So despite labour and the greens managing to understand and abide by electoral finance law, proving it’s not that difficult, SaNCtuAry cannot believe that Winston and NZ first refuse to abide by the law and it must therefore be a media smear
The first attempt was to have a go at Shane Jones – but that fell flat on it's face when it revealed he acted entirely appropriately.
Now we have another "investigation" full of innuendo and emotive and suggestive language designed to imply guilt – "suggests" "a coterie" "secretive" "Slush fund" for something which has apparently been in existence for many years.
The timing – one year out from the next election and clearly designed to establish a narrative around NZ First – is highly suggestive of a conscious attempt at a political hit job. It frankly stinks.
You don't have to wear a tin foil hat to suggest there is a prima facie case that our corporate MSM – which studiously ignores, downplays and refuses to investigate stories around the funding of the National Party and if National is the beneficiary of potentially laundered cash from the Chinese Communist Party – is happily party to an ambient establishment campaign to get rid of NZ First, using exactly the same tactics they used last time to get of Winston Peters.
Russiagate is based on a large number of factual accounts that have resulted in prosecutions, together with other anomalous events like ceding US basing to Russian forces and denying funding to the Ukraine.
The assault on NZF to date consists of media innuendo.
Are you talking about the finance package to buy lethal military aid that was released to Ukraine by the Trump administration?
"Trump blocked but later released payment of a congressionally mandated $400 million military aid package to obtain quid pro quo cooperation from Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine."
If you want to persuade neutral people you need to try to contain your parroting of propaganda points. Military aid does not consist entirely of C rations and bandaids – and no-one ever pretended it did.
Yes, Sanctuary. I was about to comment on the style of language used in this morning's The Press when I saw your comment.
Placed on the front page, tne opening paragraph under the heading "NZ First denies slush fund" reads "Almost half a million dollars in political donations appear to have been hidden inside a secret slush fund controlled by a coterie of Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters' trusted advisers."
The article is reporting allegations, using language like "slush fund" and 'coterie'. I would say that such language supports your notion of smearing.
Stuff say they have seen records covering $325, 000 from five months of records which they have obviously decided could be extended to be "almost half a million dollars". The NZ First Foundation then becomes 'secretive'.
This is a secret organisation which had a web-site, records discoverable by a Slush investigation, was known about by party treasurers, was used to fund party activities and had multiple donors. Not very 'secret'.
In the article, the donors are three times described as 'wealthy'. Once the term is used to describe multi-millionaires!
The journalist involved, and the paper printing this article, acting as investigating police, prosecuting lawyer and it seems that the jury have reached a verdict.
It's the last issue that is wrong. It is not a dispassionate reporting of facts and argument.
The article may well be right in its allegations.
The damage done by such allegations if untrue however should have demanded more neutral language.
This is a secret organisation which had a web-site,
A search of"New Zealand First Foundation" does not bring up any site. If it did have a website why was it taken down? When did this happen? Have you got any evidence that it ever existed?
edit:
I see the article says there was one:
“The purpose of the foundation is not clear as its website has been taken down.”
"Alternatively, they may have managed to structure their fundraising activity so that if someone wants to give more than $15,000, they found a way that that can be given and can be of use to the party without it having to be publicly disclosed."
Geddis stressed that New Zealand First was not breaking any rules by doing this. "This is within the law, the law allows it. But whether it's what we really want of our political parties is an open question."
My main point is one of fairness. The language used by Stuff is designed to lead our conjectures in a certain direction.
The foundation simply loans money to NZ First. But the records show these 'loans' are issued and them immediately repaid by the party the following day. For example, on April 29, $44,923 was paid to the NZ First Bank Account and on April 30, 2019 $44,923 was received into the foundation bank accounts from NZ First.
Additional repayments of $15,000 were then received by the foundation as a further repayment on this loan on May 22.
Was there an innocent reason why they took their main site down after the election? I would say so nobody could check their policies while they negotiated a deal but that would be conjecture.
You seem to be confusing the party website with the foundation one. Unless there is some reason the foundation’s site would have had ‘policies’ on it..
Now where have I heard that story before? Ah yes. Forty years ago, the National Party used to stash huge amounts of cash in truly secret slush funds. They had names but the only one I remember was the Waitemata Trust fund. They were so secret not even the IRD knew about them. Naturally they denied their existence for years but one day (iirc) those slush funds disappeared.
Did the IRD get a smell of them and so they decided to close them? I wonder what happened to all the money? Maybe they divvied it out among themselves.
Now there's a good story for the media to investigate but something tells me they won't.
There is pay-for-access dinner events at the Labour party conference next week, I think around $5000 for a dinner with the PM. Now, I don't really like that sort of thing. I don't like the way all parties – not just NZ First – seek to launder and hide the source of the money.
There is a story here and that is until the general public accept that political parties have to be funded in a way that doesn't open them to accusations of corruption and influence buying then how do people EXPECT political parties to fund their activities? We no longer have mass membership parties, it is all elite cadre parties funded via 'donations."
For what it is worth, IMHO voters should get a voucher (for say $10) when voting they can then donate to a party of their choice. This could be topped up with public money based on a formula based on the last six months of polling and number of MPs, tithing of MPs, membership fees (capped at around say $100-$250 per member per year) and small donations of say no more than $500-$1500 per year from any one organisation or person.
This money then becomes the ONLY source of money that political parties are allowed to use to fund their activities.
I agree about the pay-for-access dinner events but of course what else can they do? They have to gather the cash from somewhere in order to fight elections.
The message inherent in my 1.2.2 was that the National Party started all this rot 40 plus years ago. And ever since they have protested loud and long every time someone has called for a fairer system involving at least some public money, so that political parties are on a reasonably level playing field.
The slush fund habit began under the stewardship of the former National Finance Minister RD Muldoon and continued through his tenure as Prime Minister. It was one of several grubby secrets that man played a role in perpetuating, including clandestine activity involving a tiny band of thugs during the Erebus tragedy fallout period. Yes, I would dearly love to reveal what I know, but consideration for my safety has to be paramount.
Only one dinner I'm aware of at conference. Its $55 waged and $45 unwaged. I call bullshit on this. Sounds like the $100,000 bottle of wine rubbish that may have cost Cunliffe the election.
One response has been that other Political Parties have similar entities to handle "loans." If so count on National to have one as well but no one would be willing to investigate. Huh!
I noticed the immediate use of slush fund as the story broke by a journalist who wouldn't know at this stage whether using an emotive term like that was justified.
Unattributed NZ Herald 19 Nov 2019 at 7.40 am: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has refused to be drawn on claims that an electoral slush fund run on behalf of NZ First may have breached the Electoral Act. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12286329 – 'Looks to be in contravention of the Electoral Act': Law professor weighs in on NZ First donations
NZ Herald seems to have slush-fund at the top of its favourite terms for journalists, this being from 2018 by Claire Trevett: PM Jacinda Ardern and Shane Jones launch $3 billion fund …https://www.nzherald.co.nz › nz › news › article Feb 23, 2018 – It has already been described as a "slush fund" for NZ First and scrutiny of it will be intense. There was also be a close watch for any signs of …
August 2019 from the National Party newsletter on Economic matters from the mouth of Simon Bridges National Party leader:
Meanwhile it’s wasted billions on a slush fund for Shane Jones and on Fees Free which has resulted in fewer university students. https://www.national.org.nz/tags/author_simonbridges?page=4
Further on:
Page 5: “The reality is this Government has wasted billions of dollars on Shane Jones’ slush fund and Fees Free tertiary and so isn’t prioritising lifesaving cancer drugs
Page 6: “The Associate Transport Minister needs to be honest about how much money her plan will actually take from Kiwis’ back pockets, and what she’ll do with her tax bounty if it isn’t paid out in subsidies. Another slush fund to keep NZ First happy perhaps?
Page 8: “Taxpayers are forking out $2.8 billion for fees-free tertiary which has resulted in fewer students, $3 billion for Shane Jones’ slush fund and $2 billion on KiwiBuild which has resulted in next to no houses.
Page 11 (Jan 2019): It’s wasting $2.8 billion on fees-free tertiary education for students already going to university, another $3 billion on a slush fund that NZ First is shamelessly using to buy votes, and almost $300 million on working groups because Labour didn't do the work in opposition.
Note: 'Slush fund' also used on Page 12 and 14 so is a comfortable fall-back term for National. (I couldn't be bothered going back beyond a year ago.)
.
National's Paul Goldsmith refers to 'slush fund' in this report from Scoop in 2018. Shane Jones needs to explain what conflicts were declared before the Government gave $6 million to a trust led by a former NZ First MP, and why his slush fund is leading to private gain, National’s Regional Economic Development spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1807/S00120/integrity-of-govt-slush-fund-in-serious-question.htm
And the Otago Daily Times August 2018 chose that term for it's headline. https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/rnz/its-slush-fund-govt-support-race-tracks-slammed
Paul Goldsmith (National MP) in 2018. 'Mr Goldsmith described the provincial growth fund criteria as being "as loose and as billowing as the deep blue sea''. "Well what we've seen is that it's an all-purpose political slush fund and you can fit anything into it,'' he said.'
Of course. The Nats were always going to attack Labour's support parties. A 'corruption' attack on NZF (2008 redux) and a new bogus so-called 'environmental' party to push the Greens below 5%. I'm not defending NZF of course – I would get all corporate donations out of politics as per the Sanders project.
It's all predictable as night and day – because that's how elite power operates. We'll have to fight like hell for every miserable inch of ground at a time when giant strides are needed due to the manifold economic and climate-induced problems that face us.
With a few notable exceptions, if we didn't have such a self-serving and irresponsible media pack we would be able to take the vitally necessary steps towards CC mitigation and the enormous economic and migratory problems that are already manifesting themselves.
The reference is to "Ardern called in the Chief of Army, Major-General John Boswell, to firmly lay out her expectations…"
This is headlined as a scolding. Definitions of 'scolding' have connotations of being noisy and angry, and the example given are made by women.
A 'scold' of course is definitely a perjorative and misogynistic word.
Why could the PM not have 'rebuked', 'berated', "told off", 'criticised', or "reprimanded' the officer; or 'given him a strong message", or 'laid down the law"or "demanded better of"?
Is it because she is a woman?
Is it because the headline writer did not wish to use words of legitimate power and command as an employer to describe her actions in holding this man to account for a long-lasting and deeply unsatisfactory situation involving the deaths of innocents caused by the insufficient actions of a 'contractor' to ensure the safe disposal of lethal weaponry?
The Herald photo of Mark in his blue suit and tie, Union Jack behind and above, excusing the violent deaths of Afghan children says it all. "Afghanistan and many other nations, are littered with explosive remnants of war from many decades of conflict."
Yet, while National voted for the Zero Carbon Bill it pledged to substantially change the legislation within 100 days of it next forming a government.
Such irresponsible action would be a nightmare for all of New Zealand society, not just business. It could kneecap our response to the climate crisis in ways far more damaging than National’s decade-long destruction of the Emissions Trading Scheme after it took office in 2008.
…
National lists seven changes it would make to the climate legislation. None of them are based on facts or common sense.
The Coalition government has taken virtually no action to reduce child poverty, according to key members of their own Welfare Expert Advisory Group.
…nine months on from the report and its 120 detailed recommendations, just three would have been implemented.
"It seems nothing has actually happened that's actually making a significant change in the welfare system to most people in the nine months since our report came out,"
"It seems to be something which hasn't been regarded as important by the government, certainly as a barometer of what's in the public eye."
Downright leisurely (from that article, my italics):
[The Welfare Minister] said there would be a focus in the next two to four years on resetting the foundations of the welfare system, increasing income support and reducing debt, strengthening and expanding employment services, and improving support services for disabled people and their carers.
Ms Sepuloni said the government planned after that to simplify the income support system, review housing and childcare supports, and align the welfare system with other agencies.
Let’s just hope the family tents and two minute noodles hold up that long, eh.
'Simplifying' the welfare system is responsible for half the mess it is in the first place. Simplification turned sick people, widowers, people over 55 and anyone else who might warrant a differing approach into 'job seekers'. We're all the same, whether you're an 18 year old school leaver or a sick 60 year old who can't do their lifelong job anymore.
So no, simplification is not what we need at all and I suspect it would only serve to turn more disabled people into job seekers.
Two Senators are looking into a whistleblower’s allegations that at least one political appointee at the Treasury Department may have tried to interfere with an audit of President Trump or Vice President Pence, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, a sign that lawmakers are moving to investigate the complaint lodged by a senior staffer at the Internal Revenue Service.
[…]
The IRS whistleblower complaint was first disclosed in an August court filing by Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. It raises the prospect that Trump administration officials at Treasury tried to improperly interfere with the IRS audit process. That process is supposed to be walled off from political interference.
Pompeo will repudiate the State Department's 41-year-old legal opinion that Israel's West Bank settlements are illegal, paving the way for further annexation and occupationhttps://t.co/WCcrAnwIaFpic.twitter.com/ddxKYT8560
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Monday that he is reversing a longstanding State Department legal opinion labeling Israel’s settlements in the West Bank at odds with international law. This new position sharply contradicts mainstream interpretations of the law, the historic US approach to the conflict, and the broader international community’s view of the situation.
While the announcement has no immediate policy implications, it does send a pretty clear message to Israeli settlers and its government: go ahead and keep moving en masse into land that the Palestinians might want as a home for their future state. It’s part of a distinctively Trump administration approach to the conflict that I’ve termed a “blank check”: essentially letting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies on the Israeli right get away with virtually whatever they want when it comes to the Palestinians.
The decision comes at a particularly fraught time in both US and Israeli politics. The Trump administration has been fighting back against impeachment charges fueled by the testimony of State Department officials; Netanyahu’s hold on power is extremely tenuous, as he’s trying to scuttle an opposition party’s ongoing attempt to form a new government without him. It’s hardly a big leap to see this as an attempt by Pompeo to both distract from the Ukraine situation and give the administration’s buddy in Jerusalem an accomplishment he can use to shore up political support.
Whatever the reason behind the move, the result is the same: the US is providing support for the most radical factions of Israel’s right and making the already-monumental task of negotiating a peace agreement even harder.
What Pompeo actually did — and why it matters
On its face, the legal situation seems simple. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention says that “the Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”
Israel took control of the heavily Palestinian West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War, has not formally annexed it, and yet maintains military control over the territory. If you visit the West Bank, as I did last week, you’ll see Israeli-populated settlements built after the war dotting the landscape, ranging in size from tiny outposts to reasonably sized cities.
That description sure makes it seem like Israel is transferring “parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” In 1978, the Carter administration’s State Department issued a memo saying that the settlement enterprise is “inconsistent with international law.” The next president, Ronald Reagan, said he disagreed with that decision — called the Hansell Memorandum — but didn’t formally reverse it. So the memo has stayed on the books since then, even though public US statements would often carefully refer to the settlements as “illegitimate” rather than “illegal.”
On Monday afternoon, Pompeo essentially took Israel’s side, announcing a formal repudiation of the Hansell Memorandum. He billed this as both the result of a review of the law and an important step towards a peace agreement.
Must say I did almost enjoyed the carry on at the Guardian last week..
"…the prospect of Prime Minister Corbyn fills me with dread. Not, I stress, the prospect of a Labour government, committed to spending billions on schools, hospitals and houses – Britain needs that badly – but specifically the notion of Corbyn and his inner circle running the country. The thought of it prompts in me, and the overwhelming majority of the community I grew up in, a fear that we have not known before…"…Jonathan Freedland
Stuart, even if some of the Russiagate accounts are factual.., the lead investigator could not establish a conspiracy between Trump – Russia. Perhaps you will be so kind then as to outline the conspiracy for us? Because I have never heard any even slightly sane comment making the case.
So now the superpowers are supposedly swapping military bases in broad daylight – my god there could not be a clearer case of collusion!.. f'n hell, what next.
the superpowers are supposedly swapping military bases in broad daylight
Point to a Russian base the US has taken over – if you can't your characterization fails.
The elements of the conspiracy are abundant and frankly all over the internet – if your bias preconceptions prevent you from taking them in I don't think that I can help you.
The testimony of David Holmes has to be pretty damning …
my bold
President Trump was speaking so loudly into the telephone during a phone call with American Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland that Sondland “winced” and moved the phone away from his head, according to a US embassy official who witnessed it.
David Holmes told lawmakers last week that Sondland placed the call through a switchboard, and appeared impatient as he waited for Trump to get on the line.
When he did, the volume was so excessive that he appeared in pain.
Sondland “winced and then moved the phone away from his ear, because the volume was loud,” Holmes recalled in his testimony.
He said eventually the wincing ceased.
“He stopped doing that. I don’t know if he turned the volume down or got used to it or if the person, the President, I believe, on the other line moderated his volume,” Holmes said.
He said he was seated at a two-top directly across from Sondland in the Kiev restaurant where the phone call occurred.
“It was close enough we were sort of sharing an appetizer together,” he said.
When it became clear Trump and Sondland were discussing diplomatic issues — like Ukraine and the potential release of rapper A$AP Rocky — Holmes took notes of the conversation in the Notes app on his phone.
When he returned to the embassy, he was not shy in recounting what happened.
“I recall like, frankly, telling this story to almost anyone I encountered, because it was so remarkable,” he said.
He described the phone call between President Trump and Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, “as sort of a touchstone piece of information” to understanding the unfolding US-Ukraine policy.
“I repeatedly referred to that call as sort of a touchstone piece of information as we were trying to understand why we weren’t able to get the meeting and what was going on with the security hold," he said.
Holmes went on to say embassy officials knew President Trump "doesn’t really care about Ukraine."
“I would refer back to it repeatedly in our, you know, morning staff meetings. We’d talk about what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to achieve this, that. Maybe it will convince the President to have the meeting. And I would say, well, as we know, he doesn’t really care about Ukraine. He cares about some other things. And we’re trying to keep Ukraine out of our politics and so, you know, what’s what we’re up against. And I would refer – use that repeatedly as a refrain," Holmes said.
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Now is about the time that the Government is getting its Budget Strategy togetherIn the week before the budget – the 2021 one is to be delivered on Thursday 20 May – there is a strange ritual in which all the commentariat and lobbyists (who are not necessarily distinct from ...
Climate Change Minister James Shaw has admitted that the government is not doing enough on climate change: Appearing on Breakfast alongside Greenpeace director and former Green Party leader Russel Norman, the current Greens co-leader was asked: “Are you as Government living up to promise of delivery implicit in those ...
We can all agree that a free press (and free media more generally) are important factors in a well-functioning democracy. But I am beginning to wonder if they provide us with an unalloyed benefit. I am an avid consumer of daily news – whether delivered by the press or by ...
Yes They Can - So Why Don't They? In matters relating to child poverty, homelessness, mental health, climate change and, of course, Covid-19, the answers are right in front of the Government's collective nose - often in the form of reports it has specifically commissioned. Why can’t Jacinda and her ...
Richard Edwards, Janet Hoek, Anaru Waa, George Thomson, Nick Wilson (author details*) We congratulate the NZ Government on its proposed Action Plan for the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 goal. Here we examine the evidence for three key ideas outlined in the plan: permitting tobacco products to be sold in only ...
Punished, But Not Prevented: Though bitterly contested by those firmly convinced that the Christchurch Mosque Shootings represent something more than the crime of a Lone Wolf terrorist, the Royal Commission’s finding that no state agency could have prevented Brenton Tarrant from carrying out his deadly intent – except by chance ...
The Government has announced it intends making sex self-identification possible this year, as a priority. That would mean anyone could change the sex documented on their birth certificate by a simple declaration that they “identify” as the opposite sex. Speak Up For Women have launched a campaign encouraging New Zealanders ...
The travel bubble with Australia has not brought room for others to come into the MIQ system from overseas. Instead, spaces are being decommissioned. Why? The system is leaky. The government cannot afford to let riskier people into those spaces, because the system can’t handle them. My column in Insights ...
A Second Term Labour-led Government in New Zealand,a new Biden-led Administration in the US, a continuance of the Johnson Government in the UK: different approaches to major issues, same global problems – and discontent rising. Some warranted, some unwarranted, but as each emerges from the Covid pandemic, what ...
I will update this post as new information comes to handWhat has happened? Recently the vaccine safety watch dogs in Europe noted reports of unusual types of blood clots in people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca (AZ) COVID-19 vaccine. This prompted investigations across many countries to ascertain what, why, and ...
Alex Ford, University of Portsmouth and Gary Hutchison, Edinburgh Napier UniversityWithin just a few generations, human sperm counts may decline to levels below those considered adequate for fertility. That’s the alarming claim made in epidemiologist Shanna Swan’s new book, “Countdown”, which assembles a raft of evidence to show that ...
Just like last year, this year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) will happen virtually instead of in person in Vienna. Contrary to last year, the organizers decided early on to hold their conference online and planned for it accordingly (quite a difference to last year's scramble where they switched ...
Time for a strange rant. A very strange rant. But bear with me, because this is serious business. A True Story, by Lucian of Samosata is not Science-Fiction. What on earth am I talking about? Well, it was one of those Wikipedia rabbit holes. I was reading ...
By Kate Evans for UndarkOne of New Zealand’s most spectacular fossil sites originated 23.2 million years ago. It was formed in a valley dotted with small volcanoes, when rising magma deep below the Earth’s surface came into contact with groundwater. Lava and water don’t mix — they explode. The ...
A Thorn In Their Side: As Chair of the Auckland Regional Council, Mike Lee made sure Auckland’s municipal resources remained in Aucklanders’ hands. Not surprisingly the neoliberal powers-that-be (in both their centre-left and centre-right incarnations) hated this last truly effective standard-bearer for democratic-socialist values and policies.MIKE LEE is the closest ...
It’s always something of a shock to come across a page run by a health-focused business that contains substantial misinformation. This one left me gobsmacked, given the sheer number of statements that are demonstrably untrue. And while a fair bit of the content is prefaced by the statement that it’s ...
Previously (9 February) I wrote about how business consultants Ernst & Young were used to do a hatchet job on the former senior management team at Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB). While this hatchet job was planned in 2019 its gestation was much longer. Its underlying causes involved differences in ...
Flying beneath the radar of guilt Fight or Flight: How Advertising for Air Travel Triggers Moral Disengagement(open access) by Stubenvoll & Neureiter not only takes an interesting approach to decomposing the effects of airline travel advertisements but also helps us to understand the general psychological landscape of our often conflicted ...
Yesterday I got told to “do some research” &, by extension, to think critically. The biologist in me cringed a little when I read it (and not because of the advice about doing research). Biology teachers I know suggested that perhaps everyone should take the NCEA standard that ...
Lis Ku, De Montfort University Since the onset of the pandemic, everyone from newspaper columnists to Twitter users has advanced the now idea that extroverts and introverts are handling the crisis differently. Many claim that introverts adapt to social distancing and isolation better than extroverts, with some even suggesting that ...
A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of this blog post by New Zealand’s “Plan B” group. While initially this group opposed the government’s use of lockdowns to manage covid19 outbreaks in this country, they seem to have since moved on to opposing the rollout of vaccines against ...
Twenty years after it invaded, the US is finally leaving Afghanistan. What's surprising is that it took them so long - its been clear for over a decade that their presence there was pointless and just pissing people off. But imperial pride leads to exactly this sort of stupidity. Their ...
The government has announced that it will ban the export of livestock by sea. Huzzah! A vile, cruel and unconscionable trade will be ended! But there's a catch: the ban won't kick in until 2023, giving farmers two ful years to continue to profit from extreme animal cruelty. But why ...
Today is unexpectedly a Member's Day - the Business Committee granted it early in the year, to make up for time list to government business. First up is a two-hour debate on the budget policy statement, with questions to Ministers, replacing the general debate. Then its the second reading of ...
. . Two stories which appeared almost side-by-side on RNZ’s website. Parent, Miranda Cross, was quoted as saying; “I think the expectations are that we can at least send our kids to school where they will receive an education.” An American parent would probably demand; “I think the expectations are ...
The future of local government must empower the young people who will live with the decisions made today, by enabling them to vote, and strengthen our national commitment to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Green Party said today. ...
Former employees of Government security and intelligence agencies should face at least a five-year stand down period before taking up private sector security contracts, the Green Party said today. ...
The Green Party welcomes the major healthcare reforms announced today by the Minister of Health, including the creation of a Māori Health Authority – Manatū Hauora Māori as we call it. ...
We’re committed to ensuring that our health system works for all New Zealanders – so we’re taking big steps to improve health outcomes, support our frontline workers, and promote equitable access to healthcare across the country and across communities. ...
I tēnei tau i Waitangi, I whakahua ake te Tira o Te Mātāwaka o te Pātī Kākāriki i tā rātau aronga matua, ki te waihanga I tētahi Manatū Hauora Māori, mā Māori te kawe, mā Māori ngā whakahaere. Ko tā te tira; Kua rongohia ngā karanga a ngā Tangata Whenua, ...
During Waitangi this year the Green Party’s Te Mātāwaka caucus announced their priority for an independent Māori Health Authority. We have heard the call from Tangata Whenua wanting any authority to be independent, and properly resourced. ...
The Greens welcome $6.6 million from the Government’s $455 million programme to increase access to mental health and addiction services for our Pasifika communities in Auckland and Wellington. ...
The Green Party is putting a Member’s Bill into the ballot today which will be a significant step towards overhauling the Social Security Act by embedding a tikanga Māori framework into the welfare system. ...
The Green Party have reaffirmed their strong commitment to the union movement in Aotearoa New Zealand by renewing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with E Tū. ...
Soon, more kids in Aotearoa will have access to the in-school mental health support that has boosted the resilience of tamariki and whānau in Canterbury. ...
The Green Party supports the open letter released today by a cross-sector coalition calling for the Government to treat all drug use as a health issue, to repeal and replace the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. ...
Small businesses are not only the heart of our economy – they’re also the heart of our communities. They provide important goods and services, as well as great employment opportunities. They know and love their locals. And after a tough year, they need our support! ...
Green Party spokesperson for Pacific Peoples Teanau Tuiono MP, supports the demand from Pasifika communities fighting for climate action as their homelands are more at risk in the Pacific region. ...
The Green Party supports the six demands for climate action put forward by School Strike for Climate NZ, who are striking across the country today. ...
The Ministry of Justice Māori victimisation report, released today, reinforces what we already know about the impact of systemic racism in Aotearoa and that urgent action is needed. ...
Ricardo Menéndez March’s Members Bill to ensure that disabled New Zealanders do not face discrimination for having a disability assist dog was today pulled from the biscuit tin to be debated in Parliament. ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood today announced that former Chief Executive of Manukau City Council Leigh Auton has been appointed as Independent Chair of the Auckland Light Rail Establishment Unit to engage with Aucklanders and take the project forward. Leigh Auton has been appointed as chair for an 11 month term ...
“The Government continues to honour our commitment to survivors which we made when the Royal Commission was established in 2018, and has refined the Terms of Reference to make sure the Commission delivers its final report in 2023,” says Minister of Internal Affairs, Jan Tinetti. In December 2020, the Royal ...
New ‘very high risk’ country designation Returnees to be cohorted into MIQs The Government is taking significant additional steps to make our borders even safer, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. “New Zealand is in a strong position and Kiwis enjoy freedoms most other countries do not ...
250 new warm, dry homes officially opened in Auckland today including: • 90 public housing homes • 34 KiwiBuild homes • 43 market homes and • 83 transitional housing homes The Government’s commitment to ensuring more New Zealanders have warm, dry, healthy homes is paying off in Auckland, where the ...
Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta says an independent review of local government will explore how councils can maintain and improve the wellbeing of New Zealanders in the communities they serve long into the future. Announcing the review today Nanaia Mahuta says it will focus on how our system of local ...
New Zealand’s first government funded space mission has taken a ‘giant leap’ with Auckland University’s Te Pūnaha Ātea-Auckland Space Institute announced as the permanent host of the New Zealand based mission control centre for a global methane tracking satellite. “MethaneSAT is a really exciting opportunity to showcase New Zealand’s science ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern joined President Biden at the virtual Leaders’ Summit on Climate hosted by the United States overnight. The summit, held for Earth Day, brought world leaders together to galvanise efforts to reduce emissions this decade and keep the shared goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees ...
New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, met in Wellington today for biannual Australia-New Zealand Foreign Minister Consultations. Marise Payne’s visit is the first official visit to New Zealand by Australia since both ...
Cabinet has finalised a package of new measures to protect New Zealanders’ interests in the banking and financial system, including guaranteeing deposits of up to $100,000 per eligible institution. These measures, the final part of a comprehensive review of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act, have been the subject ...
The number of apprentices continues to grow, with people from across the community signing up for careers in the trades, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) for enrolments in tertiary and vocational study as at December 2020 shows that the number of apprentices increased by 17.6 per ...
New Zealand will open a new Trade Commission in Fiji later this year, Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor has announced. “Fiji is New Zealand’s largest trading partner in the Pacific region”, Damien O’Connor said. “Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, annual two-way trade between New Zealand and Fiji was ...
HON ANDREW LITTLE SPEECH Morena tātau katoa. Tēnā tātau kua karahuihui mai nei i tēnei ata, Ki te whakarewa te rautaki hauora matua o Aotearoa, Kia hua ko te oranga pai o te motu. Tena tatau katoa. INTRODUCTION Welcome. Today, I am laying out for you a plan to ...
All DHBs will be replaced by one national organisation, Health New Zealand A new Māori Health Authority will have the power to commission health services, monitor the state of Māori health and develop policy New Public Health Agency will be created Strengthened Ministry of Health will monitor performance and advise ...
We talk a lot about being a transformational Government. Some imagine this statement means big infrastructure builds, massive policy commitments all leading up to a single grand reveal. But this is what I see as transformation. Something quite simply and yet so very complex. Māori feeling comfortable and able to ...
On Wednesday morning, Minister of Health Andrew Little and Associate Minister of Health (Māori) Peeni Henare are announcing major health reforms. You can watch the announcement live here from 8am Wednesday. ...
New research into the probability of an Alpine Fault rupture reinforces the importance of taking action to plan and prepare for earthquakes, Acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi says. Research published by Dr Jamie Howarth of Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington today, shows there is a ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Defence Minister Peeni Henare today announced that New Zealand is deploying a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion maritime patrol aircraft in support of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on North Korea. The Resolutions, adopted unanimously by the UNSC between 2006 and 2017, ...
The Transmission Gully Interim Review has found serious flaws at the planning stage of the project, undermining the successful completion of the four-lane motor north of Wellington Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Transport Minister Michael Wood said. Grant Robertson said the review found the public-private partnership (PPP) established under the ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today that Australian Foreign Minister Hon Marise Payne will visit Aotearoa New Zealand for the first face-to-face Foreign Ministers’ Consulations since the COVID-19 pandemic began. “Australia is New Zealand’s closest and most important international partner. I’m very pleased to be able to welcome Hon Marise ...
Hundreds more families who were separated by the border closure will be reunited under new border exceptions announced today, Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said. “The Government closed the border to everyone but New Zealand citizens and residents, in order to keep COVID-19 out, keep our economy open and keep New ...
Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Foreign Minister 8.30am, 19 April 2021 [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] Speech to the NZCC Korihi Pō, Korihi Ao E rongo e turia no Matahau Nō Tū te winiwini, Nō Tū te wanawana Tū Hikitia rā, Tū Hapainga mai Ki te Whai Ao, Ki te Ao Mārama Tihei Mauri ...
The Government is supporting a new project with all-wool New Zealand carpet company, Bremworth, which has its sights on developing more sustainable all-wool carpets and rugs, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced. The Ministry for Primary Industries is contributing $1.9 million towards Bremworth’s $4.9 million sustainability project through its Sustainable Food ...
New Zealand is providing further support to Timor-Leste following severe flooding and the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “Our thoughts are with the people of Timor-Leste who have been impacted by the severe flooding and landslides at a time when the country is ...
A ceremony has been held today in Gisborne where the unclaimed medals of 28 (Māori) Battalion C Company soldiers were presented to their families. After the Second World War, returning service personnel needed to apply for their medals and then they would be posted out to them. While most medals ...
The Government is committed to increasing the number of mothers who breastfeed for longer to give babies born in New Zealand the best start in life. The Ministry of Health recommends that babies are exclusively breastfed for the first six month but only about 20 percent of children at this ...
New Zealand has today added its voice to the international condemnation of the malicious compromise and exploitation of the SolarWinds Orion platform. The Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau, Andrew Little, says that New Zealand's international partners have analysed the compromise of the SolarWinds Orion platform and attributed ...
An expert consenting panel has approved the Queenstown Arterials Project, which will significantly improve transport links and reduce congestion for locals and visitors in the tourism hotspot. Environment Minister David Parker welcomed the approval for the project that will construct, operate and maintain a new urban road around Queenstown’s town ...
Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash says a landmark deal has been agreed with Amazon for The Lord of the Rings TV series, currently being filmed in New Zealand. Mr Nash says the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) secures multi-year economic and tourism benefits to New Zealand, outside the screen ...
The Government welcomes the findings from a rapid review into the health system response to lead contamination in Waikouaiti’s drinking water supply. Sample results from the town’s drinking-water supply showed intermittent spikes in lead levels above the maximum acceptable value. The source of the contamination is still under investigation by ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood today marked the start of construction on the New Zealand Upgrade Programme’s Papakura to Drury South project on Auckland’s Southern Motorway, which will create hundreds of jobs and support Auckland’s economic recovery. The SH1 Papakura to Drury South project will give more transport choices by providing ...
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karanga maha o te wa, tēnā koutou, tēna koutou, tēna tātou katoa. Ki ngā mana whenua, ko Ngāi Tahu, ko Waitaha, ko Kāti Māmoe anō nei aku mihi ki a koutou. Nōku te hōnore kia haere mai ki te ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood today marked the completion of upgrades to State Highway 20B which will give Aucklanders quick electric bus trips to and from the airport. The State Highway 20B Early Improvements project has added new lanes in each direction between Pukaki Creek Bridge and SH20 for buses and ...
The Government is putting in place a review of the work being done on animal welfare and safety in the greyhound racing industry, Grant Robertson announced today. “While Greyhound Racing NZ has reported some progress in implementing the recommendations of the Hansen Report, recent incidents show the industry still has ...
The infringement fee for using a mobile phone while driving will increase from $80 to $150 from 30 April 2021 to encourage safer driving, Transport Minister Michael Wood announced today. Michael Wood said too many people are still picking up the phone while driving. “Police issued over 40,000 infringement notices ...
Pacific people in New Zealand will be better supported with new mental health and addiction services rolling out across the Auckland and Wellington regions, says Aupito William Sio. “One size does not fit all when it comes to supporting the mental wellbeing of our Pacific peoples. We need a by ...
New measures are being proposed to accelerate progress towards becoming a smokefree nation by 2025, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced. “Smoking or exposure to second-hand smoke kills around 12 people a day in New Zealand. Recent data tells us New Zealand’s smoking rates continue to decrease, but ...
More children will be able to access mental wellbeing support with the Government expansion of Mana Ake services to five new District Health Board areas, Health Minister Andrew Little says. The Health Minister made the announcement while visiting Homai School in Counties Manukau alongside Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate ...
The Government’s COVID-19 response has meant a record number of people moved off a Benefit and into employment in the March Quarter, with 32,880 moving into work in the first three months of 2021. “More people moved into work last quarter than any time since the Ministry of Social Development ...
A stocktake undertaken by France and New Zealand shows significant global progress under the Christchurch Call towards its goal to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. The findings of the report released today reinforce the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach, with countries, companies and civil society working together to ...
Racing Minister Grant Robertson has announced he is appointing Elizabeth Dawson (Liz) as the Chair of the interim TAB NZ Board. Liz Dawson is an existing Board Director of the interim TAB NZ Board and Chair of the TAB NZ Board Selection Panel and will continue in her role as ...
The government is being warned the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care will not produce a credible report because of significant changes it has made to the inquiry. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Walker, Adjunct Fellow, Centre for Workforce Futures, Macquarie University “Working at an Amazon warehouse is no easy thing. The shifts are long. The pace is super-fast. You are constantly being watched and monitored. They seem to think you are just another ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland This week’s announcement that all district health boards (DHBs) would be abolished and replaced with a centralised health agency took a lot of people by surprise. Most key health sector interest groups appear ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rik Thompson, Professor of Breast Cancer Research, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation and School of Biomedical Sciences,, Queensland University of Technology Australian women are being asked to think about the timing of breast cancer screening as they prepare to receive their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, La Trobe University On Thursday, national cabinet agreed to list India as a “high-risk” country and temporarily reduce the number of people returning to Australia from the country by 30%. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said other countries would ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Goldrick, Adjunct Professor in Naval and Maritime Strategy and Policy, Australian National University In waters north of Bali, a frantic search is underway for the Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala, missing with 53 crew since the boat failed to make a routine ...
There was an international flavour to two of the new statements from the Beehive and a cosmic flavour to a third, when we checked earlier in the day. But the most ominous announcement, signalling big changes in the offing very close to home, emerged from the office of Nanaia Mahuta, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Giuffre, Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology Sydney This weekend marks 50 years since the television premiere of Young Talent Time — a pastel-coloured, saccharine-sweet mix of talent competition, pop music tribute show and star factory. Accordingly, the National Film ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Michelle Grattan discusses the week in politics with University of Canberra Associate Professor Caroline Fisher. This week the pair discuss some of the developments in the Biden climate summit, which commenced Thursday night. They also ...
By Janet Holborow, Deputy Mayor, Kāpiti Coast District Council Opinion On Friday Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced a review of Local Government in New Zealand, and the appointment of a panel to be chaired by Jim Palmer to to start ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pradeep Taneja, Senior Lecturer in Asian Politics, School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Melbourne India reported 314,000 new cases of COVID-19 on April 22, the highest-ever infection tally recorded by any country on a single day. Many hospitals across ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lesley Hughes, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University Prime Minister Scott Morrison overnight addressed a much anticipated virtual climate summit convened by US President Joe Biden, claiming future generations “will thank us not for what we have promised, but what we ...
A new international exhibition on a mission to ‘spread happiness around the world’ has landed in Auckland. Jihee Junn went along to see if it made her happy.To describe yourself as “the world’s most Instagrammable event” is a pretty big claim to make, but that’s the Happy Place for you ...
Analysis - The government's health shake-up is generally well-received, while Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta deals with a delicate international issue around our relationships with Five Eyes and China, writes Peter Wilson. ...
This once-in-a-generation opportunity to change the machinery behind local government cannot ignore some significant challenges facing local democracy, Property Council of New Zealand Chief Executive Leonie Freeman says. “Today’s announcement that ...
The union for local government workers welcomes Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s planned review of the sector, but more of a focus on worker participation is needed. The Public Service Association represents nine thousand local government staff around ...
It’s the speech that keeps on giving. This gives the lie to advice we were given on the art of delivering a memorable speech: an audience remembers best the first five minutes of a speech and the last five. In the case of Nanaia Mahuta’s dragons-and-taniwha speech, at Point of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Verna Smith, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington It is rare to get excited about institutional reform, but the government’s announcement of wholesale changes to the health system has the potential to be transformative. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harrington, Senior Lecturer in English and Cultural Studies, University of Canterbury This review contains spoilers for the first three episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale season four. Dystopian drama The Handmaid’s Tale is at a crossroads. Four years on from its critically ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rowan Light, Lecturer / Project Curator – University of Auckland / Auckland Museum, University of Auckland While economists and politicians have celebrated the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble and its promised relief for struggling businesses, it’s also a reminder of something we’ve ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Georgia McWhinney, Honorary Postdoctoral Associate, Macquarie University We think we know a lot about Australian and New Zealand soldiers’ health in the first world war. Many books, novels and television programs speak of wounds and war doctors, documenting the work of both ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 The Mirror Book by Charlotte Grimshaw (Vintage, $38)Linda Herrick over at Stuff has joined the titillating conversation ...
There will be no health sector shakeup as long as its fetish for acronyms is allowed to continue unfettered. Elsewhere, Jacinda Ardern's level of waffle exceeded the five slice capacity. James Elliott has the news of the week. In many countries there would be unbridled panic and alarm if you watched ...
Hutt City Council and the Dowse Art Museum today hosted the Minister of Local Government Hon Nanaia Mahuta for her announcement of a review into the future of local government. Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry has welcomed the review, saying it will support work ...
“The independent review of local government announced today is a genuine opportunity to address a wave of serious issues across housing, transport and water by strengthening the ability of councils to execute, address long standing infrastructure funding ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Navid Constantinou, Research Fellow, Australian National University Scientists already know the oceans are rapidly warming and sea levels are rising. But that’s not all. Now, thanks to satellite observations, we have three decades’ worth of data on how the speeds of ocean ...
The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry was advised yesterday of Cabinet’s decision to “narrow its scope by removing the requirement for it to look at modern day care policy settings”. The Royal Commission will speak to the Minster of Internal ...
Greenpeace is calling out Jacinda Ardern’s lack of action on emissions from agriculture as the Prime Minister speaks at the Leaders Summit on Climate convened by US President Biden. In a speech during the summit, Ardern encouraged all countries to put a price ...
The New Zealand government is introducing a new category of a "very high risk country" - including India, Brazil, Pakistan and Papua New Guinea - to further bolster the country's defence against Covid-19. ...
Grey Power commends the Minister of Health on what appears to be the most progressive and well-structured health system review for many years. The initial document presented by the Minister on Wednesday 21 April 2020 embraces many issues that Grey Power has ...
The government is expected to announce a further bolstering of the border, with passengers arriving on high-risk flights to be kept in separate managed isolation hotels from other arrivals. ...
An aspiring film-maker gets the opportunity to share her vision for a new movie – but then the studio decides to get involved. Dunedin team Bus of the Undead talk us through their VF48Hours invitation movie, Pitches Be Crazy.Daniel Macshane estimates he spent around 43 hours working on his team’s ...
These are perhaps the most exciting times for cancer care in our nation’s history, writes epidemiologist Jason Gurney, who welcomes the shake-up to the ‘greater good’ approach that’s been so disadvantageous for Māori.On my first day as a paycheque-drawing epidemiologist, my boss – who would later become my friend and ...
A poem from Nina Mingya Powles’ Ockham-shortlisted collection Magnolia 木蘭.Maggie Cheung’s blue cheongsam Maggie Cheung’s blue cheongsam is patterned with pink peonies. Dark magenta, dark magnolia, a colour that is edible. Nests of deep green leaves extend from the base of each fat flower, their edges painted gold. ...
The dragon, the taniwha - and the kangaroo? This week the Australian and New Zealand foreign ministers shared a podium and China was very much the dragon in the room. ...
An independent review of local government will explore how councils can maintain and improve the wellbeing of New Zealanders in the communities they serve, long into the future. ...
Australia Week: It’s the age-old question: which fictional soap neighbourhood would you most like to live in? We know you’ve thought about it, but Tara Ward has thought about it more than most. To mark the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble, The Spinoff is casting an eye across the ditch all ...
A new play about the lead-up to the first lockdown, built from interviews with Jacinda Ardern, Grant Robertson and Michael Baker, is a window into the unfathomable responsibility of political power.It felt pretty surreal to be sitting in a packed theatre for the opening night of Transmission, Miranda Harcourt and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Norman, Professor of Reproductive and Periconceptual Medicine, The Robinson Institute, University of Adelaide An expensive IVF technique, routinely offered in fertility clinics around the world, offers no extra benefits to standard IVF in the vast majority of cases, our new research ...
The Future for Local Government initiative must make the most of a historic opportunity to set communities up for success now and in the future, as it looks into the roles and responsibilities of councils amid a flurry of major policy reform, says Local ...
Saturday 24 April marks World Veterinary Day and this year New Zealand veterinarians find themselves facing another year of significant stress and challenging workloads. There are many reasons for this including the fact that veterinarians were classified ...
Catherine Woulfe’s son’s school is nothing fancy. But it’s theirs. Auckland’s new zoning rules will mean her daughter, when she turns five, will have to go to a different one – and that’s heartbreaking.I just saw a map that puts us 100 metres out of zone for the primary school ...
Greenpeace is today condemning a large-scale irrigation consent as ‘locking in overstocking of the land with dairy cows which is bad news for our climate, a guarantee of more water pollution and a risk to human health.’ Environment Canterbury has ...
They might be the most popular companion animal in New Zealand, but cats are not so popular in the wild. Stray and feral cats are a widespread problem across the country, with numbers estimated to be in the millions. At this scale, they not only ...
Those of us who govern are acutely aware of the problems inherent in the requirement to mind our own patch, not everybody else’s, writes Auckland DHB chair Pat Snedden.This week’s health announcements signalled a big day in a number of ways. Health minister Andrew Little took time in a thoroughly ...
Some parents have started petitions to send their kids to the closest school; others threaten to 'blow up' the system to ensure children can go to the same college as their parents and siblings. ...
Some parents are starting petitions to send their kids to their closest school; others are beating down the doors of government to be allowed to drive across town. ...
Health Minister Andrew Little says the reforms the government has announced this week will mean for the first time New Zealand will have “a truly national health system”. The new system will consist of a national health organisation, a Maori health authority, and a new public health authority to centralise ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona McLeod, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland The revival of interest in Anzac since the 1980s has depended in part on the repositioning of soldiers as victims. We rarely celebrate their martial virtues, and instead note their resilience, fortitude and suffering. ...
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*sigh*
Looks like the media has decided to smear NZ First out of power again.
Same shit, different decade.
So despite labour and the greens managing to understand and abide by electoral finance law, proving it’s not that difficult, SaNCtuAry cannot believe that Winston and NZ first refuse to abide by the law and it must therefore be a media smear
The first attempt was to have a go at Shane Jones – but that fell flat on it's face when it revealed he acted entirely appropriately.
Now we have another "investigation" full of innuendo and emotive and suggestive language designed to imply guilt – "suggests" "a coterie" "secretive" "Slush fund" for something which has apparently been in existence for many years.
The timing – one year out from the next election and clearly designed to establish a narrative around NZ First – is highly suggestive of a conscious attempt at a political hit job. It frankly stinks.
You don't have to wear a tin foil hat to suggest there is a prima facie case that our corporate MSM – which studiously ignores, downplays and refuses to investigate stories around the funding of the National Party and if National is the beneficiary of potentially laundered cash from the Chinese Communist Party – is happily party to an ambient establishment campaign to get rid of NZ First, using exactly the same tactics they used last time to get of Winston Peters.
The resemblance to a NZ version of Russiagate is uncanny…
Not remotely.
Russiagate is based on a large number of factual accounts that have resulted in prosecutions, together with other anomalous events like ceding US basing to Russian forces and denying funding to the Ukraine.
The assault on NZF to date consists of media innuendo.
I have replied to you in a new thread (No. 8) as this is a seperate topic.
Thank you.
Are you talking about the finance package to buy lethal military aid that was released to Ukraine by the Trump administration?
"Trump blocked but later released payment of a congressionally mandated $400 million military aid package to obtain quid pro quo cooperation from Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump%E2%80%93Ukraine_scandal
The same military aid that Obama refused to provide
https://nypost.com/2019/10/09/sorry-joe-team-obama-refused-to-arm-ukraine-at-all/
So Obama endangered US national security by not countering the Russians in East Ukraine?
Thats what Trump's being had up on
I'm sure Putin's thrilled by Ukraine receiving lethal military aid
Lethal military aid
If you want to persuade neutral people you need to try to contain your parroting of propaganda points. Military aid does not consist entirely of C rations and bandaids – and no-one ever pretended it did.
I'm sure Putin's thrilled
Oddly enough, it is not the job of the POTUS to thrill Putin – or Kim Jong Un for that matter.
So Obama endangered US national security by not countering the Russians in East Ukraine
Global, but yes.
Yes, Sanctuary. I was about to comment on the style of language used in this morning's The Press when I saw your comment.
Placed on the front page, tne opening paragraph under the heading "NZ First denies slush fund" reads "Almost half a million dollars in political donations appear to have been hidden inside a secret slush fund controlled by a coterie of Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters' trusted advisers."
The article is reporting allegations, using language like "slush fund" and 'coterie'. I would say that such language supports your notion of smearing.
Stuff say they have seen records covering $325, 000 from five months of records which they have obviously decided could be extended to be "almost half a million dollars". The NZ First Foundation then becomes 'secretive'.
This is a secret organisation which had a web-site, records discoverable by a Slush investigation, was known about by party treasurers, was used to fund party activities and had multiple donors. Not very 'secret'.
In the article, the donors are three times described as 'wealthy'. Once the term is used to describe multi-millionaires!
The journalist involved, and the paper printing this article, acting as investigating police, prosecuting lawyer and it seems that the jury have reached a verdict.
It's the last issue that is wrong. It is not a dispassionate reporting of facts and argument.
The article may well be right in its allegations.
The damage done by such allegations if untrue however should have demanded more neutral language.
This is a secret organisation which had a web-site,
A search of "New Zealand First Foundation" does not bring up any site. If it did have a website why was it taken down? When did this happen? Have you got any evidence that it ever existed?
edit:
I see the article says there was one:
“The purpose of the foundation is not clear as its website has been taken down.”
So why do you think it was taken down?
Solkta, that is conjecture. There are innocent reasons why "its website has been taken down." It may also be a cover up.
The article does not say, leaving us to conjecture.
There is, however, in the immortal words of John Key, 'another opinion" from Professor Geddis. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/403141/mysterious-foundation-loaning-new-zealand-first-money
"Alternatively, they may have managed to structure their fundraising activity so that if someone wants to give more than $15,000, they found a way that that can be given and can be of use to the party without it having to be publicly disclosed."
Geddis stressed that New Zealand First was not breaking any rules by doing this. "This is within the law, the law allows it. But whether it's what we really want of our political parties is an open question."
My main point is one of fairness. The language used by Stuff is designed to lead our conjectures in a certain direction.
Sounds like a strange money-go-round: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/117510705/why-the-nz-first-slush-fund-could-breach-electoral-law-expert
Was there an innocent reason why they took their main site down after the election? I would say so nobody could check their policies while they negotiated a deal but that would be conjecture.
Why would the Foundation website have had any policies on it?
Why are you asking me that?
You seem to be confusing the party website with the foundation one. Unless there is some reason the foundation’s site would have had ‘policies’ on it..
No, i'm suggesting that NZF has a pattern of taking down websites when it suits their slimy ways.
Ah, so you were talking about their party site, not the foundation one you started with.
took their main site down
The main Party site rather than the main Foundation one. Yes, got it.
Now where have I heard that story before? Ah yes. Forty years ago, the National Party used to stash huge amounts of cash in truly secret slush funds. They had names but the only one I remember was the Waitemata Trust fund. They were so secret not even the IRD knew about them. Naturally they denied their existence for years but one day (iirc) those slush funds disappeared.
Did the IRD get a smell of them and so they decided to close them? I wonder what happened to all the money? Maybe they divvied it out among themselves.
Now there's a good story for the media to investigate but something tells me they won't.
There is pay-for-access dinner events at the Labour party conference next week, I think around $5000 for a dinner with the PM. Now, I don't really like that sort of thing. I don't like the way all parties – not just NZ First – seek to launder and hide the source of the money.
There is a story here and that is until the general public accept that political parties have to be funded in a way that doesn't open them to accusations of corruption and influence buying then how do people EXPECT political parties to fund their activities? We no longer have mass membership parties, it is all elite cadre parties funded via 'donations."
For what it is worth, IMHO voters should get a voucher (for say $10) when voting they can then donate to a party of their choice. This could be topped up with public money based on a formula based on the last six months of polling and number of MPs, tithing of MPs, membership fees (capped at around say $100-$250 per member per year) and small donations of say no more than $500-$1500 per year from any one organisation or person.
This money then becomes the ONLY source of money that political parties are allowed to use to fund their activities.
I don't like the way all parties – not just NZ First – seek to launder and hide the source of the money.
Please give an example of when the Green Party has done this.
I agree about the pay-for-access dinner events but of course what else can they do? They have to gather the cash from somewhere in order to fight elections.
The message inherent in my 1.2.2 was that the National Party started all this rot 40 plus years ago. And ever since they have protested loud and long every time someone has called for a fairer system involving at least some public money, so that political parties are on a reasonably level playing field.
The slush fund habit began under the stewardship of the former National Finance Minister RD Muldoon and continued through his tenure as Prime Minister. It was one of several grubby secrets that man played a role in perpetuating, including clandestine activity involving a tiny band of thugs during the Erebus tragedy fallout period. Yes, I would dearly love to reveal what I know, but consideration for my safety has to be paramount.
Might be safer not to even hint that you could reveal stuff.
We no longer have mass membership parties, it is all elite cadre parties
That's the problem right there – they're inherently illegitimate.
Only one dinner I'm aware of at conference. Its $55 waged and $45 unwaged. I call bullshit on this. Sounds like the $100,000 bottle of wine rubbish that may have cost Cunliffe the election.
Sanc will have been mis-hearing this: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/117470398/labour-party-charge-1500a-head-to-schmooze-jacinda-ardern-over-lunch
$5000 is what the Nats charged to schmooze Key a few years ago.
You are correct!
Story also makes it easy to confuse the main Lab convention with the parallel business conference that they are charging for.
$1500 and "Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have also been invited to attend the one-day conference, at no cost"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/117470398/labour-party-charge-1500a-head-to-schmooze-jacinda-ardern-over-lunch
One response has been that other Political Parties have similar entities to handle "loans." If so count on National to have one as well but no one would be willing to investigate. Huh!
Willing to leak is more like it. Happens when you treat your own party officials like crap.
The journalist wouldn't be related at all to any Nats would s/he.
I noticed the immediate use of slush fund as the story broke by a journalist who wouldn't know at this stage whether using an emotive term like that was justified.
Matt Shand on Stuff at 10am 19 Nov 2019: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/117510705/why-the-nz-first-slush-fund-could-breach-electoral-law-expert
Matt Shand at 5am 19 Nov 2019: NZ First Foundation dodging electoral rules? Records suggest breaches.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/117509589/nz-first-foundation-dodging-electoral-rules-records-suggest-breaches
Almost half a million dollars in political donations appear to have been hidden inside a secret slush fund controlled by a coterie of Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters' trusted advisers.
Unattributed NZ Herald 19 Nov 2019 at 7.40 am: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has refused to be drawn on claims that an electoral slush fund run on behalf of NZ First may have breached the Electoral Act.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12286329 – 'Looks to be in contravention of the Electoral Act': Law professor weighs in on NZ First donations
NZ Herald seems to have slush-fund at the top of its favourite terms for journalists, this being from 2018 by Claire Trevett:
PM Jacinda Ardern and Shane Jones launch $3 billion fund …https://www.nzherald.co.nz › nz › news › article
Feb 23, 2018 – It has already been described as a "slush fund" for NZ First and scrutiny of it will be intense. There was also be a close watch for any signs of …
August 2019 from the National Party newsletter on Economic matters from the mouth of Simon Bridges National Party leader:
Meanwhile it’s wasted billions on a slush fund for Shane Jones and on Fees Free which has resulted in fewer university students.
https://www.national.org.nz/tags/author_simonbridges?page=4
Further on:
Page 5: “The reality is this Government has wasted billions of dollars on Shane Jones’ slush fund and Fees Free tertiary and so isn’t prioritising lifesaving cancer drugs
Page 6: “The Associate Transport Minister needs to be honest about how much money her plan will actually take from Kiwis’ back pockets, and what she’ll do with her tax bounty if it isn’t paid out in subsidies. Another slush fund to keep NZ First happy perhaps?
Page 8: “Taxpayers are forking out $2.8 billion for fees-free tertiary which has resulted in fewer students, $3 billion for Shane Jones’ slush fund and $2 billion on KiwiBuild which has resulted in next to no houses.
Page 11 (Jan 2019): It’s wasting $2.8 billion on fees-free tertiary education for students already going to university, another $3 billion on a slush fund that NZ First is shamelessly using to buy votes, and almost $300 million on working groups because Labour didn't do the work in opposition.
Note: 'Slush fund' also used on Page 12 and 14 so is a comfortable fall-back term for National. (I couldn't be bothered going back beyond a year ago.)
.
National's Paul Goldsmith refers to 'slush fund' in this report from Scoop in 2018. Shane Jones needs to explain what conflicts were declared before the Government gave $6 million to a trust led by a former NZ First MP, and why his slush fund is leading to private gain, National’s Regional Economic Development spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1807/S00120/integrity-of-govt-slush-fund-in-serious-question.htm
And the Otago Daily Times August 2018 chose that term for it's headline. https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/rnz/its-slush-fund-govt-support-race-tracks-slammed
Paul Goldsmith (National MP) in 2018. 'Mr Goldsmith described the provincial growth fund criteria as being "as loose and as billowing as the deep blue sea''.
"Well what we've seen is that it's an all-purpose political slush fund and you can fit anything into it,'' he said.'
Of course. The Nats were always going to attack Labour's support parties. A 'corruption' attack on NZF (2008 redux) and a new bogus so-called 'environmental' party to push the Greens below 5%. I'm not defending NZF of course – I would get all corporate donations out of politics as per the Sanders project.
It's all predictable as night and day – because that's how elite power operates. We'll have to fight like hell for every miserable inch of ground at a time when giant strides are needed due to the manifold economic and climate-induced problems that face us.
Bet the MSM doesn't reach out to JLR for his opinions as a former nat bagman.
he's the gorilla in the room, as they say, the MSM want to distract everybody from.
With a few notable exceptions, if we didn't have such a self-serving and irresponsible media pack we would be able to take the vitally necessary steps towards CC mitigation and the enormous economic and migratory problems that are already manifesting themselves.
They have a lot to answer for by God!
I note also in The Press the following headline.
"Army Chief responds after scolding by PM".
The reference is to "Ardern called in the Chief of Army, Major-General John Boswell, to firmly lay out her expectations…"
This is headlined as a scolding. Definitions of 'scolding' have connotations of being noisy and angry, and the example given are made by women.
A 'scold' of course is definitely a perjorative and misogynistic word.
Why could the PM not have 'rebuked', 'berated', "told off", 'criticised', or "reprimanded' the officer; or 'given him a strong message", or 'laid down the law"or "demanded better of"?
Is it because she is a woman?
Is it because the headline writer did not wish to use words of legitimate power and command as an employer to describe her actions in holding this man to account for a long-lasting and deeply unsatisfactory situation involving the deaths of innocents caused by the insufficient actions of a 'contractor' to ensure the safe disposal of lethal weaponry?
Now more importantly, how will NZDF afford the compensation payments because of their casual, callous attitude to Afghanistan victims.
Abolish the officer's and sgt's mess for a few years. That will make a few million dollars available.
Kind of appropriate as it is senior ranks that are making these decisions and trying to cover them up.
What is it with our defence forces lately? Their mana is in decline, despite the great efforts of the majority of them.
They got out and then the yankers changed the rules on them.
The Herald photo of Mark in his blue suit and tie, Union Jack behind and above, excusing the violent deaths of Afghan children says it all. "Afghanistan and many other nations, are littered with explosive remnants of war from many decades of conflict."
In the words of Stiff Little Fingers – That don't make it alright.
To start to make it right is merely a reprioritising of some $.
Detailed consideration by Rod Oram of how badly the Nats and their farming sponsors fail to grasp climate action: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/11/17/911072/we-did-this-oram
Business as usual then.
The Coalition government has taken virtually no action to reduce child poverty, according to key members of their own Welfare Expert Advisory Group.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/403595/child-poverty-welfare-government-inaction-frustrates-advocacy-groups
Transformational??? Not even pretending to be, so far.
Downright leisurely (from that article, my italics):
Let’s just hope the family tents and two minute noodles hold up that long, eh.
'Simplifying' the welfare system is responsible for half the mess it is in the first place. Simplification turned sick people, widowers, people over 55 and anyone else who might warrant a differing approach into 'job seekers'. We're all the same, whether you're an 18 year old school leaver or a sick 60 year old who can't do their lifelong job anymore.
So no, simplification is not what we need at all and I suspect it would only serve to turn more disabled people into job seekers.
Yes, funny how they never say who it would be simpler for.
Corrupt AF.
Two Senators are looking into a whistleblower’s allegations that at least one political appointee at the Treasury Department may have tried to interfere with an audit of President Trump or Vice President Pence, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, a sign that lawmakers are moving to investigate the complaint lodged by a senior staffer at the Internal Revenue Service.
[…]
The IRS whistleblower complaint was first disclosed in an August court filing by Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. It raises the prospect that Trump administration officials at Treasury tried to improperly interfere with the IRS audit process. That process is supposed to be walled off from political interference.
http://archive.li/BI9dA
Bitch McTurtle will kill that for sure.
Yet again, the orange one reminds me of the guy with the funny moustache.
This is really bad.
A very good brief analysis of what is involved and why it matters here:
https://www.vox.com/world/2019/11/18/20971153/trump-israel-settlements-west-bank-pompeo-illegal
Meanwhile some analysis on the media coverage in week one of the british campaign.
Jeremy expresses his frustration.
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2019/11/18/establishment-press-attacks-against-corbyn-have-sunk-even-further-into-the-gutter/
Must say I did almost enjoyed the carry on at the Guardian last week..
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/09/jews-brexit-boris-johnson-jeremy-corbyn
So over the top, the poor old Guardian felt obliged to print peoples reactions..
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/11/putting-fear-of-corbyns-labour-in-perspective
though they did manage to bury the whole debacle asap on their facebook feed.
Meantime..American coverage of Bernie..
https://inthesetimes.com/features/msnbc-bernie-sanders-coverage-democratic-primary-media-analysis.html
A minor exception.
" Get out Boris you are not welcome here "
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/general-election-latest-boris-johnson-heckled-bolton-flat-fire-visit-a9206546.html
Stuart, even if some of the Russiagate accounts are factual.., the lead investigator could not establish a conspiracy between Trump – Russia. Perhaps you will be so kind then as to outline the conspiracy for us? Because I have never heard any even slightly sane comment making the case.
So now the superpowers are supposedly swapping military bases in broad daylight – my god there could not be a clearer case of collusion!.. f'n hell, what next.
f'n ell, maybe a russian owned newspaper taking sides in an election will be next.
the superpowers are supposedly swapping military bases in broad daylight
Point to a Russian base the US has taken over – if you can't your characterization fails.
The elements of the conspiracy are abundant and frankly all over the internet – if your
biaspreconceptions prevent you from taking them in I don't think that I can help you.Finally a CC graph I can understand.
How to sensationalise and americanise news:
Daylight robbery: Man's car stolen at petrol station while fueling up in West Auckland
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12286395
It wasn’t robbery, obviously, just carelessness and providing an opportunity to a thief. SSDD.
🙄
The world’s biggest battery or as that dill called ScoMo once said world’s biggest banana in Jamestown SA has or will increased by 50%.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-19/sa-big-battery-set-to-get-even-bigger/11716784
yeah this battery is certainly kicking some big goals atm.
The testimony of David Holmes has to be pretty damning …
my bold
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/politics/live-news/impeachment-inquiry-11-18-19/index.html?__twitter_impression=true