Open mike 19/12/2023
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6:00 am, December 19th, 2023 - 51 comments
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- This is bad news
The speech yesterday by Treasury’s Chief Economic Advisor warning that the books are in worse shape than forecasted looks like it’s part of a softening-up process for either more cuts or a longer wait to get back into surplus. The speech was a highly unusual public preview of Treasury’s Half-Yearly ...1 hour ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47 2024
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Chatting in the supermarket this morning, I found I needed to lunge for the chicken drumsticks.Coping mechanisms: who hasn’t felt a greater need for them lately?When it all gets too much, I turn to demonstrating handy butchery hacks.It wasn’t that she’d said anything wrong, our friend, not at all. We ...13 hours ago - The year is 2024 and it’s 1984
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Back in 2022, RNZ took an in-depth look at the "Independent" Police Conduct Authority and its handling of killings by police. These are the most serious test of oversight, and you would expect the police's use of lethal force to receive the most severe scrutiny. But despite the police regularly ...18 hours ago - Thursday 21 November 2024
The Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti arrived at Parliament on Tuesday – the size is being debated but estimates range from 42,000 to 100,000. The Prime Minister is defending not attending due to some of the organisers being affiliated with Te Pāti Māori. The national gang patch ban came into force ...18 hours ago - ‘These budget cuts are counter-productive and make no sense’
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Unity on the Streets / Unity at the TableAfter the Hīkoi, all three right wing Coalition leaders came together to push the idea that the 42,000 - 50,000 + strong Hikoi was somehow less potent and brave, and more illegitimate than the energy and crowd displayed.Prime Minister Christopher Luxon 20-November: ...21 hours ago - Durability of carbon dioxide removal is critical for stabilizing temperatures
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- Young Maori take over
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- National’s support base is wobbling
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7 days ago - More lawlessness from National
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The Treaty Principles Bill is set to have its First Reading in the House today, as the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti continues. More than 40 KCs have written to the Prime Minister and Attorney-General outlining their “grave concerns” about the substance of the Treaty Principles Bill, while an academic and ...1 week ago
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- Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
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Luxon getting free TeReo lessons after cutting every public servants free lessons. Hypocrisy .
Don't forget the Teslas too.
Luxon says the Tesla was his wifes financial affairs , and not something he has control over
Thats a complete contradiction to his fundamentalist church – The Upper room- where women are subjugated to men in the family
Don't forget the Boeings.
There are multiple ways for any NZer to learn Te Reo for free, funded by the taxpayer:
https://www.twoa.ac.nz/nga-akoranga-our-programmes/te-reo-maori-maori-language
https://www.unitec.ac.nz/career-and-study-options/maori-night-classes/maori-night-classes?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA-P-rBhBEEiwAQEXhH1rwzuBMrEwExTIQ6u1BcS05KIJF6QM6IRjIMDb_BdTAVBO4f-yadRoC6rgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
https://www.wananga.com/news/learn_te_reo
What seems to have been stopped – is the allocation of budget towards this when it is not necessary for those who wish to learn Te Reo.
I attended a course held at the local CYFS office, because Te Wānanga o Aotearoa holds classes at venues arranged by others, especially if the enrolments are more than the minimum required for them to get funding.
I would hope that those in government service who are feeling thwarted in their pursuit of Te Reo, have enough nous to arrange a continuation of their language journeys by such a method.
And now a bunch of other Nats are fessing up too.
It is a classic case of "reap what you sow". I doubt Luxon and co entered politics because they wanted to bang on about the Mowrees, but in pursuit of cheap votes and a cheap deal with the lazy slogan parties, they went down that path and now they can't turn back.
The financial cost is negligible, but the credibility cost is rising daily. Serves them right.
Check out the squirming and special pleading …
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/505080/national-mps-who-took-reo-maori-lessons-hail-its-usefulness
"In a sit-down interview with The Post in her sparse new office, apologising for the empty walls adorned only with hooks, Willis said …"
Hooks!
It's not just the mini-budget we need to worry about!
https://www.thepost.co.nz/a/politics/350133870/were-going-start-new-chapter-nicola-willis-her-mini-budget
I'm guessing they're fish hooks
And there it is.. AUSTERITY, or in the parlance of the rich "fuck you oiks we're going to cream it ".
That's Ben a Jerries icecream it!!!
I don't think she's being honest describing the coming mini budget as starting a new chapter. A whole new fantasy novel will probably be a more fitting description.
Mmmm…fantasy novels can be enjoyable and inspiring though….I'm thinking, horror.
Albanese is simply not going to let Luxon get away with our risible level of defence spending if we are to be a credible defence partner to Australia – which is Luxon's stated aim of the talks.
Ardern and Little could reasonably front up and show real investment and modernisation in many Defence areas from the equator to the Antarctic.
Among the many, many areas Luxon has to spend public money on, Defence must be one of them or Albanese will diplomatically kick his ass.
I'm very happy with our low defence spending. Australia is a mega mineral (and solar) rich country that can much more easily afford defence spending than can NZ.
Let them use that mega wealth to carry the defence spending for Australasia.
That will go some way towards compensation for stealing our nurses, surgeons etc etc
Before we spend the defence budget we need to define the purpose of defense.
If we think it is to stop a military attack from some superpower then we may as well 'lie back and think of england' it is an impossible task for a population the size of Melbourne.
If however, it is for search and rescue, delivering essential supplies and medics to disaster areas and fisheries patrol. By all means have a defense department.
Perhaps they could also contribute to local needs that require their skillsets. Such as, culling rabbits and possums, ferry operations, aircraft operations and logistics.
Well I'm all for a beefed up civil defence , not so much the military.At this stage in human development we need to be moving away from militarism, particularly when we find ourselves shacked up with a dying imperialist power currently supporting the genocide of Gaza.Stop the guns and the money Biden
So you don't give a rat ass about our Peacekeeping efforts in Timor Leste during INTERFET and afterwards, with Lenny's death was a waste of fucking time as well?
Lenny gets treated with far more respect in Timor Leste than he does in NZ even though he Peacekeeper Killed In Action!
Then you have all the other Peacekeeping Operations in the Sth Pacific Region that NZ is held in high regard for!
One day people like you will realise why we have a Defence Force, but unfortunately for you &the rest of country will probably end up learning the hard way yet again probably when those Box carrying ships & other ships stop turning up.
And be screaming for me to return to the colours?
And my rely will be Fuck Off because you said we were not need so suck it up on during Rationing LoL.
Done 2 to Tours Timor Leste incl INTERFET,
2 Tours to the Sandpit plus a short stay in Sth Sudan as elsewhere.
Countless deployments to the Sth Pacific & SEA in various capacities.
Between the NZ Army- RNZAC & RAAF Ground Defence as a ADG.
Gawd, if that rant is the result of serving, yeah , I think militarism is something we should avoid
My Tours to Timor Leste were Peacekeeping/ Peace Enforcement ie Chapter 7 & 6 of the UN Charter under a UN Mandate
The Sth Sudan trip, was to giving the UN Peacekeepers some backbone when that mission almost went tits up like Rwanda and went I did there to protect women & children at the Airport still haunts me at night, just like INTERFET does at Dili Airport back in 99.
Iraq well we shouldn't have never been there anyway thanks to arrogance of Islam & Arab Politics by the 3 Amigos!
Afghanistan I supported until the Yanks fucked it by going into Iraq and not accepting the British proposal of bringing back the King with Lord Paddy Ashdown as his advisor which would've knee cap the Taliban from the neck down as the Southern Pasthu Tribes by history are Historically link & loyal to the King.
Sooner or later the reality will hit you in head, just like when the Germans laid minefields around NZ waters and it Raiders sunk NZ/ Commonwealth Merchant Navy Ships in Waters.
Just like the illegal fishing in the Antarctic Waters that no one gives a shit about either
I would like a world where good guys like you don't have to lay your lives on the line
I would like a world where unicorns prance in fields of candyfloss, but I can't see it happening somehow.
Its already been tried, the English found out that taking on a fence opponent at the end of a huge supply line was easier said than done, so they signed a treaty instead!
First of all, of course we're not going to stop a military attack from superpower, but part of the price for having friends who can do that is invest and modernize to be of credible support to those friends, particularly where we have joint interests in our neighbourhood.
Second, you seem to be ignoring our Pacific peacekeeping role and our involvement in international initiatives such as anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman, and solidarity with other nations in keeping the South China Sea open to shipping.
Well said!
It is not in an amount, it is sustaining a core capability and that includes provision for the modernisation of equipment – where the case for AUKUS is, but in a wider area of tech than just military.
One core area that is of growing importance is emergency response (global warming and climate changes) – logistics in that area will be in demand (here and the wider Pacific).
Quite apart from the points that BG and Jr made, the Australians need to be told that we are their defence partners and will assist in their defence if they are attacked (and exercise accordingly), but we are not part of an alliance to fight with Taiwan against China. If we are to say that to China, we have to say it in Canberra as well.
Hopefully our actual defence work will remain in the area of sea lane and territorial integrity, or UN peacekeeping, or Pacific security support.
Well said, I have a feeling NZ will get sucked into P2 unfortunately.
I'm sure hoping National can show what it will spend money on, not just what it is cutting, by the end of the mini-budget.
They are causing massive market disruption at the moment and have no sign of stability or planning emerging out of it.
They're good.
/
Newshub has been leaked financial statements showing none of the country's polytechs are financially viable on their own.
It comes as the Government takes a wrecking ball to Te Pūkenga, and the mega-polytech lost another senior leader on Monday at a time when the organisation's been tasked with plotting and executing its own demise. Newshub has learnt of major internal kickback to that.
It was Te Pūkenga that motivated Penny Simmonds to go into politics.
She was the boss of Southern Institute of Technology when the mega-merger happened, and now she's the minister, she's scrapping it.
Starting at the top, chief executive Peter Winder is now gone.
"I wish him well and I thank him and Murray for their service," Simmonds told Newshub.
Murray Strong quit as Te Pūkenga chair 10 days ago, and Newshub's been told "a meeting between Peter Winder, Murray Strong and the Minister was a total s**tshow with the Minister acting in a very unprofessional way".
Simmonds said she wouldn't characterise it like that.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/12/te-p-kenga-leaked-documents-reveal-horror-financial-position-for-polytechs-insiders-spill-beans-on-s-tshow-meeting-with-minister.html
SIT were always full of it when dealing with other polytechs; to give them their due they came up the fees free innovation but the upshot of that is/was a huge sense of provincial exceptionalism and a big dollop of militant parochialism born from a massive inferiority complex.
I can just imagine how that meeting went – Simmonds is an opinionated two-bit administrator from the sticks who thinks she has nothing to learn from anyone north of the Waitaki, let alone the big population hubs north of Taupo.
Wasn't it funded by council and other local organisations to try and get Invercargill off life support, its had more voluntary evacuees than just about anywhere short of Gaza.
I think it was also part funded by the very lucrative licensing trusts.
Lots of back-scratching goes on down here in Invercargill.
This is how Winston got in:
"Initially, ACT seems to be Moller's lead contender as its constitution looked like it had been "written with us in mind," he writes in a blog post. However, its leader David Seymour "was going to be a challenging hurdle to leap".
When news that Winston Peters was back in the game comes "we swapped horses", Moller continues. Peters' acceptance of an invitation to speak at the May meeting which Moller says he organised under the banner of the Natural Health Alliance was pivotal.
"Henceforth, the marriage was agreed upon and consummated," Moller concludes.
It's a marriage with perks for NZ First."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/505050/what-is-it-about-winston-peters-and-the-natural-health-products-industry?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/broken-promises-airlines-luxon-faces-walkbacks-over-te-reo-planes/ar-AA1lESaD?ocid=socialshare&pc=ACTS&cvid=6542f87d1b0940b88ea8b3684734af58&ei=9
What's the bet the ferry budget gets spent on luxury airplane to cart luxon around
AND apparently Winnie had to trade to Fiji in the cargo hold.
How sad,
It's party time in Grant's house for the next 2 years – not much work on.
Only one thing, no one who voted for the three headed confabulation is allowed in.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/301001077/it-was-quite-traumatic-coming-out-as-gay-took-a-mental-toll-on-grant-robertson
https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350134644/home-detention-rioter-who-hurled-pavers-police
What about the cops who hurled pavers at the protesters? The video footage showed a couple of cops throwing the pavers back at the protesters but nothing seems to have been said about that anywhere.
Good , they weren't protestors that where a rabble that needed a lesson.
The "freedom" campers claimed the paver-throwers weren't their people, that they were agitators who had infiltrated to cause trouble and besmirch the campers/cooker's good name.
The police should've claimed the same of the uniformed paver-returners 🙂
That's obviously the case given the zero mention of it anywhere.
Are these 'police' in the room with us now?
Is there a link to this footage?
Around 17.48 to 18.18. Have only had a quick look so don't know if there's any more anywhere. This looks like what I remember seeing.
Thanks for going to the effort.
I'm not sympathetic to the point you are making.
OK..so they threw some bricks back at a guy who was throwing bricks at them. It appears the police threw with quite a bit less force than their attacker used.
When attacked like that, the police are allowed to respond with reasonable force to defend themselves and others, I expect.
Yeah, but I bet they've been "corrected" by their advisers – chucking ammo back for your opponents to use again isn't terribly smart. Understandable though.
My guess is; at the next melee involving pavers, there will be no return fire from the police.
As to dishing out punishments for them having done so – nah! Get real.
Which video and at what point?
Fortunately it covers only one aspect of the three headed hydra.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/16/world/australia/new-zealand-maori-rights.html?unlocked_article_code=1.HE0.4bEe.ipTeeMOa8qpX&smid=url-share
Watching the new Government repealing stuff as fast as they can, I note that the Key Government overtook Labour's record on passing stuff under urgency in 2010.
Is this Government trying to overtake Key's bench mark before Christmas?
Wonder what they're in a hurry to hide?
The government has announced it plans to urgently repeal legislation which would have required Inland Revenue to report on the tax system's equity, efficiency and certainty.
The first annual report under the Taxation Principles Reporting Act is due by the end of the year, but the government's move to repeal it will cancel that.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/505073/government-to-repeal-taxation-principles-reporting-act-under-urgency