I could not believe this story when I saw it on the news last night, the young man welding the container, turns out he wasn’t even a trained welder & wasn’t in a safety harness or anything. Also the contractor was not a specialised for large scale industrial work. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11514181 This is why regulations exist. I hope the company gets their arse handed to them on a plate for this appalling bollocks up.
Additionally, Gangnam Style, the failure of the trial could have contributed to exacerbating the stress, anxiety or depression individuals suffer. Perhaps leading to harm, death or more medical and social assistance required.
Was anybody monitoring and evaluating that? And if not why not?
The All Blacks getting weary of the hakarena.
I’m getting weary of dull stories about the All Blacks when the media could be writing about important stuff.
305 000 children In poverty
The loss of democracy in Christchurch
Failed work and safety rules
Zero hour contracts
The sale of productive land to overseas interests
Letting off the fines of Serco for corporate misdemeanours
As a former sportsperson, fan and someone who has earned a living in the sports industry I have been surprised (pleasantly I might add, to be reassured that not everyone loves sport or rugby as our media and politicians like to suggest) at how less widely favoured the silver fern on black was in the flag debate.
I think John Key genuinely (no trickery, slippery or or other ipperyness) thought that “everyone loves the All Blacks”.
Now, for my part, I know that everyone doesn’t.
I know that not all sportspeople “love the All Blacks” and another decent sized group don’t love sport. But observing this flag stuff I have come to think that Key REALLY thinks/thought everyone did, or enough to make his flag with a silver fern a romp in the park. now it hasn’t I suspect he and his advisors are genuinely bewildered, and hence the rabbit in the headlights initial responses followed by trickery and slipperyness.
* And no, am not a killjoy, I will be watching the World Cup and hoping for an AB win.
yes boring, boring…boring All Blacks…they have not done themselves any favours by ingratiating themselves with jonkey and his ego , multi million dollar flag project
…there are plenty of other sports deserving of NZers attention…skiing, running, swimming,cycling,tramping, mountaineering,ice hockey, hockey, dancing, horse riding, sky diving, parachuting, canoeing….
Even if you do love sports and the All Blacks doesn’t mean you will want the silver fern as your country’s flag. I think that after all the talk about how this is a one in a lifetime opportunity to define our identity, the four chosen options were an anti climax and even Key’s supporters can see through it.
The sportspeople I know and mix with see the fern on black of representative of NZ That is what they identify with, much more than the flag. I get that doesn’t mean ALL, but remember those who have represented NZ in sport are actually a BIG minority of NZers, and I think perhaps Key has spent too much time with this small group to have understood that.
I think John Key genuinely (no trickery, slippery or or other ipperyness) thought that “everyone loves the All Blacks”.
The assumption that you and your mates are a comprehensive cross-section of society seems to be a common one among Blokes. I remember a guy I was doing some work for in 1981 asking “Who even are these anti-tour people? I don’t even know one person who’s against it.” I didn’t volunteer to change that situation, on the basis of wanting to get paid and not wanting to get punched, thus helping confirm his view that anti-tour protesters were a tiny minority over-publicised by gullible reporters.
As an aside: kind of funny that the rugby boot’s now on the other foot and Key doesn’t dare admit to his own views on that tour. That in itself should have given him a hint that maybe not everyone loves rugby.
Given Key’s recent cuddling and cosying up to the All Blacks, it is entirely appropriate to raise the question of his then views on the Springbok Tour again. His clear passion for rugby and the Al Blacks means he would most definitely have had a view at the time. And if says he still can’t remember then the person asking needs to suggest to him that “everyone thinks your just bullshitting John”
stop living in the past is good advice, except of course for your government which still blames a government of 7 years ago for stuff, and you lap it up BM.
You learn from the past, but you don’t dwell on the past.
Key was a young man at the time, like most at that age you knew fuck all and only saw the world in black and white, no doubt the views he had back then have changed significantly through experience and learning.
The facts are the only reason the left had any interest in Keys view on the 81 springbok tour was because Mandela had died and were trying to score a couple of cheap political points.
Which in my view was rather scummy and showed a distinct lack of class.
what a lowlife you are – giving out the free passes to your mate monKey – oh he probably this or maybe that – you are a sycophantic loser just like key – YOU are scummy and have zero class just like key – the posterboy you have on your bedroom wall.
Key has been questioned on his position on the Springbok tour ever since he became leader of the National Party. And he has been criticised about his convenient lack of memory ever since.
And then there’s this from one of the articles in the New Zealand Herald’s unauthorised biography of Key series:
“Key himself credits those early debates as sparking his interest in politics. He remembers being attracted by the fiery political arguments of the 1970s and 1980s. “They were quite intense debates – Kawerau and Kinleith and people striking over the Cook Strait ferries – all of those kind of things,” he says. “It was certainly a period of time where politics were prominent and I was fascinated by it.”
This fascination with the political debate of the time does not square with answers Key gave in his early political career about his stand on one of the most divisive issues of the early-1980s – the Springbok Tour. During a television interview before his rise to the leadership of the party, Key was asked: “In 1981, were you for or against the Springbok Tour?” He answered: “Oh, I can’t even remember … 1981, I was 20 … ah … I don’t really know. I didn’t really have a strong feeling on it at the time. Look, it’s such a long time ago.”
His answer is puzzling for someone who was surrounded by, and fascinated with, political debate. Whether he was pro-Tour or anti-Tour is almost irrelevant 27 years down the track. But saying that he can’t remember how he felt leaves him open to criticism that he did not want to get off-side with people by stating his position. (In subsequent broadcast interviews, he sounds strangely confused. He has said that he didn’t go to the games, but that he might have if he could have afforded it; and that he wasn’t happy that the Springboks were here, but that he didn’t feel strongly enough to go out on the street.)“
BM you Neanderthal “Seriously though, who really cares, it was 35 years ago, stop living in the past”
Do you not see the importance of establishing if our Prime Minister lies to us and paints pictures of deception?
Further, the about-face shown by most all pro-tour people, who were generally full-faced tory right wing types, proves again that the left are correct on all political issues. It just takes time for the conservative, Neanderthal right wing types time to wake up to reality and change their mind.
The examples of this are everywhere BM.
Perhaps you could point to an issue where the right wing led on it and were subsequently proved to be correct? You wont be able to BM, you wont be able to …
There’s a reason why evangelicals and other assorted religious fundamentalists tend to be RWNJs – it’s because of their messiah complex. The majority of them are looking for a messiah while the minority, like Key, like to think that they’re the messiah.
yes vto the bullshit by pro-tour dims as they rewrite their personal history would make the youknowwhos cringe. Key, bm and the rest of the cowards are known – we looked them eye to eye back in the day of the protests – they were weak then, they are weak now.
* And no, am not a killjoy, I will be watching the World Cup and hoping for an AB win.
– Tracey
Well, by that definition I am a killjoy and proud of it.
I’m unable to divorce John Key’s recent whoring of the All Blacks for his own political gain from my support of the team for 40 years. It’s naive to think the high-jacking will not get even worse should NZ win this RWC.
He’s taken my team from me and so I hope they go down in a ball of flames…
@Muttonbird. I have been an AB follower most of my adult life (loooong time) but am totally disillusioned by them now. They are just advertising billboards with pretty hairdo’s. So tired of them pushing deodorants, strutting around in their undies, Richie and the keyclone running around selling I don’t know what. Have forgotten already. Conkey on the cover of Rugby magazine gurning like an idiot looking for a village was just plain stupid and his stalking of Richie is sooo embarrassing. I am predicting that they will not retain the WC . In the past nothing good has come of anyone who hitches their star to conkey’s clapped out old wagon. He is a jinx.
As Anthony Robins astutely said a few days ago, “If he can get 50.1% and his own way that is good enough. He is about his own agenda, not unifying the country.”
He is doing to the All Blacks what he has done to Peter Jackson – appropriating them as emblems of his gang. It does not matter to him if a few killjoys end up despising them because of it, so long as that 50+% holds up. It probably even pleases him that something that people universally felt they had a stake in is narrowed down to just the ones who identify with him. So long as he can hang on to his 50+% this gives him cultural leverage – the only “real New Zealander” becomes the “Key-friendly New Zealander.”
Key would do well to remember Mrs Shipley, the plane painted in All Black drag and the semifinal loss to France that year.
I recall a recent story where a National Campaign Manager said that all three of John Key’s changing “opinions” were informed by polls / focus groups . . .Who needs a mind of their own when they pay Farrar to find out what it should be?
Very frustrating to see Ministers Bennett and Rich decline the sale of the Lochinver Station to a Chinese firm, but on the other hand when English or key are questioned about the sale of half of Silver Ferm Farms, they just blithely say it’s “up to the shareholders”, meaning, the farmer owners.
It would be great if this government had an actual economic development strategy, rather than just hollowing us out to nothing, bar a few paddocks.
…and I think Goldman Sachs advised the farmers to sell to the Chinese!….the farmers need to wise up fast about Goldman Sachs and their history and advice around the globe….those that take Goldman Sach’s advice are usually doomed
…”John McCarthy, a former chairman of Meat Industry Excellence, a group set up to promote change in the industry, said: “This is a watershed for New Zealand, it is a crossroads for NZ inc and has the potential to change the face of our rural communities and to blur that unique point of difference and global opportunity.”
McCarthy said English’s comments around the Silver Fern Farm’s “debacle” were disturbing.
“His comments are a cop out and are indicative of the Government turning its back on rural communities and New Zealand in favour of foreign control,” McCarthy said.
“With the pragmatic cynicism that is the hallmark of this administration they have paid lip service to the concerns that have been mounting over the past years as farmers become increasingly worried as to the future viability of their farms and their inter-generational opportunities.”
McCarthy said Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy had been “missing in action” in the red meat sector.
“This Government is all about snuggling up to the Chinese opportunity and it appears they are prepared to do so at any cost, including, in this instance, a passive sanctioning of increasing sales of New Zealand family silver.”
…and New Zealand has used Goldman Sachs to advise Treasury!!!! (who the hell was responsible for this?!…like inviting a vampire in to suck the blood out of your heart)
…and now New Zealand Silver Fern farmers clasp this vampire to their bosom to advise them to sell out to Chinese foreign interests… out of New Zealand farmer co-operative control…i would have thought NZ farmers would have been more savvy…they should be amalgamating with the other farmer co-operative Alliance
This is a very important Internet and Monopoly case, because if someone can be hounded throughout the world based on a civil unproven claim of a file sharing website which has already been proven to be legal when Viacom sued file sharing website Youtube and lost in the US, using armed defenders and public prosecutors in a corporate welfare entitlement for 4 large media companies such as Warner Bros (who we already have changed tax and employment law in this country for) then freedom of the Internet is close to death.
Is the next Internet entrepreneur going to keep their business going when big business comes a calling, if they know that the US and governments will be after them rather than the normal legal civil avenues?
But can he get a fair trial? Look at John Banks – convicted and then a guy from the US pops up and John Banks is acquitted and doesn’t even have to go to trial?
Not only that but they have seized assets so that Dotcom can’t easily pay to defend himself.
He’s been illegally spied on using tax payers resources.
TV3 ran a beat up of him.
Judges don’t even understand IT, let alone file sharing.
In the court documents cloud sharing was described as cow sharing.
I’m not sure he is going to get a fair trial. The last guy committed suicide apparently.
When the US goes after you it is no laughing matter and it is calling the NZ justice system into disrepute internationally if they are allowed to get away with it by extradition to a country he does not live in, and never had an office there.
“I’m not sure he is going to get a fair trial. The last guy committed suicide apparently. ”
Are you thinking about this guy? The Internets Own Boy : The Story of Aaron Swartz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXr-2hwTk58 sad stuff, just hounded him to death, for SFA.
And David Kelly hounded to suicide after disclosing that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Although totally different cases it sets the scene of what happens when governments start to unfairly hound someone without legal cause and making evidence fit and bullying citizens for political reasons.
That is not democracy. That is a police state.
In the Dotcom case, corporate welfare for the movie industry which have already been given a lot of corporate welfare in this country by the PM.
Kim Dotcom should not be extradicted! Kim Dotcom is a hero! [deleted]. Information yearns to be free!
[lprent: defamatory and unsubstantiated. One week ban. Your comments don’t repeatably do this but I can’t be bothered warning people when I see a series of ‘facts’ being stated with no backing. Read the policy. ]
“…this case has been an abomination of legal process, jurisdiction and injustice. You might not like Kim Dotcom, but the manner in which his rights have been breached and 70 odd armed paramilitary cops broke into his home and terrorised him and his family is as unacceptable as the abuses of power used in court against him.
This is not what our justice system should be used for, we are not a puppet for US interests, we should be a sovereign state with our own laws and judicial system that is beyond influence by America and their corporate overlords.”
2.) The second reason is what it could cost New Zealand in damages:
…”the injustice of this case may not move you. You may have bought into the media hype of Dotcom as a Bond Villain and enjoyed his failure at the ballot box. You may have decided that despite Assange, Snowden and Greenwald proving at the Moment of Truth that John Key lied to us about mass surveillance, that Kim fell short of what he promised and he got his just desserts.
Okay. Fine. Then here’s the second reason you should care about the Kim Dotcom case.
$2 Billion dollars…
…”Sony decided not to sign up to the case against Dotcom because they believed there was a chance he would get off these trumped up charges and in turn sue everyone involved in taking him down to the tune of $2billion???
And we had to sign up to this?
So how much exactly are we on the hook for here? If you don’t care that he has been unjustly dealt with and his rights breached, you may be in for one hell of a shock if he wins and we are left paying for this politically motivated prosecution….
I financed a movie once. It was just about to be released and then “nek minit”, as you colonials from kiwi land say, [deleted] web site and before the day was up it had been downloaded over 100,000 times. Lost quite a few thousand pounds over that I can tell you!
you are disingenuous….there are many many far bigger American cloud storage sites which people would/could/do access for movies…this is common knowledge…your movie ( that is if you genuinely did fund a movie?!) was probably pirated from one of these commonly known American monster cloud sites
…nor is Dotcom responsible for what others store …unless he is notified by authorities..inwhich case he has said , as you probably well know, that he is swift in taking the offending item out of his cloud storage
…an analogy…if a foreign company owning ocean- going container ships has drugs smuggled on board one ship without the owner/company’s knowledge ….do the Americans take down the whole foreign shipping company and ground and steal all their ships…( especially when their own American ships also have even more drugs smuggled on board)
I do believe that at the time of the raid megaupload was the biggest illegal file sharing site in the world. You might like to check it out if you don’t believe me.
And considering [deleted].
Maybe you should read about the case a bit more. Silly woman.
[lprent: That is
1. defamatory.
2. not substantiated with a link to something credible.
Looking at your comments, you do not rate a warning. Which means you have a 2 week ban. Read the policy and stop exhibiting your small dick. Noone really want to see little pricks like you. ]
Point 21 is an allegation by the US prosecutor. It has not been proved nor substantiated, beyond establishing a prima facie case, and is still in front of NZ courts. An accusation is not proof that something happened, and isn’t substantiation.
Added a further 4 weeks. Two weeks for each of us for directing us to an useless substantiation that didn’t do what you claimed, and potentially putting us in legal danger because you are incompetent at distinguishing between accusations and conviction. ]
Well why don’t you sue You Tube then. Viacom did, and lost especially when it was found that the movie industry themselves were posting their videos to drum up business. A bit like the cigarette industry at the centre of boot legged smokes to keep the punters addicted.
I wonder if Andrew Little will adopt Jeremy Corbyn’s cut through idea of allowing the public to select his questions for question time? It is a brilliant idea to do an end run around our hostile media.
Do some readers still remember some “presentations” that were shared via various blogs and other forums over recent years, and some quotes that were made to the MSM, where MSD’s and Work and Income’s Principal Health Advisor was making very bold claims about the dangers to health due to “worklessness”? Do readers remember the assertions that paid, open work is supposed to have “health benefits”, and that it is “therapeutic”? Here is a sample of those presentations:
There are claims in it saying that 30 % of GP’s “had experienced a sense of threat and intimidation” (see page 32) by persons seeking certificates for WINZ.
Dr Bratt also repeated this: “the ‘benefit’ – an addictive debilitating drug with significant adverse effects to both the patient and their family (whānau)”. He said:
“As a drug, it would be an addictive, debilitating substance, he told the RNZCGP education convention” (Dr Bratt, Principal Health Advisor for MSD).
He also claimed that according to both Australian and New Zealand studies there is a chance of it being only 70 percent likely that a person would “ever” return to work after 20 days off work, that it is only 50 percent likely for a person to “ever” return to work after 45 days off work and that it is only 35 percent likely for a person to “ever” return to work after 70 days off work.
And according to a so-called “GP survey”, randomly conducted by Dr Bratt, GPs supposedly found about sick or disabled beneficiaries seeking medical certification for WINZ, that: “71 felt it was a mechanism to provide income to the patient”, “55 % felt W + I staff created an expectation”, “40 % – because they believed there was no work available” and “31 % – felt W + I weren’t doing anything for the patient”.
He even commented to NZ Doctor magazine: “A UK study found of the main obstacles for going to work, medical problems made up just 3 % of the list” (01 August 2012, in timely manner to “support” the then prepared new, draconian welfare reforms, following the UK examples).
Now after someone did some study and research, and sought answers from our dear MSD, to back these and many other claims up, it appears most the “EVIDENCE” that has been endlessly referred to, does show rather damned little true evidence to back up any of the above, and to justify the “relentless focus on work”, the tough “medicine” also recommended to sick and disabled.
Under this government misinformation, or selective informing, and blatant misrepresentation of data seems to have become the norm. Here is what a comprehensive post on all this reveals:
Why are the useless MSM not bothered to dig into such very important matters, why does hardly any “media” report on beneficiaries having been short payed for 18 years, why do we only get so much attention on flag designs, on which All Black players look like “promising” stars to perform in the upcoming Rugby World Cup, why is crime, weather, sports and trivial pursuit the daily news digest, I ask? We are taken for a ride, day in and day out, and the average Joe Blogs has no clue about what really goes on in his country. What a disgrace, I dare say.
No wonder he deleted all emails of certain correspondence with a leading UK advisor, but that is yet another matter raising endless questions about what we get presented with.
A must watch, see the Associate Minister of Social Development squirm when she gets hard pressed for an honest answer to deliver the truth about the failed trials for Sole Parent Employment Services and Mental Health Employment Services.
We are having to wait for the end of the year, I suppose for Xmas Eve, to finally get the EVALUATION report from MSD!!!??
Welfare reforms, hailed so much two years ago, are being proved to largely have failed, yet again. Remember the talk also about drug testing, about beneficiary going to have their benefits stopped when a warrant for their arrest was out?
Starting with nothing is what the poor do all the time and it is truly amazing what some manage to do. But starting out with nothing often means that you’re going to end up with nothing because you simply don’t have the resources available to do anything.
I don’t know too much about smalley – but this report is good imo
Some of those images though, the staunch men in heavy hessian uniforms, the police dogs moving through fields, packed trains, people pleading for safe passage, people in a rush trying to get on buses, four-metre high wire fences, razor wire. We’ve seen this all before in Europe, haven’t we.
Thousands of refugees have fled a conflict, but as they approach Europe, they’re about to enter another one.
Incredibly, this morning Paul Henry was
more depraved than he’s ever been before PAUL HENRY, TV3, Thursday 17 September 2015, 6:55 a.m.
Part 1 of 2
“I’m more intelligent than most people, as you would know.”—Paul Henry[1]
There are any number of credible, not to mention humane and decent, journalists and commentators who actually know something about international politics and the United Nations. And then there are the bloody-minded, partisan, hateful ideologues. Naturally, Paul “Kill them ALL” Henry [2] sought out one of the most brutal of the latter type for his show this morning. Claudia Rosett is a notorious Murdoch hackette, the holder of a neocon think-tank sinecure, and a tireless advocate for the neocon version of reality, which means she’s a fanatic, a shill and a propagandist of the very worst kind. Not a problem for Paul Henry of course.….
CLAUDIA ROSETT: …. I call it the parade of the dictators. Obama will speak first, followed by China, Russia, Iran and Raoul Castro from Cuba.
PAUL HENRY: God ALMIGHTY! Bloody Putin out the back orchestrating the whole thing. …And at the Security Council we sit there next to Russia, which continues to be responsible for the mess in Syria. ….
Claudia Rosett continued for several minutes to unload her contempt for the United Nations. Henry sat rapt throughout her unhinged ranting, grunting his approval, then had to reluctantly cut to the news….
PAUL HENRY: Claudia Rosett from Demand Democracy. She is a very good commentator on the United Nations, although she despises them, to a degree.
In fact, Claudia Rosett is the exact opposite of a “very good commentator” whether she is commentating on the U.N. or on anything else. She is an ideologue of the extreme right, a doctrinal warrior whose cynicism seems to have no limit. As a sample of her cruelty and irresponsibility, have a look at the following obscenity, where she expresses indignation bordering on apoplexy at a U.N. report that dared to criticize Israel….
pita – yes the inglish are insulting the haka – I don’t blame them but rather those that have given this cultural item to the all blacks for their purposes.
The All Blacks insulted the sport of rugby football with their flagrant strategy of cheating in the 2011 RWC final. Matt Dawson’s silly little parody, insulting as it might be, is nothing in comparison to that.
a bit like arguing which gladiator will win – go the trident and net guy – no I prefer the sword dude or maybe the spear thrower – in other words yawn yawn yawn
Actually it’s not like that at all. Your analogy would have merit if one of them was unfairly handicapped and every infraction of the rules by the other was ignored.
The day the haka went from being a personal challenge by the All Blacks to whatever team was playing them, to a heavily microphoned and filmed, hostile and aggressive act with the crowd joining in, was the day it lost any respect from me.
I do not have a problem with the English have a bit of a piss-take with it. If we can’t handle it then maybe we are just a bit too bloody precious.
The various types of haka include whakatu waewae, tutu ngarahu and peruperu. The peruperu is characterised by leaps during which the legs are pressed under the lower body. In former times, the peruperu was performed before a battle in order to invoke the god of war and to discourage and frighten the enemy. It involved fierce facial expressions and grimaces, poking out of the tongue, eye bulging, grunts and cries, and the waving of weapons. If the haka was not performed in total unison, this was regarded as a bad omen for the battle. Often, warriors went naked into battle, apart from a plaited flax belt around the waist.
The tutu ngarahu also involves jumping, but from side to side, while in the whakatu waewae no jumping occurs. Another kind of haka performed without weapons is the ngeri, the purpose of which was to motivate the warriors psychologically. The movements are very free, and each performer is expected to be expressive of their feelings. Manawa wera haka were generally associated with funerals or other occasions involving death. Like the ngeri they were performed without weapons, and there was little or no choreographed movement.
The most well-known haka is “Ka Mate”, attributed to Te Rauparaha, war leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe. The “Ka Mate” haka is classified as a haka taparahi – a ceremonial haka. “Ka Mate” is about the cunning ruse Te Rauparaha used to outwit his enemies, and may be interpreted as “a celebration of the triumph of life over death” (Pōmare 2006).
“I do not have a problem with the English have a bit of a piss-take with it. If we can’t handle it then maybe we are just a bit too bloody precious.”
I couldn’t agree more, the Poms are just making dicks of themselves.
They have already claimed that we cheated in 2011.
They are very fucking desperate and should be laughed at.
NZ are quite capable of making dicks of themselves regarding the haka, here you can get a headset to enjoy it in 360 degrees! It promises to “Take your place on the field with the All Blacks and experience the electrifying Haka up close in a unique 360° experience. The AIG Haka 360° headset allows you to experience the Haka as if you were really there with the All Blacks – a new and awesome experience! ” jeebus!
The clownish Willie Jackson needs to read more, talk less.
And Lizzie Marvelly needs to think before she nods her head. PAUL HENRY, TV3, Thursday 17 September 2015
Part 2 of 2
About 8:25 a.m. ……
Following the appearance of extreme right wing U.N.-hater Claudia Rosett an hour earlier, Paul Henry and his “Daily Panel” discussed the efficacy or otherwise of the United Nations. Unfortunately, this morning’s iteration of the Daily Panel consisted of a well meaning but poorly informed pop singer and an equally well meaning but even more poorly informed radio jock. I have rendered Jackson’s most ignorant utterance in italicized bold type….
LIZZIE MARVELLY: There’s nothing wrong with the actual institution of the United Nations. PAUL HENRY: Well, actually I think there IS. WILLIE JACKSON: The veto allows them to sort out a maniac, like George W. Bush a few years ago. PAUL HENRY: If they were serious about sorting out a maniac, they would have gone into Syria and sorted out THAT maniac YEARS AGO. WILLIE JACKSON: Remember a few years back, when Chávez of Venezuela went to the United Nations and tod the U.S. what he thought of them. PAUL HENRY: Yes, and what did that achieve? LIZZIE MARVELLY: It made people think! WILLIE JACKSON: Yes, and Paul, he was doing something he wouldn’t have been able to do in his own country, but he was able to in the United Nations. LIZZIE MARVELLY:[fervently] Yes.
You might be a bit hasty in your opinion on Marvelly, there aren’t that many people in their mid-20’s writing like this out there, and practically none that are in the celebrity spotlight. Infact I think you’ll like her media commentaries, they’re similar to yours! 🙂 http://www.villainesse.com/girl-power/when-did-new-zealand-become-so-sexist
I do like her and I respect her—but she needs to be far sharper than she was this morning. Actually expressing AGREEMENT with Jackson’s ignorant opinion about the late Hugo Chávez was not smart.
The Corbyn victory and shift to the left in the UK has shone the spotlight on our local Labour lot. And haven’t we seen them scurry to distance themselves revealing their true colours.
Seeing as they aren’t prepared to embrace and adopt the Corbyn example and are struggling at around 30% (while also seemingly unable to align with their much needed potential coalition partners) they have little to lose.
At this rate, they aren’t going to win the next election.
Therefore, if Labour genuinely believe the centre is where the votes are to be found, here is something the Party should seriously consider.
Drop the Labour Party name and re-brand the Party as the Centrist Party.
This will free them from being labelled left (which they seem to fear) fully allowing the newly branded Party to continue to push their centrist position and seek the centre vote.
They have two years to build and grow the new brand before putting it to the test in the next general election.
Of course, this will put an end to their genuine left wing support and no doubt rob them of a number of foot soldiers on the ground.
But hey, once again, they’re the ones that seem to believe the centre is where it is at.
Therefore, it’s time the Party fully cement this position and put their money where their mouth is.
This would put an end to commentators like me critiquing them for not living up to their Labour Party namesake, thus largely ending the division the Party still currently face.
This will catch the establishment off guard, thus generate much media hype, which they can build off.
Moreover, it will help rebuild voter trust, because seriously, who can trust a party that can’t even live up to its current namesake?
If the newly branded Party can’t get over the line or their support severely drops (resembling the last election) then it will be clear the center is not where the votes are at for them – and perhaps then, and only then, will they be more willing to adopt the Corbyn stance and go back to being a genuine Labour Party.
The danger is, as the left move on, Labour may not regain a good chunk of the left wing voting block. Or worse, the left may regroup (by either forming a new party or further bolstering a current one like NZ First or the Greens) and thrash them. Then again, they may just end up bolstering the non-voting block.
There is no doubt the Center and Far Left can no longer live together under the pressure of continued electoral failure and are on the road to divorce throughout the Western world.
In the U.K. the Far Left have made a majority claim to the house, taken possession, and rearranged the furniture to suit themselves, so if it was the U.K. you were talking about, I’d agree it’s the Center that should be looking for new lodgings.
But here in NZ, the Center Left has been very well settled and comfortable in the family home for many years, and the wider whanau seem to be happy with the arrangement just the way it is. So why should they be the ones to shift out?
Don’t you think it would be far more sensible for the Far Left to be the one to cut loose and set out on it’s own, leaving behind all the Centrist baggage of the old relationship?
You Just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free
I’m not advocating that the center move out. I’m highlighting if the centre feel that confident, then they should cement their position and start being honest with voters.
The centre are falsely parading under the Labour Party name.
If there are any genuine left Labour MPs with principle, they’d be the ones to leave when the Party changes it’s name and cement its position.
Apart from the name change, the party structure would remain.
I reckon Labour should split into two parties, centrist and left. Two problems with that though. One is that the power mongers in Labour aren’t going to want to give up ‘Labour’, but you couldn’t really split and have the centrists take the name and all the policy etc. And two, the powermongers that end up in both parties still won’t want to work with the GP.
Plus, Labour doesn’t have a Corbyn.
The more I look at this and follow what is happening in the UK, the more I think any solutions are going to have to come from a political movement from outside parliament.
According to the Lost sheep, there isn’t anyone in Labour’s left camp, thus it would be difficult for them to split into two factions.
Its time for Labour to be honest with voters, stop paying lip service to the left and re-brand. Or start living up to their name.
Clearly, changing leadership isn’t working. No matter how left the mere window dressing looks, there is no substance within. Thus, a good number of voters can sense their phoniness, hence their poor election results of late and rankings in the polls.
A new movement coming from outside of Parliament is more challenging for a political party. And generally requires a lot of funding. Unless there is a groundswell of support.
None that I know of Weka. Labour is a Center Left Party through and through, has been for a long time, and is totally comfortable with that identify.
Which is why I’m saying that it wouldn’t be sensible for the Party to change it’s name to make it clear what it represents. That’s perfectly clear to everyone already? It’s Center Left.
In Britain, there obviously is a much stronger Far Left thread within the Labour Party. Always has been. Strong enough to take it over as it happens.
But that is inconceivable in NZ. The NZ Labour Far Left is simply not a big enough bloc to do that.
The more I listen to the voices calling for Labour to move Left, the more I’m coming to think that’s just plain wrong.
What the Far Left really needs is an authentic voice of it’s own.
If there really are a large number of people wanting that voice, it shouldn’t be difficult to get such a party up and running?
The last time I checked, self-serving right wing “thinkers” don’t get to define “far” or “left”. You want to know what extreme looks like: the National Party undermining the rule of law.
“None that I know of Weka. Labour is a Center Left Party through and through, has been for a long time, and is totally comfortable with that identify.”
But The Chairman wasn’t talking about the far left. You are the one that is bringing that up. Why? And if there are no far left MPs in Labour what is the point of talking about the far left in this conversation?
I don’t know if you’ve noticed Weka, but much of the discussion on this blog over the last month or so has been about the Corbynism of the UK Labour Party, and many here have expressed the opinion that the NZ Labour Party should be shifting Left in a similar manner….
The Chairmans post clearly introduces a linkage between Corbynism and how it has ‘shone the spotlight on the local Labour lots….fear of being labelled Left’, and that is a variation on a common theme here lately.
As someone who quit a lifetime of active support for the NZ Left out of disgust at how ineffectual it has become, I’d just like to see someone / anyone on the Left make a move that was brave, decisive, revolutionary, compelling etc…
But that is not going to be Labour, and those of you that support a Corbyn type change are not going to be able to take over Labour, and so if any of you actually want something to happen you are going to have to make it happen.
But I’m betting it won’t. I think the NZ Left has lost the ability to act in a bold manner that captures the public imagination. 20 years of PC has squeezed the life out brave and creative free thinking in the political structures of the NZ Left.
That’s all very well, but Corbyn isn’t far left, he’s just traditional left wing. In NZ there are no far left people in parliament, so your whole comment earlier didn’t make any sense on either of those points.
The Chairman, as far as I can tell, is suggesting that if Labour wants to be centrist that it just does so more honestly and then if being honestly centrist fails, lets the left try for a Corbyn-esque process. None of that is to do with the far left (a conversation about which would include say Mana, or people like Sue Bradford, or the far left people that have never been in parliament).
In one post you say: “Labour is a Center Left Party through and through, has been for a long time, and is totally comfortable with that identify.”
Then, in the next post you acknowledge many here have expressed the opinion that the NZ Labour Party should be shifting Left.
Which is exactly correct. However, though you acknowledge this you overlook an important fact. Which is, why it would be totally sensible the Party re-brands. Voter trust.
Labour expects voters to trust them, moreover they require voters to trust them. Voters won’t vote for a Party they simply don’t trust.
A centrist Party falsely parading under the Labour Party name looks completely phony. Eroding any chance of acquiring substantial (and much needed) voter support.
Additionally, you overlook another major point. The ailing economy (which is also a vital point in elections) requires a hands on left wing fix.
For numerous reasons, the local private sector aren’t up to the task of turning our economy around.
The right and centre left largely plan to fill this market void with offshore investment.
However, when one looks at our current account, one quickly discovers this approach is not only failing, in many respects it’s exacerbating our economic wows.
Like any investment, offshore investors seek a return. Returns heading offshore, sets our economy back.
A good number of our most lucrative sectors are dominated by offshore investors. Thus, the more we grow our GDP, the larger the returns heading offshore.
Therefore, the solution is for Government to help fill our market voids. And of course, this is the left wing approach our nation desperately requires. And that will win over voters from across the political spectrum.
“you acknowledge many here have expressed the opinion that the NZ Labour Party should be shifting Left.
Which is exactly correct. However, though you acknowledge this…”
Er, Just one small point there Chairman.
I do not consider that commenters on this blog are representative of the wider NZ voting public.
The majority of NZ Voters consider themselves Centrist, and that includes a majority of people who vote for Labour.
So outside of unrepresentative niche social media forums such as this, I see no evidence there is a widespread groundswell of support for a shift to the Left in order to impose ‘a left wing fix’.
Or that a Party proposing such a shift would win voters from across the political spectrum.
So to restate my point. Labour has already displayed a complete lack of interest in shifting Left.
If you or anyone else believes there is ‘desperate’ need and demand for such a platform, then create a new Party to cater for it?
I’m picking no one will. And the reason is that there is inadequate demand and support for such a Party.
Commentators here are generally a representation of the left of the political spectrum.
While the majority of voters may see themselves being in the centre, they are open to a party with a credible economic plan. Moreover, one they can trust.
Labours hands on kiwi build policy was an example of a hands on left wing stance that was widely welcomed from across the speptrum.
Thus, credibly expanding on that left wing hands on approach (which Labour has largely failed to do) into other areas of market voids will also be widely supported.
Labours election results and polling of late, clearly show that Labour (and their centre left stance) is largely failing to resonate with voters.
Therefore, it’s time Labour started to look at what works and resonates, opposed to continuously pushing what doesn’t.
They can start with being honest and living up to the Party’s name.
Here’s a petition to ask the BBC to in fairness refer to David Cameron as the right wing prime minister, as they always label Corbyn ‘the left wing leader of Labour’.
The findings were hoped to be able to help forensic scientists understand and interpret backspatter from gunshot fatalities.
Researchers used synthetic models of pig heads as well as the heads of 14 slaughtered pigs for the research, a mixture of wild animals, supermarket butchery animals and domestic farm animals.
An additional five live pigs were supplied by a local Otago piggery, all mature females.
Prior to shooting, the live pigs were sedated, anaesthetised and then strapped to a surgical table.
The skin above and between the eyes was shaved using electric clippers and then hair removal cream used to remove the remaining hair, causing rashes.
In two instances, the live pigs began to spasm after they were shot, which nullified a large portion of the data they provided.
warning – image of disgusting torture of innocent animal in the article below
put aside for a moment the cruelty of shooting those pigs after shaving their eyebrows, pretend to forget the indignity and callousness – why didn’t these researchers shoot themselves in the head??? because their research is M E A N I N G L E S S – a pig head is not a human head.
Actually, pigs are a pretty good model of human structures and organs in a variety of situations, which is why they are often used.
I suspect that live (albeit unconscious) pigs were required because of blood pressure affecting the spatter patterns, which might be important in a murder trial if someone argues that they only shot the corpse of the person after the others had committed the murder, and they only did that because they were afraid that otherwise they’d be next.
but for heads? I don’t think so – sure expanded nasal cavities and a mandible that hinges directly to the skull offer some connection but it is all bogus especially when they say, “the idea of the research was to get further down the path of analysis and would help international justice systems around the world.” – oh dear that sounds ominous…
plus
“Hans Kriek, executive director of New Zealand animal welfare group SAFE, said the research was completely unjustified and “wrongfully approved.”
He said the cornerstone of research approval was in the findings benefiting society, a benchmark this experiment failed to reach.
“Pigs have a different skull structure to humans … I would question whether there is scientific validity in this specific experience be able to compare anything of use.”
“The New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society also expressed outrage, with campaign manager Tara Jackson saying it highlighted faults in the system. Pigs are fundamentally different to humans, especially in regards to their skull – it’s purely bad science to use pigs in such studies when non-animal methods would give much more accurate results” she said.
Institute of Environmental Science and Research spokesman Stephen Corbett said the idea of the research was to get further down the path of analysis and would help international justice systems around the world.
is it that you always want to defend the science or that your opinion always aligns with those that want to defend the science – I can never work it out
Oh, I have an inherent bias towards people who work in a field every day over those people who do not now and probably have never ever had any experience or study in that area whatsoever. No matter how much my personal impulses might match the agenda of the latter group.
And there’s only so much that can be done with ballistic gel.
Your bias is very narrow indeed when you dismiss with a handwave the ”campaign managers and CEOs” who do know their field, and work it in every day, and have superior knowledge and understanding about the animals than the guys who wanted to shoot them or the ethics people who approved it.
And if the likes of Safe had known about this bizarre and cruel experiment 6 years ago, it would never have happened, which should tell you something.
Even if you don’t care about animal cruelty or see a need for Safe to exist, NZ gaining a reputation as a soft touch for dodgy human and animal research is not a good thing.
lol
that’s a heck of a slide for one paragraph – animals being shot while anaesthetised all the way to dodgy research on humans.
The fact is that the pigs were unconscious and the use of live (as opposed to already-dead) animals produced information that could be relevant in a homocide investigation.
Interesting – I hadn’t seen that one.
Not sure I’d go so far as “dodgy”, but worthy of being watched closely depending on how the particulars define “best interests”.
What was the outcome of the complaint to the health and disability commissioner?
A trial involving unconscious patients where consent is gained retrospectively is inherently dodgy.
The commissioner’s pretty conservative though and I’m guessing the office is less than enthusiastic in investigating this.
As far as I know there hasn’t been an outcome yet.
It may be similar to what should have been an open and shut case of off label ketamine and MH patients in Dunedin a couple of years ago. Hill deemed it not experimental and no breaches, but it was both ”borderline” and a ”grey area”, he said.
Translation: you got away with it but don’t do it again.
Well, it’s about as dodgy as giving CPR to someone who’s unconscious and you don’t know whether it’s against their beliefs.
It’s a bit more specialised than any of my ethics training, but in general I reckon if the worst case is care no worse than normal (including complication rates), and the best case is improved care, it’s not in the grounds of “dodgy”. I.e. it’s an honest attempt to improve survival odds.
But corporations will try to push the boundaries into unnecessary treatment with experimental products. It’s what they do – money before ethics.
CPR is not a novel treatment.
One of the trials was merely to find out if the new meds were as good as the standard antibiotic the patient would receive in a normal treatment course.
No benefit, only potential risk, to these patients.
Why are you comparing it with saving lives?
”In a global trial, sponsored by United States-based Cubist Pharmaceuticals, intensive care specialists want to see if the new medicine is as good as the standard antibiotic.”
Funny, every time I do a first aid course the procedure alters slightly.
One of the trials was merely to find out if the new meds were as good as the standard antibiotic the patient would receive in a normal treatment course.
A non-inferiority test, yes. As a researcher for another application was minuted:
“The researcher explained in order to show superiority you need a lot more cases. […] adding that if the trial showed the treatment to be inferior you would not want to test it on a larger population”
Offsetting the risk from the new antibiotic not being as effective was increased medical attention of some sort. How would you test whether a new treatment works on pneumonia that one only acquires when already unable to respond and on a respirator?
The current treatment effectiveness against the specific organism is 60%. To prove it does better (as well as widening the number of antibiotics for when bugs become resistant) you need to prove it does at least as well. I’m comparing it with saving lives because antibiotics are not given to fight pneumonia just for fun.
This has more info from the women’s health council perspective: http://www.womenshealthcouncil.org.nz/Features/Hot+Topics/Ethics+Committees.html
Your bias means you side with research bods and utilitarian arguments each and every time so it becomes a moot point in any discussion.
But it seems the notion of informed consent has been re-negotiated with no scrutiny, and a lax and disinterested (not lack of interest, but more like observers than advocates) attitude from the supposed patient watchdog.
Your bias means you side with research bods and utilitarian arguments each and every time….
A preference for the scientific method over logical fallacies and appeals to emotion as the basis for knowledge, and a preference for rationalism over irrationalism as the basis for argument, is a “bias” now? I just hope I can be as biased as possible in that direction then.
Could someone please ask Andrew Little or someone in the Labour party to please declare a crisis in the All Blacks, they’ll need all the help they can get to win the world cup
You didn’t read your second link very closely did you?
You do realise the best forecast price in the article (from ASB) is $5 per kg?
You do know that the break even point for farmers is $5.80?
You do know that volumes are falling (down 43% on this time last year) and much of this seasons production has already been forward sold at the previous low prices?
The best the article seems to be hoping / predicting is that the dairy industry finishes the season in a hole less deep than the one they thought they might be in.
In other words your shallow smartarse potshot at Little is completely misplaced, because any serious person would realise that we’re a long way from being out of the shit yet.
The real world consequence is that people will see this article and, maybe, recall Andrew Little talking about crisis and will just think hes being negative again
A) No farmer will be thinking like that.
B) Little made his comments nearly six weeks ago, so anyone stupid enough to leap to the wrong conclusion will also be too stupid to remember back that far.
C) God you’re a tool.
You’ll see that the whole milk powder price – at $2,500/MT – has been trending down since the beginning of 2014 when it was at $5,000 and is still substantially down on the $3,500 price in late 2010.
At that scale, the years 2013 and 2014 look like an aberration (on the upside).
I can’t join the thread cos I’m using my phone but I’d like to +1 the above comments on Kim Dotcom. he and his family went through shit, he’s still going thru the ringer, it’s horrific. nobody should go thru that.
there’s got to be something wrong with the police at an institutional level for a raid to go ahead like that. I was beaten by cops when.I was a kid. I’m prepared to cut the force some slack for shit like that, but when you raid a private home like it was a gang headquarters, that’s clearly something a lot worse than a couple of hotheaded recruits. same with the tuhoi raids under labour. this ain’t a party political thing, this is a police thing.
Kim and his familiar had a shitter and.I feel real.sorry about that.
Has anyone been watching Parliament in the last couple of days – David Cunliffe has been asking Stephen Joyce some questions about a group of tertiary bodies which are under investigation, one of which David Cunliffe has found out, has had a current National Party MP on the board. Mr Joyce has been looking suprisingly cowed and has developed a sudden penchant for answering questions with as few words as possible. Usually he rambles on and on and on with great gusto and enjoyment, until the Speaker tells him to shorten his replies. Very interesting. The Speaker has been trying to curtail David Cunliffe’s questions by saying they are too long. But Stephen Joyce has looked less than comfortable when the questions have been asked. It makes me think more and more that had David Cunliffe stayed as Leader, the Labour Party might be in a much better position right now – David Cunliffe would have made Bill English squirm if he was finance spokesman, Grant Robertson is very very unimpressive, so beltway, so blairite, so bland. National fear David Cunliffe, yet the ABC crowd were so filled with their own petty gripes against him, that they failed to see National’s fear of Cunliffe as a plus for the Labour Party.
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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 ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
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 ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
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 ...
This episode of A View From Afar was recorded LIVE on May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, May 5, 2024 at 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled ‘A moment of friction’ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Taylor, Assistant Professor, Bond University Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures At the crux of the critical response to Luca Guadagnino’s new movie Challengers is one word: “sexy”. The film charts a love triangle between three up-and-coming tennis players: Tashi (Zendaya), ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Stewart, Professor of Public Policy, ADFA Canberra, UNSW Sydney For years, First Nations people have been telling governments they want to be listened to. In particular, they want more ownership of the programs and services that are supposed to help them. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Why do trees have bark? Julien, age 6, Melbourne. This is a great question, Julien. We are so familiar with bark on trees, that most of us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Nasser, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, University of Technology Sydney PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is an important ligament in the knee. It runs from the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia) and helps stabilise ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne I covered the May 2 United Kingdom local government elections for The Poll Bludger. The Blackpool South parliamentary byelection was also held, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna Grant-Smith, Professor of Management, University of the Sunshine Coast The federal government has announced a “Commonwealth Prac Payment” to support selected groups of students doing mandatory work placements. Those who are studying to be a teacher, nurse, midwife or social ...
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you love a dark comedy: Bodkin (Netflix, May 9)An English podcaster, an Irish podcaster and American podcaster walk into a pub and…make a TV show? ...
By Eleisha Foon, RNZ Pacific senior journalist A Pacific regionalism academic has called out New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS and says the security deal “raises serious questions for the Pacific region”. Auckland University of Technology academic Dr Marco de Jong ...
How worried should we be about the cloud? This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. I currently have a few thousand unread emails languishing in my inbox, mostly old marketing newsletters and piles of unread science journal press releases. I have a similar number ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nuurrianti Jalli, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies College of Arts and Sciences Department of Languages, Literature, and Communication Studies, Northern State University Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Southeast Asian governments not only have to deal with the virus but also with the false ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Murakami Wood, Professor of Critical Surveillance and Securities Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa The skyline of Riyadh, the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia.(Shutterstock) There is a long history of planned city building by both governments ...
The LIVE Recording of A View from Afar podcast will begin today at 12:45pm May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled ‘A moment of friction’ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment of ...
The Boil Up’s Lucinda Bennett considers the oyster – from freshness to pearls to the joy of shucking your own. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. In Carmen Maria Machado’s short story ‘Eight Bites’, a woman begins her last supper before bariatric surgery with “a cavalcade ...
Asia Pacific Report A group of 65 Auckland University academics have written an open letter to vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater criticising the institution’s stance over students protesting in solidarity with Palestine. They have called on her administration to “support” the students who were denied permission to establish an “overnight encampment” by ...
The Student Volunteer Army is on the march, generating approximately 1.6 million hours of volunteering from roughly 35,000 secondary school students in just five years. For Rebekah Brown, the pathway to volunteering started with her singing coach. With a passion for the arts, the suggestion to volunteer at Acting Antics, ...
Keeping up with online communication can be exhausting, so Fran Barclay enlisted the help of Meta’s new ‘intelligent assistant’ to respond to all her messages. Could her mates tell the difference? For centuries, technology has ruled the ways in which we communicate. From the dawn of written language, to the ...
Jamie Arbuckle, a councillor who has become an member of parliament, says he has settled into having two roles so comfortably he's going to keep both pay cheques. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luis Gómez Romero, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong Fifty years ago, Australian feminist Anne Summers denounced “the ideology of sexism” governing over so many women’s lives. Unfortunately, sexism is as lethal today as it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jose Antonio Lara-Hernandez, Senior Researcher in Architecture, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images The COVID-19 pandemic and the hybrid work patterns it fostered have changed the way we think about office space, and central business districts in general. While fears ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dale Boccabella, Associate Professor of Taxation Law, UNSW Sydney There’s a good reason your local volunteer-run netball club doesn’t pay tax. In Australia, various nonprofit organisations are exempt from paying income tax, including those that do charitable work, such as churches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marina Deller, Casual Academic, Creative Writing and English Literature, Flinders University NetflixComedy is opening up spaces for silences to be broken and trauma stories to be told. In 2018, Hannah Gadsby started a revolution with Nanette, asking audiences to rethink ...
The workplace can be a minefield of bad comms and passive aggression. Kinksters can help you navigate it. A friend and colleague recently gave me a compliment I loved. They told me I’d always been good at emotional communication and making people feel comfortable. “But I feel like it’s really ...
Even if some students are now just texting on their laptops. Stewart Sowman-Lund writes in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Councils from Horowhenua, Kāpiti, Wairarapa, the Hutt Valley, Porirua and Wellington City will meet this Friday to work together on a plan for a Greater Wellington region water deal. ...
Renowned musician, advocate, and proud born and raised daughter of Tauranga, Ria Hall, is announcing her candidacy for Mayor of Tauranga and Pāpāmoa Ward for the upcoming election on July 20th. ...
The new Aotearoa histories curriculum is rich with potential. There’s still work to be done, but the education minister’s criticisms about ‘balance’ miss the mark, argues primary school teacher Jessie Moss. In 2015, Ōtorohanga College students presented to parliament a petition signed by more than 10,000 people calling for a ...
For too long our so-called national bird has maintained its stranglehold on the economy of regional New Zealand. Thanks to the fast track legislation, we will have our revenge. Theories abound on what ails New Zealand’s economy. National leader Chris Luxon has posited that we’re negative, wet, whiny, and inward-looking; ...
Comment: The debate over the future relationship between news and social media is bringing us closer to a long-overdue reckoning. Social media isn’t trying to kill journalism, because social media has never really cared about journalism. Social media is resolutely in the attention business. News propels some attention — perhaps ...
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For the past 12 years, Georgia-Rose Brown has balanced on the brink of making an Olympic Games – but always landed gracefully on the wrong side. Reaching the Olympics is a dream the gymnast has harboured since she was a six-year-old; a dream that would dwindle every four years, yet ...
Late one afternoon in March 1860 a man in a thin green velveteen jacket and a wide-awake hat arrived on foot at a sheep station named Glenmark, about 65 kilometres north of Christchurch. The man was in his mid-fifties but he looked older. Several people who met him that day ...
If building one of Auckland’s possible waterfront stadiums was funded privately, it would need to hold a sold-out Ed Sherran concert every weekday for 25 years. That’s Rob Hamlin’s finding – he’s a senior marketing lecturer at the University of Otago. “It’s not going to happen; forget about it,” he ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A new Commonwealth Prac Payment will provide students with $319.50 a week when they are on clinical and professional placements. The payment will be means tested and start from July 1 next year, which ...
Asia Pacific Report About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children. Marking the annual May 3 World Press ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
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I could not believe this story when I saw it on the news last night, the young man welding the container, turns out he wasn’t even a trained welder & wasn’t in a safety harness or anything. Also the contractor was not a specialised for large scale industrial work. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11514181 This is why regulations exist. I hope the company gets their arse handed to them on a plate for this appalling bollocks up.
Also this story about some scammy WINZ scheme which turns ou to be a useless waste of money, but Tolley says shes happy to waste money on unfounded programmes, gotta keep those sick bennies on their toes! http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11514141
“trained” or tradesmen fitter/welders, boilermakers disappeared with the apprenticeship system….
+100…the contractor should be sued and put out of business
@ CHOOKY (1.2) – Agree. However I guess it depends how well connected the contractor is to FJK & cronies to see how far the repercussions go!
Additionally, Gangnam Style, the failure of the trial could have contributed to exacerbating the stress, anxiety or depression individuals suffer. Perhaps leading to harm, death or more medical and social assistance required.
Was anybody monitoring and evaluating that? And if not why not?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11514141
The All Blacks getting weary of the hakarena.
I’m getting weary of dull stories about the All Blacks when the media could be writing about important stuff.
305 000 children In poverty
The loss of democracy in Christchurch
Failed work and safety rules
Zero hour contracts
The sale of productive land to overseas interests
Letting off the fines of Serco for corporate misdemeanours
As a former sportsperson, fan and someone who has earned a living in the sports industry I have been surprised (pleasantly I might add, to be reassured that not everyone loves sport or rugby as our media and politicians like to suggest) at how less widely favoured the silver fern on black was in the flag debate.
I think John Key genuinely (no trickery, slippery or or other ipperyness) thought that “everyone loves the All Blacks”.
Now, for my part, I know that everyone doesn’t.
I know that not all sportspeople “love the All Blacks” and another decent sized group don’t love sport. But observing this flag stuff I have come to think that Key REALLY thinks/thought everyone did, or enough to make his flag with a silver fern a romp in the park. now it hasn’t I suspect he and his advisors are genuinely bewildered, and hence the rabbit in the headlights initial responses followed by trickery and slipperyness.
* And no, am not a killjoy, I will be watching the World Cup and hoping for an AB win.
The media uses the All Blacks to distract people.
Bread and circuses.
Same as it ever was during the decline of Empires.
yes boring, boring…boring All Blacks…they have not done themselves any favours by ingratiating themselves with jonkey and his ego , multi million dollar flag project
…there are plenty of other sports deserving of NZers attention…skiing, running, swimming,cycling,tramping, mountaineering,ice hockey, hockey, dancing, horse riding, sky diving, parachuting, canoeing….
Even if you do love sports and the All Blacks doesn’t mean you will want the silver fern as your country’s flag. I think that after all the talk about how this is a one in a lifetime opportunity to define our identity, the four chosen options were an anti climax and even Key’s supporters can see through it.
The sportspeople I know and mix with see the fern on black of representative of NZ That is what they identify with, much more than the flag. I get that doesn’t mean ALL, but remember those who have represented NZ in sport are actually a BIG minority of NZers, and I think perhaps Key has spent too much time with this small group to have understood that.
I think John Key genuinely (no trickery, slippery or or other ipperyness) thought that “everyone loves the All Blacks”.
The assumption that you and your mates are a comprehensive cross-section of society seems to be a common one among Blokes. I remember a guy I was doing some work for in 1981 asking “Who even are these anti-tour people? I don’t even know one person who’s against it.” I didn’t volunteer to change that situation, on the basis of wanting to get paid and not wanting to get punched, thus helping confirm his view that anti-tour protesters were a tiny minority over-publicised by gullible reporters.
As an aside: kind of funny that the rugby boot’s now on the other foot and Key doesn’t dare admit to his own views on that tour. That in itself should have given him a hint that maybe not everyone loves rugby.
Given Key’s recent cuddling and cosying up to the All Blacks, it is entirely appropriate to raise the question of his then views on the Springbok Tour again. His clear passion for rugby and the Al Blacks means he would most definitely have had a view at the time. And if says he still can’t remember then the person asking needs to suggest to him that “everyone thinks your just bullshitting John”
At the time he probably was pro tour, most people were.
Seriously though, who really cares, it was 35 years ago, stop living in the past.
“most people were” really?
stop living in the past is good advice, except of course for your government which still blames a government of 7 years ago for stuff, and you lap it up BM.
Yep, fairly simple times, beer, rugby and racing, that was the important stuff.
Times change though and so do peoples attitudes and perceptions.
NZ has changed completely in 30 years, comparing NZ in 1981 to NZ in 2015 is like comparing Sweden to Botswana.
If you don’t look back at where you have come from, how are you to understand the direction that you have been heading in?
You learn from the past, but you don’t dwell on the past.
Key was a young man at the time, like most at that age you knew fuck all and only saw the world in black and white, no doubt the views he had back then have changed significantly through experience and learning.
The facts are the only reason the left had any interest in Keys view on the 81 springbok tour was because Mandela had died and were trying to score a couple of cheap political points.
Which in my view was rather scummy and showed a distinct lack of class.
what a lowlife you are – giving out the free passes to your mate monKey – oh he probably this or maybe that – you are a sycophantic loser just like key – YOU are scummy and have zero class just like key – the posterboy you have on your bedroom wall.
Key has been questioned on his position on the Springbok tour ever since he became leader of the National Party. And he has been criticised about his convenient lack of memory ever since.
This video was uploaded in April, 2008 – Long before Mandela died.
And then there’s this from one of the articles in the New Zealand Herald’s unauthorised biography of Key series:
“Key himself credits those early debates as sparking his interest in politics. He remembers being attracted by the fiery political arguments of the 1970s and 1980s. “They were quite intense debates – Kawerau and Kinleith and people striking over the Cook Strait ferries – all of those kind of things,” he says. “It was certainly a period of time where politics were prominent and I was fascinated by it.”
This fascination with the political debate of the time does not square with answers Key gave in his early political career about his stand on one of the most divisive issues of the early-1980s – the Springbok Tour. During a television interview before his rise to the leadership of the party, Key was asked: “In 1981, were you for or against the Springbok Tour?” He answered: “Oh, I can’t even remember … 1981, I was 20 … ah … I don’t really know. I didn’t really have a strong feeling on it at the time. Look, it’s such a long time ago.”
His answer is puzzling for someone who was surrounded by, and fascinated with, political debate. Whether he was pro-Tour or anti-Tour is almost irrelevant 27 years down the track. But saying that he can’t remember how he felt leaves him open to criticism that he did not want to get off-side with people by stating his position. (In subsequent broadcast interviews, he sounds strangely confused. He has said that he didn’t go to the games, but that he might have if he could have afforded it; and that he wasn’t happy that the Springboks were here, but that he didn’t feel strongly enough to go out on the street.)“
Yes – we were Sweden then – now thanks to Key we are Botswana.
touché
BM you Neanderthal “Seriously though, who really cares, it was 35 years ago, stop living in the past”
Do you not see the importance of establishing if our Prime Minister lies to us and paints pictures of deception?
Further, the about-face shown by most all pro-tour people, who were generally full-faced tory right wing types, proves again that the left are correct on all political issues. It just takes time for the conservative, Neanderthal right wing types time to wake up to reality and change their mind.
The examples of this are everywhere BM.
Perhaps you could point to an issue where the right wing led on it and were subsequently proved to be correct? You wont be able to BM, you wont be able to …
Right wingers don’t tend to have a messiah complex.
pathetic as always BM
Come on, try and think of an issue where the right wing has led NZ and proved to be correct
“The difference between genius and stupidity is
that genius has its limits” Albert Einstein
Yup – they work for the other side.
hahahahahahahahahahaha
Oh, wait, you were serious?
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
There’s a reason why evangelicals and other assorted religious fundamentalists tend to be RWNJs – it’s because of their messiah complex. The majority of them are looking for a messiah while the minority, like Key, like to think that they’re the messiah.
they certainly make the ‘mess higher’ everytime their grubby hands get near the levers of power
clever clogs
You are confusing Key with Cunliffe
Nobody could make that mistake, especially nobody with a pony tail. Try again.
Oh, hell no. It’s a complex pretty much relegated to RWNJs such as yourself.
yes vto the bullshit by pro-tour dims as they rewrite their personal history would make the youknowwhos cringe. Key, bm and the rest of the cowards are known – we looked them eye to eye back in the day of the protests – they were weak then, they are weak now.
History informs us who we are. Remember that.
Or maybe you just prefer to drift directionlessly with no anchor in time, past present or future.
You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.
Labour could really learn from that one.
Not that I disagree with your main point there.
But how do you write the next chapter when you have no idea what came before?
Wonder why National dwells on the past by constantly blaming Labour despite it being in charge for nearly 7 years now.
…he probably was pro tour, most people were
Thanks for so promptly leaping in to illustrate my point.
He probably was but most people weren’t. That’s why we had so many protests.
vto, well said.
– Tracey
Well, by that definition I am a killjoy and proud of it.
I’m unable to divorce John Key’s recent whoring of the All Blacks for his own political gain from my support of the team for 40 years. It’s naive to think the high-jacking will not get even worse should NZ win this RWC.
He’s taken my team from me and so I hope they go down in a ball of flames…
…even if at the hands of Australia.
@Muttonbird. I have been an AB follower most of my adult life (loooong time) but am totally disillusioned by them now. They are just advertising billboards with pretty hairdo’s. So tired of them pushing deodorants, strutting around in their undies, Richie and the keyclone running around selling I don’t know what. Have forgotten already. Conkey on the cover of Rugby magazine gurning like an idiot looking for a village was just plain stupid and his stalking of Richie is sooo embarrassing. I am predicting that they will not retain the WC . In the past nothing good has come of anyone who hitches their star to conkey’s clapped out old wagon. He is a jinx.
As Anthony Robins astutely said a few days ago, “If he can get 50.1% and his own way that is good enough. He is about his own agenda, not unifying the country.”
He is doing to the All Blacks what he has done to Peter Jackson – appropriating them as emblems of his gang. It does not matter to him if a few killjoys end up despising them because of it, so long as that 50+% holds up. It probably even pleases him that something that people universally felt they had a stake in is narrowed down to just the ones who identify with him. So long as he can hang on to his 50+% this gives him cultural leverage – the only “real New Zealander” becomes the “Key-friendly New Zealander.”
Key would do well to remember Mrs Shipley, the plane painted in All Black drag and the semifinal loss to France that year.
Can’t disagree Olwyn
He is a user.
I recall a recent story where a National Campaign Manager said that all three of John Key’s changing “opinions” were informed by polls / focus groups . . .Who needs a mind of their own when they pay Farrar to find out what it should be?
Dont like sports much lesst of all rugby. Since the nz rwc though thats changed. Good to watch with friends.
Yes, when is the thugby world cup over? I’m looking forward to that part.
+1
Very frustrating to see Ministers Bennett and Rich decline the sale of the Lochinver Station to a Chinese firm, but on the other hand when English or key are questioned about the sale of half of Silver Ferm Farms, they just blithely say it’s “up to the shareholders”, meaning, the farmer owners.
It would be great if this government had an actual economic development strategy, rather than just hollowing us out to nothing, bar a few paddocks.
NZF has come out the best on this issue
…and I think Goldman Sachs advised the farmers to sell to the Chinese!….the farmers need to wise up fast about Goldman Sachs and their history and advice around the globe….those that take Goldman Sach’s advice are usually doomed
…”John McCarthy, a former chairman of Meat Industry Excellence, a group set up to promote change in the industry, said: “This is a watershed for New Zealand, it is a crossroads for NZ inc and has the potential to change the face of our rural communities and to blur that unique point of difference and global opportunity.”
McCarthy said English’s comments around the Silver Fern Farm’s “debacle” were disturbing.
“His comments are a cop out and are indicative of the Government turning its back on rural communities and New Zealand in favour of foreign control,” McCarthy said.
“With the pragmatic cynicism that is the hallmark of this administration they have paid lip service to the concerns that have been mounting over the past years as farmers become increasingly worried as to the future viability of their farms and their inter-generational opportunities.”
McCarthy said Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy had been “missing in action” in the red meat sector.
“This Government is all about snuggling up to the Chinese opportunity and it appears they are prepared to do so at any cost, including, in this instance, a passive sanctioning of increasing sales of New Zealand family silver.”
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11512990
“Silver Fern hired Goldman Sachs to look at its capital structure late last year.”
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11512990
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/what-price-the-new-democracy-goldman-sachs-conquers-europe-6264091.html
+100 Pat…yes thanks for that….Goldman Sachs has been blamed many times for the Greek financial crisis…short term ‘solutions’ and long term disaster
http://www.thenation.com/article/goldmans-greek-gambit/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/greek-debt-crisis-goldman-sachs-could-be-sued-for-helping-country-hide-debts-when-it-joined-euro-10381926.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17108367
http://www.rt.com/business/273208-greece-goldman-debt-lawsuit/
…and New Zealand has used Goldman Sachs to advise Treasury!!!! (who the hell was responsible for this?!…like inviting a vampire in to suck the blood out of your heart)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11262662
…and now New Zealand Silver Fern farmers clasp this vampire to their bosom to advise them to sell out to Chinese foreign interests… out of New Zealand farmer co-operative control…i would have thought NZ farmers would have been more savvy…they should be amalgamating with the other farmer co-operative Alliance
http://www.alliance.co.nz/RP.jasc?Page=Home
As James Shaw pointed out when he first assumed co-leadership of The Greens, there is no ideology. It can’ be articulated because it doesn’t exist.
Naomi Klein, ‘This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate ‘….would disagree with that there can be “no ideology”.
…in fact there is a ‘clash of ideologies’
… the problems arise when Green ideology is compromised with the greed ideology of neoliberalism Capitalism!
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/41247321-this-changes-everything-capitalism-vs-the-climate
No grounds to extradite Kim Dotcom, says Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11514142
This is a very important Internet and Monopoly case, because if someone can be hounded throughout the world based on a civil unproven claim of a file sharing website which has already been proven to be legal when Viacom sued file sharing website Youtube and lost in the US, using armed defenders and public prosecutors in a corporate welfare entitlement for 4 large media companies such as Warner Bros (who we already have changed tax and employment law in this country for) then freedom of the Internet is close to death.
Is the next Internet entrepreneur going to keep their business going when big business comes a calling, if they know that the US and governments will be after them rather than the normal legal civil avenues?
How our Courts view it will be most interesting. And no delay granted.
But can he get a fair trial? Look at John Banks – convicted and then a guy from the US pops up and John Banks is acquitted and doesn’t even have to go to trial?
Not only that but they have seized assets so that Dotcom can’t easily pay to defend himself.
He’s been illegally spied on using tax payers resources.
TV3 ran a beat up of him.
Judges don’t even understand IT, let alone file sharing.
In the court documents cloud sharing was described as cow sharing.
I’m not sure he is going to get a fair trial. The last guy committed suicide apparently.
When the US goes after you it is no laughing matter and it is calling the NZ justice system into disrepute internationally if they are allowed to get away with it by extradition to a country he does not live in, and never had an office there.
Can’t disagree Olwyn
He is a user. I still believe most of our Judiciary do a good job, base don our laws.
“I’m not sure he is going to get a fair trial. The last guy committed suicide apparently. ”
Are you thinking about this guy? The Internets Own Boy : The Story of Aaron Swartz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXr-2hwTk58 sad stuff, just hounded him to death, for SFA.
Watched it a while ago. Very worthwhile, and very sad to see such a forward thinking and progressive intellect hounded by the state.
Thanks for posting the link.
And David Kelly hounded to suicide after disclosing that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Although totally different cases it sets the scene of what happens when governments start to unfairly hound someone without legal cause and making evidence fit and bullying citizens for political reasons.
That is not democracy. That is a police state.
In the Dotcom case, corporate welfare for the movie industry which have already been given a lot of corporate welfare in this country by the PM.
Yes it will be interesting, I hope Dotcom will be with his mate Andrus Nomm soon but cant see that happening.
Sooner he is gone the better.
Says a recidivist liar.
Kim Dotcom should not be extradicted! Kim Dotcom is a hero! [deleted]. Information yearns to be free!
[lprent: defamatory and unsubstantiated. One week ban. Your comments don’t repeatably do this but I can’t be bothered warning people when I see a series of ‘facts’ being stated with no backing. Read the policy. ]
+100 save NZ…and this from the Martyn Bradbury is interesting and comprehensive
‘2 reasons why you as a New Zealander should care about the Kim Dotcom case’
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/09/17/2-reasons-why-you-as-a-new-zealander-should-care-about-the-kim-dotcom-case/
To summarise:
1.)The first reason is the injustice of the case:
“…this case has been an abomination of legal process, jurisdiction and injustice. You might not like Kim Dotcom, but the manner in which his rights have been breached and 70 odd armed paramilitary cops broke into his home and terrorised him and his family is as unacceptable as the abuses of power used in court against him.
This is not what our justice system should be used for, we are not a puppet for US interests, we should be a sovereign state with our own laws and judicial system that is beyond influence by America and their corporate overlords.”
2.) The second reason is what it could cost New Zealand in damages:
…”the injustice of this case may not move you. You may have bought into the media hype of Dotcom as a Bond Villain and enjoyed his failure at the ballot box. You may have decided that despite Assange, Snowden and Greenwald proving at the Moment of Truth that John Key lied to us about mass surveillance, that Kim fell short of what he promised and he got his just desserts.
Okay. Fine. Then here’s the second reason you should care about the Kim Dotcom case.
$2 Billion dollars…
…”Sony decided not to sign up to the case against Dotcom because they believed there was a chance he would get off these trumped up charges and in turn sue everyone involved in taking him down to the tune of $2billion???
And we had to sign up to this?
So how much exactly are we on the hook for here? If you don’t care that he has been unjustly dealt with and his rights breached, you may be in for one hell of a shock if he wins and we are left paying for this politically motivated prosecution….
I financed a movie once. It was just about to be released and then “nek minit”, as you colonials from kiwi land say, [deleted] web site and before the day was up it had been downloaded over 100,000 times. Lost quite a few thousand pounds over that I can tell you!
[lprent: defamatory and unsubstantiated. ]
you are disingenuous….there are many many far bigger American cloud storage sites which people would/could/do access for movies…this is common knowledge…your movie ( that is if you genuinely did fund a movie?!) was probably pirated from one of these commonly known American monster cloud sites
…nor is Dotcom responsible for what others store …unless he is notified by authorities..inwhich case he has said , as you probably well know, that he is swift in taking the offending item out of his cloud storage
…an analogy…if a foreign company owning ocean- going container ships has drugs smuggled on board one ship without the owner/company’s knowledge ….do the Americans take down the whole foreign shipping company and ground and steal all their ships…( especially when their own American ships also have even more drugs smuggled on board)
I do believe that at the time of the raid megaupload was the biggest illegal file sharing site in the world. You might like to check it out if you don’t believe me.
And considering [deleted].
Maybe you should read about the case a bit more. Silly woman.
[lprent: That is
1. defamatory.
2. not substantiated with a link to something credible.
Looking at your comments, you do not rate a warning. Which means you have a 2 week ban. Read the policy and stop exhibiting your small dick. Noone really want to see little pricks like you. ]
Citation please.
[lprent: BStard – I read your citation.
Point 21 is an allegation by the US prosecutor. It has not been proved nor substantiated, beyond establishing a prima facie case, and is still in front of NZ courts. An accusation is not proof that something happened, and isn’t substantiation.
Added a further 4 weeks. Two weeks for each of us for directing us to an useless substantiation that didn’t do what you claimed, and potentially putting us in legal danger because you are incompetent at distinguishing between accusations and conviction. ]
It may take him two weeks. I banned the BStard for defamation.
Dear Iprent, can you give him 2 more for his sexist comment?
[lprent: No. Falls within robust debate and doesn’t fall too far into trying to drive people off the site. ]
Fair enough. I saw his response.
Says someone who plagiarised their handle.
“Says someone who plagiarised their handle.”
hah…cease and desist letter heading his way 🙂
Well why don’t you sue You Tube then. Viacom did, and lost especially when it was found that the movie industry themselves were posting their videos to drum up business. A bit like the cigarette industry at the centre of boot legged smokes to keep the punters addicted.
I wonder if Andrew Little will adopt Jeremy Corbyn’s cut through idea of allowing the public to select his questions for question time? It is a brilliant idea to do an end run around our hostile media.
The greens have already done it.
Labour is just too slow.
Do some readers still remember some “presentations” that were shared via various blogs and other forums over recent years, and some quotes that were made to the MSM, where MSD’s and Work and Income’s Principal Health Advisor was making very bold claims about the dangers to health due to “worklessness”? Do readers remember the assertions that paid, open work is supposed to have “health benefits”, and that it is “therapeutic”? Here is a sample of those presentations:
‘Ready, Steady, Crook – Are we killing our patients with kindness?’
http://www.gpcme.co.nz/pdf/GP%20CME/Friday/C1%201515%20Bratt-Hawker.pdf
There are claims in it saying that 30 % of GP’s “had experienced a sense of threat and intimidation” (see page 32) by persons seeking certificates for WINZ.
Dr Bratt also repeated this: “the ‘benefit’ – an addictive debilitating drug with significant adverse effects to both the patient and their family (whānau)”. He said:
“As a drug, it would be an addictive, debilitating substance, he told the RNZCGP education convention” (Dr Bratt, Principal Health Advisor for MSD).
He also claimed that according to both Australian and New Zealand studies there is a chance of it being only 70 percent likely that a person would “ever” return to work after 20 days off work, that it is only 50 percent likely for a person to “ever” return to work after 45 days off work and that it is only 35 percent likely for a person to “ever” return to work after 70 days off work.
And according to a so-called “GP survey”, randomly conducted by Dr Bratt, GPs supposedly found about sick or disabled beneficiaries seeking medical certification for WINZ, that: “71 felt it was a mechanism to provide income to the patient”, “55 % felt W + I staff created an expectation”, “40 % – because they believed there was no work available” and “31 % – felt W + I weren’t doing anything for the patient”.
He even commented to NZ Doctor magazine: “A UK study found of the main obstacles for going to work, medical problems made up just 3 % of the list” (01 August 2012, in timely manner to “support” the then prepared new, draconian welfare reforms, following the UK examples).
The “experts” from the UK, on whose “findings” all this is supposed to be based, even convinced the AFOEM medical professional faculty to follow this rather ideologically driven policy approach in health and welfare:
http://members.racp.edu.au/page/racp-faculties/australasian-faculty-of-occupational-and-environmental-medicine/realising-the-health-benefits-of-work/may-2010-video-presentation-professor-sir-mansel-aylward/
Now after someone did some study and research, and sought answers from our dear MSD, to back these and many other claims up, it appears most the “EVIDENCE” that has been endlessly referred to, does show rather damned little true evidence to back up any of the above, and to justify the “relentless focus on work”, the tough “medicine” also recommended to sick and disabled.
Under this government misinformation, or selective informing, and blatant misrepresentation of data seems to have become the norm. Here is what a comprehensive post on all this reveals:
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/msd-and-dr-david-bratt-present-misleading-evidence-claiming-worklessness-causes-poor-health/
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/msd-dr-bratt-present-misleading-evidence-on-worklessness-and-health-post-09-08-15.pdf
Why are the useless MSM not bothered to dig into such very important matters, why does hardly any “media” report on beneficiaries having been short payed for 18 years, why do we only get so much attention on flag designs, on which All Black players look like “promising” stars to perform in the upcoming Rugby World Cup, why is crime, weather, sports and trivial pursuit the daily news digest, I ask? We are taken for a ride, day in and day out, and the average Joe Blogs has no clue about what really goes on in his country. What a disgrace, I dare say.
Parts C, D, E and F of this comprehensive publication contain the actual OIA data with questions, responses and analysis, showing how selectively chosen, how misleading and actually baseless most of Bratt’s quotes of “evidence”, his “sources” and at times bizarre claims are:
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/msd-and-dr-david-bratt-present-misleading-evidence-claiming-worklessness-causes-poor-health/
No wonder he deleted all emails of certain correspondence with a leading UK advisor, but that is yet another matter raising endless questions about what we get presented with.
Carmel Sepuloni is finally onto it:
http://www.inthehouse.co.nz/video/39670
A must watch, see the Associate Minister of Social Development squirm when she gets hard pressed for an honest answer to deliver the truth about the failed trials for Sole Parent Employment Services and Mental Health Employment Services.
We are having to wait for the end of the year, I suppose for Xmas Eve, to finally get the EVALUATION report from MSD!!!??
Welfare reforms, hailed so much two years ago, are being proved to largely have failed, yet again. Remember the talk also about drug testing, about beneficiary going to have their benefits stopped when a warrant for their arrest was out?
“The Way This Pastor Uses the Game Monopoly to Explain Racism and Slavery to His Congregation Is Brilliant”
http://atlantablackstar.com/2015/09/16/the-way-this-pastor-uses-the-game-monopoly-to-explain-racism-and-slavery-to-his-congregation-is-down-right-brilliant/
This is wonderful video, well worth the 5 minutes to watch it.
Maori did not start with nothing, they got to keep about 5%. I’ll let you do the maths.
Starting with nothing is what the poor do all the time and it is truly amazing what some manage to do. But starting out with nothing often means that you’re going to end up with nothing because you simply don’t have the resources available to do anything.
Here’s another couple of links:
Using Monopoly to Teach Class Inequality
A ‘Rigged’ Game Of Monopoly Reveals How Feeling Wealthy Changes Our Behavior [TED VIDEO]
I don’t know too much about smalley – but this report is good imo
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11514453
yes we have a frying pan/fire/volcano/supernova issue – there are no safe places and fear is driving desperation on all sides.
Incredibly, this morning Paul Henry was
more depraved than he’s ever been before
PAUL HENRY, TV3, Thursday 17 September 2015, 6:55 a.m.
Part 1 of 2
“I’m more intelligent than most people, as you would know.”—Paul Henry [1]
There are any number of credible, not to mention humane and decent, journalists and commentators who actually know something about international politics and the United Nations. And then there are the bloody-minded, partisan, hateful ideologues. Naturally, Paul “Kill them ALL” Henry [2] sought out one of the most brutal of the latter type for his show this morning. Claudia Rosett is a notorious Murdoch hackette, the holder of a neocon think-tank sinecure, and a tireless advocate for the neocon version of reality, which means she’s a fanatic, a shill and a propagandist of the very worst kind. Not a problem for Paul Henry of course.….
CLAUDIA ROSETT: …. I call it the parade of the dictators. Obama will speak first, followed by China, Russia, Iran and Raoul Castro from Cuba.
PAUL HENRY: God ALMIGHTY! Bloody Putin out the back orchestrating the whole thing. …And at the Security Council we sit there next to Russia, which continues to be responsible for the mess in Syria. ….
Claudia Rosett continued for several minutes to unload her contempt for the United Nations. Henry sat rapt throughout her unhinged ranting, grunting his approval, then had to reluctantly cut to the news….
PAUL HENRY: Claudia Rosett from Demand Democracy. She is a very good commentator on the United Nations, although she despises them, to a degree.
In fact, Claudia Rosett is the exact opposite of a “very good commentator” whether she is commentating on the U.N. or on anything else. She is an ideologue of the extreme right, a doctrinal warrior whose cynicism seems to have no limit. As a sample of her cruelty and irresponsibility, have a look at the following obscenity, where she expresses indignation bordering on apoplexy at a U.N. report that dared to criticize Israel….
http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/claudia-rosett-a-new-low-un-report-suggests-israel-caused-gazas-rising-infant-death-rate-d/
[1] He made that statement, only half in jest, to careers expert Laurel McLay at 8:45 this morning. She noticeably flinched, then came up with a wince-smile.
[2] http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27052015/#comment-1021090
End of Part 1
pita – yes the inglish are insulting the haka – I don’t blame them but rather those that have given this cultural item to the all blacks for their purposes.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/international/72133395/sir-pita-sharples-labels-english-hakarena-shameful-and-insulting
The All Blacks insulted the sport of rugby football with their flagrant strategy of cheating in the 2011 RWC final. Matt Dawson’s silly little parody, insulting as it might be, is nothing in comparison to that.
a bit like arguing which gladiator will win – go the trident and net guy – no I prefer the sword dude or maybe the spear thrower – in other words yawn yawn yawn
Actually it’s not like that at all. Your analogy would have merit if one of them was unfairly handicapped and every infraction of the rules by the other was ignored.
The day the haka went from being a personal challenge by the All Blacks to whatever team was playing them, to a heavily microphoned and filmed, hostile and aggressive act with the crowd joining in, was the day it lost any respect from me.
I do not have a problem with the English have a bit of a piss-take with it. If we can’t handle it then maybe we are just a bit too bloody precious.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haka
And that is just from wiki – anyone who believes there is a lot more to haka than what they may consider or see would be very correct indeed.
“I do not have a problem with the English have a bit of a piss-take with it. If we can’t handle it then maybe we are just a bit too bloody precious.”
I couldn’t agree more, the Poms are just making dicks of themselves.
They have already claimed that we cheated in 2011.
They are very fucking desperate and should be laughed at.
NZ are quite capable of making dicks of themselves regarding the haka, here you can get a headset to enjoy it in 360 degrees! It promises to “Take your place on the field with the All Blacks and experience the electrifying Haka up close in a unique 360° experience. The AIG Haka 360° headset allows you to experience the Haka as if you were really there with the All Blacks – a new and awesome experience! ” jeebus!
They have already claimed that we cheated in 2011.
“We” (the All Blacks) did cheat in 2011. Luckily for “us” we had a “referee” who let us get away with it. You know that as well as anyone.
The clownish Willie Jackson needs to read more, talk less.
And Lizzie Marvelly needs to think before she nods her head.
PAUL HENRY, TV3, Thursday 17 September 2015
Part 2 of 2
About 8:25 a.m. ……
Following the appearance of extreme right wing U.N.-hater Claudia Rosett an hour earlier, Paul Henry and his “Daily Panel” discussed the efficacy or otherwise of the United Nations. Unfortunately, this morning’s iteration of the Daily Panel consisted of a well meaning but poorly informed pop singer and an equally well meaning but even more poorly informed radio jock. I have rendered Jackson’s most ignorant utterance in italicized bold type….
LIZZIE MARVELLY: There’s nothing wrong with the actual institution of the United Nations.
PAUL HENRY: Well, actually I think there IS.
WILLIE JACKSON: The veto allows them to sort out a maniac, like George W. Bush a few years ago.
PAUL HENRY: If they were serious about sorting out a maniac, they would have gone into Syria and sorted out THAT maniac YEARS AGO.
WILLIE JACKSON: Remember a few years back, when Chávez of Venezuela went to the United Nations and tod the U.S. what he thought of them.
PAUL HENRY: Yes, and what did that achieve?
LIZZIE MARVELLY: It made people think!
WILLIE JACKSON: Yes, and Paul, he was doing something he wouldn’t have been able to do in his own country, but he was able to in the United Nations.
LIZZIE MARVELLY: [fervently] Yes.
….ad nauseam…..
More Willie Jackson foolishness….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-08062015/#comment-1026943
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-08062013/#comment-645516
You might be a bit hasty in your opinion on Marvelly, there aren’t that many people in their mid-20’s writing like this out there, and practically none that are in the celebrity spotlight. Infact I think you’ll like her media commentaries, they’re similar to yours! 🙂 http://www.villainesse.com/girl-power/when-did-new-zealand-become-so-sexist
I do like her and I respect her—but she needs to be far sharper than she was this morning. Actually expressing AGREEMENT with Jackson’s ignorant opinion about the late Hugo Chávez was not smart.
Live blog of Republican candidate debate currently underway:
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2015/sep/16/republican-presidential-debate-cnn
Here is something for the Labour Party to ponder.
The Corbyn victory and shift to the left in the UK has shone the spotlight on our local Labour lot. And haven’t we seen them scurry to distance themselves revealing their true colours.
Seeing as they aren’t prepared to embrace and adopt the Corbyn example and are struggling at around 30% (while also seemingly unable to align with their much needed potential coalition partners) they have little to lose.
At this rate, they aren’t going to win the next election.
Therefore, if Labour genuinely believe the centre is where the votes are to be found, here is something the Party should seriously consider.
Drop the Labour Party name and re-brand the Party as the Centrist Party.
This will free them from being labelled left (which they seem to fear) fully allowing the newly branded Party to continue to push their centrist position and seek the centre vote.
They have two years to build and grow the new brand before putting it to the test in the next general election.
Of course, this will put an end to their genuine left wing support and no doubt rob them of a number of foot soldiers on the ground.
But hey, once again, they’re the ones that seem to believe the centre is where it is at.
Therefore, it’s time the Party fully cement this position and put their money where their mouth is.
This would put an end to commentators like me critiquing them for not living up to their Labour Party namesake, thus largely ending the division the Party still currently face.
This will catch the establishment off guard, thus generate much media hype, which they can build off.
Moreover, it will help rebuild voter trust, because seriously, who can trust a party that can’t even live up to its current namesake?
If the newly branded Party can’t get over the line or their support severely drops (resembling the last election) then it will be clear the center is not where the votes are at for them – and perhaps then, and only then, will they be more willing to adopt the Corbyn stance and go back to being a genuine Labour Party.
The danger is, as the left move on, Labour may not regain a good chunk of the left wing voting block. Or worse, the left may regroup (by either forming a new party or further bolstering a current one like NZ First or the Greens) and thrash them. Then again, they may just end up bolstering the non-voting block.
Thoughts?
There is no doubt the Center and Far Left can no longer live together under the pressure of continued electoral failure and are on the road to divorce throughout the Western world.
In the U.K. the Far Left have made a majority claim to the house, taken possession, and rearranged the furniture to suit themselves, so if it was the U.K. you were talking about, I’d agree it’s the Center that should be looking for new lodgings.
But here in NZ, the Center Left has been very well settled and comfortable in the family home for many years, and the wider whanau seem to be happy with the arrangement just the way it is. So why should they be the ones to shift out?
Don’t you think it would be far more sensible for the Far Left to be the one to cut loose and set out on it’s own, leaving behind all the Centrist baggage of the old relationship?
You Just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free
I’m not advocating that the center move out. I’m highlighting if the centre feel that confident, then they should cement their position and start being honest with voters.
The centre are falsely parading under the Labour Party name.
If there are any genuine left Labour MPs with principle, they’d be the ones to leave when the Party changes it’s name and cement its position.
Apart from the name change, the party structure would remain.
I reckon Labour should split into two parties, centrist and left. Two problems with that though. One is that the power mongers in Labour aren’t going to want to give up ‘Labour’, but you couldn’t really split and have the centrists take the name and all the policy etc. And two, the powermongers that end up in both parties still won’t want to work with the GP.
Plus, Labour doesn’t have a Corbyn.
The more I look at this and follow what is happening in the UK, the more I think any solutions are going to have to come from a political movement from outside parliament.
Weka
According to the Lost sheep, there isn’t anyone in Labour’s left camp, thus it would be difficult for them to split into two factions.
Its time for Labour to be honest with voters, stop paying lip service to the left and re-brand. Or start living up to their name.
Clearly, changing leadership isn’t working. No matter how left the mere window dressing looks, there is no substance within. Thus, a good number of voters can sense their phoniness, hence their poor election results of late and rankings in the polls.
A new movement coming from outside of Parliament is more challenging for a political party. And generally requires a lot of funding. Unless there is a groundswell of support.
Lost sheep is spinning. It’s blindingly obvious to anyone paying attention that there are left and right factions within Labour (relatively speaking).
I’m not suggesting that a movement outside of parliament is organised by Labour. It should be organised by the people irrespective of what Labour do.
I’d be hard pushed to name a genuine left MP within Labour. Could you?
“I’m not suggesting that a movement outside of parliament is organised by Labour”
Yes, I realized that, hence my reply above reflected that.
Lost sheep, who are the far left MPs currently in the Labour party?
None that I know of Weka. Labour is a Center Left Party through and through, has been for a long time, and is totally comfortable with that identify.
Which is why I’m saying that it wouldn’t be sensible for the Party to change it’s name to make it clear what it represents. That’s perfectly clear to everyone already? It’s Center Left.
In Britain, there obviously is a much stronger Far Left thread within the Labour Party. Always has been. Strong enough to take it over as it happens.
But that is inconceivable in NZ. The NZ Labour Far Left is simply not a big enough bloc to do that.
The more I listen to the voices calling for Labour to move Left, the more I’m coming to think that’s just plain wrong.
What the Far Left really needs is an authentic voice of it’s own.
If there really are a large number of people wanting that voice, it shouldn’t be difficult to get such a party up and running?
The last time I checked, self-serving right wing “thinkers” don’t get to define “far” or “left”. You want to know what extreme looks like: the National Party undermining the rule of law.
Go on, tell some lies.
“None that I know of Weka. Labour is a Center Left Party through and through, has been for a long time, and is totally comfortable with that identify.”
But The Chairman wasn’t talking about the far left. You are the one that is bringing that up. Why? And if there are no far left MPs in Labour what is the point of talking about the far left in this conversation?
I don’t know if you’ve noticed Weka, but much of the discussion on this blog over the last month or so has been about the Corbynism of the UK Labour Party, and many here have expressed the opinion that the NZ Labour Party should be shifting Left in a similar manner….
The Chairmans post clearly introduces a linkage between Corbynism and how it has ‘shone the spotlight on the local Labour lots….fear of being labelled Left’, and that is a variation on a common theme here lately.
As someone who quit a lifetime of active support for the NZ Left out of disgust at how ineffectual it has become, I’d just like to see someone / anyone on the Left make a move that was brave, decisive, revolutionary, compelling etc…
But that is not going to be Labour, and those of you that support a Corbyn type change are not going to be able to take over Labour, and so if any of you actually want something to happen you are going to have to make it happen.
But I’m betting it won’t. I think the NZ Left has lost the ability to act in a bold manner that captures the public imagination. 20 years of PC has squeezed the life out brave and creative free thinking in the political structures of the NZ Left.
That’s all very well, but Corbyn isn’t far left, he’s just traditional left wing. In NZ there are no far left people in parliament, so your whole comment earlier didn’t make any sense on either of those points.
The Chairman, as far as I can tell, is suggesting that if Labour wants to be centrist that it just does so more honestly and then if being honestly centrist fails, lets the left try for a Corbyn-esque process. None of that is to do with the far left (a conversation about which would include say Mana, or people like Sue Bradford, or the far left people that have never been in parliament).
Nope, it’s a centre right party and has been since the 1980s. That’s why it’s losing support and votes.
Lost sheep
In one post you say: “Labour is a Center Left Party through and through, has been for a long time, and is totally comfortable with that identify.”
Then, in the next post you acknowledge many here have expressed the opinion that the NZ Labour Party should be shifting Left.
Which is exactly correct. However, though you acknowledge this you overlook an important fact. Which is, why it would be totally sensible the Party re-brands. Voter trust.
Labour expects voters to trust them, moreover they require voters to trust them. Voters won’t vote for a Party they simply don’t trust.
A centrist Party falsely parading under the Labour Party name looks completely phony. Eroding any chance of acquiring substantial (and much needed) voter support.
Additionally, you overlook another major point. The ailing economy (which is also a vital point in elections) requires a hands on left wing fix.
For numerous reasons, the local private sector aren’t up to the task of turning our economy around.
The right and centre left largely plan to fill this market void with offshore investment.
However, when one looks at our current account, one quickly discovers this approach is not only failing, in many respects it’s exacerbating our economic wows.
Like any investment, offshore investors seek a return. Returns heading offshore, sets our economy back.
A good number of our most lucrative sectors are dominated by offshore investors. Thus, the more we grow our GDP, the larger the returns heading offshore.
Therefore, the solution is for Government to help fill our market voids. And of course, this is the left wing approach our nation desperately requires. And that will win over voters from across the political spectrum.
“you acknowledge many here have expressed the opinion that the NZ Labour Party should be shifting Left.
Which is exactly correct. However, though you acknowledge this…”
Er, Just one small point there Chairman.
I do not consider that commenters on this blog are representative of the wider NZ voting public.
The majority of NZ Voters consider themselves Centrist, and that includes a majority of people who vote for Labour.
So outside of unrepresentative niche social media forums such as this, I see no evidence there is a widespread groundswell of support for a shift to the Left in order to impose ‘a left wing fix’.
Or that a Party proposing such a shift would win voters from across the political spectrum.
So to restate my point. Labour has already displayed a complete lack of interest in shifting Left.
If you or anyone else believes there is ‘desperate’ need and demand for such a platform, then create a new Party to cater for it?
I’m picking no one will. And the reason is that there is inadequate demand and support for such a Party.
I wasn’t implying they are, Lost sheep.
Commentators here are generally a representation of the left of the political spectrum.
While the majority of voters may see themselves being in the centre, they are open to a party with a credible economic plan. Moreover, one they can trust.
Labours hands on kiwi build policy was an example of a hands on left wing stance that was widely welcomed from across the speptrum.
Thus, credibly expanding on that left wing hands on approach (which Labour has largely failed to do) into other areas of market voids will also be widely supported.
Labours election results and polling of late, clearly show that Labour (and their centre left stance) is largely failing to resonate with voters.
Therefore, it’s time Labour started to look at what works and resonates, opposed to continuously pushing what doesn’t.
They can start with being honest and living up to the Party’s name.
Certainly Corbyn’s crowd sourced parliamentary questions offer relief from the pitiful Carter sanctioned dog and pony show.
Here’s a petition to ask the BBC to in fairness refer to David Cameron as the right wing prime minister, as they always label Corbyn ‘the left wing leader of Labour’.
https://www.change.org/p/bbc-request-for-the-bbc-to-refer-to-david-cameron-as-the-right-wing-prime-minister?recruiter=25500749&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=des-lg-share_petition-reason_msg&fb_ref=Default
warning – image of disgusting torture of innocent animal in the article below
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/72142018/kiwi-researchers-shot-live-pigs-in-the-head-for-blood-spatter-analysis-study
put aside for a moment the cruelty of shooting those pigs after shaving their eyebrows, pretend to forget the indignity and callousness – why didn’t these researchers shoot themselves in the head??? because their research is M E A N I N G L E S S – a pig head is not a human head.
Actually, pigs are a pretty good model of human structures and organs in a variety of situations, which is why they are often used.
I suspect that live (albeit unconscious) pigs were required because of blood pressure affecting the spatter patterns, which might be important in a murder trial if someone argues that they only shot the corpse of the person after the others had committed the murder, and they only did that because they were afraid that otherwise they’d be next.
but for heads? I don’t think so – sure expanded nasal cavities and a mandible that hinges directly to the skull offer some connection but it is all bogus especially when they say, “the idea of the research was to get further down the path of analysis and would help international justice systems around the world.” – oh dear that sounds ominous…
plus
More like bone, muscle and skin density, similar structures, and similar blood pressure.
Campaign managers and CEOs are unlikely to know better than researchers and the members evaluating the ethical approval process.
Hell, screw the “cruelty”, maybe enlighten the funders whom you reckon paid for “meaningless” research.
is it that you always want to defend the science or that your opinion always aligns with those that want to defend the science – I can never work it out
Oh, I have an inherent bias towards people who work in a field every day over those people who do not now and probably have never ever had any experience or study in that area whatsoever. No matter how much my personal impulses might match the agenda of the latter group.
And there’s only so much that can be done with ballistic gel.
fair enough
Your bias is very narrow indeed when you dismiss with a handwave the ”campaign managers and CEOs” who do know their field, and work it in every day, and have superior knowledge and understanding about the animals than the guys who wanted to shoot them or the ethics people who approved it.
And if the likes of Safe had known about this bizarre and cruel experiment 6 years ago, it would never have happened, which should tell you something.
it sure does.
Even if you don’t care about animal cruelty or see a need for Safe to exist, NZ gaining a reputation as a soft touch for dodgy human and animal research is not a good thing.
lol
that’s a heck of a slide for one paragraph – animals being shot while anaesthetised all the way to dodgy research on humans.
The fact is that the pigs were unconscious and the use of live (as opposed to already-dead) animals produced information that could be relevant in a homocide investigation.
It’s no slide – our light touch ethics regulation extends to human research: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11254381
Interesting – I hadn’t seen that one.
Not sure I’d go so far as “dodgy”, but worthy of being watched closely depending on how the particulars define “best interests”.
What was the outcome of the complaint to the health and disability commissioner?
A trial involving unconscious patients where consent is gained retrospectively is inherently dodgy.
The commissioner’s pretty conservative though and I’m guessing the office is less than enthusiastic in investigating this.
As far as I know there hasn’t been an outcome yet.
It may be similar to what should have been an open and shut case of off label ketamine and MH patients in Dunedin a couple of years ago. Hill deemed it not experimental and no breaches, but it was both ”borderline” and a ”grey area”, he said.
Translation: you got away with it but don’t do it again.
Well, it’s about as dodgy as giving CPR to someone who’s unconscious and you don’t know whether it’s against their beliefs.
It’s a bit more specialised than any of my ethics training, but in general I reckon if the worst case is care no worse than normal (including complication rates), and the best case is improved care, it’s not in the grounds of “dodgy”. I.e. it’s an honest attempt to improve survival odds.
But corporations will try to push the boundaries into unnecessary treatment with experimental products. It’s what they do – money before ethics.
CPR is not a novel treatment.
One of the trials was merely to find out if the new meds were as good as the standard antibiotic the patient would receive in a normal treatment course.
No benefit, only potential risk, to these patients.
Why are you comparing it with saving lives?
”In a global trial, sponsored by United States-based Cubist Pharmaceuticals, intensive care specialists want to see if the new medicine is as good as the standard antibiotic.”
Funny, every time I do a first aid course the procedure alters slightly.
A non-inferiority test, yes. As a researcher for another application was minuted:
“The researcher explained in order to show superiority you need a lot more cases. […] adding that if the trial showed the treatment to be inferior you would not want to test it on a larger population”
Offsetting the risk from the new antibiotic not being as effective was increased medical attention of some sort. How would you test whether a new treatment works on pneumonia that one only acquires when already unable to respond and on a respirator?
The current treatment effectiveness against the specific organism is 60%. To prove it does better (as well as widening the number of antibiotics for when bugs become resistant) you need to prove it does at least as well. I’m comparing it with saving lives because antibiotics are not given to fight pneumonia just for fun.
This has more info from the women’s health council perspective: http://www.womenshealthcouncil.org.nz/Features/Hot+Topics/Ethics+Committees.html
Your bias means you side with research bods and utilitarian arguments each and every time so it becomes a moot point in any discussion.
But it seems the notion of informed consent has been re-negotiated with no scrutiny, and a lax and disinterested (not lack of interest, but more like observers than advocates) attitude from the supposed patient watchdog.
Well, that was a sudden change in tack.
I acknowledge my bias. What’s yours?
And how would you discover new treatments for conditions that only become evident after the patient is not able to respond?
Your bias means you side with research bods and utilitarian arguments each and every time….
A preference for the scientific method over logical fallacies and appeals to emotion as the basis for knowledge, and a preference for rationalism over irrationalism as the basis for argument, is a “bias” now? I just hope I can be as biased as possible in that direction then.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11494364
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/72074036/prices-rise-165-per-cent-at-fonterra-globaldairytrade-auction
Could someone please ask Andrew Little or someone in the Labour party to please declare a crisis in the All Blacks, they’ll need all the help they can get to win the world cup
Thanks
You didn’t read your second link very closely did you?
You do realise the best forecast price in the article (from ASB) is $5 per kg?
You do know that the break even point for farmers is $5.80?
You do know that volumes are falling (down 43% on this time last year) and much of this seasons production has already been forward sold at the previous low prices?
The best the article seems to be hoping / predicting is that the dairy industry finishes the season in a hole less deep than the one they thought they might be in.
In other words your shallow smartarse potshot at Little is completely misplaced, because any serious person would realise that we’re a long way from being out of the shit yet.
What I know is that since Andrew Little made the comment diary prices have risen in the next three auctions 🙂
A long way to go yes but going in the right direction, something the left haven’t been used to in a very long time 🙂
So yes, you are a shallow smartarse who grins and dribbles but doesn’t understand what he’s saying.
As opposed to someone that doesn’t seem to understand the power of media messages, good luck with that 🙂
So for Puckish Rogue there is no point in what is a real world consequence, as long as propaganda makes him feel all right.
And he gets his fix of cheap got ya moments.
The real world consequence is that people will see this article and, maybe, recall Andrew Little talking about crisis and will just think hes being negative again
or they’ll think “165% rise means a fall might be just as quick”.
You have misread that McFlock.
Try again
link said “prices-rise-165-per-cent-at-fonterra-globaldairytrade-auction”
If there’s a missing decimal point, my comment still stands.
A) No farmer will be thinking like that.
B) Little made his comments nearly six weeks ago, so anyone stupid enough to leap to the wrong conclusion will also be too stupid to remember back that far.
C) God you’re a tool.
Puckish Rogue
Don’t let Draco know that Whole milk powder prices have recovered 50% since the low in early August.
I know most farmers will still be making a loss this year but they are very happy about the 50% increase in whole milk powder price in just six weeks.
Draco T Bastard 9.1
7 September 2015 at 12:03 pm
“Sooner or later Treasury may get round to joining the rest of us in the real world.
Chances are that dairy prices won’t recover at all.”
How much do you think they have stock-piled – Fonterra that is -?
I don’t think the stores will be full at this early stage of the season
Hi Puckish Rogue,
Try clicking on the ‘5 years’ tab of the graph in this link.
You’ll see that the whole milk powder price – at $2,500/MT – has been trending down since the beginning of 2014 when it was at $5,000 and is still substantially down on the $3,500 price in late 2010.
At that scale, the years 2013 and 2014 look like an aberration (on the upside).
hmmm. And the annual lows seem to be in jun-sept, so saying that prices have increased over the last few months is a bit of a laugh, really
And you can see the 10 year dairy price index (all products) in the graph in this link.
HA! Maurice Williamson giving National nightmares again, https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/-oh-jesus-maurice-williamson-can-t-hide-scorn-of-his-own-party-mp-s-questions-q11058
Ha. That’s really funny. Williamson has clearly decided not to give a fuck anymore.
Yep: http://d3lgc28rsiigal.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Maurice-Williamson.jpg?f4521a
I can’t join the thread cos I’m using my phone but I’d like to +1 the above comments on Kim Dotcom. he and his family went through shit, he’s still going thru the ringer, it’s horrific. nobody should go thru that.
there’s got to be something wrong with the police at an institutional level for a raid to go ahead like that. I was beaten by cops when.I was a kid. I’m prepared to cut the force some slack for shit like that, but when you raid a private home like it was a gang headquarters, that’s clearly something a lot worse than a couple of hotheaded recruits. same with the tuhoi raids under labour. this ain’t a party political thing, this is a police thing.
Kim and his familiar had a shitter and.I feel real.sorry about that.
nice autocorrect eh
Caught red handed
Has anyone been watching Parliament in the last couple of days – David Cunliffe has been asking Stephen Joyce some questions about a group of tertiary bodies which are under investigation, one of which David Cunliffe has found out, has had a current National Party MP on the board. Mr Joyce has been looking suprisingly cowed and has developed a sudden penchant for answering questions with as few words as possible. Usually he rambles on and on and on with great gusto and enjoyment, until the Speaker tells him to shorten his replies. Very interesting. The Speaker has been trying to curtail David Cunliffe’s questions by saying they are too long. But Stephen Joyce has looked less than comfortable when the questions have been asked. It makes me think more and more that had David Cunliffe stayed as Leader, the Labour Party might be in a much better position right now – David Cunliffe would have made Bill English squirm if he was finance spokesman, Grant Robertson is very very unimpressive, so beltway, so blairite, so bland. National fear David Cunliffe, yet the ABC crowd were so filled with their own petty gripes against him, that they failed to see National’s fear of Cunliffe as a plus for the Labour Party.
Can you provide a link, please.
I’d like to see Cunliffe back in action again.
The link I have is: http://www.inthehouse.co.nz/video/39672
If King retires in November, as planned, we will know that Andrew Little is his own man.
If King remains as Deputy, and Cunliffe remains in a lowly position, we will know that the ABCs are in control.
For an interesting and entertaining read, see this:
Prime minister Jeremy Corbyn: the first 100 days
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/14/prime-minister-jeremy-corbyn-the-first-100-days
🙂 🙂