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Open Mike 18/09/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 18th, 2017 - 150 comments
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150 comments on “Open Mike 18/09/2017 ”

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  1. Cinny 1
    18 September 2017 at 6:30 am

    It’s happening…. Nick Smith might just lose his seat…. this is an exciting poll result considering the large margin Nick has had over Nelson for so long.

    “A new poll is showing a tight race in Nelson – the seat National’s Nick Smith won by nearly 8000 votes at the least election.

    He’s held the seat comfortably since 1996, but new Greens polling suggests it’s nearly a three-way photo-finish with Labour candidate Rachel Boyack and Greens candidate Matt Lawrey a relatively close second and third.

    Smith held 29.3 per cent support; four points ahead of Boyack on 25 per cent, while Lawrey – a high-profile councillor in the region – was on 22.8 per cent.”

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96928350/labour-and-greens-nelson-candidates-breathing-down-the-neck-of-nationals-nick-smith–poll

    • garibaldi 1.1
      18 September 2017 at 7:25 am

      If Labour wants to win the general election it should direct it’s Nelson supporters to vote Lowry to ensure the Greens an electoral seat in parliament. This would help boost the Green vote because those who fear they won’t get 5% can then confidently vote Green.
      What’s the bet that Labour are too arrogant to do this?

      • Psycho Milt 1.1.1
        18 September 2017 at 7:31 am

        Given that Labour denounced National for doing that in Ohariu, what’s your proposal for Labour to credibly explain now deciding to do the same thing?

        • garibaldi 1.1.1.1
          18 September 2017 at 8:08 am

          PM,National will do anything and everything to win ,so what alternative would you suggest? The way I see it we either face 3 more years or do what it takes to win now. This would include accommodations elsewhere eg give TTT to Hone.

          • McFlock 1.1.1.1.1
            18 September 2017 at 11:21 am

            So labgrn gain a maximum of 4.9% from Greens (if and only if greens poll <5%), and lose how much for being hypocrites?

            Nah. Leave the rotten boroughs to the nats.

        • popexplosion 1.1.1.2
          18 September 2017 at 1:21 pm

          New leader. It was dumb to call legal tactics underhanded. It’s politics, people want capable politicians who can stick the dagger in. Ans finally, Labour lazily want the ability to return on the list so any split voting is to be frowned upon even if it givens local voters more representatives, aka Epson, Seymour, gold Smith, jenta?, Labour list guy. This is why you need to party vote Greens, kick Labour out of its stupor.

      • AsleepWhileWalking 1.1.2
        18 September 2017 at 7:38 am

        I would love to see that happen.

      • Cinny 1.1.3
        18 September 2017 at 8:08 am

        I’m so impressed with Rachels polling, I didn’t expect her to be polling higher than Matt. Have seen her speak a number of times, she’s outstanding and super motivated/enthusiastic.

        If I was in Nelson electorate I’d strategic vote

        Imagine if Nick came third, now that we be a great result for all. Nick is very proud, the news of this poll will be hurting. Nelson has had enough of Nick

      • Bearded Git 1.1.4
        18 September 2017 at 9:42 am

        I think the Greens will be safely over 5%….their campaign has been excellent over the last month and at least four of my friends are tactically voting Green.

        It really makes little difference whether the new government is Lab 43 Gre 5 or Lab 40 Gre 8.

        If I was a Labour voter in Nelson I would be giving Two Tactical Ticks (mmm maybe the Greens could use that as a slogan) to the Greens in this scenario-wouldn’t it be good to see the back of that consummate liar Mr. Nick “wadeable” Smith?

        • ScottGN 1.1.4.1
          18 September 2017 at 3:03 pm

          Stephen Mills said this morning on Nine to Noon that UMR currently has the Greens safely over the threshold on 8%.

    • ScottGN 1.2
      18 September 2017 at 8:03 am

      This poll is front page on the Southland Times this morning Cinny.😀

    • James 1.3
      18 September 2017 at 8:08 am

      No it’s not happening.

      It was all a desperate bullshit attempt from the greens.
      http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/09/patrick-gower-desperate-greens-drop-fake-news-poll-in-nelson.html

      • Cinny 1.3.1
        18 September 2017 at 8:13 am

        Cheers for the link James it’s Gowers OPINION as stated on the story. He’s a little headline spinner who enjoys the focus on him is Gower.

        The feeling from around nicks electorate reflects the numbers from the greens internal polling. Nelson is sick of Nick.

        However am following this with interest.

        • James 1.3.1.1
          18 September 2017 at 8:42 am

          He’s now updated that it was confirmed by the greens as being done by Robo callers.

          Push polling much. What a laugh.

          Greens bust be shit scared that they won’t make 5% to try and pull this off.

          • mpledger 1.3.1.1.1
            18 September 2017 at 9:17 am

            Robo callers aren’t necessarily push polls.

            It’s what information is conveyed by the interviewer that decides if it’s a push poll.

            So what was the script?

          • Cinny 1.3.1.1.2
            18 September 2017 at 9:41 am

            thanks for the update James, it’s still Gowers opinion… as still stated on the story.

            • james 1.3.1.1.2.1
              18 September 2017 at 9:49 am

              and its still bullshit to release it as a poll

              “Both polls were robo-polls that targeted voters across Nelson. Robo-polls or automated polls are self-selecting, which can be difficult to weight scientifically, but the September Greens’ poll produced a response rate of about 20 per cent. ”

              As I said – they are desperate.

              • Cinny …
                18 September 2017 at 11:09 am

                on the upside, not long now until we find out if any of the polls were correct.

                Is election night a big thing for you James? We are heading down to one of the locals, they will have large screens set up upstairs to watch the networks broadcast results as they come in.

                • James …
                  18 September 2017 at 12:02 pm

                  Depends if I’m in the country or not (this election I am). I normally host a party and watch it in the big screen in the man cave.

              • Draco T Bastard …
                18 September 2017 at 11:10 am

                No, it’s you who are desperate.

                People who answer polling questions from people who call are also self-selecting.

                • James …
                  18 September 2017 at 12:03 pm

                  Me desperate? Nah – I’m all good. Already said I would be (very) disappointed If labour and greens win – but happy to accept the result what ever way it goes.

                  I suggest should national win – you will whine like anything.

          • Draco T Bastard 1.3.1.1.3
            18 September 2017 at 11:08 am

            Man, you really are scared aren’t you?

            Automated calling is just as random as as a person going through a phone book and will get the same y/n response to answering.

      • SpaceMonkey 1.3.2
        18 September 2017 at 9:21 am

        “It’s a set of numbers Green volunteers have gathered, with no way of checking them and media should be ashamed of reporting them as a “poll”.”

        Hahahaha… bloody rich coming from Gower!

      • Bearded Git 1.3.3
        18 September 2017 at 9:47 am

        The poll must be credible when Gower reacts like that.

        The MSM’s attempt to push the Greens out of parliament and posit that Winston will have a shot at being PM is crashing and burning.

      • Muttonbird 1.3.4
        18 September 2017 at 11:14 am

        Gower is annoyed that anyone else would try to do a fake poll because that’s his territory.

        • Union city greens 1.3.4.1
          18 September 2017 at 11:36 am

          Gower is lying. He claims the greens say they are in front. The stuff story clearly states they say they are in third place.

          This fake news claim, after his made up RR poll, has seen his personal share of the preferred irony vote just go up to 104.7% lol

    • Sumsuch 1.4
      18 September 2017 at 10:40 pm

      I was in the newsroom of the Nelson Mail –almost all females– in 2003 when Nick had one of his periodic breakdowns–was he deputy leader at the time? He is one of the elite who they who know him smile immediately at the mention of the name.

  2. Cinny 2
    18 September 2017 at 6:36 am

    Bill English doesn’t appear to be doing his Monday morning tv interviews, looks like Paula is being rolled out instead.

    Am wondering where is bill this morning and why he is not doing his regular monday morning interviews?

    She’s coming up on newshub, and then on tvnz at 7:10

    • Cinny 2.1
      18 September 2017 at 6:48 am

      Turns out bill is doing a streamed interview with hosking at 7am
      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11922548

    • ScottGN 2.2
      18 September 2017 at 6:54 am

      No doubt they’re quite keen to avoid him getting asked how come the government failed to do anything to secure such a vital piece of infrastructure like the fuel pipeline, even after they were advised 5 years ago it was vulnerable to exactly the kind of event that happened last week.

      • Incognito 2.2.1
        18 September 2017 at 7:32 am

        No doubt National will try and spin it to suggest that a previous Labour government put that Kauri there [sarc]. However, it did leave somewhat of a real hole this time …

    • ScottGN 2.3
      18 September 2017 at 7:37 am

      Bennett is fronting Morning Report too now…

      • Ed 2.3.1
        18 September 2017 at 7:42 am

        English must be wishing he was on Morning Report.
        Bennett is really struggling.
        Completely unprepared for the interview.

        Espiner just said ‘National ran out of gas in the last week.’

        • alwyn 2.3.1.1
          18 September 2017 at 9:46 am

          There was an excellent interview with Collins on Morning Report though, a bit earlier than Bennetts.
          Suzie asked all the relevant questions and allowed Collins to answer them. It was actually very informative.
          Espiner, on the other hand simply talked straight over the top of Bennett as soon as she tried to respond to his questions. Would someone get him to listen to Suzy’s interview and learn how it should be done? We want to hear the answers Guyon, not simply you stopping the Minister from answering.

      • SpaceMonkey 2.3.2
        18 September 2017 at 9:34 am

        Her “golly, gee, gosh!” routine is tired and old. Once it was amusing – in the sense that someone with no vocabulary other than superlatives could get away with insulting the electorate like that – now it just hurts my head.

        And she hadn’t read the report… what a surprise! How many times can she get away with that? Paula… How about instead of talking with your colleague the evening before the interview, you read the report so you can talk sensibly for a change.

        And you should’ve had time to do both by the sounds of it. You’re not even campaigning… no one has seen you!!

    • mary_a 2.4
      18 September 2017 at 7:52 am

      Cinny (2) … NZH headlines has Blinglish doing an interview on the ZB Hosking breakfast show this morning. Yes, it’s headline news!

      Hence Bennett being rolled out on Morning Report. She’s not doing too well either.

      • Cinny 2.4.1
        18 September 2017 at 8:18 am

        By crikey Mary it’s going to be a huge week. paula kept reassuring herself that the nats still have the countrys support on both tv networks. She’s dreaming.

        Watched a bit of english, he was struggling, looking forward to catching up with all the interviews later.

      • tracey 2.4.2
        18 September 2017 at 9:01 am

        She has been invisible, for obvious reasons, but maybe questions began being asked about where the DPM has been?

    • eco Maori/kiwi 2.5
      18 September 2017 at 8:17 pm

      Well Well

  3. mickysavage 3
    18 September 2017 at 6:49 am

    Air fuel … it should be a simple job to say that Oravida is not involved, presuming this is the case. Why no comment?

  4. Ed 4
    18 September 2017 at 7:46 am

    Unenrolled voters being turned away in Palmerston North.
    Sounds like Florida 2000.

  5. Janet 5
    18 September 2017 at 8:30 am

    The Herald’s article on the jet fuel shortage says that Mobie had a report on this in 2012, pointing out the risk of this happening. Did nothing.
    Key as Minister of Tourism (now on Air NZ Board) would have known about the risk. Might it not have been viewed as rather important infrastructure? Another complete fail for Joyce, Key and English. And is Oravida involved?

    • Rosemary McDonald 5.1
      18 September 2017 at 8:48 am

      “And is Oravida involved?”

      An opportunity for a keen journalist to do some real digging?

      There’s a stench swirling around this.

    • Rosemary McDonald 5.2
      18 September 2017 at 8:58 am

      Stop press!!!

      The Northern Advocate has this…http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11923372

      saying….”Meanwhile, Refining NZ chief executive Sjoerd Post this morning told Radio New Zealand reports that a digger striking a kauri log caused the pipeline bust was “fake news”.

      The spokesperson said there were currently 14 international or domestic flights cancelled.

      However, when put in context that an average of more than 460 flights went in and out of the airport daily, the impact hadn’t been too bad.

      “I think contextually wise, we have 465 flights that operate at the airport daily so if you look at it with that context there’s not a huge amount of flights that have been cancelled.”

      • tracey 5.2.1
        18 September 2017 at 9:03 am

        “Fake news”. As in – we got legal advice from MFAT to pay our Saudi businessman- fake or something else?

        • Rosemary McDonald 5.2.1.1
          18 September 2017 at 9:14 am

          There’s something really fishy about this.

          The environment around the kauri extraction and export industry is murkier than the swamps….

          It will be interesting to see how the various political parties handle this.

          Quite a number of prominent people are potentially compromised.

          And bugger…the worksite looks awfully close to one of my favourite freedom camping (in a CSC vehicle of course) spots. ;-( 🙁

    • Ma Rohemo 5.3
      18 September 2017 at 10:32 am

      The refinery said calculations showed pipe rupture to be “a one in one hundred or two hundred year event”
      They can accurately state that it is now a one in 31 year event.

  6. DoublePlusGood 6
    18 September 2017 at 8:39 am

    Hi everyone. It’s the last week of the campaign, I was bored last night, and I’ve seen some very odd mainstream media commentary on electorate seats.
    We’re also bound to get inane nonsense on the night itself.

    So, without further ado, here is an index of how far each seat has been to the left or right averaged over the last three elections, from the party vote. The method is left/opposition votes minus right/government votes for each election, averaged, which gives you the % lead.
    Left leaning is positive numbers, right leaning negative numbers, for obvious reasons.
    It’s a blunt measure because I am not a data statistician, but I think this is a hell of a lot more useful than the Herald’s ‘insights’.

    Māngere +54
    Ikaroa-Rāwhiti +51
    Hauraki-Waikato +47
    Manukau East +47
    Te Tai Tokerau +45
    Tāmaki-Makaurau +44
    Te Tai Hauāuru +38
    Te Tai Tonga +38
    Waiariki +35
    Manurewa +33

    The safest left seats are the 7 Māori seats and the 3 South Auckland seats. The Māori seats would be even further left, but they were much less left in 2008 as the Māori Party got a lot of votes that election. Same goes for Māngere and the Pacific Party. Interestingly, Waiariki is at +35 but still held by a government party in the electoral vote.

    Dunedin North +29
    Rongotai +29
    Kelston +26
    Mt Albert +17
    Wellington Central +17
    Dunedin South +16
    Mana +12
    Christchurch East +11
    New Lynn +10

    Among the rest of the left safe seats we have the first Christchurch seats. The Christchurch seats have changed greatly post the earthquake and the most recent redistribution, and their electoral results have bounced around a bit. Chch Central and Wigram are both more like +2, and Port Hills more like -2.

    Christchurch Central +7
    Wigram +7
    Hutt South +7
    Mount Roskill +6
    Te Atatū +6
    Auckland Central +6
    Port Hills +6
    Rimutaka +5
    Palmerston North +4
    Maungakiekie +3
    Nelson +1

    Hutt South post re-distribution is more like -2, and Nelson has been trending rightward, since it was -4 at the last election.
    Some weird predictions have been made with some of these seats. Hutt South is maybe able to be taken by National, but current polling should have Hutt South end up somewhere around +10 Left.
    Nelson being -4 last election is not a good sign, but if the election is won by the left, Nelson might go left too. A strong incumbent effect to beat there though.
    Christchurch Central should go back to Labour easily.
    In these electorates, it is a bit less certain if the Labour candidate wins as some electorate votes go to Green or NZ First candidates.

    West Coast-Tasman -3
    Ōtaki -4
    Whanganui -6
    NEW ZEALAND -6.6
    Hamilton West -7
    Invercargill -7
    Ōhariu -9

    These are the bellweather seats closest to New Zealand’s overall position the last three elections. Current polling has the current opposition parties at something like 54%, or +8.
    Invercargill, Ōhariu might be won by Labour, while Ōtaki, Whanganui and Hamilton West have strong incumbent effects to overcome.

    Napier -10
    East Coast -10
    Hamilton East -14
    Whangarei -14
    Rotorua -15
    Wairarapa -15
    Northcote -16
    Northland -16
    New Plymouth -16
    Rangitata -16
    Papakura -17
    Coromandel -17
    Tukituki -17
    Waimakariri -19

    Napier is a likely source of silly comments if Stuart Nash loses his seat, because Garth McVicar split the vote in 2011 and Stuart Nash was claimed as Left Wing Jesus for about a month. It’s maybe holdable, but a stretch.
    Whangarei seems too far to take off National, even if Shane Reti is totally useless.

    Waitaki -20
    Rangitikei -21
    Upper Harbour -22
    Kaikoura -22
    Tauranga -23
    Ilam -24
    Taupo -24
    Bay of Plenty -30
    Selwyn -31
    Waikato -34
    Botany -35
    North Shore -36
    Taranaki-King Country -36
    Clutha-Southland -37
    Pakuranga -38
    East Coast Bays -39
    Rodney -39
    Epsom -39
    Helensville -40
    Tamaki -40
    Hunua -40

    And these are all safe National seats, steadfastly committed to the destruction of all in sight. Hunua nudges out Tamaki and Helensville as the furthest right electorate, as it’s all land-bankers, lifestyle blocks, cows and Christian holiday camps out that way.

    • tracey 6.1
      18 September 2017 at 9:19 am

      Was hoping the exodus from the Eastern suburbs to Rolleston would dent Adams in Selwyn.

    • Bearded Git 6.2
      18 September 2017 at 9:57 am

      Wow….how long did that take? I just printed it.

      The interesting thing for me is that I think despite Labour winning electorate seats in Dunedin and Christchurch, Labour lost the party vote in both cities. This means that part of the party vote National got is soft and could easily move to Labour under Stardust.

      • DoublePlusGood 6.2.1
        18 September 2017 at 11:33 am

        It, uh, took a while!
        It’s the high green vote (especially in Dunedin North at 23%) that means National got a plurality in Dunedin. Labour should have the highest party vote in both this election.
        It’s the same kind of thing as Wellington Central where Labour were third in the party vote, but Wellington Central is still miles to the left.

        Labour hasn’t done that well in Christchurch, but I think not being first on the party vote in the left leaning electorates is due to strong NZ First and Green presence.

    • swordfish 6.3
      18 September 2017 at 11:56 am

      These are the bellweather seats closest to New Zealand’s overall position the last three elections.

      In terms of the Party-Vote – I’ve completed quite a bit of fine-grained Booth-by-Booth analysis over recent years

      It’s allowed me to identify various Bellwether neighbourhoods (esp in Welly & Auckland)

      Who knows – Intensive canvassing of these micro-areas (ie booth catchment areas) might just prove a little more cost-effective for Labour & Greens than Polling

      Cheap way to learn which way the wind’s blowing

      • DoublePlusGood 6.3.1
        18 September 2017 at 12:31 pm

        I really enjoyed seeing how individual polling places differed last time.
        Also found out that I voted at the Greenest polling booth in the country.

        • swordfish 6.3.1.1
          18 September 2017 at 1:37 pm

          Also found out that I voted at the Greenest polling booth in the country.

          Only if you live in Golden Bay

          Greenest polling booth in the country (Highest %)

          Booth Onekaka … Region Golden Bay … Seat West Coast-Tasman

          Green … Total … Green %
          76 …… … 139 … … … 54.7%

          .

          2nd Place

          Booth Aro Valley … Region Wellington City … Seat Wellington Central

          Green … Total … Green %
          538 … … 1186 … … 45.4%

  7. Glenn 7
    18 September 2017 at 8:41 am

    Ammunition…..but for whom?

    https://www.odt.co.nz/business/important-information-come-just-election

    “Politicians will get their final chance to look at economic indicators on Wednesday and Thursday before Saturday’s election.

    Early voting will have been going for 10 days before Statistics New Zealand’s balance of payment figures are released on Wednesday.

    On Thursday, New Zealand’s economic growth figures are released, along with the country’s increasingly controversial migration and international visitor numbers”.

    • Carolyn_nth 7.1
      18 September 2017 at 9:15 am

      Our election rules have not kept up with the shift to early voting. There should be no publication of polls once voting starts. And the rule of no politicking or reports on such on Saturday only, is now a nonsense.

    • tracey 7.2
      18 September 2017 at 9:20 am

      Wont government already know these?

  8. eco maori 8
    18 September 2017 at 8:53 am

    Can anyone see a world financial crisis well no so don’t fall for the neo liberals proper gander Implying that OUR property price mite crash all that is happen is people are buying more property’s in OUR smaller regions .
    In my view the real estate people and bankers all neo liberals are the cause of OUR
    over priced property’s .
    When i read that a house gets sold 3 * in 6 months and the real estate agent gets 4 %
    well in my view that has pushed that house up by 12% real estate agency should be only aloud a 1% commission on sales so this house would only go up 3% and this would still be $30.000 and not $120.000 in Auckland and tuff shit if they can’t make that work as they are pushing OUR property’s prices to high and unsustainable.
    Aviation fuel why not have one or two weeks storage at a strategic point.

    • SpaceMonkey 8.1
      18 September 2017 at 9:46 am

      “Aviation fuel why not have one or two weeks storage at a strategic point”

      You’d think that where you’ve got a single point of failure like that pipeline, this is the minimum contingency that would’ve been taken to mitigate the risk.

      The never ending quest for greater profitability dulls decision making and blunts risk management.

      • Draco T Bastard 8.1.1
        18 September 2017 at 11:22 am

        The never ending quest for greater profitability dulls decision making and blunts risk management.

        Which is exactly what happened with the Rena disaster. We simply didn’t have the necessary capabilities in place because it costs to have it in place.

        • s y d 8.1.1.1
          18 September 2017 at 12:26 pm

          Rena and this oil pipeline and going back to Max Bradford, the 1998 electric cable debacle into AK City are examples of what happens when formerly publicly owned natural monopolies are handed to the private sector. The critical functions of ensuring that infrastructure is maintained and contingencies made for failure are offloaded onto local government functionaries who are not up to the task.
          Consequently we have Airport & Port & Oil & Electricity Companies with no responsibilities beyond maximising profit. The risk is handed off to local and eventually central government, who, when the inevitable happens, will cry 1 in 100 year event, hold an inquiry, decide to leave things as they are and leave the mess for the locals

    • Draco T Bastard 8.2
      18 September 2017 at 11:20 am

      In my view the real estate people and bankers all neo liberals are the cause of OUR over priced property’s .

      Correct:

      Many of us were told that house prices are so high because there are too many people and not enough houses. While this is true, house prices have also been pushed up by the hundreds of billions of pounds of new money that banks created in the years before the financial crisis.

      Yes, we use the same failed Ponzi Scheme for our banking.

    • james 8.3
      18 September 2017 at 4:00 pm

      “a house gets sold 3 * in 6 months and the real estate agent gets 4 %
      well in my view that has pushed that house up by 12% real estate agency should be only aloud a 1% commission on sales so this house would only go up 3% ”

      Im sorry but your maths and logic are critically flawed.

  9. The Chairman 9
    18 September 2017 at 9:03 am

    Watching Jacinda on Q&A defending her housing policy (limiting offshore investors to new builds) it’s clear Labour should have gone with the tax option highlighted by Fran.

    It’s been shown to work overseas (Canada). And it is within the realm of our trade deals.

    Moreover, it could be hiked up so high it would put an end to offshore speculators.

    Why didn’t Labour go down this road? Anybody know?

    • tracey 9.1
      18 September 2017 at 9:22 am

      They wanted to. Remember their tax working group? Would have explored this and other things. But Joyce stirred up some lies and apparently it worked. They cannot change anything in Opposition. “Fran” has leverage on the Right, why didnt she write about this 8 years ago… or 1 year ago?

      • tc 9.1.1
        18 September 2017 at 9:29 am

        Because the MSM are full of nact shills like O’Shiilivan singing for their supper.

        A half decent MSM would’ve pointed out the obvious being a lack of CGT/speculators/foreign ownership and made nationals scare tactisc useless

      • The Chairman 9.1.2
        18 September 2017 at 9:43 am

        They don’t require a working group to draw up a tax policy. If they wanted to (as you asserted) then they could have done so.

        This has been known for sometime. Key even considered it, but didn’t think the level of offshore investment was that bad. Remember? He had a “gut instinct”.

        • tracey 9.1.2.1
          18 September 2017 at 12:33 pm

          Bullshit. When they produce lots of policy like 2014 no one gives a shit. When they get independently costed spending they get pilloried. When they suggest a working group they get pilloried.

          Show me the other party’s detail tax policies. And show me National’s income/wages policy.

          • Muttonbird 9.1.2.1.1
            18 September 2017 at 12:40 pm

            The Chairman doesn’t critique National. Only Labour. He must be really worried now because he’s recently started on the Greens.

            • tracey 9.1.2.1.1.1
              18 September 2017 at 12:47 pm

              I have noticed it is a common theme, most worryingly amongst the media. Another day another untested spending promise by English

          • The Chairman 9.1.2.1.2
            18 September 2017 at 2:08 pm

            Nothing in my reply to you was “bullshit”, Tracey. Therefore, what are you on about?

            “When they produce lots of policy like 2014 no one gives a shit.”

            No. It was more a case of voters not resonating with them. Hence, Little dropped a number of them. Speaking of which (policy not resonating) do Labour still have their radical Kiwisaver policy? You know, the one with the variable savings rate?

            “When they suggest a working group they get pilloried”

            For good reason, voters don’t like uncertainty. Jacinda probably could have gotten away with actually putting forward a policy. She has the ability to sell it if she tried.

            As for National’s policies, best you ask a right-winger. I’m not here to defend them.

            The Greens and NZ First policy can be found on their website.

      • james 9.1.3
        18 September 2017 at 4:03 pm

        So they didnt have the courage to follow thru with the captians call and changed it all because of Joyce.

  10. Pat 10
    18 September 2017 at 9:06 am

    Heres your market at work..the same process and regulation (hah!) promoted and implemented by Bill and his mates……and we have yet to add the thousands of dodgy Christchurch repairs to this debacle, that has been playing out for decades.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201858893/mother-faces-bankruptcy-after-leaky-home-bill

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201858894/tragic-leaky-building-cases-all-too-common-lawyer

    • tracey 10.1
      18 September 2017 at 12:38 pm

      Grimshaw got rich on the leaky home gravy train and a whole new profession popped up, building experts. Those experts get about 50k to project manage a full reclad so why would they recommend repair? Councils recommend reclad over repair cos the decision making is driven by future liability not the current code.

      There are tens of thousands of people trapped in leaky homes. Cannot afford to fix and no one will buy. That is alot of homes out of circulation. People who might have sold and moved to regions to retire are stuck.

      • Pat 10.1.1
        18 September 2017 at 1:09 pm

        Grimshaw may well have got rich on leaky home advocacy (he is after all a lawyer , who don’t get up to piss without billing someone for the act) however he is right about where the fault lies, unfortunately as will occur with ChCh this is simply another case of a system that provides for the private sector to profit and the costs to be socialised (and born by the unfortunate individuals due to inadequate compensation package)….and who changed the regulation and oversight to enable this?….I’ll give you one guess

  11. tc 11
    18 September 2017 at 9:10 am

    My better half voted and wasn’t asked for any ID !

    When I voted my drivers license proved I was who I said I was and I had to tell them the address then they gave me a voting paper.

    She gave her name, they read out her address and that was it, she was handed a voting slip without being asked for anything other than her name.

    Is this correct process ?

    • Carolyn_nth 11.1
      18 September 2017 at 9:22 am

      That does worry me. They seem to be stricter on election day voting than on ealry voting.

      I received my voting papers – easy vote card – at the weekend. Will probably use it to vote this week as I am working Saturday, and it takes about an hour to get back to my home area. So not a lot of time left for voting. Though, I do have the OK to leave early on Saturday to vote.

      When I voted in the UK, elections were on weekdays. polling booths opened a lot earlier so I voted on the way to work. I wonder why they don’t open til 9am in NZ, even though it’s a Saturday? I had to queue for quite a while to vote last election.

    • tracey 11.2
      18 September 2017 at 9:23 am

      I was asked for my DL.

    • Andre 11.3
      18 September 2017 at 9:24 am

      Seems to be correct process. I just handed over my easy vote card and didn’t show any id.

      It’s not a totally secret ballot since all the ballots are numbered and cross-referenced back to who it was issued to. So if it really came down to it, if there was a dispute about fraudulent voting the disputed ballots could get dug out of the stack. Wild-eyed conspiracy theories about how everyone voted is going into a secret database in 5….4….3…

  12. Ethica 12
    18 September 2017 at 9:34 am

    You don’t need any ID to vote. You just need to say your name and they should be able to find it in the roll. If not you can do a special vote on the spot – or even enrol and then vote.

    ID makes it easier for the poll clerk to see how your name is spelt – but it is not a legal requirement to have any ID

    • james 12.1
      18 September 2017 at 9:51 am

      Really – that seems nuts.

      That would make it very easy for people to vote under others names.

      • tc 12.1.1
        18 September 2017 at 11:21 am

        That’s my point, all you need is to have that bright orange logo mail with which had the ‘easy vote’ card inside.

        • james 12.1.1.1
          18 September 2017 at 4:05 pm

          Actually – no you do not.

          My wife lost hers – we all just went to vote.

          I had my easy vote card. She did not. She was just asked for her name and address. Nothing else.

      • Draco T Bastard 12.1.2
        18 September 2017 at 11:27 am

        Yep. And yet people still seem to think that paper voting is secure.

        • Blackcap 12.1.2.1
          18 September 2017 at 11:34 am

          Exactly. My partner voted last week. She gave her name, address and nothing else. Did not have the voting card as it had not yet arrived. Could easily vote for a friend or acquaintance who I know is on the roll, and probably not going to vote. The system is very loose.

        • Sabine 12.1.2.2
          18 September 2017 at 12:02 pm

          i don’t think its anymore secure then any other way of voting, but …. you have a paper record that can be counted and verified. that might be the ‘secure’ part of it, while electronic voting without a papertrail you really have nothing to verify how and if a vote was cast.

          i voted today, presented my easy voter card, asked the lady if she wanted to see id – no thanks she said, still she was a was a bit fumbly with the paperwork, then asked me to state my name and spell it.
          Next to me was a young Maori women who filled a provisional ballot as her name was not on the roll. She was not happy about that, but the Lady dealing with her was very competent at her job.

          i have no issue with presenting an ID, it is common in Germany. In saying that in Germany everyone also has to have an ID from the age of 16 (this is not a passport just a simply ID card) and one needs to carry this with them at all times.

          anyways, i voted, two ticks green, thanks god its over for me and i don’t have to pretend to be interested anymore in the mud slinging that is currently going on.
          Two symbolic ticks for Metiria Turei. Cause she literally is the only person voting for even tho my Green candidate here where i live now does not stand a chance getting anywhere but the same can be said about our Labour candidate.

        • McFlock 12.1.2.3
          18 September 2017 at 12:08 pm

          It is.

          Try skewing an election of 2 million votes by hand.

          • Psycho Milt 12.1.2.3.1
            18 September 2017 at 12:37 pm

            Another advantage of MMP: under FPP the election was sometimes decided by a few thousand votes spread across swing seats, but under MMP any voter fraud would have to be on a large enough scale to affect the party vote before it became worth doing anything about.

      • McFlock 12.1.3
        18 September 2017 at 12:00 pm

        yeah, but there’s no point to voter fraud unless you do it on a large scale, and in that case you’re easily picked up.

        But the threat of voter fraud is a nice way to ensure that poor people without id are disenfranchised.

        Although sometimes I think the main reason tories are worried about voter fraud is because they’re worried that lefties might have figured out a corrupt dodge that tories have missed.

        • Carolyn_nth 12.1.3.1
          18 September 2017 at 12:42 pm

          I’d still like to know my vote had integrity, otherwise, why vote?

          That’s kind of dismissing the value of individual votes to say fraud only matters on a large scale.

          Plus, my electorate vote in Epsom may come down to a few votes.

          • McFlock 12.1.3.1.1
            18 September 2017 at 12:56 pm

            Like most security issues, it comes down to “security” vs “usability”.

            We have a pretty good system of catching double-voters (which would also expose people voting under other people’s names), and they also have methods of identify fraudulent enrollments (one aspect being number of electors at an address, which is what sprung the guy trying it on a few years back). I wouldn’t be surprised if they also had some cross-referencing methods similar to how the two Israeli spies were caught trying to get NZ passports.

            But requiring ID disenfranchises those people who want to vote, but can’t afford/forget their id on the day. It’s a big deal in the states and is primarily targetted at disenfranchising black people (i.e. democrats).

            So do you want your vote to count more than other peoples’? Make it harder for people to vote. Otherwise, the current system is a pretty good compromise.

  13. Cinny 13
    18 September 2017 at 9:44 am

    Listening to the wireless, Sanso is doing his show down the coast this morning at Bernie Monks pub. Massive hints that there is still more to be released re Pike and it will be big. They don’t want to have to go down that path but have been left with no alternative.

    • eco maori 13.1
      18 September 2017 at 11:22 am

      Yes they need to take the Bull by the horns to accomplish what they want and squeezes the truth out of national.

    • ianmac 13.2
      18 September 2017 at 2:04 pm

      Stephen Mills just made a passing hint this morning suggesting there may be “something” damaging to National likely this week.
      Still wonder about Paula Bennett being absent for weeks. Never seen standing behind English for his contrived stand-ups.

  14. eco maori 14
    18 September 2017 at 11:34 am

    Some big wig was checking me out when I went to purchase groceries.
    What they failed to do was check out my other family line and see that there are 2 computer coders closely related to me.

    • greywarshark 14.1
      18 September 2017 at 12:41 pm

      You sound important for some bigwig to keep an eye on you. You are just into lawn mowing aren’t you. Or other horti-norti-culture?

      • Barfly 14.1.1
        18 September 2017 at 3:17 pm

        lol 🙂

      • eco Maori/kiwi 14.1.2
        18 September 2017 at 3:26 pm

        NICE FISH they are still spinning out the bullshit.
        And why are they stopping me from taking them to court !!!!!!!!!!!!! They are still pissing in the wind

        • eco Maori/kiwi 14.1.2.1
          18 September 2017 at 4:33 pm

          greywarshark tell your mates to arrested me and we will sort this out IN the COURT’s of New Zealand

          • McFlock 14.1.2.1.1
            18 September 2017 at 4:45 pm

            dude, no-one else knows what the heck you’re talking about.

          • greywarshark 14.1.2.1.2
            18 September 2017 at 5:20 pm

            I don’t understand who is ecoMaori and who is ecoMaori/kiwi. And I think that we need to get this sorted out. Is it two people or what?

            And I haven’t got mates who I would send to arrest anyone. You seem to be on the verge of paranoia. And unable to have a real discussion about things. I am not bothering to discuss anything more with you.

            Could a moderator or lprent please see if these two pseudonyms are really separate or is it someone having two bites of the cherry? Or is it some one trying to put on a Maori persona? I’m going by the name.

            • eco Maori/kiwi 14.1.2.1.2.1
              18 September 2017 at 7:09 pm

              I read you on your last comments on one of my older post you are just trying to under mine me like any neo liberal would do why don’t you go play with your self and then lie that you don’t do that like national would.

      • eco Maori/kiwi 14.1.3
        18 September 2017 at 3:52 pm

        Why is the Ministry of Primary Industry asking for a extension on the mandatory 20 days Privacy act to give me all the information they hold on me .
        And Why has the Ministry of Justice not complying with the Privacy act and giving me the run around do you think I would be doing dum shit when I no they are on my ass I have all the emails to back this up. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOOL

        • eco Maori/kiwi 14.1.3.1
          18 September 2017 at 4:10 pm

          O that’s right I’m just a dum MAORI with no rights.

        • james 14.1.3.2
          18 September 2017 at 4:20 pm

          “Why is the Ministry of Primary Industry asking for a extension on the mandatory 20 days Privacy act to give me all the information they hold on me.”

          They have to give a reason why they are asking for the extension.

    • james 14.2
      18 September 2017 at 4:10 pm

      What kind of big wig was checking you out when you were purchasing groceries?

  15. ScottGN 15
    18 September 2017 at 12:11 pm

    Boy the National Party trolls are really working overtime on the Stuff comments pages today.

  16. Penny Bright 16
    18 September 2017 at 12:22 pm

    ‪
    National have NOT delivered on housing in Tamaki, Auckland!

    Under PM Bill English and Minister of Finance Steven Joyce, IMO – they’ve made the Auckland ‘housing crisis’ and homelessness WORSE!

    When is the effective mainstream media CENSORSHIP of the $1.6 billion Tamaki ‘Regeneration’ – GENTRIFICATION scam going to be lifted?

    The Tamaki ‘Transformation’ Project was supposed to be a ‘pilot’ project for urban redevelopment.

    What a JOKE!

    What a DISASTER!

    In five years since 2012 – the FACTS are that in Tamaki, more houses have been removed than new houses have been built.

    237 Tamaki State houses have gone.
    (Relocated or demolished).

    213 new houses built.

    92 ‘social’ houses.

    39 ‘affordable’ houses (new home
    buyers)

    82 (high end) private houses.

    (Information from an OIA reply from Tamaki Regeneration Ltd, 21 August 2017).

    ‪This Tamaki GENTRIFICATION SCAM was /is on Bill English, Steven Joyce & Nick Smith’s watch, as Crown Shareholding Ministers in Tamaki Regeneration Ltd, and Tamaki Redevelopment Company Ltd.

    Why won’t this 100% Crown-owned Tamaki Regeneration Ltd, reveal exactly how much private property developers have paid for each and every former Housing NZ property?

    How DODGY is THAT?

    Here are the FACTS!

    ‪https://www.facebook.com/penny.bright.104/posts/1796625243683493‬

    (5 mins)

    While mainstream media (to date) have effectively ignored / censored this HUGE election issue, this ‘Tamaki SCAM’ video has had 100,000 ‘views’ in 4 days….

    Penny Bright

    ‘Anti-privatisation / anti-corruption whistle-blower’.

    2017 Independent candidate for Tamaki.

    Exposing the $1.6 billion Tamaki ‘Regeneration’ – GENTRIFICATION SCAM.

  17. Tracey 17
    18 September 2017 at 12:25 pm

    Hat tip to Sean Spicer. Taking the piss out of himself at the Emmys.

  18. tracey 18
    18 September 2017 at 12:45 pm

    Hat Tip to Sean Spicer taking the puss out of himself and Trump at the Emmys

    • joe90 18.1
      18 September 2017 at 4:48 pm

      Spicer wasn’t at the Emmys through the goodness of his heart, he was making a buck on the back of his despicable lying for tRump.

  19. popexplosion 19
    18 September 2017 at 1:56 pm

    Water tax. ok. it’s a tax rated on how much water is used, those who use more pay more. Westcoasters none. Canterbury plains, lots. In Israel they use very very little, not out of business yet there. So we have this upper class of extremely stupid people who think urban and non-high users of water will vote for National to scare them into worry about non existent potential costs. Especially when there is a huge value to those that use less water to get a value advantage over said big users of water. please yes hire some actual people who know about business to comment for the right coz these moron are idiots.

    [TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]

    • lprent 19.1
      18 September 2017 at 2:09 pm

      I live in an apartment block of 60 single bedroom apartments. Each apartment pays about $1200 per annum for water and water treatment. In other words about quarter of a hectare pays more than any realistic farm (ie not the crap propaganda from Federated Farmers) using irrigation. Those are somewaht larger and are making money of their ‘free’ resource and expecting us to pay for its cleanup.

      Idiots. But this is off topic.

  20. Ad 20
    18 September 2017 at 2:26 pm

    They have finally made a film for James Baldwin’s draft of the assassinations of Medger Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King:

    https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_am_not_your_negro

    I remember seeing Merita Mita’s “Takaprawha Day 507Z” about the occupation, siege , and reposession of Bastion Point.

    But I would love to see a whole film-scale documentary like this about Maori in our current society.

  21. Union city greens 21
    18 September 2017 at 4:09 pm

    Posted by mistake in yesterdays open mike. Doh!

    Loving the Ardern uproar farmers protest headline on the herald.
    Only better thing than seeing Winston booed, is the prospect of those backbone of the nation types having to get up at 5.30am to pollute the environment on Sunday morning, knowing they’re doing it for the next 6 years (at least) under a government that won’t back down under the money might they’ve been throwing around for a generation.

    Red sky at night, The people’s delight.
    Green/Red in morning, rich prick environmental disasters a mourning. Sky lol

  22. Muttonbird 22
    18 September 2017 at 4:30 pm

    You can guarantee Farrar will be all over this like a bad rash. It’s right down his alley – gay people, free speech, National bashing, it’s all there.

    Expect a post on this at Kiwiblub in a few days when he’s caught up with the news.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/96907663/canterbury-uni-queer-society-president-forced-to-resign-after-coming-out-as-national-supporter

  23. millsy 23
    18 September 2017 at 4:41 pm

    The farmers should be careful. Jacindas water tax will most probably be watered down if Labour wins, and will be used to help farmers clean their act up. National will probably introduce tradeable water rights and allow overseas corproations to buy up rights and sell them to farmers at a way higher price than Labour will ever charge.

  24. adam 24
    18 September 2017 at 5:05 pm

    Well done the deaf community. They have sign language going out with the last leaders debate.

    This has been an active campaign since the announcement to the debates, and in the final one TVNZ will have an interpreter.

    https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/sign-language-version-final-leaders-debate-tvnz-confirmed

  26. eco Maori/kiwi 26
    18 September 2017 at 5:35 pm

    graywarshark Lets just examine what your prime minster said on national TV on that subject you hinted at they are enforcing that Law at there discretion I.E They wont charge anyone whom is known to them or they no there family or no any associated to that person . So how many Maori are in the police force 10% so the vast majority of the police force are European descent well that fact alone paints the picture that the police don’t charge there M8.
    But they charge Maori as soon as look at them how do I no this because the Jails are full of Maori. O no that’s just a coincidence. YEA RIGHT. Everyone is putting the hype of our prison population on the corrections department don’t you think that is a hypocritical farce because they just house the prisoners It is the mighty power full and manipulative POLICE FORCE that is to blame . I will drag there asses over the Hot coals of the New Zealand Courts and prove to everyone they are the most Racially Discriminating Organization IN New Zealand.
    And this is one of the reasons that I am putting my posts up here is to fight for OUR Human rights. And that means kicking your prime minster out of OUR Beehive on to his ASS. Ka Pai

    • In Vino 26.1
      18 September 2017 at 5:51 pm

      I am another who would like to make sense of what you write, but find it very difficult. Who is persecuting you for what?

    • eco Maori/kiwi 26.2
      18 September 2017 at 6:17 pm

      Now Lett’s examine what the police can do with out a warrant because one has to prove that they are doing these thing’s in a court to get them to stop.
      Well have you seen a COP admit to anything YEA RIGHT thats the first thing that is drummed into them when they start at the academy is never admit to anything to preserve there IMAGE at all cost .
      So they will go tell your neighbours lies they will go to you bank to you doctor Winz Inland revenue any organization you use or work or any of your relations that have charges or up on charges they will pressure them into helping them with there GAME and flash that shiny badge that entices everyone like sheep to help them carry out there Intimidation game and everyone believes there bullshitting lies they can intercept all your coms and your close one coms they can do all this because john key an bill english change the laws for them. THERE YOU GO. Ka Pai.

  27. In Vino 27
    18 September 2017 at 8:30 pm

    Maybe true – when I was young I would have said ‘No’. I now think that there are indeed some police as you describe. But unless they can be caught out over something specific, what are you advocating?