NSA tipped Key off in advance of Greenwald’s revelations about the GCSB. Andrea Vance reports:
Ferguson’s admission backs up Snowden’s evidence about XKeyscore – but Greenwald argued Key cannot confirm it because he promised to resign in the event the GCSB was found to be carrying out mass surveillance.
‘‘The reason that John Key won’t admit what Mr Ferguson himself admitted … is because XKeyscore by its nature is a system of mass surveillance,’’ he said.
Greenwald also said he believed the NSA tipped off the National-led Government about what was coming. The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer took his information to the US spy agency on Sunday.
Following this, Key admitted the GCSB had proposed a programme of mass surveillance, which he canned in March 2013.
‘‘He clearly learned about the documents that we intended to publish that show that this had gone beyond the proposal stage and was partially implemented,’’ Greenwald said.
In the digital age “taking it to” can mean contact via email, txt, phone, etc. Also, it could just have easily been “taken there” by people in other parts of the world working with Greenwald – Intercept people/editors/lawyers, etc.
I don’t know if thishas been discussed already but the Herald is reporting that
“Questions from the Herald saw a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister saying the new GCSB law passed last year had nothing to do with “Initiative 7418″, the New Zealand name for Project Speargun.”
Can someone direct me to the public statement that connects 7418 to “Project Speargun”, other than this one?
Option I: extends NCSC protection to the core. public-sector, critical national infrastructure and organisations of national significance, provides an automated investigation capability and an “effects” defence option;
11.2 Option 2 (includes Option I above), and the development of a Detailed Business case, the high-speed detection and defence capabilities to protect government and industry and potentially extends a degree of protection to allNew Zealanders to be developed in consultation with unD and the National Cyber Policy Office onCo);
12 noted that the implementation of Option 2 is preferred, .but requires significant
Scoping and consultation in order to identify…z
. 13 agreed to extend the scope of the NCSC to cover central government, critical national infrastructure operators and specified organisations of national significance;
14 agreed to proceed with Option I in paragraph 11.1 above ;
Present: in HonJohn Key Hon Bill English (Chair) HDiiJudith Collins HDn Tony Ryall Hon David Carter Hon Panla Bennett Hon Craig EOSs Hon John Banks Distribution: Cabinet Conimittee
2 Sept 2013
noted that in 2012… directsd the GCSB to develop a detailed business case for implementation of Option 2 in 2013
..rescinded thle decision referred to in patagraph I above on the development of a detailed business case for Option 2; …..
Karol
When Key says he told them to stop in March 2013, do you know what he is referring to, cos this suggests he didnt rescind option 2 until September 2013? The gscb bill was passed in August 2013.
It also means that the gcsb had been told to prepare a business case on option 2 in 2013. Key seems to be saying today that by September 2013, when they were told to stop, they had produced nothing?
When is someone in power going to impeach Key and his office for continuing to lie about his role as head of security and intelligence and his seedy record of widespread NZ intelligence harvesting & vague lack of details and TPPA agreements?
This is another classic Nixon affair, where Nixon at least defended himself by continually kept saying “I have never lied” this sad sack of a man hides behind his power of his office and the MSM does nothing.
Here was Key, in defence of the reason he hadn’t told us they were planning and partly implementing mass collection of data saying … “blah blah blah governments look at all sorts of stuff all the time and I don’t think its feasible for a govt to explain everything it is considering and looking at to the public- I mean that just doesn’t make sense I reckon” …
… useless Pugh then completely and utterly missed the obvious … “but this wasn’t just some everyday mundane matter was it Prime Minister, there was a review and implementation of new spy legislation so that information that you withheld was entirely relevant and intensely in the public interest. Wasn’t it Prime Minister.?”
useless Pugh just went “yep”
These useless interviewers actually make things worse. They allow the news to become distorted away from the truth.
Social media may become ( as it has in Scotland) the way to make the MSM irrelevant.
We would still need investigative journalists. Probably ones that are funded by government rather than employed by media companies. They’d be fully independent and would report through the internet and broadcast.
Just so long as the government doesn’t have any say about what the journalists investigate or publish and there’s no advertising involved it shouldn’t be.
And, yes, private corporations do have a say in what journalists investigate and publish as admitted by Rupert Murdock.
No one is denying private companies manipulate the news.
And having the government fund journalists is a terrible idea. There would be immense pressure to give good reporting on the government of the day. If you think otherwise you are terribly naive
I’d have to say that the reporting of Brent Edwards on (publicly funded) RNZ comes as close to objective in the MSM as anyone I’ve heard (or read).
He always lays out the logic of his analysis clearly and, if anything, is more likely to be critical of the current government, when warranted, than just about any MSM journalist from a private media outlet.
I take your point about purse strings but it’s perfectly possible to keep publicly funded institutions independent of the government of the day.
If it weren’t possible it would make you wonder why we trust publicly appointed judiciary in NZ. Perhaps there should be judges appointed by private interests to prevent government interference or pressure over their decisions?
And having the government fund journalists is a terrible idea.
No it’s not. In fact, it’s the only logical solution for journalism due to the fact that the corporations manipulate the news for their own ends.
There would be immense pressure to give good reporting on the government of the day.
Pressure that the journalists could then write about because the top down dictatorial control that we have now in the MSM and previously in NZBC just wouldn’t be there (Yes, I’m quite aware of how our broadcasting used to be manipulated by the government). I’m sure that real time reporting of such manipulation would result in the said government collapsing.
If you think otherwise you are terribly naive
Nope.
Oh, and I’m pretty sure that I’ve have seen people say that the private corporations don’t manipulate the news. Usually Actoid types exclaiming that privatisation and competition fixes everything.
But although I see your point, a government entity with ringfenced funding and statutory independence will always be less biased than an entity funded by corporate dollars and.or advertising revenue.
Neither will be perfect, but (even with hosking) tvnz is still miles better than fox news.
If we’ve set up the funding right the same as if a Labour or Greens or Mana government were in place as the government wouldn’t be able to do anything to pressure the journalists without it becoming public knowledge.
All you really show here is your stupidity as you exclaim that something that obviously can be done can’t be done.
When is someone in power going to impeach Key and his office for continuing to lie about his role as head of security and intelligence and his seedy record of widespread NZ intelligence harvesting & vague lack of details and TPPA agreements?
See, this is why we need the power of recall. So that protecting our democracy isn’t left solely in the hands of those that would corrupt it.
John Key on TV1 this morning (clip heard on RadioNZ newsclip with Guyon Espinor)
In context of not disclosing work on the business case, WHILE debate raged in Parliament on the GCSB Bill.
JK: “are we really saying the new standard now is every time I consider something, and ask a department to look at something, and then ultimately rest on this, we would have a public discussion about this? (this) is really a bit silly”
Director, Product Management (Advertising), Shazam Entertainment Ltd
Menlo Park, California (San Francisco Bay Area) Online Media
The two most obvious questions would be when did Till come into the country (i.e. did he come here at the same time as Key) and why does there seem to be seamless career path from NZ National Party propagandising to the Californian Entertainment industry.
“Shazam Entertainment Limited is a media engagement company that connects people to the media through their mobile devices. The company offers Shazam, an application that connects people to the music, TV shows, and brands they love, as well as enables them to discover, explore, buy, and share; and allows them to share their discoveries on Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Pinterest, and Google+”
So Key is nothing more than a messenger/facilitator set up to parrot (coached through US Corporations) to sell NZ?
So his first goal was take over and shell out a continual spin from these sources while cushioning our economy with a constant borrowing of $300 Million weekly while he paves the way for his rich Corporates to steal and gut the country?
in similar vein, karol — who is the short-haired blonde woman, about same height, but maybe younger than Key, who is always at his side in interviews and appearances and usually leaves in same car with him?
Again, Hill Cone up to her neck in the dirt. She’s not as high profile as the awful Glucina but Hill Cone gifted Slatee a media award so arguably worse.
Side note: covenient that Slater gets a ‘prestigious’ award at the very time he’s trying to be classed as legitimate media… You’d almost think it was planned. Or even paid for. Hill Cone was the only judge of Best Blog.
Greenwald exposes the way Key tried to mislead with the release of the CORTEX documents.
What was implemented in its place was Cortex, a ‘‘bespoke’’ service offered to certain firms and government departments.
Key has said this allows the GCSB to monitor only online communications into and out those organisations, and does not involve wholesale interception of the Southern Cross cable. This is the undersea link that carries all New Zealand’s internet traffic.
[..]
‘‘There is no separate cable that carries communications only for certain parties in New Zealand.
‘‘Even if you believe the prime minister that this programme is limited – as he wants to claim it is – the only way that you could make any progress at all in guarding against cyber attacks or detecting malware is if you were monitoring vast amounts of traffic, which is a form of mass surveillance by definition.’’
[…]
Greenwald points to Key’s suggestion, at the weekend, that the ‘‘bespoke’’ system involved new technology.
However, the documents Key declassified on Monday night say that under Cortex the GCSB was not proposing to ‘‘procure or develop bespoke systems’’ and say ‘‘all of the technology has been in use for some time.’’
Greenwald knows how to ask the right questions and just doesn’t uncritically accept every word out of Key’s slippery, slurry mouth.
Later today I will quote Option 1 here in full because it begun implementation in 2012 and was not rescinded the way Option 2 was.
Option one talks about the “automated investigative capacity”
Then there is Key deciding that the documents werent so secret anyway, not when his “reputation” was at stake… which means he could have released them during the GCSB Bill debate, but didn’t…
“It also emerged yesterday the documents which Mr Key said he made public to protect his reputation threatened massive damage to New Zealand’s wellbeing if made public without permission, going by the GCSB’s own threat estimates.
The four documents were previously marked at the “Secret” level of classification. The GCSB guide to security classifications says the “compromise” of “Secret” information could “damage the security, defence or international relations of New Zealand and/or friendly governments”.
Mr Key’s office refused to explain the process for making the documents public but said the Prime Minister wasn’t concerned about danger arising from their losing “secret” classification”
“Greenwald knows how to ask the right questions and just doesn’t uncritically accept every word out of Key’s slippery, slurry mouth”.
It’s been a real treat having him here in NZ, he is breath of fresh air and oasis of rational questioning and reporting. I hope our “journalists” are paying attention to what a real journalist looks and sounds like.
On 9 November 2012 an “unauthorised and un-notified software change” to the “to the wavelength switching platform” was made on the Sydney side of the Southern cross cable. It caused a “catastrophic” internet outage. Was this when the software was implemented needed to spy on all of us?
+1 @T
This is but one of the reasons I find Ferguson’s claims, and the CEO of Southern Cross Cable just a little hollow. (I.e. the need for ‘deep sea divers’; and “I’d know about it”, etc.). I can’t remember when, but I do recall a contractor accidently ‘damaging’ the cable north of Auckland in the past. Elsewhere I commented on WDM (wavelength division multiplexing), thinking that with refinement some sort of like-technology (and with NSA’s investment in R&D etc.) a passive tap is not beyond the realms of possibility. Souther Cross also claim the cable is configured in a ‘self-healing’ configuration, so that minor interruptions (perhaps except at a couple of key points) can go unnoticed as long as customers are unaffected.
The claims by both Ferguson and the CEO by their nature mean (if they’re genuine in there being ‘NO tapping’) assume they know what goes on by ALL their staff 24/7; or that they’re also being disingenuous and complicit. Aside from all that, tapping at router level …. the fact that elsewhere in the world it’s already acknowledged …. the coincidences of various visitors to the country …. the recent claim by Peters that an NSA presence in Auckland is certain and that he knows the address …. the fact that its in both Ferguson and the CEO’s interests to make such statements (in Ferguson’s case – his legacy; in the CEO’s – for business reasons) ….
In short – hollow and deceitful – but then I guess they’re ‘protecting’ us aren’t they ??
To be fair to Ferguson, he stepped away from his job as GCSB director in 2011 and this happened in November 2012. I always suspected a bust up between him and John Key about the legality of spying on New Zealanders and Dotcom that made him step down before that happened. When that happened he was blamed but in fact it was Hugh Wolfensohn, who was the acting director, who authorized the illegal spying.
Increasingly Key’s feet have the appearance of clay. Increasingly the personal demeanour is anything but relaxed. Increasingly the emperor has no clothes. Resort to “loser” and “rather large butt” is pretty pathetic really. True, worshippers at The Temple of TheGodKey won’t be phased. Who cares ? Reflecting their own realities they’re in thrall to “selfie” in its fuller definition and it’s tribal.
Of greater importance is the evergrowing sense across the nation at large that here’s a prevaricating wide boy who can’t be trusted. Check out the journalist’s robust “Why not ?” in the clip below. The manufactured gloss is tarnishing daily. ‘Challenege’ is in the air. That’s what matters electorally.
If Saturday doesn’t see sufficient ‘YawnKey’ to scotch the specious royal honorific for strutting in Hawaii…….imagine the howls of derision when that does occur. Poor Madge. Expect she’s not gonna see it as a decent quid pro quo for Scotland……
What is it you are all so desperately trying to hide that you are prepared to sacrifice NZ’s security for? The current biggest security threat to NZ is already in Australia and maybe here, but you all want to ignore that & knobble our security service?
The Left will be the first to cry “why didn’t the government do something to protect us” if we are subject to an act of terror in NZ.
Sorry to burst your fearmonger bubble: the people who’ve been telling you it’s all about terrorism, in private, among themselves, they discuss economic espionage and intellectual property.
They don’t give a toss if you get beheaded so long as they get paid.
We have already been subjected to a real act of terror (as opposed to just the government trying to terrify us) in New Zealand which the GCSB did nothing to protect us from.
What makes NZ more likely to be a location for an act of terror?
– Primarily acting as a stooge for the US which has committed long and sustained acts of terror against sovereign states for immoral and illegitimate reasons,
– spying on other sovereign states that we are not in conflict with and using our location and access to allow others to do so;
– sending our defence forces in at the request of the US despite there being no credible intelligence that indicates this approach will improve the living conditions of those countrymen or women. In fact, historical evidence shows that it usually results with deterioration of living conditions and increases the likelihood of extremist groups taking power;
– using intelligence systems to spy on and target those who disagree with the government of the time, and use intimidation techniques to get them to change behaviours – even if they are legitimate and peaceful. When you remove the right to disagree by legitimate and peaceful means, you increase the likelihood that desperation will result in ramping up actions.
In essence, failing to act like a sovereign state that upholds values such as human rights for all, and avoidance of unnecessary or ineffective conflict – is what is going to make us vulnerable to acts of terrorism.
Mike, why are you promoting thugs and criminals to the role of terrorist? As they are thugs and criminals should not good old fashioned police work sort out the problem, where is the money for that solution? But no, lets go for fear, mixed with just a little xenophobia, and the desire to keep an addiction to snooping into people’s lives so we can spy. Life is not a James Bond novel – the cold war is over, criminals will say any old shit to make themselves look good. FFS grow up – this is about your rights and your freedoms – I thought the right wing supported those ideas.
1. If we remain neutral and ethical we won’t be subject to acts of terror
2. John Key’s and National’s kowtowing to what the US wants is increasing the chance of being subjected to acts of terror and other acts of retaliation from other states
3. Mass surveillance doesn’t actually increase the chances that the police will intercept terrorists. It does mean that the government can pick up on people who disagree with them though which I’m sure you’re more than happy with (while the government is National).
Phillip, he also said he knows the address because he used to ‘oversee them as Deputy Prime Minister’, what is he doing overseeing the NSA? He is old and confused.
Lurgee,
Funny your lack-shitless bullshit leader Lie-key has changed his position on the spooking-base/ surveillance issue daily.
Key even forgot to tell us Kiwis he attends the shadow ops global Nazi founded Bilderberg group with a one world Government agenda controlled by them also?
I had no idea the right wing concept of a one world government with Bilderberg associated would be so popular with someone commenting on a Labour (so kind of left) blog in New Zealand. Am I missing something?
[lprent: Yes, you are about to start missing writing on our site after maligning it.
Banned 8 weeks for stupidity. Read the about and the policy. I really can’t be bothered indulging lazy fools who don’t read the house rules. ]
It seems that you may be in error about rich maligning the site, when all he called it was; “a Labour (so kind of left) blog in New Zealand”.
Note that he did not say a “Labour Party blog”, and the about you referred him to states; “it’d be fair to say that all of us share a commitment to the values and principles that underpin the broad labour movement” (under; “What’s your political ‘angle’?”, with similar elsewhere). Plus the site does proclaim itself; “The New Zealand voice of the labour movement”, in the hometab.
When I saw this earlier, I thought that the maligning must have occurred in a different comment, but have not been able to see anything objectionable thus far.
[lprent: Do I care? It isn’t a “Labour” blog. It has always been a “labour movement” blog which is and always has been a hell of a lot larger than a single political party.
If someone is too stupid to read the about then I will educate them the hard way. That is because invariably people that open their mouths on a blog and presume to know what it is are arrogant fuckwits who really need to understand the consequences of not investigating the social media that they are using. It is really bad manners.
My experience has been that the only reason that people say variations on that theme is because they then proceed either smear the Labour party with our sins or try to smear us. Either way I’ll give them bans of anything from a few days to a year or two the first time I see it – depends on how cranky I feel. They tend to get a bit more cautious at the next site. For some reason this semi-arbitrary sentencing behaviour never seems to constrain the growth of people commenting or the numbers of comments that they leave. I suspect that it enhances it.
I view it as a requirement to running a blog – educating the pig-ignorant ]
@ Pasupial
It seems to me to be about the meaning that relates to a word having either a capital or a lower case start. The difference between Labour (which can be used as a single word referring to the Labour Party) which these days is full of nice middle class people on good incomes, with a few lower-income asperashunal ones sprinkled on the top like tasty, poppy seeds,
and, labour which stands for the generalised working class often unskilled, low skilled, semi-skilled and with wages that generally match. So big difference between Labour and labour. Capisce?
I would have thought that a thoughtful person like yourself would have picked that up. Rich was just suffering from being a new-ish guy on the site, and put his foot in it. There is quite a lot of deliberate misinformation about the site and sometimes one more is the last straw with our sysop.
Now that it’s pointed out, I can see the difference between the two. Though it didn’t strike me on first reading, and since I just C&Pd the offending portion I missed it when I made my comment as well.
I guess rich was just in the wrong place at the wrong time with that one. Maybe the attempted deflections from the Dirty Politics crew (with their; TS is just the same as WO, nonsense) have put our fine sysop a bit on edge.
Have you got a postage stamp? If so key should be able to list all of Nationals policies on it for you.
Have to agree in large with you. The one major down fall of everything that is happening is that Policy gets drowned out. As much as I think the Dirty Polotics, GCSB information is important and should rightfully influence voters, in the end people need to know policy to make an informed decision as to who to vote for.
Actually the first part was to point out National’s policy is almost non existant. I thought that was pretty clear.
Unfortunately because of all the coverage of the admitidly important revelations I mentioned there has been very little coverage of the poilicies from other parties. As someone who voted IMP yesterday I would have liked a little more information around the differences between them and say the Greens. If the wider public are shifting away from the NAT’s and their corrupt practices it allows them to make a more informed decision about which party they want to vote for. We can’t just assume they would all vote Labour.
The honesty of the NAT’s only discredits them. It doesn’t help you decide which of the other parties you will vote for. Policy does.
So worrying about the nat’s policies being the size of a postage stamp is pretty irrelevant, if they’ve already been shown up as dishonest.
Which is more important: covering the blatant lying of our pm, or covering the policy manifestos of half a dozen other parties? I reckon that those who are interested in policy would find it themselves, e.g. party websites, but those who are more interested in character issues and baby-kissing photos will rely 100% on the msm.
Why does it have to be one or the other. My point the whole time is that they are both important. I could equally argue that those who care about Dirty Politics could go and read the book.
Not sure how you can dismiss the importance of defining the difference between parties especially on the left where we have a plethora of choice. With out clear communication of those poicies through an easily accessable medium those moving away from the NAT’s are just as likely to tick the Conservative box as say Winston Peter’s and not understand that not only will that lead to a whole lot fo crazy but it will also help return the NAT’s to power.
It’s all well and good for those who can be bothered taking the time to go and read up on different polocies. However for the large number of people who form their opinioin’s from the MSM (and they are the ones we want to influence with the coverage of Dirty Politics) they will also make their choice on change based on what they hear in the MSM.
it’s not “one or the other”, the issue is relative importance.
I don’t kjnow I care about the contents of a book if I haven’t read the book – it could be bunk for all I know, or misleading title/cover.
If I care about preschool access or water quality, I know to try to find policy on it.
And frankly, people who care more about character are likely to switch off the msm if it ignores character for policy descriptions.
It’s about trust and ethics, which are at the core of the contract between the electorate and the elected. If we cannot trust our representatives, then it doesn’t matter what the hell their policies are.
Perhaps you could take this up with the MSM. One day in the last three weeks the front page lead of a major daily, story covering the full page was ” a story and a picture (which I didn’t want to look at as being too gruesome) of somebody who had had their face bitten by a dog” which I am sure was horrible and painful. But this story and others like it occupied the front page quite consisitently over the whole period. NAct had no policy that they could discuss perhaps?
Here are some questions for Clare Curran (Labour IT spokes person at the time) who seemed to know that unauthorized changes made to the software handling the Sydney side of the Southern Cross cable crashed the internet connection for NZ on 9 October 2012.
If you want to do it yourself you might want to copy past this in your twitter message box en tweet it to them:
@clarecurranmp @DavidCunliffeMP @nzlabour What did Clare Curran know about the SC Cable outage on 9 Nov 2012 http://wp.me/p638n-4tX
Question for Lynn: How likely is it that unauthorized software changes can be made without notification by an unauthorized individual in what is the only connection of NZ to the rest of the world?
I thought it weird that that article on the outage quoted Curran so much when she was in opposition. I don’t think there was any comment from the govt.
Ah the house of cards is crumbling. I think the meme is now gently shifting to “it’s only surveillance if you look at the information – not if you just collect it’.
With more to come from Greenwald and even Craig talking about issues of trust Slippery is possibly having his last slither.
Whatever the outcome on Saturday Key is now, and will increasingly become, severely damaged goods.
Honeymoon long over. He will be a lame duck shitting bricks everyday for fear something else will come out. And he knows he is in Government on borrowed time! Can’t be nice. Looks like Winston Peters is a real alternative for those who hate labor and green but want to breakaway from National’s poisoned well and who don’t want to kowtow to the International Corps by signing the TTPA.
Local Kiwi – Thanks I do know the policies. I am committed t o Cunliffe and Labour and have ticked Labour twice..no question.
I want to HEAR the politicians and their policies not for me but because the wavering voters are the ones who need to hear them….free doctors visits for over 65s and kids…raising the Minimum wage…preventing the sale of further assets… shutting John Banks’ s ridiculous charter schools…re-establishing a public TV channel..etc etc.
Most people know the Key corporation is deceitful but the positive Labour and Greens..(grudgingly he said) policies and Winston’s ideas are getting submersed in the high profile scandals about John Key.
Incidentally, nice to hear that 10% of voters (300,000 or so have already voted- Big turnout augurs well for the left.
I would like to hear the unequivocal positions of all parties as to their definition of mass surveillance.
Do they define mass surveillance as (a) capturing and storing data without the permission of the private citizen?, or (b) do they not consider that to be surveillance until they look at that information?
It is clear that the Sleazy Dirty Politics Party is hoping to redefine mass surveillance as in (b) above.
Brian, for what it’s worth, David Cunliffe spoke at a public talk about the TICS Bill last year in August on your point:
“Labour will repeal and replace the GCSB law after an independent inquiry in to New Zealand’s intelligence services”.
He spoke at length and spoke with conviction about NZer’s right to privacy. He was sincerely and strongly opposed to the government mass spying on its citizens. Its hard to imagine however that a Labour govt will throw out intelligence sharing relationships NZ has had with allies post WW2 but we can only hope the way in which they operate will be part of the review.
As for your last question at 14. Didn’t Dotcom say the Internet Party would take one eye out of the five eyes alliance? (or did I imagine that?)
It is unlikely that New Zealand can influence the four big eyes in the Axis to dump their desires to continue with mass surveillance.
So the question will be for all New Zealanders whether we want to continue with intelligence sharing relationships we have had with allies since WW2, if the price of that intelligence is that we have to accept mass surveillance.
You say it is hard to imagine that Labour will want to stop the relationship. Which I agree with, since I have heard Cunliffe say (sorry cannot recall source) that Labour would stay with Five eyes.
It looks like an important point of differentiation between Labour and their possible coalition partners. From your comment above, I am pleased that the Internet Party may be willing to remove an eye, and say so now. The Green Party have also been very concerned about surveillance issues, although I do not know what they are thinking about continuing with 5 eyes.
It’s an issue that I wish to resolve before I vote. What I desire is a party that can provide a clear assurance that mass surveillance will not be tolerated, and that NZ will not participate in any alliance if the price for that alliance is Orwellian.
Maori Television is now feeling the effect of publishing stories that do not suit the spin of the Sleazy Dirty Politics Party.
John Key already will front up to National Radio (presumably fearing Guyon Espiner) as little as possible?
In this climate, how safe is National Radio from being “restructured” so that Guyon Espiner will no longer have a job (sending a message to all others), if the Sleazy Dirty Politics Party gets another term in Parliament?
Compelling summary by lawyer Denis Tegg with graphics on the issues of mass surveillance…questions to be asked now… and time for John key to come clean:
‘GUEST BLOG – Denis Tegg – The NSA slides that prove mass surveillance’
By The Daily Blog / September 17, 2014
“The evidence presented by Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowden on The Intercept of mass surveillance of New Zealanders by the GCSB is undeniable, and can stand on its own….
News today. WINZ is closing regional offices, such as the one in Raglan
The Heartless Sleazy Dirty Politics Party (HSDPP) now expects those without work to have to pay to travel to Hamilton to a WINZ office.
If they cannot afford the travel, presumably they will lose the benefit they are entitled to; and the HSDPP will be able to trumpet that the number of people receiving the benefit is less under their watch. Do they care about poverty? The HSDPP must have been the only group in New Zealand who smiled and saw an “opportunity” from the Ashburton tragedy.
Oh Goodie! Expect more crime, more despair, more alcohol and violence. Poor Rags. I live near it. They just want people to move out of small places into the big cities. This is just pure Agenda 21 shit.
In Kawhia you don’t even get the dole if you live there because they say you clearly are not interested in a job if you want to live there. Never mind the family breakups, more lack of family support.
You poor? You rot in a burp in old leaky cold houses if you’re lucky without any hope for the future or a family life.
“In Kawhia you don’t even get the dole if you live there because they say you clearly are not interested in a job if you want to live there. Never mind the family breakups, more lack of family support. “
Kawhia is a beautiful place… wonder how much of that restriction is based on “why should the unemployed live in such an area of natural beauty when I have to work in the urban jungle?”
Sustainable regional development is required – imagine how local economies can be supported by those on benefits spending their money there instead of on high rentals in forced moves to cities.
A ridiculous policy in terms of long-term benefits to people and communities.
An unemployed person has to live somewhere while they are looking for a job. If whanau are in Kawhia, that would seem a good place to stay temporarily. I’m reading from your comment, that the same thing will happen for those who live in Raglan.
New policy. “If you are unemployed and wish a benefit, you will be required to live within walking distance of any WINZ office that has not yet closed”
I wish more emphasis was placed on the carrot and not the stick
And how much further the benefit would go in terms of providing the basics of life, and the opportunity to make changes if you are not required to live in an overpriced, unhealthy rental in a city where you don’t have a support system?
My apology: Where I wrote “New Policy ….If you are….” I did not make it clear that this was not a serious comment. I should have. The quotation marks invited your reasonable query.
Oh, FFS*, Agenda 21 is a voluntary code for societies and nations to follow to become sustainable. It includes combating poverty. As such I think we can assume that what National is doing is completely against Agenda 21 as they’re increasing poverty.
National probably see small communities as a cost on everyone else and thus they seek to get rid of them to further lower taxes. This is completely delusional but that does seem to describe National accurately.
* I get really fucked off with this conspiracy theory BS that’s been spread by, as far as I can make out, the Koch Brothers. Being sustainable does mean not using oil any more and the Koch Brothers do produce a lot of oil.
There’s a whole load more to A21 than simply sustainability DtB 🙂 Sustainability is the Trojan Horse to make it palatable.. (And I think all of us would agree with the virtue of sustainability).
That is probably because I haven’t referred to Agenda 21 as a “conspiracy theory”. It’s very real and relates to significantly more than simply “sustainability”. IMO a good video on the topic is here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GykzQWlXJs and it’s also worth reading Gro Harlem Brundtland’s book “Our Common Future” which was the precursor to Agenda 21. Your mileage may of course vary.
Disclaimer – I fully support the notion of “sustainable” development and living within our environmental means and that resources are finite. I don’t support A21 as the embodiment of this however 🙂
I do too. If anyone reads the actual Agenda 21 documents, they’re pretty innocuous. For those who rely on Alex Jones, it’s the scariest thing since chemtrails.
“If they cannot afford the travel, presumably they will lose the benefit they are entitled to;”
Pretty sure WINZ has an obligation to ensure access. So if someone can’t travel, then WINZ need to make their service accessible in another way eg by email/ph, or by sending a staffer to the area. Of course WINZ staffers will tell beneficiaries that the bene has to travel, but this should be challengeable.
National in trouble, time to call in Super Paula with a distraction, only don’t think it will work this time. What with the election so close and all that.
No,no,no. It’s alright. Franny has said that ‘john key wins’ and has kept his integrity intact. So it’s on to the final debate (which key will triumph in of course) and business as usual. I was never aware that he has any integrity.
Notice how Hudson talks about places while Virginia talks about people.
Things V People. Go Virginia and perhaps offer that jaded looking Pete a cup of coffee or something.
Yes, there is a big difference between Brett Hudson and Ginny Andersen. Notice how Hudson mainly puts up Natz terrible empty policy (eg slave labour in prisons) and talks very little about the electorate on his fb and you’re right Ginny Andersen is very people focused, and in a genuine way.
He has referred several times to his the positive feedback he is getting about the Nat govt, when door knocking but that is all. I’m sure he is only focusing on the safe wealthier looking suburbs lol. Not a peep about the poverty in the community which Ginny has covered well.
What he hasn’t said is how he has been literally laughed out loud at, at several candidates meetings (he didn’t go down well at the one I went to) and that he’s out early every morning checking damage to his hoardings.
URGENT : Request for an Inquiry by the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, Cheryl Gwyn – re matters arising from the Snowden GCSB/ NSA ‘revelations’.
Dear Inspector-General,
Yesterday, I emailed the following URGENT ‘Open Letter/ OIA request to NZ Prime Minister John Key regarding questions arising from the Edward Snowden GCSB/ NSA ‘revelations’:
I have yet to even have an emailed acknowledgment of receipt of this urgent correspondence.
In order for the public to have confidence in both the NZ Prime Minister, and the NZ Intelligence and Security services, in my opinion, we need to know that we have not been lied to regarding the mass surveillance of New Zealand citizens.
Please conduct an urgent inquiry into the following questions that I have asked of the Prime Minister, as you are empowered to do under s.11 (1) (b) (i) of the ‘Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act 1996:
(1)Subject to the provisions of this Act, the functions of the Inspector-General shall be—
(a)to inquire, of the Inspector-General’s own motion or at the request of the Minister, into any matter that relates to the compliance by an intelligence and security agency with the law of New Zealand:
(b)to inquire into any complaint by—
(i)a New Zealand person; or
(ii)a person who is an employee or former employee of an intelligence and security agency,—
that that person has or may have been adversely affected by any act, omission, practice, policy, or procedure of an intelligence and security agency:
(ba)to inquire into any complaint made by the Speaker of the House of Representatives on behalf of 1 or more members of Parliament:
(c)to inquire at the request of the Minister or the Prime Minister or of the Inspector-General’s own motion into any matter where it appears that a New Zealand person has been or may be adversely affected by any act, omission, practice, policy, or procedure of an intelligence and security agency:
(ca)to inquire at the request of the Minister or the Prime Minister or of the Inspector-General’s own motion into the propriety of particular activities of an intelligence and security agency:
(d)without limiting paragraph (a), to review at intervals of not more than 12 months—
(i)the effectiveness and appropriateness of the procedures adopted by each intelligence and security agency to ensure compliance with its governing legislation in relation to the issue and execution of warrants and authorisations; and
(ii)the effectiveness and appropriateness of compliance systems concerning operational activity, including all supporting policies and practices of an intelligence and security agency relating to—
(A)administration; and
(B)information management; and
(C)risk management; and
(D)legal compliance generally:
(da)to conduct unscheduled audits of the procedures and compliance systems described in paragraph (d):
(e)to prepare and submit to the Minister from time to time for his or her approval programmes for the general oversight and review of each intelligence and security agency and for the discharge by the Inspector-General, in relation to each intelligence and security agency, of the particular functions specified in this section:
(f)to carry out any programme or amended programme or substituted programme approved by the Minister under paragraph (e).
(2)[Repealed]
(3)In carrying out any inquiry in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1)(ca), it shall not be a function of the Inspector-General to inquire into any action taken by the Minister.
(4)Except to the extent strictly necessary for the performance of his or her functions under subsection (1), the Inspector-General shall not inquire into any matter that is operationally sensitive, including any matter that relates to intelligence collection and production methods or sources of information.
(5)The Inspector-General shall not conduct an inquiry into a complaint made under subsection (1) by an employee or former employee of an intelligence and security agency unless—
(a)all established internal remedies have been exhausted; or
(b)the employee or former employee and the chief executive of the relevant intelligence and security agency otherwise agree in writing.
(6)Where an inquiry has been conducted by the Inspector-General following a complaint, the Inspector-General may make such recommendations for the redress of that complaint as the Inspector-General thinks fit (including remedies that involve the payment of compensation).
__________________________________________
16 September 2014
‘Open Letter/ OIA request to NZ Prime Minister John Key regarding questions arising from the Edward Snowden GCSB/ NSA ‘revelations’
Dear Prime Minister,
Under the ‘urgency’ and ‘public interest’ provisions of the NZ Official Information Act, please provide answers to the following by 5pm Thursday 18 September 2014:
Please provide the following information that explains:
1) Why did you inform the public that the GCSB Amendment Bill would not lead to an expansion of powers when at the same time you were planning the Speargun mass surveillance initiative?
2) Why was phase one of the Speargun project completed if it was, as you have claimed, something that never made it past the “business case”?
3) Why New Zealanders were not informed about the Cortex project until the NZ Government’s hand was forced by disclosures based on documents from Snowden?
4) How much data is collected on a daily basis by GCSB under the Cortex project, and how does the agency ensure this data does not “incidentally” include the content or metadata of citizens’ communications?
5) What technology is this, referred to in the Cortex documents, that “has been around for some time”?
6) Is any information collected by GCSB under Cortex — or any other program that accesses internet data — shared with the NSA and/or other Five Eyes agencies through systems such as XKEYSCORE?
7) Does GCSB have access to XKEYSCORE and, if so, for how long has this been the case?
8) Does GCSB use its access to internet data streams — under initiatives like Cortex or similar — to launch active/offensive cyber operations that involve hacking computer systems to collect information?
9) When will you declassify documents detailing the Speargun project and showing that it was not completed?
I think his declassifying secret documents to save his own skin is what will ultimately finish him. Those documents were either 1) made secret to hide what Key was doing from New Zealand or 2) made secret for the safety of New Zealand, and so to release them to save his own political reputation is treasonous. Either way, he cannot stay as Prime MInister. Everyone has been looking for the smoking gun that will finally incriminate Key, but I think that decision he took to release those documents was him pulling the trigger on his own political demise.
Yes DTB, it has always been clear that Key is a liar out to line his own pockets. The National voters seem to understand and respect that for some reason only known to themselves. But Key has now stepped over the line into behavior that is treasonous, and that is a very different story.
Why have the Main Stream Media not published the last information given to them by Whaledump?
Why is their inaction being forgotten?
Why did Whaledump not dump his final dump to the public in the same way that previous information was dumped?
Why has Whaledump not been resurrected to rectify the disappointing response of the Media?
This election campaign has exposed the sorry state of New Zealand journalism. We once could expect our journalists to provide accurate reporting of events, regardless of their own political views. (We still can for a few journalists)
We now have far too many ‘Media Stars’ who appear to believe that they are more important than their stories. I do not want media stars giving patsy questions to the politicians they favour. I want information. And credibility (for both ‘Media Star’ and politician) that can only come from searching and thoughtful questions. And I certainly do not want, what appears to be Whaledump censorship.
A MUST LISTEN with great relevance to foreign companies buying up New Zealand land eg Goldman Sachs
In her new book, Expulsions, Columbia University sociology professor Saskia Sassen offers a chilling analysis of the dynamics shaping the global economy, including their effects of income inequality, expanding populations of the displaced, and accelerating destruction of land and water bodies.
Dr Sassen has led several multi-year projects into the forces of globalisation, and says technological and economic advances of our time have seen a sharp growth in the number of people expelled from the core social and economic orders.
Today’s Nine till Noon interview on ‘minority government’ certainly covered a lot of ground but yet again the content of the interview raised obvious questions that never get addressed.
eg: If [National] try to form a minority Government without fixed partners and/or C&S agreements and they ask the Governor General to allow a confidence vote in the House, should MP’s/Parties have a right to abstain on that vote?
To continue the Judge/Jury analogy that was being framed – where the GG is the Judge and the newly elected MPs are the Jury – ask yourself, are Jurors allowed to abstain from making a verdict decision? No! So why should Members of our Parliament be allowed to abstain when deciding who will govern?
Russell Brown’s interview with Glenn Greenwald today in Public Address is worth reading. Looks like it was GG’s request that KDC not talk about his email, as it would distract from the spying issues.
I think Mr Greenwald underestimated how much our media had fallen. How our media love the story to be about themselves. And how much our media are partisan hacks. With a few, too few, exceptions.
A final question: you dissociated yourself from Kim Dotcom’s Warner email at the press conference last night. Did you go so far as to veto it being presented on the night?
No, I wouldn’t say I vetoed it. I didn’t really have the power to veto what he wanted to do or say. But we did talk about the fact that in the scheme of what we might talk about, that the time would probably be used a lot more constructively to focus on the questions of mass surveillance and the truthfulness of the Prime Minister, and the trade agreement that Mr Amsterdam spent quite some time talking about, as opposed to the particulars of Mr Dotcom’s case. That it would probably be a better use of the time of the event. I think we came to a consensus about it and I felt very comfortable with that.
Apparently interviewing KDC, too. This sort of programme, bound to have been in the pipeline for a while, shows why it was good sense to separate the Greenwald-Snowden MoT from KDC’s issues.
I’m no fan of the guy: don’t expect him to come across as Mr Nice Guy.
I’m not expecting much from this evening’s debate. 30 minutes (22 after ads), with around 5 minutes being opening and closing remarks. Another few minutes being Hosking blathering on. It will be full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
It’s supposed to be about coalition partners and forming the government, so Hosking is likely to ask Key about his plans to cause a constitutional crises by trying to form a government without a majority in Parliament.
Things aren’t looking too good for the worlds second largest ice sheet.
This year, Greenland’s ice sheet was the darkest Box (or anyone else) has ever measured. Box gives the stunning stats: “In 2014 the ice sheet is precisely 5.6 percent darker, producing an additional absorption of energy equivalent with roughly twice the US annual electricity consumption.”
Perhaps coincidentally, 2014 will also be the year with the highest number of forest fires ever measured in Arctic.
[…]
Earlier this year, Box made headlines for a strongly worded statement along these lines:
Jason Box @climate_ice
If even a small fraction of Arctic sea floor carbon is released to the atmosphere, we’re f’d.
I have become so disillusioned and cynical by the mans lies, that after reading that headline, my next thought is that if he’s conceding to that one there must be something even worse being hidden from us now 🙁
So now we know why Paula Bennett was dishing out all the hugs and sickly sweet comments in Ashburton a few days ago…. she was just softening up staff for her next jackboot onslaught.
Typically cynical of a woman with the ethics of an alley cat.
Marcus Lush compares and contrasts Labour vs National campaign meeting in Mangere and Mt Albert.
Both Labour and National leaders were in Auckland over the weekend: On Saturday, Marcus Lush took a trip to Mangere to see David Cunliffe appear before party supporters and media, while on Sunday, John Key appeared at a daycare centre in Mount Albert.
You are welcome. The National’s ‘clinical’ approach made me laugh! Those poor little kids were brought to school on a Sunday morning, (Yes, Sunday!) like for a quiet respectful funeral service conducted by their holiness, King Key and patron saint of kids, Paula Bennett! What a disgrace!
Armstrong – what is this increasingly shrill wishful thinking from New Zealand’s premier GodKey shill ? Sure ain’t journalism. This from the “time to resign – 11 year old form letter” man:
Amongst all the sleaze and covers up from National I wonder if anyone who knows how too has checked on the Conservatives election expensives .The huge post office delivery expense must be very big.The Cons seem to be spending money nonstop. Their election bill needs to be explained.
xox
With all this spying ( information hoovering) capacity, surely the head spy knows the game is over, and his master’s will tell him so. The high priest has been defrocked.
Again, still too close to call. National-led Government: National Party, Maori Party, ACT NZ, United Future on 49% (up from 46.5% in August 31 poll)
Opposition Parties: Labour Party, Green Party, Internet-Mana Party alliance, NZ First; down to 46.5 (from 49% in August 31 poll)
Nothing more than an old switcherooni.
National is up 1.5
Labour down 2
Greens down 2.5
NZ1st up 2
Maori Party up 1
No real change for everyone else.
Even so, based on those numbers, assuming Dunne is gone from Ohariu, and even with Seymour in Epsom, it still leaves National short. Have assumed conservatives get 4.5% and are out of parliament. The percentage signs relate to the party vote gained on the day.
I am worried that Labour will get less overall, particularly as the weather on the day is shaping up to be nasty.
I have modified the results as RM is usually out by a little bit (not much) so figures are my predictions on what the votes are likely to be on the date.
ACT New Zealand 1.50% 2 MPs (1 electorate + 1.5% PV)
Green Party 16.00% 21 MPs (no electorates)
Internet MANA 2.00% 3 MPs (1 electorate +2% PV)
Labour Party 26.00% 34 MPs (29 Electorates+ 5 list)
Māori Party 1.00% 2 Mps (2 electorates)
National Party 39.00% 50 Mps (37 electorates + 13 list)
New Zealand First Party 7.00% 9 Mps (no electorates)
121 seats total.
Using the numbers:
National + Act + MP = 54 seats
Even if Dunne gets in, that still only gives them 55 seats
Labour + Green + NZ1st = 64 seats, if Dunne gets in, that makes it 63 seats for the left block. I have factored in the probability of Ginny winning Ohariu.
I can’t see Winston wanting to be part of a four headed monster, or even in a Nat+NZ1+Act/MP/Dunne configuration.
However, If National got 42% and Labour got 23% on Saturday in their respective party votes (n/c to electorates won), then the left block would likely need IMP to be part of a formal coalition, or in a confidence and supply arrangement.
Other alternative is that Lab+Grn+NZ1 combined on a 60 seat bloc in 121 seat parliament could run a minority government.
A national+act+uf+mp bloc is only 58 seats in a 121 seat parliament.
I haven’t done any configurations with Conservatives as I believe people will shy away from them at the last minute and switch to Winsome Winnie instead of Crazy Colon.
Overall conclusion? This election is coming down to the wire.
You’re not taking in to account the traditional 3-4% swing left in the actual voting (even with Roy Morgan being the most accurate). Take in to account that and the high volatility this time and I think National have to be very worried.
Yep, if this poll is like the one taken before the last election, the only difference between this poll and the actual election would be that the right bloc had 2% less on the day. So National probably on 44%, Labour + Greens + NZFirst on 46% at the moment. It is going to be very close.
Laila Harré @lailaharre 2 hrs
#InternetMANA will make #TPPA a top target in post-election negs. Party vote for certainty on where we will stand: http://bit.ly/1mcHC5l
Blimming heck! What on earth is Soper on. On prime, giving Cunliffe grief for not turning up to some tinpot radio station wanting to know “is Cunliffe serious about wanting to lead the country” Has anybody heard if key is going to debate the whole hour as Cunliffe has requested??
Exactly my thoughts. Any shit these right wing turds can throw at the left they will do. Did you see Armstrong’s heap of shit today along with Frankfurter’s? Do they honestly believe the crap they write or are they, just like Soper insulting our intelligence or taking the piss.
..on a day when key admits there is mass-surveillance of nz’ers..barry ‘i’m barry soper..!..and i know s.f.a..!’ soper..the political editor of sky news..
Advance voting looks like it’ll comprise over a third of total votes this election. The running total blew past the 2008 numbers on Monday, and 2011 yesterday:
It looks set to top 410,000 tonight. In 2008 51% of advance votes were cast in the final three day period, in 2011 that was 55%. I predict that the total advance vote will be over 800 000, and if we treat the 2011 proportion as predictive then the total would be 40% of the 2011 total vote. Though I think that the total vote will be up this time too, so the advance vote proportion of that will be around 35%.
A key advantage of advance voting is that you are less susceptible to caging-list strategies that have been employed in the US as a key part of dirty political strategy. There is a nationwide need for scrutineers to monitor the advance count (downside; you’ll be locked in from 1:30-7pm with no phone access, upside; that’s shorter than the 9am-9pm that polling station scutineers are expected to stick around, and there’s only one required per party per electorate, as opposed to the dozens of polling stations). If you haven’t planned to contribute to the election day in any other way yet, this might be something to consider (get in touch with your favoured party and offer your time – the candidate has to sign off on it).
Re the polls………….not sure what this means but did some figures when the Roy Morgan came out today.
2011 RM last poll before election Result 2011…………..Last RM poll before 2014
Nat 49.5 47.31 46.5
Lab 23.5 27.48 24.00
Green 14.5 11.06 13.5
NZ 1st 6.59 6.59 8
UF .6 .6 .5
Maori 1.4 1.43 .5
Mana 1 1 (IMP)
Cons 2.65 2.65 3.5
Act 1.5 1.07 .5
Not sure what this all means, except Nats down 3% from last RM poll and then down 2% in actual election. Will check to make sure got figures right. Sorry didn’t get Mana’s actual election result.
CV’s on to it, weka. Last election, this poll had the Nats on 50.8% (3% higher than the actual result). Labour 26% (down 1.5%). Even if the overestimation is narrower this time, Key can’t form a Government without NZF on these numbers. No other option.
They also showed what would happen if Craycray sneaks in. Again, no show without Winnie (and ACT, MP, UF). The dreaded 5 headed monster!
Try running it through the calculator. I just put those TV3 figures in but adjusted down to CV’s figures for National and Craig, and it looks like National and Peters can form govt with no-one else.
True enough, weka. But why would Winnie go with National? NZF’s entire policy package (except Laura Norder) is a close fit with Labour’s. And I’m picking the opportunity to knock Key off his perch would be irresistible to a man with a big ego and a bitter memory of 3 years in the wilderness.
ok, leaving the past in the past, do you think that Labour would let a party on 7% dictate that a party on 13% couldn’t be part of govt inside cabinet?
That’s actually not quite as bad as the 2005 situation, weka! Back then, NZF and UF would not support the Greens getting any kind of cabinet posting at all. For mine, I’m not fussed. Probably the same for the Greens, too. They know they will get more policy wins under a Labour led Government, in it or out of it, so it’s in their interest to give C&S.
It would be a shame, because the Greens are ready for leadership roles, but getting Key gone is the immediate issue.
..i have written/warned of the dangers of a vote for peters..
..and i stand by all that..
..but the reality is that he is there..and he will likely hold the balance of power..
..but weighing up all the various factors/imperatives leads me to the conclusion that i wd be very surprised if he decided to prop up this corrupt/mass-surveilling aberration of the party he once belonged to..
Watching the Cunliffe Key debate. Cunliffe is knowledgeable and competent.
Key full of cliches (‘What I do know…I can say this… the point is…at the end of the day…”.)and a typical money trader…Good at gambling a profit for himself but couldn’t pass economics 101 ( or even high school home economics )
My gripe: Cunliffe’s voice was not clear enough in the final lap. He seemed to be talking almost inwardly which made his voice come across as muffled. I kept yelling at him (from the sofa) to speak more clearly but he took no notice. 😡
Put yourself in a foreign country without a passport subject to vindictive and subjective innuendo i to would be peeved and slag the natural inhabitant off …..KDC is not all bad nor is he all good he is just a natural human being, who has contributed and his interests are in part shared for change…..I sincerely hope the Scots are left to exercise free will away from the emotions behaviors influences and manipulations..
Cunliife -integrity,, intelligent visionary and super sincere. A man of substance.
Key – less intelligent- lacking vision and mainlining his reptilian insincere cliches.No real substance.
if there was any substance in anything Key said, could the right wingers elucidate? I know I’m biased but was there any sincerity or integrity in Key’s “performance”?
The Hosking – Key – Cunliffe debate was a waste of time.
FFS, if Hosking starts asking about polls and predictions for election night, the answer is not to play his game.
“The people hire, the people fire, the people are in charge on September 20 – not you Mike, not the commentators, but the people. And that’s a great day for democracy Wouldn’t you agree?”
There’s a bunch of votes right there. But sadly … we just got same old insider to insider talk, and the (dwindling) audience wouldn’t have cared.
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
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 ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
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 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
Essay: If the Crown harms children, how do you hold it accountable? Analysis by Aaron Smale in light of the Waitangi Tribunal court decision. The post The Crown versus Māori Children appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)’ This is the hottest book in New Zealand, number one with a bullet in its first week, selling more than any overseas title, and demand is so huge that it’s already been reprinted. A ...
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. ...
A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
NSA tipped Key off in advance of Greenwald’s revelations about the GCSB. Andrea Vance reports:
Well how did Greenwald ‘take’ his information to the US spy agency on Sunday?
Was he not here at the time?
In the digital age “taking it to” can mean contact via email, txt, phone, etc. Also, it could just have easily been “taken there” by people in other parts of the world working with Greenwald – Intercept people/editors/lawyers, etc.
But on a sunday (or Saturday) in the US?
You think the NSA won’t get out of bed or off the golf course for things like this? Pretty sure the NSA has staff 24/7 😉
The more interesting question is why Greenwald took it to them, and the timing.
and working across every major time zone, I would say
The Lidless Eye of Sauron never sleeps.
I don’t know if thishas been discussed already but the Herald is reporting that
“Questions from the Herald saw a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister saying the new GCSB law passed last year had nothing to do with “Initiative 7418″, the New Zealand name for Project Speargun.”
Can someone direct me to the public statement that connects 7418 to “Project Speargun”, other than this one?
More lies from the PM’s office/PM.
He never won a Pulitzer Prize.
Please show a link to him on doing this.
The newspaper he worked for did though.
He just regurgitated stolen information
Same ilk as Hager
Of course in the public interest.
Lets see if the public are interested on Saturday.
LOL
April 2012
noted the two options: 11.1
Option I: extends NCSC protection to the core. public-sector, critical national infrastructure and organisations of national significance, provides an automated investigation capability and an “effects” defence option;
11.2 Option 2 (includes Option I above), and the development of a Detailed Business case, the high-speed detection and defence capabilities to protect government and industry and potentially extends a degree of protection to allNew Zealanders to be developed in consultation with unD and the National Cyber Policy Office onCo);
12 noted that the implementation of Option 2 is preferred, .but requires significant
Scoping and consultation in order to identify…z
. 13 agreed to extend the scope of the NCSC to cover central government, critical national infrastructure operators and specified organisations of national significance;
14 agreed to proceed with Option I in paragraph 11.1 above ;
Present: in HonJohn Key Hon Bill English (Chair) HDiiJudith Collins HDn Tony Ryall Hon David Carter Hon Panla Bennett Hon Craig EOSs Hon John Banks Distribution: Cabinet Conimittee
2 Sept 2013
noted that in 2012… directsd the GCSB to develop a detailed business case for implementation of Option 2 in 2013
..rescinded thle decision referred to in patagraph I above on the development of a detailed business case for Option 2; …..
Karol
When Key says he told them to stop in March 2013, do you know what he is referring to, cos this suggests he didnt rescind option 2 until September 2013? The gscb bill was passed in August 2013.
It also means that the gcsb had been told to prepare a business case on option 2 in 2013. Key seems to be saying today that by September 2013, when they were told to stop, they had produced nothing?
“.Key has said he canned a plan for mass surveillance in March 2013 because it was too intrusive. ”
His own documents show the decision for a business plan for option 2 was rescinded in September 2013.
Option two is what he must be relying on as being “project spearhead”, otherwise those documents do his claim no good.
So, given option 2 wasnt rescinded until September 2013, the next question is
If he canned the plan for mass surveillance in March 2013… What were the documents he released referring to?
lol
😉
It probably doesnt matter nearly as much as whether Greenwald won a pulitzer prize
When is someone in power going to impeach Key and his office for continuing to lie about his role as head of security and intelligence and his seedy record of widespread NZ intelligence harvesting & vague lack of details and TPPA agreements?
This is another classic Nixon affair, where Nixon at least defended himself by continually kept saying “I have never lied” this sad sack of a man hides behind his power of his office and the MSM does nothing.
MSM are a growing part of the problem don’t expect them to step up as they are owned.
MSM the third ‘track’ of Dirty Politics.
Social media may become ( as it has in Scotland) the way to make the MSM irrelevant.
the latest jaw-dropping example was key on tvone breakfast..(a few mins ago..)
..interviewed by the female co-compere..
..she got in a couple of fringe-flicks..and lotsa giggles..and blushes..
(i half-expected her to rip her bodice open..and to offer herself up to key..)
..and it should be short-listed for softest-interview-of-the-year award..
10000% Philip, shocking sop of host- Journo she Ali Pugh rates worst so far, shame on her.
i think the world needs a dedicated ‘the wisdoms of ali pugh’ youtube-channel..
Yep Pugh was useless.
Here was Key, in defence of the reason he hadn’t told us they were planning and partly implementing mass collection of data saying … “blah blah blah governments look at all sorts of stuff all the time and I don’t think its feasible for a govt to explain everything it is considering and looking at to the public- I mean that just doesn’t make sense I reckon” …
… useless Pugh then completely and utterly missed the obvious … “but this wasn’t just some everyday mundane matter was it Prime Minister, there was a review and implementation of new spy legislation so that information that you withheld was entirely relevant and intensely in the public interest. Wasn’t it Prime Minister.?”
useless Pugh just went “yep”
These useless interviewers actually make things worse. They allow the news to become distorted away from the truth.
useless
Media repeaters, reinforcers and spokespeople for John Key
I wonder if the electoral commissioner will look into all the aggrandisement stories national are getting from the private media outlets?
Nah silly me, electoral commission just likes banning songs.
A question on Stuff
Should the Planet Key song be allowed, especially so close to the election?
just shy of 60% said – Yes, it’s free speech and artistic expression
only 20% wanted it banned.
With almost 12% just not caring.
Mmmmmmmmmm – out of touch, fixing an election, writing the rules to suit one side over another?
We would still need investigative journalists. Probably ones that are funded by government rather than employed by media companies. They’d be fully independent and would report through the internet and broadcast.
“Probably ones that are funded by government rather than employed by media companies.”
I think that would be just as problematic as being funded by private media organisations.
Just so long as the government doesn’t have any say about what the journalists investigate or publish and there’s no advertising involved it shouldn’t be.
And, yes, private corporations do have a say in what journalists investigate and publish as admitted by Rupert Murdock.
No one is denying private companies manipulate the news.
And having the government fund journalists is a terrible idea. There would be immense pressure to give good reporting on the government of the day. If you think otherwise you are terribly naive
Hi TheContrarian,
I’d have to say that the reporting of Brent Edwards on (publicly funded) RNZ comes as close to objective in the MSM as anyone I’ve heard (or read).
He always lays out the logic of his analysis clearly and, if anything, is more likely to be critical of the current government, when warranted, than just about any MSM journalist from a private media outlet.
I take your point about purse strings but it’s perfectly possible to keep publicly funded institutions independent of the government of the day.
If it weren’t possible it would make you wonder why we trust publicly appointed judiciary in NZ. Perhaps there should be judges appointed by private interests to prevent government interference or pressure over their decisions?
No it’s not. In fact, it’s the only logical solution for journalism due to the fact that the corporations manipulate the news for their own ends.
Pressure that the journalists could then write about because the top down dictatorial control that we have now in the MSM and previously in NZBC just wouldn’t be there (Yes, I’m quite aware of how our broadcasting used to be manipulated by the government). I’m sure that real time reporting of such manipulation would result in the said government collapsing.
Nope.
Oh, and I’m pretty sure that I’ve have seen people say that the private corporations don’t manipulate the news. Usually Actoid types exclaiming that privatisation and competition fixes everything.
You have a terrible naive view of the state as a necessarily benevolent entity, Draco.
How about if the National Government were publicly funding journalists? What do you think the outcome would be?
hosking? 🙂
But although I see your point, a government entity with ringfenced funding and statutory independence will always be less biased than an entity funded by corporate dollars and.or advertising revenue.
Neither will be perfect, but (even with hosking) tvnz is still miles better than fox news.
If we’ve set up the funding right the same as if a Labour or Greens or Mana government were in place as the government wouldn’t be able to do anything to pressure the journalists without it becoming public knowledge.
All you really show here is your stupidity as you exclaim that something that obviously can be done can’t be done.
See, this is why we need the power of recall. So that protecting our democracy isn’t left solely in the hands of those that would corrupt it.
nah.
Although an ostracism ballot at the same time as each general election might be useful 🙂
Sadly Dotcom would win.
I reckon there’d be enough candidates to split the vote 🙂
Impeachment is a US constitutional mechanism. To my knowledge it doesnt exist here.
I dont know on what basis the GG could step in, but not a few days from the election.
John Key on TV1 this morning (clip heard on RadioNZ newsclip with Guyon Espinor)
In context of not disclosing work on the business case, WHILE debate raged in Parliament on the GCSB Bill.
JK: “are we really saying the new standard now is every time I consider something, and ask a department to look at something, and then ultimately rest on this, we would have a public discussion about this? (this) is really a bit silly”
At around 30 seconds in
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/20149924/it-specialist-discusses-nsa-request-to-have-wellington-office
Key, joyce, banks and a couple of others authorised a business case into option 2 on or about 2012.
In December 2013 the same group rescinded that decision…
Key is telling us not a single document was produced by the GCSB between those times. I dont believe that.
I think there’s more to one of the issues raised over on the Flashback story, so I’m going to put it here to give it some air to breathe.
7 years ago on the Standard this was asked;
http://thestandard.org.nz/national-on-free-speech/#comment-1243
Bryce Edwards 10
15 October 2007 at 1:03 pm
“Who are Francis Till, Jason Ede, Rhiannon White?
It looks like they work for National MPs in Parliament. But shouldn’t this be a extra-parliamentary issues for the Party HQ?”
I’m going to ignore Jason Ede for the moment but the other two are;
Francis Till
https://web.archive.org/web/20050212173229/http://till.co.nz/tillnet
The working journal of Francis Till,
an American writer freelancing
in New Zealand and web editor of
the National Business Review
http://nz.linkedin.com/pub/francis-till/0/713/4aa
Interesting list on his “Viewers of this profile also viewed…”
Rhiannon White (linked from Francis Till’s linkedIN page)
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rhiannon-white/11/2a1/542?trk=pub-pbmap
Director, Product Management (Advertising), Shazam Entertainment Ltd
Menlo Park, California (San Francisco Bay Area) Online Media
The two most obvious questions would be when did Till come into the country (i.e. did he come here at the same time as Key) and why does there seem to be seamless career path from NZ National Party propagandising to the Californian Entertainment industry.
“Shazam Entertainment Limited is a media engagement company that connects people to the media through their mobile devices. The company offers Shazam, an application that connects people to the music, TV shows, and brands they love, as well as enables them to discover, explore, buy, and share; and allows them to share their discoveries on Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Pinterest, and Google+”
Thanks. Edwards gave the wrong url for his blog.
So Key is nothing more than a messenger/facilitator set up to parrot (coached through US Corporations) to sell NZ?
So his first goal was take over and shell out a continual spin from these sources while cushioning our economy with a constant borrowing of $300 Million weekly while he paves the way for his rich Corporates to steal and gut the country?
I’d say that this is correct, but we need a little more to back it up.
It really does look that way Local Kiwi.
Apparently so.
and so far at least, he has done quite well, and almost delivered the TPPA just as ‘they’ have delivered it to him ….. huge sigh …
waiting to exhale on Sunday morning.
In 2001, Francis Till was working for PC World NZ.
In 2005 Francis Till was working for NBR
In 2007 Francis Till, as John key’s web designer, complained to TS for using an altered pic of John Key.
When Key was elected in 2008, Till was working for John Key as his web designer, as indicated in an interesting article by Deborah Hill Cone. In the article, Cone seems to have the inside running on the VRWC – Slater, Odgers, Franks, et al.
Is this the same Francis Till that is nowhead of web services for Otago Uni?
And does he use the twitter handle “Miss Francis Till”?
Rhiannon White has a qualification from Otago Uni.
Is there an Otago connection, and is this how Bryce Edwards knows something about them?
in similar vein, karol — who is the short-haired blonde woman, about same height, but maybe younger than Key, who is always at his side in interviews and appearances and usually leaves in same car with him?
Yes it looks like you’ve got Francis to rights. The twitter handle has a reference to his american parents and it connects him to Otago as well.
Again, Hill Cone up to her neck in the dirt. She’s not as high profile as the awful Glucina but Hill Cone gifted Slatee a media award so arguably worse.
Side note: covenient that Slater gets a ‘prestigious’ award at the very time he’s trying to be classed as legitimate media… You’d almost think it was planned. Or even paid for. Hill Cone was the only judge of Best Blog.
Andrea Vance has a second story out today, based on Greenwald interview:
Greenwald exposes the way Key tried to mislead with the release of the CORTEX documents.
Greenwald knows how to ask the right questions and just doesn’t uncritically accept every word out of Key’s slippery, slurry mouth.
Later today I will quote Option 1 here in full because it begun implementation in 2012 and was not rescinded the way Option 2 was.
Option one talks about the “automated investigative capacity”
Then there is Key deciding that the documents werent so secret anyway, not when his “reputation” was at stake… which means he could have released them during the GCSB Bill debate, but didn’t…
“It also emerged yesterday the documents which Mr Key said he made public to protect his reputation threatened massive damage to New Zealand’s wellbeing if made public without permission, going by the GCSB’s own threat estimates.
The four documents were previously marked at the “Secret” level of classification. The GCSB guide to security classifications says the “compromise” of “Secret” information could “damage the security, defence or international relations of New Zealand and/or friendly governments”.
Mr Key’s office refused to explain the process for making the documents public but said the Prime Minister wasn’t concerned about danger arising from their losing “secret” classification”
“Greenwald knows how to ask the right questions and just doesn’t uncritically accept every word out of Key’s slippery, slurry mouth”.
It’s been a real treat having him here in NZ, he is breath of fresh air and oasis of rational questioning and reporting. I hope our “journalists” are paying attention to what a real journalist looks and sounds like.
On 9 November 2012 an “unauthorised and un-notified software change” to the “to the wavelength switching platform” was made on the Sydney side of the Southern cross cable. It caused a “catastrophic” internet outage. Was this when the software was implemented needed to spy on all of us?
+1 @T
This is but one of the reasons I find Ferguson’s claims, and the CEO of Southern Cross Cable just a little hollow. (I.e. the need for ‘deep sea divers’; and “I’d know about it”, etc.). I can’t remember when, but I do recall a contractor accidently ‘damaging’ the cable north of Auckland in the past. Elsewhere I commented on WDM (wavelength division multiplexing), thinking that with refinement some sort of like-technology (and with NSA’s investment in R&D etc.) a passive tap is not beyond the realms of possibility. Souther Cross also claim the cable is configured in a ‘self-healing’ configuration, so that minor interruptions (perhaps except at a couple of key points) can go unnoticed as long as customers are unaffected.
The claims by both Ferguson and the CEO by their nature mean (if they’re genuine in there being ‘NO tapping’) assume they know what goes on by ALL their staff 24/7; or that they’re also being disingenuous and complicit. Aside from all that, tapping at router level …. the fact that elsewhere in the world it’s already acknowledged …. the coincidences of various visitors to the country …. the recent claim by Peters that an NSA presence in Auckland is certain and that he knows the address …. the fact that its in both Ferguson and the CEO’s interests to make such statements (in Ferguson’s case – his legacy; in the CEO’s – for business reasons) ….
In short – hollow and deceitful – but then I guess they’re ‘protecting’ us aren’t they ??
To be fair to Ferguson, he stepped away from his job as GCSB director in 2011 and this happened in November 2012. I always suspected a bust up between him and John Key about the legality of spying on New Zealanders and Dotcom that made him step down before that happened. When that happened he was blamed but in fact it was Hugh Wolfensohn, who was the acting director, who authorized the illegal spying.
Increasingly Key’s feet have the appearance of clay. Increasingly the personal demeanour is anything but relaxed. Increasingly the emperor has no clothes. Resort to “loser” and “rather large butt” is pretty pathetic really. True, worshippers at The Temple of TheGodKey won’t be phased. Who cares ? Reflecting their own realities they’re in thrall to “selfie” in its fuller definition and it’s tribal.
Of greater importance is the evergrowing sense across the nation at large that here’s a prevaricating wide boy who can’t be trusted. Check out the journalist’s robust “Why not ?” in the clip below. The manufactured gloss is tarnishing daily. ‘Challenege’ is in the air. That’s what matters electorally.
If Saturday doesn’t see sufficient ‘YawnKey’ to scotch the specious royal honorific for strutting in Hawaii…….imagine the howls of derision when that does occur. Poor Madge. Expect she’s not gonna see it as a decent quid pro quo for Scotland……
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11325926
Watch Key’s mouth. His eyes don’t dart as much when he lies now, clearly been trained, but his mouth is doing lots of odd stuff.
What is it you are all so desperately trying to hide that you are prepared to sacrifice NZ’s security for? The current biggest security threat to NZ is already in Australia and maybe here, but you all want to ignore that & knobble our security service?
The Left will be the first to cry “why didn’t the government do something to protect us” if we are subject to an act of terror in NZ.
Sorry to burst your fearmonger bubble: the people who’ve been telling you it’s all about terrorism, in private, among themselves, they discuss economic espionage and intellectual property.
They don’t give a toss if you get beheaded so long as they get paid.
We have already been subjected to a real act of terror (as opposed to just the government trying to terrify us) in New Zealand which the GCSB did nothing to protect us from.
What makes NZ more likely to be a location for an act of terror?
– Primarily acting as a stooge for the US which has committed long and sustained acts of terror against sovereign states for immoral and illegitimate reasons,
– spying on other sovereign states that we are not in conflict with and using our location and access to allow others to do so;
– sending our defence forces in at the request of the US despite there being no credible intelligence that indicates this approach will improve the living conditions of those countrymen or women. In fact, historical evidence shows that it usually results with deterioration of living conditions and increases the likelihood of extremist groups taking power;
– using intelligence systems to spy on and target those who disagree with the government of the time, and use intimidation techniques to get them to change behaviours – even if they are legitimate and peaceful. When you remove the right to disagree by legitimate and peaceful means, you increase the likelihood that desperation will result in ramping up actions.
In essence, failing to act like a sovereign state that upholds values such as human rights for all, and avoidance of unnecessary or ineffective conflict – is what is going to make us vulnerable to acts of terrorism.
+100 Molly
+100 molly
+100 Molly
Damn right.
Mike, why are you promoting thugs and criminals to the role of terrorist? As they are thugs and criminals should not good old fashioned police work sort out the problem, where is the money for that solution? But no, lets go for fear, mixed with just a little xenophobia, and the desire to keep an addiction to snooping into people’s lives so we can spy. Life is not a James Bond novel – the cold war is over, criminals will say any old shit to make themselves look good. FFS grow up – this is about your rights and your freedoms – I thought the right wing supported those ideas.
1. If we remain neutral and ethical we won’t be subject to acts of terror
2. John Key’s and National’s kowtowing to what the US wants is increasing the chance of being subjected to acts of terror and other acts of retaliation from other states
3. Mass surveillance doesn’t actually increase the chances that the police will intercept terrorists. It does mean that the government can pick up on people who disagree with them though which I’m sure you’re more than happy with (while the government is National).
+100 DTB
Please post your full name, address occupation and phone number. Then i will answer your question.
[lprent: No pestering the
trollsother commenters to out themselves. It is against house rules. ]peters is just confirming on tv3 that the americans have a spooking-base in auckland..
..he knows the address..
..and he calls greenwald/snowden ‘totally credible’..
..and that key is lying..
..(he is 9.1% for preferred prime minister in reid research poll out this morn..three points behind cunnliffe..bloody hell.!..)
Ah, Winston, forever confused by the difference between what he wants to know, what he thinks he knows, and what he really knows …
Still, this story is bubbling along nicely.
he says he knows this from his time in government..
..and that is how he is so certain that key also knows all about it..
..and so once again..is lying to the people of nz..
someone should keep a list of the claims that Peters makes, and how many of them pan out in the way he implies
Phillip, he also said he knows the address because he used to ‘oversee them as Deputy Prime Minister’, what is he doing overseeing the NSA? He is old and confused.
Lurgee,
Funny your lack-shitless bullshit leader Lie-key has changed his position on the spooking-base/ surveillance issue daily.
Key even forgot to tell us Kiwis he attends the shadow ops global Nazi founded Bilderberg group with a one world Government agenda controlled by them also?
Who did you say was confused?
I had no idea the right wing concept of a one world government with Bilderberg associated would be so popular with someone commenting on a Labour (so kind of left) blog in New Zealand. Am I missing something?
[lprent: Yes, you are about to start missing writing on our site after maligning it.
Banned 8 weeks for stupidity. Read the about and the policy. I really can’t be bothered indulging lazy fools who don’t read the house rules. ]
lprent
It seems that you may be in error about rich maligning the site, when all he called it was; “a Labour (so kind of left) blog in New Zealand”.
Note that he did not say a “Labour Party blog”, and the about you referred him to states; “it’d be fair to say that all of us share a commitment to the values and principles that underpin the broad labour movement” (under; “What’s your political ‘angle’?”, with similar elsewhere). Plus the site does proclaim itself; “The New Zealand voice of the labour movement”, in the hometab.
When I saw this earlier, I thought that the maligning must have occurred in a different comment, but have not been able to see anything objectionable thus far.
[lprent: Do I care? It isn’t a “Labour” blog. It has always been a “labour movement” blog which is and always has been a hell of a lot larger than a single political party.
If someone is too stupid to read the about then I will educate them the hard way. That is because invariably people that open their mouths on a blog and presume to know what it is are arrogant fuckwits who really need to understand the consequences of not investigating the social media that they are using. It is really bad manners.
My experience has been that the only reason that people say variations on that theme is because they then proceed either smear the Labour party with our sins or try to smear us. Either way I’ll give them bans of anything from a few days to a year or two the first time I see it – depends on how cranky I feel. They tend to get a bit more cautious at the next site. For some reason this semi-arbitrary sentencing behaviour never seems to constrain the growth of people commenting or the numbers of comments that they leave. I suspect that it enhances it.
I view it as a requirement to running a blog – educating the pig-ignorant ]
The crux seems to be in the capitalisation – lower denoting a broad and imprecise description, upper denoting a specific entity’s name…
@ Pasupial
It seems to me to be about the meaning that relates to a word having either a capital or a lower case start. The difference between Labour (which can be used as a single word referring to the Labour Party) which these days is full of nice middle class people on good incomes, with a few lower-income asperashunal ones sprinkled on the top like tasty, poppy seeds,
and, labour which stands for the generalised working class often unskilled, low skilled, semi-skilled and with wages that generally match. So big difference between Labour and labour. Capisce?
I would have thought that a thoughtful person like yourself would have picked that up. Rich was just suffering from being a new-ish guy on the site, and put his foot in it. There is quite a lot of deliberate misinformation about the site and sometimes one more is the last straw with our sysop.
greywarbler
Now that it’s pointed out, I can see the difference between the two. Though it didn’t strike me on first reading, and since I just C&Pd the offending portion I missed it when I made my comment as well.
I guess rich was just in the wrong place at the wrong time with that one. Maybe the attempted deflections from the Dirty Politics crew (with their; TS is just the same as WO, nonsense) have put our fine sysop a bit on edge.
@ Pasupial 5.17
Yes he is a fine sysop, and does get a bit testy when too many oddities mount up in the day. I think you are right about all.
* Wonders if I should go off and read them, nah, too lazy* 😈
Mostly they just say “don’t be a fool on our site and waste our time dealing with it”.
You’re just argumentative 😈
😆 funny how things can turn eh?
i’ll let you know the answer to that on sunday..
I want to hear about the policies of all parties in the few days before election day and see and hear the candidates .
Sick of the media’s obsession with poor maligned Key, mass surveillance, Kimdottycom, CGSB etc ad-nauseum.
Key has high profile and all others have low profile. Couldn’t have stage managed it better myself.
Have you got a postage stamp? If so key should be able to list all of Nationals policies on it for you.
Have to agree in large with you. The one major down fall of everything that is happening is that Policy gets drowned out. As much as I think the Dirty Polotics, GCSB information is important and should rightfully influence voters, in the end people need to know policy to make an informed decision as to who to vote for.
To be honest, I actually think that knowing a political party is honest or not is more important than their policies.
true. If they might be lying, then their policies are worthless.
Actually the first part was to point out National’s policy is almost non existant. I thought that was pretty clear.
Unfortunately because of all the coverage of the admitidly important revelations I mentioned there has been very little coverage of the poilicies from other parties. As someone who voted IMP yesterday I would have liked a little more information around the differences between them and say the Greens. If the wider public are shifting away from the NAT’s and their corrupt practices it allows them to make a more informed decision about which party they want to vote for. We can’t just assume they would all vote Labour.
The honesty of the NAT’s only discredits them. It doesn’t help you decide which of the other parties you will vote for. Policy does.
So worrying about the nat’s policies being the size of a postage stamp is pretty irrelevant, if they’ve already been shown up as dishonest.
Which is more important: covering the blatant lying of our pm, or covering the policy manifestos of half a dozen other parties? I reckon that those who are interested in policy would find it themselves, e.g. party websites, but those who are more interested in character issues and baby-kissing photos will rely 100% on the msm.
Why does it have to be one or the other. My point the whole time is that they are both important. I could equally argue that those who care about Dirty Politics could go and read the book.
Not sure how you can dismiss the importance of defining the difference between parties especially on the left where we have a plethora of choice. With out clear communication of those poicies through an easily accessable medium those moving away from the NAT’s are just as likely to tick the Conservative box as say Winston Peter’s and not understand that not only will that lead to a whole lot fo crazy but it will also help return the NAT’s to power.
It’s all well and good for those who can be bothered taking the time to go and read up on different polocies. However for the large number of people who form their opinioin’s from the MSM (and they are the ones we want to influence with the coverage of Dirty Politics) they will also make their choice on change based on what they hear in the MSM.
it’s not “one or the other”, the issue is relative importance.
I don’t kjnow I care about the contents of a book if I haven’t read the book – it could be bunk for all I know, or misleading title/cover.
If I care about preschool access or water quality, I know to try to find policy on it.
And frankly, people who care more about character are likely to switch off the msm if it ignores character for policy descriptions.
It’s about trust and ethics, which are at the core of the contract between the electorate and the elected. If we cannot trust our representatives, then it doesn’t matter what the hell their policies are.
Perhaps you could take this up with the MSM. One day in the last three weeks the front page lead of a major daily, story covering the full page was ” a story and a picture (which I didn’t want to look at as being too gruesome) of somebody who had had their face bitten by a dog” which I am sure was horrible and painful. But this story and others like it occupied the front page quite consisitently over the whole period. NAct had no policy that they could discuss perhaps?
Here are some questions for Clare Curran (Labour IT spokes person at the time) who seemed to know that unauthorized changes made to the software handling the Sydney side of the Southern Cross cable crashed the internet connection for NZ on 9 October 2012.
If you want to do it yourself you might want to copy past this in your twitter message box en tweet it to them:
@clarecurranmp @DavidCunliffeMP @nzlabour What did Clare Curran know about the SC Cable outage on 9 Nov 2012 http://wp.me/p638n-4tX
Question for Lynn: How likely is it that unauthorized software changes can be made without notification by an unauthorized individual in what is the only connection of NZ to the rest of the world?
I thought it weird that that article on the outage quoted Curran so much when she was in opposition. I don’t think there was any comment from the govt.
key on breakfast tvone:..
“..we can’t just go and look..we have to get a warrant to go into that database..’
..question:..which/what ‘database’..?
..the one that snowden detailed accessing from hawaii..?
..(has key involuntarily admitted something here..?..)
Ah the house of cards is crumbling. I think the meme is now gently shifting to “it’s only surveillance if you look at the information – not if you just collect it’.
With more to come from Greenwald and even Craig talking about issues of trust Slippery is possibly having his last slither.
Whatever the outcome on Saturday Key is now, and will increasingly become, severely damaged goods.
i think you can further synthesise it down to:
..we don’t collect it..they do…
..and re yr ‘damaged-goods’ comment..
..should the unthinkable happen..and key get back in..
..it will be open warfare from day one..
..he will have the shortest political-honeymoon period on record..
Honeymoon long over. He will be a lame duck shitting bricks everyday for fear something else will come out. And he knows he is in Government on borrowed time! Can’t be nice. Looks like Winston Peters is a real alternative for those who hate labor and green but want to breakaway from National’s poisoned well and who don’t want to kowtow to the International Corps by signing the TTPA.
as in, I break into your house and steal your television. ekshully, at the end of the day, it’s not stolen until I turn it on.
Clever
Rodel – I want to hear about other parties policy you said.
Look up Other parties policy of the web?
They all have it laid out, as update as you can get.
NZ First has a very good policy on regional rail if you are interested better than every other party.
“Rails of National significance”
They have very well thought out policies.
I am Labour but fringe NZF and Green, so good combination we think.
the policy-comparison that has me gobsmacked..(and perhaps distills my disquiet at/with labour..)
..is that the twenty grand tax-free policy of rightwing-nutjob/moon-landing-denier craig..
..would do more for the childless-poor..
..than anything labour has on offer..
..which is exactly diddly-fucken-squat..
(when pressed cunnliffe said a ‘financial surplus’ was more important for labour..than any idea of raining benefit rates at all..)
..and so..the poorest of the poor..will just be left to rot by labour..again..
..’far-right party does more for the poor than labour’
..(how is that for a headline..?..)
..anyone with strong beliefs/desires to right those wrongs..
..must look past labour..
..to internet/mana and the greens..
..labour is still too in the thrall of its’ neo-libbers..
.none of whom have ever cared very much for the poor..
(ahem..!..’raising’ benefit rates..not ‘raining’..
Local Kiwi – Thanks I do know the policies. I am committed t o Cunliffe and Labour and have ticked Labour twice..no question.
I want to HEAR the politicians and their policies not for me but because the wavering voters are the ones who need to hear them….free doctors visits for over 65s and kids…raising the Minimum wage…preventing the sale of further assets… shutting John Banks’ s ridiculous charter schools…re-establishing a public TV channel..etc etc.
Most people know the Key corporation is deceitful but the positive Labour and Greens..(grudgingly he said) policies and Winston’s ideas are getting submersed in the high profile scandals about John Key.
Incidentally, nice to hear that 10% of voters (300,000 or so have already voted- Big turnout augurs well for the left.
Definition of Mass surveillance:
I would like to hear the unequivocal positions of all parties as to their definition of mass surveillance.
Do they define mass surveillance as (a) capturing and storing data without the permission of the private citizen?, or (b) do they not consider that to be surveillance until they look at that information?
It is clear that the Sleazy Dirty Politics Party is hoping to redefine mass surveillance as in (b) above.
Political Response to Mass surveillance
The Sleazy Dirty Politics Party will obviously stay in the Five Evil Eyes Axis
David Cunliffe has indicated that the Labour Party will also stay in the FEEA
Is there any party of decency remaining?
I’ve possibly been too harsh on Labour:
“Labour will repeal and replace the GCSB law after an independent inquiry in to New Zealand’s intelligence services”
Still a niggling doubt. Why has David Cunliffe also said that Labour will stay in the Axis? Surely that position should follow the inquiry above
Brian, for what it’s worth, David Cunliffe spoke at a public talk about the TICS Bill last year in August on your point:
“Labour will repeal and replace the GCSB law after an independent inquiry in to New Zealand’s intelligence services”.
He spoke at length and spoke with conviction about NZer’s right to privacy. He was sincerely and strongly opposed to the government mass spying on its citizens. Its hard to imagine however that a Labour govt will throw out intelligence sharing relationships NZ has had with allies post WW2 but we can only hope the way in which they operate will be part of the review.
As for your last question at 14. Didn’t Dotcom say the Internet Party would take one eye out of the five eyes alliance? (or did I imagine that?)
It is unlikely that New Zealand can influence the four big eyes in the Axis to dump their desires to continue with mass surveillance.
So the question will be for all New Zealanders whether we want to continue with intelligence sharing relationships we have had with allies since WW2, if the price of that intelligence is that we have to accept mass surveillance.
You say it is hard to imagine that Labour will want to stop the relationship. Which I agree with, since I have heard Cunliffe say (sorry cannot recall source) that Labour would stay with Five eyes.
It looks like an important point of differentiation between Labour and their possible coalition partners. From your comment above, I am pleased that the Internet Party may be willing to remove an eye, and say so now. The Green Party have also been very concerned about surveillance issues, although I do not know what they are thinking about continuing with 5 eyes.
It’s an issue that I wish to resolve before I vote. What I desire is a party that can provide a clear assurance that mass surveillance will not be tolerated, and that NZ will not participate in any alliance if the price for that alliance is Orwellian.
How safe is National Radio?
Maori Television is now feeling the effect of publishing stories that do not suit the spin of the Sleazy Dirty Politics Party.
John Key already will front up to National Radio (presumably fearing Guyon Espiner) as little as possible?
In this climate, how safe is National Radio from being “restructured” so that Guyon Espiner will no longer have a job (sending a message to all others), if the Sleazy Dirty Politics Party gets another term in Parliament?
espiner is an admitted rightwinger..
..in part he was chosen for that reason..
..by the rightwinger griffin who runs nat-rad..
I really miss Geoff Robinson on RadioNZ. He had a quiet dignity, and could ask questions.
Compelling summary by lawyer Denis Tegg with graphics on the issues of mass surveillance…questions to be asked now… and time for John key to come clean:
‘GUEST BLOG – Denis Tegg – The NSA slides that prove mass surveillance’
By The Daily Blog / September 17, 2014
“The evidence presented by Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowden on The Intercept of mass surveillance of New Zealanders by the GCSB is undeniable, and can stand on its own….
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/09/17/guest-blog-denis-tegg-the-nsa-slides-that-prove-mass-surveillance/#sthash.uq22KklT.dpuf
Kicking the boot into the Poor.
News today. WINZ is closing regional offices, such as the one in Raglan
The Heartless Sleazy Dirty Politics Party (HSDPP) now expects those without work to have to pay to travel to Hamilton to a WINZ office.
If they cannot afford the travel, presumably they will lose the benefit they are entitled to; and the HSDPP will be able to trumpet that the number of people receiving the benefit is less under their watch. Do they care about poverty? The HSDPP must have been the only group in New Zealand who smiled and saw an “opportunity” from the Ashburton tragedy.
Oh Goodie! Expect more crime, more despair, more alcohol and violence. Poor Rags. I live near it. They just want people to move out of small places into the big cities. This is just pure Agenda 21 shit.
In Kawhia you don’t even get the dole if you live there because they say you clearly are not interested in a job if you want to live there. Never mind the family breakups, more lack of family support.
You poor? You rot in a burp in old leaky cold houses if you’re lucky without any hope for the future or a family life.
“In Kawhia you don’t even get the dole if you live there because they say you clearly are not interested in a job if you want to live there. Never mind the family breakups, more lack of family support. “
Kawhia is a beautiful place… wonder how much of that restriction is based on “why should the unemployed live in such an area of natural beauty when I have to work in the urban jungle?”
Sustainable regional development is required – imagine how local economies can be supported by those on benefits spending their money there instead of on high rentals in forced moves to cities.
A ridiculous policy in terms of long-term benefits to people and communities.
An unemployed person has to live somewhere while they are looking for a job. If whanau are in Kawhia, that would seem a good place to stay temporarily. I’m reading from your comment, that the same thing will happen for those who live in Raglan.
New policy. “If you are unemployed and wish a benefit, you will be required to live within walking distance of any WINZ office that has not yet closed”
I wish more emphasis was placed on the carrot and not the stick
Agree.
And how much further the benefit would go in terms of providing the basics of life, and the opportunity to make changes if you are not required to live in an overpriced, unhealthy rental in a city where you don’t have a support system?
brian, what source are you quoting from?
My apology: Where I wrote “New Policy ….If you are….” I did not make it clear that this was not a serious comment. I should have. The quotation marks invited your reasonable query.
thanks, i suspected it was ‘paraphrasing’ an idea and was not an actual statement but thought it best to clarify.
Don’t want the concern tr_lls skim reading and mis-quoting 😎
Oh, FFS*, Agenda 21 is a voluntary code for societies and nations to follow to become sustainable. It includes combating poverty. As such I think we can assume that what National is doing is completely against Agenda 21 as they’re increasing poverty.
National probably see small communities as a cost on everyone else and thus they seek to get rid of them to further lower taxes. This is completely delusional but that does seem to describe National accurately.
* I get really fucked off with this conspiracy theory BS that’s been spread by, as far as I can make out, the Koch Brothers. Being sustainable does mean not using oil any more and the Koch Brothers do produce a lot of oil.
There’s a whole load more to A21 than simply sustainability DtB 🙂 Sustainability is the Trojan Horse to make it palatable.. (And I think all of us would agree with the virtue of sustainability).
Well then, you should be able to point out where it’s all a conspiracy to have an unelected few ruling the world.
That’s not what I said DtB 🙂
You haven’t actually said what you mean and yet every time I’ve seen the Agenda 21 conspiracy theory mentioned that’s what’s meant.
That is probably because I haven’t referred to Agenda 21 as a “conspiracy theory”. It’s very real and relates to significantly more than simply “sustainability”. IMO a good video on the topic is here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GykzQWlXJs and it’s also worth reading Gro Harlem Brundtland’s book “Our Common Future” which was the precursor to Agenda 21. Your mileage may of course vary.
Disclaimer – I fully support the notion of “sustainable” development and living within our environmental means and that resources are finite. I don’t support A21 as the embodiment of this however 🙂
I do too. If anyone reads the actual Agenda 21 documents, they’re pretty innocuous. For those who rely on Alex Jones, it’s the scariest thing since chemtrails.
If anyone relies on Alex Jones as the sole arbiter of truth they have bigger issues than either Agenda 21 OR chemtrails 🙂
“If they cannot afford the travel, presumably they will lose the benefit they are entitled to;”
Pretty sure WINZ has an obligation to ensure access. So if someone can’t travel, then WINZ need to make their service accessible in another way eg by email/ph, or by sending a staffer to the area. Of course WINZ staffers will tell beneficiaries that the bene has to travel, but this should be challengeable.
Where is Jason Ede?
National in trouble, time to call in Super Paula with a distraction, only don’t think it will work this time. What with the election so close and all that.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/policies/10508263/Nats-promise-cut-to-benefit-numbers
No,no,no. It’s alright. Franny has said that ‘john key wins’ and has kept his integrity intact. So it’s on to the final debate (which key will triumph in of course) and business as usual. I was never aware that he has any integrity.
If facebook likes were votes:
https://www.facebook.com/bretthudson.national
Vs.
https://www.facebook.com/virginia.andersen.ohariu
and if Stuff votes were real:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10507529/Dunne-gets-the-nod-from-Nationals-candidate
We’d have a new MP for Ohariu come Saturday………………..
Fingers crossed and prayers said Rosie. Keep up the good work!
+100 Rosie…good luck!
Notice how Hudson talks about places while Virginia talks about people.
Things V People. Go Virginia and perhaps offer that jaded looking Pete a cup of coffee or something.
Yes, there is a big difference between Brett Hudson and Ginny Andersen. Notice how Hudson mainly puts up Natz terrible empty policy (eg slave labour in prisons) and talks very little about the electorate on his fb and you’re right Ginny Andersen is very people focused, and in a genuine way.
He has referred several times to his the positive feedback he is getting about the Nat govt, when door knocking but that is all. I’m sure he is only focusing on the safe wealthier looking suburbs lol. Not a peep about the poverty in the community which Ginny has covered well.
What he hasn’t said is how he has been literally laughed out loud at, at several candidates meetings (he didn’t go down well at the one I went to) and that he’s out early every morning checking damage to his hoardings.
FYI
17 September 2014
URGENT : Request for an Inquiry by the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, Cheryl Gwyn – re matters arising from the Snowden GCSB/ NSA ‘revelations’.
Dear Inspector-General,
Yesterday, I emailed the following URGENT ‘Open Letter/ OIA request to NZ Prime Minister John Key regarding questions arising from the Edward Snowden GCSB/ NSA ‘revelations’:
I have yet to even have an emailed acknowledgment of receipt of this urgent correspondence.
In order for the public to have confidence in both the NZ Prime Minister, and the NZ Intelligence and Security services, in my opinion, we need to know that we have not been lied to regarding the mass surveillance of New Zealand citizens.
Please conduct an urgent inquiry into the following questions that I have asked of the Prime Minister, as you are empowered to do under s.11 (1) (b) (i) of the ‘Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act 1996:
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1996/0047/latest/DLM392526.html
11Functions of Inspector-General
(1)Subject to the provisions of this Act, the functions of the Inspector-General shall be—
(a)to inquire, of the Inspector-General’s own motion or at the request of the Minister, into any matter that relates to the compliance by an intelligence and security agency with the law of New Zealand:
(b)to inquire into any complaint by—
(i)a New Zealand person; or
(ii)a person who is an employee or former employee of an intelligence and security agency,—
that that person has or may have been adversely affected by any act, omission, practice, policy, or procedure of an intelligence and security agency:
(ba)to inquire into any complaint made by the Speaker of the House of Representatives on behalf of 1 or more members of Parliament:
(c)to inquire at the request of the Minister or the Prime Minister or of the Inspector-General’s own motion into any matter where it appears that a New Zealand person has been or may be adversely affected by any act, omission, practice, policy, or procedure of an intelligence and security agency:
(ca)to inquire at the request of the Minister or the Prime Minister or of the Inspector-General’s own motion into the propriety of particular activities of an intelligence and security agency:
(d)without limiting paragraph (a), to review at intervals of not more than 12 months—
(i)the effectiveness and appropriateness of the procedures adopted by each intelligence and security agency to ensure compliance with its governing legislation in relation to the issue and execution of warrants and authorisations; and
(ii)the effectiveness and appropriateness of compliance systems concerning operational activity, including all supporting policies and practices of an intelligence and security agency relating to—
(A)administration; and
(B)information management; and
(C)risk management; and
(D)legal compliance generally:
(da)to conduct unscheduled audits of the procedures and compliance systems described in paragraph (d):
(e)to prepare and submit to the Minister from time to time for his or her approval programmes for the general oversight and review of each intelligence and security agency and for the discharge by the Inspector-General, in relation to each intelligence and security agency, of the particular functions specified in this section:
(f)to carry out any programme or amended programme or substituted programme approved by the Minister under paragraph (e).
(2)[Repealed]
(3)In carrying out any inquiry in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1)(ca), it shall not be a function of the Inspector-General to inquire into any action taken by the Minister.
(4)Except to the extent strictly necessary for the performance of his or her functions under subsection (1), the Inspector-General shall not inquire into any matter that is operationally sensitive, including any matter that relates to intelligence collection and production methods or sources of information.
(5)The Inspector-General shall not conduct an inquiry into a complaint made under subsection (1) by an employee or former employee of an intelligence and security agency unless—
(a)all established internal remedies have been exhausted; or
(b)the employee or former employee and the chief executive of the relevant intelligence and security agency otherwise agree in writing.
(6)Where an inquiry has been conducted by the Inspector-General following a complaint, the Inspector-General may make such recommendations for the redress of that complaint as the Inspector-General thinks fit (including remedies that involve the payment of compensation).
__________________________________________
16 September 2014
‘Open Letter/ OIA request to NZ Prime Minister John Key regarding questions arising from the Edward Snowden GCSB/ NSA ‘revelations’
Dear Prime Minister,
Under the ‘urgency’ and ‘public interest’ provisions of the NZ Official Information Act, please provide answers to the following by 5pm Thursday 18 September 2014:
Please provide the following information that explains:
1) Why did you inform the public that the GCSB Amendment Bill would not lead to an expansion of powers when at the same time you were planning the Speargun mass surveillance initiative?
2) Why was phase one of the Speargun project completed if it was, as you have claimed, something that never made it past the “business case”?
3) Why New Zealanders were not informed about the Cortex project until the NZ Government’s hand was forced by disclosures based on documents from Snowden?
4) How much data is collected on a daily basis by GCSB under the Cortex project, and how does the agency ensure this data does not “incidentally” include the content or metadata of citizens’ communications?
5) What technology is this, referred to in the Cortex documents, that “has been around for some time”?
6) Is any information collected by GCSB under Cortex — or any other program that accesses internet data — shared with the NSA and/or other Five Eyes agencies through systems such as XKEYSCORE?
7) Does GCSB have access to XKEYSCORE and, if so, for how long has this been the case?
8) Does GCSB use its access to internet data streams — under initiatives like Cortex or similar — to launch active/offensive cyber operations that involve hacking computer systems to collect information?
9) When will you declassify documents detailing the Speargun project and showing that it was not completed?
_________________________________________________________
Please be advised that I have based this OIA request upon information contained in the following article:
“THE QUESTIONS FOR NEW ZEALAND ON MASS SURVEILLANCE”
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/15/questions-new-zealand-mass-surveillance/
I believe that these are fair questions to which the New Zealander voting public need true and accurate answers.
Yours sincerely,
Penny Bright
………………………
Cool story Penny
Zzzzzz TLDR
Wall of text. Get your own blog!!
Key’s reputation is more important than NZ’s foreign relations or trade. That’s why he had to declassify top secret documents. Irresponsible fuckwit
I think his declassifying secret documents to save his own skin is what will ultimately finish him. Those documents were either 1) made secret to hide what Key was doing from New Zealand or 2) made secret for the safety of New Zealand, and so to release them to save his own political reputation is treasonous. Either way, he cannot stay as Prime MInister. Everyone has been looking for the smoking gun that will finally incriminate Key, but I think that decision he took to release those documents was him pulling the trigger on his own political demise.
Agreed, this is a rushed move with desperation written all over it. A new low from the dirtiest PM in living memory.
The smoking gun has been there since at least 2008.
Yes DTB, it has always been clear that Key is a liar out to line his own pockets. The National voters seem to understand and respect that for some reason only known to themselves. But Key has now stepped over the line into behavior that is treasonous, and that is a very different story.
If only….
https://twitter.com/KoalaRabies/status/511904807020265472
Why have the Main Stream Media not published the last information given to them by Whaledump?
Why is their inaction being forgotten?
Why did Whaledump not dump his final dump to the public in the same way that previous information was dumped?
Why has Whaledump not been resurrected to rectify the disappointing response of the Media?
This election campaign has exposed the sorry state of New Zealand journalism. We once could expect our journalists to provide accurate reporting of events, regardless of their own political views. (We still can for a few journalists)
We now have far too many ‘Media Stars’ who appear to believe that they are more important than their stories. I do not want media stars giving patsy questions to the politicians they favour. I want information. And credibility (for both ‘Media Star’ and politician) that can only come from searching and thoughtful questions. And I certainly do not want, what appears to be Whaledump censorship.
..@ brian..
..+ 1..
Hear, hear.
A MUST LISTEN with great relevance to foreign companies buying up New Zealand land eg Goldman Sachs
In her new book, Expulsions, Columbia University sociology professor Saskia Sassen offers a chilling analysis of the dynamics shaping the global economy, including their effects of income inequality, expanding populations of the displaced, and accelerating destruction of land and water bodies.
Dr Sassen has led several multi-year projects into the forces of globalisation, and says technological and economic advances of our time have seen a sharp growth in the number of people expelled from the core social and economic orders.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/20149953/how-global-economic-forces-increase-disparity
http://www.kontext-tv.de/broadcast/10102013/saskia-sassen-expulsion/land-grabbing
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/saskia-sassen/
(Thankyou to Kathryn Ryan for this interview)
Today’s Nine till Noon interview on ‘minority government’ certainly covered a lot of ground but yet again the content of the interview raised obvious questions that never get addressed.
eg: If [National] try to form a minority Government without fixed partners and/or C&S agreements and they ask the Governor General to allow a confidence vote in the House, should MP’s/Parties have a right to abstain on that vote?
To continue the Judge/Jury analogy that was being framed – where the GG is the Judge and the newly elected MPs are the Jury – ask yourself, are Jurors allowed to abstain from making a verdict decision? No! So why should Members of our Parliament be allowed to abstain when deciding who will govern?
A very sad indictment on what NZ has become
https://nz.news.yahoo.com/opinion/post/-/blog/25003999/our-worst-fears-proven-true/
Russell Brown’s interview with Glenn Greenwald today in Public Address is worth reading. Looks like it was GG’s request that KDC not talk about his email, as it would distract from the spying issues.
I think Mr Greenwald underestimated how much our media had fallen. How our media love the story to be about themselves. And how much our media are partisan hacks. With a few, too few, exceptions.
@ adam..
..+ 1..
The interview.
Duncan garner and 3rd degree tonight interview former dotcom employees with nothing nice to say…
Key and Joyce must be due to call tv3 out for focusing on non policy issues…
Apparently interviewing KDC, too. This sort of programme, bound to have been in the pipeline for a while, shows why it was good sense to separate the Greenwald-Snowden MoT from KDC’s issues.
I’m no fan of the guy: don’t expect him to come across as Mr Nice Guy.
Which puts a bit of a lie to the notion they were all just paid patsies of dotcom
I’m not expecting much from this evening’s debate. 30 minutes (22 after ads), with around 5 minutes being opening and closing remarks. Another few minutes being Hosking blathering on. It will be full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
It’s supposed to be about coalition partners and forming the government, so Hosking is likely to ask Key about his plans to cause a constitutional crises by trying to form a government without a majority in Parliament.
Things aren’t looking too good for the worlds second largest ice sheet.
This year, Greenland’s ice sheet was the darkest Box (or anyone else) has ever measured. Box gives the stunning stats: “In 2014 the ice sheet is precisely 5.6 percent darker, producing an additional absorption of energy equivalent with roughly twice the US annual electricity consumption.”
Perhaps coincidentally, 2014 will also be the year with the highest number of forest fires ever measured in Arctic.
[…]
Earlier this year, Box made headlines for a strongly worded statement along these lines:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/09/16/jason_box_s_research_into_greenland_s_dark_snow_raises_more_concerns_about.html
What an ‘on-to-it’ (not) guy is John Key ! Snowden “may well be right” now.
Anyone get the feeling that Key changes his tune and his tone according to directives from far away ? Which is the whole troubling point ‘akshilly’.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11326387
The question late last week was
Are loads of NZers being spied upon
?..
If you follow his answers through to today we have now reached
Yes
But in such a way the media can pretend he didnt.
I have become so disillusioned and cynical by the mans lies, that after reading that headline, my next thought is that if he’s conceding to that one there must be something even worse being hidden from us now 🙁
Dear Prime Minister,
Does the Five Eyes Alliance have the ability to fix on-line lotteries ?
If so, could you please put in a good word for me for this weekend ?
Regards,
Raa.
http://archive.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/17-03/wp_quant?currentPage=all
http://archive.fortune.com/2008/09/30/magazines/fortune/varchaver_derivatives_short.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008093012
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.co.nz/2008/09/dallas-federal-reserve-bank-president.html
http://www.3news.co.nz/politics/national-promises-25-pct-less-beneficiaries-2014091709
So now we know why Paula Bennett was dishing out all the hugs and sickly sweet comments in Ashburton a few days ago…. she was just softening up staff for her next jackboot onslaught.
Typically cynical of a woman with the ethics of an alley cat.
My god she’s had the Shipley make over! So factionional warfare has broken out in National. Long may it last.
I’ve met alley cats – believe me, they’ve got more ethics.
Marcus Lush compares and contrasts Labour vs National campaign meeting in Mangere and Mt Albert.
Both Labour and National leaders were in Auckland over the weekend: On Saturday, Marcus Lush took a trip to Mangere to see David Cunliffe appear before party supporters and media, while on Sunday, John Key appeared at a daycare centre in Mount Albert.
Here’s how each event went.
http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Marcus-Lush-on-the-hustings-Comparing-Labour-in-Mangere-with-National-in-Mount-Albert/tabid/439/articleID/54777/Default.aspx
Wow, that was good – thanks for that Clem
You are welcome. The National’s ‘clinical’ approach made me laugh! Those poor little kids were brought to school on a Sunday morning, (Yes, Sunday!) like for a quiet respectful funeral service conducted by their holiness, King Key and patron saint of kids, Paula Bennett! What a disgrace!
Armstrong – what is this increasingly shrill wishful thinking from New Zealand’s premier GodKey shill ? Sure ain’t journalism. This from the “time to resign – 11 year old form letter” man:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/john-armstrong/news/article.cfm?a_id=3&objectid=11325925
Amongst all the sleaze and covers up from National I wonder if anyone who knows how too has checked on the Conservatives election expensives .The huge post office delivery expense must be very big.The Cons seem to be spending money nonstop. Their election bill needs to be explained.
xox
With all this spying ( information hoovering) capacity, surely the head spy knows the game is over, and his master’s will tell him so. The high priest has been defrocked.
Latest roy morgan poll is out
Again, still too close to call. National-led Government: National Party, Maori Party, ACT NZ, United Future on 49% (up from 46.5% in August 31 poll)
Opposition Parties: Labour Party, Green Party, Internet-Mana Party alliance, NZ First; down to 46.5 (from 49% in August 31 poll)
Nothing more than an old switcherooni.
National is up 1.5
Labour down 2
Greens down 2.5
NZ1st up 2
Maori Party up 1
No real change for everyone else.
Even so, based on those numbers, assuming Dunne is gone from Ohariu, and even with Seymour in Epsom, it still leaves National short. Have assumed conservatives get 4.5% and are out of parliament. The percentage signs relate to the party vote gained on the day.
I am worried that Labour will get less overall, particularly as the weather on the day is shaping up to be nasty.
I have modified the results as RM is usually out by a little bit (not much) so figures are my predictions on what the votes are likely to be on the date.
ACT New Zealand 1.50% 2 MPs (1 electorate + 1.5% PV)
Green Party 16.00% 21 MPs (no electorates)
Internet MANA 2.00% 3 MPs (1 electorate +2% PV)
Labour Party 26.00% 34 MPs (29 Electorates+ 5 list)
Māori Party 1.00% 2 Mps (2 electorates)
National Party 39.00% 50 Mps (37 electorates + 13 list)
New Zealand First Party 7.00% 9 Mps (no electorates)
121 seats total.
Using the numbers:
National + Act + MP = 54 seats
Even if Dunne gets in, that still only gives them 55 seats
Labour + Green + NZ1st = 64 seats, if Dunne gets in, that makes it 63 seats for the left block. I have factored in the probability of Ginny winning Ohariu.
I can’t see Winston wanting to be part of a four headed monster, or even in a Nat+NZ1+Act/MP/Dunne configuration.
However, If National got 42% and Labour got 23% on Saturday in their respective party votes (n/c to electorates won), then the left block would likely need IMP to be part of a formal coalition, or in a confidence and supply arrangement.
Other alternative is that Lab+Grn+NZ1 combined on a 60 seat bloc in 121 seat parliament could run a minority government.
A national+act+uf+mp bloc is only 58 seats in a 121 seat parliament.
I haven’t done any configurations with Conservatives as I believe people will shy away from them at the last minute and switch to Winsome Winnie instead of Crazy Colon.
Overall conclusion? This election is coming down to the wire.
You’re not taking in to account the traditional 3-4% swing left in the actual voting (even with Roy Morgan being the most accurate). Take in to account that and the high volatility this time and I think National have to be very worried.
Zorr – I have taken it into account. I’ve attributed more of the left swing to IMP and Greens rather than to Labour.
The final Roy Morgan poll before the last election had Labour at 23.5% but they actually got 27.5%. The Greens were overestimated by 3% however.
Yep, if this poll is like the one taken before the last election, the only difference between this poll and the actual election would be that the right bloc had 2% less on the day. So National probably on 44%, Labour + Greens + NZFirst on 46% at the moment. It is going to be very close.
What about the undecideds?
Your optimism is appreciated.
Here’s hoping the TV3 one tonight has a similar trend.
The TV3 poll was off by quite a bit last time. This is a useful graph, it shows the final polls from the different polling companies and the actual election result
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/4726-new-zealand-2011-election-accuracy-201312032254
You have given National 39%…based on what?
Yes James but National in 2011 last RM poll = 49.5
2011 election result = 47.31
last Rm poll 2014 = 46.5
John Key is trying to discredit Snowden’s information by calling him a ‘hacker’.
“Edward Snowden hacked into the NSA. He downloaded illegally millions of documents, some of which related to New Zealand.”
Which is a gross misrepresentation of what happened. He was an NSA contractor with high level clearance, he didn’t need to hack into them.
FFS are there any journalists in this country who aren’t happy to let Key just make shit up like this?
This is good though. Key and his team being tied up having to make shit up that looks a big credible, instead of being out there campaigning.
What you said about the MSM +1000 There seem to be a few that are getting it right this week. I assume he is avoiding them.
Damn, Laila has me wanting to vote IMP again,
Laila Harré @lailaharre 2 hrs
#InternetMANA will make #TPPA a top target in post-election negs. Party vote for certainty on where we will stand: http://bit.ly/1mcHC5l
https://internet.org.nz/news/89
Blimming heck! What on earth is Soper on. On prime, giving Cunliffe grief for not turning up to some tinpot radio station wanting to know “is Cunliffe serious about wanting to lead the country” Has anybody heard if key is going to debate the whole hour as Cunliffe has requested??
Exactly my thoughts. Any shit these right wing turds can throw at the left they will do. Did you see Armstrong’s heap of shit today along with Frankfurter’s? Do they honestly believe the crap they write or are they, just like Soper insulting our intelligence or taking the piss.
Cunliffe didn’t request it, TVNZ did. Cunliffe said yes, Key said no.
And we know why. 30mins with ads is fk all time each. Not enough to cover all the issues, and 5 eyes.
@ floyd..
..on a day when key admits there is mass-surveillance of nz’ers..barry ‘i’m barry soper..!..and i know s.f.a..!’ soper..the political editor of sky news..
..chooses to run with a cunnliffe hatchet-job..
..he really is one of the worst..that soper…
..such a craven tory lackey/lickspittle..
Advance voting looks like it’ll comprise over a third of total votes this election. The running total blew past the 2008 numbers on Monday, and 2011 yesterday:
http://www.elections.org.nz/events/2014-general-election/advance-voting-statistics
It looks set to top 410,000 tonight. In 2008 51% of advance votes were cast in the final three day period, in 2011 that was 55%. I predict that the total advance vote will be over 800 000, and if we treat the 2011 proportion as predictive then the total would be 40% of the 2011 total vote. Though I think that the total vote will be up this time too, so the advance vote proportion of that will be around 35%.
A key advantage of advance voting is that you are less susceptible to caging-list strategies that have been employed in the US as a key part of dirty political strategy. There is a nationwide need for scrutineers to monitor the advance count (downside; you’ll be locked in from 1:30-7pm with no phone access, upside; that’s shorter than the 9am-9pm that polling station scutineers are expected to stick around, and there’s only one required per party per electorate, as opposed to the dozens of polling stations). If you haven’t planned to contribute to the election day in any other way yet, this might be something to consider (get in touch with your favoured party and offer your time – the candidate has to sign off on it).
Re the polls………….not sure what this means but did some figures when the Roy Morgan came out today.
2011 RM last poll before election Result 2011…………..Last RM poll before 2014
Nat 49.5 47.31 46.5
Lab 23.5 27.48 24.00
Green 14.5 11.06 13.5
NZ 1st 6.59 6.59 8
UF .6 .6 .5
Maori 1.4 1.43 .5
Mana 1 1 (IMP)
Cons 2.65 2.65 3.5
Act 1.5 1.07 .5
Not sure what this all means, except Nats down 3% from last RM poll and then down 2% in actual election. Will check to make sure got figures right. Sorry didn’t get Mana’s actual election result.
National stuffed in 3news poll. 44.5% Labour 25.6 Greens 14.4 Winston 7.
(Conservatives 4.9%!!!)
how does that make National stuffed?
Because National will probably poll 2% lower and the Conservatives with end up scraping together just over 4%.
does that mean you believe that ACT, UF and Mp will be gone from parliament?
you would then also need to believe that Peters won’t go with National.
http://dimpost.wordpress.com/2014/09/17/brief-winston-peters-predictions-for-the-record ;-(
ACT UF and MP may all get one MP in each, but with Key scraping together 54 National MP’s himself, what is he going to do with them?
And you are right this is pivotal – but I reckon there’s no way in hell. (Fingers crossed…)
“no way/fingers crossed”
lolz, 🙁
CV’s on to it, weka. Last election, this poll had the Nats on 50.8% (3% higher than the actual result). Labour 26% (down 1.5%). Even if the overestimation is narrower this time, Key can’t form a Government without NZF on these numbers. No other option.
They also showed what would happen if Craycray sneaks in. Again, no show without Winnie (and ACT, MP, UF). The dreaded 5 headed monster!
Try running it through the calculator. I just put those TV3 figures in but adjusted down to CV’s figures for National and Craig, and it looks like National and Peters can form govt with no-one else.
please check my figures though
and either way, how is National stuffed when they can still use Peters?
True enough, weka. But why would Winnie go with National? NZF’s entire policy package (except Laura Norder) is a close fit with Labour’s. And I’m picking the opportunity to knock Key off his perch would be irresistible to a man with a big ego and a bitter memory of 3 years in the wilderness.
Et tu Winstus?
Two words: Green Party.
Or one word: bauble.
On the other hand, Labour are quite capable of shafting the GP again and allowing Peters to force a L/NZF govt with C and S from the Greens.
Harsh description of the process on that occasion, and it wasn’t a L/NZF government anyway. NZF only gave C&S as I recall. The Greens did the same.
ok, leaving the past in the past, do you think that Labour would let a party on 7% dictate that a party on 13% couldn’t be part of govt inside cabinet?
That’s actually not quite as bad as the 2005 situation, weka! Back then, NZF and UF would not support the Greens getting any kind of cabinet posting at all. For mine, I’m not fussed. Probably the same for the Greens, too. They know they will get more policy wins under a Labour led Government, in it or out of it, so it’s in their interest to give C&S.
It would be a shame, because the Greens are ready for leadership roles, but getting Key gone is the immediate issue.
i agree with trp..
..i have written/warned of the dangers of a vote for peters..
..and i stand by all that..
..but the reality is that he is there..and he will likely hold the balance of power..
..but weighing up all the various factors/imperatives leads me to the conclusion that i wd be very surprised if he decided to prop up this corrupt/mass-surveilling aberration of the party he once belonged to..
great, so he will screw over the GP instead. Can’t wait until the man is gone, MMP will function so much better without him
I think Key is going to try a dodgy constitutional wag the dog trick with his mate Jerry Mateparae.
HERALD: John Key ‘comfortable’ that NSA is not spying on NZ
Comfortable? He must be perched on a cushion the size of the Beehive..
@ inky..
..he has rubber butt-implants..
Greenwald vs the PM on Campbell Live tonight.
stream http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/3NewsLiveStream
“Greenwald vs the PM on Campbell Live tonight.”
Campbell hype. It’s actually just alternating cut and pastes of recaps.
This gem though, when asked which partners have access to the SC cable,
Key “I don’t understand the technical aspects, you’d have to ask the GCSB about that”
Yes. Key, as usual, being very clear on what he (allegedly) knows is not happening, then being fuzzy and passing the buck on crucial points.
Yes. Not a lot that’s new there.
X-Key-Whore-At-The-White-House-Door.
Fuck-Off-New-Zealand !
That’s what it means.
Half time. A theatre worthy of Fauxnews.
cunnliffe has done ok in the final debate..
Key looks like a corpse who hasn’t realised he’s died.
Watching the Cunliffe Key debate. Cunliffe is knowledgeable and competent.
Key full of cliches (‘What I do know…I can say this… the point is…at the end of the day…”.)and a typical money trader…Good at gambling a profit for himself but couldn’t pass economics 101 ( or even high school home economics )
I didn’t watch. Have been reading the tweets. Couldn’t face watching any more of the
liarbambozzler in chief.My gripe: Cunliffe’s voice was not clear enough in the final lap. He seemed to be talking almost inwardly which made his voice come across as muffled. I kept yelling at him (from the sofa) to speak more clearly but he took no notice. 😡
Put yourself in a foreign country without a passport subject to vindictive and subjective innuendo i to would be peeved and slag the natural inhabitant off …..KDC is not all bad nor is he all good he is just a natural human being, who has contributed and his interests are in part shared for change…..I sincerely hope the Scots are left to exercise free will away from the emotions behaviors influences and manipulations..
Hoskings (gritting my teeth) was pretty good.
Cunliife -integrity,, intelligent visionary and super sincere. A man of substance.
Key – less intelligent- lacking vision and mainlining his reptilian insincere cliches.No real substance.
if there was any substance in anything Key said, could the right wingers elucidate? I know I’m biased but was there any sincerity or integrity in Key’s “performance”?
The Hosking – Key – Cunliffe debate was a waste of time.
FFS, if Hosking starts asking about polls and predictions for election night, the answer is not to play his game.
“The people hire, the people fire, the people are in charge on September 20 – not you Mike, not the commentators, but the people. And that’s a great day for democracy Wouldn’t you agree?”
There’s a bunch of votes right there. But sadly … we just got same old insider to insider talk, and the (dwindling) audience wouldn’t have cared.
now..we all know what a pile of putrescent-crap three degrees is..
..2nite they did their hatchet-job on dotcom..
..pathetic..
..that was it..?
..no kitten-murdering..?