Your canine crusader reckons it might be time to reinvent the old ‘Punch a Pom’ campaign, calling it ‘Cuff a Vegan’.
The ‘Punch’ campaign ran in the 1970s to honour the late, great All Black prop Keith Murdoch who was sent home during the 1972-73 tour of the UK after he whacked a security guard.
This surge of would-be ‘cuffatarianism’ grows out of recent news that vegans are creeping around NZ supermarkets slapping stickers on meat urging shoppers not to buy it.
The ‘anti-meat’ stickers have appeared on packaging in several supermarkets and more stores have reported being targeted by vegan activist groups.
The Hound suggests giving a slap around the ears with a nice bit of steak to any smelly, unkempt, anaemic types sneaking around the meat counter at your local supermarket.
I ought to have added a comment. It's disturbing to peer into the rural 'web" and see how messages are sent and prejudices consolidated. Calls for "slapping" go unchallenged, seemingly, so long as a dag of a characters makes those calls.
That "jokey" vehicle for maintaining and strengthening prejudice is widespread and difficult to address, unless you like to be characterised as a po-faced sourpuss. Perhaps "dagginess" provides a safety-valve for societal pressures, or maybe it builds it, I don't know, though I suspect the latter.
"Dagginess does", it's easy to be damned if you do or damned of you don't. Being sidelined into analysing something said with good intentions or paying attention to remarks intended to inflame takes a lot of useful talk away from issues that do matter.
It seems that while NZ has still a few "useful" wags that the state of things now the useful contribution of a John Clarke is not likely to be replicated again, even if he did go to Aus and all that, his sense of world, self and others is beyond the reach, and perhaps comprehension, of people now.
Grow up Robert. The vegans responsible for the stickers had no business being anywhere near the meat section of supermarkets spreading their gospel. Sort of take what you’re dishing out don’t you think.
You're well off the mark, New view. The issue is, so that you can focus better, calling for "giving a slap around the ears" to those he doesn't agree with. Ready to discuss that now, are you?
So is your sensitive small-minded right wing soul conflating criticism of some idiots rejoicing in some stupid tactic and being challenged on it here, with right-wing dickheads doing the same in the privacy of their boy frat and not being challenged?
How very grown up you are… But of course this is a place of robuts discussion, and by the sound of it, what Robert appears to be talking about is a place of gutless conservative conformists.
Amazing you would equate white supremacists and Nazis, neo and otherwise, with vegan activists.
In your very, very small mind those who worship the Christchurch mass-murderer and a regime which murdered 6M Jews is no different to animal rights activists on a sticker campaign.
funny, i came a cross a meme that either is from a vegan racist or some racist is using vegans as scapegoat. This to do with muslims and their halal butchering, telling these " xxxxx " to go back from where they came from. Next day on that same board up the pictures of the bulls that will be killed for hte BullRoast (Ochsenbraterei) a famous beer tent at the Octoberfest with a whole Ochs being roasted for public consumption. .My question to the poster if he would also like to send these animal killers 'back to where they came from' elicited no comment.
MY point? I have no use for extremism.
And i would like for a vegan to live a year on the vegetables, grains and tofu that is solely produced in NZ. Non of the fine imported stuff they like to eat and that includes all of the processed food.
Why? Cause use of fossil fuels is the biggest killer on this planet of all manners of life, be it humans, birds, fish, or four legged / two legged furries and all sorts of undesiriable critters that are important for pollination etc. (anything one could kill and will kill thanks to pesticides – including weedkillers)
Yet we seem to focus on the animals that we consider cute – or worthy of life.
ITs the extremism that is wrong. Let people eat as to what grows in their regions, what they can preserve for winter / non growing times, according to their own moral believes and go back to well regulated ethical bio farming.
And please ignore all that micro plastic in the rain.
well said. It's the extremism that bothers me too, politically, not least because there's no talking to them. That's fundamentalist vegans and hard core dairy farmers, both of whom will burn fossil fuels to keep the fire in their ideologies.
"And i would like for a vegan to live a year on the vegetables, grains and tofu that is solely produced in NZ. "
Why should they?
No one else is restricted to "NZ only" foodstuffs, or products of any kind, for that matter. Demanding that vegans should live a pure life before criticising others is like demanding that protesters opposing off-shore oil exploration have to get to the protest sites by foot; remember, everyone's compromised, but that shouldn't shut down considered criticism.
my point being is : Can you survive as a vegan in NZ on produce only from here.
my point: pollution, transport, which in itself is the biggest killer of life on this planet. Our addiction to transport – be it us in our single occupancy cage, our need to travel to far flung places to escape our reality here, our need to pull boats to race down some waterway after racing the motorway etc etc etc, our 'just in time' madness that is essentially storing all of our goods on trucks on the road, our need to eat food not in season and / or imported.
If i am to save the planet and to save the life of animals, and if i feel embolden to go about stickering some stupid plastic coated stickers on everything to let people know what i think of their eating habits, then i need to look at my own behaviour and if i then realise that I could not upheld my own lofty goals without transporting stuff via boat, plane, truck, car etc then maybe i am part of the problem rather then the solution.
And then again i raise the question: Can one survive as a strict vegan on produce grown locally in case our civilasation shits itself and one would have to? I would suggest not without sever body issues in regards to lack of Iron, magnesium, calcium etc. And i love myself a good bowl of curried pulses. .
but maybe ask yourself, by reading so much horsemanure into my post, maybe you are the one trying to shut down conversation by not actually answering my question.
And again i like to point out as i have done so many times: Us humans are omnivores and can survive by eating literally anything. And that would include Possum, rabbits, rats and such, generally considered pests in this country that we kill with a lot of poison that also kill deer n shit, and yet, i hear nothing from the Vegans when it comes to that. Just saying.
the population does need to come down to save our only planet and so everyone can live a lifestyle based on a plant based diet. Our planet is not built for 7 Billion current humans and forecasted population of 10 billion.
Violence is not the answer however. the population should self police to not grow any further and shrink through natural methods.
I have long thought that the rag that the mutt s articles are in are linked to the whole dirty politics hate factory. I rarely bother to open it now . Nz farmer weekly is the only weekly rural paper to read .
Some dogs need putting to sleep this is one of them
Last week Fonterra was the whipping boy and this week its our (potential) saviour…..schizophrenia abounds.
[lprent: More like idiocy does. I can’t see where advantage has said much about Fonterra in recent weeks apart from exactly what he is saying now. Off-topic ]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
"The Stockholm Resilience Centre defines resilience as:
the capacity of a system, be it an individual, a forest, a city or an economy, to deal with change and continue to develop. It is about the capacity to use shocks and disturbances like a financial crisis or climate change to spur renewal and innovative thinking. Resilience thinking embraces learning, diversity and above all the belief that humans and nature are strongly coupled to the point that they should be conceived as one social-ecological system (cited in Moberg & Hauge Simonsen, 2011, p. 3)."
Well since we eventually follow most of everything the Americans do. Maybe John is just setting us up for our own space force, who will partake in war games with the yanks around Mars in the years to come.
MediaWorks has been lobbying the Government to turn TVNZ 1 into a non-commercial channel to help stem its own financial bleeding. Frustrated, and getting nowhere, it’s decided to change tack and up the ante with a more aggressive public campaign.
The Remain campaign in the UK is getting ever more an advertisment for leaving the EU just to smash the power of the neoliberal Oxbridge elites. Essentially, they'll do anything to oppose Brexit as long as it doesn't involve changing the existing status quo – Their demands consist of deeply undemocratic mangerialist fantasies of "unity" leaders that no one has ever heard of or haven't a hope in hell in forming a government and "unity" governments (Green leader Caroline Lucas recently proposed an all women cabinet that was her Oxbridge vision of inclusiveness – one gender, white, middle aged and very much like her) that all turn out to be little more than neoliberal technocratic wet dreams.
The one thing they utterly reject is the leader of the largest opposition party having any right to have the first go at forming a new government if the Tories are defeated – rather Boris than Jeremy, whilst the Lib-Dems (14 MPs) demand they have the right to pick the next PM – not Labour (240 MPs).
Their thrashing about is all to try and achieve two, parallel outcomes – stop Brexit but even more importantly, stop Corbyn and stop Corbynism.
The vote to leave the EU was essentially a vote to reject the neoliberal status quo and to reject the self-serving "centrist" metropolitain Oxbridge liberal elites that have arrogated the right to rule and frame the debate entirely to itself. Since the the U.K. voted to leave, IMHO the liberal elites have sought to undermine the result.
Taken together, the smearing and character assassination of Corbyn and the use of the same tactics against anyone who voted leave is a damning indictment of the British liberal elites, who for all their sanctimonious utterances of having Britain's best interests at heart really just boil down to a bunch of assholes engaged in a savage class war to protect their cushy white collar jobs as winners from "centrist" neoliberal globalism.
…the smearing and character assassination of Corbyn and the use of the same tactics against anyone who voted leave is a damning indictment of the British liberal elites, who for all their sanctimonious utterances of having Britain's best interests at heart really just boil down to a bunch of assholes engaged in a savage class war to protect their cushy white collar jobs as winners from "centrist" neoliberal globalism.
As someone (born of English stock) who takes a passing interest in British politics, I have been puzzled by the hysterical and vengeful hatred directed at Jeremy Corbyn. Having listened to parts of his speeches, both inside parliament and beyond, his views come across to me as sensible and moderate. So, why the animosity?
I think Sanctuary has provided the answer – the so-called liberal elites who regard themselves as superior beings because they are white (generally), middle class and educated at some of Britain's best schools. And just for the record, we have had our own version of such politicians in NZ and by no means have they been confined to the National Party.
Marshall Islands affected by nuclear testing last century:
(The USA carried out nuclear tests using the Marshall Islands and testing the disease producing effects on the people as if they were lab rats. They were promised remedial assistance, which was given, but the 'generosity' or the willingness to redress has become limited. They should be first in line to help these people with whatever problems they have. Should!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Proving_Grounds
Featured snippet from the web
The Pacific Proving Grounds was the name given by the United States government to a number of sites in the Marshall Islands and a few other sites in the Pacific Ocean at which it conducted nuclear testing between 1946 and 1962. The U.S. tested a nuclear weapon (codenamed Able) on Bikini Atoll on June 30, 1946.
Add to the USA probably France. We know they are not a benign country. The French Revolution to free the people from aristocratic harsh rule, which was a pattern the USA wished to follow links these two in an unholy unity, as their vision of greatness for the peeps has become grimy. As the saying goes, 'You can't get good help these days. Nobody wants to clean windows'.
Government failure to govern and contracting out of their duty to the citizens. This morning on Radionz two top organisations publicise the big holes that are in the controls by government on products imported into NZ.
Plumbers, gasfitters and electricians say they're under pressure to install shoddy products from overseas, without proper checks for safety. Imported plumbing products are subject to MBIE guidelines, but the head of the Plumbing, Drainlayers and Gasfitters Association Glen Burr, is concerned there is no longer a requirement for all gas jobs to be lodged and he claims the guidelines have no teeth. That sentiment is echoed by Master Electricians Chief Executive Officer, Bernie McLaughlin. He fears the poor standard of some imported electrical materials could ultimately cause buildings to burn down. Paul Hobbs from MBIE's building system assurance team addresses the concerns.
I have bought a mixer for my sink and was going to get a plumber to put that in. I may have bought one that is not up to scratch apparently, and it could start leaking. So I have to trust a reliable plumber's advice, and I know one firm that I trust so I will definitely check as to the owner's opinion.
The electrician spokesperson said that someone in future could get killed from turning on their lighting.
We know about the gas explosion in Christchurch. In electricity there can be safety risks also. Housing and other building speculators are buying in bulk for their projects on the basis of on-line cheap prices. Our good trained reliable tradespeople are being expected to install stuff that is not properly certified.
Our government has got to the point where it sits on a system that allows the importation of non-compliant goods, though they are not legal to use. There is a flaw that is obvious to any thinking person here! The conclusion – there is no thinking and no responsibility by our leaders. F…ing shocking. Does this made you feel really angry – it does me.
The ongoing problems that will occur from already installed product will last for ever, on top of our problems from climate – tornadoes, rising seas, rain dumps. Then there is technology and learned helplessness of people trying to cope with the problems from that, unemployment, and education that is totally wrapped around using tech knowledge and control. And now this slack behaviour from people in top positions who are very quick to criticise and deal punitively with anything or anybody affecting their personal interests and advantages.
Electricians cannot install electrical equipment without sighting a SDOC, or suppliers declaration of conformity. That goes for any cheap overseas knock offs also. So you should have faith that anything installed legally by a electrician, is of good quality, up to standard and backed by the relevant consumer protections and regulations. If unsure, always take a copy of your contractors practicing license.
Builders have known for years to avoid cheap brands. Especially from China, etc.
Unfortunately customers often go for the cheapest. The thinking from so many is they are going to flick off that house for a capital gain, within five years. So who cares if it lasts 50. Lost several quotes when I was building because I insisted on using good materials.
Just wondering if Simon Bridges weekly slots on peter Williams magic talk show come under paid advertising. He gets free uncritical reign to talk himself and National up and slag off the government while getting asked a series of “questions” which are more like prompts to move between subjects.
Just wondering if Jacinda's weekly appearances in the MSM, 7 Sharp etc come under paid advertising. She gets free uncritical reign to talk about himself and Labour, about all the stuff she intends to do, the endless reviews and to hide behind process while getting asked a series of “questions” which are more like prompts to move between subjects
It might be paid advertising if she were interviewed by Tamati Coffey or say a media figure with strong Labour values, but they don't exist in the MSM. I wonder why that is…
She's much more likely to get one of the plethora of right wing shock jocks such as Duncan Grater, Ryan Bridges, Peter Willy, Husking, Espiner, Dann…
Your views always depend on what side of the fence you stand in. You're both right, both Ardern and Bridges get an easy ride. Ardern more so when you consider that she actually has the ability to make changes and inact policy. Why she never has to answer the tough questions about our poverty and inequality statistic, I'll never understand. It's a disgrace to democracy and towards our most vulnerable.
walking the walk not just talking the talk – onya mate
The Westport man has travelled the South Island as for almost eight months. Each day, he picks up rubbish, collecting up to 80 kilograms a day.
… "Sometimes it's overwhelming, I'm taking in a lot of stuff that I'm seeing. I have learned to control my emotions, if I'm angry or pissed off it's not going to change the fact rubbish is there. I just pick it up."
… While he'd love to see more people grab a bag and pick up rubbish, he's more concerned about the way our everyday lives impact on the environment.
"Look at what we buy. Is it a want or a need? When you look at a pack of chocolate biscuits; it's got two bits of plastic, you eat it in one or two sittings but the plastic is here forever.
"I'm not saying don't eat it, but we have really got to look at what we are doing to our planet."
yep, i take a bag out of my local reserve when walking the old dog. 1.5 km at 1.5 hours, one decent size bag of rubbish. I hate single wrapped candy. I just effn hate them.
Good sign tho, there is more and more of this fellow.
Ditto with me, Sabine. I always have a mesh bag tied to the dog leads and most days there is something to pick up from the sand during our walk on Ninety Mile Beach, sometimes it's local trash and sometimes it clearly has swept in from the sea. I'm no where near the only one locally doing it. The more of us the better eh. Certainly walking the dogs is an easy pace for seeing the rubbish and smaller plastics.
It's not an accident that misogyny and racism are interlinked, and those who appear to despise powerful women like Jones, also trade in racism and stirring hatred of Muslims, immigrants and other minorities.
This is less about 'free speech' than power. This is about those with waning power desperately holding on to it through control, violence and dominating language. This about flexing and seeing how much they can get away with before someone stops them.
One could, however, be forgiven for reading something equivocal into 2GB’s ‘concerns’.
“He has a big reputation, but he’s not untouchable. One more ‘put her in a chaff bag’ comment, one more ‘shove a sock down her throat’ line, one more ‘let’s hang her 58 metres over George Street’ quip, one more ‘died of shame’ analogy, one more ‘her head is in a noose’ jibe, and let’s just say he’ll be on very, very thin ice”. http://www.theshovel.com.au/2019/08/19/alan-jones-gets-38th-final-warning-from-2gb%EF%BB%BF/
'The strategy aimed to lower the proportion of Māori in prison to match the Māori share of the general population, he said.
However, he acknowledged it would be unrealistic to expect that within five years of the strategy.'
Not saying it won't work but if they really want to cut back on the prison population quickly then all the government has to do is open up more high/maximum security psychiatric wards (and preferably hospitals)
For a longer term strategy then its more money in early care (like Plunkett) and more money into apprenticeships
Doing all of the above would be best, it certainly wouldn't do it all but it'd put a big dent in the prison population
You're right I will and thank you for pointing it out to me. In return heres a link to the current Corrections Officers vacancies, this is so you can join up and show everyone how it should be done
lol you've only been in the job for 2 months yet you think you know everything – I'm a bit worried for those you are supposed to be helping if your attitude doesn't change
Lol March is when I first went on the floor so that's coming up 6 months experience and while I know next to nothing I certainly know more than anyone that's never been in Corrections, also my opinions are strongly influenced by the experienced staff I'm learning from lol
Lol however I'm completely serious that you who obviously knows so much and have so much experience that for you not to be on the floor teaching the staff and the prisoners how things should be done is a complete travesty lol
Lol of course I'm not serious, I mean you couldn't do what I and thousands of other men and women do, you couldn't handle it, you'd freeze the first time you see someone bleeding out, you'd probably piss your pants the first time a facially-tattooed gangster got in your face yet your seem comfortable in telling me how I need to improve lol
yeah yeah rah rah – I work in mental health bozo so keep going…
Pity you didn't see the opportunity this report and idea brings for those who don't know much about Māori culture – for the life of me I can't imagine why anyone would scorn that – experts have thought about it and considered it from a Māori perspective – but that is never considered. It could future proof your whole career and give massive opportunities. It could help these prisoners so they don't try and kill themselves on your shift.
Good so no excuses about coming over to Corrections then
I'm sure theres opportunity there but, and its a very big but, there are simpler, quicker and more effective ways to reduce the prison population however it would cost more money and this is more a PR exercise
As for experts the older I get and more time I spend in areas the more I realise that experts tend to do more harm than good unless those same experts also have the experience
we're talking about the latest meta initiative from corrections that you are unconvinced about – on that subject it seems small experience means very little
I learn from the men and women that have the experience, that've been there and done that so when they talk I listen but if you'd like an example of why not questioning experts is a bad idea you could probably talk to Sandra Coney or Peter Ellis (better be quick though)
The more time on their hands a prisoner has the more likely they are to cause trouble just like when young men are unemployed, you only have to look at wings to see this in action, the wings with workers are safer than the wings without workers
Theres numerous examples out there of crime rising in areas when unemployment raises so I don't think its radical to suggest getting people working is a good idea, it teaches responsibilities, it gives structure and grows pride
As a teacher, I back Pockish – sorry – Puckish Rogue. How many times has Govt. introduced fine theory, without funding or resourcing staff to be able to achieve it? For your benefit, Marty, programmes to assist Maori in the education system have failed because of exactly the problem PR is pointing out. He has a valid point.
maybe if we start policing and sentencing to prison terms the Pakeha population as we do with the Maori population we would see an adjustment in the ranks of our prisoners.
More resources into Plunkett, more resources into apprenticeships, more psychiatric wards and hospitals and more work schemes in prison would, I guarantee, see a reduction in the prison population
Plunkett needs to be paid a whole lot less than he is now.
Not to worry PR, if the CO thing doesn't work out I'm sure you could get a job with the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff service. I agree about the apprenticeships though.
"I'm sure you could get a job with the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff service"
Already there unfortunately, I mean just have a think about whats let a child down before they get to Corrections.
The mother, the family, education, hospitals, police, the justice department, mental health services, some of these have or all of them have and I've probably missed other agencies out
I don't claim to have all the answers but I'm 100% sure that encouraging and giving more work to prisoners can only lead to a more positive outcome
It might even be the difference between spending between 100 to 150 grand a year on incarcerating someone and them paying income tax instead which might also mean their kids might not end up in prison either, breaking the cycle and all that
The gleeful look on Jude's face at the announcement worried me.
Still, everyone makes mistakes, even the blessed and the godly.
Anne Tolley clumping about on the bonnet of a boy-racer's car was another … twin-black-cat in the matrix, but let's move on; liking the cut of your jib, Pucky; be real, tell it how it is.
Perhaps we should do the same for females in the Prison population.
As of June 2019 there were 9252 males and 717 females in New Zealand prisons. Clearly the system is heavily biased against men. Let us have equal numbers of male and female prisoners.
OZs ABC News presenting the report about post-Brexit chaos which has surfaced again so people remember the actual results likely in case they have gone off-piste while distracting clowns tumble to amuse the peeps.
The analysis, released today by public policy think tank the Australia Institute, measures fossil fuel exports according to their carbon dioxide-emissions potential.
It ranks Australia as the world's third-biggest exporter behind only Russia and Saudi Arabia.
In other words, when Australian fossil fuels — primarily coal — are burned overseas, the amount of carbon dioxide they produce is higher than the exported emissions of nearly all the world's biggest oil- and gas-producing nations, like Iraq and Kuwait.
Australia mines about 57 tonnes of CO2 potential per person each year, about 10 times the global average, and exports 7 per cent of the world's fossil fuel CO2 potential, the report found.
I understood from reports last week that the decisions were made by the manager of each prison. Hardly 'ordinary Corrections staff' – though clearly not competent enough in this instance.
How exactly did he "get me"? We're allowed to use the internet during the day and he's the one that should out looking for work not wasting time on here
That's not very complimentary about corrections staff! I'm sure as he's a very high profile prisoner, at least some sort of manager / supervisor would be checking his mail.
Being a (as Muttonbird so charmingly calls it) "low skilled worker" I would have had all his mail be sorted by one person only and at a minimum of PCO level (but preferably higher) but that's just me
Generic managers the telling statistic,from the statistics debacle.
Why qualified statisticians are not significant at the department of statistics.
Hardly anyone has noticed the telling recommendation in the 2018 Census Review report that the Chief Methodologist – an ungainly title for SNZ's senior professional statistician – should be added to the Executive Leadership Team. Under the previous Government Statistician he had been a Deputy Government Statistician but had been demoted to the third level. That is right – in the current Statistics New Zealand there are no professional statisticians in the top two tiers of management.
This is characteristic of generic managers with their typical preference for distancing professionals from management. The SSC was unwise to appoint a generic manager to such a skilled job; I have wondered whether the advisory committee which assisted the State Service Commissioner to make the appointment of the current Government Statistician had any professional statistician on it or whether it, too, was stacked with generic managers.
Why have any managers in these positions at all – feed the info into a machine and let it decide, and do a better job as any one can see.
I ask you!! /sarc
The truth is the business-people, small government advocates, don't want to have a good government running well because then they have no reason to play around with it, mess it up, stop employing their mates in top positions, and generally foul up the country in any way that pays off for those with power. It is a continuing practice, or have some forgotten that.
The cult of generic management needs to die, and I don't particularly care whether it's a painless death as long as it's a quick one.
Hiring generic managers supposedly overcomes the problem that being highly skilled in your area of specialisation doesn't necessarily make you fit to run a large organisation. And I guess it does overcome that problem, at the expense of creating a much bigger one: having little knowledge of the work and purpose of the organisation you're running makes for you doing a shit job of running it.
But Psycho – what about all those University Business Schools shutting their doors! And MBAs would be more ridiculed than BAs (deservedly imho). MBA would stand for “Mendacious BA”.
John Raulston Saul in the unconscious civilization frames the managerial elites as thus.
our élite is primarily and increasingly managerial. A managerial élite manages. A crisis, unfortunately, requires thought. Thought is not a management function .
Because the managerial élites are now so large and have such a dominant effect on our educational system, we are actually teaching most people to manage, not to think. Not only do we not reward thought, we punish it as unprofessional.
Everybody wants to move to Nelson: Top of the South!
"The Nelson Club held a special general meeting on Friday, in which the member was censured and announced his voluntary resignation from the club's committee, but retained his membership.
The accused member was alleged to have claimed there is scientific evidence that "blacks have a lower IQ than whites", that homosexuals have a "sickness" and that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is a communist and, if she were re-elected, he would potentially move back to the United Kingdom. "
well that's a disturbing read. The banger in the last sentence, well done Stuff.
The lawyer is a bit of a worry. People can have whatever views they want, but when doing lawyerly things I wouldn't expect a letter to express the lawyer's personal opinions about ethnicity and IQ.
Looks like National are in trouble again. This time for misleading, fake-news, Liberal Party, Topham Guerin type attack ads which appear to the Electoral Commissions to be shit enough to warrant further investigation.
Sometimes commenter, Wayne, vigorously defend these ads on this very forum a few weeks ago but it turns out he's on the wrong side of the Electoral Commission on this. But that is the way of the National Party, isn't it? Misleading, dishonest crap is their stock and trade.
James Shaw is right, Simon Bridges has very, very low integrity and should not be allowed anywhere near power.
Someone really needs to teach Genter how to use Word.
I heard a rumour that the "anonymous" letter writer accidentally managed to write the letter on paper bearing the letterhead of the Associate Minister of Transport.
You would think she had learned something from her fiasco with the letter about the Wellington transport options she sent to Twyford wouldn't you?
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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, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
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’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
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 ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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Tuesday, 30 July 2019 12:21
Meatheads
Written by Rural News Group
Your canine crusader reckons it might be time to reinvent the old ‘Punch a Pom’ campaign, calling it ‘Cuff a Vegan’.
The ‘Punch’ campaign ran in the 1970s to honour the late, great All Black prop Keith Murdoch who was sent home during the 1972-73 tour of the UK after he whacked a security guard.
This surge of would-be ‘cuffatarianism’ grows out of recent news that vegans are creeping around NZ supermarkets slapping stickers on meat urging shoppers not to buy it.
The ‘anti-meat’ stickers have appeared on packaging in several supermarkets and more stores have reported being targeted by vegan activist groups.
The Hound suggests giving a slap around the ears with a nice bit of steak to any smelly, unkempt, anaemic types sneaking around the meat counter at your local supermarket.
Cmon, after yesterday do we really need to bait another tiresome discussion that will not end well?
I ought to have added a comment. It's disturbing to peer into the rural 'web" and see how messages are sent and prejudices consolidated. Calls for "slapping" go unchallenged, seemingly, so long as a dag of a characters makes those calls.
I think (hope) we can agree that both of these things are wrong
That "jokey" vehicle for maintaining and strengthening prejudice is widespread and difficult to address, unless you like to be characterised as a po-faced sourpuss. Perhaps "dagginess" provides a safety-valve for societal pressures, or maybe it builds it, I don't know, though I suspect the latter.
I'd post a link to Nazi-era Jewish cartoons (to support your view) but I'm at work and I'd rather not get a please explain…
"Dagginess does", it's easy to be damned if you do or damned of you don't. Being sidelined into analysing something said with good intentions or paying attention to remarks intended to inflame takes a lot of useful talk away from issues that do matter.
It seems that while NZ has still a few "useful" wags that the state of things now the useful contribution of a John Clarke is not likely to be replicated again, even if he did go to Aus and all that, his sense of world, self and others is beyond the reach, and perhaps comprehension, of people now.
Grow up Robert. The vegans responsible for the stickers had no business being anywhere near the meat section of supermarkets spreading their gospel. Sort of take what you’re dishing out don’t you think.
You're well off the mark, New view. The issue is, so that you can focus better, calling for "giving a slap around the ears" to those he doesn't agree with. Ready to discuss that now, are you?
I seem to remember a number on here happy with the “punch a nazi” item a while back.
Most of which was criticism of the stance – just as it always is (including the post). Try a search – usually more accurate than your recollections.
https://thestandard.org.nz/search/%22punch+a+nazi%22/?search_comments=true&search_posts=true&search_sortby=date
So is your sensitive small-minded right wing soul conflating criticism of some idiots rejoicing in some stupid tactic and being challenged on it here, with right-wing dickheads doing the same in the privacy of their boy frat and not being challenged?
How very grown up you are… But of course this is a place of robuts discussion, and by the sound of it, what Robert appears to be talking about is a place of gutless conservative conformists.
Amazing you would equate white supremacists and Nazis, neo and otherwise, with vegan activists.
In your very, very small mind those who worship the Christchurch mass-murderer and a regime which murdered 6M Jews is no different to animal rights activists on a sticker campaign.
I don't think the comparison was vegans and nazis, but left wing TS commenters and right wing rural people.
funny, i came a cross a meme that either is from a vegan racist or some racist is using vegans as scapegoat. This to do with muslims and their halal butchering, telling these " xxxxx " to go back from where they came from. Next day on that same board up the pictures of the bulls that will be killed for hte BullRoast (Ochsenbraterei) a famous beer tent at the Octoberfest with a whole Ochs being roasted for public consumption. .My question to the poster if he would also like to send these animal killers 'back to where they came from' elicited no comment.
MY point? I have no use for extremism.
And i would like for a vegan to live a year on the vegetables, grains and tofu that is solely produced in NZ. Non of the fine imported stuff they like to eat and that includes all of the processed food.
Why? Cause use of fossil fuels is the biggest killer on this planet of all manners of life, be it humans, birds, fish, or four legged / two legged furries and all sorts of undesiriable critters that are important for pollination etc. (anything one could kill and will kill thanks to pesticides – including weedkillers)
Yet we seem to focus on the animals that we consider cute – or worthy of life.
ITs the extremism that is wrong. Let people eat as to what grows in their regions, what they can preserve for winter / non growing times, according to their own moral believes and go back to well regulated ethical bio farming.
And please ignore all that micro plastic in the rain.
well said. It's the extremism that bothers me too, politically, not least because there's no talking to them. That's fundamentalist vegans and hard core dairy farmers, both of whom will burn fossil fuels to keep the fire in their ideologies.
"And i would like for a vegan to live a year on the vegetables, grains and tofu that is solely produced in NZ. "
Why should they?
No one else is restricted to "NZ only" foodstuffs, or products of any kind, for that matter. Demanding that vegans should live a pure life before criticising others is like demanding that protesters opposing off-shore oil exploration have to get to the protest sites by foot; remember, everyone's compromised, but that shouldn't shut down considered criticism.
my point being is : Can you survive as a vegan in NZ on produce only from here.
my point: pollution, transport, which in itself is the biggest killer of life on this planet. Our addiction to transport – be it us in our single occupancy cage, our need to travel to far flung places to escape our reality here, our need to pull boats to race down some waterway after racing the motorway etc etc etc, our 'just in time' madness that is essentially storing all of our goods on trucks on the road, our need to eat food not in season and / or imported.
If i am to save the planet and to save the life of animals, and if i feel embolden to go about stickering some stupid plastic coated stickers on everything to let people know what i think of their eating habits, then i need to look at my own behaviour and if i then realise that I could not upheld my own lofty goals without transporting stuff via boat, plane, truck, car etc then maybe i am part of the problem rather then the solution.
And then again i raise the question: Can one survive as a strict vegan on produce grown locally in case our civilasation shits itself and one would have to? I would suggest not without sever body issues in regards to lack of Iron, magnesium, calcium etc. And i love myself a good bowl of curried pulses. .
but maybe ask yourself, by reading so much horsemanure into my post, maybe you are the one trying to shut down conversation by not actually answering my question.
And again i like to point out as i have done so many times: Us humans are omnivores and can survive by eating literally anything. And that would include Possum, rabbits, rats and such, generally considered pests in this country that we kill with a lot of poison that also kill deer n shit, and yet, i hear nothing from the Vegans when it comes to that. Just saying.
sabine
"Can you survive as a vegan in NZ on produce only from here. "
Probably survive, but not thrive, but then, could non-vegans?
Where will you get your selenium from?
What about other things we share with vegans; reliance upon rare metals etc?
We're all in the same boat. If a vegan was starving, I reckon a wild-rabbit stew would look pretty good…
I couldn't quite identify what your question was, from your 10:32 post, sorry if I missed it.
the population does need to come down to save our only planet and so everyone can live a lifestyle based on a plant based diet. Our planet is not built for 7 Billion current humans and forecasted population of 10 billion.
Violence is not the answer however. the population should self police to not grow any further and shrink through natural methods.
Only in the interests of self defense.
and… lol
Looks like we're still back in the 70s.
I think the 70s would look overly progressive and radical to these guys.
so true.
I have long thought that the rag that the mutt s articles are in are linked to the whole dirty politics hate factory. I rarely bother to open it now . Nz farmer weekly is the only weekly rural paper to read .
Some dogs need putting to sleep this is one of them
Does Rural News Group get delivered?
Yip we get two weekly's free .
Farmers weekly nz . While it's still rural biased it gives both sides an platform.
And the rag that the mutt is in which is a vehicle for nat attack lines and one eyed garbage.
Free rags?
You gotta be suspicious …
The news staple of every small town in NZ (usually stapleless).
I should see if I can get Farmers Weekly delivered.
I'm sure that'll work just fine up until some fine upstanding so of the soil gets stabbed in the face.
Did you mean so-and-so of the soil, or son?
Roger Hallam talks with Stephen Sackur from BBC HardTalk about the need to ACT NOW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HyaxctatdA&fbclid=IwAR0kkd7JH2EykF29lLB4rsehP0a2xFV4la2uDjv9YJTDqLQ0Jbl1EceB7hM
Last week Fonterra was the whipping boy and this week its our (potential) saviour…..schizophrenia abounds.
[lprent: More like idiocy does. I can’t see where advantage has said much about Fonterra in recent weeks apart from exactly what he is saying now. Off-topic ]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
"The Stockholm Resilience Centre defines resilience as:
the capacity of a system, be it an individual, a forest, a city or an economy, to deal with change and continue to develop. It is about the capacity to use shocks and disturbances like a financial crisis or climate change to spur renewal and innovative thinking. Resilience thinking embraces learning, diversity and above all the belief that humans and nature are strongly coupled to the point that they should be conceived as one social-ecological system (cited in Moberg & Hauge Simonsen, 2011, p. 3)."
https://www.agresearch.co.nz/assets/document-library/Rural-community-resilience-research-stocktake-and-annotated-bibliography.pdf
Apparently John Tamihere want to build a Space Port on the harbour bridge and get Mexico to pay for it.
Well since we eventually follow most of everything the Americans do. Maybe John is just setting us up for our own space force, who will partake in war games with the yanks around Mars in the years to come.
Indebted media company wants favourable policy changes, uses own presenters: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/08/19/761576/garners-strange-outburst-fitted-pr-strategy
The Remain campaign in the UK is getting ever more an advertisment for leaving the EU just to smash the power of the neoliberal Oxbridge elites. Essentially, they'll do anything to oppose Brexit as long as it doesn't involve changing the existing status quo – Their demands consist of deeply undemocratic mangerialist fantasies of "unity" leaders that no one has ever heard of or haven't a hope in hell in forming a government and "unity" governments (Green leader Caroline Lucas recently proposed an all women cabinet that was her Oxbridge vision of inclusiveness – one gender, white, middle aged and very much like her) that all turn out to be little more than neoliberal technocratic wet dreams.
The one thing they utterly reject is the leader of the largest opposition party having any right to have the first go at forming a new government if the Tories are defeated – rather Boris than Jeremy, whilst the Lib-Dems (14 MPs) demand they have the right to pick the next PM – not Labour (240 MPs).
Their thrashing about is all to try and achieve two, parallel outcomes – stop Brexit but even more importantly, stop Corbyn and stop Corbynism.
The vote to leave the EU was essentially a vote to reject the neoliberal status quo and to reject the self-serving "centrist" metropolitain Oxbridge liberal elites that have arrogated the right to rule and frame the debate entirely to itself. Since the the U.K. voted to leave, IMHO the liberal elites have sought to undermine the result.
Taken together, the smearing and character assassination of Corbyn and the use of the same tactics against anyone who voted leave is a damning indictment of the British liberal elites, who for all their sanctimonious utterances of having Britain's best interests at heart really just boil down to a bunch of assholes engaged in a savage class war to protect their cushy white collar jobs as winners from "centrist" neoliberal globalism.
As someone (born of English stock) who takes a passing interest in British politics, I have been puzzled by the hysterical and vengeful hatred directed at Jeremy Corbyn. Having listened to parts of his speeches, both inside parliament and beyond, his views come across to me as sensible and moderate. So, why the animosity?
I think Sanctuary has provided the answer – the so-called liberal elites who regard themselves as superior beings because they are white (generally), middle class and educated at some of Britain's best schools. And just for the record, we have had our own version of such politicians in NZ and by no means have they been confined to the National Party.
Edit:
Marshall Islands dengue outbreak reaches capital
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/396975/marshall-islands-dengue-outbreak-reaches-capital
In 2011, during the last outbreak of dengue in the Marshall Islands, there were 1,600 cases.
.
https://www.medicinenet.com/dengue_fever/article.htm
Symptoms of dengue fever include severe joint and muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes, headache, fever, exhaustion, and rash. The presence of fever, rash, and headache (the "dengue triad") is characteristic of dengue fever.
.
https://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/conditions-and-treatments/diseases-and-illnesses/dengue
(Our Min of Health starts off its information sheet with a stark warning 'Don't get bitten'.)
Marshall Islands affected by nuclear testing last century:
(The USA carried out nuclear tests using the Marshall Islands and testing the disease producing effects on the people as if they were lab rats. They were promised remedial assistance, which was given, but the 'generosity' or the willingness to redress has become limited. They should be first in line to help these people with whatever problems they have. Should!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Proving_Grounds
Featured snippet from the web
The Pacific Proving Grounds was the name given by the United States government to a number of sites in the Marshall Islands and a few other sites in the Pacific Ocean at which it conducted nuclear testing between 1946 and 1962. The U.S. tested a nuclear weapon (codenamed Able) on Bikini Atoll on June 30, 1946.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/112903016/worry-as-pacific-nuclear-waste-barrier-cracks
Add to the USA probably France. We know they are not a benign country. The French Revolution to free the people from aristocratic harsh rule, which was a pattern the USA wished to follow links these two in an unholy unity, as their vision of greatness for the peeps has become grimy. As the saying goes, 'You can't get good help these days. Nobody wants to clean windows'.
Government failure to govern and contracting out of their duty to the citizens. This morning on Radionz two top organisations publicise the big holes that are in the controls by government on products imported into NZ.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018709301/tradies-pressured-to-install-shoddy-componentry 33mins (of important details)
Plumbers, gasfitters and electricians say they're under pressure to install shoddy products from overseas, without proper checks for safety. Imported plumbing products are subject to MBIE guidelines, but the head of the Plumbing, Drainlayers and Gasfitters Association Glen Burr, is concerned there is no longer a requirement for all gas jobs to be lodged and he claims the guidelines have no teeth. That sentiment is echoed by Master Electricians Chief Executive Officer, Bernie McLaughlin. He fears the poor standard of some imported electrical materials could ultimately cause buildings to burn down. Paul Hobbs from MBIE's building system assurance team addresses the concerns.
I have bought a mixer for my sink and was going to get a plumber to put that in. I may have bought one that is not up to scratch apparently, and it could start leaking. So I have to trust a reliable plumber's advice, and I know one firm that I trust so I will definitely check as to the owner's opinion.
The electrician spokesperson said that someone in future could get killed from turning on their lighting.
We know about the gas explosion in Christchurch. In electricity there can be safety risks also. Housing and other building speculators are buying in bulk for their projects on the basis of on-line cheap prices. Our good trained reliable tradespeople are being expected to install stuff that is not properly certified.
Our government has got to the point where it sits on a system that allows the importation of non-compliant goods, though they are not legal to use. There is a flaw that is obvious to any thinking person here! The conclusion – there is no thinking and no responsibility by our leaders. F…ing shocking. Does this made you feel really angry – it does me.
The ongoing problems that will occur from already installed product will last for ever, on top of our problems from climate – tornadoes, rising seas, rain dumps. Then there is technology and learned helplessness of people trying to cope with the problems from that, unemployment, and education that is totally wrapped around using tech knowledge and control. And now this slack behaviour from people in top positions who are very quick to criticise and deal punitively with anything or anybody affecting their personal interests and advantages.
Interesting to see recent news items on Oz building also.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-18/how-bad-could-the-apartment-building-crisis-be-in-your-state/11413122
and
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-19/building-report-author-says-she-wouldnt-buy-new-apartment/11421268
latest
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-19/generic-apartments/11421954
Building ministers have committed to implementing construction industry reforms.
(Watch and learn – we might get traction here if Oz is doing it.)
Electricians cannot install electrical equipment without sighting a SDOC, or suppliers declaration of conformity. That goes for any cheap overseas knock offs also. So you should have faith that anything installed legally by a electrician, is of good quality, up to standard and backed by the relevant consumer protections and regulations. If unsure, always take a copy of your contractors practicing license.
Builders have known for years to avoid cheap brands. Especially from China, etc.
Unfortunately customers often go for the cheapest. The thinking from so many is they are going to flick off that house for a capital gain, within five years. So who cares if it lasts 50. Lost several quotes when I was building because I insisted on using good materials.
Just wondering if Simon Bridges weekly slots on peter Williams magic talk show come under paid advertising. He gets free uncritical reign to talk himself and National up and slag off the government while getting asked a series of “questions” which are more like prompts to move between subjects.
Just wondering if Jacinda's weekly appearances in the MSM, 7 Sharp etc come under paid advertising. She gets free uncritical reign to talk about himself and Labour, about all the stuff she intends to do, the endless reviews and to hide behind process while getting asked a series of “questions” which are more like prompts to move between subjects
It might be paid advertising if she were interviewed by Tamati Coffey or say a media figure with strong Labour values, but they don't exist in the MSM. I wonder why that is…
She's much more likely to get one of the plethora of right wing shock jocks such as Duncan Grater, Ryan Bridges, Peter Willy, Husking, Espiner, Dann…
Your views always depend on what side of the fence you stand in. You're both right, both Ardern and Bridges get an easy ride. Ardern more so when you consider that she actually has the ability to make changes and inact policy. Why she never has to answer the tough questions about our poverty and inequality statistic, I'll never understand. It's a disgrace to democracy and towards our most vulnerable.
Have you just hatched? Are you an idiot ? Did you not live through the MSM's pyschophancy in the "key years"
walking the walk not just talking the talk – onya mate
yep, i take a bag out of my local reserve when walking the old dog. 1.5 km at 1.5 hours, one decent size bag of rubbish. I hate single wrapped candy. I just effn hate them.
Good sign tho, there is more and more of this fellow.
Yep my neighbor and her friend walk to town 3km each day picking up rubbish. Thanks for doing that Sabine.
no thanks required, just always pick up the rubbish. 🙂
Ditto with me, Sabine. I always have a mesh bag tied to the dog leads and most days there is something to pick up from the sand during our walk on Ninety Mile Beach, sometimes it's local trash and sometimes it clearly has swept in from the sea. I'm no where near the only one locally doing it. The more of us the better eh. Certainly walking the dogs is an easy pace for seeing the rubbish and smaller plastics.
Good article
"and those who appear to despise powerful women like Jones"
Could this ‘Alan Jones’ actually be a powerful woman? Makes you think
'and those such as Jones who appear to despise powerful women'.
not sure but I do know he's gonna comma gutsa
And not before time, as is clear from your linked SBS article (thanks).
https://mumbrella.com.au/alan-jones-jacinda-ardern-comment-sparks-mass-exodus-of-advertisers-594054
One could, however, be forgiven for reading something equivocal into 2GB’s ‘concerns’.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-19/forget-inverted-yield-curve-time-for-negative-yielding-debt/11425960
For those trying to keep up with the loop-the-loop aerial tactics of the high-flyers in the financial system.
Looking at some Oz news items and this is about a real brave child. A great selfless caring action.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-19/wa-bravery-awards-girl-saved-dog-attack-shark-attack/11421394
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/115099493/corrections-new-strategy-to-break-cycle-of-mori-imprisonment-and-reoffending
'The strategy aimed to lower the proportion of Māori in prison to match the Māori share of the general population, he said.
However, he acknowledged it would be unrealistic to expect that within five years of the strategy.'
Not saying it won't work but if they really want to cut back on the prison population quickly then all the government has to do is open up more high/maximum security psychiatric wards (and preferably hospitals)
For a longer term strategy then its more money in early care (like Plunkett) and more money into apprenticeships
Doing all of the above would be best, it certainly wouldn't do it all but it'd put a big dent in the prison population
I am keeping open about this – time will tell and the amount of buy in by staff will tell too – Corrections will need a few changes alright.
"A key focus is whānau and prisoners will get more visits with their families, and more people that they can call while they are behind bars."
Best be hiring a lot more staff because that takes a fair bit of time to organise
"Whānau of inmates will also be able to access rehabilitation programmes in the community if they want to."
Ditto above but even worse because now we'll have to consider the security arrangements of wherever the prisoner goes
"The strategy states prison staff will be expected to treat prisoners with respect and uphold their mana – like they are worthy of dignity and care."
"The biggest change Hōkai Rangi brings is the idea that we are now going to treat the person and not just their crime,"
Basically it boils down to this, a prisoner will change when a prisoner wants to change and not before, you can lead a horse to water and all that
Be nice to see the prisoners do the same (but really this is a nothing, meaningless, feel good statement)
try improving your attitude
You're right I will and thank you for pointing it out to me. In return heres a link to the current Corrections Officers vacancies, this is so you can join up and show everyone how it should be done
See you in the wings soon eh
https://corrections.nga.net.nz/cp/index.cfm?event=jobs.listJobs&JobCategoryID=0B694123-AC3E-6519-5733-AD2E7823FE74&jobsresetList=true&CurATC=EXT&CurBID=E9CCF8EF%2D5032%2D47AB%2DAFA5%2D9DB40134F68C&JobListID=9C635771%2DAA94%2D5ACC%2D5AB1%2D9AFBFE2CE8C2&jobsListKey=baf176dc%2D68f5%2D4351%2Dbc16%2D5decd3241db0&persistVariables=CurATC,CurBID,JobListID,jobsListKey&lid=65117280008&rmuh=75E8B09E06DE660D020AEF2E2048D47E7F18314D
lol you've only been in the job for 2 months yet you think you know everything – I'm a bit worried for those you are supposed to be helping if your attitude doesn't change
Lol March is when I first went on the floor so that's coming up 6 months experience and while I know next to nothing I certainly know more than anyone that's never been in Corrections, also my opinions are strongly influenced by the experienced staff I'm learning from lol
Lol however I'm completely serious that you who obviously knows so much and have so much experience that for you not to be on the floor teaching the staff and the prisoners how things should be done is a complete travesty lol
Lol of course I'm not serious, I mean you couldn't do what I and thousands of other men and women do, you couldn't handle it, you'd freeze the first time you see someone bleeding out, you'd probably piss your pants the first time a facially-tattooed gangster got in your face yet your seem comfortable in telling me how I need to improve lol
yeah yeah rah rah – I work in mental health bozo so keep going…
Pity you didn't see the opportunity this report and idea brings for those who don't know much about Māori culture – for the life of me I can't imagine why anyone would scorn that – experts have thought about it and considered it from a Māori perspective – but that is never considered. It could future proof your whole career and give massive opportunities. It could help these prisoners so they don't try and kill themselves on your shift.
Wise up fool
Good so no excuses about coming over to Corrections then
I'm sure theres opportunity there but, and its a very big but, there are simpler, quicker and more effective ways to reduce the prison population however it would cost more money and this is more a PR exercise
As for experts the older I get and more time I spend in areas the more I realise that experts tend to do more harm than good unless those same experts also have the experience
and you'd agree that you have neither – expertise or experience that is
not sure why you’d not be up for all info and knowledge
I have more than anyone that hasn't set foot on a floor and every day that experience and expertise grows
we're talking about the latest meta initiative from corrections that you are unconvinced about – on that subject it seems small experience means very little
Theres no mention of prisoners working involved, theres no mention of prisoners taking responsibility for their actions
This may work but there are plenty of other options that are more effective at reducing reoffending
how would you know that
He's been a CO for six months, that makes him an expert in everything lol
I learn from the men and women that have the experience, that've been there and done that so when they talk I listen but if you'd like an example of why not questioning experts is a bad idea you could probably talk to Sandra Coney or Peter Ellis (better be quick though)
The more time on their hands a prisoner has the more likely they are to cause trouble just like when young men are unemployed, you only have to look at wings to see this in action, the wings with workers are safer than the wings without workers
Theres numerous examples out there of crime rising in areas when unemployment raises so I don't think its radical to suggest getting people working is a good idea, it teaches responsibilities, it gives structure and grows pride
I feel Pucky's coming on-board
As a teacher, I back Pockish – sorry – Puckish Rogue. How many times has Govt. introduced fine theory, without funding or resourcing staff to be able to achieve it? For your benefit, Marty, programmes to assist Maori in the education system have failed because of exactly the problem PR is pointing out. He has a valid point.
Lordy! A Pucky-love-in! Never thought I'd see the day!
I reckon, inside, you learn fast!
I've always admired your well thought out and reasoned contributions to this blog In Vino
maybe if we start policing and sentencing to prison terms the Pakeha population as we do with the Maori population we would see an adjustment in the ranks of our prisoners.
But i won't be holding my breath.
Off the top of my head:
More resources into Plunkett, more resources into apprenticeships, more psychiatric wards and hospitals and more work schemes in prison would, I guarantee, see a reduction in the prison population
Plunkett needs to be paid a whole lot less than he is now.
Not to worry PR, if the CO thing doesn't work out I'm sure you could get a job with the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff service. I agree about the apprenticeships though.
"I'm sure you could get a job with the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff service"
Already there unfortunately, I mean just have a think about whats let a child down before they get to Corrections.
The mother, the family, education, hospitals, police, the justice department, mental health services, some of these have or all of them have and I've probably missed other agencies out
But hey its where I want to be 🙂
People liking their jobs is usually a good thing.
I agree with you about the fails. Probably we don't agree on what should be done differently, but maybe some overlaps.
I don't claim to have all the answers but I'm 100% sure that encouraging and giving more work to prisoners can only lead to a more positive outcome
It might even be the difference between spending between 100 to 150 grand a year on incarcerating someone and them paying income tax instead which might also mean their kids might not end up in prison either, breaking the cycle and all that
Ha! Plunkett.
I see a plump baby.
You're sounding very … liberal and progressive with your thinking, Pucky:
Not going all lefty on us, are ya?
I've always been conservative in some areas and liberal in others but now that I'm in the system I can start to see where improvements could happen
Whether they will happen is another matter but at least now I have a vague idea of what's actually happening
That's really good, Pucky.
We need realists like you at the coal-face (goal face).
Gotta ask: do you share Judith's enthusiasm for double-bunking?
Judith is never wrong but in this (extremely rare) situation she was probably given inaccurate information (perhaps by a Labour mole)
Had I been advising her I would have advised that single bunks are the better option
I also note Labours opposing double bunking when in opposition but once they got into power that opposition seemed to…change
Appreciate your candidness.
The gleeful look on Jude's face at the announcement worried me.
Still, everyone makes mistakes, even the blessed and the godly.
Anne Tolley clumping about on the bonnet of a boy-racer's car was another … twin-black-cat in the matrix, but let's move on; liking the cut of your jib, Pucky; be real, tell it how it is.
Have I mentioned I'm a unionist?
So you agreed with their opposing double bunking but still didn't vote for them.
As for being a unionist, I guess you would have been one who voted not to strike against the Employment Contracts Act.
Perhaps you were still at school then..
Easy Brigid…
easy…
PR, thank you for the insight into corrections. It is helpful.
Agreed.
Well I can't top this so I'm leaving while I'm ahead
Puckish Rogue – I am getting the feeling that I may never call you Pockish Rouge again..
Perhaps we should do the same for females in the Prison population.
As of June 2019 there were 9252 males and 717 females in New Zealand prisons. Clearly the system is heavily biased against men. Let us have equal numbers of male and female prisoners.
Why is it that men are so cruelly treated?
Coz, culture.
OZs ABC News presenting the report about post-Brexit chaos which has surfaced again so people remember the actual results likely in case they have gone off-piste while distracting clowns tumble to amuse the peeps.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-19/uk-faces-food-and-fuel-shortages-in-no-deal-brexit/11426072
and closer to home:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-08-19/australia-co2-exports-third-highest-worldwide/11420654
The analysis, released today by public policy think tank the Australia Institute, measures fossil fuel exports according to their carbon dioxide-emissions potential.
It ranks Australia as the world's third-biggest exporter behind only Russia and Saudi Arabia.
In other words, when Australian fossil fuels — primarily coal — are burned overseas, the amount of carbon dioxide they produce is higher than the exported emissions of nearly all the world's biggest oil- and gas-producing nations, like Iraq and Kuwait.
Australia mines about 57 tonnes of CO2 potential per person each year, about 10 times the global average, and exports 7 per cent of the world's fossil fuel CO2 potential, the report found.
I surprised corrections staff were left to make these decisions without clear guidance on what is a highly sensitive and unprecedented case.
There seems to have been no plan whatsoever.
You can’t expect ordinary corrections staff to grasp the significance of the task. They are after all low skilled workers.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/396999/staff-had-sufficient-grounds-to-withhold-inmate-s-letter-corrections-boss
I understood from reports last week that the decisions were made by the manager of each prison. Hardly 'ordinary Corrections staff' – though clearly not competent enough in this instance.
" They are after all low skilled workers."
Way to crap on 3000+ union members (I mean its also wrong but still)
Would you mind not posting on taxpayer time?
lol
This from the guy that should be out looking for work and not messing around on here
he got you mate boom!
How exactly did he "get me"? We're allowed to use the internet during the day and he's the one that should out looking for work not wasting time on here
bang goes half the TS commentariat.
This is why I usually come in late in the day.. Teachers with 25 lively young inmates in front of them really get bugger-all time to flit off onto TS.
That's not very complimentary about corrections staff! I'm sure as he's a very high profile prisoner, at least some sort of manager / supervisor would be checking his mail.
Clearly not.
Being a (as Muttonbird so charmingly calls it) "low skilled worker" I would have had all his mail be sorted by one person only and at a minimum of PCO level (but preferably higher) but that's just me
Fox news poll results – wow, just wow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjUQiqiStmo&ab_channel=TheYoungTurks
Generic managers the telling statistic,from the statistics debacle.
Why qualified statisticians are not significant at the department of statistics.
Hardly anyone has noticed the telling recommendation in the 2018 Census Review report that the Chief Methodologist – an ungainly title for SNZ's senior professional statistician – should be added to the Executive Leadership Team. Under the previous Government Statistician he had been a Deputy Government Statistician but had been demoted to the third level. That is right – in the current Statistics New Zealand there are no professional statisticians in the top two tiers of management.
This is characteristic of generic managers with their typical preference for distancing professionals from management. The SSC was unwise to appoint a generic manager to such a skilled job; I have wondered whether the advisory committee which assisted the State Service Commissioner to make the appointment of the current Government Statistician had any professional statistician on it or whether it, too, was stacked with generic managers.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/396968/what-can-we-learn-from-the-2018-census-debacle
Why have any managers in these positions at all – feed the info into a machine and let it decide, and do a better job as any one can see.
I ask you!! /sarc
The truth is the business-people, small government advocates, don't want to have a good government running well because then they have no reason to play around with it, mess it up, stop employing their mates in top positions, and generally foul up the country in any way that pays off for those with power. It is a continuing practice, or have some forgotten that.
The cult of generic management needs to die, and I don't particularly care whether it's a painless death as long as it's a quick one.
Hiring generic managers supposedly overcomes the problem that being highly skilled in your area of specialisation doesn't necessarily make you fit to run a large organisation. And I guess it does overcome that problem, at the expense of creating a much bigger one: having little knowledge of the work and purpose of the organisation you're running makes for you doing a shit job of running it.
But Psycho – what about all those University Business Schools shutting their doors! And MBAs would be more ridiculed than BAs (deservedly imho). MBA would stand for “Mendacious BA”.
John Raulston Saul in the unconscious civilization frames the managerial elites as thus.
our élite is primarily and increasingly managerial. A managerial élite manages. A crisis, unfortunately, requires thought. Thought is not a management function .
Because the managerial élites are now so large and have such a dominant effect on our educational system, we are actually teaching most people to manage, not to think. Not only do we not reward thought, we punish it as unprofessional.
Hard to argue with that.
Everybody wants to move to Nelson: Top of the South!
"The Nelson Club held a special general meeting on Friday, in which the member was censured and announced his voluntary resignation from the club's committee, but retained his membership.
The accused member was alleged to have claimed there is scientific evidence that "blacks have a lower IQ than whites", that homosexuals have a "sickness" and that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is a communist and, if she were re-elected, he would potentially move back to the United Kingdom. "
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115101344/nelson-club-member-who-made-racist-comments-keeps-his-membership
If March 15 hadn't happened this would be hilarious.
Yes.
He's probably right though; there will be scientific evidence.
But Jacinda is a "he" and would move back to the United Kingdom if re-elected"?
Not sure about that…
"If March 15 hadn't happened this would be hilarious."
Probably not if you are Muslim.
Oh dear – I had thought of the Ides of March and Julius Caesar, and was trying to make some kind of link…
But I think you are repeating AB's point, Weka.
Count me as another of those very pleased to see you back, by the way.
Thanks In Vino!
I thought I was contradicting AB's point (even without the mosque shootings, that Nelson story is hugely problematic rather than funny)
well that's a disturbing read. The banger in the last sentence, well done Stuff.
The lawyer is a bit of a worry. People can have whatever views they want, but when doing lawyerly things I wouldn't expect a letter to express the lawyer's personal opinions about ethnicity and IQ.
I'm sure a social media campaign would give him his tickets in hours so he can go back to the uk. Could be a good option for this racist wanker.
PSA: if you want a sharp smiley rather than a fuzzy one, use type.
:- ) without the gap = 🙂
rather than from the Comment box options.
Full smiley text short cuts are here https://thestandard.org.nz/faq/smile/
I remember'em
🙂
Looks like National are in trouble again. This time for misleading, fake-news, Liberal Party, Topham Guerin type attack ads which appear to the Electoral Commissions to be shit enough to warrant further investigation.
Sometimes commenter, Wayne, vigorously defend these ads on this very forum a few weeks ago but it turns out he's on the wrong side of the Electoral Commission on this. But that is the way of the National Party, isn't it? Misleading, dishonest crap is their stock and trade.
James Shaw is right, Simon Bridges has very, very low integrity and should not be allowed anywhere near power.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115111679/nationals-desperate-attack-ads-to-be-investigated-by-advertising-standards-authority
It is known as a professional foul.
Someone really needs to teach Genter how to use Word.
I heard a rumour that the "anonymous" letter writer accidentally managed to write the letter on paper bearing the letterhead of the Associate Minister of Transport.
You would think she had learned something from her fiasco with the letter about the Wellington transport options she sent to Twyford wouldn't you?
Go James Shaw!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115111679/nationals-desperate-attack-ads-to-be-investigated-by-advertising-standards-authority
Oops! Beaten to the punch by Mutty!
Anyway….Go James Shaw!