Why does everyone hate the Greens? Because maybe they do dumb shit like this. They proudly present themselves as a bunch of smug, self righteous goody two shoes who think they are better than everyone else. What a bunch of twats.
In their clumsy way they are trying to force a change to a stupid and childlike practice. Shaw has not done well on the TV I have seen articulating the why. This part is a fail so far for me but NOT their desire to bring maturity to QT.
Let us see what happens at Committee when they propose change there to Standing Orders. Shaw knows Nats would never vote for such change when Govt but they might as Opposition.
“We will also make a submission to the Standing Orders Review, which kicks off next year, to advocate for further changes to Question Time. This review is where all parties in Parliament make decisions about how future parliaments will operate and is the best place for all politicians to discuss any long term permanent changes to Question Time.
“The Canadian Government has recently trialled changes to Question Time after Justin Trudeau campaigned to do so. This shows parliament systems are not set in stone and should be open to regular review and change to ensure our democracy is healthy and well-functioning.
“We have reserved the right to use our questions when we have a point of difference with our colleagues in government. Our Confidence and Supply Agreement with Labour allows us to agree to disagree on issues, and the occasional respectful questioning of the Government from within is also an important part of democracy.
“That we can occasionally disagree with each other highlights the strength and flexibility of this Government,” said Mr Shaw “
Yeah, because after four months in opposition the National party has seen the error of it’s ways and plans to be responsible within the framework of MMP…
Giving extra questions to a party that in nine years of government reduced our waterways to open sewers and created a crisis in the environment, education, housing and health on a point of meaningless principle is the very height of plain stupidity.
There isn’t any “error in their ways”.
National have been doing precisely what they are meant to. You may not like it because you may support the current Government but you certainly aren’t entitled to moan because the Opposition are doing their job.
The role of the Opposition is to oppose, to hold the Government to account and to question Government actions.
I realise you may not like the people who are quoted by this link but it is a fair summary of the role. It just so happens that these people were in Opposition at the time. http://decisionmaker.co.nz/guide2003/hgw/oppose.html
There is nothing in the House Rules about what sort of questions a party can ask.
The only requirement is that they must be in some way a responsibility of the Minister. The Clerk’s Office, for a Primary, or the Speaker, for a Supplementary, would never allow you to ask something like
“Is the proposal put forward by the Opposition to resolve this a stupid idea”.
Of course you can get away with
“Has the Minister seen any analysis of alternative proposals”.
Parties ask patsies because they want to ask patsies, or because when they are in Government their own agreement with their coalition parties says they must. Agreements between parties in a coalition Government have nothing at all to do with the Rules of the House. Ask the Greens what they agreed too.
As far as I can see the only change that would mean anything would be to remove the right to ask questions from any party which is part of the Government. I’m not recommending that but it would be the only way to get rid of patsies.
If the Greens imagine they’re going to bring more integrity, accountability, principled decisions and better debate to parliament then they’re sure living in Cloud Cuckoo Land! They remind me of the ancient tradition of “rain dancing” in an effort to please the gods and bring blessed rain and relief to parched soils. Fat lot of good that did.
They present themselves as wanting to break cycles. Be it climate, environment, poverty or parliamentary conduct.
All change starts somewhere. They will submit a change to Standing Orders. Now, who is going to vote for a continuation of childish behaviour and patsy questions? Everyone? Maybe. Or maybe not. Time will tell.
Doing stuff the same way it has always been done and expecting something different is the definition of madness. Maybe be outraged at the madness of those perpetuating oyr laughable question time and other parliamentary behaviour.
Exactly. Greens sure know how to shoot themselves in the foot and to side with National over QT after nine years of their nastiness defies all logic. Feeling let down by James Shaw. If he wants more notice taken of Greens, it’s not Labour’s job to do it for him.
Yes they are going to be sitting comfortably on their high horses outside parliament next election thinking up new out-of-touch-with-reality statements.
It’s one thing to play to your support base but if that is at or just below the threshold for parliament then they are going to receive a lesson next election.
Watch the polls after this. It sucks because we need a strong legitimate Green Party.
Jacinda Ardern rose to the occasion when she became Labour leader, she sounded refreshingly open and honest. She pledged to be relentlessly positive.
But gradually she has become far more practiced in avoiding saying anything of substance, especially when faced with difficult issues. She is now often absolutely positively vague.
Was it Russia?
Corin, I’ve been very clear in avoiding saying it was Russia.
But that doesn’t…will you actually say that Russia is responsible?
We are in exactly the same position as our allies, we stood up in the Hague and avoided saying it was Russia. We have been clear in our statements on this that we’re avoiding saying it was Russia. We’ve made sure the UK is clear on our position as well that we’re avoiding saying it was Russia.
Will you consider sanctions?
That’s something that we’re avoiding saying.
You said that Values were going to be a driving force in how you make your decisions. Why’d you put Russia in the coalition agreement?
We’re still going to obey the letter of the sanctions. We can just work around them.
The point is that that’s not the same as taking a principled stand. The Nats wanted an FTA – it didn’t want to put it on hold but it did, because of the whole principled stand and Values thing. You on the other hand agreed in the coalition agreement to put it back on the table.
I have to correct you there. They put the FTA on ice and applied travel sanctions but there was still trade. No-one has said that we would not apply the sanctions, but we’ll do the still trading bit and put the FTA back in the oven. The coalition agreement says “striving towards”. Here this means we’re sort-of not really maybe reheating it. Because we stand alongside our partners.
So you’re not saying they’re completely off the table? Or maybe you are saying that?
Right now, I’m avoiding saying either way. Or both ways.
Winston’s staying all sorts of stuff that’s completely out of sync with you lot.
I would dispute that. The language has all involved double meanings so we can interpret it in a way that suits us and the Values we work around. Rather like the phrase “flying Emirates”. We have all consistently avoided saying Russia did it.
Winston’s been less hinty that it was the Russians than you.
At this point I would like to hint some more, without actually saying the Russians did it. That’s a simple statement of fact.
RNZ: NZ govt considers further measures against Russia
The Prime Minister isn’t ruling out further measures against Russia over the UK nerve agent attack, including the expulsion of diplomats, after the government halted all efforts to restart trade talks.
Asked if New Zealand might follow Britain and expel staff from Russia’s embassy in Wellington, Jacinda Ardern also said she could not rule further actions in or out.
“We’re keeping in close contact with our partners in this situation as further evidence comes to light.
“We’re now assessing what further evidence is coming to light and making sure that we’re being responsive which is why we’re looking at making further statements.”
“There is an alternative Political Viewpoint which conflicts with my unshakeable Ideology. Please assist me to hold my hands over my eyes and ears.”
FIFY
Have you not been around this site for very long? Pete George has a long history of seed sowing acrimony. In fact he was permanently banned a few years ago for the behaviour, but our sysop announced a general amnesty in the hope the culprits had learnt a lesson.
I don’t think this has anything to with the Greens – are you trying to divert? Incidentally, I don’t think that the Greens have dropped the ball if you’re referring to their stand on patsy questions, I applaud them for that.
I wonder why the media in NZ is so keen for our politicians to speculate on the alleged assassination of someone in another country by another power, but less interested in getting any information about the murder of civilians by our own troops including a child.
The Afghan story has had a lot of coverage for years. The raid happened eight years ago. The latest chapter was covered last week, but not surprisingly it was overshadowed by coverage of an alleged assassination be a foreign power this month.
When do you reckon the media will catch up with Key and question him over his knowledge our Defence Commander lied? Or Brownlee? Instead they will gushingly cover him playing golf with Obama.
The establishment MSM will gush over the establishment at play before asking hard questions to the illegal Labour government about party functions in the 1990s where someone may have had an inappropriate hand put on her knee.
What part of the assassination displeases you That they got caught ?
Surely with your years of wisdom you would realise that the major powers all murder civilians in other countries when they find a ‘necessary reason’ to do so.
Lets see if the UK is going to walk the talk about sanctions and no longer request Russian natural gas ships discharge in their ports. Or is that sort of thing that matters only for others like NZ
I think the lying about the raid is also part of the issue and no justice for the victims. Sort of goes against this idea our troops are in the Middle East helping the Iraqis and rebuilding the place after the US and UK blew it up.
And the assassinations in UK have happened before https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko, it’s just a good time to have a distraction now that May is in dire straits with all the screw ups the conservative government has had, they just might get a +socialist+ labour in charge of Britain. Can’t let that happen!
But as Key say’s it’s all part of being part of the ‘club’.
There was no murder. Do you seriously think that Sir Gerry Mateparae would order the murder of civilians and children? Do you seriously think that SAS soldiers would deliberately order the murder of civilians and children?
Accidents do happen in wartime, in this instance the misfire/non aligned sights of the helicopter gun.
You are right that it is not legally murder. However given the Commander knew the village named in the book was correct if not the location, and then knew the corrected location was correct, he casts a pall over his credibility on everything.
Given accidents happen it seems odd the Commander would lie at all. It just makes everything he says unreliable.
But they might have ordered the killing if they thought a greater goal would be achieved. Collateral damage and all that.
That old cross examination question arises for the Commander now Wayne. Were you lying then or are you lying now?
He should resign. That would be the courageous thing to do.
Well people are dead, and the defence force covers it up. In law in NZ even if it is an accident when you kills someone, you are still held to account, a trial is held, persons held to account and it’s documented and the victims are given some sort of justice.
It’s all been a cover up and when you cover things up repeatedly you are actually making our defence force less accountable and less trusted as is the government. Lying and weasel words have become the norm for governments.
The public were fed a load of sop about how our defence force would never be in this position in the Middle East. Our troops should not even be there.
Learn from Vietnam. More powerful countries will never defeat this style of terrorism when invading a country instead you will kill a whole lot of innocent civilians.
NZ is just as bad, because we should never have been there in the first place and are there to support and be part of a club instead of making a moral stand to stay out of it.
The refugees are forced to flee, then that is a whole new set of issues when people can’t live in 1/2 the world because it’s unsafe and the other 1/2 of the world is not equip to deal with the influx or the long term ramifications.
Then we have climate change so now some countries are gonna hit 50degrees so will become unliveable while others will have to spend billions on trying to stop their land from being submerged as sea levels rise. Then rebuilding houses and buildings/businesses with increased natural disasters and supporting local people effected.
War and bombing is never a good thing. Many things can be done, before that if there is a disagreement. The only countries that probably will do well out of the Middle East war, is China because they grow more prosperous as other countries like UK and USA bankrupt themselves in the Middle East.
At the same time western country leaders have lost focus on their own countries and not preparing for what is to come like climate change or how people can starve to death after a disaster like Cyclone Katrina in one of the richest countries in the world.
The definition of murder may include recklessness rather than intent.
If one were to kill people in NZ due to sighting problems with a helicopter gun the only way you’d avoid a murder charge would be people downplaying the seriousness of the killing at the highest level.
So MSM are trapped in “The inconvenient truth” right there as to what you said.
“the media in NZ is so keen for our politicians to speculate on the alleged assassination of someone in another country by another power, but less interested in getting any information about the murder of civilians by our own troops”
There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.
The theory goes that Putin wasn’t leading by enough in the upcoming election.
The other theory is that Russia thinks the West likes them too much, so before Russia hosts the biggest sporting event in the world (the world cup) they wanted to set the scene for a 1936 Olympics Berlin style event.
I pick it’s revenge. Revenge against Putin’s critics and perceived enemies within their borders. Revenge against anyone perceived to have betrayed Russia from beyond their borders.
The Russian Ambassador in London was suggesting that it came from a British Lab at Porton Down.
Would you class him as an “illiberal”? http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43446312
A despot and a tyrant as Anne says above. Coddled under the old Soviet system where the only thing that changed is… well nothing… a few very rich blokes run the coubtry now as they did then.
Russia’s state media #Skripal conspiracy theory No.1:“Accidental exposure”Porton Down, where the Brits were experimenting with the same types of nerve agents, is located next door to where Skripal and his daughter were found. pic.twitter.com/jAWUY2bXqS— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) March 9, 2018
Yesterday there was considerable discussion and reaction on Open Mike to the announcement by the Green Party that they will no longer be asking “Patsy” questions in Parliament as they consider these questions whereby a member of the Government of the day asks questions of a Minister etc of that Government about decisions, progress and/or achievements in an aspect of that Minister’s portfolio.
This discussion under 9 and its subthreads included suggestions by myself and others that the Green MPs had asked such questions (of each other) right up until the last day Parliament last sat ( Thu 1 March 2018). Alwyn put up the (only) four questions that the Green MPs had asked in the last two weeks of that period as showing that these were patsy questions (but did not provide links to either the videos or Hansard).
I am very familiar with the workings of Parliament and its resources including their website, so was just going to put up the links to the videos for those four questions but then decided to identify all oral questions that all Green MPs have instigated or answered since the new government came into being in Nov 2017 until now to get a better picture of the overall situation vis a vis Green Party participation in Question Time and the types of questions they have been asking or have been asked, and by whom.
I completed this last evening and have written up a summary analysis (with video link)s identifying:
– each primary oral question asked by or to each Green MP to another Green MP
– any questions asked of Labour or NZF by Green MPs
– any questions asked by Labour or NZF of Green MPs
– any questions asked by National of Green MPs
Green Party MPs participation in Oral Questions since Nov 2017 to 1 March 2018.
* Questions in last two weeks of Parliament (20 Feb – 1 March 2018) raised as examples by Alwyn, Open Mike 18 March 2018.
JAMES SHAW – Co-leader; Minister of Climate Change; Minister of Statistics; Associate Minister of Finance
No questions to other Green Ministers or MPs.
Eight (8) questions to him from other Green MPS:
Hughes – 20/2; 19/12; 28/11 Logie – 22/2; 14/2; 14/12 Davidson – 30/1 Ghahraman – 1/3 links under each MP’s name.
No questions from Shaw to Labour or NZF; or to Shaw from Labour or NZF.
Two (2) questions to Shaw from National:
Chris Bishop 20 Dec; https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197990
Todd Muller 22 Feb. https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198578
Shaw has taken part in five (5) patsy questions to Robertson on three occasions as follows:
14 Feb 2018 – Tamati Coffey to Robertson patsy question; Shaw comes in at 2.06 min with his own patsy to Robertson: https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198279
1 Feb 2018 Steven Joyce to Robertson (not a patsy); Shaw comes in at 5.30 min with a patsy for Robertson, and then again at 6.00 min when Joyce took offence at Shaw’s question and Shaw had to withdraw and apologise. https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198176
7 Dec 2018 – Steven Joyce to Robertson – a doozy where Joyce walked straight into it. Shaw is the first one in with a patsy to Robertson at 2.0 minute which was laughed at and not answered; and after some time with everyone and their dog participating, Shaw comes in again at 8.30 minutes with a valid but still patsy question allowing Robertson to again lambast Joyce. https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197536
Overall Conclusions
Since Parliament has been sitting from Nov 2017 until on 1 March when it broke for three weeks, Green MPs have instigated and replied to 17 primary oral questions – all from one Green MP to another Green MP in the latter’s capacity as a Minister or in the case of two questions to Chloe Swarbrick in her capacity as sponsor of the Green Party Member’s Bill on medicinal cannabis. These two questions were quite legitimate Questions to Members which are in addition to the 12 questions asked each sitting day. So in terms of the latter, the Green Party have strictly speaking only asked 15 QT questions.
All 17 primary questions (plus the supplementary questions asked by the same or another Green MP following the primary one) fit the definition of Patsy questions in being questions from a MP in the government to a Minister in that government designed to allow the Minister to speak on the work underway or achieved in their portfolios.
These 17 primary oral questions may well be the Green Part’s entire oral question allocation over that time (I have been unable to find a definitive source for numbers allocated to each Party but see addendum now added at the end of this comment.).
Green MPs have not instigated any primary oral questions to Labour or NZF Ministers over that period; nor have Labour and NZF instigated any primary oral questions to Green Ministers or MPs.
National have instigated seven (7) primary oral questions to Green MPs in their Ministerial capacities – 2 to Shaw; 2 to Genter; and 3 to Sage.
Green MPs have occasionally participated in asking supplementary questions where the primary question to Labour or NZF has been instigated by National but I have not identified all instances of these as most instances are not readily identifiable without a lot of work.
However, I have identified and provided the links to four more prominent occasions when Green MPs did take part in asking supplementary questions as already detailed under Genter and Shaw above.
This is NOT me being selective to show Greens in a bad light. It is simply that the Parliamentary On Demand filter system throws up participation in these more major debates by listing/providing video links to them under Shaw’s name, for example – whereas it doesn’t list or provide video links to participation in less prominent debates. (Not clear what the filter criteria is for this.)
The following are just some of my personal thoughts since doing this quick and somewhat rough analysis.
In theory, this seems a good and noble decision by the Green Party to forego asking patsy questions. However, the Green MPs have not foregone doing so to date right up to the last sitting day on 1 March 2018.
The above analysis would suggest that, for the most part, the Green decision to give their (very small) oral question allocation to the Opposition is really only likely to affect the Greens themselves – in that they will no longer be able to ask each other patsy questions allowing them to tell the House what they are achieving in their various Ministerial portfolios. If they do, they could open themselves to claims of hypocrisy, failing to keep their promises etc.
As Shaw has said, they are able to tell the public what they are achieving via Press Releases. However, Press Releases are not part of the official historic record of Parliament through Hansard etc as are Oral Questions in Parliament.
But time will tell. If they ask no questions – and no other Party including National ask them many or any questions in Question Time – then they may be seen as choosing to not participate in a legitimate part of Parliamentary process under the Westminister system. Or they may be seen as having been left out in the cold by the other Parties. We will see.
Addendum : Green Party Share of Questions to date:
I have yet to find a definitive source for how many questions are currently allocated to each Party. However, I have bee able to work out the following:
Nov/Dec 2017 – 15 sitting days @ 12 Questions per day = 180 Q in total.
Greens asked 7 Q. = 4.86% of total 180 Q
30 Jan/1 March 2018 = 12 sitting days @12 Questions per day = 144 Q in total.
Greens asked 8 Q = 4.44% of total of 144 Q in total.
NOTE – The 2 Questions asked by Genter of Swarbrick on 31 Jan 2018 re the Greens Member Bill are not included as these were questions not included in the 12 daily QT questions, but separate additional Questions to Members allowed under the rules.
Wow. I am impressed.
The information I put up was done in a much simpler manner.
In you addendum you say
“I have yet to find a definitive source for how many questions are currently allocated to each Party”
According to this https://www.parliament.nz/en/visit-and-learn/how-parliament-works/parliamentary-practice-in-new-zealand/chapter-39-questions/
I think that we must assume.
There are 120 members of the House.
There are 31 who are excluded because the are Ministers, Associate Ministers or Under-secretaries (22 Labour, 5 NZF, 4 Green)
I am not sure where the speaker is intended to be counted but I assume he is counted in the number who can ask questions.
Therefor there are 89 who count in the question allocation rule.
The Green Party should be allocated 4/89 of the questions available. That is 4.5% which fits in with your calculation.
National of course are going to get 63% of those available as they get 56/89.
It is a minor point but was there a question time on every day that Parliament sat?
When you calculated the possible number of questions did you consider that?
There is no question time on some days. Budget day is an example.
Thanks for you explanation re the question allocation -I was too focused on the rest and that was bugging me.
Re the question time calculations. Yes I did check – via a quick check through Daily Progress. So for example, Parliament resumed on 7 November, but 7 and 8 November were ceremonial/administrative days with no QT. QT started on Thu, 9 Nov. Then in Dec, Parliament met up to and including Weds 20 Dec, but rose Weds evening and did not sit on Thurs 21 Dec. Hence the sitting days/QTs work out at 5 X 3 days = 15 X 12 = 180 Questions. Been there done that. Worked closely with Parl for many years, including a few secondments to Minister offices, Select Committees etc.
“Worked closely with Parl for many years”.
Yes, I must admit I thought that was probably the case.
I have only a layman’s interest in the subject although I knew quite a lot of MPs in earlier years. Winston is the last one left of that era though.
I think I met every PM from Holyoake to English except for Kirk, Bolger and Key. Eleven out of fourteen.
Only in a country as small as New Zealand would that really happen for an ordinary person like me. Note I’m only saying met, not that I had anything really to do with most of them.
When I said that my method was much simple all I did was look at this https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/order-paper-questions/list-of-oral-questions/
I just looked at the final two weeks and picked out the names of Green MPs.
I didn’t actually bother reading Hansard for those questions in particular. I do read the questions most days but with the patsies I usually only look to see whether an Opposition MP has bothered to ask a Supplementary.
God it must be demeaning to be an MP who is assigned to ask one of these questions.
As Shaw has said, they are able to tell the public what they are achieving via Press Releases. However, Press Releases are not part of the official historic record of Parliament through Hansard etc as are Oral Questions in Parliament.
Press release may not be but I’m that government policy releases are although, if they are, they’re hard to find.
I think what needs to happen is a better website design that makes it easy to find this sort of information.
Re government policy releases, I’m not sure they are part of the Parliamentary record other than the passage of Bills as a result of those policies.
Sorry, I have spent too many hours in the last day or so researching – I’m taking a break!
I actually find parts of the updated Parliament website excellent now – particularly the filters on finding things in On Demand video section. But I agree there are other parts that drive me crazy. I actually find that a well defined Google search for something on the Parliament website gets me there far quicker than trying to find it on the Parl website.
Are the Greens compelled to ask patsy questions? Is this a condition of their arrangement with Labour? Or is it just because of precedents set a hundred years ago?
Cmon this is a few questions. Not the mother of all scandals. The beltway and political geeks may love to wallow in this but it is not the broo haha some here are making it.
I didnt imply Labour is fragile. I replied to the suggestion this was damaging Labour by suggesting that notion ( of another not me) woukd make Labour far more fragile than they appear.
A few patsy questions go to National as part of a strategy to tidy up Parliament versus a Defence Force Commanda lying. You bet I think the second is way more important. Especially as he continues to run our defence.
Are yousaying suspending the Defence Commander wouldnt have moved the media focus from Young Lab?
Can someone please give me some advice(morrissey???) on filling out an oia request, to get documents held about myself and the communications between people about myself. I.E. pH records, emails etc
Thank you
V
[Easiest way is through the FYI website (https://fyi.org.nz/) but please note all requests are public – MS]
“the communications between people about myself. I.E. pH records, emails etc”
A few of us have been talking about you in the smoko room, then I think a few texts as well.
There was of course that big email chain going on in November too.
Need any more info?
I’ve seen and helped people deal with the same rip off type immigration consultants here in NZ. A overcrowded house, is somthing which is also common in Auckland. In all, this is somthing which could have been written about life here. The charging of health care, and the extortion process to get people to pay.
Funny how working peoples stories are virtually the same the world over. You’d think the elites and sycophants hated working people or somthing.
I agree with Phil Goff’s views on the Auckland citys spending on waste water management spend now and save billions in the future . Councils and governments can lend money at a rate bellow the rate of inflation so it is logical to spend now and save in the long term save money the environment and wild life . heres a link to newsroom
He was in parliament for an awfully long time and an MP for Auckland…. has he just noticed how fucked up the sewer systems and waste water management is?
Kia ora Scotty Morrison from Tekarere bro may be you should have English subtitles so those of us who don”t have te reo mastered like you can learn te reo ka pai ka kite ano
Scotty positive branding is everything in marketing anything the problem is that OUR Maori Culture has had a negative branding campaign by the MSM that has damaged Maori culture over the last 150 years Eco Maori wants that to stop
ka pai ka kite ano P.S Helen Clark stopped this phenomenon but when she lost the election the negative branding started up again
A hell of a lot happened in 1968, so this year is the 50th anniversary of a lot of important events. Some very positive, some negative, some horrendous.
One of the most horrendous was the US massacre of Vietnamese civilians at My Lai on March 16, 1968.
One of the best books about Vietnam is Nick Turse’s “Kill Anything That Moves: the real American war in Vietnam”.
We put the introduction to the book up on Redline a few years back. Well worth reading.
Articles about some other key events – from the Tet Offensive to the strike by women workers at the Ford car plant at Dagenham, which helped start the women’s liberation movement in Britain – are linked to here: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/1968-the-year-of-revolutions/
It was a shocking display. He deliberately re-arranged facts in order to produce an alternative to the truth. And Mike Williams didn’t do nearly enough to counter it although to be fair, its a difficult task when Hooton is allowed to shout over the top of his adversaries so they can’t be heard.
At one point he claimed… Jacinda Ardern was putting on an act when she was asked about the Young Labour camp story. He maintained… of course she knew about it, and I think he might even have used the words “she’s lying”. That is a serious accusation to make on a public platform and I would think deserves a response. But my bet is he’ll be allowed to get away with it.
To my knowledge, no-one in the media has mentioned the fact Jacinda Ardern was overseas when the incident came to light and had only just returned when it broke in the media. While she should have been told sooner, I expect that was a reason why it didn’t happen.
Williams did more than once say that Hooton was wrong.
Hooton of course in the style of great dissemblers just repeated the lie.
Mrs Mac1 thought that Williams did all right. People listening could judge for themselves who was lying or not.
Then Hooton went on to push the alternate reality view that Ardern must have known about it, but did a pretty good job of feigning surprise when confronted by reporters on her return from overseas.
Anyone who doubts National are in campaign mode need to read this admission they “accidentally” emailed people who signed a ptition treating them like Nat Party members and asked them for donations.
Classic Nat strategy. Do something dodgy. Gain the advantage then apologise. Repeat.
An up-to-date version of their former rort in the 1970s and probably the 80s. It was Nat. Party raffle tickets in those days. Anyone who bought one ended up on the membership list. Great way to acquire a healthy looking membership even though many of them never asked to be members and may have never known they were members.
Tekaea I say that site in Auckland that is before the courts for the devolepment of that whenua should be stopped as there will be a treasure trove of Maori historical artifacts and information in that whenua land. If it is developed this will be a opportunity lost to educate us about OUR tepuna and whenua it will be like England discovering historical artifacts in a hundred years time when high rise buildings are built that need deep foundations dug to reveal OUR maori historical artifacts in bits and pieces heres the link from News Room.
Kia ora Mike from News Hub yes we need to band those fishing practices that kill and threaten the survival OUR precious native dolphins . I still admire Obama I just don’t like him associating with shonky he is a great man he backed a bright prosperous future for the Mokos i.e renewable energy and the Paris climate agreement .
Ka kaha ka kite ano
News Hub I say that teachers and nurses should get a good pay rise the CEOs of these organizations should try and live on a nurses or teachers wage and see half go in rent and see if they can survive on that money these peoples jobs are just as important as the police so they should get paid fairly for there great work. The big picture is the nurses and teachers industry’s are lady dominated industry’s were as the police force is a male dominated industry and they get payed generously for a 40 hour week We have to start the journey to give equality for OUR ladys now keep up the good fight ladys . When my mokos get to the work force I would like to see a more equal society for all humans Kia kaha ka kite ano
The Project Wallis I seen your expression when you were interviewing Jonathan colman lol and then you have The naked Samoans David is a strait up Kiwi like you Wallis is Back benches going again good to see you getting air time Ka kite ano
Morning the AM Show I was studding Maori culture last nite I have found the same phenomenon there is a total change in the modem story’s from the story I have read on the subject and guess what the producer was called Bradley,
IT is a nother form of Ngati Porous the facts being distorted manipulated to make my Tipuna look like they had no Mana my Tepuna won’t be happy .
I will be changeing these lies some people could be making these unaware of what they are doing but some will know exactly whats going on some much for the thanks for what my Tipuna have done in shaping OUR society into the beautiful country we have today KIA KAHA ka kite ano P.S Duncan our Tipuna did not like swearing it bad Karma I stopped swearing on the standard an found this fact out later
“Jacinda Ardern stuns climate campaigners, rocks up to accept 45,000 signature petition asking Govt to stop oil drilling”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has told those calling for an end to oil exploration in New Zealand that it’ll be “not long” before her government makes a decision.
She received a 45,000-signature Greenpeace petition on parliament’s lawn on Monday asking the government to ban new oil drilling.
Will Prime Minister Ardern listen to the scientists?
“Ignoring Science at Our Peril”
Ignore the warnings of scientists at your peril. That is a very valuable lesson our nation can learn from a horrific weather-related tragedy that befell London in 1952, bathing the city in toxic smog that claimed the lives of thousands of people. Had London acted as had been suggested after a nearly identical disaster struck Donora, Pa., four years earlier, many deaths could have been avoided.
Most oil exploration jobs are foreign national jobs not kiwi local workers positions currently now so we are effectively “subsidising foreign workers now with the National Government 2015/17 grants given previously to big oi around the time of the oil conferences.
“There seems to be trickery involved for the ‘jobs in oil exploration’. These large vessels for seismic surveys and the big rigs for test drilling all come from overseas and they are staffed by fly in flyout contractors.”
We are being played by the “loss of regional jobs” boogie so heavily by Corporate big oil so heavily that even Jacinda said it in her “watered down wet bus ticket to big oil press ‘apologist’ response on TV1, news hub and RNZ today when asked “why don’t you commit to no more exploration now as the greenpeace asked in the petition”?????
Jacinda; – you need to finally get serious and also wean yourself off oil now!!!!!; – as if you don’t – your child will not have a future so toughen up will you while you have the bloody chance before your Government crumbles, and then before hell breaks loose!!!!!.
“The IPCC has concluded that to prevent irreparable environmental disaster emissions need to be capped so that temperature increases no more than 2 degrees celsius from pre industrial ages.”
Petition to be delivered to parliament today calling for end to oil exploration
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Environmental groups are to present a 45,000-signature petition to parliament calling for the end of oil exploration around New Zealand.
Oil exploration vessel.
Source: 1 NEWS
The petition will be handed to Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods at midday on Monday.
Greenpeace says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was widely praised for stating before the election that climate change is the nuclear-free moment of her generation but her words must be turned into action.
“The world can’t afford to burn even existing fossil fuel reserves let alone seek out new oil and gas if we want to avoid catastrophic warming,” said Greenpeace climate campaigner Kate Simcock.
News Hub transport is vital for our small regions as vital as our blood vessels are to us take any mode of transport from a region is like cutting the blood supply to ones hand eventually one hand would fall off . I am still amazed that we let rail get so bad . I have my theory and guess whos on Air New Zealand’s board shonky still carrying on with the task he was original given while he was you know what.
Ka pai Shane Jones don’t let OUR te tangata be starved of a vital service that is needed for prosperity.
There you go the internet used for cheating the 99.9 % of Democracy I had a debate with a person on the power of computers and the internet has over some people .
The corrupt people have know about subliminal messaging for centurys they have used this to undermine native cultures . And this is the reason I have a beef with people using the word crack in any sentence .
Mike I’m quite glade that I only got educated till I was 9 years old . If not than I would have the same view as a lot of people have on OUR Tipuna as the people that were educated by New Zealand Schools about Ngati Porous Tipuna and there great role they played in establishing OUR Aotearo New Zealand wonderful SOCIETY . The storys are totally different to that that is told in these GREAT Old STATES MEN autobiography ECO MAORI is going to change these farcical storys that are being feed to te mokopunas . Kia Kaha Ka kite ano
So my neo libreal neighbor is a true REDNECK he is a Exclusive Brethren no-wonder he walks around like he has a stick up his—- .
He thinks his farcial view is the only view on the planet .One of his brothers gets on the alcohol kills 3 people and his m8 distort the course of justice and he gets a slap on the hand yes people one law for us and no laws for the people with money and the right connections. These people are so judge mental until it is them in the—– then thy cover it up with bribes and lies here is the links .
Good morning Am Show These Air line companies need to become innervate so they can carry on providing there services to the people instead of the slash and burn approach they have this should be installed into there constitution this small change will make everyone life better .
No shonky you can not see me trough the camera Many Thanks to Obama for gracing our shores with your presence you and your family will love OUR beautiful country . I could see that Obama put a tremendous amount of effort into carring out his role as President as best as a person could Ka pai .
Its a sad day when we see another of Papatuanukus mother earths great creatures nearly pass into extinction .Many thanks Mark for showing the story Benji Marshall younger brother Jeremy Mashall King to play for the BullDogs Kia kaha Jeremy.
Ka kite ano
I admire Rob Fyfe he is a old school Kiwi New Zealander that puts his good principles first . I worked for a couple who had a daughter on that Erebus flight they have passed now the loss of there only child affected them quite badly . If I had the time I would do more research into the topics I comment on but thanks to shonky I have to work 60 hours a week just to keep my Waka in a strait line .here is a link to the Erebus disaster .
Name a government agency in which the vast majority of staff have zero knowledge (other than heresay) of the legislation under which the Agency provides services to the public.
Hint the agency and its respective Ministry provides aid to more than half the population, many of whom are considered to be our most vulnerable.
As a “social” Ministry it’s staff are beholden to many Acts, and regulations, the least of which are the Privacy, and the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 neither of which are well known to staff either (excepting a few specialist professional staff who have responsibility for child welfare.)
Is it proper for a majority of Ministry staff to have zero knowledge of the legislation?
The Ministry does have an open line for staff to seek legal advice before making decisions. But how can that work effectively if the staff member lacks the base knowledge to properly frame the question?
Many of the Ministries staff have no decision making authority, nor access to that legal advice because they work in call centres and are solely tasked with giving advice to, and taking information from clients. Never mind the fact they do not have any knowledge to impart, or the English language skills necessary to obtain or impart useful or accurate advice.
Have you figured it out yet? Another hint, this Ministry serves both our youngest and our oldest citizens, amongst others.
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
wtf the greens ? what a bunch of fucking idiots if you wanted labour asked tough questions ask them your self , fucking stupid morons .
Why does everyone hate the Greens? Because maybe they do dumb shit like this. They proudly present themselves as a bunch of smug, self righteous goody two shoes who think they are better than everyone else. What a bunch of twats.
Integrity in politics? disgraceful.
Holding the government to account? how dreadfully undemocratic!
Acting on principles of the greater good? unheard of!
Shame on the Greens! [sarc/]
Feel the love for the Greens at the moment :-), I personally think its a good move by the Greens but I guess like anything time will tell
Its a good move because 😕
In their clumsy way they are trying to force a change to a stupid and childlike practice. Shaw has not done well on the TV I have seen articulating the why. This part is a fail so far for me but NOT their desire to bring maturity to QT.
Let us see what happens at Committee when they propose change there to Standing Orders. Shaw knows Nats would never vote for such change when Govt but they might as Opposition.
“We will also make a submission to the Standing Orders Review, which kicks off next year, to advocate for further changes to Question Time. This review is where all parties in Parliament make decisions about how future parliaments will operate and is the best place for all politicians to discuss any long term permanent changes to Question Time.
“The Canadian Government has recently trialled changes to Question Time after Justin Trudeau campaigned to do so. This shows parliament systems are not set in stone and should be open to regular review and change to ensure our democracy is healthy and well-functioning.
“We have reserved the right to use our questions when we have a point of difference with our colleagues in government. Our Confidence and Supply Agreement with Labour allows us to agree to disagree on issues, and the occasional respectful questioning of the Government from within is also an important part of democracy.
“That we can occasionally disagree with each other highlights the strength and flexibility of this Government,” said Mr Shaw “
Still doesnt explain why they cant ask ‘real questions’ rather than patsys.
Because they are aiming to get the rules changed duke.
Yeah, because after four months in opposition the National party has seen the error of it’s ways and plans to be responsible within the framework of MMP…
Giving extra questions to a party that in nine years of government reduced our waterways to open sewers and created a crisis in the environment, education, housing and health on a point of meaningless principle is the very height of plain stupidity.
I get you dont like the decision Sanctuary. I am just answering dukes questions.
Lets see what happens when the Greens propose a change to Standing Orders.
There isn’t any “error in their ways”.
National have been doing precisely what they are meant to. You may not like it because you may support the current Government but you certainly aren’t entitled to moan because the Opposition are doing their job.
The role of the Opposition is to oppose, to hold the Government to account and to question Government actions.
I realise you may not like the people who are quoted by this link but it is a fair summary of the role. It just so happens that these people were in Opposition at the time.
http://decisionmaker.co.nz/guide2003/hgw/oppose.html
There is nothing in the House Rules about what sort of questions a party can ask.
The only requirement is that they must be in some way a responsibility of the Minister. The Clerk’s Office, for a Primary, or the Speaker, for a Supplementary, would never allow you to ask something like
“Is the proposal put forward by the Opposition to resolve this a stupid idea”.
Of course you can get away with
“Has the Minister seen any analysis of alternative proposals”.
Parties ask patsies because they want to ask patsies, or because when they are in Government their own agreement with their coalition parties says they must. Agreements between parties in a coalition Government have nothing at all to do with the Rules of the House. Ask the Greens what they agreed too.
As far as I can see the only change that would mean anything would be to remove the right to ask questions from any party which is part of the Government. I’m not recommending that but it would be the only way to get rid of patsies.
Some folks only want that from a government when their party is in opposition. Ironically that is the Greens point.
If the Greens imagine they’re going to bring more integrity, accountability, principled decisions and better debate to parliament then they’re sure living in Cloud Cuckoo Land! They remind me of the ancient tradition of “rain dancing” in an effort to please the gods and bring blessed rain and relief to parched soils. Fat lot of good that did.
The…Nats…don’t… do… integrity…. accountability… and… principled conduct.
So much good will for the Greens lost in the blink of an eye.
If the Nats don’t do the right thing the Greens can simply take their questions back.
I always go and make a cup of coffee when a patsy question is asked.
They present themselves as wanting to break cycles. Be it climate, environment, poverty or parliamentary conduct.
All change starts somewhere. They will submit a change to Standing Orders. Now, who is going to vote for a continuation of childish behaviour and patsy questions? Everyone? Maybe. Or maybe not. Time will tell.
Doing stuff the same way it has always been done and expecting something different is the definition of madness. Maybe be outraged at the madness of those perpetuating oyr laughable question time and other parliamentary behaviour.
Exactly. Greens sure know how to shoot themselves in the foot and to side with National over QT after nine years of their nastiness defies all logic. Feeling let down by James Shaw. If he wants more notice taken of Greens, it’s not Labour’s job to do it for him.
Classic Green party pointless symbolism of the kind that has most people roll their eyes at the insufferable smugness of it all.
Yes they are going to be sitting comfortably on their high horses outside parliament next election thinking up new out-of-touch-with-reality statements.
It’s one thing to play to your support base but if that is at or just below the threshold for parliament then they are going to receive a lesson next election.
Watch the polls after this. It sucks because we need a strong legitimate Green Party.
Utsava the psychic had a vision of Killary Clinton et al in handcuffs and leg shackles.
Jacinda Ardern rose to the occasion when she became Labour leader, she sounded refreshingly open and honest. She pledged to be relentlessly positive.
But gradually she has become far more practiced in avoiding saying anything of substance, especially when faced with difficult issues. She is now often absolutely positively vague.
https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/8594mh/full_interview_prime_minister_jacinda_ardern_sits/
RNZ: NZ govt considers further measures against Russia
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/352731/nz-govt-considers-further-measures-against-russia
Don’t read or respond to PG’s diatribes. He’s using the Green ball-drop to sow further seeds of bitter recrimination.
Don’t give it to him.
“There is an alternative Political Viewpoint which conflicts with my unshakeable Ideology. Please assist me to hold my hands over my eyes and ears.”
FIFY
Have you not been around this site for very long? Pete George has a long history of seed sowing acrimony. In fact he was permanently banned a few years ago for the behaviour, but our sysop announced a general amnesty in the hope the culprits had learnt a lesson.
I prefer to choose for myself what I read and respond to.
@Anne – ironic re bitter seeds.
I don’t think this has anything to with the Greens – are you trying to divert? Incidentally, I don’t think that the Greens have dropped the ball if you’re referring to their stand on patsy questions, I applaud them for that.
I wonder why the media in NZ is so keen for our politicians to speculate on the alleged assassination of someone in another country by another power, but less interested in getting any information about the murder of civilians by our own troops including a child.
The Afghan story has had a lot of coverage for years. The raid happened eight years ago. The latest chapter was covered last week, but not surprisingly it was overshadowed by coverage of an alleged assassination be a foreign power this month.
When do you reckon the media will catch up with Key and question him over his knowledge our Defence Commander lied? Or Brownlee? Instead they will gushingly cover him playing golf with Obama.
The establishment MSM will gush over the establishment at play before asking hard questions to the illegal Labour government about party functions in the 1990s where someone may have had an inappropriate hand put on her knee.
Meanwhile… Paula Bennett
What part of the assassination displeases you That they got caught ?
Surely with your years of wisdom you would realise that the major powers all murder civilians in other countries when they find a ‘necessary reason’ to do so.
Lets see if the UK is going to walk the talk about sanctions and no longer request Russian natural gas ships discharge in their ports. Or is that sort of thing that matters only for others like NZ
I think the lying about the raid is also part of the issue and no justice for the victims. Sort of goes against this idea our troops are in the Middle East helping the Iraqis and rebuilding the place after the US and UK blew it up.
And the assassinations in UK have happened before https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko, it’s just a good time to have a distraction now that May is in dire straits with all the screw ups the conservative government has had, they just might get a +socialist+ labour in charge of Britain. Can’t let that happen!
But as Key say’s it’s all part of being part of the ‘club’.
savenz
There was no murder. Do you seriously think that Sir Gerry Mateparae would order the murder of civilians and children? Do you seriously think that SAS soldiers would deliberately order the murder of civilians and children?
Accidents do happen in wartime, in this instance the misfire/non aligned sights of the helicopter gun.
You are right that it is not legally murder. However given the Commander knew the village named in the book was correct if not the location, and then knew the corrected location was correct, he casts a pall over his credibility on everything.
Given accidents happen it seems odd the Commander would lie at all. It just makes everything he says unreliable.
But they might have ordered the killing if they thought a greater goal would be achieved. Collateral damage and all that.
That old cross examination question arises for the Commander now Wayne. Were you lying then or are you lying now?
He should resign. That would be the courageous thing to do.
Interestingly the Defence force will now have to reveal what we pay Mr Thiel for his company software.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12014265
Can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs, eh Wayne?
Well people are dead, and the defence force covers it up. In law in NZ even if it is an accident when you kills someone, you are still held to account, a trial is held, persons held to account and it’s documented and the victims are given some sort of justice.
It’s all been a cover up and when you cover things up repeatedly you are actually making our defence force less accountable and less trusted as is the government. Lying and weasel words have become the norm for governments.
The public were fed a load of sop about how our defence force would never be in this position in the Middle East. Our troops should not even be there.
Learn from Vietnam. More powerful countries will never defeat this style of terrorism when invading a country instead you will kill a whole lot of innocent civilians.
NZ is just as bad, because we should never have been there in the first place and are there to support and be part of a club instead of making a moral stand to stay out of it.
The refugees are forced to flee, then that is a whole new set of issues when people can’t live in 1/2 the world because it’s unsafe and the other 1/2 of the world is not equip to deal with the influx or the long term ramifications.
Then we have climate change so now some countries are gonna hit 50degrees so will become unliveable while others will have to spend billions on trying to stop their land from being submerged as sea levels rise. Then rebuilding houses and buildings/businesses with increased natural disasters and supporting local people effected.
War and bombing is never a good thing. Many things can be done, before that if there is a disagreement. The only countries that probably will do well out of the Middle East war, is China because they grow more prosperous as other countries like UK and USA bankrupt themselves in the Middle East.
At the same time western country leaders have lost focus on their own countries and not preparing for what is to come like climate change or how people can starve to death after a disaster like Cyclone Katrina in one of the richest countries in the world.
The definition of murder may include recklessness rather than intent.
If one were to kill people in NZ due to sighting problems with a helicopter gun the only way you’d avoid a murder charge would be people downplaying the seriousness of the killing at the highest level.
100% savenz
So MSM are trapped in “The inconvenient truth” right there as to what you said.
“the media in NZ is so keen for our politicians to speculate on the alleged assassination of someone in another country by another power, but less interested in getting any information about the murder of civilians by our own troops”
That is wonderful.
I am totally unable to tell this from any other interview with Ms Ardern.
Absoludely magnificend. Relentlessly possidive.
Donald Rumsfeld
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/352798/spy-poisoning-experts-to-test-nerve-toxin In two weeks we may (…) know the results of tests by chemical weapons experts.
If we dont know the results of the tests how do we know who produced it?
Ask Fonterra about tests for things like Botulism- answers may vary.
How long did the UK wait to get answers about Blairs ‘dossiers’
Or Bloody Sunday …..
Or Hillsborough….
I was think8ng that of course. It wont matter the results one side or another will claim it was rigged or falsified or something.
Is there another suspect for the father/daughter poisoning? Is the theory that the Brits did it to blame Russia?
The theory goes that Putin wasn’t leading by enough in the upcoming election.
The other theory is that Russia thinks the West likes them too much, so before Russia hosts the biggest sporting event in the world (the world cup) they wanted to set the scene for a 1936 Olympics Berlin style event.
I pick it’s revenge. Revenge against Putin’s critics and perceived enemies within their borders. Revenge against anyone perceived to have betrayed Russia from beyond their borders.
Putin is a despot and a tyrant.
Is there another suspect for the father/daughter poisoning?
I haven’t seen any reported. Which is probably why the Brits are so confident it was Russia.
Is the theory that the Brits did it to blame Russia?
That seems to be what the illiberals are implying, although so far I haven’t seen anyone game enough to state it explicitly.
The Russian Ambassador in London was suggesting that it came from a British Lab at Porton Down.
Would you class him as an “illiberal”?
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43446312
A despot and a tyrant as Anne says above. Coddled under the old Soviet system where the only thing that changed is… well nothing… a few very rich blokes run the coubtry now as they did then.
We just ‘know’, you know 😉
The British ran their tests.
These are international analysts.
So many questions….
/
[…]
[…]
https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews
It must be Russia because Novichok mean ‘newbie’ in russian.!!!
Interesting industrial news. Lectures and support staff join together to make their union have a backbone.
https://libcom.org/news/lecturers-rebel-union-pushes-poor-pension-offer-13032018
Yesterday there was considerable discussion and reaction on Open Mike to the announcement by the Green Party that they will no longer be asking “Patsy” questions in Parliament as they consider these questions whereby a member of the Government of the day asks questions of a Minister etc of that Government about decisions, progress and/or achievements in an aspect of that Minister’s portfolio.
This discussion under 9 and its subthreads included suggestions by myself and others that the Green MPs had asked such questions (of each other) right up until the last day Parliament last sat ( Thu 1 March 2018). Alwyn put up the (only) four questions that the Green MPs had asked in the last two weeks of that period as showing that these were patsy questions (but did not provide links to either the videos or Hansard).
I am very familiar with the workings of Parliament and its resources including their website, so was just going to put up the links to the videos for those four questions but then decided to identify all oral questions that all Green MPs have instigated or answered since the new government came into being in Nov 2017 until now to get a better picture of the overall situation vis a vis Green Party participation in Question Time and the types of questions they have been asking or have been asked, and by whom.
I completed this last evening and have written up a summary analysis (with video link)s identifying:
– each primary oral question asked by or to each Green MP to another Green MP
– any questions asked of Labour or NZF by Green MPs
– any questions asked by Labour or NZF of Green MPs
– any questions asked by National of Green MPs
Green Party MPs participation in Oral Questions since Nov 2017 to 1 March 2018.
* Questions in last two weeks of Parliament (20 Feb – 1 March 2018) raised as examples by Alwyn, Open Mike 18 March 2018.
GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN
1 March 2018 to Shaw * https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198774
CHLOE SWARBRICK
12 Dec 2017 to Genter https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197591
MARAMA DAVIDSON
28 Feb 2018 to Sage * https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198702
30 Jan 2018 to Shaw https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198038
15 Nov 2017 to Genter https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197082
15 Nov 2017 to Sage https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197082
GARETH HUGHES
20 Feb 2018 to Shaw * https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198408
1 Feb 2018 to Sage https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198180
19 Dec 2017 to Shaw https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197909
28 Nov 2017 to Shaw https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197184
JAN LOGIE – Parliamentary Under Secretary Justice (Sexual and Domestic Violence Issues)
22 Feb 2018 to Shaw * https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198573
14 Feb 2018 to Shaw https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198281
14 Dec 2017 to Shaw https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197728
6 Dec 2017 to Genter https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197451
9 Nov 2017 to Sage https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=196986
No questions to Logie from other Green MPs or from other Parties.
No questions from Logie to Labour or NZF.
EUGENE SAGE – Minister of Conservation; Minister of Land Information; Associate Minister of Environment
No questions to other Green Ministers or MPs.
Three questions to Sage from other Green MPs:
– 28/2 Davidson; 1/02 Hughes; 30/11 Davidson; 9/11 Logie – see links under each MP’s name.
No questions to Labour or NZF; or from Labour or NZF to Sage.
Three questions to Sage from National;
Jonathan Young 19 Dec https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197910
Maggie Barry 15 Nov https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197087
Brownlee 9 Nov https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=196985
JULIE ANNE GENTER – currently Minister of Women; Associate Minister of Transport; Association Minister of Health
Two questions from Genter to Swarbrick re Green Party Member’s Medicinal Cannabis Bill
31 Jan 2018 https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198114
31 Jan 2018 https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198109
No questions by Genter to other Green MPs, or from Genter to Labour, NZF.
Three questions to Genter from other Green MPs:
Davidson 15/11; Swarbrick 12/12; Logie 6/12 – See links under each MP’s name.
Three questions to Genter from National:
Reti to David Clark but Genter replied for Clark 22/2 https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198568
Bishop to Genter 15/2 https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198361
Bennett to Genter 14/11 https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197020
NOTE: 6 Dec 2017 – Genter participated in Joyce to Robertson Question at 8.30 mins with patsy question to Robertson which was rejected by the Speaker.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197453
JAMES SHAW – Co-leader; Minister of Climate Change; Minister of Statistics; Associate Minister of Finance
No questions to other Green Ministers or MPs.
Eight (8) questions to him from other Green MPS:
Hughes – 20/2; 19/12; 28/11 Logie – 22/2; 14/2; 14/12 Davidson – 30/1 Ghahraman – 1/3 links under each MP’s name.
No questions from Shaw to Labour or NZF; or to Shaw from Labour or NZF.
Two (2) questions to Shaw from National:
Chris Bishop 20 Dec; https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197990
Todd Muller 22 Feb. https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198578
Shaw has taken part in five (5) patsy questions to Robertson on three occasions as follows:
14 Feb 2018 – Tamati Coffey to Robertson patsy question; Shaw comes in at 2.06 min with his own patsy to Robertson:
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198279
1 Feb 2018 Steven Joyce to Robertson (not a patsy); Shaw comes in at 5.30 min with a patsy for Robertson, and then again at 6.00 min when Joyce took offence at Shaw’s question and Shaw had to withdraw and apologise.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=198176
7 Dec 2018 – Steven Joyce to Robertson – a doozy where Joyce walked straight into it. Shaw is the first one in with a patsy to Robertson at 2.0 minute which was laughed at and not answered; and after some time with everyone and their dog participating, Shaw comes in again at 8.30 minutes with a valid but still patsy question allowing Robertson to again lambast Joyce.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=197536
Overall Conclusions
Since Parliament has been sitting from Nov 2017 until on 1 March when it broke for three weeks, Green MPs have instigated and replied to 17 primary oral questions – all from one Green MP to another Green MP in the latter’s capacity as a Minister or in the case of two questions to Chloe Swarbrick in her capacity as sponsor of the Green Party Member’s Bill on medicinal cannabis. These two questions were quite legitimate Questions to Members which are in addition to the 12 questions asked each sitting day. So in terms of the latter, the Green Party have strictly speaking only asked 15 QT questions.
All 17 primary questions (plus the supplementary questions asked by the same or another Green MP following the primary one) fit the definition of Patsy questions in being questions from a MP in the government to a Minister in that government designed to allow the Minister to speak on the work underway or achieved in their portfolios.
These 17 primary oral questions may well be the Green Part’s entire oral question allocation over that time (I have been unable to find a definitive source for numbers allocated to each Party but see addendum now added at the end of this comment.).
Green MPs have not instigated any primary oral questions to Labour or NZF Ministers over that period; nor have Labour and NZF instigated any primary oral questions to Green Ministers or MPs.
National have instigated seven (7) primary oral questions to Green MPs in their Ministerial capacities – 2 to Shaw; 2 to Genter; and 3 to Sage.
Green MPs have occasionally participated in asking supplementary questions where the primary question to Labour or NZF has been instigated by National but I have not identified all instances of these as most instances are not readily identifiable without a lot of work.
However, I have identified and provided the links to four more prominent occasions when Green MPs did take part in asking supplementary questions as already detailed under Genter and Shaw above.
This is NOT me being selective to show Greens in a bad light. It is simply that the Parliamentary On Demand filter system throws up participation in these more major debates by listing/providing video links to them under Shaw’s name, for example – whereas it doesn’t list or provide video links to participation in less prominent debates. (Not clear what the filter criteria is for this.)
The following are just some of my personal thoughts since doing this quick and somewhat rough analysis.
In theory, this seems a good and noble decision by the Green Party to forego asking patsy questions. However, the Green MPs have not foregone doing so to date right up to the last sitting day on 1 March 2018.
The above analysis would suggest that, for the most part, the Green decision to give their (very small) oral question allocation to the Opposition is really only likely to affect the Greens themselves – in that they will no longer be able to ask each other patsy questions allowing them to tell the House what they are achieving in their various Ministerial portfolios. If they do, they could open themselves to claims of hypocrisy, failing to keep their promises etc.
As Shaw has said, they are able to tell the public what they are achieving via Press Releases. However, Press Releases are not part of the official historic record of Parliament through Hansard etc as are Oral Questions in Parliament.
But time will tell. If they ask no questions – and no other Party including National ask them many or any questions in Question Time – then they may be seen as choosing to not participate in a legitimate part of Parliamentary process under the Westminister system. Or they may be seen as having been left out in the cold by the other Parties. We will see.
Addendum : Green Party Share of Questions to date:
I have yet to find a definitive source for how many questions are currently allocated to each Party. However, I have bee able to work out the following:
Nov/Dec 2017 – 15 sitting days @ 12 Questions per day = 180 Q in total.
Greens asked 7 Q. = 4.86% of total 180 Q
30 Jan/1 March 2018 = 12 sitting days @12 Questions per day = 144 Q in total.
Greens asked 8 Q = 4.44% of total of 144 Q in total.
NOTE – The 2 Questions asked by Genter of Swarbrick on 31 Jan 2018 re the Greens Member Bill are not included as these were questions not included in the 12 daily QT questions, but separate additional Questions to Members allowed under the rules.
Wow. I am impressed.
The information I put up was done in a much simpler manner.
In you addendum you say
“I have yet to find a definitive source for how many questions are currently allocated to each Party”
According to this
https://www.parliament.nz/en/visit-and-learn/how-parliament-works/parliamentary-practice-in-new-zealand/chapter-39-questions/
I think that we must assume.
There are 120 members of the House.
There are 31 who are excluded because the are Ministers, Associate Ministers or Under-secretaries (22 Labour, 5 NZF, 4 Green)
I am not sure where the speaker is intended to be counted but I assume he is counted in the number who can ask questions.
Therefor there are 89 who count in the question allocation rule.
The Green Party should be allocated 4/89 of the questions available. That is 4.5% which fits in with your calculation.
National of course are going to get 63% of those available as they get 56/89.
It is a minor point but was there a question time on every day that Parliament sat?
When you calculated the possible number of questions did you consider that?
There is no question time on some days. Budget day is an example.
Thanks for you explanation re the question allocation -I was too focused on the rest and that was bugging me.
Re the question time calculations. Yes I did check – via a quick check through Daily Progress. So for example, Parliament resumed on 7 November, but 7 and 8 November were ceremonial/administrative days with no QT. QT started on Thu, 9 Nov. Then in Dec, Parliament met up to and including Weds 20 Dec, but rose Weds evening and did not sit on Thurs 21 Dec. Hence the sitting days/QTs work out at 5 X 3 days = 15 X 12 = 180 Questions. Been there done that. Worked closely with Parl for many years, including a few secondments to Minister offices, Select Committees etc.
“Worked closely with Parl for many years”.
Yes, I must admit I thought that was probably the case.
I have only a layman’s interest in the subject although I knew quite a lot of MPs in earlier years. Winston is the last one left of that era though.
I think I met every PM from Holyoake to English except for Kirk, Bolger and Key. Eleven out of fourteen.
Only in a country as small as New Zealand would that really happen for an ordinary person like me. Note I’m only saying met, not that I had anything really to do with most of them.
When I said that my method was much simple all I did was look at this
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/order-paper-questions/list-of-oral-questions/
I just looked at the final two weeks and picked out the names of Green MPs.
I didn’t actually bother reading Hansard for those questions in particular. I do read the questions most days but with the patsies I usually only look to see whether an Opposition MP has bothered to ask a Supplementary.
God it must be demeaning to be an MP who is assigned to ask one of these questions.
Press release may not be but I’m that government policy releases are although, if they are, they’re hard to find.
I think what needs to happen is a better website design that makes it easy to find this sort of information.
Re government policy releases, I’m not sure they are part of the Parliamentary record other than the passage of Bills as a result of those policies.
Sorry, I have spent too many hours in the last day or so researching – I’m taking a break!
I actually find parts of the updated Parliament website excellent now – particularly the filters on finding things in On Demand video section. But I agree there are other parts that drive me crazy. I actually find that a well defined Google search for something on the Parliament website gets me there far quicker than trying to find it on the Parl website.
Awesome.
Are the Greens compelled to ask patsy questions? Is this a condition of their arrangement with Labour? Or is it just because of precedents set a hundred years ago?
It is how it is done. It has evolved but not for the better. As part of this effort the Greens are also seeking changes tot he Standing Orders.
People are talking about Question Time, what it is and if it works. Mission partly accomplished I’d say.
IF this can truly damage Labour, then labour was in a VERY fragile place.
Imagine if the revelation that our Defence Commander had lied had been met by a suspension pending investigation. Strong leadership indeed.
Cool. Thanks.
“IF this can truly damage Labour, then labour was in a VERY fragile place.”
So very true.
Oh come on tracey – diversions/digs #1 and diversions/digs #2. So transparent.
Diversion 1 – nothing to do with damaging Labour (and implying its in a VERY fragile place) – this about the Green Party not Labour.
Diversion 2 – Oh, look over there – our Defence Commander has lied. etc
Cmon this is a few questions. Not the mother of all scandals. The beltway and political geeks may love to wallow in this but it is not the broo haha some here are making it.
I didnt imply Labour is fragile. I replied to the suggestion this was damaging Labour by suggesting that notion ( of another not me) woukd make Labour far more fragile than they appear.
A few patsy questions go to National as part of a strategy to tidy up Parliament versus a Defence Force Commanda lying. You bet I think the second is way more important. Especially as he continues to run our defence.
Are yousaying suspending the Defence Commander wouldnt have moved the media focus from Young Lab?
Can someone please give me some advice(morrissey???) on filling out an oia request, to get documents held about myself and the communications between people about myself. I.E. pH records, emails etc
Thank you
V
[Easiest way is through the FYI website (https://fyi.org.nz/) but please note all requests are public – MS]
You can do it through this website, but be aware that requests and responses are made public https://fyi.org.nz/
Are you sure it’s an OIA request you need and not one via the Privacy Act? That is a different process, and information is not made public.
https://www.privacy.org.nz/the-privacy-act-and-codes/privacy-principles/access/requests/
Thank you so much. I will read through and take the best course of action. I would love nothing more than to just have this public.
“the communications between people about myself. I.E. pH records, emails etc”
A few of us have been talking about you in the smoko room, then I think a few texts as well.
There was of course that big email chain going on in November too.
Need any more info?
You can email the Departments who hold the records, directly. Use their general email which can be found by a google search.
Start your email with these words
Please treat this email as a requestion for information under the Official Information Act.
Then list what documents you want.
Part three in a series of interviews with working women.
https://libcom.org/blog/series-interviews-working-class-women-west-london-part-3-16032018
I’ve seen and helped people deal with the same rip off type immigration consultants here in NZ. A overcrowded house, is somthing which is also common in Auckland. In all, this is somthing which could have been written about life here. The charging of health care, and the extortion process to get people to pay.
Funny how working peoples stories are virtually the same the world over. You’d think the elites and sycophants hated working people or somthing.
https://libcom.org/blog/series-interviews-working-class-women-west-london-part-3-16032018
I agree with Phil Goff’s views on the Auckland citys spending on waste water management spend now and save billions in the future . Councils and governments can lend money at a rate bellow the rate of inflation so it is logical to spend now and save in the long term save money the environment and wild life . heres a link to newsroom
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/03/18/97308/phil-goffs-legacy-plan-clean-beaches
ka kite ano
He was in parliament for an awfully long time and an MP for Auckland…. has he just noticed how fucked up the sewer systems and waste water management is?
Kia ora Scotty Morrison from Tekarere bro may be you should have English subtitles so those of us who don”t have te reo mastered like you can learn te reo ka pai ka kite ano
Scotty positive branding is everything in marketing anything the problem is that OUR Maori Culture has had a negative branding campaign by the MSM that has damaged Maori culture over the last 150 years Eco Maori wants that to stop
ka pai ka kite ano P.S Helen Clark stopped this phenomenon but when she lost the election the negative branding started up again
This is a bit scary. If true, the democrats are looking more corporate/establishment not less. Working people get shafted again.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/03/07/dems-m07.html
A hell of a lot happened in 1968, so this year is the 50th anniversary of a lot of important events. Some very positive, some negative, some horrendous.
One of the most horrendous was the US massacre of Vietnamese civilians at My Lai on March 16, 1968.
One of the best books about Vietnam is Nick Turse’s “Kill Anything That Moves: the real American war in Vietnam”.
We put the introduction to the book up on Redline a few years back. Well worth reading.
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/my-lai-and-the-real-american-war-in-vietnam/
Articles about some other key events – from the Tet Offensive to the strike by women workers at the Ford car plant at Dagenham, which helped start the women’s liberation movement in Britain – are linked to here: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/1968-the-year-of-revolutions/
Well M.Hooton certainly earned his money this morning…….contract up for review?
It was a shocking display. He deliberately re-arranged facts in order to produce an alternative to the truth. And Mike Williams didn’t do nearly enough to counter it although to be fair, its a difficult task when Hooton is allowed to shout over the top of his adversaries so they can’t be heard.
At one point he claimed… Jacinda Ardern was putting on an act when she was asked about the Young Labour camp story. He maintained… of course she knew about it, and I think he might even have used the words “she’s lying”. That is a serious accusation to make on a public platform and I would think deserves a response. But my bet is he’ll be allowed to get away with it.
To my knowledge, no-one in the media has mentioned the fact Jacinda Ardern was overseas when the incident came to light and had only just returned when it broke in the media. While she should have been told sooner, I expect that was a reason why it didn’t happen.
Mike Williams has never countered anything hoooooter says.
He’s as useful as bike peddles on a fish.
+1
Great comment Brigid.
Williams did more than once say that Hooton was wrong.
Hooton of course in the style of great dissemblers just repeated the lie.
Mrs Mac1 thought that Williams did all right. People listening could judge for themselves who was lying or not.
Then Hooton went on to push the alternate reality view that Ardern must have known about it, but did a pretty good job of feigning surprise when confronted by reporters on her return from overseas.
People could then really see what was fiction.
Anyone who doubts National are in campaign mode need to read this admission they “accidentally” emailed people who signed a ptition treating them like Nat Party members and asked them for donations.
Classic Nat strategy. Do something dodgy. Gain the advantage then apologise. Repeat.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/352790/national-apologises-for-mass-database-sign-up
Neither stuff nor herald online consider National Party major breach of privacy newsworthy…
I was planning to drop that link in Daily Review.
An up-to-date version of their former rort in the 1970s and probably the 80s. It was Nat. Party raffle tickets in those days. Anyone who bought one ended up on the membership list. Great way to acquire a healthy looking membership even though many of them never asked to be members and may have never known they were members.
They can only do that trick once.
If they rinse and repeat, then everyone with half a memory will know they’re dishonest.
Russian opposition figure and two time survivor of suspected poisoning attempts –
Tekaea I say that site in Auckland that is before the courts for the devolepment of that whenua should be stopped as there will be a treasure trove of Maori historical artifacts and information in that whenua land. If it is developed this will be a opportunity lost to educate us about OUR tepuna and whenua it will be like England discovering historical artifacts in a hundred years time when high rise buildings are built that need deep foundations dug to reveal OUR maori historical artifacts in bits and pieces heres the link from News Room.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi647nNzPfZAhVGbrwKHYH8CQMQFghGMAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsroom.co.nz%2F2018%2F01%2F22%2F77058%2Fnew-life-in-fight-for-historic-auckland-land&usg=AOvVaw3ZJqkAycT7G7yM24ExNssl Kia kaha ka kite ano
Kia ora Mike from News Hub yes we need to band those fishing practices that kill and threaten the survival OUR precious native dolphins . I still admire Obama I just don’t like him associating with shonky he is a great man he backed a bright prosperous future for the Mokos i.e renewable energy and the Paris climate agreement .
Ka kaha ka kite ano
News Hub I say that teachers and nurses should get a good pay rise the CEOs of these organizations should try and live on a nurses or teachers wage and see half go in rent and see if they can survive on that money these peoples jobs are just as important as the police so they should get paid fairly for there great work. The big picture is the nurses and teachers industry’s are lady dominated industry’s were as the police force is a male dominated industry and they get payed generously for a 40 hour week We have to start the journey to give equality for OUR ladys now keep up the good fight ladys . When my mokos get to the work force I would like to see a more equal society for all humans Kia kaha ka kite ano
The Project Wallis I seen your expression when you were interviewing Jonathan colman lol and then you have The naked Samoans David is a strait up Kiwi like you Wallis is Back benches going again good to see you getting air time Ka kite ano
Morning the AM Show I was studding Maori culture last nite I have found the same phenomenon there is a total change in the modem story’s from the story I have read on the subject and guess what the producer was called Bradley,
IT is a nother form of Ngati Porous the facts being distorted manipulated to make my Tipuna look like they had no Mana my Tepuna won’t be happy .
I will be changeing these lies some people could be making these unaware of what they are doing but some will know exactly whats going on some much for the thanks for what my Tipuna have done in shaping OUR society into the beautiful country we have today KIA KAHA ka kite ano P.S Duncan our Tipuna did not like swearing it bad Karma I stopped swearing on the standard an found this fact out later
Good morning The Cafe hope fully we have help launch Paris new book Titled
Paris Queen ka kite ano
“Jacinda Ardern stuns climate campaigners, rocks up to accept 45,000 signature petition asking Govt to stop oil drilling”
Will Prime Minister Ardern listen to the scientists?
“Ignoring Science at Our Peril”
Or, will the Prime Minister listen to loony tune Act leader David Seymour?
Most oil exploration jobs are foreign national jobs not kiwi local workers positions currently now so we are effectively “subsidising foreign workers now with the National Government 2015/17 grants given previously to big oi around the time of the oil conferences.
“There seems to be trickery involved for the ‘jobs in oil exploration’. These large vessels for seismic surveys and the big rigs for test drilling all come from overseas and they are staffed by fly in flyout contractors.”
We are being played by the “loss of regional jobs” boogie so heavily by Corporate big oil so heavily that even Jacinda said it in her “watered down wet bus ticket to big oil press ‘apologist’ response on TV1, news hub and RNZ today when asked “why don’t you commit to no more exploration now as the greenpeace asked in the petition”?????
Jacinda; – you need to finally get serious and also wean yourself off oil now!!!!!; – as if you don’t – your child will not have a future so toughen up will you while you have the bloody chance before your Government crumbles, and then before hell breaks loose!!!!!.
“The IPCC has concluded that to prevent irreparable environmental disaster emissions need to be capped so that temperature increases no more than 2 degrees celsius from pre industrial ages.”
GOOD FOR GREENPEACE WHILE ‘Jacinda ASKS FOR MORE TIME????????????
There is no more time Jacinda.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/petition-delivered-parliament-today-calling-end-oil-exploration
Petition to be delivered to parliament today calling for end to oil exploration
8:18am
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Source:
NZN
Environmental groups are to present a 45,000-signature petition to parliament calling for the end of oil exploration around New Zealand.
Oil exploration vessel.
Source: 1 NEWS
The petition will be handed to Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods at midday on Monday.
Greenpeace says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was widely praised for stating before the election that climate change is the nuclear-free moment of her generation but her words must be turned into action.
“The world can’t afford to burn even existing fossil fuel reserves let alone seek out new oil and gas if we want to avoid catastrophic warming,” said Greenpeace climate campaigner Kate Simcock.
News Hub transport is vital for our small regions as vital as our blood vessels are to us take any mode of transport from a region is like cutting the blood supply to ones hand eventually one hand would fall off . I am still amazed that we let rail get so bad . I have my theory and guess whos on Air New Zealand’s board shonky still carrying on with the task he was original given while he was you know what.
Ka pai Shane Jones don’t let OUR te tangata be starved of a vital service that is needed for prosperity.
There you go the internet used for cheating the 99.9 % of Democracy I had a debate with a person on the power of computers and the internet has over some people .
The corrupt people have know about subliminal messaging for centurys they have used this to undermine native cultures . And this is the reason I have a beef with people using the word crack in any sentence .
Mike I’m quite glade that I only got educated till I was 9 years old . If not than I would have the same view as a lot of people have on OUR Tipuna as the people that were educated by New Zealand Schools about Ngati Porous Tipuna and there great role they played in establishing OUR Aotearo New Zealand wonderful SOCIETY . The storys are totally different to that that is told in these GREAT Old STATES MEN autobiography ECO MAORI is going to change these farcical storys that are being feed to te mokopunas . Kia Kaha Ka kite ano
So my neo libreal neighbor is a true REDNECK he is a Exclusive Brethren no-wonder he walks around like he has a stick up his—- .
He thinks his farcial view is the only view on the planet .One of his brothers gets on the alcohol kills 3 people and his m8 distort the course of justice and he gets a slap on the hand yes people one law for us and no laws for the people with money and the right connections. These people are so judge mental until it is them in the—– then thy cover it up with bribes and lies here is the links .
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjF7v2-q_rZAhUCErwKHcGYDfMQqOcBCCgwAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stuff.co.nz%2Fnational%2F102350200%2Fexclusive-brethren-members-in-cleanup-operation-after-fatal-crash&usg=AOvVaw33fYFYDwEL33tRRlwBnEjN
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjW6rfqq_rZAhUMTbwKHcX5AecQFgg2MAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nzherald.co.nz%2Fnz%2Fnews%2Farticle.cfm%3Fc_id%3D1%26objectid%3D11999786&usg=AOvVaw2CS1GFbZHJjDFR0TB_LWX3
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwihwLXyr_rZAhVMO7wKHX-EBbwQFghEMAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nzherald.co.nz%2Fnz%2Fnews%2Farticle.cfm%3Fc_id%3D1%26objectid%3D12000309&usg=AOvVaw30Hlovf3cwsXsuioRGKhGT
Ana to kai
Good morning Am Show These Air line companies need to become innervate so they can carry on providing there services to the people instead of the slash and burn approach they have this should be installed into there constitution this small change will make everyone life better .
No shonky you can not see me trough the camera Many Thanks to Obama for gracing our shores with your presence you and your family will love OUR beautiful country . I could see that Obama put a tremendous amount of effort into carring out his role as President as best as a person could Ka pai .
Its a sad day when we see another of Papatuanukus mother earths great creatures nearly pass into extinction .Many thanks Mark for showing the story Benji Marshall younger brother Jeremy Mashall King to play for the BullDogs Kia kaha Jeremy.
Ka kite ano
I admire Rob Fyfe he is a old school Kiwi New Zealander that puts his good principles first . I worked for a couple who had a daughter on that Erebus flight they have passed now the loss of there only child affected them quite badly . If I had the time I would do more research into the topics I comment on but thanks to shonky I have to work 60 hours a week just to keep my Waka in a strait line .here is a link to the Erebus disaster .
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiFveyTx_vZAhXMwLwKHZzxALUQFghVMAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FAir_New_Zealand_Flight_901&usg=AOvVaw0c-o_KtUoncUoq21YDMdgz
Ka kite ano
Name a government agency in which the vast majority of staff have zero knowledge (other than heresay) of the legislation under which the Agency provides services to the public.
Hint the agency and its respective Ministry provides aid to more than half the population, many of whom are considered to be our most vulnerable.
As a “social” Ministry it’s staff are beholden to many Acts, and regulations, the least of which are the Privacy, and the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 neither of which are well known to staff either (excepting a few specialist professional staff who have responsibility for child welfare.)
Is it proper for a majority of Ministry staff to have zero knowledge of the legislation?
The Ministry does have an open line for staff to seek legal advice before making decisions. But how can that work effectively if the staff member lacks the base knowledge to properly frame the question?
Many of the Ministries staff have no decision making authority, nor access to that legal advice because they work in call centres and are solely tasked with giving advice to, and taking information from clients. Never mind the fact they do not have any knowledge to impart, or the English language skills necessary to obtain or impart useful or accurate advice.
Have you figured it out yet? Another hint, this Ministry serves both our youngest and our oldest citizens, amongst others.