“It was always going to take a special kind of leader to pick up Ted Kennedy’s mantle as senior Senator from Massachusetts—champion of working families and scourge of special interests. Elizabeth Warren never lets us forget that the work of taming Wall Street’s irresponsible risk taking and reforming our financial system is far from finished. And she never hesitates to hold powerful people’s feet to the fire: bankers, lobbyists, senior government officials and, yes, even presidential aspirants.
Elizabeth Warren’s journey from janitor’s daughter to Harvard professor to public watchdog to U.S. Senator has been driven by an unflagging determination to level the playing field for hardworking American families like the one she grew up with in Oklahoma. She fights so hard for others to share in the American Dream because she lived it herself.”
+1 Chooky. But Clinton has the name recognition – we’re unlikely to see Warren throw her hat in the ring this time around.
The problem this election is that Clinton looks such a sure thing for the Democratic nomination, who is likely to challenge her for the role? Probably Biden, and others of a similar calibre. Those who have future intentions are unlikely to want to soil their image by being an also-ran now. However, the party primary elections are a large part of the USA presidential contest. Without a credible opponent, Clinton is unlikely to get as much media coverage of her primary campaign, and so will be at a disadvantage against whatever man is chosen as the republican face.
I’d have to consider that damning with faint praise (or maybe not so faint). As for the American Dream – yeah, you have to be asleep to believe it. Hilary represents the interests that Warren fights.
Have reposted at the top of Open Mike so as many people as possible hear of this.
“Bad luck or no coincidence? Unite Union’s office has been broken into, equipment stolen and smashed. It’s not in the news, only on Joe Carolan’s Facebook page.
That is despicable, but surely not unexpected. I hope Unite has better computer security than physical security. If the stolen laptops contain member/ donor info then this will be very bad for them.
Maybe Campbell Live will have a segment on this tonight? It’d fit in well with the coverage they’ve been doing on the struggle against zero-hours.
No wonder Key is trying to shut down Campbell Live.
The rest of the media is just ignoring this story.
Guess reality TV is more important news.
What a joke the media has become.
Thanks for drawing that to our attention Paul, I go here for current news, never read, listen, or watch the shit the media puts out as news.
If this was politically motivated, lets hope it blows up in their face like Watergate. But there is one thing for sure, can’t see out media doing investigative journalism like Watergate.
Whilst we are on the subject of political intimidation and break ins, does anyone know if Nickey Hager has had his gear returned that was confiscated by the police?
Sony’s top copyright lawyer, Aimee Wolfson, said it was “not at all unimaginable” that the internet tycoon would avoid extradition or even successfully defend himself in the United States.
Emails relating to the Dotcom case were revealed by WikiLeaks yesterday in a database of emails hacked from the global entertainment giant.
Those relating to the Dotcom case show Sony to be less sure privately about the criminal and civil charges facing the internet entrepreneur than the bullish public attitude from the Hollywood studios.
Crunch-time for Sony came mid-2014 when the Hollywood studios filed papers in New Zealand courts to restrain Dotcom’s assets.
Ms Wolfson recommended Sony pull back from the joint action against Dotcom in New Zealand.
The other five studios went ahead.
p.s Viacom has already sued You Tube/Google and lost. A File sharing business is not copy write infringement!
That’s why they are seizing his assets so that he can’t defend himself.
Great to have the John Key and the armed defenders and GCSB on the NZ taxpayer
dollar doing all that work for the five studio execs for their civil action.
Even if you do not like Dotcom what is being done here is morally wrong.
“Even if you do not like Dotcom what is being done here is morally wrong.”
Exactly. I can’t even be bothered saying whether I like the guy or not. It’s irrelevant. I wonder if we’ll get another epic film made in Aotearoa as homage to FJK and to thank him for his efforts on behalf of Hollywood and Wall St? Maybe something about the plucky son of a Jewish refugee who single handedly took on Al Peter File bin Sabin, the head of an international terrorist ring threatening our children, and made Aotearoa safe for our national icons, such as the plastic buzzy bee?
Interesting timing for the release of such a story. Is it designed so that ‘consumers’ of the MSM get a little more scared and therefore are more likely to support Key’s deployment of troops to support the club?
Hermann Goering’s quote seems opportune.
“Why of course the people don’t want war. Why should some poor slob on
a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of
it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people
don’t want war. The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.
That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked,
and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the
country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
So true in NZ today Paul. Not only works for Key re terrorist “threat” but also for criminal “threat” hence tougher sentencing. “Look out! They are just behind you! Run. But we tough Government will protect you, but only if you vote for us.”
Claims of terrorists by government need to be treated the same as claims by whitebaiters about whitebait….. flip it 180 degrees and you will have it roughly right….. look in the completely opposite direction.
but of course most never do – they believe what they are told….. and hence never catch whitebait
I was upset that last night Radio New Zealand CEO announced that RNZ would be joining the I-Heart club and in future all three of their stations would be available on the I-Heart app. Just checked they are there now. Trouble is I see this as a win for NZME in that the RNZ icons will be surrounded by the likes of Newstalkzb and all their other stations. But from Radio NZ’s point I doubt that many commercial listeners will be tempted to cross the divide and sample non commercial radio. RNZ had a perfectly usable app of their own. I wonder just what convinced their board that it would be a good idea to join this commercial con job. Wait a minute just checked the latest board of governors for RNZ – self explanatory really
The NZLP position has been out for a couple of years, chooky. We want openness and transparency first and foremost. To put it simply, the LP wants to know what’s actually in the document before it supports or opposes it.
The NZ Labour Party should come out openly and oppose the TPPA!…because quite clearly there is no openness….and no openness is intended in TPPA discussions and decisions
The rest of the left has come out and opposed the TPPA!
The Labour Party should be taking a stand to oppose the TPPA …and NOT stay sitting on the fence…and in so doing supporting Nactional and the corporates.
New Zealanders and Labour supporters need the Labour Party to take an unequivocal stand opposing the TPPA! ( not least of all to show up Nactional )
…Norm Kirk would have!…the TPPA negotiations are an attack on New Zealand sovereignty
The Labour Party is not really opposed to the way this is being negotiated because they themselves have been in office where international negotiations have been conducted in secrecy. They are smart enough to realise that this is the way these things are done.
Fascinating. No doubt you’ll have a whole raft of citations for saying Big Norm would have opposed the TPP. Or maybe not if you’re just plucking his name out of the ether. In actual fact Kirk started the process of negotiating trade deals in Asia and Oz to cover for the loss of exports to the UK after they joined the common market.
I suspect Kirk would have agreed with the NZLP’s current position which is that no such deal should be done in secret.
I doubt that Norm kirk would have supported the process of the TPPA…and I suspect he would have joined the other New Zealand left parties in opposing the TPPA outright
Conclusion: The NZ Labour Party is not a left party
..it does not support the stand of other New Zealand left parties
..the NZLP does not oppose the stand of the Nacts and the corporates in secret negotiations which undermine our NZ sovereignty…in so doing it is supporting the John key Nact government
We know why they want to keep it secret because any knowledge of its contents would make the deal very unpopular.
But despite their best efforts to keep it secret Wikileaks has told us what is in key parts of the deal like the investment chapter.
We know that the main purpose of the TPPA is to give giant corporates much more control over client states so as to protect their profits.
Just look at how NAFTA has worked.
Do you think that Norm Kirk would have approved of NAFTA?
Nah.
NAFTA turned Mexico and Canada into economic slaves of the US. The TPPA will turn the whole of the Pacific rim minus China into a slave camp for the USA.
Is the rightwing of Labour so desperate to keep in the US good books that it is blind to the real content of the TPPA?
Labour’s stand on ‘democracy’ when that ‘democracy’ is denied by another NACT term trading off NZ sovereignty is a pathetic pretext for its gutless fawning on the 1%.
They show that, since the late 1990s, median wages increased in Canada and decreased in the US. At least, that’s the interpretation of the blogger.
That says to me that capital movements between the two countries have, predictably, lowered the overall cost in wages by shifting business to Canada (which, despite improvements in the median rate, still has the lower wage rate).
In sum – and given the larger population of the US – doesn’t that mean that the overall effect of NAFTA (if that is the principal factor causing these movements in the median wage rate as you seem to imply) has been to decrease the return to labour and increase the return to capital? (When the two countries are taken together).
The obvious difference is that the TPPA is not a free trade deal. It’s a corporate control and loss of sovereignty deal. Please tell us what Kirk’s equivalent of the Investor Dispute Tribunals was, where we could have been sued for making law that impinged on corporate profits?
This ‘we’. What’s that about? I’m not having a dig here, but I’ve noticed you using the possessive form of ‘we’ when talking about the Labour Party on a few occasions. Assuming you aren’t an official spokesperson for NZ Labour… and knowing that your thoughts aren’t those of all Labour Party members…
My point is that it’s enough of an arse for people around here to constantly reiterate they write in a personal capacity without some-one suddenly bandying the possessive ‘we’ around the show.
To easy voter concern, Labour could announce support of NZF’s Fighting Foreign Corporate Control Bill, which aims to ensure there is no investor-state dispute settlement in international agreements.
The World Bank did not cause the disruptions to these poor people. It was the authorities in the nations involved. Most of these are democratic as far as I can tell. Why is the World Bank responsible when these people’s elected representatives are the ones failing them?
If the World Bank had kept to its policies those local authorities wouldn’t have got the money thus the World Bank is as culpable as the local authorities.
The IMF and the World Bank flood the unaccountable elites of a country with hundreds of millions, load up the nation with debt, and Gossie is surprised it doesn’t go well.
Gossie probably thinks it’s all working well. After all, the deserving rich are getting richer while the lazy poor are getting what’s coming to them /sarc.
This information was posted last night on the Daily Review by Adrian:
The SAME two National sycophants dressed in blue were in two completely different places within a minute !
Observe the video at 1:00 and 1:53.
The two Nat women simply went (or were asked to go) to another spot to repeat the charade. They changed the way they stood before to shake hands with Key: At 1:00 the older woman is on the left, but at 1:53, on the right!
The stupid National propaganda crooks probably thought they could fool all the people all the time!
The less-than-heartening alternative is that these are two genuine Nat fans, who thought nothing of rushing around to another venue in order to meet up with FJK again…. (the “thought nothing” would be indicative of their usual mode then)
Just a reminder that tomorrow is record store day. Of course, every day is vinyl day in the Putake whare, but it would be great if Standardistas could pop into these fine emporiums and spin the black circle:
I live in an 51 square metre apartment in central Auckland. Space for a vinyl spinner doesn’t exist. Email, books, music, and video all exist in virtual machines on the same box that is the primary server for The Standard.
I have boxes of CDs and DVDs stored at relatives already after I ‘backed’ them up onto my drive (and the offsite archive). These days I just get the digital forms rather than adding to redundant plastics.
I have a difficulty in using up 1TB of data although that will probably change at some point in the nearish future (re-learning programming so I can get a few projects done).
I can use a terabyte with ease. That is what my laptops have these days.
A very fast way to fill up hard drives is to start using virtual machines for developing software projects. You can get them configured exactly for requirements and not have them go sour on you as you add one more “essential” software package or game.
Then have a pile of them around with different variants of operating systems for testing.
I’ve been in the mood this morning; AK79, Cherry Red compilation Pillows and Prayers, London Calling and side four of Sandinista. And I’ve got some Sonny Okosun and Sunny Ade for the crucial post lunch energiser. Put the needle to the groove, party people!
Appealing to false nonsense (Nicola only wants to break up the UK…SNP brought down Labour when Nicola was 9 years old because like, there were absolutely no other parties in Westminster voting against Labour in 1979…ruling out a coalition the SNP has already said it has no interest in etc).
Both are failing badly because both of them abandoned their roots. That the Labour Party in Scotland looks close to be being wiped out by a party that has grafted itself onto those abandoned roots should be a wee bit of a heads up for NZ Labour.
But I’ll bet they just cover their ears and eyes and carry on failing, on the premise that they only have to fail less than the Nats to form a government…and people wonder why ‘no-one’ gives a fuck any more?
A common impression within NZLP ‘higher ups’ is that voters barely care about or even remember the 1980s Rogernomics years and Labour’s role in bringing the neoliberal trojan horse into the gates of the country.
Oh, I know they see no need to apologise as a process of making a very public break from the past.
That as it may be, any refusal to learn very simple lesson from just a cursory glance at the state of Labour in Scotland is fucked up to the nth degree.
Andrew Little could also do worse than view that latest BBC leaders debate and pay particular attention to the audience reaction on progressives offering support and Labour posturing, given that only 5% of the audience would have been people intending to vote SNP and maybe another few percent voting for either the Greens or Plaid Cymru.
Is that why they won’t apologise for Rogernomics? Because they think no one remembers? I always thought it was because they were proud of having done it.
“His deadly opponent was Nicola Sturgeon. He could have been easy meat for her deft jibes, but with a powerful defence of the union, he more than survived; he might even have retrieved some Scottish votes.
Miliband’s team will be rightly delighted. At every outing he grows in strength and confidence. Once he thought presentation didn’t matter – now he knows better.”
Aye well, that’s according to Polly Toynbee on Ed. You read her pale pink banner waving columns? Of course she would talk up Miliband.
And then there’s the next one down, Deborah Orr on Sturgeon
Nicola Sturgeon certainly played a blinder.
…she also made Miliband look like the lucky guy who could bask in her charisma if only he’d stop being such a boring ol’ PM in waiting.
But regardless of what various pundits have to say, I’ve just watched the entire debate and noted that Nicola was the only one to get loud cheers from the audience and interestingly, when Ed played the ‘they want to break up this country’ card….nothing. In fact, overall, Ed got not a lot in the way of applause or affirmation from the audience.
At the close of the 90 minutes, Miliband turned his fire on his absent rival, saying:
“David Cameron refused to come and debate tonight, but I have got a message for him. David, if you think this election is about leadership, then debate me one on one. I believe my ideas, my vision for the country are better for the working families of Britain. If you disagree, then prove it. Debate me and let the people decide.”
How did the challengers fare in the final TV debate? Guardian columnists’ verdict
In a Survation/Mirror poll, the only snap verdict on the contest,
Miliband was declared the winner with 35%; Sturgeon, 31%; the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, 27%; the Green party leader, Natalie Bennett, 5%; and Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood, 2%.
When people were asked who “won” the debate, Ed Miliband came out on top. But, when they were asked who “performed the best”, Nicola Sturgeon won. She was on 35%, ahead of Miliband on 29% and Farage on 26%.
How do we make sense of that? Because, when asked who performed best, you may be making an objective judgment about technical debating skills (see 8.29pm) while, when asked who “won”, you may be making a more subjective judgment about the leader you favoured the most./blockquote>
Does anyone have any answers to the Mike Sabin conundrum? I am wondering why he has been able to take up his new job when he is currently under investigation – or are the Internet rumours untrue about the nature of the offences against him? The Internet has been frustratingly quiet.
#whatswithsabinsnewjob
(Yes, I am fascinated with the Sabin story – mostly because I wondered how on earth Brook Sabin was able to continue to work at TV3 without a conflict of interest being declared during Election 2014.)
‘Shanghai CRED Real Estate Co. has purchased a New Zealand resort hotel as well as an adjacent vineyard and golf course which it plans to develop and promote to wealthy Chinese tourists.
The resort “can provide the sort of holiday experience that high-income Chinese and other international tourists are seeking,” Guo Gui, general manager of Shanghai CRED, said in the statement. His company has been involved with similar properties in China and will promote Carrington through its many tourism contacts, he said.
Shanghai CRED bought the 1,100-hectare (2,700-acre) property from a U.S.- based owner, it said in the statement. The purchase price was treated as confidential when the Overseas Investment Office granted consent in July, and isn’t being disclosed, Cedric Allan, a New Zealand spokesman for the buyer, said in a telephone interview today.’
“Shanghai CRED is one of Shanghai’s largest property development companies. Their purchase of the 1,100 hectare (2,718 acre) Peppers Carrington resort – which includes a seaside golf course and vineyard – is the first significant Chinese investment in New Zealand’s tourism sector. The New Zealand government is targeting a fivefold increase in the number of Chinese visitors to New Zealand by 2018.
The Chapman Tripp team advised on the acquisition, Overseas Investment Office (OIO) consent, the structuring of Shanghai CRED’s New Zealand entities and employment contracts and is assisting with immigration requirements.
Partner Bill Sandston led the team, which included senior associate Tessa Kennings and solicitor Ruonan Duan.
Bill Sandston said: “Overseas Investment Office (OIO) approval and Chinese language skills were integral to the deal’s success and we are one of the few full-service law firms able to support our clients in this way.
“Our work for Shanghai Cred, as well as our representation of Shanghai Pengxin in its Crafar Farms purchase and current takeover bid for Canterbury dairy farmer Synlait Farms, reinforces our reputation for acting on Chinese investors’ most complex OIO approvals.”
Just on a tangent… that resort, purchased by foreigners, to cater to the foreigners exclusive wealthy elite when they need a break, will do jack-shit for NZ.
A few cleaners and staff on minimum wage possible. That’s it.
All profit, which derives in bulk from our whenua, will go back to those foreign lands. In fact I would guess that pretty much all payments made for staying at the resort will be made back in those foreign lands and never even cross our borders.
Plus – that locality has had plans in the past for an international airport.
The foreigners will fly in directly, fly out again, and no money or anything will land in NZ itself.
In the comments below the NBR article, for what it is worth…
“The word on the Northland vine is that there will by 600+ properties built as a possible gated community, with the resort flying in rich Chinese to play among the dunes.
Guess we will not be welcome and it is a shame Winnie can not stop this debacle because, despite assurances, I can not see us us locals being invited unless it is as local help.
OIO has a lot to answer for — they are screwing NZ and selling off its carcass.
We thought that the north was safe from this kind of treachery. Seems not.”
I heard a story that the chief witness in a case, a female police officer, has gone overseas. I do not know if this is true and I am not saying it has anything to do with Sabin. What I will say is that the NAct Party is filthier than I had thought possible.
Interesting, Murray. Pity you won’t be in a certain place on Monday, but if there is a ‘meeting’ it may turn out to be a short session with the legals only to extend certain remand provisions. I understand that this extension would have been outside the brief of the Auckland HC dealing with the appeal against disclosure,
[Are you here or there? Hope all goes well – Princess Alex? – I have everything crossed for good news.]
If everyone with a family or personal connection to an MP was forbidden from being a journalist we’d have a very small press gallery. Possibly non-existent.
Triumph the puppet takes on party PR hacks after a leaders debate in run up to the 2004 US election. I hadn’t seen this before, but I got more than one actual lol from this. Recommended.
Internally within Labour it has generally (although not universally) been finally recognised that a CGT is a dead rat which voters will not swallow.
More importantly though, Labour have not put together a comprehensive and cohesive housing and accomodation programme for NZ yet. It’s still very bitsy and unfocussed.
That’s good to hear (re CGT). Although, they took their time coming around.
It does sound as if Labour are still putting things together.
LVR restrictions are the way to go,. Regional flexibility is also a plus, but they will also have to avert investors ability to leverage off equity, otherwise LVR restrictions will become toothless.
Now we require to get the Greens in tune to put forward a united front.
Not only will it reduce risk (for both the borrower and lender) it also slows speculation and in turn increases savings. Removing the need for a CGT and compulsory KiwiSaver – win-win.
Additionally, as it removes the heat out of the property market, it gives the Reserve Bank scope to lower the OCR, thus taking pressure off the NZ dollar.
Bill, for some reason I can’t reply directly to your ‘we’ question above. I use we as a possessive on an occasion because I’m a proud Labour party member. We members share ownership of the party, so it’s not grammatically inappropriate usage when talking about things like settled policy. However, if I’m talking about a LP MP’s press release or caucus activity in general, I wouldn’t use the possessive because I’m a step (or two) removed.
Yeah, I think I understand why you use it…in line with ‘we won’ when in actual fact the person saying it was sitting on their chuff watching the Black Caps or who-ever on the TV.
My sole thought is that in relation to commenting on ‘ts’, it can be a less than helpful habit when used in relation to political parties given the bullshit that’s thrown this way by some who claim ‘ts’ is a mouthpiece of this or that political entity.
As an aside, no policy is ever settled, is it? I mean, policy remits to conference and what have you… 😉
Good point about TS! Hadn’t thought of it from that perspective. Mind you, most of the most obsessive about the supposed TS/LP link are folk like WO, PG and Bomber who know it’s not true anyway.
I’ve been trying to think of other situations where I’d use ‘we’ like that. Not many, really. The only comparable situation is that when talking about football; I will say things like ‘we all hope Big Sam gets sacked’ as if I have a Borg like connection to every other West Ham fan in the universe.
As a followup to the Compass takeover of the SDHB meals on wheels program, which I commented on yeterday:
Dr Hearn, of Dunedin, said he would wait and see what happened before deciding whether to quit the service he has provided for the ”best part of 20 years”.
”I think many drivers will find themselves wishing to continue to assist the elderly and disabled, but unwilling to shore up the profits of a private corporation…
Dr Hearn took exception to board chairman Joe Butterfield’s reported comments yesterday that volunteers who quit the service would be doing a ”disservice”.
”Meals on wheels drivers are hardly likely to be encouraged by an approach that really amounts to little more than a silly effort to bully drivers,” he said.
So assuming that the Nats do appoint an overseer (who Coleman denies will be called a; “commissioner”) to the SDHB to adminster the funding cuts, the paper savings of the Compass contract will be a high priority for their approval. Then there’s the question of; how much Compass may have donated to certain election campaigns, but I’m not a forensic accountant able to follow concealed money trails.
…so to put it into a nutshell the Nacts starve the Southland District Hospital Board of taxpayer money for health
…so it goes into deficit
….and then has to jettison ‘meals on wheels’ to a private money making company… (one of Nact’s cronyist friends?)
….and its $23 million John key is putting in of New Zealand taxpayer money to change our New Zealand flag against our will ?! ( surveys show New Zealanders dont want their flag changed, especially the RSA and young NZers…they like our flag)
…this $23 million could go into ‘meals on wheels’ and kids lunches in schools ( you know Hone and Metiria’s lunches in schools Bill that the Nacts voted down)
“Conservative Party candidates are bankrolled by hedge fund donations siphoned to Westminster from lucrative tax havens including the Cayman Islands, new analysis suggests…”.
My Good God ! On Campbell Live tonight – in answer to the question “Should Teina Pora get compensation ?” – 12% of respondents say “No”. It beggars belief !
Fetid, hardcore, classist, racist, whatever…….bastards. That can be the ONLY explanation. Makes you pray that they or theirs will personally fall victim to a grave miscarriage of justice on the scale suffered by Teina Pora. Wait…..I hear the primal scream. As I did from worshippers at the temple of TheGodKey in my own family. When my neice, her partner and 18 month old child fell innocent victims to TheGodKey’s 90 day law. Given 5 days to relocate their life from a backblocks farm where they’d ‘enjoyed’ 79 days of modest dwelling accommodation. Charity, but only when it’s you or yours !
Meanwhile a certain ‘hard man’ former detective, for many years a legend in the police force, lives a well-pensioned, comfortable life in retirement. A man who shuts the door of his clinker-brick retirement dwelling in the face of whichever media team calls. With 20 years of Teina Pora’s life on his hands. To the facile and embarrassingly ignorant who will niggle……”Well he did confess……” (quite fine to prey on the weak is it ?) – even as the investigation proceeded there were other detectives who were decidedly uncomfortable with what to them was obviously a fit-up.
Sadly the certain retired detective was of such seniority and such a legend, as in any gang, he could command submission by his subordinates. The now retired detective “had his man”. Who could challenge that ?
Recall seeing him at Papakura District Court at least a couple of decades ago. With gruff majesty, aloofly dispensing ‘acknowledgment’ to young cop after young cop. All lined up nervously semi-genuflecting in his presence.
“Like another cigarette Teina ?”
“Would it help if I pointed out a house Teina ?”
20 years of an innocent man’s life……Det. Steve Rutherford…….who “always gets his man”……..callously adding to the ‘Det. Steve Rutherford Legend’ ? Fukn hell ! Angry Angry !
For those worried about our dependence on housing and dairy as the main economic drivers in NZ, this is a great radio piece about Banks Peninsula sheep farmers who are co-operating into a sort of wool appellation district, and melding with their European customers. It could be an example that is a model for others. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife#audio-20175185
Chris Chamberlain (above left) is chairman of the Banks Peninsula Farms Wool Growers company. He also runs a sheep and beef property with his wife Jacqui near Port Levy on Banks Peninsula. “It was originally started from the farm discussion group we had running on the Peninsula. We were just disillusioned with the price of wool and we decided to be proactive and ask the question, why?”…
Richard Barnett (above right) is one of 40 or so shareholders in Banks Peninsula Farms Wool Growers Limited. He farms with his wife Clare across the bay from the Chamberlains. “One of the problems wool growers in general have had is that we’ve been kept very well divided and not badly served, but it’s been in a lot of other people’s interests to keep us rather ignorant of the wool growing, processing and marketing process”
It’s a detailed interesting doco style interview. They are doing better though it’s hard yards apparently, but they know the problems it seems and forewarned etc. Good on them and I hope they continue on their upward trend.
Thanx Chooky. I am regularly looking at TS and your comments are also interesting, and knowledgable and insightful. If we can keep informing ourselves and others we’ll all get a clearer picture to back any submissions, ideas we take forward, and inform the choices at our next election. There is just so much I haven’t known, or understood fully.
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The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Elizabeth Warren named in Time Magazine top 100 most influential people.
And Hillary Clinton wrote the piece praising her. http://time.com/3823064/elizabeth-warren-2015-time-100/
“It was always going to take a special kind of leader to pick up Ted Kennedy’s mantle as senior Senator from Massachusetts—champion of working families and scourge of special interests. Elizabeth Warren never lets us forget that the work of taming Wall Street’s irresponsible risk taking and reforming our financial system is far from finished. And she never hesitates to hold powerful people’s feet to the fire: bankers, lobbyists, senior government officials and, yes, even presidential aspirants.
Elizabeth Warren’s journey from janitor’s daughter to Harvard professor to public watchdog to U.S. Senator has been driven by an unflagging determination to level the playing field for hardworking American families like the one she grew up with in Oklahoma. She fights so hard for others to share in the American Dream because she lived it herself.”
Elisabeth Warren would make a far better US President than Hilary Clinton…who is a hawk…
…and Hilary Clinton wants to up the USA propaganda information war…as if it had not got the world into enough wars, especially the Middle East
…does this mean that Hilary Clinton wants to censor or restrict the internet?
+1 Chooky. But Clinton has the name recognition – we’re unlikely to see Warren throw her hat in the ring this time around.
The problem this election is that Clinton looks such a sure thing for the Democratic nomination, who is likely to challenge her for the role? Probably Biden, and others of a similar calibre. Those who have future intentions are unlikely to want to soil their image by being an also-ran now. However, the party primary elections are a large part of the USA presidential contest. Without a credible opponent, Clinton is unlikely to get as much media coverage of her primary campaign, and so will be at a disadvantage against whatever man is chosen as the republican face.
As a cartoonist recently expressed: 330M American citizens and somehow it again comes down to a choice between a Bush and a Clinton.
Heh.
for some amusement, here’s one of Hillary’s recent campaign stunts falling over
http://www.dcclothesline.com/2015/04/16/flash-hillarys-dinner-with-ordinary-iowans-was-a-fake/
I’d have to consider that damning with faint praise (or maybe not so faint). As for the American Dream – yeah, you have to be asleep to believe it. Hilary represents the interests that Warren fights.
Whoever makes it to the White House will represent those interests… anyone else won’t get within cooee!
Malcolm Evans is drawing some brilliant cartoons on ANZAC Day at the moment
Patriotism and Truth
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/04/17/malcolm-evans-anzac-day/
For King and Club
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/04/16/malcolm-evans-for-king-and-club/
Does anyone know if his cartoons are published in a newspaper or magazine?
There used to be a cartoonist who signed ‘Evans’ who had regular cartoons on the editorial page of The Press (alternating with Al Nisbett, I think).
I don’t get The Press now so don’t know if ‘Evans’ is still one of their cartoonists.
From the style and signature, it certainly seems to be the same ‘Evans’.
never ever forget that the defence forces answer to the crown not us. We are not the crown.
the crown does not hesitate to turn its armies on the people. History is littered with it.
don’t trust them
Amirite posted this at 7 p.m. yesterday evening.
Have reposted at the top of Open Mike so as many people as possible hear of this.
“Bad luck or no coincidence? Unite Union’s office has been broken into, equipment stolen and smashed. It’s not in the news, only on Joe Carolan’s Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/solidarityjoe/posts/10152725245132601?fref=nf“
That is despicable, but surely not unexpected. I hope Unite has better computer security than physical security. If the stolen laptops contain member/ donor info then this will be very bad for them.
Maybe Campbell Live will have a segment on this tonight? It’d fit in well with the coverage they’ve been doing on the struggle against zero-hours.
No wonder Key is trying to shut down Campbell Live.
The rest of the media is just ignoring this story.
Guess reality TV is more important news.
What a joke the media has become.
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/unite-unions-office-robbed-trashed-2015041705#axzz3XVXK7TV4
Of course you have no evidence of Key trying to close it down do you?
Irrelevant. Capitalist forces are at work. The free market at the end of a truncheon.
Thanks for drawing that to our attention Paul, I go here for current news, never read, listen, or watch the shit the media puts out as news.
If this was politically motivated, lets hope it blows up in their face like Watergate. But there is one thing for sure, can’t see out media doing investigative journalism like Watergate.
Whilst we are on the subject of political intimidation and break ins, does anyone know if Nickey Hager has had his gear returned that was confiscated by the police?
That, on the face it, is out and out TERRORISM
“the unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.”
As just posted below – look in the complete opposite direction to find the truth… http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17042015/#comment-1001391…. ignore Rebecca Kitteridge 180 degrees
A terrorist attack has just occurred.
From Granddaddy Herald about Dotcom….
Sony’s top copyright lawyer, Aimee Wolfson, said it was “not at all unimaginable” that the internet tycoon would avoid extradition or even successfully defend himself in the United States.
Emails relating to the Dotcom case were revealed by WikiLeaks yesterday in a database of emails hacked from the global entertainment giant.
Those relating to the Dotcom case show Sony to be less sure privately about the criminal and civil charges facing the internet entrepreneur than the bullish public attitude from the Hollywood studios.
Crunch-time for Sony came mid-2014 when the Hollywood studios filed papers in New Zealand courts to restrain Dotcom’s assets.
Ms Wolfson recommended Sony pull back from the joint action against Dotcom in New Zealand.
The other five studios went ahead.
p.s Viacom has already sued You Tube/Google and lost. A File sharing business is not copy write infringement!
That’s why they are seizing his assets so that he can’t defend himself.
Great to have the John Key and the armed defenders and GCSB on the NZ taxpayer
dollar doing all that work for the five studio execs for their civil action.
Even if you do not like Dotcom what is being done here is morally wrong.
+100 saveNZ….
“Even if you do not like Dotcom what is being done here is morally wrong.”
Exactly. I can’t even be bothered saying whether I like the guy or not. It’s irrelevant. I wonder if we’ll get another epic film made in Aotearoa as homage to FJK and to thank him for his efforts on behalf of Hollywood and Wall St? Maybe something about the plucky son of a Jewish refugee who single handedly took on Al Peter File bin Sabin, the head of an international terrorist ring threatening our children, and made Aotearoa safe for our national icons, such as the plastic buzzy bee?
lol…sounds like you should be film director of heavy satire and farce…if I had the money i would definitely back you
‘Threat of terrorist attack in NZ increases.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11434089
Interesting timing for the release of such a story. Is it designed so that ‘consumers’ of the MSM get a little more scared and therefore are more likely to support Key’s deployment of troops to support the club?
Hermann Goering’s quote seems opportune.
“Why of course the people don’t want war. Why should some poor slob on
a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of
it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people
don’t want war. The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.
That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked,
and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the
country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
So true in NZ today Paul. Not only works for Key re terrorist “threat” but also for criminal “threat” hence tougher sentencing. “Look out! They are just behind you! Run. But we tough Government will protect you, but only if you vote for us.”
Claims of terrorists by government need to be treated the same as claims by whitebaiters about whitebait….. flip it 180 degrees and you will have it roughly right….. look in the completely opposite direction.
but of course most never do – they believe what they are told….. and hence never catch whitebait
it is so f&*^ing simple
I was upset that last night Radio New Zealand CEO announced that RNZ would be joining the I-Heart club and in future all three of their stations would be available on the I-Heart app. Just checked they are there now. Trouble is I see this as a win for NZME in that the RNZ icons will be surrounded by the likes of Newstalkzb and all their other stations. But from Radio NZ’s point I doubt that many commercial listeners will be tempted to cross the divide and sample non commercial radio. RNZ had a perfectly usable app of their own. I wonder just what convinced their board that it would be a good idea to join this commercial con job. Wait a minute just checked the latest board of governors for RNZ – self explanatory really
Where does the New Zealand Labour Party stand on the TPPA?
The Greens, NZF and Mana/Int are all opposed to the TPPA
Why doesn’t Andrew Little and the Labour Party come clean?…and spell it out
Why the NZ Labour Party needs to take a stand and say “no” to the TPPA!…it is more than just a trade deal…it affects the sovereignty of New Zealand
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/opinion/dont-keep-trade-talks-secret.html?_r=2
Come on NZ Labour Party!
I know where Norm Kirk would stand on the TPPA
Under Andrew Little is the NZ Labour Party now a party for the corporates?
..and the take over of sovereign countries and democracies?
Is the New Zealand Labour Party a left wing party or a right wing party?
“Under Andrew Little is the NZ Labour Party now a party for the corporates?”
It has been since Lange.
“..and the take over of sovereign countries and democracies?”
It’s far less worried about this than it should be.
“Is the New Zealand Labour Party a left wing party or a right wing party?”
A right wing party. Any more questions I can answer?
What we already know about the TPPA is more than enough to be firmly opposed to it. Labour’s position is a cop out.
Thanks mr for those concise answers to my questions
…i can now see i wont be voting Labour …even although i joined the Labour Party to support Cunliffe
…I want to vote for a real Left Party that takes NZ sovereignty and Democracy seriously
Agreed, Chooky!
[r0b: odd name / handle – what browser are you using?]
Another oddity…. Umm that looks like character encoding. I will fix that this evening.
The NZLP position has been out for a couple of years, chooky. We want openness and transparency first and foremost. To put it simply, the LP wants to know what’s actually in the document before it supports or opposes it.
http://campaign.labour.org.nz/our_position_on_the_tpp
Not good enough!
The NZ Labour Party should come out openly and oppose the TPPA!…because quite clearly there is no openness….and no openness is intended in TPPA discussions and decisions
The rest of the left has come out and opposed the TPPA!
The Labour Party should be taking a stand to oppose the TPPA …and NOT stay sitting on the fence…and in so doing supporting Nactional and the corporates.
New Zealanders and Labour supporters need the Labour Party to take an unequivocal stand opposing the TPPA! ( not least of all to show up Nactional )
…Norm Kirk would have!…the TPPA negotiations are an attack on New Zealand sovereignty
The Labour Party is not really opposed to the way this is being negotiated because they themselves have been in office where international negotiations have been conducted in secrecy. They are smart enough to realise that this is the way these things are done.
The rest of NZ don’t think that they should be negotiated in secret and that we should have a say in the outcome.
It’s called democracy.
Fascinating. No doubt you’ll have a whole raft of citations for saying Big Norm would have opposed the TPP. Or maybe not if you’re just plucking his name out of the ether. In actual fact Kirk started the process of negotiating trade deals in Asia and Oz to cover for the loss of exports to the UK after they joined the common market.
I suspect Kirk would have agreed with the NZLP’s current position which is that no such deal should be done in secret.
I doubt that Norm kirk would have supported the process of the TPPA…and I suspect he would have joined the other New Zealand left parties in opposing the TPPA outright
Conclusion: The NZ Labour Party is not a left party
..it does not support the stand of other New Zealand left parties
..the NZLP does not oppose the stand of the Nacts and the corporates in secret negotiations which undermine our NZ sovereignty…in so doing it is supporting the John key Nact government
🙄
♫♪clowns to the left of you, jokers to your right♫♫
TPR you are being disingenuous at best.
The TPPA is not quite secret is it?
We know why they want to keep it secret because any knowledge of its contents would make the deal very unpopular.
But despite their best efforts to keep it secret Wikileaks has told us what is in key parts of the deal like the investment chapter.
We know that the main purpose of the TPPA is to give giant corporates much more control over client states so as to protect their profits.
Just look at how NAFTA has worked.
Do you think that Norm Kirk would have approved of NAFTA?
Nah.
NAFTA turned Mexico and Canada into economic slaves of the US. The TPPA will turn the whole of the Pacific rim minus China into a slave camp for the USA.
Is the rightwing of Labour so desperate to keep in the US good books that it is blind to the real content of the TPPA?
Labour’s stand on ‘democracy’ when that ‘democracy’ is denied by another NACT term trading off NZ sovereignty is a pathetic pretext for its gutless fawning on the 1%.
A slave camp – really???
What have wages in Canada done since NAFTA came in to force?
I think it’s got a new name.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/21/pf/labor-trafficking/index.html
These graphs might help answer that question for you
http://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2013/09/trends.html
Interesting graphs.
They show that, since the late 1990s, median wages increased in Canada and decreased in the US. At least, that’s the interpretation of the blogger.
That says to me that capital movements between the two countries have, predictably, lowered the overall cost in wages by shifting business to Canada (which, despite improvements in the median rate, still has the lower wage rate).
In sum – and given the larger population of the US – doesn’t that mean that the overall effect of NAFTA (if that is the principal factor causing these movements in the median wage rate as you seem to imply) has been to decrease the return to labour and increase the return to capital? (When the two countries are taken together).
I may be wrong.
This graph also suggests average wages in Mexico haven’t fallen to Slave levels (at least since 2000)
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/mexico/wages
Where are the 2M Mexican farmers who lost their farms after NAFTA represented in those wage statistics?
Or do you now have to look up Californian illegals wage statistics to find them?
The obvious difference is that the TPPA is not a free trade deal. It’s a corporate control and loss of sovereignty deal. Please tell us what Kirk’s equivalent of the Investor Dispute Tribunals was, where we could have been sued for making law that impinged on corporate profits?
This ‘we’. What’s that about? I’m not having a dig here, but I’ve noticed you using the possessive form of ‘we’ when talking about the Labour Party on a few occasions. Assuming you aren’t an official spokesperson for NZ Labour… and knowing that your thoughts aren’t those of all Labour Party members…
My point is that it’s enough of an arse for people around here to constantly reiterate they write in a personal capacity without some-one suddenly bandying the possessive ‘we’ around the show.
@ te reo putake
To easy voter concern, Labour could announce support of NZF’s Fighting Foreign Corporate Control Bill, which aims to ensure there is no investor-state dispute settlement in international agreements.
+100…but they dont…they are a pale imitation of Nact…they are not really the Left at all
…the sooner people realise this the better and vote for the Greens , Mana/Int or NZF the better….these parties need to form a Left coalition
Labour has had a proud tradition but now is the time to face up to reality
This is depressing – Very.
Very good journalism, but a very depressing story all the same.
How the world bank failed the poor.
http://www.icij.org/project/world-bank/how-world-bank-broke-its-promise-protect-poor
The World Bank did not cause the disruptions to these poor people. It was the authorities in the nations involved. Most of these are democratic as far as I can tell. Why is the World Bank responsible when these people’s elected representatives are the ones failing them?
If the World Bank had kept to its policies those local authorities wouldn’t have got the money thus the World Bank is as culpable as the local authorities.
The IMF and the World Bank flood the unaccountable elites of a country with hundreds of millions, load up the nation with debt, and Gossie is surprised it doesn’t go well.
Gossie probably thinks it’s all working well. After all, the deserving rich are getting richer while the lazy poor are getting what’s coming to them /sarc.
Can National fool all the people all the time?
This information was posted last night on the Daily Review by Adrian:
The SAME two National sycophants dressed in blue were in two completely different places within a minute !
Observe the video at 1:00 and 1:53.
The two Nat women simply went (or were asked to go) to another spot to repeat the charade. They changed the way they stood before to shake hands with Key: At 1:00 the older woman is on the left, but at 1:53, on the right!
The stupid National propaganda crooks probably thought they could fool all the people all the time!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/67521779/i-wont-pick-up-phone-key-dismisses-peters
The less-than-heartening alternative is that these are two genuine Nat fans, who thought nothing of rushing around to another venue in order to meet up with FJK again…. (the “thought nothing” would be indicative of their usual mode then)
And there are only two NAct fans in Dargaville – I find that endearing.
Also, Osbourne amusingly checks his empty wrist for the time. Super sharp, that bunch.
Just a reminder that tomorrow is record store day. Of course, every day is vinyl day in the Putake whare, but it would be great if Standardistas could pop into these fine emporiums and spin the black circle:
http://www.recordstoreday.com/Venues?country=New%20Zealand
For my sins, here is the first rekkid I bought:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCcaP5z4xbg
Mmmm, groovy and philosophical at the same time. Nice.
I live in an 51 square metre apartment in central Auckland. Space for a vinyl spinner doesn’t exist. Email, books, music, and video all exist in virtual machines on the same box that is the primary server for The Standard.
8Tb in a RAID6 stores a *lot* of encrypted data.
I have the answer to your space problem, Lprent!
http://www.mixfoundation.co.nz/dj-slipmats-and-accessories/stokyo-soundwagon.html
Of course I then have to store the vinyl. 😈
I have boxes of CDs and DVDs stored at relatives already after I ‘backed’ them up onto my drive (and the offsite archive). These days I just get the digital forms rather than adding to redundant plastics.
I have a difficulty in using up 1TB of data although that will probably change at some point in the nearish future (re-learning programming so I can get a few projects done).
I can use a terabyte with ease. That is what my laptops have these days.
A very fast way to fill up hard drives is to start using virtual machines for developing software projects. You can get them configured exactly for requirements and not have them go sour on you as you add one more “essential” software package or game.
Then have a pile of them around with different variants of operating systems for testing.
@TRP.. you sad old git !
Join the club. 😆
I’ve been in the mood this morning; AK79, Cherry Red compilation Pillows and Prayers, London Calling and side four of Sandinista. And I’ve got some Sonny Okosun and Sunny Ade for the crucial post lunch energiser. Put the needle to the groove, party people!
Did Nicola Sturgeon just wipe the floor with Ed Miliband? This clip from last night’s UK debate suggests she did 🙂
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/16/miliband-sturgeon-final-tv-debate-anti-tory-coalition
Appealing to false nonsense (Nicola only wants to break up the UK…SNP brought down Labour when Nicola was 9 years old because like, there were absolutely no other parties in Westminster voting against Labour in 1979…ruling out a coalition the SNP has already said it has no interest in etc).
Not going to fly Ed. Not going to fly.
Sounds remarkably like the Labour Party here over the last few years of them failing badly.
They’re exactly like the NZ Labour Party.
Both are failing badly because both of them abandoned their roots. That the Labour Party in Scotland looks close to be being wiped out by a party that has grafted itself onto those abandoned roots should be a wee bit of a heads up for NZ Labour.
But I’ll bet they just cover their ears and eyes and carry on failing, on the premise that they only have to fail less than the Nats to form a government…and people wonder why ‘no-one’ gives a fuck any more?
A common impression within NZLP ‘higher ups’ is that voters barely care about or even remember the 1980s Rogernomics years and Labour’s role in bringing the neoliberal trojan horse into the gates of the country.
Oh, I know they see no need to apologise as a process of making a very public break from the past.
That as it may be, any refusal to learn very simple lesson from just a cursory glance at the state of Labour in Scotland is fucked up to the nth degree.
Andrew Little could also do worse than view that latest BBC leaders debate and pay particular attention to the audience reaction on progressives offering support and Labour posturing, given that only 5% of the audience would have been people intending to vote SNP and maybe another few percent voting for either the Greens or Plaid Cymru.
Is that why they won’t apologise for Rogernomics? Because they think no one remembers? I always thought it was because they were proud of having done it.
And thats very plausible as well.
A good result for Labour, apparently:
“His deadly opponent was Nicola Sturgeon. He could have been easy meat for her deft jibes, but with a powerful defence of the union, he more than survived; he might even have retrieved some Scottish votes.
Miliband’s team will be rightly delighted. At every outing he grows in strength and confidence. Once he thought presentation didn’t matter – now he knows better.”
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/16/challengers-final-tv-debate-general-election-columnists-verdict
There’s only one result which counts. And it’s coming up soon.
Aye well, that’s according to Polly Toynbee on Ed. You read her pale pink banner waving columns? Of course she would talk up Miliband.
And then there’s the next one down, Deborah Orr on Sturgeon
But regardless of what various pundits have to say, I’ve just watched the entire debate and noted that Nicola was the only one to get loud cheers from the audience and interestingly, when Ed played the ‘they want to break up this country’ card….nothing. In fact, overall, Ed got not a lot in the way of applause or affirmation from the audience.
At the close of the 90 minutes, Miliband turned his fire on his absent rival, saying:
“David Cameron refused to come and debate tonight, but I have got a message for him. David, if you think this election is about leadership, then debate me one on one. I believe my ideas, my vision for the country are better for the working families of Britain. If you disagree, then prove it. Debate me and let the people decide.”
How did the challengers fare in the final TV debate? Guardian columnists’ verdict
In a Survation/Mirror poll, the only snap verdict on the contest,
Miliband was declared the winner with 35%; Sturgeon, 31%; the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, 27%; the Green party leader, Natalie Bennett, 5%; and Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood, 2%.
Hmm.
RT: Assange says Scottish independence seen as national security threat by UK spies
Full range of covert activities and “dirty tricks” against the SNP and its MPs and leaders could be expected.
http://rt.com/uk/250105-scotland-referendum-surveillance-assange/
I do like how Nicola Sturgeon presents herself.
Looks like Syriza is rapidly running out of options. It will have to break one of the their key election pledges.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/apr/16/greece-moves-step-closer-to-grexit-after-imf-snub
Varoufakis speaks at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, April 9
I’d say that was all to the good especially as it’s obviously the rest of Europe, especially Germany, that’s pushing Greece from The Euro.
Does anyone have any answers to the Mike Sabin conundrum? I am wondering why he has been able to take up his new job when he is currently under investigation – or are the Internet rumours untrue about the nature of the offences against him? The Internet has been frustratingly quiet.
#whatswithsabinsnewjob
(Yes, I am fascinated with the Sabin story – mostly because I wondered how on earth Brook Sabin was able to continue to work at TV3 without a conflict of interest being declared during Election 2014.)
We are all pretty much in the dark about what is going on re Sabin and have to wait to see how things play out in the meantime.
This is another interesting article yesterday on the NBR website where it seems the Northland resort where Sabin now works has refused to talk.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/sabin-linked-luxury-resort-goes-ground-over-new-ceo-jb-171490
Hmm, dodgy ex-National MP now CEO of high-end luxury Chinese property development enterprise.
Who’d have thunk it.
November 9th 2013…
‘Shanghai CRED Real Estate Co. has purchased a New Zealand resort hotel as well as an adjacent vineyard and golf course which it plans to develop and promote to wealthy Chinese tourists.
The resort “can provide the sort of holiday experience that high-income Chinese and other international tourists are seeking,” Guo Gui, general manager of Shanghai CRED, said in the statement. His company has been involved with similar properties in China and will promote Carrington through its many tourism contacts, he said.
Shanghai CRED bought the 1,100-hectare (2,700-acre) property from a U.S.- based owner, it said in the statement. The purchase price was treated as confidential when the Overseas Investment Office granted consent in July, and isn’t being disclosed, Cedric Allan, a New Zealand spokesman for the buyer, said in a telephone interview today.’
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-11-09/shanghai-cred-buys-new-zealand-resort-eyes-chinese-tourists
http://media.nzherald.co.nz/webcontent/document/pdf/201345/Carrington.pdf
“Shanghai CRED is one of Shanghai’s largest property development companies. Their purchase of the 1,100 hectare (2,718 acre) Peppers Carrington resort – which includes a seaside golf course and vineyard – is the first significant Chinese investment in New Zealand’s tourism sector. The New Zealand government is targeting a fivefold increase in the number of Chinese visitors to New Zealand by 2018.
The Chapman Tripp team advised on the acquisition, Overseas Investment Office (OIO) consent, the structuring of Shanghai CRED’s New Zealand entities and employment contracts and is assisting with immigration requirements.
Partner Bill Sandston led the team, which included senior associate Tessa Kennings and solicitor Ruonan Duan.
Bill Sandston said: “Overseas Investment Office (OIO) approval and Chinese language skills were integral to the deal’s success and we are one of the few full-service law firms able to support our clients in this way.
“Our work for Shanghai Cred, as well as our representation of Shanghai Pengxin in its Crafar Farms purchase and current takeover bid for Canterbury dairy farmer Synlait Farms, reinforces our reputation for acting on Chinese investors’ most complex OIO approvals.”
http://www.chapmantripp.com/news/Pages/Chapman-Tripp-advises-on-China%27s-first-big-tourism-investment-in-New-Zealand.aspx
Just on a tangent… that resort, purchased by foreigners, to cater to the foreigners exclusive wealthy elite when they need a break, will do jack-shit for NZ.
A few cleaners and staff on minimum wage possible. That’s it.
All profit, which derives in bulk from our whenua, will go back to those foreign lands. In fact I would guess that pretty much all payments made for staying at the resort will be made back in those foreign lands and never even cross our borders.
Plus – that locality has had plans in the past for an international airport.
The foreigners will fly in directly, fly out again, and no money or anything will land in NZ itself.
How is that good for us? Does anyone know?
wrong. so very very wrong.
In the comments below the NBR article, for what it is worth…
“The word on the Northland vine is that there will by 600+ properties built as a possible gated community, with the resort flying in rich Chinese to play among the dunes.
Guess we will not be welcome and it is a shame Winnie can not stop this debacle because, despite assurances, I can not see us us locals being invited unless it is as local help.
OIO has a lot to answer for — they are screwing NZ and selling off its carcass.
We thought that the north was safe from this kind of treachery. Seems not.”
I heard a story that the chief witness in a case, a female police officer, has gone overseas. I do not know if this is true and I am not saying it has anything to do with Sabin. What I will say is that the NAct Party is filthier than I had thought possible.
Interesting, Murray. Pity you won’t be in a certain place on Monday, but if there is a ‘meeting’ it may turn out to be a short session with the legals only to extend certain remand provisions. I understand that this extension would have been outside the brief of the Auckland HC dealing with the appeal against disclosure,
[Are you here or there? Hope all goes well – Princess Alex? – I have everything crossed for good news.]
If everyone with a family or personal connection to an MP was forbidden from being a journalist we’d have a very small press gallery. Possibly non-existent.
Light relief: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11dao5_triumph-at-spin-alley-2004-10-20_fun
Triumph the puppet takes on party PR hacks after a leaders debate in run up to the 2004 US election. I hadn’t seen this before, but I got more than one actual lol from this. Recommended.
The Greens claim it was the lone political voice supporting a capital gains tax on property.
Little is now wisely talking about LVR restrictions.
Therefore, does that mean Labour have dropped the notion of a CGT?
Internally within Labour it has generally (although not universally) been finally recognised that a CGT is a dead rat which voters will not swallow.
More importantly though, Labour have not put together a comprehensive and cohesive housing and accomodation programme for NZ yet. It’s still very bitsy and unfocussed.
That’s good to hear (re CGT). Although, they took their time coming around.
It does sound as if Labour are still putting things together.
LVR restrictions are the way to go,. Regional flexibility is also a plus, but they will also have to avert investors ability to leverage off equity, otherwise LVR restrictions will become toothless.
Now we require to get the Greens in tune to put forward a united front.
LVR?
Loan-to-value ratio restrictions. In short, requiring higher deposits from property investors.
There is nothing really wrong with that…only a mug would get a home loan with no deposit.
It’s really the way forward, Millsy.
Not only will it reduce risk (for both the borrower and lender) it also slows speculation and in turn increases savings. Removing the need for a CGT and compulsory KiwiSaver – win-win.
Additionally, as it removes the heat out of the property market, it gives the Reserve Bank scope to lower the OCR, thus taking pressure off the NZ dollar.
Bill, for some reason I can’t reply directly to your ‘we’ question above. I use we as a possessive on an occasion because I’m a proud Labour party member. We members share ownership of the party, so it’s not grammatically inappropriate usage when talking about things like settled policy. However, if I’m talking about a LP MP’s press release or caucus activity in general, I wouldn’t use the possessive because I’m a step (or two) removed.
Yeah, I think I understand why you use it…in line with ‘we won’ when in actual fact the person saying it was sitting on their chuff watching the Black Caps or who-ever on the TV.
My sole thought is that in relation to commenting on ‘ts’, it can be a less than helpful habit when used in relation to political parties given the bullshit that’s thrown this way by some who claim ‘ts’ is a mouthpiece of this or that political entity.
As an aside, no policy is ever settled, is it? I mean, policy remits to conference and what have you… 😉
Good point about TS! Hadn’t thought of it from that perspective. Mind you, most of the most obsessive about the supposed TS/LP link are folk like WO, PG and Bomber who know it’s not true anyway.
I’ve been trying to think of other situations where I’d use ‘we’ like that. Not many, really. The only comparable situation is that when talking about football; I will say things like ‘we all hope Big Sam gets sacked’ as if I have a Borg like connection to every other West Ham fan in the universe.
We means we when its up to me.
We means me when its up to thee.
Is that not ABC says TRP.
As a followup to the Compass takeover of the SDHB meals on wheels program, which I commented on yeterday:
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/339379/volunteers-unhappy-meals-plan
However, the SDHB has its own problems and may not end up having the final say (even if they are convinced by the outcry against the scheme):
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/339385/sdhb-serious-freefall
So assuming that the Nats do appoint an overseer (who Coleman denies will be called a; “commissioner”) to the SDHB to adminster the funding cuts, the paper savings of the Compass contract will be a high priority for their approval. Then there’s the question of; how much Compass may have donated to certain election campaigns, but I’m not a forensic accountant able to follow concealed money trails.
…so to put it into a nutshell the Nacts starve the Southland District Hospital Board of taxpayer money for health
…so it goes into deficit
….and then has to jettison ‘meals on wheels’ to a private money making company… (one of Nact’s cronyist friends?)
….and its $23 million John key is putting in of New Zealand taxpayer money to change our New Zealand flag against our will ?! ( surveys show New Zealanders dont want their flag changed, especially the RSA and young NZers…they like our flag)
…this $23 million could go into ‘meals on wheels’ and kids lunches in schools ( you know Hone and Metiria’s lunches in schools Bill that the Nacts voted down)
….where is the Labour Party on this?
This is pretty shocking…it couldnt be happening in NZ as well could it?…surely not….but how would we know?
….such a kerfuffle was made of Dotcom’s donations to the Int/Mana Party….but what were the Nacts up to?
‘Tories bankrolled by hedge funds in offshore tax havens, new analysis shows’
http://rt.com/uk/250325-tories-bankrolled-hedgefunds-industry/
“Conservative Party candidates are bankrolled by hedge fund donations siphoned to Westminster from lucrative tax havens including the Cayman Islands, new analysis suggests…”.
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/04/16/the-daily-blog-open-mic-thursday-16th-april-2015/#comment-282742
My Good God ! On Campbell Live tonight – in answer to the question “Should Teina Pora get compensation ?” – 12% of respondents say “No”. It beggars belief !
Fetid, hardcore, classist, racist, whatever…….bastards. That can be the ONLY explanation. Makes you pray that they or theirs will personally fall victim to a grave miscarriage of justice on the scale suffered by Teina Pora. Wait…..I hear the primal scream. As I did from worshippers at the temple of TheGodKey in my own family. When my neice, her partner and 18 month old child fell innocent victims to TheGodKey’s 90 day law. Given 5 days to relocate their life from a backblocks farm where they’d ‘enjoyed’ 79 days of modest dwelling accommodation. Charity, but only when it’s you or yours !
Meanwhile a certain ‘hard man’ former detective, for many years a legend in the police force, lives a well-pensioned, comfortable life in retirement. A man who shuts the door of his clinker-brick retirement dwelling in the face of whichever media team calls. With 20 years of Teina Pora’s life on his hands. To the facile and embarrassingly ignorant who will niggle……”Well he did confess……” (quite fine to prey on the weak is it ?) – even as the investigation proceeded there were other detectives who were decidedly uncomfortable with what to them was obviously a fit-up.
Sadly the certain retired detective was of such seniority and such a legend, as in any gang, he could command submission by his subordinates. The now retired detective “had his man”. Who could challenge that ?
Recall seeing him at Papakura District Court at least a couple of decades ago. With gruff majesty, aloofly dispensing ‘acknowledgment’ to young cop after young cop. All lined up nervously semi-genuflecting in his presence.
“Like another cigarette Teina ?”
“Would it help if I pointed out a house Teina ?”
20 years of an innocent man’s life……Det. Steve Rutherford…….who “always gets his man”……..callously adding to the ‘Det. Steve Rutherford Legend’ ? Fukn hell ! Angry Angry !
For those worried about our dependence on housing and dairy as the main economic drivers in NZ, this is a great radio piece about Banks Peninsula sheep farmers who are co-operating into a sort of wool appellation district, and melding with their European customers. It could be an example that is a model for others.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife#audio-20175185
Chris Chamberlain (above left) is chairman of the Banks Peninsula Farms Wool Growers company. He also runs a sheep and beef property with his wife Jacqui near Port Levy on Banks Peninsula. “It was originally started from the farm discussion group we had running on the Peninsula. We were just disillusioned with the price of wool and we decided to be proactive and ask the question, why?”…
Richard Barnett (above right) is one of 40 or so shareholders in Banks Peninsula Farms Wool Growers Limited. He farms with his wife Clare across the bay from the Chamberlains. “One of the problems wool growers in general have had is that we’ve been kept very well divided and not badly served, but it’s been in a lot of other people’s interests to keep us rather ignorant of the wool growing, processing and marketing process”
It’s a detailed interesting doco style interview. They are doing better though it’s hard yards apparently, but they know the problems it seems and forewarned etc. Good on them and I hope they continue on their upward trend.
interesting …thanks greywarshark
Thanx Chooky. I am regularly looking at TS and your comments are also interesting, and knowledgable and insightful. If we can keep informing ourselves and others we’ll all get a clearer picture to back any submissions, ideas we take forward, and inform the choices at our next election. There is just so much I haven’t known, or understood fully.