Although Labour believes National’s approach to industrial emissions is imperfect, we are willing to go along with it due to the desirability of settling across both main parties.
Yes, and the whole point of the ETS is that the polluting businesses pay. Clearly they largely pass this on to their customers, but some will come out of their profits too. Anyway, it means higher prices on the shelf, which opens them up to competition – if their competitor can produce similar products but with significantly less pollution, then they can charge a lower price and grab the market share, eventually pushing the polluting company out of business if they don’t adapt.
If you simply give the polluters a free ride and put the cost on the tax payer, then the businesses have no incentive to reduce their pollution, and yet the end-consumer still ends up paying (via their tax dollars being flushed down the toilet paying polluters, instead of put too good use building hospitals and schools etc).
Thus voiding the whole point of the exercise in the first place.
Tell you what Pete, we’ll just ditch the necessary for the “sensible” and when the sea is lapping at our doors we’ll use your tedious gob as a bailing bucket.
No wonder your party is supporting the borrow and hope no one pays now joke.$76billion you and your political yes man wig worm is conning the public .$4.7 billion in interest payments per year no we are not increasing the cost to the public absolute BS propaganda.This road NatUactmaori coalition is going to end up like Greece not the same type that the wigworm uses for his hair or to slide around on.
“Do you think a small minority should dictate what should happen?”
This is beside the point. The question is whether the the Labour party should have supported the ETS given its imperfections. Was cross-party agreement really necessary on this issue?
During the anthems at RWC last night, there were 23 in the line up. Notice the camera carefully panned to avoid the 23rd singing the reo version and appeared to be perfectly managed to reach him as they sang the line “God defend New Zealand”. Nice one guys except I understood that he is a non believer …
It sickened me to see that slippery pretender lining up in black beside the ABs for the anthem. Was it to do with the dedication of the match to the losses from the quakes in Christchurch and Japan? Or is it set to be a fixture of the AB ppearnaces at the RWC?
But Shonkey as AB annabe (unable to sing Te Reo version of the anthem) is weakening my support of the ABs. I ended up only watching a bit of the match as it was looking early on to be a walk-over anyway. And I no longer am keen to see the ABs in all their games. So now I’m considering supporting any opponents to the AB – especially if the Great Pretender continues to hijack ABs’ appearances for electioneering photo ops.
So to precis your comment………. ‘wah wah wah I hate John Key I’m spitting my dummy.’
It was a sign of respect in relation to those lost and injured in the earthquakes that a NZ and japanese dignitary were on the field during the minutes silence and National anthems.
No, HS, it’s more like the last straw. I’m already getting sick of the hype around the ABs – I have always liked watching them play in the past, but I enjoy the games not the extraneous over-donre hype.
And I’m already getting sick of the way Shonkey is using the ABs and RWC for the photo ops with the up-coming election in mind. e.g. the embarrassing presentation of black jerseys to the leaders at the Pacific Forum, the nationalistic sledging of Julia Gillard, ministers behaving like bad-mannered, boorish macho rugby spectators, and, above all, JK being there smiling and waving for the successes and taking no responsibility for failures: e.g saying in advance that people will eat their criticisms of the Cloud, then being nowhere to be sen with the opening night failures.
By the way, I was bemused by Hawaiian JK’s visible attendance at the USA vs Russia match – where does his allegiance really lie? I enjoyed that match – closely fought, absorbing.
PS: I’m prepared to give the benefit of the doubt that last night’s JK singing photo op was to do with quake remembrance – as I indicated in my first comment above (albeit while being slightly opportunistic), but I hope it won’t become a feature of all ABs’ games that JK, slips into photo op mode.
“By the way, I was bemused by Hawaiian JK’s visible attendance at the USA vs Russia match – where does his allegiance really lie? I enjoyed that match – closely fought, absorbing.”
The russian deputy PM was here for trade talks … I expect that was a good enough reason for the NZ PM to front and host him.
I’m not arguing whether or not Key is a dick but you need to take your blinkers off and imagine someone else in his place at these events to test whether it is reasonable before screeching your outrage.
Yes, I have imagined others… I imagined other NZ PMs would have been in the stands, or more to the side of the ABs …. proceedings rather than lining up like a 23rd AB.
“Screeching”? Really? Sounds like quite an emotive judgment…. emotive language that doesn’t match my sentiments.
Trade delegation? Hmmm… so we should expect JK at a lot of other countries matches?
I have no problem at all with the Prime Minister – any Prime Minister – showing respect at a minute’s silence for those who were lost. That’s entirely appropriate.
But that’s not what happened, is it?
Just before the minute’s silence, Key and Mori (from Japan) are introduced. So what does Key do?
He smiles, and he waves. Yes, literally. No need to take my word for it, just watch the footage.
It was supposed to be a moment of reflection, of remembrance. That’s what it should have been. But Key tries to turn it into something else.
You ask that we “‘imagine someone else in his place at these events”. Fair call. That’s always the basic test of objectivity – put somebody else in his shoes.
So, imagine Obama at a 9/11 memorial. Imagine any leader. Clark, or Bolger, or anyone you care to name. Imagine a right-wing bastard like John Howard, if you want.
See any waving to the crowd? At a minute’s silence? Answer: never. They never have, and they never would.
Key’s behaviour was crass and shameless, and we should be ashamed.
so if the idea was meant to be, that joining the players was a sign of respect for the victims of the disasters, why did The PM not express proper respect ( or even basic manners) by waiting for the Japanese official to be in position before proceedings got underway?
The Japanese official was forced to run behind the staging area to get into his position as the Anthems begun and John Key had already slithered into position beside the AB’s
Key politicized the All Blacks in this election period. It was a total WTF moment. And not knowing the anthem was comedy gold. And john, no about of standing with burly rugby players will ever make up for your mincing catwal faux pas.
Key politicized the All Blacks in this election period. It was a total WTF moment. And not knowing the anthem was comedy gold. There was no reason for him to be with the team. No reason. And john, no about of standing with burly rugby players will ever make up for your mincing catwal faux pas.
I heard four calls to remove more of our legal rights yesterday.
The first was the police calling for legislation confirming their “right” to conduct covert surveillance on private property after the Supreme Court refused their use of “evidence” gathered that way in the “Tuhoe Terrorist” raids.
The second was the use of the Guthrie blood samples for research; it didn’t say whether it would be limited to medical research or used by law enforcement research. I understand these samples have been taken from all babies born in hospitals since the early ‘60s. (Another reason for home births?)
The third was Steven Joyce’s cancelling the consent process for Transmission Gully to cut down on submissions, which would only “hold up the process” so they would be ignored anyway. This is another of his highways of national significance.
The fourth was Simple Simon’s changes to the law (I can’t remember the actual name) act. He has made some minor changes and has now got support for things like limiting jury trials and removing the right to silence among no doubt others that we will only hear about when the legislation is tabled under urgency next week, as he hasn’t got much time to get it through before Parliament winds up. I wonder if in the negotiations pressure was put on ACT over Epsom and PD in Oharia to get them to finally agree to the changes.
Is it a coincidence that all these were released on a Friday when the focus was on the RWC.
They also now know that they can use their special legislation for Cerra and the RWC, so watch for more of this “crisis” legislation if they get in after the election.
Amongst the new Police State decrees is a recent bylaw Auckland has passed banning the distribtuion of political or other special interest material in a public space. There are people looking at how this happened and most importantly WHY? They have no answers as yet due to numerous people refusing to answer questions or forward requested information. There is no clear description of how free newspapers or election material are exempt but it appears to be Authority blatantly silencing dissent, and restricting the ability of ‘free’ people to educate each other.
It is just one more act in the ongoing tragedy we are performing as an ensemble cast of four million. The Death of Democracy, a three year tale of corruption, deceipt, avarice and hate.
No newspaper in NZ (that i am aware of) has had the balls to touch the story either !
In the last article here on the Roy Morgan poll it was argued that because there was little change it suggested that voters weren’t taking much notice.
Does the latest result suggest that voters now are starting to take notice, and that it is bad news for Labour, especially this close to the election.
Hmmmm is the phrase ‘Roy Morgan Poll’ a banned phrase on here yet? Shouldn’t you guys spend a bit more time working out strategy and plans to help Labour increase national support in the coming election – or have you given up?
I reckon the day Labour become the government again will be the day when its own supporters are more critical of their own MP’s than the Nats are. It doesn’t happen at the moment and ya all are slowly dying the death of 1000 polls. What does it take to wake die hard Labourites up? 20% come November? Wakey wakey otherwise you will end up like Japan on last nights scoreboard -very painful.
Which guys are you referring to? This is not a Labour blog, and there has often been criticism of Labour here… look up to the first posts on this Open Mike thread for instance.
The latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows support for Prime Minister John Key’s National-led Government is virtually unchanged at 61.5% (up 5.5%). Support for Key’s National Party is 57% (up 5% – the highest since October 2009), ACT NZ 1.5% (down 0.5%), the Maori Party 2.5% (up 1%), and United Future 0.5% (unchanged).
Support for Opposition Parties is at 38.5% (down 5.5%) — Labour Party 26% (down 3.5% – the lowest since March 2009), Greens 7.5% (down 1.5%), New Zealand First 3.5% (unchanged), Mana Party 1% (unchanged) and Others 0.5% (down 0.5%).
This was taken for another two days after the opening night fiasco….and yet it doesn’t seem to have altered the result…..yet
“This was taken for another two days after the opening night fiasco….and yet it doesn’t seem to have altered the result…..yet”
Because very little polling is actually done in the last couple of days.
They have demographic quotas they have to reach like most market research does. Ever had someone ring up and ask how old you were and then said “sorry we don’t need you for our research”?
The last couple of days of phone polling are to fill in the small demographic niches they have remaining so that they can say they have a statistically valid sample of the population.
The thing is, when the left is back in power they need to introduce a massive agenda of change for the country, not pussyfoot around trying to be a centrist 95% continuation of capitalist free market policies.
line up the focus groups, the lobbyists, in fact grab every single one of the wastrels that sit in the house week in week out. Put them against the wall and charge people a buck a shot for thirty seconds with a paintball gun.
People get frustration out, art is created and the country’s debt is paid off in a week.
I really don’t like Labour’s billboards. What happened to their simple two tick bill boards from 1999-2005. The current ones seem so individualised and far too focused on the electorate vote.
A followup after some thought and feedback on the Maori flag flap.
The flap about the NEV school flag flying was odd as the complaint was about the Maori flag flying amongst other flags. The complainer was implying there should be only one flag – the onbe of his choice.
This isn’t a Maori problem, it’s a problem for all cultures, and an issue of free speech.
I don’t agree with his email. He seems like he only wanty’s “his” flag flown so the kids don’t get confused. I think he’s confused.
However I think he represents quite a common point of view. It’s probably based more on superficial perception rather than any thought. I wonder what he thinks of all the Argentinian and English and Georgian and Italian and Irish flags being flown around Dunedin at the moment.
I can’t see Key being in a lengthy TV shot by himself from now on where the rugby is concerned. Don’t forget there are big screens all over the country and if he was booed in Auckland when he spoke then I don’t imagine the minders will want that spreading. It validates the number of people who don’t like him, reassures them they are not alone and influences others.
I predict all rugby shots from now on will have him attached to an All Black as the crowd would then feel disloyal to the AB’s if they booed.
It now appears that there were no “trumped up” charges and there was plenty of evidence – just an issue of admissibility because evidence was “covertly” collected.
On the face of it, there certainly seems to be a case to be made:
– evidence gathered over two years of military-style training camps and training activities
– organised criminal behaviour
– possession of numerous firearms, including sawn-off rifles and sawn-off shotguns, semi-automatic rifles, and an “AK47-style weapon”
– training in use of, and possession of, molotov cocktails
– &c.
Resulting in charges that members of the group would have committed violent offences including murder, arson, intentional damage, endangering transport, wounding with intent, injuring with intent, aggravated wounding, discharging a firearm or doing a dangerous act with intent, using a firearm against police, committing a crime with a firearm and kidnapping.
To be sure the police are not blameless – they went onto the land after getting search warrants and installed motion-sensor cameras. Now a High Court ruling has found that putting the cameras on private land was illegal.
To criticise the police for this may be fair enough – but this “disallowed” evidence is compelling eough to warrant a little more respect for the Crown’s case against the remaining four accused, and a little less premature criticism of the police for taking action against the accused.
Sorry Draco to burst your little bubble about self-obsession but I wasn’t talking about me.
The comments adress the reason why cases were dropped against some of the Urewera 18 and how the dropping of charges appears to have had nothing to do with the quality of evidence against those accused – and everything to do with the way the evidence was collected.
In other words, the charges against the Urewera 18 appear to have some significant substance in reality.
So, tell me Draco, why do you find that so threatening?
Sorry, can you please quote the parts of his post where he was “talking about your fear of other people having power and not supporting the way things are”, because I must have missed them.
Just re-read his post 3 times and couldn’t see them at all.
My boyfriend made pretty much the same observations.
These people are acting as if the charges being dropped against them somehow proves that they were doing nothing wrong.
No, not really, what is says is that the police pressed charges in the first place because they did have evidence that they were doing something wrong. The police just collected the evidence in an illegal fashion and so weren’t allowed to use it.
… and adds Too many people have been far too quick ignore the seriousness of what’s at stake here. Just imagine if the variety of ethnic nationalism at issue was the type preached by the Norwegian monster
Quite willing to be corrected if I am wrong. But, is there any first hand source saying that the only reason charges were dropped was because of the way evidence was collected?
Or is merely a reason. Because if it’s only areason and not the sole reason, then basically all that is happening is that the authorities are ‘saving face’ while leaving them free to cast aspersions on the integrity of the people they dropped the charges on.
Now the authorities (if my assumption is correct) can mislead the media (assuming a separation there, just for a moment) and the public with an avalanche of innuendo and bullshit.
eg “We charged (whoever) on sheep shagging offences. We collected the info illegally and are dropping charges.” is entirely different to “We charged (whoever) on sheep shagging offences. We have to drop the charges, for the sole reason that we collected the info illegally”
In the first example, other possible reasons for dopping the charges include that the person simply wasn’t shagging sheep.
The admissability of the evidence has been tested. The quality of that evidence has not.
But if you consider that someone feels justified or just arrogant enough to ride roughshod over rules of evidence without getting so much as a legal opinion for advice, I wonder about their interpretation of any evidence they gathered. It’ll all come out in the wash, one way or another I guess.
– evidence gathered over two years of military-style training camps and training activities.
It could be argued that the Boys Brigade and the Cadets (or whatever they call those young nippers dressed up in army gear these days) are involved in ‘military-style training camps’. Define a ‘military-style training camp’, would you? Such a reference could be pertaining to nothing more than a particular command and control structure. Just because images of Al Qaeda training camps are all the rage in the popular imagination these days, doesn’t mean that ‘miltary style training camps’ need satisfy that image to be reasonably labelled as ‘military style training camps’. Have the authorities provided thorough details; the details that led them to use that desciption? Or are they merely being provocative and relying on the public to fill in the desirable blanks?
– organised criminal behaviour
That could be almost anything, from growing a bit of dak or two people collaborating in chainsawing a tree that wasn’t theirs to indulging in a bit illegal hunting (no liscense, poaching or whatever).
– possession of numerous firearms, including sawn-off rifles and sawn-off shotguns, semi-automatic rifles, and an “AK47-style weapon”
Aren’t firearms common place in NZ? These people were in the bush. How many people go into the bush with firearms? A fair few. If the desciptions are accurate then, yes. It would seem that some illegal firearms were in someone’s possession.
– training in use of, and possession of, molotov cocktails
Training in the use of molotov cocktails? Really!? What is there to train on? For two years!!? And is it a crime to partially fill a bottle with petrol, light a soaked rag and throw it…out in the middle of nowhere? I guess if there’s a fire ban or something it might be.
And this wouldn’t be the first time that a (non-regulatuion) petrol container with a stopper in it has become, in the eyes of the police, a molotov cocktail. Reality being it was a container with petrol that was being used in reasonable ways in reasonable circumstances.
Anyway. Don’t misconstue what I’m saying. I’m not claiming to know what was what. But don’t you think it reasonable to ask questions rather than jump to the previously drip fed conclusions of the authorities?
I think the Foreign Affairs Minister is otherwise engaged… but yeah, we’ll go with the Americans. Obama campaigned on a 2-state solution and now they’re saying no, I can’t think that’s a good move at all.
I see the Europeans are split on this – it’ll be the end of the goodwill created by the Arab Spring if the vote against it IMO.
So NZ could vote for a Palestinian state and it wouldn’t matter.
Johnny Boy being the good boy that he is will probably direct for an abstention from NZ. Wouldn’t want to upset the master now, would he? Give that arse cheek a little peck and apologise in private for not going the whole head up the arse hog this time around, and promise to do better in future.
It appears there are 2 separate means of requesting – one is full statehood at the Security Council, which the US will veto. Does NZ has a role at all in that?
The second,is to take the request to the full assembly, this will give enhanced observer status, not full. But they should win that hands down.
Anyway, it looks like the Palestinians have decided on the Security Council route first.
The ambassador unequivocally says that Palestinian refugees would not become citizens of the sought for U.N.-recognized Palestinian state, an issue that has been much discussed. “They are Palestinians, that’s their identity,” he says. “But … they are not automatically citizens.”
This would not only apply to refugees in countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Jordan or the other 132 countries where Abdullah says Palestinians reside. Abdullah said that “even Palestinian refugees who are living in [refugee camps] inside the [Palestinian] state, they are still refugees. They will not be considered citizens.”
Abdullah said that the new Palestinian state would “absolutely not” be issuing Palestinian passports to refugees.
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Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
Chris Trotter writes – MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. The data is from February this ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications:Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
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. ...
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. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Honiara Solomon Islands’ incumbent prime minister Manasseh Sogavare has been re-elected in the East Choiseul constituency. It is the opening move in the political chess match to form the country’s next government. Returning officer Christopher Makoni made the declaration late last night after ...
Headline: The moment of friction. – 36th Parallel Assessments In strategic studies “friction” is a term that it is used to describe the moment when military action encounters adversary resistance. “Friction” is one of four (along with an unofficial fifth) “F’s” in military strategy, which includes force (kinetic mass), ...
The Fast-track Bill, if passed, would allow three Ministers, unchallenged and unchecked, to approve the immediate extraction and exhaustion of one-off resources. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term “bulk billed” refers to a GP visit they don’t have to pay ...
Emmas Hislop, Sidnam and Wehipeihana discuss what’s in a name. Emma Sidnam: Hello Emmas! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. My first question for you is related to what’s been on my mind for a while. It’s very important. You see we’ve recently had some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
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Labour cozying up to Nats to further gut Emissions Trading Scheme:
Disgraceful.
Settling across the two biggest parties representing most people sounds like a sensible idea to me.
Do you think a small minority should dictate what should happen?
Do you think a majority support increased government subsidies to polluters?
I can’t see anything about subsidies to polluters. The TV3 article leads with:
“The Government’s going to reduce the cost to consumers of the Emissions Trading Scheme.”
Is that what you don’t like?
The reduction in the cost to consumers will mean an increase in the cost to taxpayers. Someone has to pay.
And an increase in costs to businesses would result in an increase in costs to consumers too. Someone has to pay.
“Someone has to pay.”
Yes, and the whole point of the ETS is that the polluting businesses pay. Clearly they largely pass this on to their customers, but some will come out of their profits too. Anyway, it means higher prices on the shelf, which opens them up to competition – if their competitor can produce similar products but with significantly less pollution, then they can charge a lower price and grab the market share, eventually pushing the polluting company out of business if they don’t adapt.
If you simply give the polluters a free ride and put the cost on the tax payer, then the businesses have no incentive to reduce their pollution, and yet the end-consumer still ends up paying (via their tax dollars being flushed down the toilet paying polluters, instead of put too good use building hospitals and schools etc).
Thus voiding the whole point of the exercise in the first place.
Tell you what Pete, we’ll just ditch the necessary for the “sensible” and when the sea is lapping at our doors we’ll use your tedious gob as a bailing bucket.
No wonder your party is supporting the borrow and hope no one pays now joke.$76billion you and your political yes man wig worm is conning the public .$4.7 billion in interest payments per year no we are not increasing the cost to the public absolute BS propaganda.This road NatUactmaori coalition is going to end up like Greece not the same type that the wigworm uses for his hair or to slide around on.
“Do you think a small minority should dictate what should happen?”
This is beside the point. The question is whether the the Labour party should have supported the ETS given its imperfections. Was cross-party agreement really necessary on this issue?
“Do you think a small minority should dictate what should happen?”
I thought that defined the modern age, are you suggesting a small minority don’t dictate what happens PG?
http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/
When a radical solution is required compromising upon that solution is not sensible or desirable.
During the anthems at RWC last night, there were 23 in the line up. Notice the camera carefully panned to avoid the 23rd singing the reo version and appeared to be perfectly managed to reach him as they sang the line “God defend New Zealand”. Nice one guys except I understood that he is a non believer …
Maybe he was just giving us a warning. What was he doing in the line-up anyway, oh of course, photo-op.
It sickened me to see that slippery pretender lining up in black beside the ABs for the anthem. Was it to do with the dedication of the match to the losses from the quakes in Christchurch and Japan? Or is it set to be a fixture of the AB ppearnaces at the RWC?
But Shonkey as AB annabe (unable to sing Te Reo version of the anthem) is weakening my support of the ABs. I ended up only watching a bit of the match as it was looking early on to be a walk-over anyway. And I no longer am keen to see the ABs in all their games. So now I’m considering supporting any opponents to the AB – especially if the Great Pretender continues to hijack ABs’ appearances for electioneering photo ops.
So to precis your comment………. ‘wah wah wah I hate John Key I’m spitting my dummy.’
It was a sign of respect in relation to those lost and injured in the earthquakes that a NZ and japanese dignitary were on the field during the minutes silence and National anthems.
No, HS, it’s more like the last straw. I’m already getting sick of the hype around the ABs – I have always liked watching them play in the past, but I enjoy the games not the extraneous over-donre hype.
And I’m already getting sick of the way Shonkey is using the ABs and RWC for the photo ops with the up-coming election in mind. e.g. the embarrassing presentation of black jerseys to the leaders at the Pacific Forum, the nationalistic sledging of Julia Gillard, ministers behaving like bad-mannered, boorish macho rugby spectators, and, above all, JK being there smiling and waving for the successes and taking no responsibility for failures: e.g saying in advance that people will eat their criticisms of the Cloud, then being nowhere to be sen with the opening night failures.
By the way, I was bemused by Hawaiian JK’s visible attendance at the USA vs Russia match – where does his allegiance really lie? I enjoyed that match – closely fought, absorbing.
PS: I’m prepared to give the benefit of the doubt that last night’s JK singing photo op was to do with quake remembrance – as I indicated in my first comment above (albeit while being slightly opportunistic), but I hope it won’t become a feature of all ABs’ games that JK, slips into photo op mode.
“By the way, I was bemused by Hawaiian JK’s visible attendance at the USA vs Russia match – where does his allegiance really lie? I enjoyed that match – closely fought, absorbing.”
The russian deputy PM was here for trade talks … I expect that was a good enough reason for the NZ PM to front and host him.
http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/key-and-zhukov-talk-trade-watch-rugby-4404678
I’m not arguing whether or not Key is a dick but you need to take your blinkers off and imagine someone else in his place at these events to test whether it is reasonable before screeching your outrage.
Yes, I have imagined others… I imagined other NZ PMs would have been in the stands, or more to the side of the ABs …. proceedings rather than lining up like a 23rd AB.
“Screeching”? Really? Sounds like quite an emotive judgment…. emotive language that doesn’t match my sentiments.
Trade delegation? Hmmm… so we should expect JK at a lot of other countries matches?
@Higher Standard
I have no problem at all with the Prime Minister – any Prime Minister – showing respect at a minute’s silence for those who were lost. That’s entirely appropriate.
But that’s not what happened, is it?
Just before the minute’s silence, Key and Mori (from Japan) are introduced. So what does Key do?
He smiles, and he waves. Yes, literally. No need to take my word for it, just watch the footage.
It was supposed to be a moment of reflection, of remembrance. That’s what it should have been. But Key tries to turn it into something else.
You ask that we “‘imagine someone else in his place at these events”. Fair call. That’s always the basic test of objectivity – put somebody else in his shoes.
So, imagine Obama at a 9/11 memorial. Imagine any leader. Clark, or Bolger, or anyone you care to name. Imagine a right-wing bastard like John Howard, if you want.
See any waving to the crowd? At a minute’s silence? Answer: never. They never have, and they never would.
Key’s behaviour was crass and shameless, and we should be ashamed.
+1
OMG,
John Key smiled and waved to a crowd that cheered him when he walked onto the field – how crass and shameless is that?
Not at all … must be a slow news day…
So why was he walking onto the field, Joe Bloggs?
What was the ostensible reason for him – and his Japanese guest – being there?
Think about it.
FFS…
if he wasn’t there, you’d probably be flagellating Key for not visibly paying his respects to the tragedies in Christchurch and Japan.
if he was there but didn’t acknowledge the crowds, you’d probably be flagellating Key for being aloof.
Key WAS there, the crowds CHEERED him, he ACKNOWLEDGED their greeting..It’s called the human face of politics. Get over it.
so if the idea was meant to be, that joining the players was a sign of respect for the victims of the disasters, why did The PM not express proper respect ( or even basic manners) by waiting for the Japanese official to be in position before proceedings got underway?
The Japanese official was forced to run behind the staging area to get into his position as the Anthems begun and John Key had already slithered into position beside the AB’s
Key politicized the All Blacks in this election period. It was creepy and pathetic.
Key politicized the All Blacks in this election period. It was a total WTF moment. And not knowing the anthem was comedy gold. And john, no about of standing with burly rugby players will ever make up for your mincing catwal faux pas.
Key politicized the All Blacks in this election period. It was a total WTF moment. And not knowing the anthem was comedy gold. There was no reason for him to be with the team. No reason. And john, no about of standing with burly rugby players will ever make up for your mincing catwal faux pas.
The NZRU have always been happy to play politics as long as they get what they want, bok tour etc.
I heard four calls to remove more of our legal rights yesterday.
The first was the police calling for legislation confirming their “right” to conduct covert surveillance on private property after the Supreme Court refused their use of “evidence” gathered that way in the “Tuhoe Terrorist” raids.
The second was the use of the Guthrie blood samples for research; it didn’t say whether it would be limited to medical research or used by law enforcement research. I understand these samples have been taken from all babies born in hospitals since the early ‘60s. (Another reason for home births?)
The third was Steven Joyce’s cancelling the consent process for Transmission Gully to cut down on submissions, which would only “hold up the process” so they would be ignored anyway. This is another of his highways of national significance.
The fourth was Simple Simon’s changes to the law (I can’t remember the actual name) act. He has made some minor changes and has now got support for things like limiting jury trials and removing the right to silence among no doubt others that we will only hear about when the legislation is tabled under urgency next week, as he hasn’t got much time to get it through before Parliament winds up. I wonder if in the negotiations pressure was put on ACT over Epsom and PD in Oharia to get them to finally agree to the changes.
Is it a coincidence that all these were released on a Friday when the focus was on the RWC.
They also now know that they can use their special legislation for Cerra and the RWC, so watch for more of this “crisis” legislation if they get in after the election.
Amongst the new Police State decrees is a recent bylaw Auckland has passed banning the distribtuion of political or other special interest material in a public space. There are people looking at how this happened and most importantly WHY? They have no answers as yet due to numerous people refusing to answer questions or forward requested information. There is no clear description of how free newspapers or election material are exempt but it appears to be Authority blatantly silencing dissent, and restricting the ability of ‘free’ people to educate each other.
It is just one more act in the ongoing tragedy we are performing as an ensemble cast of four million. The Death of Democracy, a three year tale of corruption, deceipt, avarice and hate.
No newspaper in NZ (that i am aware of) has had the balls to touch the story either !
In the last article here on the Roy Morgan poll it was argued that because there was little change it suggested that voters weren’t taking much notice.
Does the latest result suggest that voters now are starting to take notice, and that it is bad news for Labour, especially this close to the election.
Hmmmm is the phrase ‘Roy Morgan Poll’ a banned phrase on here yet? Shouldn’t you guys spend a bit more time working out strategy and plans to help Labour increase national support in the coming election – or have you given up?
I reckon the day Labour become the government again will be the day when its own supporters are more critical of their own MP’s than the Nats are. It doesn’t happen at the moment and ya all are slowly dying the death of 1000 polls. What does it take to wake die hard Labourites up? 20% come November? Wakey wakey otherwise you will end up like Japan on last nights scoreboard -very painful.
Which guys are you referring to? This is not a Labour blog, and there has often been criticism of Labour here… look up to the first posts on this Open Mike thread for instance.
Latest Roy Morgan results are interesting….
http://www.roymorgan.com/news/polls/2011/4700/
The latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows support for Prime Minister John Key’s National-led Government is virtually unchanged at 61.5% (up 5.5%). Support for Key’s National Party is 57% (up 5% – the highest since October 2009), ACT NZ 1.5% (down 0.5%), the Maori Party 2.5% (up 1%), and United Future 0.5% (unchanged).
Support for Opposition Parties is at 38.5% (down 5.5%) — Labour Party 26% (down 3.5% – the lowest since March 2009), Greens 7.5% (down 1.5%), New Zealand First 3.5% (unchanged), Mana Party 1% (unchanged) and Others 0.5% (down 0.5%).
This was taken for another two days after the opening night fiasco….and yet it doesn’t seem to have altered the result…..yet
“This was taken for another two days after the opening night fiasco….and yet it doesn’t seem to have altered the result…..yet”
Because very little polling is actually done in the last couple of days.
They have demographic quotas they have to reach like most market research does. Ever had someone ring up and ask how old you were and then said “sorry we don’t need you for our research”?
The last couple of days of phone polling are to fill in the small demographic niches they have remaining so that they can say they have a statistically valid sample of the population.
sooner or later the left will win again and then its open season on you and ur bitch trolls
go away and lick farrars balls
you bore me with ur continuous boring trolling
The thing is, when the left is back in power they need to introduce a massive agenda of change for the country, not pussyfoot around trying to be a centrist 95% continuation of capitalist free market policies.
+1
Abandon the focus group, lead!
line up the focus groups, the lobbyists, in fact grab every single one of the wastrels that sit in the house week in week out. Put them against the wall and charge people a buck a shot for thirty seconds with a paintball gun.
People get frustration out, art is created and the country’s debt is paid off in a week.
lolol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O7zZX-u3M0
have a gander
tis frakin funny
LOLZ : )
I really don’t like Labour’s billboards. What happened to their simple two tick bill boards from 1999-2005. The current ones seem so individualised and far too focused on the electorate vote.
A followup after some thought and feedback on the Maori flag flap.
The flap about the NEV school flag flying was odd as the complaint was about the Maori flag flying amongst other flags. The complainer was implying there should be only one flag – the onbe of his choice.
This isn’t a Maori problem, it’s a problem for all cultures, and an issue of free speech.
so do you agree with the contents of the email he sent?
if it’s not a Māori issue why did he moan just about the tino rangatiratanga flag and send that email?
I don’t agree with his email. He seems like he only wanty’s “his” flag flown so the kids don’t get confused. I think he’s confused.
However I think he represents quite a common point of view. It’s probably based more on superficial perception rather than any thought. I wonder what he thinks of all the Argentinian and English and Georgian and Italian and Irish flags being flown around Dunedin at the moment.
I can’t see Key being in a lengthy TV shot by himself from now on where the rugby is concerned. Don’t forget there are big screens all over the country and if he was booed in Auckland when he spoke then I don’t imagine the minders will want that spreading. It validates the number of people who don’t like him, reassures them they are not alone and influences others.
I predict all rugby shots from now on will have him attached to an All Black as the crowd would then feel disloyal to the AB’s if they booed.
.
Now that more details have been revealed about the dropping of charges against the Urewera 18, it appears that the guest post on The Standard was a little hasty in assigning fault to the police.
It now appears that there were no “trumped up” charges and there was plenty of evidence – just an issue of admissibility because evidence was “covertly” collected.
On the face of it, there certainly seems to be a case to be made:
– evidence gathered over two years of military-style training camps and training activities
– organised criminal behaviour
– possession of numerous firearms, including sawn-off rifles and sawn-off shotguns, semi-automatic rifles, and an “AK47-style weapon”
– training in use of, and possession of, molotov cocktails
– &c.
Resulting in charges that members of the group would have committed violent offences including murder, arson, intentional damage, endangering transport, wounding with intent, injuring with intent, aggravated wounding, discharging a firearm or doing a dangerous act with intent, using a firearm against police, committing a crime with a firearm and kidnapping.
To be sure the police are not blameless – they went onto the land after getting search warrants and installed motion-sensor cameras. Now a High Court ruling has found that putting the cameras on private land was illegal.
To criticise the police for this may be fair enough – but this “disallowed” evidence is compelling eough to warrant a little more respect for the Crown’s case against the remaining four accused, and a little less premature criticism of the police for taking action against the accused.
Why are people so upset about the AK47? Why don’t you use M-16 style weapon instead (they’re both assault rifles)?
IMO, it has to do with increasing peoples fear and, amazingly enough, bringing back the Red Scare fear of commun1sm from the 1950s.
So, tell me Joe, why are you scared of people?
Sorry Draco to burst your little bubble about self-obsession but I wasn’t talking about me.
The comments adress the reason why cases were dropped against some of the Urewera 18 and how the dropping of charges appears to have had nothing to do with the quality of evidence against those accused – and everything to do with the way the evidence was collected.
In other words, the charges against the Urewera 18 appear to have some significant substance in reality.
So, tell me Draco, why do you find that so threatening?
Yes you were. You were talking about your fear of other people having power and not supporting the way things are, the legal theft that is capitalism.
Sorry, can you please quote the parts of his post where he was “talking about your fear of other people having power and not supporting the way things are”, because I must have missed them.
Just re-read his post 3 times and couldn’t see them at all.
.
WHAT??????????????????
Pathetic – now I’m talking about you Draco
My boyfriend made pretty much the same observations.
These people are acting as if the charges being dropped against them somehow proves that they were doing nothing wrong.
No, not really, what is says is that the police pressed charges in the first place because they did have evidence that they were doing something wrong. The police just collected the evidence in an illegal fashion and so weren’t allowed to use it.
.
John Pagani comes to a similar conclusion…
… and adds Too many people have been far too quick ignore the seriousness of what’s at stake here. Just imagine if the variety of ethnic nationalism at issue was the type preached by the Norwegian monster
That’s a good post by Pagani, summing up what appears to be real seriousness, and backing the police position.
Quite willing to be corrected if I am wrong. But, is there any first hand source saying that the only reason charges were dropped was because of the way evidence was collected?
Or is merely a reason. Because if it’s only areason and not the sole reason, then basically all that is happening is that the authorities are ‘saving face’ while leaving them free to cast aspersions on the integrity of the people they dropped the charges on.
Now the authorities (if my assumption is correct) can mislead the media (assuming a separation there, just for a moment) and the public with an avalanche of innuendo and bullshit.
eg “We charged (whoever) on sheep shagging offences. We collected the info illegally and are dropping charges.” is entirely different to “We charged (whoever) on sheep shagging offences. We have to drop the charges, for the sole reason that we collected the info illegally”
In the first example, other possible reasons for dopping the charges include that the person simply wasn’t shagging sheep.
The admissability of the evidence has been tested. The quality of that evidence has not.
But if you consider that someone feels justified or just arrogant enough to ride roughshod over rules of evidence without getting so much as a legal opinion for advice, I wonder about their interpretation of any evidence they gathered. It’ll all come out in the wash, one way or another I guess.
Thankyou McFlock.
@ Joe Bloggs
It could be argued that the Boys Brigade and the Cadets (or whatever they call those young nippers dressed up in army gear these days) are involved in ‘military-style training camps’. Define a ‘military-style training camp’, would you? Such a reference could be pertaining to nothing more than a particular command and control structure. Just because images of Al Qaeda training camps are all the rage in the popular imagination these days, doesn’t mean that ‘miltary style training camps’ need satisfy that image to be reasonably labelled as ‘military style training camps’. Have the authorities provided thorough details; the details that led them to use that desciption? Or are they merely being provocative and relying on the public to fill in the desirable blanks?
That could be almost anything, from growing a bit of dak or two people collaborating in chainsawing a tree that wasn’t theirs to indulging in a bit illegal hunting (no liscense, poaching or whatever).
Aren’t firearms common place in NZ? These people were in the bush. How many people go into the bush with firearms? A fair few. If the desciptions are accurate then, yes. It would seem that some illegal firearms were in someone’s possession.
Training in the use of molotov cocktails? Really!? What is there to train on? For two years!!? And is it a crime to partially fill a bottle with petrol, light a soaked rag and throw it…out in the middle of nowhere? I guess if there’s a fire ban or something it might be.
And this wouldn’t be the first time that a (non-regulatuion) petrol container with a stopper in it has become, in the eyes of the police, a molotov cocktail. Reality being it was a container with petrol that was being used in reasonable ways in reasonable circumstances.
Anyway. Don’t misconstue what I’m saying. I’m not claiming to know what was what. But don’t you think it reasonable to ask questions rather than jump to the previously drip fed conclusions of the authorities?
Does anyone know whether NZ will be supporting the recognition of the state of Palestine in the UN Vote?
Key will have NZ vote whichever way the US recommends us to.
I think the Foreign Affairs Minister is otherwise engaged… but yeah, we’ll go with the Americans. Obama campaigned on a 2-state solution and now they’re saying no, I can’t think that’s a good move at all.
I see the Europeans are split on this – it’ll be the end of the goodwill created by the Arab Spring if the vote against it IMO.
The US is going to veto. We know that already.
So NZ could vote for a Palestinian state and it wouldn’t matter.
Johnny Boy being the good boy that he is will probably direct for an abstention from NZ. Wouldn’t want to upset the master now, would he? Give that arse cheek a little peck and apologise in private for not going the whole head up the arse hog this time around, and promise to do better in future.
It appears there are 2 separate means of requesting – one is full statehood at the Security Council, which the US will veto. Does NZ has a role at all in that?
The second,is to take the request to the full assembly, this will give enhanced observer status, not full. But they should win that hands down.
Anyway, it looks like the Palestinians have decided on the Security Council route first.
…sigh..Palestine’s ambassador to Lebanon: Palestinian refugees will not become citizens of a new Palestinian state.
The ambassador unequivocally says that Palestinian refugees would not become citizens of the sought for U.N.-recognized Palestinian state, an issue that has been much discussed. “They are Palestinians, that’s their identity,” he says. “But … they are not automatically citizens.”
This would not only apply to refugees in countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Jordan or the other 132 countries where Abdullah says Palestinians reside. Abdullah said that “even Palestinian refugees who are living in [refugee camps] inside the [Palestinian] state, they are still refugees. They will not be considered citizens.”
Abdullah said that the new Palestinian state would “absolutely not” be issuing Palestinian passports to refugees.
Ethical investment is not considered a priority by our government.
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2011/09/nz-unethical-investor.html