Just think, with Lochinver Station not sold to foreigners it may now become affordable for New Zealanders to purchase. We will no longer have to compete with the millions and billions of millionaires and billionaires in Europe, Asia, North America and, well the whole world….. all of whom have made zero contribution to our society. They just steam in and whip it out from under us. Wankers.
but yep, how many millions have just been wiped off Lochinver’s “value”. A “value” we should remember that is artificially and vastly inappropriately marked up due to the presence of foreign buyers.
Remove all foreign buyers from NZ and our land values will drop back significantly, meaning none of us will have to take on as much to debt to get into farming, and we will have more money in our back pockets at the end of each working day. Wouldn’t that be something……. seems so simple .. I should let John Key know – he seems oblivious
Yep, and banksters make money out of selling “money products” like debt.
The more debt for NZ the better it is for banks
Quite why the media listens to bank economists I have no idea – they are the most heavily conflicted economists in the economy with completely and utterly vested interests. As such bank economists views must discounted to zip.
Oh its much worse than that. When we do business with indebted people, companies, countries, we have to pay more since they need to cover their interest on their debt. When we become indebted, we all have to pay each other more and charge more. Now get this, the Green party are the real free traders, not the neolibs, the neolibs are big government types who won’t put a value on pollution, note they use the power of the state to support big industry, big militra, big pharm, big agro, from paying a real cost , so the free market never is price correctly. Greens are even pro-migration, why would yo holdup a population in any region to destroy it ecology,when there as much less impact on ecology by pricing it the real cost and then letting people move, I.e a free market in peoole. Our whole world economy is rigged by government parties who load us all up with debt,force costs up, and then don’t value the most precious thing on the planet, global ecology that sustains us all.
But wait its worse. In the sevenities neolibs took over claiming the wealth and growth inevitable from cheap high density liquid non-renewables was down to their policies that pillage the planet and create huge growth, not of infrastructure and better society, but of war, of debt growth, of capital stagnation. the neolibs then sat on their hands locking gifts to the will of private corporates because they don’t have to do anything, the free market will. Yet these supposed friends of the free market weren’t actual free marketeers, power can never lie in any one segment of society, it just becomes corrpt and distortionary. Aka honey bee colony collapse, plastic ocean islands, climate carbon extreme, wars, etc.
The middle ages were a time when power lay with priests, this age, these last thirty years, power has been handed away into a void where any destruction, any acculuation of negatives is rewarded, and all good is regarded as ineffient waste.
Yes, I understand that, however I think you will notice a big ‘risk’ element being imposed on Lochinver (and other similar rural properties) by any new purchaser, thereby discounting its value.
There is no doubt that this decision will raise red flags in the minds of foreigners looking at becoming absentee landlords.
Kevin McKenna: Jeremy Corbyn’s victory gives us a glimpse behind the mask of his opponents
SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2015 – 12:13 AM KEVIN MCKENNA 15 COMMENTS
THE favoured tactic of the right in this country has always been to label any left-wing views that cause them discomfort as “extremist”. The prefix “hard” is applied to ideas of the left which they fear could cause any ripples in their world of pre-arranged privilege and social management. Their entire political strategy rests on ensuring that the rest of us look the other way as they ensure that real power will always be deployed from within their tiny, privileged elite.
Once, they were bred like battery hens and taken early from their families to spend what was left of their childhoods at places such as Eton and Harrow, learning how to wield power. Sentimental attachments to mummy and daddy could never be allowed to come before serving the state and their appointed place in it: at the top. They were scattered to the far ends of the British Empire to administer British control and to ensure that the fuzzy-wuzzies didn’t get too truculent about being ruthlessly robbed and exploited by the British East India Company.
When the sun began to set on that empire they retreated to their fortresses at home to ensure that they could hold on to control of the UK at least. They deploy The British Armed Forces like their own personal private army by deluding them into thinking they are serving the Queen and their country. And they rely on the right-wing press to be their nightwatchmen, ever-ready to defame and besmirch any who might rise up from the masses and attempt to tell the truth.
Occasionally, useful idiots like Tony Blair arrive to peddle some state-sponsored radicalism and soften up us, the idiot punters, for another stretch of reactionary Conservatism.
So, it was pleasing to observe the shock of the Right at the election of Jeremy Corbyn on Saturday as leader of the UK Labour Party. How to explain the fact that more than 250,000 people, across every category of Labour supporter, voted for Corbyn – more than the other three candidates combined? They can’t all be raving Marxists and revolutionary Communists?
The narrative of unpleasantness and vindictiveness has already been cranked up. Blairites like Peter Mandelson, who grew almost as rich as his master on the takings of the New Labour delusion, and David Blunkett are already talking about the death of the party. Tony Blair, pausing for a moment from his lucrative occupation of conning gullible eastern potentates into believing that they, too, can be global statesmen, said that Corbyn supporters had mental health issues.
Even just the prospect of a Corbyn victory gave us a glimpse of what lay behind the mask of Blair and his wretched gang: careerism, acquiescence lies and corruption.
Jeremy Corbyn had better get used to this, for it will become worse, far worse. When the miners looked like they were going to defeat Margaret Thatcher and the mine-owners, every division of the British state was mobilised to destroy them: the Metropolitan Police attacked and assaulted striking miners in the knowledge that the judiciary would all be taking holidays. Stella Rimington, head of MI5 deployed a double agent at the top of the NUM to gather intelligence on how best to destroy Scargill. In the end they settled for a lie, eagerly advanced by the press, that he had been filching funds from his own union.
In last year’s referendum on Scottish independence the same divisions of the British state were deployed once more and useful idiots in the so-called left- wing press were also somehow persuaded to chip in. For of course this was never about preserving the Union, it was about maintaining
Britain’s seat at the UN and not being seen to have lost a quarter of the kingdom on your watch.
How can a party call itself “patriotic” when it cheerfully sends thousands of its young people to their deaths in illegal wars, ill-equipped and under-paid? And how many of us now believe we were far safer as a country before we started slaughtering Muslims in their own homes on the lie that they were harbouring weapons of mass destruction?
IT’S not difficult to see why the UK right hates Corbyn. His avowed aim of withdrawing from the nuclear club will not make the UK more vulnerable, it will simply detach the UK’s face from America’s arse and free us from the delusion that we are a super-power.
A Corbyn-led government will make the unions stronger in defending the lost rights of British workers, something that Blair and his useless crony Gordon Brown failed to do despite the safety net of a three-term stretch. It will also seek alternatives to making the most vulnerable in our society pay for the profligacy of the rich which led to the credit crisis. People don’t mind being asked to make sacrifices if they believe that all other sections of society are being asked to as well.
The lickspittles of the right, like Blair, Brown and Mandelson, will wail and gnash their teeth and insist that a Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn can never regain power. They conveniently forget that whatever party they all thought they were representing in office between 1997 and 2010 it certainly wasn’t recognisably Labour. Yet these people today are reeling at the sheer volume of numbers of those who voted for Corbyn. He now has a bigger mandate than Blair ever had.
If Corbyn can expose the lies that sit at the heart of Conservative ideology then he may indeed be set fair for government: we are not all in it together, we’re all in it for a few; we are not one of the most prosperous countries in the world, we are one of the most unequal; we are not spending billions to defend ourselves, we are a militaristic basket-case who would rather spend billions keeping weapons of mass destruction operational than some vital community services.
And if Kezia Dugdale reads the signs of the times and resists the advice of those advisers who lost Scotland, she will suggest to Corbyn that the party drops its ridiculously hostile attitude to the idea of an independent Scotland. If so, then the Labour Party in Scotland can begin to entertain the notion of defeating the SNP.
Copied from The National
Btw. Mckenna has an irrational view of the SNP. He does not get it that the SNP is the authentic Labour Party in Scotland. McKenna has a very Labour centric view of things and is often myopic.
” it was pleasing to observe the shock of the Right at the election of Jeremy Corbyn”
The only shock being displayed on the Right is disbelief that Labour has abandoned the electoral middle ground. ‘Glee’ would be a more appropriate term for the current mood among the Tories?
“How to explain the fact that more than 250,000 people, across every category of Labour supporter, voted for Corbyn – more than the other three candidates combined? They can’t all be raving Marxists and revolutionary Communists?”
Well that’s the question that really matters.
I think is fair to assume that the people who voted in Corbyn are current Leftist voters who were highly dissatisfied with the status quo in the U.K Labour Party?
But is that the extent of it? Merely a schism emerging between the various shades of Left?
Or the first signs of a widespread groundswell of support for societal change in a Leftist direction?
If the latter turns out to be the case, the Right will be truly shocked, but the poll above won’t be causing them to lose any sleep at this point.
There is a lot on the line here for both Left and Right. Fascinating stuff.
“The only shock being displayed on the Right is disbelief that Labour has abandoned the electoral middle ground. ‘Glee’ would be a more appropriate term for the current mood among the Tories?”
Paring the public sector back to Walpole era levels is not ‘centre ground’.
The 18th and 19th century saw misery to a lot of people — it was more ‘Gangs of New York’ rather than ‘Wuthering Heights’
Or were you meaning the Walpole comparison? Such things that you tories get your knickers in a twist about while clutching at straws…
It might be an interesting phd thesis, actually – obviously social service expenditure was minimal, but military expenditure was quite high, and administration was all by hand. I’ve no idea which way it would come out in terms of different measures such as %GDP, per capita population in government service, etc.
Military expenditure wasn’t particularly high relative to what passed for GDP during the period. It was just high relative to government revenue.
Pretty damn hard to find out. The accounting standards of the period seemed to be designed to sequester revenues rather than to disclose it transparently.
“Paring the public sector back to Walpole era levels is not ‘centre ground’.
The 18th and 19th century saw misery to a lot of people — it was more ‘Gangs of New York’ rather than ‘Wuthering Heights’”
Millsy either support your assertions with a link or fuck off with your drivel.
[The only person who’ll be ‘fucking off with their drivel’ is yourself. Millsy has quoted from a previous comment and offered a qualifying or additional opinion on top. You either agree or disagree. What you don’t get to do is harangue. As to PR, so to you. Get a grip.] – Bill
Bill, Millsy’s comment is patently absurd as is your protection of it.
To suggest the public sector/welfarism in 2015 is in any way comparable with that of Walpole’s area is twilight zone stuff.
[lprent: You expressed YOUR complaint about it in a way that forced moderators to waste time looking at it, and then finding that you were being a stupid timewasting shithead. Why shouldn’t we feel irritated? It is your behaviour that is causing us extra and unwarranted work – not millsy. ]
Surely if one is making such claims there would be some kind of evidence to back it up or is everything here now just opinion ?
It’s like the moron Hooten saying that the poor now live a better life that Henry VIII – just an absolutely absurd and meaningless comparison.
[lprent: I’d agree. But both were more rhetorical than statements of fact.
As far as I can tell that was rhetorical and clearly was such. Surely anyone who knows british history is aware that Robert Walpole was in charge of the british treasury for a couple of decades from the 1721 (and widely credited with being the first PM). It was a period when there was effectively no government support for much. Also that he was rather notorious for not having accurate accounts by even 19th century standards.
But I can see how if you you were too lazy to look up Walpole, then you’d have a problem. But if you want to raise problems with his comment, then I would have been slamming him for not providing a link to Walpole. Many people won’t know who in the hell he was.
But coming to think of it being lazy and moaning about it in a way that I have to check is a problem. It means I waste time looking up whatever crap you want to be a pissant pain about expressing it in terms that I have to do as moderator, and then write a note about it.
Perhaps you should read the policy again about wasting moderator time. I am sure I reciprocate and find some time for ban in response if I get to do this again. In fact I will be extremely generous. ]
You’re trying my patience. Opinions are proffered. that’s the nature of this site. Those who disagree can debate. Attempting to shut people down through carping for evidence to substantiate an opinion is irksome bullshit and nonsense. If you don’t have the presence of mind to lay out a counter position, or if you can’t demonstrate or argue why an opinion is lacking, then don’t comment.
Since you’re kind of lacking in the upstairs department, let me offer a throw-away example.
John Key is a nice man.
Posit examples that would suggest otherwise if you wish. Or agree. But don’t attempt to shut people down by calling for proof on stuff that’s obviously just an opinion. – end –
It was a period when there was effectively no government support for much. Also that he was rather notorious for not having accurate accounts…
So the comparison with the National Party is apt, despite being somewhat of an exaggeration. Divisive, check. Defended charges of corruption by asserting that “they do it too”, check.
Simplistic arguments sometimes miss the point. National is of course center-right – they are “centre” over important issues like the flag and gay marriage, they are “hard-right” over small thinks like economic policy – so “center-right” (american spelling deliberate) must be a reasonable description – right, TLS?
As i think you are implying, the degree of Right or Leftness of our major political Parties tends to vary policy by policy.
NZ Labour and National are both Centrist Parties by any world standard I would have thought?
By the way, the article by ex UK Labour MP Bryan Gould contains a fine example of that assumption Corbyn represents that groundswell of general change that the Left so wants to see…. “His appeal to the voters is the best evidence so far that the “free-market” hegemony that has held us all – and not least Labour politicians – in thrall for so long is now on the wane.
As discussed, if Corbyn is the ‘best evidence’ of a ‘wane’, then the other evidence coming through is not showing much support for that contention at this point.
However, Corbyn needs to just occupy the crease and build a decent innings. Its going to be hard on a green pitch and humid condition, with half your batting partners wanting to run you out, and Osborne/Cameron lobbing down unplayable deliveries, but Corbyn cannot afford any while swinging or crazy shots right now.
He did a few wild swings in the first over, but he has settled down for the moment.
Corbyn has certainly had a rocky first few days. The organisation of his leadership campaign is almost universally acknowledged to have been brilliant, the same can’t be said for his first week as leader.
But given the shitstorm of smears and ridicule that he’s had to put up with on a daily basis from the British political and media establishment over the last 10 weeks, the real surprise in this YouGov Poll is that defence is the only issue where an absolute majority perceive him negatively. The numbers aint good, but they could have been a damn sight worse.
The worry is that first impressions (created by this unprecedented shitstorm of media / elite abuse) will last. The Tories (and New Labour Grandees) have sought to shape and define his image early on and it could be hard to shift.
I know Amy Adams is hardly going to care about this but would be good to get the 3000 signatures none the less. Thank you. It’s a beautiful building if you don’t know it, Dunedin is lucky to have it still.
So we received the national party “view seeking” full colour glossy mustve cost a fortune survey in the post this week…. asking what issues I care about and what my political affiliation is….yueech. In parliamentary service envelopes with freepost return post also on the taxpayer …. not fair they should at minimum pay for their own postage to do their greasy pre election poll research. Very icky getting personally addressed mail from nats asking you who you vote (“support”) for.. yuck.
For all the right wingers in or associated with Labour (yes you Goff, Robertson, Mumblefuck, Pagani) disingenuously claiming that they have to pursue the mirage of “the centre”, research in the UK hows that Labour becomes more popular the further left it moves.
Similar feedback here has shown support for Labour NZs left policies and in both cases it has been the toxic brand of the party or its leadership for incompetence and instability that has been the vote-loser.
Why then are these people and their vanity allowed to undermine Labour’s chances when they have nothing positive and much that is negative to contribute?
Yep, I’ve been reading quite a lot of British Election Study research over recent weeks (as well as a whole lot of other UK poll data).
Despite the never-ending flow of unmitigated bullshit emanating from the Blairites (including dear old Tony himself), the Brownites, the Tories and all of their little enablers in the media and academic establishment, the poll data does not suggest that UK voters are pro-Austerity or deeply enamoured of the Cameron Government’s economic performance.
Rather, they have very little trust in the economic competence of the major figures associated with the last Blair and Brown Governments. Large majorities think the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition’s economic performance was poor or very poor, but overwhelming majorities think the pre-Corbyn Labour leadership was even worse, even less competent.
Most of Corbyn’s policy proposals (as tentative and potentially flexible as many of them are), are entirely in tune with public opinion. Renationalising railways and utilities, rent controls, higher taxes for the super-wealthy, a mandatory living wage, cuts to tuition fees and so on. Immigration is the most obvious exception (and it’s an issue that has unusually high salience at the moment), but then precisely the same goes for the other 3 who stood as Labour Leadership candidates and for the respective PLP factions they represent. And indeed for the Tories. British public opinion is to the Left of the major parties on most issues but well to the Right of all the parties (except Ukip) on immigration and has been for quite some time.
Jane Green generally de-emphasises the importance of precise ideological direction for voters’ decision-making and instead emphasises valence issues like general competence and, in particular, perceived economic competence. (Valence issues tend to become more important when major parties ideologically converge as they did during the Blair/Brown years).
The evidence coming through at the moment in terms of the May 2015 Election loss downplays English voter wariness of a Labour government relying on the SNP as a factor. Instead, it points to 2 key problems – a very low regard for Ed Miliband’s potential competence as PM and an equally low regard for Labour’s economic competence.
2 key problems – a very low regard for Ed Miliband’s potential competence as PM and an equally low regard for Labour’s economic competence.
Latest Poll YouGov (see link above) indicates these are problems Corbyn has inherited to a large extent.
From what you have seen or heard about Jeremy Corbyn, do you think he will do well or badly….
As leader of the Labour party?
Very well 10
Fairly well 20
TOTAL WELL 30
Fairly badly 20
Very badly 28
TOTAL BADLY 48
Don’t know 23
Managing the economy?
Would trust a lot 7
Would trust a fair amount 16
TOTAL TRUST 23
Would not trust very much 14
Would not trust at all 36
TOTAL NOT TRUST 50
Don’t know enough about him to say 27
Incidentally, the first Party Support Poll to come out suggests Labour has cut the Tory lead from 9 points to 6 (half the poll was conducted before the leadership win announced / half after, but all of it conducted at a time when Corbyn’s victory was universally assumed).
When you say ‘Labour had cut the lead from 9 to 6’, it should be pointed out that Labour support had only increased by 1%. Obviously the other 2 points the Tories had lost were not to Labour.
But as you say, all of the polling was conducted during a time when Corbyn’s leadership was assumed.
So it would be very hard to read a 1% increase as an indication that Corbyn’s politics were indicative of any kind of widespread support for his politics outside the current Left?
Yaaaaaaawwwwwwnnnnn
So over this UK/Corbyn/Labour rant.
Thank goodness my forebears had the wit and courage to emigrate to New Zealand in the 19thC and leave behind Dickensian England.
Good luck to Jeremy but what has he got to do with NZ politics? The Key to a better NZ is Key & his mates. IMHO
Yeah, but what you’re ignoring are the widespread claims from the British
MSM / Blair-Brownites / Tories = that Corbyn’s leadership is going to be absolutely disastrous, that the Party’s support will plunge to the sub-20% zone.
Early days, who knows how dire the relentless media shitstorm will become over the next few months and how effective it’ll be in shaping voter perceptions. But, at the moment, the negative connotations being ascribed to this latest ‘Attitudes to Corbyn’YouGov poll are not being reflected in the latest Party SupportICM/Guardian Poll.
Here’s some interesting stats from the YouGov Poll, indicating potential inroads a Corbyn-led Labour Party could make into Lib Dem / Ukip support:
Despite 10 weeks worth of intense attacks and smears on Corbyn (becoming noticeably worse over the last week), there are still supporters of other parties who hold positive views about him.
Bearing in mind that there are plenty of people in the ‘Don’t know enough about him to answer the question’ category …… Here’s the Proportion of Lib Dem and Ukip supporters who:
Are explicitly positive about Corbyn’s win as leader
Lib Dem 32%, Ukip 19%
Think he will do well as leader
Lib Dem 37%, Ukip 19%
Trust him to make the right decisions on govt spending / cuts
Lib Dem 32%, Ukip 12%
Trust him on NHS
Lib Dem 51%, Ukip 29%
Trust him on managing the economy
Lib Dem 27%, Ukip 12%
EU
Lib Dem 32%, Ukip 13%
Taxes
Lib Dem 31%, Ukip 13%
On most issues, only a minority of Lib Dem supporters say they Don’t trust Corbyn, while usually at least a third of Ukip voters either trust him or say they don’t know enough about him yet.
Suggests a quarter to a third of Lib Dems are at least potentially up for grabs, certainly sympathetic, along with maybe 10-20% of Ukip voters (putting aside all those in the ‘Don’t Know enough about him yet’ category). This dovetails with polls conducted during the leadership campaign when you generally had around 20% or more of Ukip voters feeling genuinely positive about Corbyn.
Along with the fairly consistent 4-7% of Tory voters who trust him on these various issues (rising to 19% on the NHS), that represents potentially 7 or 8 percentage points up for grabs, with the aim of holding on to Labour doubters.
That’s putting aside, of course, the overwhelmingly positive attitudes that Green supporters (currently around 3-6% in the polls) have of a Corbyn-led Labour Party. There’s the potential for at least a third, maybe half, of the Green vote to move to Labour. Particularly, if an electoral accommodation is made.
And, as always, under FPP, attitudes/public opinion in the key marginals are all that count, from a purely electoral viewpoint. That’s where they need to shift votes.
Summing up then, Corbyn’s election to Labour Leadership does not appear to have had a significant immediate effect on the Parties overall electoral position, either for better or worse.
Yep, that’s about the size of it. Although, very early days. Let’s see where the polls go over the next couple of months.
I’d say, though, that the very fact that Labour’s support is holding up (and that their main opponents are down) is remarkable, given the 10 week onslaught of elite hysteria.
Incidentally, a Survation Poll, conducted immediately after Corbyn’s win was announced, found that 6% of Tories, 20% of Ukip supporters, 23% of Lib Dems and 17% of 2015 Non-Voters say they are more likely to vote Labour at the next Election as a result of Corbyn’s leadership.
Just a bit confused by that. I know next to nothing of UK politics, but aren’t UKIP supporters heavily anti-immigration? Isn’t Corbyn known to be heavily pro-immigration, especially for refugees? Why would 20% of UKIP’s seriously contemplate changing horses, or do you reckon they were just taking the piss?
I would guess that a lot of UKIP voters are fed up to the gills with the professional political class, and also suspect that this class uses immigration to impose austerity on the locals, by cutting them out of jobs and houses. So someone who is not the darling of the political class and opposes austerity is attractive to them. They key feature, I think, is austerity and those who cheerfully impose it.
Objectively (though not necessarily subjectively), Ukip voters are very much like NZF voters here – essentially the socially-conservative Left (and disproportionately older, working class and male).
Polls over the last couple of years suggest they are:
– strongly anti-austerity
– highly-alienated from / dissatisfied with the political class
– almost as strongly supportive of public ownership/renationalisation as Labour and Green voters are
– believe the Torys do not govern with their best interests in mind
– believe (the pre-Corbyn) Labour Party no longer had the interests of ordinary people like them at heart
Polls also suggest that you can divide Ukip supporters into 3 groups in terms of their ideological self-placement / self-perceptions. The largest are the core supporters. Second largest are the Right-leaners, who vote Ukip while greatly preferring a Tory (to Labour) govt, with the smallest faction (roughly 20-25%) being those who subjectively see themselves as Left-leaners,
ie Ukippers naturally disposed to the Labour Party, more often than not being former supporters.
There’s no doubt though that Immigration is going to be a difficult hurdle for Corbyn (particularly given its increasing salience to voters. At the moment, you have close to 50% of British voters (an unprecedented number) ranking it as the most serious issue facing Britain today). As I suggested above, the UK electorate is to the Left of the major parties (pre-Corbyn) on most issues but well to the Right of all parties (except Ukip) on Immigration.
What Corbyn shouldn’t do (and I don’t think it’s in his character anyway) is the typical upper-middle class urban liberal, morally-superior finger-wagging (ie “racists, racists, racists !!!”, much in the same way that fundamentalist Christians chastise everybody else with “sinners, sinners, sinners !!!”). Needs to listen to their fears about job security and so on sympathetically.
Ukippers are also anti-EU. So, a Labour Party led by a Euro-sceptic like Corbyn could potentially be attractive.
@ Lyn: Editing comments is *very* slow, and has been for a week or so now. It takes at least 45 seconds to 1 minute to load the edit window, it used to only take 1-3.
Wow! Read Toby Manhire’s advice to the Australian PM.
“What then can you learn from your cross-ditch human template?
…..My first instinct is to say, ignore the performance of recent weeks. The craven and laggardly action to take extra refugees showed a distinct lack of moral leadership. Then there was the mealy-mouthed refusal to support Sue Moroney’s paid parental leave bill. The adolescent politicking around the flag shortlist.
I’d say all this, coming after defeat in Northland, the fallout from Dirty Politics and scandals such as the Saudi sheep farrago, suggests that John Key’s honeymoon has come to an end.” …….
“These prisoners and their personal privacy—to HELL with it!”
How long will it be till Hillary Barry and Jim Kayes walk? PAUL HENRY, TV3, Friday 18 September 2015
depravedadj.1. morally bad or debased; corrupt
Straight after the 7 o’clock news, Henry embarks on a savage rant: “Rihannon-basher Chris Brown—why would we let him into this country?” This is especially ironic in light of the guest he has lined up for later that hour: the gruesome S.S. Obergruppenführer Garth “The Knife” McVicar, who is the most shameless exponent of extreme violence in this country. [1]
7:29 a.m. I tune in just in time to catch the last five seconds of Phil “Goofy” Goff, who is also denouncing Chris Brown. Fellow guest commentator Judith “Crusher” Collins nods her head approvingly and smiles in that supercilious way of hers.
After the 7:30 news, there is a particularly lame segment, where a number of children are asked their views about the “Hakarena” parody. My niece (13 years old) says: “They’re trying to be like Jono and Ben!” My nephew (10) says: “This is not funny.”
At 7:45 a.m. it’s time to ramp up the outrage even more. As well as the calamitous prospect of Chris Brown coming to New Zealand, there have been revelations that a number of prisoners have breached their parole conditions and are on the loose. No better person to interview, then, than the S.S. Obergruppenführer. Or to be more precise, to let him wax philosophical….
GARTH MCVICAR: ….Absolute débâcle. … Parole is a con, a sham… We have a criminial-centred system in this country, the victim is always a secondary consideration. … The system is always concerned about the offender, to ensure that THEIR rights aren’t breached. …Publlc safety has got too be of paramount consideration. ….[he continues talking like this for another minute or so]….
PAUL HENRY:[clucks tongue to indicate how impressed he is] There’s no reason to talk about this any longer. You’re absolutely right, Garth. Have a good weekend.
Then he turns and shouts at his hapless slaves, Hillary Barry and Jim Kayes, who sit glumly silent across from Henry, looking half bewildered and half disgusted…
HENRY: He’s RIGHT isn’t he! These prisoners and their personal privacy—to HELL with it!
Hillary and Jim maintain an awkward silence. Henry gives up on them….
HENRY: Perlina, what are people saying about this?
PERLINA LAU: Eighty-five per cent of people in our survey say that Chris Brown should NOT be allowed in.
HENRY: Eighty-five per cent? That means fifteen per cent think he SHOULD be allowed in! We don’t need him! He’s just a BASTARD, a nasty BASTARD! The British in 2010 said “Nuh!” and the Canadians said “Nuh!” We don’t need him!
In summary, Lessig says that the DoJ has failed to prove a case of direct civil copyright infringement or of criminal copyright infringement. Neither has it proven a case of criminal conspiracy or wire fraud. Overall, Lessig believes that the DoJ case is so weak that extradition for Dotcom et al will not be possible.
“It is my opinion that the Superseding Indictment and Record of the Case filed by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) do not meet the requirements necessary to support a prima facie case that would be recognized by United States federal law and subject to the US – NZ Extradition Treaty,” Lessig writes.
“Insofar as they are alleged in the Superceding Indictment and the [Record of the Case], respondents’ actions were not prohibited by criminal statutes of the United States. Filings of the DOJ attempt to create a false impression of criminal guilt and are not reliable.”
Google Richard O’Dwyer and TVShack. Pretty sure there are parallels worth exploring. I believe the UK, unlike their craven NZ counterparts, told the US to ‘go take a leap’.
There were other very similar cases too, but I can’t remember names or such-like.
Somewhere there is a free streaming documentary looking at how the porn industry was trying to shut down ‘free’ sites and what not. The basic thrust of part of the docu was that it was exploring possible legal arguments/strategies that could then be used by major studios against the likes of (the then unknown) O’Dwyer and Dotcom.
When kim sues us for 15 gazillion dollars for the misconduct of our Attourney General and police is there a simmilar “undertaking of liability” under which we can recover these funds from the u s of a. Its looking quite likely now
Ten days ago the serious Fraud Office announced that it was investigating Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre over a potential $8.6 million fraud. The training centre falsely enrolled tutors as students and delivered fewer courses than it was funded for in order to get more funding. Yesterday, it emerged in the House that National MP Barbara Kuriger was on the board while that fraud was committed:
Electorate as well so if she ends up going to jail there’ll be a by-election.
IMO, if the fraud is proven then the board should be going to jail.
But then who knows what stupidity lurks in the hearts of morons. I know of an incident where someone walked around using R/T and cellphone while carrying and showing people the (intentionally) suspicious device they’d found.
And then another time when the hazmat team had to fully deploy because someone thought a bulk-bin bag of flour was a “suspicious white powder” sitting in the gutter. Someone went without pancakes that day.
Although to be fair I reckon the emergency services figured it for what it was pretty quickly after responding to the call from the paranoid member of the public, but used it more as a decent training opportunity rather than a germ warfare attack.
Here’s another one. The science teacher could tell that there were no explosive bits, but still thought the clock could be part of a bomb. The stupid is in the culture of paranoia.
The engineering teacher intrigues me – I suspect that the warning not to show the clock to other teachers was made in the full knowledge that some of those teachers were paranoid bigots who would cause exactly this situation.
If everyone was acting rationally and intelligently.
I suspect the English teacher is a confirmed bigot and moron who should lose her job.
The cops could be morons with things that might go bang, they could have suspected it was part of a device he was constructing, they could have been humouring a noisy paranoid teacher simply because it was easier for the cops, or they could have had the goal of ‘humilitating a little Muslim, African boy’.
Any of those could be the case, and now everyone’s in “bullshit to cover their arse” mode.
Justice Asher did not find the instances of contempt to be deliberate and in all but one case described them as “minor but not so trivial as to warrant a finding of no contempt”.
It was the publication of information from the settlement conference which he described as “more serious”, labelling it an “accidental contempt of court by Slater but one that was the result of significant carelessness”.
Justice Asher said Slater had testified he had told his wife about details from the confidential conference and that she had published the article on the Whaleoil blog while he was on a plane to Europe.
Just me reckoning ‘bollocks’? Not deliberate and/or a wee bit careless! Beggers belief…
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
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Just think, with Lochinver Station not sold to foreigners it may now become affordable for New Zealanders to purchase. We will no longer have to compete with the millions and billions of millionaires and billionaires in Europe, Asia, North America and, well the whole world….. all of whom have made zero contribution to our society. They just steam in and whip it out from under us. Wankers.
but yep, how many millions have just been wiped off Lochinver’s “value”. A “value” we should remember that is artificially and vastly inappropriately marked up due to the presence of foreign buyers.
Remove all foreign buyers from NZ and our land values will drop back significantly, meaning none of us will have to take on as much to debt to get into farming, and we will have more money in our back pockets at the end of each working day. Wouldn’t that be something……. seems so simple .. I should let John Key know – he seems oblivious
John Key is part of the international bankster cartel.
Yep, and banksters make money out of selling “money products” like debt.
The more debt for NZ the better it is for banks
Quite why the media listens to bank economists I have no idea – they are the most heavily conflicted economists in the economy with completely and utterly vested interests. As such bank economists views must discounted to zip.
Oh its much worse than that. When we do business with indebted people, companies, countries, we have to pay more since they need to cover their interest on their debt. When we become indebted, we all have to pay each other more and charge more. Now get this, the Green party are the real free traders, not the neolibs, the neolibs are big government types who won’t put a value on pollution, note they use the power of the state to support big industry, big militra, big pharm, big agro, from paying a real cost , so the free market never is price correctly. Greens are even pro-migration, why would yo holdup a population in any region to destroy it ecology,when there as much less impact on ecology by pricing it the real cost and then letting people move, I.e a free market in peoole. Our whole world economy is rigged by government parties who load us all up with debt,force costs up, and then don’t value the most precious thing on the planet, global ecology that sustains us all.
But wait its worse. In the sevenities neolibs took over claiming the wealth and growth inevitable from cheap high density liquid non-renewables was down to their policies that pillage the planet and create huge growth, not of infrastructure and better society, but of war, of debt growth, of capital stagnation. the neolibs then sat on their hands locking gifts to the will of private corporates because they don’t have to do anything, the free market will. Yet these supposed friends of the free market weren’t actual free marketeers, power can never lie in any one segment of society, it just becomes corrpt and distortionary. Aka honey bee colony collapse, plastic ocean islands, climate carbon extreme, wars, etc.
The middle ages were a time when power lay with priests, this age, these last thirty years, power has been handed away into a void where any destruction, any acculuation of negatives is rewarded, and all good is regarded as ineffient waste.
No, it just won’t be sold to this particular group of Chinese, under this particular business plan. Another foreign company could still buy it.
Yes, I understand that, however I think you will notice a big ‘risk’ element being imposed on Lochinver (and other similar rural properties) by any new purchaser, thereby discounting its value.
There is no doubt that this decision will raise red flags in the minds of foreigners looking at becoming absentee landlords.
The price just went down
First poll since Corbyn elected leader.
Doesn’t show any evidence enthusiasm has spread beyond the hard Left yet.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/8-charts-that-reveal-what-people-think-about-jeremy-corbyn-on-the-issues-that-really-matter-10505992.html
Kevin McKenna: Jeremy Corbyn’s victory gives us a glimpse behind the mask of his opponents
SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2015 – 12:13 AM KEVIN MCKENNA 15 COMMENTS
THE favoured tactic of the right in this country has always been to label any left-wing views that cause them discomfort as “extremist”. The prefix “hard” is applied to ideas of the left which they fear could cause any ripples in their world of pre-arranged privilege and social management. Their entire political strategy rests on ensuring that the rest of us look the other way as they ensure that real power will always be deployed from within their tiny, privileged elite.
Once, they were bred like battery hens and taken early from their families to spend what was left of their childhoods at places such as Eton and Harrow, learning how to wield power. Sentimental attachments to mummy and daddy could never be allowed to come before serving the state and their appointed place in it: at the top. They were scattered to the far ends of the British Empire to administer British control and to ensure that the fuzzy-wuzzies didn’t get too truculent about being ruthlessly robbed and exploited by the British East India Company.
When the sun began to set on that empire they retreated to their fortresses at home to ensure that they could hold on to control of the UK at least. They deploy The British Armed Forces like their own personal private army by deluding them into thinking they are serving the Queen and their country. And they rely on the right-wing press to be their nightwatchmen, ever-ready to defame and besmirch any who might rise up from the masses and attempt to tell the truth.
Occasionally, useful idiots like Tony Blair arrive to peddle some state-sponsored radicalism and soften up us, the idiot punters, for another stretch of reactionary Conservatism.
So, it was pleasing to observe the shock of the Right at the election of Jeremy Corbyn on Saturday as leader of the UK Labour Party. How to explain the fact that more than 250,000 people, across every category of Labour supporter, voted for Corbyn – more than the other three candidates combined? They can’t all be raving Marxists and revolutionary Communists?
The narrative of unpleasantness and vindictiveness has already been cranked up. Blairites like Peter Mandelson, who grew almost as rich as his master on the takings of the New Labour delusion, and David Blunkett are already talking about the death of the party. Tony Blair, pausing for a moment from his lucrative occupation of conning gullible eastern potentates into believing that they, too, can be global statesmen, said that Corbyn supporters had mental health issues.
Even just the prospect of a Corbyn victory gave us a glimpse of what lay behind the mask of Blair and his wretched gang: careerism, acquiescence lies and corruption.
Jeremy Corbyn had better get used to this, for it will become worse, far worse. When the miners looked like they were going to defeat Margaret Thatcher and the mine-owners, every division of the British state was mobilised to destroy them: the Metropolitan Police attacked and assaulted striking miners in the knowledge that the judiciary would all be taking holidays. Stella Rimington, head of MI5 deployed a double agent at the top of the NUM to gather intelligence on how best to destroy Scargill. In the end they settled for a lie, eagerly advanced by the press, that he had been filching funds from his own union.
In last year’s referendum on Scottish independence the same divisions of the British state were deployed once more and useful idiots in the so-called left- wing press were also somehow persuaded to chip in. For of course this was never about preserving the Union, it was about maintaining
Britain’s seat at the UN and not being seen to have lost a quarter of the kingdom on your watch.
How can a party call itself “patriotic” when it cheerfully sends thousands of its young people to their deaths in illegal wars, ill-equipped and under-paid? And how many of us now believe we were far safer as a country before we started slaughtering Muslims in their own homes on the lie that they were harbouring weapons of mass destruction?
IT’S not difficult to see why the UK right hates Corbyn. His avowed aim of withdrawing from the nuclear club will not make the UK more vulnerable, it will simply detach the UK’s face from America’s arse and free us from the delusion that we are a super-power.
A Corbyn-led government will make the unions stronger in defending the lost rights of British workers, something that Blair and his useless crony Gordon Brown failed to do despite the safety net of a three-term stretch. It will also seek alternatives to making the most vulnerable in our society pay for the profligacy of the rich which led to the credit crisis. People don’t mind being asked to make sacrifices if they believe that all other sections of society are being asked to as well.
The lickspittles of the right, like Blair, Brown and Mandelson, will wail and gnash their teeth and insist that a Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn can never regain power. They conveniently forget that whatever party they all thought they were representing in office between 1997 and 2010 it certainly wasn’t recognisably Labour. Yet these people today are reeling at the sheer volume of numbers of those who voted for Corbyn. He now has a bigger mandate than Blair ever had.
If Corbyn can expose the lies that sit at the heart of Conservative ideology then he may indeed be set fair for government: we are not all in it together, we’re all in it for a few; we are not one of the most prosperous countries in the world, we are one of the most unequal; we are not spending billions to defend ourselves, we are a militaristic basket-case who would rather spend billions keeping weapons of mass destruction operational than some vital community services.
And if Kezia Dugdale reads the signs of the times and resists the advice of those advisers who lost Scotland, she will suggest to Corbyn that the party drops its ridiculously hostile attitude to the idea of an independent Scotland. If so, then the Labour Party in Scotland can begin to entertain the notion of defeating the SNP.
Copied from The National
Btw. Mckenna has an irrational view of the SNP. He does not get it that the SNP is the authentic Labour Party in Scotland. McKenna has a very Labour centric view of things and is often myopic.
” it was pleasing to observe the shock of the Right at the election of Jeremy Corbyn”
The only shock being displayed on the Right is disbelief that Labour has abandoned the electoral middle ground. ‘Glee’ would be a more appropriate term for the current mood among the Tories?
“How to explain the fact that more than 250,000 people, across every category of Labour supporter, voted for Corbyn – more than the other three candidates combined? They can’t all be raving Marxists and revolutionary Communists?”
Well that’s the question that really matters.
I think is fair to assume that the people who voted in Corbyn are current Leftist voters who were highly dissatisfied with the status quo in the U.K Labour Party?
But is that the extent of it? Merely a schism emerging between the various shades of Left?
Or the first signs of a widespread groundswell of support for societal change in a Leftist direction?
If the latter turns out to be the case, the Right will be truly shocked, but the poll above won’t be causing them to lose any sleep at this point.
There is a lot on the line here for both Left and Right. Fascinating stuff.
“The only shock being displayed on the Right is disbelief that Labour has abandoned the electoral middle ground. ‘Glee’ would be a more appropriate term for the current mood among the Tories?”
Paring the public sector back to Walpole era levels is not ‘centre ground’.
The 18th and 19th century saw misery to a lot of people — it was more ‘Gangs of New York’ rather than ‘Wuthering Heights’
Got any proof of what you say?
[Opinions are opinions are opinions. They only require agreement or disagreement. Get a grip!] – Bill
Dickens & Marx.
Or were you meaning the Walpole comparison? Such things that you tories get your knickers in a twist about while clutching at straws…
It might be an interesting phd thesis, actually – obviously social service expenditure was minimal, but military expenditure was quite high, and administration was all by hand. I’ve no idea which way it would come out in terms of different measures such as %GDP, per capita population in government service, etc.
Military expenditure wasn’t particularly high relative to what passed for GDP during the period. It was just high relative to government revenue.
Pretty damn hard to find out. The accounting standards of the period seemed to be designed to sequester revenues rather than to disclose it transparently.
“Paring the public sector back to Walpole era levels is not ‘centre ground’.
The 18th and 19th century saw misery to a lot of people — it was more ‘Gangs of New York’ rather than ‘Wuthering Heights’”
Millsy either support your assertions with a link or fuck off with your drivel.
[The only person who’ll be ‘fucking off with their drivel’ is yourself. Millsy has quoted from a previous comment and offered a qualifying or additional opinion on top. You either agree or disagree. What you don’t get to do is harangue. As to PR, so to you. Get a grip.] – Bill
Bill, Millsy’s comment is patently absurd as is your protection of it.
To suggest the public sector/welfarism in 2015 is in any way comparable with that of Walpole’s area is twilight zone stuff.
[lprent: You expressed YOUR complaint about it in a way that forced moderators to waste time looking at it, and then finding that you were being a stupid timewasting shithead. Why shouldn’t we feel irritated? It is your behaviour that is causing us extra and unwarranted work – not millsy. ]
Aw fuck – asking someone to provide a link to back their opinion isn’t absurd!? Give me a break.
Not sure what your point is Bill ?
Millsy has made this comment twice at least now..
http://thestandard.org.nz/uk-cameron-loses-his-shit-new-members-flood-to-labour/#comment-1070250
Surely if one is making such claims there would be some kind of evidence to back it up or is everything here now just opinion ?
It’s like the moron Hooten saying that the poor now live a better life that Henry VIII – just an absolutely absurd and meaningless comparison.
[lprent: I’d agree. But both were more rhetorical than statements of fact.
As far as I can tell that was rhetorical and clearly was such. Surely anyone who knows british history is aware that Robert Walpole was in charge of the british treasury for a couple of decades from the 1721 (and widely credited with being the first PM). It was a period when there was effectively no government support for much. Also that he was rather notorious for not having accurate accounts by even 19th century standards.
But I can see how if you you were too lazy to look up Walpole, then you’d have a problem. But if you want to raise problems with his comment, then I would have been slamming him for not providing a link to Walpole. Many people won’t know who in the hell he was.
But coming to think of it being lazy and moaning about it in a way that I have to check is a problem. It means I waste time looking up whatever crap you want to be a pissant pain about expressing it in terms that I have to do as moderator, and then write a note about it.
Perhaps you should read the policy again about wasting moderator time. I am sure I reciprocate and find some time for ban in response if I get to do this again. In fact I will be extremely generous. ]
You’re trying my patience. Opinions are proffered. that’s the nature of this site. Those who disagree can debate. Attempting to shut people down through carping for evidence to substantiate an opinion is irksome bullshit and nonsense. If you don’t have the presence of mind to lay out a counter position, or if you can’t demonstrate or argue why an opinion is lacking, then don’t comment.
Since you’re kind of lacking in the upstairs department, let me offer a throw-away example.
John Key is a nice man.
Posit examples that would suggest otherwise if you wish. Or agree. But don’t attempt to shut people down by calling for proof on stuff that’s obviously just an opinion. – end –
It was a period when there was effectively no government support for much. Also that he was rather notorious for not having accurate accounts…
So the comparison with the National Party is apt, despite being somewhat of an exaggeration. Divisive, check. Defended charges of corruption by asserting that “they do it too”, check.
At least he wasn’t a warmonger.
Thanks for that I’ve had a read of the policy.
🙄
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11514519
Simplistic arguments sometimes miss the point. National is of course center-right – they are “centre” over important issues like the flag and gay marriage, they are “hard-right” over small thinks like economic policy – so “center-right” (american spelling deliberate) must be a reasonable description – right, TLS?
As i think you are implying, the degree of Right or Leftness of our major political Parties tends to vary policy by policy.
NZ Labour and National are both Centrist Parties by any world standard I would have thought?
By the way, the article by ex UK Labour MP Bryan Gould contains a fine example of that assumption Corbyn represents that groundswell of general change that the Left so wants to see….
“His appeal to the voters is the best evidence so far that the “free-market” hegemony that has held us all – and not least Labour politicians – in thrall for so long is now on the wane.
As discussed, if Corbyn is the ‘best evidence’ of a ‘wane’, then the other evidence coming through is not showing much support for that contention at this point.
It’s still early days yet.
However, Corbyn needs to just occupy the crease and build a decent innings. Its going to be hard on a green pitch and humid condition, with half your batting partners wanting to run you out, and Osborne/Cameron lobbing down unplayable deliveries, but Corbyn cannot afford any while swinging or crazy shots right now.
He did a few wild swings in the first over, but he has settled down for the moment.
Its going to be a fascinating match though.
Sounds just like Little here.
Corbyn has certainly had a rocky first few days. The organisation of his leadership campaign is almost universally acknowledged to have been brilliant, the same can’t be said for his first week as leader.
But given the shitstorm of smears and ridicule that he’s had to put up with on a daily basis from the British political and media establishment over the last 10 weeks, the real surprise in this YouGov Poll is that defence is the only issue where an absolute majority perceive him negatively. The numbers aint good, but they could have been a damn sight worse.
The worry is that first impressions (created by this unprecedented shitstorm of media / elite abuse) will last. The Tories (and New Labour Grandees) have sought to shape and define his image early on and it could be hard to shift.
Lost sheep
The poll relates to trust.
Yet, his policies are very popular amongst the wider public. Therefore, the enthusiasm is there.
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/The_Hon_Amy_Adams_Minister_of_Justice_Save_the_Dunedin_Courthouse/?ayQSgcb
I know Amy Adams is hardly going to care about this but would be good to get the 3000 signatures none the less. Thank you. It’s a beautiful building if you don’t know it, Dunedin is lucky to have it still.
Signed. Couldn’t believe Amy Adams attitude to this-refusing to release details of the costings so the local council could check them.
Not a vote winner for the philistine Nats. Labour and the Greens should commit to saving the courthouse.
just another example of the nats’ War on Dunedin. The rest of the south is collateral damage.
So we received the national party “view seeking” full colour glossy mustve cost a fortune survey in the post this week…. asking what issues I care about and what my political affiliation is….yueech. In parliamentary service envelopes with freepost return post also on the taxpayer …. not fair they should at minimum pay for their own postage to do their greasy pre election poll research. Very icky getting personally addressed mail from nats asking you who you vote (“support”) for.. yuck.
For all the right wingers in or associated with Labour (yes you Goff, Robertson, Mumblefuck, Pagani) disingenuously claiming that they have to pursue the mirage of “the centre”, research in the UK hows that Labour becomes more popular the further left it moves.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-34278338?SThisFB
Similar feedback here has shown support for Labour NZs left policies and in both cases it has been the toxic brand of the party or its leadership for incompetence and instability that has been the vote-loser.
Why then are these people and their vanity allowed to undermine Labour’s chances when they have nothing positive and much that is negative to contribute?
Yep, I’ve been reading quite a lot of British Election Study research over recent weeks (as well as a whole lot of other UK poll data).
Despite the never-ending flow of unmitigated bullshit emanating from the Blairites (including dear old Tony himself), the Brownites, the Tories and all of their little enablers in the media and academic establishment, the poll data does not suggest that UK voters are pro-Austerity or deeply enamoured of the Cameron Government’s economic performance.
Rather, they have very little trust in the economic competence of the major figures associated with the last Blair and Brown Governments. Large majorities think the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition’s economic performance was poor or very poor, but overwhelming majorities think the pre-Corbyn Labour leadership was even worse, even less competent.
Most of Corbyn’s policy proposals (as tentative and potentially flexible as many of them are), are entirely in tune with public opinion. Renationalising railways and utilities, rent controls, higher taxes for the super-wealthy, a mandatory living wage, cuts to tuition fees and so on. Immigration is the most obvious exception (and it’s an issue that has unusually high salience at the moment), but then precisely the same goes for the other 3 who stood as Labour Leadership candidates and for the respective PLP factions they represent. And indeed for the Tories. British public opinion is to the Left of the major parties on most issues but well to the Right of all the parties (except Ukip) on immigration and has been for quite some time.
Jane Green generally de-emphasises the importance of precise ideological direction for voters’ decision-making and instead emphasises valence issues like general competence and, in particular, perceived economic competence. (Valence issues tend to become more important when major parties ideologically converge as they did during the Blair/Brown years).
The evidence coming through at the moment in terms of the May 2015 Election loss downplays English voter wariness of a Labour government relying on the SNP as a factor. Instead, it points to 2 key problems – a very low regard for Ed Miliband’s potential competence as PM and an equally low regard for Labour’s economic competence.
2 key problems – a very low regard for Ed Miliband’s potential competence as PM and an equally low regard for Labour’s economic competence.
Latest Poll YouGov (see link above) indicates these are problems Corbyn has inherited to a large extent.
From what you have seen or heard about Jeremy Corbyn, do you think he will do well or badly….
As leader of the Labour party?
Very well 10
Fairly well 20
TOTAL WELL 30
Fairly badly 20
Very badly 28
TOTAL BADLY 48
Don’t know 23
Managing the economy?
Would trust a lot 7
Would trust a fair amount 16
TOTAL TRUST 23
Would not trust very much 14
Would not trust at all 36
TOTAL NOT TRUST 50
Don’t know enough about him to say 27
See my comment at 2.3
Incidentally, the first Party Support Poll to come out suggests Labour has cut the Tory lead from 9 points to 6 (half the poll was conducted before the leadership win announced / half after, but all of it conducted at a time when Corbyn’s victory was universally assumed).
When you say ‘Labour had cut the lead from 9 to 6’, it should be pointed out that Labour support had only increased by 1%. Obviously the other 2 points the Tories had lost were not to Labour.
But as you say, all of the polling was conducted during a time when Corbyn’s leadership was assumed.
So it would be very hard to read a 1% increase as an indication that Corbyn’s politics were indicative of any kind of widespread support for his politics outside the current Left?
Yaaaaaaawwwwwwnnnnn
So over this UK/Corbyn/Labour rant.
Thank goodness my forebears had the wit and courage to emigrate to New Zealand in the 19thC and leave behind Dickensian England.
Good luck to Jeremy but what has he got to do with NZ politics? The Key to a better NZ is Key & his mates. IMHO
Yeah, but what you’re ignoring are the widespread claims from the British
MSM / Blair-Brownites / Tories = that Corbyn’s leadership is going to be
absolutely disastrous, that the Party’s support will plunge to the sub-20% zone.
Early days, who knows how dire the relentless media shitstorm will become over the next few months and how effective it’ll be in shaping voter perceptions. But, at the moment, the negative connotations being ascribed to this latest ‘Attitudes to Corbyn’ YouGov poll are not being reflected in the latest Party Support ICM/Guardian Poll.
Here’s some interesting stats from the YouGov Poll, indicating potential inroads a Corbyn-led Labour Party could make into Lib Dem / Ukip support:
Despite 10 weeks worth of intense attacks and smears on Corbyn (becoming noticeably worse over the last week), there are still supporters of other parties who hold positive views about him.
Bearing in mind that there are plenty of people in the ‘Don’t know enough about him to answer the question’ category …… Here’s the Proportion of Lib Dem and Ukip supporters who:
Are explicitly positive about Corbyn’s win as leader
Lib Dem 32%, Ukip 19%
Think he will do well as leader
Lib Dem 37%, Ukip 19%
Trust him to make the right decisions on govt spending / cuts
Lib Dem 32%, Ukip 12%
Trust him on NHS
Lib Dem 51%, Ukip 29%
Trust him on managing the economy
Lib Dem 27%, Ukip 12%
EU
Lib Dem 32%, Ukip 13%
Taxes
Lib Dem 31%, Ukip 13%
On most issues, only a minority of Lib Dem supporters say they Don’t trust Corbyn, while usually at least a third of Ukip voters either trust him or say they don’t know enough about him yet.
Suggests a quarter to a third of Lib Dems are at least potentially up for grabs, certainly sympathetic, along with maybe 10-20% of Ukip voters (putting aside all those in the ‘Don’t Know enough about him yet’ category). This dovetails with polls conducted during the leadership campaign when you generally had around 20% or more of Ukip voters feeling genuinely positive about Corbyn.
Along with the fairly consistent 4-7% of Tory voters who trust him on these various issues (rising to 19% on the NHS), that represents potentially 7 or 8 percentage points up for grabs, with the aim of holding on to Labour doubters.
That’s putting aside, of course, the overwhelmingly positive attitudes that Green supporters (currently around 3-6% in the polls) have of a Corbyn-led Labour Party. There’s the potential for at least a third, maybe half, of the Green vote to move to Labour. Particularly, if an electoral accommodation is made.
And, as always, under FPP, attitudes/public opinion in the key marginals are all that count, from a purely electoral viewpoint. That’s where they need to shift votes.
Summing up then, Corbyn’s election to Labour Leadership does not appear to have had a significant immediate effect on the Parties overall electoral position, either for better or worse.
Yep, that’s about the size of it. Although, very early days. Let’s see where the polls go over the next couple of months.
I’d say, though, that the very fact that Labour’s support is holding up (and that their main opponents are down) is remarkable, given the 10 week onslaught of elite hysteria.
Incidentally, a Survation Poll, conducted immediately after Corbyn’s win was announced, found that 6% of Tories, 20% of Ukip supporters, 23% of Lib Dems and 17% of 2015 Non-Voters say they are more likely to vote Labour at the next Election as a result of Corbyn’s leadership.
Just a bit confused by that. I know next to nothing of UK politics, but aren’t UKIP supporters heavily anti-immigration? Isn’t Corbyn known to be heavily pro-immigration, especially for refugees? Why would 20% of UKIP’s seriously contemplate changing horses, or do you reckon they were just taking the piss?
I would guess that a lot of UKIP voters are fed up to the gills with the professional political class, and also suspect that this class uses immigration to impose austerity on the locals, by cutting them out of jobs and houses. So someone who is not the darling of the political class and opposes austerity is attractive to them. They key feature, I think, is austerity and those who cheerfully impose it.
Pretty much what Olwyn says.
Objectively (though not necessarily subjectively), Ukip voters are very much like NZF voters here – essentially the socially-conservative Left (and disproportionately older, working class and male).
Polls over the last couple of years suggest they are:
– strongly anti-austerity
– highly-alienated from / dissatisfied with the political class
– almost as strongly supportive of public ownership/renationalisation as Labour and Green voters are
– believe the Torys do not govern with their best interests in mind
– believe (the pre-Corbyn) Labour Party no longer had the interests of ordinary people like them at heart
Polls also suggest that you can divide Ukip supporters into 3 groups in terms of their ideological self-placement / self-perceptions. The largest are the core supporters. Second largest are the Right-leaners, who vote Ukip while greatly preferring a Tory (to Labour) govt, with the smallest faction (roughly 20-25%) being those who subjectively see themselves as Left-leaners,
ie Ukippers naturally disposed to the Labour Party, more often than not being former supporters.
There’s no doubt though that Immigration is going to be a difficult hurdle for Corbyn (particularly given its increasing salience to voters. At the moment, you have close to 50% of British voters (an unprecedented number) ranking it as the most serious issue facing Britain today). As I suggested above, the UK electorate is to the Left of the major parties (pre-Corbyn) on most issues but well to the Right of all parties (except Ukip) on Immigration.
What Corbyn shouldn’t do (and I don’t think it’s in his character anyway) is the typical upper-middle class urban liberal, morally-superior finger-wagging (ie “racists, racists, racists !!!”, much in the same way that fundamentalist Christians chastise everybody else with “sinners, sinners, sinners !!!”). Needs to listen to their fears about job security and so on sympathetically.
Ukippers are also anti-EU. So, a Labour Party led by a Euro-sceptic like Corbyn could potentially be attractive.
Thanks. Interesting.
@ Lyn: Editing comments is *very* slow, and has been for a week or so now. It takes at least 45 seconds to 1 minute to load the edit window, it used to only take 1-3.
Wow! Read Toby Manhire’s advice to the Australian PM.
“What then can you learn from your cross-ditch human template?
…..My first instinct is to say, ignore the performance of recent weeks. The craven and laggardly action to take extra refugees showed a distinct lack of moral leadership. Then there was the mealy-mouthed refusal to support Sue Moroney’s paid parental leave bill. The adolescent politicking around the flag shortlist.
I’d say all this, coming after defeat in Northland, the fallout from Dirty Politics and scandals such as the Saudi sheep farrago, suggests that John Key’s honeymoon has come to an end.” …….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11514702
Bureaucracy out of control…..
City defends $63m staff blowout
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11514748
Wages bill $792 million
FTE staff 9678
Average wage $81,835
Last year the average wage was $76,979, that’s a 6.3% increase
Porkers…..
What’s the distribution?
Distribution of what?
Of salaries and which salary band got what increase.
“These prisoners and their personal privacy—to HELL with it!”
How long will it be till Hillary Barry and Jim Kayes walk?
PAUL HENRY, TV3, Friday 18 September 2015
depraved adj. 1. morally bad or debased; corrupt
Straight after the 7 o’clock news, Henry embarks on a savage rant: “Rihannon-basher Chris Brown—why would we let him into this country?” This is especially ironic in light of the guest he has lined up for later that hour: the gruesome S.S. Obergruppenführer Garth “The Knife” McVicar, who is the most shameless exponent of extreme violence in this country. [1]
7:29 a.m. I tune in just in time to catch the last five seconds of Phil “Goofy” Goff, who is also denouncing Chris Brown. Fellow guest commentator Judith “Crusher” Collins nods her head approvingly and smiles in that supercilious way of hers.
After the 7:30 news, there is a particularly lame segment, where a number of children are asked their views about the “Hakarena” parody. My niece (13 years old) says: “They’re trying to be like Jono and Ben!” My nephew (10) says: “This is not funny.”
At 7:45 a.m. it’s time to ramp up the outrage even more. As well as the calamitous prospect of Chris Brown coming to New Zealand, there have been revelations that a number of prisoners have breached their parole conditions and are on the loose. No better person to interview, then, than the S.S. Obergruppenführer. Or to be more precise, to let him wax philosophical….
GARTH MCVICAR: ….Absolute débâcle. … Parole is a con, a sham… We have a criminial-centred system in this country, the victim is always a secondary consideration. … The system is always concerned about the offender, to ensure that THEIR rights aren’t breached. …Publlc safety has got too be of paramount consideration. ….[he continues talking like this for another minute or so]….
PAUL HENRY: [clucks tongue to indicate how impressed he is] There’s no reason to talk about this any longer. You’re absolutely right, Garth. Have a good weekend.
Then he turns and shouts at his hapless slaves, Hillary Barry and Jim Kayes, who sit glumly silent across from Henry, looking half bewildered and half disgusted…
HENRY: He’s RIGHT isn’t he! These prisoners and their personal privacy—to HELL with it!
Hillary and Jim maintain an awkward silence. Henry gives up on them….
HENRY: Perlina, what are people saying about this?
PERLINA LAU: Eighty-five per cent of people in our survey say that Chris Brown should NOT be allowed in.
HENRY: Eighty-five per cent? That means fifteen per cent think he SHOULD be allowed in! We don’t need him! He’s just a BASTARD, a nasty BASTARD! The British in 2010 said “Nuh!” and the Canadians said “Nuh!” We don’t need him!
Hillary and Jim sit there, glum and silent.
….ad nauseam….
[1] http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13072014/#comment-848129
Harvard Law Professor picks apart the US case against Kim Dotcom.
https://torrentfreak.com/presidential-candidate-lawrence-lessig-steps-up-to-assist-kim-dotcom-150916/
Google Richard O’Dwyer and TVShack. Pretty sure there are parallels worth exploring. I believe the UK, unlike their craven NZ counterparts, told the US to ‘go take a leap’.
There were other very similar cases too, but I can’t remember names or such-like.
Somewhere there is a free streaming documentary looking at how the porn industry was trying to shut down ‘free’ sites and what not. The basic thrust of part of the docu was that it was exploring possible legal arguments/strategies that could then be used by major studios against the likes of (the then unknown) O’Dwyer and Dotcom.
When kim sues us for 15 gazillion dollars for the misconduct of our Attourney General and police is there a simmilar “undertaking of liability” under which we can recover these funds from the u s of a. Its looking quite likely now
NRT: Incompetence or fraud?
Electorate as well so if she ends up going to jail there’ll be a by-election.
IMO, if the fraud is proven then the board should be going to jail.
lpent you need to upgrade your potato.
They never thought he had a bomb…
It’s a theory.
But then who knows what stupidity lurks in the hearts of morons. I know of an incident where someone walked around using R/T and cellphone while carrying and showing people the (intentionally) suspicious device they’d found.
And then another time when the hazmat team had to fully deploy because someone thought a bulk-bin bag of flour was a “suspicious white powder” sitting in the gutter. Someone went without pancakes that day.
BUT was the bag of flour arrested Mac?
Depends on whether the flour was white or brown ….
just sayin’ 😉
everyone who approached it had a nice shower.
Although to be fair I reckon the emergency services figured it for what it was pretty quickly after responding to the call from the paranoid member of the public, but used it more as a decent training opportunity rather than a germ warfare attack.
“It’s a theory.”
Here’s another one. The science teacher could tell that there were no explosive bits, but still thought the clock could be part of a bomb. The stupid is in the culture of paranoia.
Another possility, yes.
The engineering teacher intrigues me – I suspect that the warning not to show the clock to other teachers was made in the full knowledge that some of those teachers were paranoid bigots who would cause exactly this situation.
Such a fucking stupid situation.
Dunno if that’s so much a theory as a logical demolition job of the ‘official line’.
If the various actions and inactions are accurate, then yeah – they didn’t think he had a bomb.
If everyone was acting rationally and intelligently.
I suspect the English teacher is a confirmed bigot and moron who should lose her job.
The cops could be morons with things that might go bang, they could have suspected it was part of a device he was constructing, they could have been humouring a noisy paranoid teacher simply because it was easier for the cops, or they could have had the goal of ‘humilitating a little Muslim, African boy’.
Any of those could be the case, and now everyone’s in “bullshit to cover their arse” mode.
Oh Dear … Whale found in Contempt of Court ..
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11515312
Only kinda sorta found guilty of contempt.
Just me reckoning ‘bollocks’? Not deliberate and/or a wee bit careless! Beggers belief…
Yeah, I’d say that was bollocks. Slater’s has been saying for years that he’s going to publish information that had been closed down by court order.