform stated, it will be the “organising framework” for ...
The Greens have responded to this morning’s speech from the throne with a simple message to their followers: “Make this a one-term government”. The formalities at parliament today included the governor-general, Dame Cindy Kiro, laying out the priorities of the incoming government via a lengthy speech provided by the prime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle ShutterstockWhy do some farts smell and some don’t, and some feel hot? – Kian, age 6, from Maleny in Queensland Hi Kian, thanks for your interesting ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Government to remove all price controls from carbon credits following today’s auction failing to clear the minimum reserve price for the fourth quarter in a row. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Arrow, Professor of History, Macquarie University Kane Skennar/Binge The inner workings of magazines, television stations and newspapers have been rich fodder for film and television for decades. From All the President’s Men (1976) to Frontline (1994–7), Paper Giants: The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A federal Resolve poll for Nine newspapers, conducted November 29 to December 3 from a sample of 1,605, gave Labor 35% of ...
Asia Pacific AML – Written By Kerry Grass* Since 2010, I Have Been Operating As An Anti-money Laundering Consultant. In This Role, I Enjoy Reporting On The Principles Of Anti-corruption And Anti-bribery Laws. Being A Citizen Of New Zealand, I Follow ...
A devotee of the squeaky cheese investigates why his favourite brand has started speckling its halloumi with a dried herb.Halloumi is one of the purest joys in this world. It takes one of the best foods, cheese, and makes it just that little bit better by paradoxically allowing it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ivan Smirnov, Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney Shutterstock We’re now sadly used to seeing toxic exchanges play out on social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and TikTok. But Wikipedia is a reference work. How heated can ...
Commenting on the incoming Government exploring plans to scrap Māori language bonuses for public servants , Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said: “If a role requires proficiency in te Reo Māori, then of course fluent speakers should ...
Addressing all MPs of the 54th parliament, the speech from the throne delivered by Dame Cindy Kiro, the governor-general, noted that New Zealanders had “voted for change” on October 14. “The government enjoys the confidence of a clear majority of members in the 123-seat House of Representatives, but it is ...
The governor-general Dame Cindy Kiro is about to deliver the official speech from the throne at this morning’s state opening of parliament. Written by the incoming government, the speech lays out priorities and policies for the term ahead. As noted by Luke Malpass in The Post this morning, as the ...
The new Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden must be upfront with the public, say the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff said yesterday’s Newstalk ZB interview with Minister van Velden contained false ...
Danny Rood challenges the arguments in favour of allowing offshore oil and gas exploration in Aotearoa. In the National and Act coalition agreement, a quick CTRL + F for “climate” will give you zero results. Not a jot. The National and NZ First agreement gives just one:Ensure that climate ...
The pomp and ceremony continues at parliament today, with the official state opening of parliament. It includes the ceremonial speech from the throne, written by the government and delivered by the governor-general, along with the first debate of the 54th parliament. You can tune into the live stream below: ...
The PSA is deeply disappointed by the threat from new Public Services Minister Nicola Willis to remove allowances recognising competency in Te Reo across the public sector. "We will resist any backtracking on the progress we have made in recognising ...
Teachers will resist the new Government’s threat to remove remove allowances that recognise teachers with skills and specialist knowledge of te reo and Māori tikanga, their union NZEI Te Riu Roa says. Under their collective agreements, teachers teaching ...
Newly released Ministry of Transport data shows the emissions of newly registered cars hit a record low in November as Kiwis flocked to buy hybrids and EVs, says Better New Zealand Trust Chairperson Kathryn Trounson. The average emissions of light passenger ...
A shortage of neurologists is leaving West Coasters with multiple sclerosis waiting months for a newly funded drug that can stop the debilitating disease in its tracks. Pharmac agreed in September to fund ocrelizumab, branded as Ocrevus, for people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), giving hope to hundreds ...
Laura Gemmell, chief executive of Eco Choice Aotearoa, writes: The organisers of COP28 (the Conference of the Parties) have billed it as the most inclusive yet; and there’s certainly a huge number of countries represented and a technicolor of cultural dress amid the boring suits. But getting an invite, and ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII is calling a national hui, for Te Iwi Maaori, next year to unify the nation and ensure all voices are heard when holding the new Coalition Government to account. Kiingi Tuheitia received a very clear message ...
Struggling with the prospect of new titles for everything? Here to help. Among the early tasks of the new, three-handled broom of government is giving primacy to English names – it’s all laid out in the agreement between NZ First and National under the heading “Strengthening Democracy and Freedoms”.The ...
The previous government's plan for a second harbour crossing in Auckland does not have the support of the transport agencies tasked with taking on the project. ...
New research released this morning via the Science Media Centre and reported by RNZ this morning, shows that most New Zealanders aged 16-29 support the law to progressively ban smoking. As we know, the new coalition government plans to repeal changes to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act that would ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Carruthers, Co-president, Australian Science Communicators, and Adjunct Lecturer, Science Communication, The University of Western Australia Pixabay / Pexels, CC BY A stir went through the Australian science communication community last week, caused by an article with the headline Science ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olivera Simic, Associate Professor, Griffith University School cantina damages in Ivanivka village, Chernihiv region, Ukraine.”Anastasiia Chupis, Author provided In a village in the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine, activists documenting evidence of potential war crimes in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne National Cabinet meets today to discuss three big issues in Commonwealth-state financial relations: GST allocation, National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) funding, and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gill Armstrong, Researcher in architecture and urban planning, Climateworks Centre ronstik, Shutterstock Millions of homes were built before Australia introduced housing energy efficiency standards in 2003. They’re leaky. Gaps around windows, doors and between building materials allow air to move ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Georgiou, Senior Lecturer in Science Education, University of Wollongong Ask anyone about how Australian students are doing in school and they will likely tell you our results are abysmal and, more importantly, getting progressively worse. This narrative has been reinforced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter McPhee, Emeritus professor, The University of Melbourne The release of Napoleon unleashed a torrent of objections to historical errors in the movie. Social media platforms were inundated with outrage – particularly from military historians – objecting from everything from details ...
Chris Hipkins says the new government has an “anti-Māori bias” and thinks it was totally acceptable for those concerned to march in the streets yesterday. Led by Te Pāti Māori, thousands protested the reopening of parliament yesterday across the country, taking aim at the government’s plans to, among other things, ...
The Governor General will deliver the speech today, pressing play on a hectic three weeks of work for MPs, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. The speech from the throne ...
The government will find out at noon today whether it has reaped about $1 billion from selling carbon credits, or earned nothing and will have to wait until next year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Breen, Professor of Law, University of Waikato When the new government lodged an urgent “reservation” against adopting amendments to World Health Organization regulations, it baffled some expert observers but signalled an early win for the NZ First party. Under the heading ...
Two athletes who represented New Zealand together in junior swimming have made their debuts as newly selected Black Fins surf lifesavers in a major international competition. Zoe Crawford and Talitha McEwan won events and set records at the German Cup, an international pool rescue competition held in Warendorf in ...
We take a conflict-averse approach to bad therapy experiences in New Zealand, and it’s not serving us well. Counsellor Sarah Zimmerman explores what we should do instead. This article explores general dissatisfaction rather than serious misconduct.It’s 2023. We talk about therapy now. Or at least, more of us do. ...
In the second of a two-part series on miscarriage, Zahra Shahtahmasebi talks to two organisations working to open up the conversation around miscarriage. Part one: The silence of miscarriageWhile midwives and doctors help bring babies into the world, they’re also the first to know when there’s been a miscarriage. ...
A contractor fined for tipping truckloads of soil and rubbish, damaging native trees and causing slips on Auckland’s North Shore. He’s a repeat offender. A prosecution for discharging concrete into a creek, killing eels – also on the North Shore. Dairy effluent overflowing into a stream in the Bay ...
When Federated Mountain Clubs caught wind of a plan to install smoke alarms and heat detectors in backcountry huts, it approached the Department of Conservation with two issues. The outdoors umbrella group, which represents 99 clubs with more than 22,000 members, was concerned its clubs with huts and lodges ...
Opinion: Psychopathy is a concept regularly thrust into the media spotlight. Clickbait articles about whether your boss is a psychopath or whether you’re dating one. Whether it’s in relation to a real person or a fictional character, ‘psychopath’ and ‘psychopathic tendencies’ are often used to describe someone with an ...
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The Ngaio Marsh Awards Best Novel shortlist was beyond formidable this year. I made the trip to Christchurch last week fully expecting to be cheering one of my fellow finalists – all of whom were robbed when my book, Remember Me, was announced as winner. The novel owes much ...
Many of the boards in the not-for-profit sector are bogged down in operational detail rather than effecting transformational change The post Hope shouldn’t be a strategy for charities appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa De Bortoli, Senior Research Fellow, Australian Council for Educational Research Australian high school students have achieved steady results in a new round of international tests. The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results, released on Tuesday night, show 15-year-olds ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra It’s always a rush at the end of the year to push out announcements, but the Albanese government, with an overloaded work program, is finding itself jammed as Christmas bears down. Several major items ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock If you’re looking for clues about whether the Reserve Bank has any interest rate rises left, Governor Michele Bullock offered several in her statement after Tuesday’s board ...
Most of the local boards in Auckland are backing a proposal by Mayor Wayne Brown to shift to a new funding model for the region’s 21 boards. Others are warning it would have unintended consequences and puts local boards in a ‘Hunger Games’-style struggle for funding. The Mayor’s draft ...
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The Taxpayers’ Union is slamming today’s release by the so-called Human Rights Commission of a previously secret work programme to undermine New Zealander’s freedom of speech online . The HRC announced today that it has created a so-called “Independent ...
If a story has lasted for more than 2,000 years, it has to be good, right? Shanti Mathias watches a new production of The Clay Cart, on now in Auckland. Is the goal of art to be realistic, coherent and self-contained? Or is it to resonate: to call to emotions ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniela Kaleva, Program Manager, Researcher Development, Deakin University Cassandra Hannagan/Pinchgut Opera Sydney-based Pinchgut Opera is internationally praised for research-driven revivals of baroque opera gems with an acute attention to historically-informed interpretation of the music. In this production of Rinaldo, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lei Liu, Senior Research Fellow, Southern Cross University Australians love their coffee, and many can barely live without it. According to Statista, we consumed an average of about 2kg of coffee per person in 2022. Yet it’s estimated less than 1% of ...
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The new Government has dealt a blow to working New Zealanders with its decision to repeal Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) legislation this week. “This government promised to tackle the cost of living, and yet this decision shows they are hellbent on removing ...
A growing number of retirees are facing the challenge of renting as they age. Suitable affordable properties are rare, and often only offer short term tenancies resulting in uncertainty and stress. For those retirees with limited financial resources trying ...
The best books published in New Zealand this year, according to a bunch of good readers and books editor Claire Mabey.This year has been a big one for New Zealand publishing – I do not envy the current crop of Ockham NZ Book Awards judges their task of longlisting, ...
“Spending on public health measures must be seen as an investment, not a cost burden, and is critical to reducing demand for health care services.” said says Sir Collin Tukuitonga, President of the New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine ...
Te Pāti Māori MPs' swearing in at Parliament appears to have included oaths to King "Harehare", as well as to mokopuna, the Treaty and tikanga Māori. ...
For a political marketing expert, Labour's campaign slogan to examine…
Good point: comparative analysis rules, okay?
I wouldn't. Clueless dork syndrome has all parties in its relentless grasp. I'll be a war of evasive banalities. One of bomber's commentators defined the Labour target niche for us with succinct elegance:
"Transgender Maori vegan cyclist members of the Wellington bureaucracy."
What a shameful outing of prejudice and 'othering' of minorities in the guise of humour…. 'clueless dork' indeed.
Just to add some figures into this issue.
Māori are 17% of our community.
Vegans are 6% of our community.
Transgender people are 0.0-2% of our community.
Cyclists number 21% of our community.
Wellington bureaucrat number 28,054 or 0.5% of our community. They comprise 44% of all of our civil servants.
All in all, our clueless dork has insulted two fifths of the population. If he showed 'succinct elegance', then I'm glad I'm a wordy wearer of ill-fitting hand-me-downs.
Not that I support insulting anyone, but looking at the quoted figures.
That seems like a very high population percentage for Vegans.
Do you have a source for this?
I can't find any official surveys – but one research project from 2021 indicates that there are around 6% vegetarians and vegans.
https://healthify.nz/hauora-wellbeing/v/vegetarianism-veganism/
The site, annoyingly, doesn't link to either source….
It's *possible* that it's this one:
https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/most-kiwis-still-eat-meat
If the number of vegetarians is around 6%, I'd say that the numbers of vegans would be considerably lower….
I'm presuming that the survey informs the NZ Wikipedia data – which has Vegetarians at 6% – and no total for Vegans at all.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_by_country
This is the source.https://healthify.nz/hauora-wellbeing/v/vegetarianism-veganism/
3 or 6%. Not the issue for me, but rather that a group of people in our society were being insulted.
Yep, that's the one I found as well – no total for vegans.
I was wondering if there actually was some data out there – but looks as though there isn't….
Agree that insulting people (regardless of the % of the population) isn't OK.
🙂
I agree that minorities have nothing to be ashamed of. Any attempt to selectively correlate Labour's campaign strategy with a select nexus of such minority groups is proceeding upon a flawed assumption: it's the Greens who are more likely to do what the commentator expects.
The entire point of Labour is to seem different to National in the tiny minds of sheeple. So Labour will inevitable target the soft underbelly of National poll supporters. For another insight into that, tune into 1News tonight. RNZ's deputy political editor told us earlier this morning that they will feature another poll.
You wrote "I agree that minorities have nothing to be ashamed of." Do you agree that minorities should not be disrespected, as our clueless dork did?
The same clueless dork who you quoted approvingly with "succinct elegance".
Sorry, Dennis, but you don't walk away from this one without acknowledging that you approved of, and re-quoted to us, a racist, prejudiced, bigoted and shameful comment.
It's the opposite of "In it for you"!
I don't have that sectarian view of things. Usage of categories in political commentary is endemic, so why anyone would be fussed about any particular usage by leftists or rightists isn't ever likely to be evident to a centrist.
The entire point of any particular usage is whether it is effective propaganda or not. You're aware of how toxic wokeism has become for leftists? Important to learn from such unhealthy cultural trends whenever they occur.
Unless it learns how to do effective political framing, the left isn't likely to get much attraction amongst floating voters. Merely virtue-signalling at them has failed. Are you trying to suggest that such failure can't be learnt from?
"Transgender Maori vegan cyclist members of the Wellington bureaucracy."
This is a political framing of a point of view that is the opposite of what I stand for- literally, in my case, because I have been a political candidate.
Belittling terms have always been around. I choose to object to them when I feel that if I don't object then I become complicit.
I'm old enough to remember 'political framing' aka insults, such as 'bleeding heart liberal', 'pinko', 'commo', 'lefty', 'peacenik', 'and more recently 'virtue-signalling', 'politically correct' and a 'woke' practitioner of the 'politics of envy'.
Are you arguing that we should also be into such political framing in order to compete?
I much prefer 'In it for you".
Yes, you. All those pakeha, meat-loving, car-addicted, straight(-ish), provincial self-employed persons included.
At least, there was no mention of women in our 'clueless dork' friend's statement.
Because that issue raised itself on the Standard with misogynistic rants in the time of PM Jacinda Ardern. I rebutted them, too.
Look where that pile of insults got those mysogynistic 'political framers' in 2020 when women turned out for Labour.
The level of insults in this election is now, and will be high- as a counter to the politics of inclusion, fairness, compassion and "in it for you'.
I do understand where you are coming from, as a result of your articulation of it. There's a spectrum tween framing and insult. Seems to me some folks will see an insult where none was intended. One often sees that with satire, irony, etc. Some folks see a motive that the framer doesn't have.
My view is akin to that of an amateur social scientist: I note framings that achieve resonance because they then operate similarly to levers or portals, inasmuch as resonance tends to constellate collective opinion.
In my view a commentator has a mental interface with the public arena, as well as a tech interface. Each of those being driven by a triad (user/interface/public) plus a tetrad (user/interface/network/public) when you incorporate the systems view. Such is the basis of ecosystemic human relations in the Deep Green view, but one must to go further & include stuff like mimesis/memetics that generate field effects between people & systems.
Toxic wokeism, unhealthy cultural trends, virtue signalling. Dennis Frank, you're seasoning your comments with meaningless rw catchphrases again.
I'm guessing you are a casualty of the meaningless rw culture war against phantoms…Head injury?
Don't do that. You had an argument that you could make coherently, insulting someone doesn't add to that, it just inflames things.
@ macl..
You left out 'fleshist'..
(Def: flesh-eater who sneers at non-flesh-eaters..)
Philip, I left out a lot of things. I am all of those things I listed though I do own a bike that is unusually ridden (unusual in terms of frequency but especially since I don't often pedal as it's battery electric). But it sticks in my craw to read jokes based on 'othering'.
I believe in joking at my own expense so I can take the piss of Irish and Scottish traits happily, being a Mac1, but not of others. One little trick I learned is to tell Irish jokes but change the subject of the humour to a Kiwi- suddenly it's not funny any more!
"How do you get a Kiwi up onto a roof?" "Tell him the drinks are on the house…."
I'm a Kiwi, btw.
Hear hear.
Against my better judgement I ventured over to The Daily Blog for a wee gander. I soon vacated the blog site very rapidly. What a vapid next of vipers the commenters (and of course B B himself) have degenerated into. I used to make TDB one of my daily reads but thank Dog, no longer. I do wonder who 'they' will ultimately vote for, if at all.
You're braver than me JB. I won't go there. Too depressing.
[comment with quotes but no links deleted]
Oops!
Sorry…
This last weekend we went on a road trip from Nelson to Hokitika to celebrate a 100th birthday of a whanau and made it a round trip. (Via Reefton one way then Westport the other) Never saw 1 pothole. Never had a ramrade in our parts for about 20 years either for that matter!
Interesting. A conspiracy theorist would deduce that this regional paradise effect was produced by a Labour strategy to grow their support base in the top of the South Island and west coast. As if departmental maintenance is regionally-driven, I presume.
Although such regional bias would be denied by both the departmental heads and the minister, to reassure sheeple. In order to import ram-raids into your region, you must first import the foreigners to establish attractive shops! Worked well in Ak.
Nick Smith both as local MP and as Minister defended his part of the state highway network really well.
Also that route barely gets a major truck.
I do the Crown Range from Wanaka to Queenstown most days, and frankly it's a dream compared to anything north of Taupo.
I've been watching TV coverage of the Tour de France lately. No road potholes, although on one stage the riders had to contend with cobbles, which were very tricky and led to crashes.
Seen this way France looks terrific, with its mountains and picturesque old towns.
What's striking is how much vegetation cover the French have retained. A contrast with good old NZ, where the odd macrocarpa stands in a sea of grass.
My memory of 3000 kms of driving on French provincial roads was their quality, similar to our two-lane SH1 standard but mostly I remember the 70 km/h speed limit. A speed that respected safety, the road surface and the views to be had.
Agreed Mac.
The Crown Range is still 100km/h at the moment and there are regular accidents. I would speculate that many are caused by people being distracted by the wonderful views.
A clear case for either 70km/h or 80km/h between Cardrona and SH6 at the Arrow Junction.
Ad says (above) that he drives it most days-I wonder what he thinks.
Crown Range definitely should be down to 80km.
Seriously what's the point of risking your life.
I came away from France with the conclusion that the french know how to do country…
New Zealand does not…
France is happy to run national debt at 90-100% of GDP. It has been doing so for decades to prop up its excellent healthcare and aged care sectors, with retirement at 60y. Personal tax runs at ~40%.
Loneliness as producer of health costs: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/how-our-cities-could-help-alleviate-loneliness
For second, they just go for extending the Greener cities trend. Third, they just go for rejuvenating centers of cities, which has also been happening for years. Would've been better to devise collaborative projects folks can join into.
Greens giving the Nat/ACT bear a prod: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/greens-launch-maori-land-policy-hoki-whenua-mai-vows-to-return-stolen-land-revisit-claims-and-redress/IH4JRCB53BFAZD2VAJA2GUH774/
I'm okay on the principle of their policy: satisfactory resolution of problems created by past maladministration. Natural justice. I'll reserve judgment on their proposed method until I see if others find any flaws.
Just the 9 comments this morning Dennis-you are losing your touch.
Ha ha BG prob his wife has a sock taped to his mouth at home so he has to make up for it on TS !!
Well I could do more – but I'm just trying to keep faith with all the left-wingers who have gone into hiding…
Yeah…Riiight. Complete with two hands in pockets, pothole plonkers.
Reality….
And beside that, NZ's chronic car culture addiction is just exacerbating any existing problem . To say nothing of the fkn heavy truck trailers rooting the roads/highways.
Should we spend more money on "fixing" something that should be being replaced….by major Public Transport and Rail networks ?
No.
F#$@%ing Joyce back in 2010 permitted trucks as heavy as 53 tonnes on NZ roads. This greatly increases the level of road wear per truck, where truck road wear was already massive compared to a family 4WD.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/change-lifts-truck-load-limit-to-53-tonnes/O2ARXF3BQRBBRTJWMAZY2TDX5U/#:~:text=*%20Trucks%20will%20be%20permitted%20to,up%20from%2012.6m%20now.
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2010/04/03/heavier-trucks-approved/
I'm expecting Nationals Pot Hole Policy to dovetail with their Corrections Policy next – prisoner chain gangs filling pot holes with shovels and buckets of gravel being dragged behind them. /sarc
Danielo Dolci, a most remarkable man known as the Ghandi of Sicily, organised unemployed men in what is known aa a 'reverse strike' to work on roads in Sicily in the early Fifties.
Instead of prisoners he used the unemployed who showed their willingness to work and thus denied the claim that some use to vilify the out- of-work as lazy. He also challenged the local government, the Mafia and the corrupt by so doing. He also used hunger strikes and non-violent resistance, resisted war and gave up a comfortable existence as an architect for the wealthy, instead to work as a toilet cleaner and gardener in an orphanage after WW2.
https://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/danilo-dolci-a-gandhi-in-sicily.html
National would have no idea about any of that…….
They walked in with Labour, but got the car with National.
It's been done before.
Well…Dom. Thanks for pointing out the Obvious. However do the vehicles you represent..have eighteen tyres and wheels ?
And huge weight? And cause most of the damage ?
Also…Nick Leggett got a mention in the RNZ link.
The same Nick?
Riiight.
Question:
Why are dairy farms allowed right on the edge of the already polluted Manukau harbour..?
Given all we now know..
..how the fuck is this allowed to continue…?
For cow shit/nitrates to be allowed to just pour into the harbour..?
How's a city allowed to keep expanding on already polluted harbours that are regularly closed to human food gathering and recreation due to human sewage over flows??
The Green party appears to have a death wish. The same sort of activist fanaticism that led to anti-smacking debacle that saw the Left in opposition for 9 years appears to be back with the insane suggestion that private property be subject to Maori land claims. Talk about lunatics with a death wish!
Apart from anything else, who is this policy meant to appeal to? It is the sort of insanity you'd expect from a bunch of unwashed anti-capitalist student anarchists living in squat, not a party with mainstream aspirations.
Or, alternatively:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/493846/greens-announce-policy-to-repeal-2008-deadline-to-lodge-treaty-claims
I think it should be mainstream to attempt to resolve the illegal breaches of our nation's founding document by the state. Private property would only be included as it was sold by current owners. Try and read before you react.
Right so your the sort of person who thinks telling every person in NZ who owns their own home or farm or factory, or has a mortgage pursuant to that end, that what they've purchased in good faith can now be subject to a Maori land claim is a vote winner?
It us ridiculous policy no one asked for and seems to be mainly designed as a masochistic desire to upset 98% of the electorate.
The Greens keep whining that they are a serious party. On the basis of this policy I say bullshit to that.
[“… that what they've purchased in good faith can now be subject to a Maori land claim is a vote winner?”
You appear to be implying that land would be taken off non-Māori and given to Māori. This is not true, it’s been pointed out to you that it’s not true, and you’ve repeated it. Even if you didn’t mean that, both your comments can easily be construed by people reading to mean that.
If I see you run this line again, I will consider you to be knowingly lying and I will ban you until well after the election. Only warning.
https://www.greens.org.nz/hoki_whenua_mai_announcement
And you're the sort of person unable to comprehend what they announced and have instead reacted to a scenario that you have manufactured in your head.
Try again:
And who decides the price Arkie?
Current market value at the time………..would have to agree with Sanctuary though that its a very problematic proposition and in reality would have many fish hooks to extract………………
what are the problems and fish hooks you see?
I was trying to recall over the weekend how many times I’ve voted Green, Labour and collectively other parties to date. At a reasonable guess I think about one third each. But there is no way on planet earth I’d consider voting Green in their current incarnation – trying to out manoeuvre TPM to see who can steer hardest left. Meanwhile they drag Labour down with then. Hopefully somewhere in the inevitable election postmortem someone asks the very basic question – what does an environmental based party look like?
If you look at GP policy and listen to GP speeches, it's very clear that the environment is high in their list of priorities.
https://www.greens.org.nz/manifesto_2023
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17-07-2023/#comment-1960174
https://www.greens.org.nz/green_party_agm_2023_james_shaw_s_speech
There’s much more whining around election time – potholes, tax/cut, iwi/kiwi, bene bashing, light bulbs, shower heads and the madness of the nanny state.
In days gone by, such whining might have fetched the whiners a smack as part of good voter correction – whether/weather that's still the case, time will tell.
Grumbler get your gun!
mod note.
It is sad to see that the green party has no real interest in Green issues that really matter. Like a marine sanctuary or an end to bottom trawling. Even the damage of the land and infrastructure through iwi owed forest companies is not mentioned and the taxpayer has to foot the bill. I am interested how all the claims are set vis a vis the billions already paid in reparation and the tax exemption of iwis.
Lets not forget, it is not the "Crown" who pays but the taxpayer.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/5130429/Super-rich-tribes-pay-no-tax#:~:text=A%20law%20change%20by%20the,those%20businesses%20are%20getting%20big.
As an immigrant, settling here some 37 years ago, this discussion is provoking the feeling that I to have to uproot again. It was psychologically some work to feel "at home" but it seems I need to be prepared to move as the situation here is getting more and more unsettling.
In that vain, I think all immigrants and people thinking about coming back should be told in an unambiguous way what they will have to expect and expectations about their contribution.
Look at the policies and you will find what you claim is not there:
https://www.greens.org.nz/marine_policy
https://www.greens.org.nz/environmental_protection_policy
https://www.greens.org.nz/conservation_policy
etc etc
What alarmist b.s. there f.w..
Are you a'fearing a brown people uprising..?
What exactly is 'unsettling' you..?
You aren't just pearl-clutching for the sake of it..?
Do tell..!
Bit of a racist remark there? You will be surprised to know that I have been told twice that pakeha ate only "allowed" to be here to pay for the upkeep of Maori. Seems to be confirmed.
Been told twice…?..eh..?
By two different racist whites..?
Or was it the same one saying it twice..?
And what exactly 'seems to be confirmed'..?
And how exactly..?
By Maori on a hui no less. But never mind, people like you have made up their mind that anybody else is just out to exploit. Thats ok. I will make my decision and thats that.
This idea of mini-ministries (c f. fix potholes) could have merit..
How about a ministry to fix scumbag slum landlords..?
For starters..?
Alternatively you could put the landlords in the potholes.
Heh..!