Just been scared of the implications of a Bill rushed through Parliament yesterday regarding the Payment of Families caring for Severely Handicapped Act. (Paraphrased)
Andrew Geddis on Pundit explains it well:
You simply tell the Human Rights Review Tribunal and the courts that they are not allowed to look at the policy and decide whether or not it is unlawfully discriminatory. That’s just what the Government is seeking to get Parliament to do under section 70E(2):
[When this law kicks in], no complaint based in whole or in part on a specified allegation [that the policy unlawfully discriminates] may be made to the Human Rights Commission, and no proceedings based in whole or in part on a specified allegation [that the policy unlawfully discriminates] may be commenced or continued in any court or tribunal.
Yeah it’s crazy. It’s the same bullying, cartel-loving psychology, that Torys are so comfortable with,
which we keep seeing in this 2nd term over and over again. Same with the GCSB law changes. Same with the reaction to NZPower. Same with offshore mining protest laws, etc.
You ain’t seen nothing yet, they’ve got their media mates onside and their chosen leader out front of labour so they will go from strength the strength with every move emboldening them for the next one.
A hitch appears to be how unhinged Shonkey gets all too easily, he wouldn’t know what serious pressure was and buckles under the power puff efforts the nz MSM toss in his direction.
I see this as another foot on the neck of advocacy for better government support of people struggling with getting fair resources. The government wants to silence the ordinary people from asking for more, because it distracts them and diverts money away from ..dah dah ‘the job and wealth creators’.
This is a piece that David Farrar put up about advocacy groups being put out of the Charities Act. (Recently applied to SST I think, and probably similar to the cases in the USA where the IRS was scrutinising the loony Right too much for gaining unfair tax advantages.)
Greens support lobby groups being charities
November 18th, 2012 at 7:00 am by David Farrar
On the one hand the Greens rail against lobbyists, yet on the other hand they say they should be able to be tax free charities. I guess the difference is whether or not they agree with them.
Green MP Denise Roche blogs::
Community organisations already spend much of their time advocating. They shouldn’t be excluded from getting charitable status (and tax exemption) because of this. Organisations of long standing repute including the National Council of Women have been denied charitable status on the basis that advocacy is their primary purpose. Advocacy is not currently deemed a ‘charitable purpose’ under the Act, and therefore they are denied tax exemption for donations.
And this is how it should be. Lobby groups should not be escaping tax. The National Council of Women is one of the most prolific lobby groups in New Zealand. It puts in a submission on almost every single bill before Parliament. Now good on them for being politically active, but allowing them to be a registered charity would be allowing any organisation to be a charity. Would we accept Business NZ being a registered charity?
On the back of the government’s announcement I have drafted a simple Private Member’s Bill to write advocacy into the definition of charitable purpose in the Charities Act as an ancillary purpose. I’ve been holding off for ages because I kept hearing that there would be a review and this would be the main focus of it.
That will make it open slater for every political lobby group in New Zealand to gain charitable tax status.
So government cannot discriminate for those wanting consideration for the strugglers, but no doubt has it’s door wide open to the robber barons and the fatnecks.
The Act comes into force in October. The use of urgency is an absolute affront. And it is that bad that Finlayson actually certified it breached the NZBOR.
Where is Farrar and Slater? I thought they were concerned about unconstitutional behaviour. The issues they jumped up and down about were minor in comparison.
Kim Hill had some good interviews today, started with Jeremy Scahill, and a brave Russian journalist who has been living in Boston and was a mine of information.
Something you can’t get much of in Russia. If the powers that be don’t like your reportage of them they take over your television station or exile you. One such exile went to Britain was found hanged in March this year apparently. The guy who was given radioactive polonium was a failure of that assassination project. He didn’t die quickly enough and lived for a week, which gave the boffins time to check all known possibilities. They found out the cause on his last day. Poor bloke! Society in Russia has been broken down so much over so many years that it is hard for better human standards to come to the fore then prevail.
I guess that’s the modern way. In Britain Margaret Thatcher was announcing a goal as a present reality when she said that there is no such thing as society.
Something you can’t get much of in Russia. If the powers that be don’t like your reportage of them they take over your television station or exile you.
Indeed, in the USA the Justice Dept simply takes journalists’ phone records and tracks down media informants and sources.
btw opposition political party views, coverage of protests and criticisms of Putin’s govt is common on Russian media. As long as you don’t go too far 🙂
Already banned in St Petersburg. And Pussy Riot etc etc So it would appear “too far” isn’t very far at all. Nor am I aware of the US making a habit of assassinating exiled dissidents (if they even have such a thing) with Polonium 210.
interesting review of a biography of Putin on RNZ this morning; “he picks ‘brawls’, withdraws, then starts the fight again at a later time”, was the interesting characterization.
No, Obama uses drones for individuals he doesn’t like, or military coups for governments that try the wrong sort of democracy. In the case of Bradley Manning, I’m sure he’d love to be exiled.
Matt
The USA is a different country, but their methods are not too dissimilar to those of Russia, and have been deteriorating I think since Russia threw out its form of communism. Now the USA doesn’t have to have better standards than the communists – the slogan is Let’s go for maxing the money, who cares what we do. Same in Britain.
When Washington stars taking over TV stations and exiling dissidents, you might have a point, but nah. Certainly the US is nowhere as free as its propaganda would have the world believe, but it’s considerably less violent and oppressive of its citizens than Russia is.
It’s a moot point that USA is less violent than Russia. It just has a different way of doing things. They thought up extraordinary rendition themselves. Declaring war on others. Driving citizens into criminals with harsh drug laws. Accepting prison rape as regular behaviour, kidnapping girls, shooting too many people. I don’t know how the stats mount up compared to other advanced, civilised countries.
So for all those champions of the U-S-A. Keep chanting, if it makes you feel better
Appeared to work in Boston, while the city was being used to test the reaction of deliberate overkill, via the military complex take-over on the streets!
“Kim Hill had some good interviews today, started with Jeremy Scahill, and a brave Russian journalist who has been living in Boston and was a mine of information”
She did – then some vacuous silly bitch called Nancy popped up and tried (unsuccessfully) to derail her – asking Kim to provide her with the giblets she wanted to hear (from a nuZull spektiv).
(Kim persevered with the email – as listener-feedback. I’m afraid it was all about Nancy)
Nancy only wants to hear things that DIRECTLY affect her from a Nu Zull spektiv). Thankfully Natrad has apparently lost Nancy’s undivided attention – she’ll probably have to slum it on talk-back radio.
Natrad is Natrad – except between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.
I’m picking Nancy will find solace with the utterly exceptional, EVERY person’s best friend: Jim MORA – and probably, of geatest interest: The Panel, or perhaps that lady with isss yoos – whatshername?…. dear old Keth – ladyskin of the Parliamentary 4th Estate Gallery, who we can trust to represent our best interests.
Not much left on the MSM aye! (Bee!). Thank Christ for weekends, and nights on Natrad.
.
Tim
Yeah Kim is a feisty thing. I love her even when there is something I don’t. A lot of people have never heard or thought about what a good interview is, and how they are done so they are all interesting and not just a list of questions with ten second replies – and which is your favourite whatever?
And it is funny and sad to hear the various moaning minnies and vicious vernons who want to cut her off at the knees. Nancy wasn’t my fancy. Silly woman was talking about wanting information of importance to NZs! Who make our money from selling goods – Overseas, so we can buy just about everything we use from- Overseas. I heard that when you travelled through international airports you had your shoes checked and you couldn’t carry liquids more than 100ml after the terrorist attacks by people from Overseas. Yes, Nancy there are all sorts of reasons to think that Overseas matters from non-fashionable countries are worth noting by us.
Tim don’t be too hard on 9to Noon, some good stuff there. And don’t forget Checkpoint after work. Just turn on at 10 to five and suffer the last of Jim Mora’s panel of beauts, and there may be a gem if you look hard enough, and then the lemonade goes away and the hard stuff gets served.
I attended a couple of Govt “consultation” meetings recentlyabout their proposed changes to the RMA – and these changes are BIG, prominent on economic growth and allowing business (, developers, mining ?) a much easier pathway through the resource consent process, and dismissive of environmental or social/community concerns. This is a hugely important issue for everyone who cares about the environment and what this Govt intends to do in the future to our lovely land.
Please pass on the details of these RMA information meetings being organised by the Green Party, and their Climate Change conference in Wellington, to anyone you know living in these areas.
Stand up for the Environment: RMA meetings
The Government’s proposed changes to the Resource Management Act undermine local democracy and environmental sustainability.
Join Green MP Eugenie Sage and guest speakers for a panel discussion on changes to the RMA and what they mean for local democracy in your community and New Zealand’s environment.
Hamilton When: Monday, May 20, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:15pm Where: Richardson Room at Child Matters, 480 Anglesea Street Hamilton
Nelson When: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm Where:Trafalgar Park Pavillion, 30 Trafalgar Street Nelson
Invercargill When: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm Where:Central Library, 50 Dee Street (Northern side entrance) Invercargill
Palmerston North When: Thursday, May 30, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm Where: Globe Theatre, 312 Main St. Palmerston North
Whanganui When: Thursday, June 6, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm, Email Eugenie Sage at Parliament for address details
Climate change conference When: Friday, June 7, 2013 – 9:00am – 4.30pm
Where: Legislative Council Chamber, Parliament
Kennedy Graham hosts a one-day climate change conference in Parliament on 7th June, with the aim of fostering cross-party and public dialogue on climate change. The conference will feature leading scientists, policy analysts, civil society, and private sector representatives, and will finish with a cross-party political panel. The conference is open to all who wish to attend. Registration is now open via the following link: http://meetingthechallenge.eventbrite.co.nz/#
from the debate on the Crown Minerals Amendment Act, Amendment Bill, Committee Stage Pt,1;
Chris Hipkins- “Simon Bridges stuffed up”, then “the Labour Party does support exploration”.
(Jacinda appeared intoxicated, not, intoxicating).
Sue Moroney- “an applicant who does not have “expertise” will be granted.
Little- amendment “splits Health and Safety, Environmental, from the Prospecting application stage, with applicants only needing to demonstrate that they are “likely” to have technical and financial capability, onus on the applicant”;effectively permits foot-in-the-door, rig on the ground.
Street- 37,000 submissions, 32,000 on provided forms, 5000 unique submissions, ALL NOT CONSIDERED; “Bridges afraid of public opinion”.
Hughes-“no Select Committee Stage”.
Robertson- effectively “it is now up to the Minister to determine if Health and Safety, Environmental requirements are met by new (unknown) players.
Likely to be a bureaucratic oversight, but be assured that the Chinese are playing this for every advantage. After all, it would be a shame for Chinese authorities to have to order the dumping of $2M worth of NZ red meat outside the harbour due to bad paperwork?
Dv
I noted one of the fast changing government entities on the Budget Roundup the other night. The truth about this Chinese matter is no doubt the old saw that constant restructuring loses efficiency and effectiveness as senior positions go, and institutional methods disappear. http://thestandard.org.nz/budget-roundup/#comment-634268
The entry for beehive.govt.nz of 1/6/2010 set out the situation for Wayne Mapp who was the Minister of the Department through its changing monikers. (He is now in Russia, up to what?)
The Minister of Science and Innovation on 1/6/2010 has become –
the Minister of Research, Science and Technology, and from 1 July 2012
this will be the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
The government workers can’t provide quality of work and effectiveness when they are being downsized in numbers and re-arranged like pieces in a kaleidoscope.
The trouble is that the political approach has grown to regard the country as a toy, or a potent cocktail that is to be both shaken and stirred. Unfortunately that is dragging up toxic ingredients from the sludge at the bottom of the hourglass.
There was a sugestion one of the reports that the chinese were using the “stuff up” to protect their own markets.
That idea would seem to have some currency as why are the nacts so quiet, guy has not returned any calls, and if it was a ‘simple stuff up,why would it take month to sort?
Dv
Yes that what I thought. The day after they heard about it the gummint trouble shooter for exports to Asia should have had tickets and accommodation for two nights booked and do something to help us sell our things – what we have to do and do and do. F..ks sake thinking she’ll be right and why don’t they read the docs and I’ve explained it over the phone to Mr Li or whoever and he says he understands but then I get another call. It isn’t enough. Some extra effort needed. Go with urgency like the government is using in the House.
Zespri, far from being an innocent party as it has claimed, knew its system for invoicing kiwifruit shipments to China was likely illegal the Star-Times has discovered.
Documents show the Mt Maunganui-based company was worried New Zealand Customs would discover what it was doing and alert its China counterparts.
Sources have revealed that staff tried to warn management that the dual invoicing was a big risk, but were ignored.
Maybe the chinese are now very suspicious ofdocumentation from NZ and that is why the sorting out is slow.
I really wish politicians on the left would put paid to this endless bullshit about taxpayers. Brian Gaynor is another repeating the lies about the top taxpayers;
“The top end of the employment market is strong and this benefits the Crown’s tax take as individuals on $80,000 or more account for 49 per cent of total income tax even though they represent only 11 per cent of the total work force by number”
He likely would have gotten his info from this source;
Those ‘taxpayers’ look to be every individual with an IRD number. It clearly includes all welfare beneficiaries; OAPs, DPB, Dole, Invalids etc. Even a quick glance shows a further 260,000 people with zero income and rather obviously not paying any tax yet these people keep including them all in this so-called ‘workforce’ of 3.375 million.
The true workforce is only around 2million which would make those on $80,000+ around 18% of the workforce by number.
The inclusion of beneficiaries in tax statistics is seriously skewing the numbers because they’ll nearly all appear in the lower income groups and distort the real facts about who pays tax.
Fat Cop
all these Fast-Food workers coming forward confirming how Police accept free fast-food “backhanders” for free security, while the Policeman arrested on P work for the Head Hunters delivered drugs in uniform, in his police-car; his wife a DHB clinician, knowingly spending the proceeds. Bad Boys!
Schools employ Hollywood movies to assist kids to (passively) read. Imagine Dragons ; Radioactive
for example, avoiding paying your student loan can lead to your grades going from 40K to over 100K
(where the bloody hell are ya)
got them High Hopes?
Research finds residential sales, 8% to foreign buyers but “it will grow”.
In Auckland, to address housing, 1/2 of suburbs permitted to be in-filled with buildings of Three Stories (Mixed-Housing Zone) and buildings can exceed 4, 5 and 6 stories in Terraced and Apartment Zones; non-notified, restricted discretionary (regulatory) activity.
Liked this from David Shearer, (National), “full of big-noters, show-boaters and no-hopers”
From Russell Norman- (The Budget) “is a debt train-wreck”!!!
for The Al1en /s (“Cumberbitches”, now there is a generous man) Interestingly, ST, Into Darkness portrays a Shadowplay between the two main protagonists…
Swings and roundabouts; Key knows we’re heading for the bottom, and he’s riding us, yes he’s riding us; The Camptown ladies sing this song Do dah, Do dah. Screaming Trees, “calling me back to my skin”. Isn’t it funny how we dance along the edge of the Pro-lab Dune like Matchstick Men. Thanks for the Trim. Silence is Golden listening to the current On The Radio; Pictures of Lilly, lilly eli Lilly. the Cider House rules, for now Paint the whole world with a Rainbow, Satellite Above. Grease is the word is the word that you heard, it’s got meaning I was walking in the park just the other night Baby (it’s You) , whatta ya think I saw (I’ll leave the light on, easier to feel the fine tolerances), Here, have a banana.
(1)11 is a joke, ring the po-leece and get burgled, double-up, while they come to buy, flavouring the flow, there’s not a minute to spare. Don’t Worry, Be Happy, Swedish House Mafia will “Save The World”, “it’s time that you stop being so important”, We are Scientists, after all, Stylo, is this love electronic? No Problem /s to report on any of the major interchanges, a million miles away you signal in the distance to whom it may concern, learning to walk again, learning to talk again. Those Flaming Lips sing it, yeah, yeah, yeah, Check yo’self ‘fore you wreck yourself, cos shotgun bullets are bad for your health.
-just a little Logo nTherapy, now, Lets Talk About trevor. without Warning, The Wizard walks by, casting his shadow, weaving his spell, funny clothes, tinkling bell. Sleep Comes Down (the Devilskin, never see the light). These are the tells, of love, and loss, and love; love based on a true story, all I do is keep the beat and the Bad Company. Chelsea Princess, Repetition.
-“the world is not a miserable prison; a playground for a non-stop tournament between stupidity and imagination”.
-James Broughton
Show (them) How to Live.
Moby said “we are all made of stars”, and I agree.
ST – The way socialists should want the world to turn out like… After we finish saving it, that is.
Social justice and equality that bypasses nations for the common good.
Why does the future have to taste of dystopia?
cos’ it’s in the ‘scriptures’ and that is what is ingrained in the cultural-historically derived psyches of the collective; “be a good (capitalist, follower of the authorities, individualist, make the Right choices, work hard, gain the credentials, solve the angst of the childless couple with IVF, eat your weeties, fence off those ‘others’ etc) and you will, literally, go to heaven, or damn the lot of you. Nietzsche, the most influential Western philosopher read it before it all unfolded, Confucius and Lao Tzu prescribed what would be necessary, Ellul (amongst others, like Huxley) prophecied what would unfold, Philip K. Dick wrote the story, J.J Abrams directed the film, Jesus Christ offered to set us free (The Kingdom of heaven is within you) and John (alongside others, Greer et al;) watched.
well, the only MPs who appear to have the integrity to stand up to “big corporate” globalization are Green and on the back-burners of Labour; the Right are certainly putting the screws on though, unprecedented High Stakes; wait until the next “Act of God”, environmental disaster “act of man” occurs, then there will be some panic.
Hold all the balls in your mind at once and you can see the Dark Art at work.
I recall hearing a few snippets on the news a few weeks ago re Key suggesting that the government may be willing to finance or part finance a new conference centre in Queenstown. At the time, it seemed weird as there was also indications that the money to build the centre was already sorted. Sorry, don’t have time to find a link right now.
From this latest news item, it seems that “Sky City already owns another casino in Queenstown and is in a consortium which is the preferred group to build a convention centre there.”
So, is the Queenstown situation tied in with the Government’s deal for Auckland?
And they boast about having a bit of a casino monopoly
Entertainment is our core business. SKYCITY has a strong and enviable collection of assets, including some of the most significant urban monopoly casino licences in New Zealand and Australia.
tc
You are right about the eyesore in Christchurch. To get an attractive building in Auckland the citizens up there will have to be in control of the design or it might look like a prison, the one in Christchurch was sterile on the outside.
Nice one Russel Norman. Just referred to Gerry as ‘The Colossus of Roads”. It’s interesting about that petrol tax to be raised. The infrastructure that it should be spent on is public rail and Gisborne line. It’s important that good transport is available to all the regions.
It has been obvious that some people live in a different world than the rest of us.
One where Chicago school economics work! One where you save the village by blowing it up! One where global warming can be stopped, Canute-like, by legislation. One where dropping wages and giving everything to bloated financiers, makes us better off! One where removing money from an economy makes it work better. One where every country is going to get rich by out exporting every other country. One where enabling greater inequality than the dark ages, works!
The one with the trickle down fairy. “Give us the money and we will pee on you”.
The market fairy. “Leave it to the market and we will cut your wages,impoverish your children, and tell you it is a brighter future”.
The Austerity fairy. “We will become better off by becoming poorer”.
The catching-up-with-Australia fairy. “We will catch up with Australia by doing almost the opposite of everything they have done”.
The Democracy fairy. “We will let you vote, to change the names in Government, or on a few social issues which do not affect our making money off you, but not to make any meaningful changes to the way the country is run”.
The privatisation fairy. “We will ensure that the NZ current account is forever in deficit, by selling all the income earning assets”
The debt fairy. “We will cut debt by borrowing $300mill a week, to pay for unaffordable tax cuts, to pay for our Hawaii holidays”.
The Job fairy. ” We will increase the number of jobs by putting thousands out of work, and cutting the unemployment benefit”.
The “We support business” fairy. While ensuring New Zealanders have no money to buy from local businesses, and increasing small businesses costs.
The better future fairy. “We will give you a better future by paying you less, charging you more and cutting services”.
It is pretty obvious which side of the political spectrum is on another planet. Planet Key!
I watched last night, as the government forced through its outrageous anti-protest legislation, formally and preposterously entitled The Crown Minerals Act Amendment Bill 2013 Amendment Bill. Labour and the Greens put up a string of serious, well prepared speakers: Gareth Hughes, Andrew Little, Grant Robertson, Moana Mackey, Chris Hipkins and Maryan Street. After insultingly brief and inadequate speeches by two of its lesser lights, Sam Lotu-Liga and Mark Mitchell, National just sat it out; as well as having no arguments, they had nobody capable of mounting any coherent defence of this assault on our democracy.
The man responsible for this disastrous legislation, Simon Bridges, was in the house, and was asked by every speaker to get up and answer for himself; he was obviously just not up to it. A couple of times the cameras cut to him, furtively shuffling (but not reading) papers, with a perplexed and pained expression.
Mozza, I very much doubt Simon Bridges is responsible for anything, other than bending over on request, being a sock-puppet, a traitor and a coward, who is the servant to the masters…
The masters are not likely to be onshore in NZ, and I would doubt that the core protagonists in the house, see themselves as NZ’ers!
Yeah…….wee Simon’s a puppy who yaps and drools on demand. Not an ounce of balls in him. Former Crown prosecutor you see……it’s all about “winning” and putting people behind bars, deservedly or not, as a reflex. No broad morality. He just follows orders.
Heaps of regard to the perks and the travel and the handsome stipend and the pension however. Prick. Not a gram of principle in him. Lacking balls and principle. Interested only in being a “darling”.
I agree that Bridges is the stooge rather than the instigator; however he is the minister responsible for this, even if it is really Steven Joyce and Peter Goodfellow pulling his strings. If Bridges had an ounce of integrity, he would have resigned by now, but he has stayed on to front this terrible legislation. He will bear the full blame for it eventually, and he doesn’t deserve any sympathy.
And some comments, like “all I can see now are a pair of rubber tits”.
Words fail me. Looking at Roughan’s column, I asked myself, “What kind of animal writes this shit?” and then I read the comments to get the answer: the sort who… never mind, I don’t want to articulate my answer fully.
Roughan…….big fish little pond fuckwit. Intrusiveness is his right…….because he’s big fish little pond fuckwit Roughan with a platform alongside equally egocentric fools. New Zealand is so sick in that regard.
I took it to be largely tongue in cheek. You might remember Clare Curran was thrown out because she wore a football jersey (or some such garment) about a year ago. I thought there might have been a bit of tit for tat going on. Agree though… it was rather stupid.
Andrew Little’s point of order appeared to be quite serious. And for that, ridiculous. The guy needs to get a life. If he wanted to comment on dress, he should have congratulated Gareth Hughes from the Greens who looked particularly fetching (seriously) in his grey suit and black tie, and his speech was impressive too 🙂
Re Little.I was interested that TV3 (I think) picked up on that and costed out the amount that the time taken to deal with the jersey issue would have cost the taxpayer.Can’t remember what it came to, but I don’t understand why the same attention is never given to key when he nuts off on one of his kindy tantrums.Must be costing us a lot more money for the time he wastes.
I wonder why, if Little was gonna raise a point of order about dress at all, he didn’t have a go at Tony-Ryall-Neighbour-Of-Susan.
Note I’m not saying Tones wears a dress. I’m saying that recidivistly he daily commits fashion crime, what with his pinstripes up against checked tablecloth shirts. You gotta go for the real criminals Little.
Not Auchinvole or Sockinhole or whatever his name is. He seemed to love the attention anyway. Compared to Tones he was sartorial inoffensiveness defined.
Re why TV3 made a point of it ? Maybe Mr Bean’s Cuzzy Power (Trip) Gower is personally, darkly, “really angry” about the carry-on in the House and will next cost out the time consumed by ShonKey Python’s rhubarbs, can’t recalls, throat slitting gestures and risible expressions and non-expressions of confidence in Botox Banks.
Oh, Poor Paddy, it’s such a burden being part of the story with the weight of the nation upon him, Gilmore “lying to ME”, Steven Joyce calling HIM aside – “Look PADDY, it’s like this……..”, having to LICK ShonKey’s arse.
Lewis examines a number of hypotheses, from rising incomes to growing female literacy. Those are all moderately correlated with the decline in birthrates and could help explain the shift. But, curiously enough, nothing seems to match up with the trends as neatly as the growth in TV ownership and media exposure.
Television in developing countries is also correlated with:
– reduced acceptability of domestic violence
– reduced son preference
– increased female autonomy
The study thinks it might be more than rising incomes, but television is actually changing cultural norms. (Now there’s a debate that’s been a first world problem for awhile). I wonder if these developing countries have Snookie and ‘The Only Way is Essex’ 😉
Unlike Dave Dobbin, who doesn’t listen to other peoples songs when he’s writing, I will if it’s asked of me 😉
That’s a very spinal tap looking vid. Cut and blow dries for all 😆
The tv series the history of rock (was on prime ages ago at least twice) has an interview with one of the kinks, saying how he used to cut up his speaker cones to get them to distort.
I’d hate to guess what I’d have to slit to get a decent vocal sound.
Thank goodness for software.
“I’m not a number; Ooh, that’s why I’m easy, I’m easy like a Sunday morning.
I’ve paid my dues to make it
I’m not happy when I try to fake it, no
I wanna be free to know
The things I do are right”.
(been some investment)
“Haven’t changed, haven’t much to ‘say’
Plenty of unused thoughts to give away,
Hardly ever Blue, is a greeting from a friend.”
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
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 A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
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Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
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On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
Just been scared of the implications of a Bill rushed through Parliament yesterday regarding the Payment of Families caring for Severely Handicapped Act. (Paraphrased)
Andrew Geddis on Pundit explains it well:
You simply tell the Human Rights Review Tribunal and the courts that they are not allowed to look at the policy and decide whether or not it is unlawfully discriminatory. That’s just what the Government is seeking to get Parliament to do under section 70E(2):
[When this law kicks in], no complaint based in whole or in part on a specified allegation [that the policy unlawfully discriminates] may be made to the Human Rights Commission, and no proceedings based in whole or in part on a specified allegation [that the policy unlawfully discriminates] may be commenced or continued in any court or tribunal.
What! No HRC or Court can examine the legality of this!(Same power as given Brownlie?)
Aren’t you a little bit frightened at this???
http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/i-think-national-just-broke-our-constitution#comment-35209
Yeah it’s crazy. It’s the same bullying, cartel-loving psychology, that Torys are so comfortable with,
which we keep seeing in this 2nd term over and over again. Same with the GCSB law changes. Same with the reaction to NZPower. Same with offshore mining protest laws, etc.
You ain’t seen nothing yet, they’ve got their media mates onside and their chosen leader out front of labour so they will go from strength the strength with every move emboldening them for the next one.
A hitch appears to be how unhinged Shonkey gets all too easily, he wouldn’t know what serious pressure was and buckles under the power puff efforts the nz MSM toss in his direction.
I see this as another foot on the neck of advocacy for better government support of people struggling with getting fair resources. The government wants to silence the ordinary people from asking for more, because it distracts them and diverts money away from ..dah dah ‘the job and wealth creators’.
This is a piece that David Farrar put up about advocacy groups being put out of the Charities Act. (Recently applied to SST I think, and probably similar to the cases in the USA where the IRS was scrutinising the loony Right too much for gaining unfair tax advantages.)
Greens support lobby groups being charities
November 18th, 2012 at 7:00 am by David Farrar
On the one hand the Greens rail against lobbyists, yet on the other hand they say they should be able to be tax free charities. I guess the difference is whether or not they agree with them.
Green MP Denise Roche blogs::
Community organisations already spend much of their time advocating. They shouldn’t be excluded from getting charitable status (and tax exemption) because of this. Organisations of long standing repute including the National Council of Women have been denied charitable status on the basis that advocacy is their primary purpose. Advocacy is not currently deemed a ‘charitable purpose’ under the Act, and therefore they are denied tax exemption for donations.
And this is how it should be. Lobby groups should not be escaping tax. The National Council of Women is one of the most prolific lobby groups in New Zealand. It puts in a submission on almost every single bill before Parliament. Now good on them for being politically active, but allowing them to be a registered charity would be allowing any organisation to be a charity. Would we accept Business NZ being a registered charity?
On the back of the government’s announcement I have drafted a simple Private Member’s Bill to write advocacy into the definition of charitable purpose in the Charities Act as an ancillary purpose. I’ve been holding off for ages because I kept hearing that there would be a review and this would be the main focus of it.
That will make it open slater for every political lobby group in New Zealand to gain charitable tax status.
So government cannot discriminate for those wanting consideration for the strugglers, but no doubt has it’s door wide open to the robber barons and the fatnecks.
The Act comes into force in October. The use of urgency is an absolute affront. And it is that bad that Finlayson actually certified it breached the NZBOR.
Where is Farrar and Slater? I thought they were concerned about unconstitutional behaviour. The issues they jumped up and down about were minor in comparison.
Base server out at 0745 right while I was moving to a new server (damnit) that doesn’t crap out so often. Back (finally) at 1155.
Resuming the move. There will be a period later in the afternoon or evening when the server goes off for a short period to effect the change over.
Thanks lprent Hope all goes smoothly.
Kim Hill had some good interviews today, started with Jeremy Scahill, and a brave Russian journalist who has been living in Boston and was a mine of information.
Something you can’t get much of in Russia. If the powers that be don’t like your reportage of them they take over your television station or exile you. One such exile went to Britain was found hanged in March this year apparently. The guy who was given radioactive polonium was a failure of that assassination project. He didn’t die quickly enough and lived for a week, which gave the boffins time to check all known possibilities. They found out the cause on his last day. Poor bloke! Society in Russia has been broken down so much over so many years that it is hard for better human standards to come to the fore then prevail.
I guess that’s the modern way. In Britain Margaret Thatcher was announcing a goal as a present reality when she said that there is no such thing as society.
Indeed, in the USA the Justice Dept simply takes journalists’ phone records and tracks down media informants and sources.
btw opposition political party views, coverage of protests and criticisms of Putin’s govt is common on Russian media. As long as you don’t go too far 🙂
they are about to ban “gay propaganda”.
Already banned in St Petersburg. And Pussy Riot etc etc So it would appear “too far” isn’t very far at all. Nor am I aware of the US making a habit of assassinating exiled dissidents (if they even have such a thing) with Polonium 210.
interesting review of a biography of Putin on RNZ this morning; “he picks ‘brawls’, withdraws, then starts the fight again at a later time”, was the interesting characterization.
Sort of like the musical chairs he plays with Prime Minister rand President.
Meh, Pussy Riot tried to garner western media and popular support, and that alone went down very poorly with the Russian public.
So the fuck what? What kind of fucking populist Nazi argument is that?
An unforced self Godwin. Hilarious.
Poppy, stand up, take a bow son!
Whatever, you’re still a disgusting hypocrite pissing on human rights in Russia
No, Obama uses drones for individuals he doesn’t like, or military coups for governments that try the wrong sort of democracy. In the case of Bradley Manning, I’m sure he’d love to be exiled.
Well I’m sure he could have defected while he was comitting treason
He hasn’t been charged with treason, let alone convicted of it.
“Indeed, in the USA the Justice Dept simply takes journalists’ phone records and tracks down media informants and sources.”
And then takes over your TV station or exiles or assassinates you! Oh.
Matt
The USA is a different country, but their methods are not too dissimilar to those of Russia, and have been deteriorating I think since Russia threw out its form of communism. Now the USA doesn’t have to have better standards than the communists – the slogan is Let’s go for maxing the money, who cares what we do. Same in Britain.
When Washington stars taking over TV stations and exiling dissidents, you might have a point, but nah. Certainly the US is nowhere as free as its propaganda would have the world believe, but it’s considerably less violent and oppressive of its citizens than Russia is.
US government doesn’t need to use violence to intimidate its citizens. Its citizens are too busy intimidating each other.
It’s a moot point that USA is less violent than Russia. It just has a different way of doing things. They thought up extraordinary rendition themselves. Declaring war on others. Driving citizens into criminals with harsh drug laws. Accepting prison rape as regular behaviour, kidnapping girls, shooting too many people. I don’t know how the stats mount up compared to other advanced, civilised countries.
Yes exactly. Please accept my slight edit. When you count how many foreign persons the USA kills weekly, the picture is quite different.
Also, I believe that USA prison and prison labour camps contain far more citizens than Russian ones.
So for all those champions of the U-S-A. Keep chanting, if it makes you feel better.
Appeared to work in Boston, while the city was being used to test the reaction of deliberate overkill, via the military complex take-over on the streets!
USA-USA-USA
That’s kind of ironic coming from someone who claims to be a nationalist
“Kim Hill had some good interviews today, started with Jeremy Scahill, and a brave Russian journalist who has been living in Boston and was a mine of information”
She did – then some vacuous silly bitch called Nancy popped up and tried (unsuccessfully) to derail her – asking Kim to provide her with the giblets she wanted to hear (from a nuZull spektiv).
(Kim persevered with the email – as listener-feedback. I’m afraid it was all about Nancy)
Nancy only wants to hear things that DIRECTLY affect her from a Nu Zull spektiv). Thankfully Natrad has apparently lost Nancy’s undivided attention – she’ll probably have to slum it on talk-back radio.
Natrad is Natrad – except between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.
I’m picking Nancy will find solace with the utterly exceptional, EVERY person’s best friend: Jim MORA – and probably, of geatest interest: The Panel, or perhaps that lady with isss yoos – whatshername?…. dear old Keth – ladyskin of the Parliamentary 4th Estate Gallery, who we can trust to represent our best interests.
Not much left on the MSM aye! (Bee!). Thank Christ for weekends, and nights on Natrad.
.
Tim
Yeah Kim is a feisty thing. I love her even when there is something I don’t. A lot of people have never heard or thought about what a good interview is, and how they are done so they are all interesting and not just a list of questions with ten second replies – and which is your favourite whatever?
And it is funny and sad to hear the various moaning minnies and vicious vernons who want to cut her off at the knees. Nancy wasn’t my fancy. Silly woman was talking about wanting information of importance to NZs! Who make our money from selling goods – Overseas, so we can buy just about everything we use from- Overseas. I heard that when you travelled through international airports you had your shoes checked and you couldn’t carry liquids more than 100ml after the terrorist attacks by people from Overseas. Yes, Nancy there are all sorts of reasons to think that Overseas matters from non-fashionable countries are worth noting by us.
Tim don’t be too hard on 9to Noon, some good stuff there. And don’t forget Checkpoint after work. Just turn on at 10 to five and suffer the last of Jim Mora’s panel of beauts, and there may be a gem if you look hard enough, and then the lemonade goes away and the hard stuff gets served.
Is my ban over yet?
[lprent: 12th of June according to the ban notes. ]
I attended a couple of Govt “consultation” meetings recentlyabout their proposed changes to the RMA – and these changes are BIG, prominent on economic growth and allowing business (, developers, mining ?) a much easier pathway through the resource consent process, and dismissive of environmental or social/community concerns. This is a hugely important issue for everyone who cares about the environment and what this Govt intends to do in the future to our lovely land.
Please pass on the details of these RMA information meetings being organised by the Green Party, and their Climate Change conference in Wellington, to anyone you know living in these areas.
Stand up for the Environment: RMA meetings
The Government’s proposed changes to the Resource Management Act undermine local democracy and environmental sustainability.
Join Green MP Eugenie Sage and guest speakers for a panel discussion on changes to the RMA and what they mean for local democracy in your community and New Zealand’s environment.
Hamilton When: Monday, May 20, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:15pm Where: Richardson Room at Child Matters, 480 Anglesea Street Hamilton
Nelson When: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm Where:Trafalgar Park Pavillion, 30 Trafalgar Street Nelson
Invercargill When: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm Where:Central Library, 50 Dee Street (Northern side entrance) Invercargill
Palmerston North When: Thursday, May 30, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm Where: Globe Theatre, 312 Main St. Palmerston North
Whanganui When: Thursday, June 6, 2013 – 7:30pm – 9:30pm, Email Eugenie Sage at Parliament for address details
Climate change conference When: Friday, June 7, 2013 – 9:00am – 4.30pm
Where: Legislative Council Chamber, Parliament
Kennedy Graham hosts a one-day climate change conference in Parliament on 7th June, with the aim of fostering cross-party and public dialogue on climate change. The conference will feature leading scientists, policy analysts, civil society, and private sector representatives, and will finish with a cross-party political panel. The conference is open to all who wish to attend. Registration is now open via the following link: http://meetingthechallenge.eventbrite.co.nz/#
from the debate on the Crown Minerals Amendment Act, Amendment Bill, Committee Stage Pt,1;
Chris Hipkins- “Simon Bridges stuffed up”, then “the Labour Party does support exploration”.
(Jacinda appeared intoxicated, not, intoxicating).
Sue Moroney- “an applicant who does not have “expertise” will be granted.
Little- amendment “splits Health and Safety, Environmental, from the Prospecting application stage, with applicants only needing to demonstrate that they are “likely” to have technical and financial capability, onus on the applicant”;effectively permits foot-in-the-door, rig on the ground.
Street- 37,000 submissions, 32,000 on provided forms, 5000 unique submissions, ALL NOT CONSIDERED; “Bridges afraid of public opinion”.
Hughes-“no Select Committee Stage”.
Robertson- effectively “it is now up to the Minister to determine if Health and Safety, Environmental requirements are met by new (unknown) players.
3 News had an interesting item last where lamb shipments are being held at the chinese boarder.
Also on dompost, but not on line.
Apparently it is because the paperwork is not correct after the import certification was changed when the Ministry of Primary Industries was formed.
The Nats have known about it for a month, but have been very quiet.
Is there more to this?, or is it just an ‘oversight’?
Likely to be a bureaucratic oversight, but be assured that the Chinese are playing this for every advantage. After all, it would be a shame for Chinese authorities to have to order the dumping of $2M worth of NZ red meat outside the harbour due to bad paperwork?
Dv
I noted one of the fast changing government entities on the Budget Roundup the other night. The truth about this Chinese matter is no doubt the old saw that constant restructuring loses efficiency and effectiveness as senior positions go, and institutional methods disappear.
http://thestandard.org.nz/budget-roundup/#comment-634268
The entry for beehive.govt.nz of 1/6/2010 set out the situation for Wayne Mapp who was the Minister of the Department through its changing monikers. (He is now in Russia, up to what?)
The Minister of Science and Innovation on 1/6/2010 has become –
the Minister of Research, Science and Technology, and from 1 July 2012
this will be the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
The government workers can’t provide quality of work and effectiveness when they are being downsized in numbers and re-arranged like pieces in a kaleidoscope.
The trouble is that the political approach has grown to regard the country as a toy, or a potent cocktail that is to be both shaken and stirred. Unfortunately that is dragging up toxic ingredients from the sludge at the bottom of the hourglass.
Cv and prism
There was a sugestion one of the reports that the chinese were using the “stuff up” to protect their own markets.
That idea would seem to have some currency as why are the nacts so quiet, guy has not returned any calls, and if it was a ‘simple stuff up,why would it take month to sort?
Dv
Yes that what I thought. The day after they heard about it the gummint trouble shooter for exports to Asia should have had tickets and accommodation for two nights booked and do something to help us sell our things – what we have to do and do and do. F..ks sake thinking she’ll be right and why don’t they read the docs and I’ve explained it over the phone to Mr Li or whoever and he says he understands but then I get another call. It isn’t enough. Some extra effort needed. Go with urgency like the government is using in the House.
The delay may be related to the kiwifruit/zespri scam
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/8690353/Suitcases-of-cash-in-kiwifruit-scandal
Zespri, far from being an innocent party as it has claimed, knew its system for invoicing kiwifruit shipments to China was likely illegal the Star-Times has discovered.
Documents show the Mt Maunganui-based company was worried New Zealand Customs would discover what it was doing and alert its China counterparts.
Sources have revealed that staff tried to warn management that the dual invoicing was a big risk, but were ignored.
Maybe the chinese are now very suspicious ofdocumentation from NZ and that is why the sorting out is slow.
RNZ National has covered this in most news over the last 24 hours. This is their latest
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/135469/farmers-confident-about-stranded-meat
I really wish politicians on the left would put paid to this endless bullshit about taxpayers. Brian Gaynor is another repeating the lies about the top taxpayers;
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10884402
To quote;
“The top end of the employment market is strong and this benefits the Crown’s tax take as individuals on $80,000 or more account for 49 per cent of total income tax even though they represent only 11 per cent of the total work force by number”
He likely would have gotten his info from this source;
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/budget/2013/taxpayers/b13-taxpayers.pdf
Those ‘taxpayers’ look to be every individual with an IRD number. It clearly includes all welfare beneficiaries; OAPs, DPB, Dole, Invalids etc. Even a quick glance shows a further 260,000 people with zero income and rather obviously not paying any tax yet these people keep including them all in this so-called ‘workforce’ of 3.375 million.
The true workforce is only around 2million which would make those on $80,000+ around 18% of the workforce by number.
The inclusion of beneficiaries in tax statistics is seriously skewing the numbers because they’ll nearly all appear in the lower income groups and distort the real facts about who pays tax.
Fat Cop
all these Fast-Food workers coming forward confirming how Police accept free fast-food “backhanders” for free security, while the Policeman arrested on P work for the Head Hunters delivered drugs in uniform, in his police-car; his wife a DHB clinician, knowingly spending the proceeds.
Bad Boys!
Schools employ Hollywood movies to assist kids to (passively) read.
Imagine Dragons ; Radioactive
for example, avoiding paying your student loan can lead to your grades going from 40K to over 100K
(where the bloody hell are ya)
got them High Hopes?
Research finds residential sales, 8% to foreign buyers but “it will grow”.
In Auckland, to address housing, 1/2 of suburbs permitted to be in-filled with buildings of Three Stories (Mixed-Housing Zone) and buildings can exceed 4, 5 and 6 stories in Terraced and Apartment Zones; non-notified, restricted discretionary (regulatory) activity.
Liked this from David Shearer, (National), “full of big-noters, show-boaters and no-hopers”
From Russell Norman- (The Budget) “is a debt train-wreck”!!!
Jack , free from 21 😀
Institutions, not only the police, are heavily involved in NZ narcotics *market*, along with some very high profile *professionals*!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8689407/Police-officer-accused-of-working-with-gang
an award winning one at that!
Is anyone else on here NOT surprised?
Tip of the iceberg!
Another low level operator, takes the wrap, as if operating in silo, without any *support*!
Muldoon, was *friendly* with the gangs, this goes back a very long way, and it goes to the top!
for The Al1en /s (“Cumberbitches”, now there is a generous man) Interestingly, ST, Into Darkness portrays a Shadowplay between the two main protagonists…
Swings and roundabouts; Key knows we’re heading for the bottom, and he’s riding us, yes he’s riding us; The Camptown ladies sing this song Do dah, Do dah. Screaming Trees, “calling me back to my skin”. Isn’t it funny how we dance along the edge of the Pro-lab Dune like Matchstick Men. Thanks for the Trim. Silence is Golden listening to the current On The Radio; Pictures of Lilly, lilly eli Lilly. the Cider House rules, for now Paint the whole world with a Rainbow, Satellite Above. Grease is the word is the word that you heard, it’s got meaning I was walking in the park just the other night Baby (it’s You) , whatta ya think I saw (I’ll leave the light on, easier to feel the fine tolerances), Here, have a banana.
(1)11 is a joke, ring the po-leece and get burgled, double-up, while they come to buy, flavouring the flow, there’s not a minute to spare. Don’t Worry, Be Happy, Swedish House Mafia will “Save The World”, “it’s time that you stop being so important”, We are Scientists, after all, Stylo, is this love electronic? No Problem /s to report on any of the major interchanges, a million miles away you signal in the distance to whom it may concern, learning to walk again, learning to talk again. Those Flaming Lips sing it, yeah, yeah, yeah, Check yo’self ‘fore you wreck yourself, cos shotgun bullets are bad for your health.
-just a little Logo nTherapy, now, Lets Talk About trevor. without Warning, The Wizard walks by, casting his shadow, weaving his spell, funny clothes, tinkling bell. Sleep Comes Down (the Devilskin, never see the light). These are the tells, of love, and loss, and love; love based on a true story, all I do is keep the beat and the Bad Company. Chelsea Princess, Repetition.
-“the world is not a miserable prison; a playground for a non-stop tournament between stupidity and imagination”.
-James Broughton
Show (them) How to Live.
“for The Al1en /s”
Moby said “we are all made of stars”, and I agree.
ST – The way socialists should want the world to turn out like… After we finish saving it, that is.
Social justice and equality that bypasses nations for the common good.
Why does the future have to taste of dystopia?
cos’ it’s in the ‘scriptures’ and that is what is ingrained in the cultural-historically derived psyches of the collective; “be a good (capitalist, follower of the authorities, individualist, make the Right choices, work hard, gain the credentials, solve the angst of the childless couple with IVF, eat your weeties, fence off those ‘others’ etc) and you will, literally, go to heaven, or damn the lot of you. Nietzsche, the most influential Western philosopher read it before it all unfolded, Confucius and Lao Tzu prescribed what would be necessary, Ellul (amongst others, like Huxley) prophecied what would unfold, Philip K. Dick wrote the story, J.J Abrams directed the film, Jesus Christ offered to set us free (The Kingdom of heaven is within you) and John (alongside others, Greer et al;) watched.
There’s no point in having two ends to a candle if you’re not going to burn them, we just got to work harder and smarter to make sure we win.
Old red green eyes is back in town.
well, the only MPs who appear to have the integrity to stand up to “big corporate” globalization are Green and on the back-burners of Labour; the Right are certainly putting the screws on though, unprecedented High Stakes; wait until the next “Act of God”, environmental disaster “act of man” occurs, then there will be some panic.
Hold all the balls in your mind at once and you can see the Dark Art at work.
Whitechapel to follow.
Control the cue ball and you control the game.
In amerika, they call spin English, don’t you know?
distortion ist wunderbar; Ramm it home Bass.
Just found this on the RNZ website
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/135436/casino-in-queenstown-bought-by-sky-city
I recall hearing a few snippets on the news a few weeks ago re Key suggesting that the government may be willing to finance or part finance a new conference centre in Queenstown. At the time, it seemed weird as there was also indications that the money to build the centre was already sorted. Sorry, don’t have time to find a link right now.
From this latest news item, it seems that “Sky City already owns another casino in Queenstown and is in a consortium which is the preferred group to build a convention centre there.”
So, is the Queenstown situation tied in with the Government’s deal for Auckland?
So with this, hamilton, the eyesore in akl and chch do they now have a monopoly or is chch owned by another.
Also Adelaide and Darwin.
And they boast about having a bit of a casino monopoly
It’s all a board game really!
Government granted licence to print money at the expense of the poor and struggling.
tc
You are right about the eyesore in Christchurch. To get an attractive building in Auckland the citizens up there will have to be in control of the design or it might look like a prison, the one in Christchurch was sterile on the outside.
Nice one Russel Norman. Just referred to Gerry as ‘The Colossus of Roads”. It’s interesting about that petrol tax to be raised. The infrastructure that it should be spent on is public rail and Gisborne line. It’s important that good transport is available to all the regions.
The magical world of New Zealand’s Neo-Liberal right wing
by KJT
http://kjt-kt.blogspot.co.nz/
It has been obvious that some people live in a different world than the rest of us.
One where Chicago school economics work! One where you save the village by blowing it up! One where global warming can be stopped, Canute-like, by legislation. One where dropping wages and giving everything to bloated financiers, makes us better off! One where removing money from an economy makes it work better. One where every country is going to get rich by out exporting every other country. One where enabling greater inequality than the dark ages, works!
The one with the trickle down fairy. “Give us the money and we will pee on you”.
The market fairy. “Leave it to the market and we will cut your wages,impoverish your children, and tell you it is a brighter future”.
The Austerity fairy. “We will become better off by becoming poorer”.
The catching-up-with-Australia fairy. “We will catch up with Australia by doing almost the opposite of everything they have done”.
The Democracy fairy. “We will let you vote, to change the names in Government, or on a few social issues which do not affect our making money off you, but not to make any meaningful changes to the way the country is run”.
The privatisation fairy. “We will ensure that the NZ current account is forever in deficit, by selling all the income earning assets”
The debt fairy. “We will cut debt by borrowing $300mill a week, to pay for unaffordable tax cuts, to pay for our Hawaii holidays”.
The Job fairy. ” We will increase the number of jobs by putting thousands out of work, and cutting the unemployment benefit”.
The “We support business” fairy. While ensuring New Zealanders have no money to buy from local businesses, and increasing small businesses costs.
The better future fairy. “We will give you a better future by paying you less, charging you more and cutting services”.
It is pretty obvious which side of the political spectrum is on another planet. Planet Key!
http://kjt-kt.blogspot.co.nz/
Excellent.
“The DoC will run better fairy, by cutting it’s budgets and sacking all it’s experienced and specialist staff'”
Hi Morrissey
100% bang on right mate. If our current leaders had another brain and heart both would be lonely the soulless ideological scumbags!
Thank you john, but all the credit goes to KJT. I simply reprinted that from his excellent blog.
Pretty good filibuster in the house this avo. Anyone else been following?
Starting up again at 7.
What’s the bill?
Petrol tax blah blah amendment something?
OK Thanks.
I watched last night, as the government forced through its outrageous anti-protest legislation, formally and preposterously entitled The Crown Minerals Act Amendment Bill 2013 Amendment Bill. Labour and the Greens put up a string of serious, well prepared speakers: Gareth Hughes, Andrew Little, Grant Robertson, Moana Mackey, Chris Hipkins and Maryan Street. After insultingly brief and inadequate speeches by two of its lesser lights, Sam Lotu-Liga and Mark Mitchell, National just sat it out; as well as having no arguments, they had nobody capable of mounting any coherent defence of this assault on our democracy.
The man responsible for this disastrous legislation, Simon Bridges, was in the house, and was asked by every speaker to get up and answer for himself; he was obviously just not up to it. A couple of times the cameras cut to him, furtively shuffling (but not reading) papers, with a perplexed and pained expression.
This bill is proceeding under the cover of post-budget urgency???!!!
Mozza, I very much doubt Simon Bridges is responsible for anything, other than bending over on request, being a sock-puppet, a traitor and a coward, who is the servant to the masters…
The masters are not likely to be onshore in NZ, and I would doubt that the core protagonists in the house, see themselves as NZ’ers!
Yeah…….wee Simon’s a puppy who yaps and drools on demand. Not an ounce of balls in him. Former Crown prosecutor you see……it’s all about “winning” and putting people behind bars, deservedly or not, as a reflex. No broad morality. He just follows orders.
Heaps of regard to the perks and the travel and the handsome stipend and the pension however. Prick. Not a gram of principle in him. Lacking balls and principle. Interested only in being a “darling”.
I agree that Bridges is the stooge rather than the instigator; however he is the minister responsible for this, even if it is really Steven Joyce and Peter Goodfellow pulling his strings. If Bridges had an ounce of integrity, he would have resigned by now, but he has stayed on to front this terrible legislation. He will bear the full blame for it eventually, and he doesn’t deserve any sympathy.
Agree with that Moz – Was not looking to relieve the coward of responsibility, in any way.
No sympathy, here, for any of them!
There you go, some thing that unites us all.
Who’d have thought it would be simon bridges, minister for himself.
Keep fighting M and M 😉
Lotu-Liga…….another up-himself shithead little lawyer. Helping Shonkey Python to shit on his own people. Great guy……
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10884359
Ew. That’s just disgusting.
And some comments, like “all I can see now are a pair of rubber tits”.
Words fail me. Looking at Roughan’s column, I asked myself, “What kind of animal writes this shit?” and then I read the comments to get the answer: the sort who… never mind, I don’t want to articulate my answer fully.
Roughan…….big fish little pond fuckwit. Intrusiveness is his right…….because he’s big fish little pond fuckwit Roughan with a platform alongside equally egocentric fools. New Zealand is so sick in that regard.
Get your nose out of others’ business, dog !
Can someone explain why Andrew Little made a stupid complaint about clothing in Parliament?
If one ever had any doubts about whether Little is a dick, they were laid to rest today.
He appears to have his hang-ups.
I took it to be largely tongue in cheek. You might remember Clare Curran was thrown out because she wore a football jersey (or some such garment) about a year ago. I thought there might have been a bit of tit for tat going on. Agree though… it was rather stupid.
Andrew Little’s point of order appeared to be quite serious. And for that, ridiculous. The guy needs to get a life. If he wanted to comment on dress, he should have congratulated Gareth Hughes from the Greens who looked particularly fetching (seriously) in his grey suit and black tie, and his speech was impressive too 🙂
More interested why TV3 made such a fuss about it… Like we didn’t know.
More likely, Andrew Little is looking for any way to get himself some publicity. Looks like he succeeded.
Re Little.I was interested that TV3 (I think) picked up on that and costed out the amount that the time taken to deal with the jersey issue would have cost the taxpayer.Can’t remember what it came to, but I don’t understand why the same attention is never given to key when he nuts off on one of his kindy tantrums.Must be costing us a lot more money for the time he wastes.
I wonder why, if Little was gonna raise a point of order about dress at all, he didn’t have a go at Tony-Ryall-Neighbour-Of-Susan.
Note I’m not saying Tones wears a dress. I’m saying that recidivistly he daily commits fashion crime, what with his pinstripes up against checked tablecloth shirts. You gotta go for the real criminals Little.
Not Auchinvole or Sockinhole or whatever his name is. He seemed to love the attention anyway. Compared to Tones he was sartorial inoffensiveness defined.
Re why TV3 made a point of it ? Maybe Mr Bean’s Cuzzy Power (Trip) Gower is personally, darkly, “really angry” about the carry-on in the House and will next cost out the time consumed by ShonKey Python’s rhubarbs, can’t recalls, throat slitting gestures and risible expressions and non-expressions of confidence in Botox Banks.
Oh, Poor Paddy, it’s such a burden being part of the story with the weight of the nation upon him, Gilmore “lying to ME”, Steven Joyce calling HIM aside – “Look PADDY, it’s like this……..”, having to LICK ShonKey’s arse.
A bit of a freako-demographics moment?
Why are birthrates falling around the world? Blame television
Television in developing countries is also correlated with:
– reduced acceptability of domestic violence
– reduced son preference
– increased female autonomy
The study thinks it might be more than rising incomes, but television is actually changing cultural norms. (Now there’s a debate that’s been a first world problem for awhile). I wonder if these developing countries have Snookie and ‘The Only Way is Essex’ 😉
I’ve been there, trust me, the only Essex you’ll ever want is David, and only then when he wants to make you a star.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdTg9n0_Rsc
Hah! I had a picture of him on my wall way back when I was about 12 – him and Marc Bolan who doesn’t want to fool the kids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xgcxd9wtXUE
Yeah its tv’s fault /sarc!
I call those Waterloo sunset moments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyh__QQD2js
I am in paradise 🙂
Eruption; “I’m ya Ice-cream man, stop me when I’m passing by”. 😉
Unlike Dave Dobbin, who doesn’t listen to other peoples songs when he’s writing, I will if it’s asked of me 😉
That’s a very spinal tap looking vid. Cut and blow dries for all 😆
The tv series the history of rock (was on prime ages ago at least twice) has an interview with one of the kinks, saying how he used to cut up his speaker cones to get them to distort.
I’d hate to guess what I’d have to slit to get a decent vocal sound.
Thank goodness for software.
I like the second-to-bottom line.
One out of seven, that’s nearly more popular than Labour 😆
+1 nice 🙂
“I’m not a number; Ooh, that’s why I’m easy, I’m easy like a Sunday morning.
I’ve paid my dues to make it
I’m not happy when I try to fake it, no
I wanna be free to know
The things I do are right”.
(been some investment)
“Haven’t changed, haven’t much to ‘say’
Plenty of unused thoughts to give away,
Hardly ever Blue, is a greeting from a friend.”
Ah ! A Kinks fan 🙂