Open mike 17/09/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, September 17th, 2019 - 80 comments
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80 comments on “Open mike 17/09/2019 ”

    • Any New Zealander with the intelligence to look at what is happening in China – the incarceration of over 1 million Uyghurs in "re-education" camps, the ongoing persecution of the Tibetans and Christians, and now the pressure (and probable invasion) of Hong Kong, – and imagine that China, with its aim of world domination, won't do the same here when they take over, is dreaming.

      Trump may be a complete f-wit, and he may be dangerous, but Xi Jingping is sinister.

      • greywarshark 2.1.1

        Too much of the purist race thing from China – and stories of Falun Gong being allocated status of bad and so dispensable. What have we here; a country admired principally because it 'has the trains running on time' as was said of Mussolini's Italy.

        • sumsuch 2.1.1.1

          Me, myself, I always see democracy as the end. Don't know how close Japan has got yet. Is that 'dogma' or over-idealisation? I'm proud of it, rather than the 'freedom' of WW 2 which lead to our present plutocracy. And the US Supreme Court refusing to defend 'democracy'. Makes you laugh your guts out.

  1. ianmac 3

    It will be interesting to see if today Bennett persists with her line of questioning at QT. Even more interesting if Winston answers on behalf of the PM.

    Newsroom Laura Walters has published in full the Simon Mitchell report on his declaration of the non appearance of Sarah's complaint.

    The legal letter, and an accompanying statement from Mitchell, claims the woman – referred to in an article by The Spinoff as ‘Sarah’ – never raised allegations of sexual assault in her meetings or email correspondence with Mitchell or the panel.

    https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/09/16/811922/labour-party-doubles-down-on-its-version-of-events

    • Sacha 3.1

      Te Spinoff has the lawyer's statement and a response from the complainant: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/16-09-2019/two-statements-on-the-labour-party-inquiry/

      • Sacha 3.1.1

        Isn't it great to see real journalism from new media organisations.

      • ianmac 3.1.2

        Thanks Sacha for the link to Spinoff. Simon and Sarah cannot both be right. Maybe the emails did not arrive at their destination but Sarah also says she discussed the details with Simon and the Committee. Weird!

        2+2= a twisted piece of string.

        • weka 3.1.2.1

          2+2/(sexual assault trauma+rape culture) = a twisted piece of string sticking out of a Gordian knot ball of string.

    • Dennis Frank 3.2

      Yesterday the Spinoff published that with a response from the complainants' lawyer. Have a look, Ian, see what you think when you compare both statements. Rare to see such a stark incompatibility in regard to the assertions of fact! https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/16-09-2019/two-statements-on-the-labour-party-inquiry/

      Seems to me they possess proof that the complainants are telling the truth, but it hinges on each email destination computer address – and if it reliably identitifies the owner/operator. To helpfully inform the public, they ought to publish each email as a photo so we can see the evidence for ourselves.

      • ianmac 3.2.1

        One can send an email but forget attachments but Sarah says she discussed the detail with the committee who say no she didn't. It would be very sad if Sarah has bigger problems of recall.

        Have Spinoff/Newsroom Bennett actually met Sarah?

        • Dennis Frank 3.2.1.1

          Dunno. That's another facet of the controversy that bothers me. Unidentifiable people can seem hypothetical! We assume they are actually real because Labour party sources say they are. Blind faith can work – the christians achieved hegemony for millennia using it – but I'd prefer politics to be based on real humans, their actual experience and evidence.

          Mitchell writes he advised Sarah to email the assistant Labour gen sec rather than himself, and doesn't say that person provided the panel with copies, so Sarah could have been under a false impression. If deliberate, seems bad faith to me…

          • greywarshark 3.2.1.1.1

            This interesting Correction in stuff Monday 16/9/19 P2 :

            Richard Griffin's column published in The Nelson Mail on Saturday incorrectly stated that the alleged offender in the Labour scandal worked in the prime minster's office in the Beehive, and that he was a member of her "hand-picked staff". It also incorrectly stated that the role would require "daily, sometimes hourly, interaction with the prime minister".
            []
            The alleged offender worked in the Labour leader's office, a unit that helps MPs deal with the day-to-day business of Parliament. It is based in the Bowen House office block and is separate from the prime minister's office, on the ninth floor of the Beehive.

            Stuff has printed the correction which reins in Richard Griffin's reckons to actual reality. ('There are things that you know, you don't know', and things you don't know that you don't know, etc. Refer to Donald Rumsfeld, USA Secretary of Defense speech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiPe1OiKQuk)

            A feature of newspaper presentation of content to the reader that stuff displays shows disrespect for prime people in our polity and their positions of authority. Notice how, in the item copied above, buildings such as Beehive and Bowen House begin with a capital letter. However 'prime minister' is in lower case! I think that says something about the lack of respect of the media barons for the people and our elected representatives and government itself. (I inserted a space to create a second paragraph in the correction piece which made its meaning clearer I thought.)

            • Dennis Frank 3.2.1.1.1.1

              Who knew Ardern has two offices?? Hardly anyone, I suspect. I wonder if she uses both. Can't really blame the Dick for being confused.

              Re capitalisation, could be the journo is caught between two worlds: that of those trained in traditional grammar & those not. Result is random capitalisation, to serve both audiences…

              • Incognito

                Electorate MPs also have electorate offices in their electorates. Who knew? John Key used to have many hats, remember?

                • Dennis Frank

                  Yeah but using that logic you'd have to count a third office for the PM in her electorate. The two she seems to have in parliament do reflect her twin hats, of course. If they are staffed by folk performing different functions – those required by the twin processes of democracy & governance – then nobody can claim it's a waste of space & resources.

              • greywarshark

                No I think that the writing form or rules has been declared on capitalisation – its not up to personal preference.

            • Psycho Milt 3.2.1.1.1.2

              …in the item copied above, buildings such as Beehive and Bowen House begin with a capital letter. However 'prime minister' is in lower case!

              It's actually a bit of a grey area. If you're thinking about it generically, ie as the office that's used by prime ministers of New Zealand, it's the prime minster's office. If you're thinking about it as the office of Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister, it's the Prime Minister's office. Either is fine in the context it was used in.

              • greywarshark

                Don't blame me for it PM. Or that other commenter who calls themself Grey Area.

                There are various rationalisations for changing capitalisation such as this one from The Guardian. The writer sounds as if he is Up Himself (to use a less formal style).

                https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2010/oct/04/new-york-street-signs-capitals

                Most readers seem comfortable with a less formal style. A grand total of two people complained about our coverage of the pope's, rather than the Pope's, recent visit to the UK. We did receive a letter last week complaining that calling David Cameron the prime minister, not the Prime Minister (a style we have been following for more than a decade) reflected a "lowering of standards", but such complaints are few.

                This is what Canterbury Uni says. But they don't make it clear about titles and honorifics. It appears that one could refer to the chancellor of The University of Canterbury, even though they would be of equal importance, one needing the other, I would think.

                https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/webguide/uc-style-guide/writing-for-the-web/language-usage/

                We are having great discussions about the lack of respect for complaints about bullying of people, and the casual acceptance of sexual urges being displayed and acted on. Perhaps we are all too bloody casual about what consideration good humans must have for others, respecting their bright and brief life on this earth, similar to our own beacon with an inestimable cornucopia of abundant gifts, so often unrecognised.

            • sumsuch 3.2.1.1.1.3

              Rather despise Richard Griffin. Instrument. He has a column in Nelson? One of those doves freed by social democracy who doesn't come back to perform devotion like my polio uncle for CCS. Hard to like these freed fools as much as they obviously like themselves.

  2. imagine what would happen if the labour party or the greens had as an mp – a former(?) chinese-spook/member of the chinese communist party..?

    and j.ardern/shaw went with said mp to china…for a meeting with the head of chinas’ spooks….?

    the media would have such a meltdown – they would need to be put on life-support…

    hosking would implode….

    hooton would have palpitations..

    the tories do it..?…nedia/r.w-spinners/toadys – totally unruffled..

  3. A 5

    I worry about how vaping is being promoted – please pass onto the vapers in your life

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-16/im-horrified-by-the-damage-vaping-does-to-lungs/11516316

    As a lung-imaging scientist, I develop new ways to see inside the chest so that lung abnormalities can be easily measured and monitored in patients.

    I see the devastating effects inside the lungs of cigarette and cannabis smokers. I also see how the airways are destroyed and how millions of air sacs appear demolished or completely wiped out, all of which results in severe breathlessness, miserable quality of life and then death.

    An MRI image showing damage inside lungs

    PHOTO: The lung MRI of an ex-smoker of cannabis and tobacco, showing poor lung function and truncated airway tree. In vaping patients, oily substances have also been found inside their lung tissue and airways. (Suppled: Grace Parraga)

    Because of my experience developing new ways to image the lungs and seeing the impact of inhaled smoke and gases on lung health, I have been disturbed that governments and regulators have taken a hands-off approach to the risk of e-cigarettes.

    I am alarmed that e-cigarette marketing has become pervasive, persuasive and widespread in the US and Canada, especially when this marketing targets children and teenagers in whom lung growth and development has not yet completed.

    • weka 5.1

      seems a no brainer to me: regulate in the same way as tobacco (including in pubic spaces). Better yet, also make it a med that has to be bought from a pharmacy.

      It's fucking ridiculous that people are saying inhaling chemical-carrying vapour multiple times a day deep into your lungs won't have harmful effects.

      • The Al1en 5.1.1

        I mentioned in my responses about vaping a few days ago how Doctors don't advocate anyone start vaping, for the same reasons noted above about smoking tobacco or cannabis – Putting anything your lungs apart from clean fresh air is a bad decision. However, smokers are advised to switch, because it is deemed the safer option.

        Harvard edu on vaping damage to lungs

        Ignoring the recent cluster of u.s cases, likely to be caused by contaminants, their bottom line is "Perhaps vaping should be viewed as a “lesser of evils” for current cigarette smokers." which is what the medics have told us.

        For those smoking cannabis, the outlook is not so good.

        American lung Assoc on weed smoking damage to lungs

        Vaping "may have similar respiratory health effects as e-cigarette use." but smokers have a far worse bottom line and projected end game.

        Though obviously not as bad as tobacco smokers

        https://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/smoking-facts/health-effects-of-smoking.html

        • weka 5.1.1.1

          People can make choices about which they want to do based on their own health, no problem with that. My concern is the people saying that vaping is benign for the vaper and those around them. It's not and it's daft to say that. We should be regulating this around advertising, public space and so on. The push for it to be trendy and everywhere is capitalist, hipster bullshit.

          • weka 5.1.1.1.1

            I would apply that to cannabis too. Same regs on public spaces (and enclosed spaces like cars), don't allow advertising. The capitalists are going to be all over cannabis too if they get the chance. Hoping we can legalise without making the mistakes the US has.

          • Sacha 5.1.1.1.2

            The 'push for it to be everywhere' is funded by tobacco companies. Enough said.

            • weka 5.1.1.1.2.1

              yep.

            • The Al1en 5.1.1.1.2.2

              I know I've never bough a vape product, or been influenced to by a tobacco company, though of course that doesn't mean some haven't since they've entered the local market.

              • Sacha

                The current saturation marketing push seems timed to get in before the product is regulated. How it has not been mystifies me.

                • The Al1en

                  They're trying to get market share where they have historically had none, and with the big money comes big advertising and promotion, but that's not all going there way.

                  Big tobacco in NZ – Stuff

                  There are indications vapers feel the same. According to a survey of US and Canadian vapers conducted by Dr Tanusree Jain of Trinity College Dublin, a large proportion of vapers blame Big Tobacco for their past addiction to cigarettes and hold negative views of Big Tobacco owned e-cigarette brands.

          • The Al1en 5.1.1.1.3

            I've never met someone or seen any advocate for vaping say they aren't without risk, which I suppose is why they are an r18 product, even the non nicotine e liquids.

            Not being either I don't know if it's capitalist hipster bs, remembering how cigarettes use to be 'cool' too and they were/are really gross, but if more regulation is needed then so be it. Advertising should probably run along the lines of tobacco ie None, and public spaces like smoking should be off limits, if people aren't already considerate with their habit, which I know, some aren't.

            I don't agree that flavours should be banned for consenting adults, but if they are, what will be etc… we can always add our own, though of course that makes a bit of an ass out of the law where nicotine is permitted but a flavour draws the foul and gets a red card.

        • WeTheBleeple 5.1.1.2

          Vaping is to Labour as Cigarettes are to National.

          The lesser of two evils is correct. I guess it's the marketing why some vapers think they're doing themselves no harm. As an ex-smoker and vaper I'm trying to keep my head out of the clouds, and looking to stop the vape in time – but addiction has its hooks deep. Other substances have been by comparison easy to give up while nicotine will mess with me psychologically for years after a quit event.

          When you add mental health issues like depression into the mix, a malady known for exacerbating self destructive behavior, it is no surprise so many still partake.

          Promoting it seems criminal, except as an alternate to smoking. The underlying causes of mental stress and depression range considerably, but much might be placed squarely at the feet of a society that competes rather than cooperates and places money before man; with governments and media that exacerbate division and derision of fairer human characteristics.

          The opportunists aka capitalists with no moral compass have an awful lot to answer for. Opiate epidemic in US = money money money.

          • The Al1en 5.1.1.2.1

            Promoting it seems criminal, except as an alternate to smoking.

            I originally read this and was preparing to strongly disagree, until I noticed 'except'. lol

            As an alternative to smoking, even without long term data to support it, it's a common refrain from those who have made the switch. I've said before I recommend it to every smoker I meet, not only for the real up change in lifestyle, but especially financially.

      • cleangreen 5.1.2

        True weka 100% That vaping chemicals together in combinations that have never been toxicology analysed as together in a combined synergistic insult may be far more harmful than each component used separately.

        Even more than that one must also consider the combined effects sitting in a room with several others vaping with other chemicals added into their vapor will be added to the air all are breathing and even add a more toxic soup to human health damage, so we need to stop vaping as it is just like playing Russian roulette.

  4. Bruce 7

    Interesting to learn that the university is such a hot bed of smokers desperate to get off the cigs that the benevolent producers of vapes have taken to sponsoring slots on the student radio to help these students get the help they need.

    • WeTheBleeple 7.1

      In my post-grad classes there was maybe 1:30 smokers. Typically the only person out for a smoke break with me was staff. Undergrad probably twice that. Can only speak for the biological sciences…

  5. marty mars 8

    wtf?

    Ngāti Kahu chief executive, Anahera Herbert-Graves, said the Ministry of Culture and Heritage did not consult with the iwi before including the Mangonui area in the list of destinations for the voyage.

    "They never approached Ngāti Kahu, they were approached by a local tauiwi organisation and were invited to come into our rohe. I don't think it occurred to them to contact Ngāti Kahu.

    "About four or five months ago we saw the programme come out.

    "They were going to land in Mangonui, inside Tokerau, and we put it back to the mana whenua hapū. The three hapū were very strong in their opposition, they said no-way jose.

    and the response is, well, an absolute joke and shameful imo

    The deputy chief executive for the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Tamsin Evans, said Mangonui was earmarked as a destination for the voyage because it was the home of the Waka Hourua expert, Sir Hector Busby.

    She said the ministry thought it had sufficient iwi support, following talks with a single iwi representitive.

    "I think the ministry engaged with a small community organisation, called the Doubtless Bay Promotions Trust, on which there was somebody in an iwi liaison role.

    "It was felt sufficient that through the promotions trust we had a wider engagement with the community, which included someone we believed was liaising with iwi."

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115843712/captain-cook-replica-banned-from-docking-in-mangonui-during-commemoration

    History eh – just make it up – now this is some history

    Ms Herbert-Graves said Captain Cook never actually landed in the Ngāti Kahu rohe.

    "Cook never came into our rohe, he sailed by, and apparently cast his eye to the port and said, 'oh, that's Doubtless Bay.' It's a fiction for him to 're-visit' us because he never came.

    "He was a barbarian. Wherever he went, like most people of the time of imperial expansion, there were murders, there were abductions, there were rapes, and just a lot of bad outcomes for the indigenous people.

    "He didn't discover anything down here, and we object to Tuia 250 using euphemisms like 'encounters' and 'meetings' to disguise what were actually invasions."

    • bwaghorn 8.1

      Can I ask what position in the tribe the "single iwi representative " holds.

      • Sacha 8.1.1

        Missionary. 🙂

      • weka 8.1.2

        Hey B, is it the Farmers Weekly that's the good rural newspaper?

        • bwaghorn 8.1.2.1

          It's the one that isnt totally bias. Gives all sides a platform . This week is quiet a feature on how much pressure is supposedly being heaped on farmers from the governments massive reform programmes.

          I put supposedly as it could be true but being just a lowly shepherd it’s all above me . ( just the way I like it)

  6. Peter 9

    I see a Herald headline today: Mike Hosking: 'Now I'm not so sure we are being fleeced on petrol prices." Was he a tobacco salesman and lobbyist in a previous life?

  7. marty mars 11

    What a disgraceful idiot this person is

    A Hamilton City councillor with a history of public blunders has made a tearful apology for parking in a disabled parking spot during a council event.

    A photo posted to Facebook shows Siggi Henry's signed campaign car parked over a disabled parking spot at the Hamilton Gardens.

    Half of the car is pictured within the lines while the other half protrudes out of the park and onto the road.

    "I have never parked like this is my life … It is so out of character for me to do something like that."

    ummm yeah nah it is totally IN character for you imo

    It's not the first time Henry has made headlines for offensive statements and actions.

    Earlier this year she apologised for wearing an anti-vaccine t-shirt to an autism awareness event. Weeks later, Henry came under fire for sticking a flu shot "fact sheet" on her office door, stating what she believed to be the dangers of influenza.

    And in a 2017 council debate, Henry said falling fat people were a health hazard because they could fall on you.

    She also has a history of opposing anti-fluoride, saying "smarty pants" scientists had brainwashed the public.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115845570/hamilton-city-councillor-makes-teary-apology-for-disabled-faux-park

    • AB 11.1

      We actually have a disability parking permit – but seldom use it because the boy is doing well and he feels that the space can be left for someone who needs it more. I have always thought that society is able to function only because of a myriad of such small acts of virtue – far more so than merely obeying the law. But it looks like such good nature just provides an 'opportunity' for the Siggis of the world.

      • greywarshark 11.1.1

        She was obviously in a hurry – pulled up and jumped out and was snapped in that second. She may have been busting to go to the loo, that is very disabling. We can give people the benefit of the doubt sometimes i think.

    • Sacha 11.2

      She can't even steal a mobility park properly. Clown.

  8. Poission 12

    The law of unintended consequences and the genetically modified mosquito that has gone wild.

    https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1172907395439312899

  9. florabunda 13

    We should not forget that while there are plenty of philandering men out there,

    there are also plenty of silly women.

    [Please stick to one user name, thanks]

    [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.]

    • Dukeofurl 13.1

      What a terrible thing to say … being silly is irrelevant ..or having a drink or wearing what you please.

  10. greywarshark 14

    People are getting sick and tired of Boorish. I bet he would never sit and eat his meals nicely when his parents had him around. Now the EU feels like spanking him, but of course they are too civilised, and instead are developing a new nuke that personalises by going after your smell and DNA with cells that they have grown from a swab of a dog's nose. (No animals would have been hurt in the experiment except Boorish. They probably have got Eion Musk interested in it.) /sarc

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49715705 Brexit: Boris Johnson attacked by Luxembourg PM over 'nightmare'

    https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-49695563/passports-and-nationality-the-brits-going-dutch-over-brexit

    Channel 4 News 846K subscribers

    It was the day BoJo went No Show. Boris Johnson, in Luxembourg for talks with EU officials, abruptly pulled out of a joint press conference with the country's prime minister Xavier Bettel, amid noisy anti-Brexit protests opposite the podiums. Mr Bettel, who heads one of Europe's smallest countries, promptly upstaged Mr Johnson by going ahead without him, describing Brexit as a "nightmare" for EU citizens. You can't hold people hostage for party political reasons, he said, and don't blame us for the mess you made. Mr Johnson is still insisting there is time to agree a Brexit deal.

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1178721/Brexit-news-Boris-Johnson-Benn-no-deal-delay-today-live-BBC-backstop-UK-EU

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-no-deal-boris-johnson-leave-legal-loophole-a9107051.html 'Flaw' in legislation passed by MPs means opponents of no-deal will need to take 'counter measures' to ensure UK does not crash out of EU next month, barrister says

    A thinkpiece for constitutional law watchers. https://ukconstitutionallaw.org/2019/09/13/oliver-garner-the-benn-burt-extension-act-a-roadblock-to-a-no-deal-brexit/

    The Charge of the Light Brigade       I
    HALF a league, half a league,
       Half a league onward,
    All in the valley of Death
       Rode the six hundred.
    'Forward, the Light Brigade!
    Charge for the guns!' he said:
    Into the valley of Death
       Rode the six hundred.

           II
    'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
    Was there a man dismay'd?
    Not tho' the soldier knew
       Some one had blunder'd:
    Their's not to make reply,
    Their's not to reason why,
    Their's but to do and die:
    Into the valley of Death
       Rode the six hundred.

    That's the spirit, forward, follow me say the doughty warriors, and be remembered for being heroes who overcame rationality, rode forth trying to take the high ground and fell on your noses.

    Boorish as the Black Night, (come on ya pansy) the EU is with the King of the Britons in this debacle.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=886hNDgwfMk

  11. Peter 15

    Paula Bennett in the House today all concerned about ethics.

    Was she the one who released the personal information about Winston Peters before the last election?

  12. greywarshark 16

    The media can't help itself even while it pats itself on the back for being a virtuous outlet. Take note how they will reach into records of your past and will stick you at will with sad events you wanted to let lie. This in the Otago Daily Times which I thought had standards.

    https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/cricket/ben-stokes-family-tragedy-half-brother-sister-shot-dead-children

  13. Peter 17

    Paula Bennet can get up Parliament and under privilege mention the name of someone alleged to have done something but Winston Peters can't get up and mention Judith Collins as a person connected to Oravida?

    • ianmac 17.1

      Certainly a bit odd Peter. Mallard did refer to Ruling 23 as to why, but we amateurs may not reason why. Must be pretty compelling but of course most would know the Collins connection.

  14. Dennis Frank 18

    I agree with the idiot (/savant): http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2019/09/contempt.html – I hadn't noticed that the British legal establishment had decided to pull the plug on British arms manufacturers. Is there a whiff of revolution in the air over there??

    Will the minister who broke the law get punished? Seems a real test of the traditional expectation of `rule of law' only applying to the wealthy & powerful when standard evasion strategies fail.

  15. Dennis Frank 19

    "The president of New Zealand's criminal lawyers' society supports legalising cannabis for personal use", reports Stuff. "The association said its membership comprised 700 practicing criminal lawyers across New Zealand… "I think most members would support legalisation of cannabis for personal use," Andersen said." https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/115818154/legalise-weed-criminal-lawyer-group-president-says

    Seems significant, inasmuch as parts of the establishment making progress hardly ever happens. Sadly, the 80% of Aotearoans who have voluntarily embarked on the outlaw lifestyle are now threatened with the establishment seal of approval. I wonder, when the mystique evaporates, what other form of rebellion they will seek.

  16. Dennis Frank 20

    Listening to the 4pm RNZ news, I thought I heard Winston accusing Jacinda of issuing fake news. Apparently she told the media he was having a month off due to knee surgery, or something, so when he returned & media asked him about it he said no, that was fake news. Well, he could have said she misunderstood, eh?

    So if there's headlines screaming `Deputy PM accuses PM of fake news' it will mean journos took it like I did. I doubt Winston had that intent. Just shows the fine line between perception & reality, eh? 🙄

  17. cleangreen 21

    Judith Collins must be ready to come home now to face our accusers of the 'Oridiva demolition pipe company' scandal now?

    smileyWelcome home Judith.

    Queen Judith Orivida Collins. Digger operations Manager of the Kauri Swamp log & Auckland Airport Energy pipeline destruction cover-up It’d. (2014).

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/115811300/fuel-firms-told-to-invest-at-auckland-airport-by-june-or-government-should-step-in

    The inquiry report published on Tuesday said a digger operated by a "contractor" suspected of damaging the fuel pipeline in 2014, setting in motion its later failure, was owned by Auckland company Oravida Kauri, which was renamed Kauri Ruakaka the following year

  18. joe90 22

    Shapiro's inerrant right wing logic at work here.

    https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1173628757221019651

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  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    4 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    9 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    9 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    10 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    11 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
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