And the Herald’s intentions with yesterday’s story on Len Brown are revealed in todays editorial. Clearly, a Len Brown run for a third term would be bitterly opposed by the Herald, who annointed Goff their preferred candidate today.
I find their reasoning quite interesting. The clear assumption is Goff will be a right wing mayor, another neo-liberal wolf in sheeps clothing. I guess the big question is this – who is the best candidate to stop privatisation of the CCO’s and ensure the CRL planning goes ahead until such time as a Labour government wins power and Hide’s insane governance model is reformed? If that is your criteria then Goff is as good as any, and his electability is better than anyones.
Diversion tactics 101, find a plausible yet ambiguous topic that you can publish no end of speculation over I.e. no facts or hard evidence required.
Anything but Sabin, northland by election pork barrelling, milk solids price impact of Blingish already BS numbers and how about that 25k liu donation to name a few issues of far more relevance.
Yep – I’ve been thinking along those lines too. Auckland will be sold off (the remains of what hasn’t somehow been sold yet) . Sigh ….. and after all the hard work done by hundreds of Aucklanders backing City Vision trying to keep the super-city intact.
On what Iprent was saying the other day about new/continuation of Nuclear arms race – The centre for public integrity will be publishing some more on the Nuclear issue over the next few days – I’ll keep you posted.
Whangarei MP Shane Reti called the protest group organiser last week and told her to stop “agitating” for tar-sealed roads during the by-election campaign. And if they didn’t stop, their wish may not get fulfilled!
It is outrageous for a Government, a Minister or an MP, in a democracy to tell people who are exercising their legitimate rights of freedom and protesting about any issue (dusty roads that need tar seal in this case), to shut up for two weeks until the by-election is finished. It is even more outrageous to be threatened that ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!’ That is definitely blackmail, worse than what Aaron Gilmore did.
National’s campaign manager, Steven Joyce, says there were no instructions to MPs to shut down protest groups. Mr Key says he had nothing to do with Dr Reti’s call.
This arrogant and disgraceful MP, Reti should resign or be sacked immediately. There is no other way. Nothing else is good enough. Is there?
It is even more outrageous to be threatened with threats which imply that ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!’ That is definitely blackmail, worse than what Aaron Gilmore did.
” ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!”
You give this statement as a direct quote. They don’t appear in the story you link to.
Can you please provide a source for these words being used?
They are not the DIREST exact words of Reti but they may as well be because that IS the intent and implications of his threat and blackmail.
However, I have added a further comment to my original comment as follows:
The end of the second paragraph should read :
It is even more outrageous to be threatened with threats which imply that ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!’ That is definitely blackmail, worse than what Aaron Gilmore did.
The moment we all heard about Reti’s comments (up here in the north) we thought he’d taken a leaf out of his master’s book – threatening to withdraw funding for the 10 bridges if the Nats don’t win this by-election. If Shon Key can indulge in a little blackmail to voters, why shouldn’t Reti follow in his footsteps ? Definitely blackmail.
“” The Government’s flagship health cost-cutting scheme has taken out millions of dollars worth of taxpayer-funded loans, despite concerns it could not pay a cent back, new documents reveal. ………………………””
“” The organisation is now the subject of an investigation by the auditor-general. ……..””
“” HBL is being wound down by Health Minister Jonathan Coleman in June, with its programmes transferred to Auckland regional DHB-led services provider HealthAlliance. ………….””
And I’m left wondering why the heck certain southern health boards are going ahead with its ‘frozen food from Auckland for the patients ‘ proposal when it appears to have been such a shonky scheme.
What extraordinary failure …. and who needs $10 million to develop business plans ? Was this using private consultants ? And now Alkd DHB has to absorb the loss of funds? Baby cheeses.
And agree Jenny .. why on earth would Dunedin be buying frozen pre-cooked food from Auckland ? Clearly nothing to do with patient health and well-being. Stupid, stupid people.
( And have to ask now .. was Ryall pushed for incompetence ?)
Thanks Karen. Insightful interview. All those media/security minders! And an interesting trawl through the Northern Advocate.
And the frank and honest response from the PM to the questions asked? Not so much.
Key’s answers read like a Crosby and Textor report card. The interviewer tried, but slippery Key just slimes all over it as usual and never deviates from his scripts.
Personally, I would have offered him the black cup for some mana, so to speak.
Yes Rawshark but at least the way Ms Laird has written up the story just helps show up Shon Key and his slippery non-answers all the more ! And this paper goes out all over the place in the north.
@Karen
Yep thanks for that Karen. Nicely written piece. Key hates being asked tough questions.
Incidentally there was an editorial in the ODT yesterday that was very critical of the behaviour of Key and his government, especially in terms of lack of transparency and what this means for democracy.
How heartening it is to read of Kshama Sawant! I found this bit particularly striking:
“The idea that things have to get a lot worse to have some sort of awakening and bring about an alternative to this corrupt and defunct corporate political system is inaccurate,” she said to me. “What we need is a big surge for an independent working-class political alternative while people are experiencing a sense of confidence, after decades of bitter defeat…
I remember Xtasy, who I think must have left the country, saying we that need a new left wing political party. What we need more is a grassroots political movement that is able to make its presence felt, whether or not it takes the form of a political party.
What we need more is a grassroots political movement that is able to make its presence felt, whether or not it takes the form of a political party.
Ideally it will not be in the form of a political party, but in the form of a pressure/action/education movement which applies leverage to the pressure points of every political party.
I agree with you where New Zealand is concerned. A political party would become an option if the movement’s concerns were not met by existing political vehicles, and the momentum was sufficient to make forming a party look like a goer. But the ability to make our presence felt has to come first.
ideally what would happen is that some capable individuals from the movement would over time eventually join every political party. This would give the movement some voice from within the parties as well, possibly even as candidates and MPs.
However, the independent pressure and presence outside the institutional establishment must always stay strong and separate from those political parties, if the true and honest voice of the people is to be heard true and loud in Wellington. At the moment, it’s not.
I think I see what you are getting at now – that a pressure group outside of the institutional establishment is not open to being transformed into yet another vehicle for the political class. I accept that point, and am mindful as well of the precarious path to a new party’s becoming established. I do not suggest a new party as a desirable outcome (I am a LP member, probably for similar reasons to yours) but would not rule it out altogether where a movement was able to gain real momentum at the grassroots level without also gaining real political influence within the existing establishment.
Yes indeed. The Left needs to re-examine what having “real political influence” means in a modern context. The Right have got the idea very well and exercise their own version of it reasonably ably (sometimes).
Party politics is undemocratic by nature it requires manipulation of the vote to achieve an out come and its is not responsible to the voters only the party
A successful candidate at an election serves his party before the voters or he does not get the favour of the party classic in Northland not much gets done just vote accumulation for the National party’s overall gerrymandering of political system, until now a bunch of false promises and unrealistic political expectations. The destruction of the RMA and the sovereignty of the nations resources in the area ie a sellout to the oil companies spells a F.U.C.K.E.D. PARADISE
Key is a liar and a cheat
Olwyn and CR
Would a left wing think tank be a vehicle that would match what you are talking about they seem very influential and regularly back the memes being presented by RW parties particularly?
I cannot speak for CR, but to me it would be an important part of such a movement. I will have to look up what Sue Bradford has to say about it, since that is the subject of her doctorate. One thing a think tank would hopefully do is pull some of the disparate threads of the left together.
I do not have any beef with either Dotcom or Hone Harawira. I think the lesson there was that money sans connections can be more damaging than no money. There is nothing the powerful hate more than a large sum of money that is not subject to their own concerns and agreements. And I wholeheartedly agree with you about money with corporate strings attached, whether potentially or actively.
How can this be? “She holds a doctorate in economics…” An economist who is driving changes to help the disadvantaged? Must be an aberration. Get rid of her say the powerful country wide elite.
And fancy bringing Seattle to its knees my raising the minimum wage to $15! Sacrilege. Thanks Adam.
Have puzzled for days on the reasons Mark Osborne secured Nat selection … have written several times that I think he must have been ‘bought’ for his silence. No basis for it, other than a gut response to his ineptitude .. and yes, I accept he was approved as candidate when Key arrogantly believed there was never a problem in this safe seat.
But this was posted under a March 12 Dita di Boni Herald story on Northland …
Quote:
“The National ‘candidate’ owns the local beauty parlour where his wife and until the s**t hit the fan, Mike Sabin’s wife did all the work, he is not known for his ‘work ethic’. ”
So I am curious if anyone will confirm this ? That Osborne owns the business where Mrs Sabin and Mrs Osborne worked together, that is until Mrs Sabin didn’t for whatever personal reasons?
So has Osborne been bought for his silence on what has happened to Sabin and his family ?
So how much did Osborne lie to various media when he said he knew nothing of Sabin’s ‘personal matters’ ?
Oh, how I hope Winston bloodies the nose of Key and his crony government. I hope he leaves them reeling and unable to proceed with their anti-NZ agenda.
I think Winston has already bloodied Key’s nose. The fact that the Nats have had to stir themselves and spend big money would never have happened without Winston. Even should Winston not win I am sure that Northland will greatly benefit from the exposure. Woe betide Key if he doesn’t act in the future.
Winston the cunning old dog figured out very quickly that participating in the Northland by-election was a win win for NZ First. Labour eventually figured out that participating in the Northland by-election was going to be a lose-lose for them.
National, they’re just in total reactive mode right now. And ruing how they did not pause for a moment to stick the knife in Winston proper when he was down and out a few years ago.
Nope – I think you’ll find its not Sabin’s wife who is the hairdresser/beautician, but Osborne’s wife. She runs the beauty parlour, so I’ve been told.
But I do have to say , if Osborne didn’t know much about Sabin before the 2014 election, he probably was the only one in the north who wasn’t questionning that very issue !
Would Cunliffe have known about the charges at the time he met this person (if what Cameron Slater says about the person is correct)? I imagine there would have been name suppression? Was it widely rumoured at the time? If Cunliffe were to be assumed knowledge of this person’s alleged crimes, would not the same apply to Key’s knowledge of Sabin’s?
Not just knew, but appointed him to as chairman of Parliament’s law and order committee.
Cunliffe didn’t have any political dealings with that other offender.
It seems to me that parliament is the last place to keep a secret. It strikes me as a very insular, gossipy, incestuous place (I include media gallery in this).
So IF it is the person who cunliffe had lunch with, what do we think the headline will be???
I don’t know how to do it without infesting people… I NEVER go there as a rule, but looking for the date of the lifting of name suppression i wound up there.
Hopefully you can tell me if I have misunderstood what he was trying to assert
After posting my comment @9.3, I saw your (Tracey) comment at 9.2.1.
Reading the WO post at the link, IMO this latest post essentially is saying what I was trying to say – that the prominent NZer whose name suppression expires today unless appealed by 5pm today IS NOT the other prominent NZer who Cunliffe had lunch with.
@Tracey .. go to http://www.donotlink.com .. cut and paste the url of the site you do not wish to directly link with and it makes a new link for you which u can cut and paste anywhere ! It’s marvelous .. I think lprent taught me how !
You can even google the article and ctrl +copy link location (or the equivalent on your device) and paste that into donotlink, and that way you don’t have to open the website even once 🙂
The case of the prominent NZer who Cunliffe met took place down south and has finished, with the person given permanent name suppression – against the wishes of the victim and others.
The court hearing that happened on the same day (30 Jan 2015) as Sabin resigned took place at the other end of the country. Although all details were suppressed, including the District Court where the hearing took place, one online (only) news service (Yahoo) actually published the location.
I will not publish a link but their article is still available via Google, using “disputed facts hearing NZ”; country NZ; and customizing the time period for the search.
[WARNING to anyone who finds the article – DO NOT provide a link or name the location here on TS, as the location suppression still continues until lifted.]
Tracey, re your first sentence in your comment @ 9 – Where and when did Slater say that the person whose name suppression will lapse today (unless appealed) is not Sabin but the person who Cunliffe had lunch with?
I have been going to WO using Donotlink to see what he writes on the suppression case(s) quite regularly as WO claims to know a lot about the case or cases (he has implied that there are more than one) but have not seen him claim what you said.
He has written a number of posts on the subject but has been very careful to not breach suppression and has moderated comments strongly to avoid this.
I am not going to go back there and search his archives, but remember that on occasions (including just a couple of days ago) he has implied that there may be more than one person up on current charges with name suppression – but I do not recall anything that linked these current cases with the closed case down south.
and they were adults in the south case, able to request lifting of their personal name suppression but failed in removing suppression of the felon’s name. Derryn Hinch in Oz made it plain he didn’t like it much.
Re the case where name suppression is due to expire at 5pm today, Graeme Edgeler has just tweeted that he understands that an appeal is being lodged today, so the suppression will not lapse.
Last night, Graeme and Matt Nippert (NZ Herald) also had an interesting Twitter exchange, presumably also related to this case. Matt has been trying to get the terms of the suppression order, without success.
EDIT – the latter case may not be the same as Matt mentions High Court in this twitter exchange, whereas I think the other case is still in the District Court.
I may be in this instance as to whether Matt’s inquiries are about the same case – or a related but separate case.
The situation seems quite similar, however, in terms of not being able to get the terms of the suppression order ……
I think the appeal against the name suppression in the case we are all interested in has to be lodged in the high court. I suspect it is the same case Matt Nippert is talking about because he first applied a month ago and was complaining about the refusal taking so long.
I would be very surprised if an appeal against the lifting of name suppression was not lodged today, and by leaving it until just before the deadline it is not likely to be heard this month. I doubt if there is any justification for the appeal, but certain people will not want it declined in the near future, hence the cynical last minute submission.
Thanks, Karen. I think you are right about the appeal having to be lodged with the High Court. I also think Matt’s application probably is related.
Leaving the lodging of an appeal today will delay matters and is not unexpected as National certainly don’t want anything getting out into the public arena until after the by-election. Don’t think it will do them any good, though!
Victoria Young of NBR has confirmed that an appeal has now been lodged and NBR will have an article up shortly. Graeme Edgeler replied that one or two weeks would normally be enough to file such an appeal – as oppose to four weeks in this case.
The suppression order was made and lifted in the District Court. The appealing of the lifting of the order therefore has to be in the High Court. Lodging the appeal on the last possible day is a cynical move to keep the incidents out of the election campaign. The Herald is applying to the High Court to expedite the appeal with urgency.
FJK and NAct are lower than I had ever thought possible in our country.
well sliced Anne ! This goes to the heart of Nats corruption… secrets kept for three elections. Something will come out, I have to believe it as the alternative is just too awful.
When it comes to the establishment and authoritarian regimes like the police, I have a healthy dose of contempt born out of experience. After a number of years of clandestine bullying, intimidation and some other worse forms of criminal behaviour, I approached the police (half a dozen times in total) and they did nothing. Why? Because there was a strong political element to the case, and I was on the ‘wrong’ side of the political fence. It therefore suited them to treat me and my claims with derision. It all happened 20+ years ago now, but I don’t see that anything much has changed.
Hence I have no qualms calling them out when I perceive it to be appropriate… regardless of consequences.
Here it is … and several media applying for urgency on the appeal …
“A prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault has lodged an appeal after losing his bid for name suppression.
The man lost suppression on February 19 but had his identity protected for one month to allow him the chance to appeal. That appeal was lodged today.
The man denies 12 charges of indecent assault against two people including two representative charges.
Heavy suppression orders mean the man cannot be identified, nor can his alleged victims or their ages.
He has elected trial by jury.
The charges, which include allegations of touching the complainants on the breast, buttocks, groin and thigh, are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Several media organisations, including NZME. publisher of The New Zealand Herald, have lodged a joint request for the appeal to be heard with urgency.”
Anybody notice that there were anti neo lib riots in Germany today..350 arrests. Burnt cars. Tear gas. .saw it on RT and BBC. Looked on the rest of the MSN. …Zippo. The revolution will not be televised.
@ Ennui
I heard about the protest.. They are blaming the ECB. A spokesperson for the ECB complained that the protesters did not give them credit for trying to cushion economic blows to the economy. The economy is still alive and well and moving forward in its wheelchair with the help of dedicated attendants. The people are alive and not very well and protesting.
Did you mean Chris Bishop felix? That would be funny, he’s a right little twerp. What a wannabe tough guy this Puckish Rogue numpty is. He has definitely got some guts.
The IPCC report on the pork’s investigation of the Roastbusters is out. No surprises: they were useless and failed at the most basic standards of investigation. Floods of crocodile tears are flowing. Disgusting.
Here’s the form of press releases to follow in all such circumstances in chronological order.
1. There is no problem. Nobody has complained. What’s your problem?
2. You are being mischievous in claiming that there is a problem and undermining public confidence in our good work.
3. There might be a problem, but we are very disappointed that you brought this to public attention when we were really dealing with it.
4. It’s an isolated case.
5. We regret that an external authority has shown us to be absolutely fucking useless because one of the perpetrators was a cop’s son but it’s all historical and everything’s been fixed now so I don’t know why you’re making a fuss about it now.
Summary of Findings
114. The Authority has made the following findings:
114.1 – The initial response to the incidents by GDB and CIB staff was adequate and proper.
114.2 – CPT staff did not adequately follow up and pursue positive lines of enquiry.
114.3 – CPT staff should have more accurately recorded and more adequately assessed information obtained during their respective investigations.
114.4 – Officer B’s supervision and oversight of the cases for which he was responsible was adequate and appropriate.
114.5 – Officer C did not adequately supervise and oversee the cases for which he was responsible.
114.6 – The fact that the father of one of the young men was a Police officer had no influence on Police’s handling of the investigations.
114.7 – CPT staff did not properly evaluate all available offences when determining the outcome of their respective investigations.
114.8 – CPT staff failed to properly consider alternative action to address the potential offending behaviour of the young men involved and their care and protection issues.
114.9 – CPT staff did not adequately communicate and engage with the young men and their families.
114.10 – CPT staff did not adequately consult and communicate with external stakeholders.
114.11 – CPT staff, particularly at supervisory level, did not adequately communicate with each other.
Conclusions and Recommendations
115. The Authority appreciates that the incidents involving the ‘Roastbusters’ presented Police with a complex set of challenges. The reprehensible and unacceptable behaviour demonstrated by this group of young men was further complicated by other issues. These included the vulnerability and fragility of the young women, the impact of peer, familial and social pressures in adolescence, attitudes towards sexual behaviour and the use of alcohol and other drugs, and the influence of youth culture and social media.
116. Indeed, the issues were such that it is unlikely they could have ever been dealt with meaningfully and effectively solely by Police. Regrettably, Police had numerous opportunities to ‘connect the dots’ earlier, to generate a more organised, expansive and cohesive response, and to work in collaboration with CYF, the schools, and the parents of these young men to prevent their behaviour from continuing.
117. While it is evident that the Police investigators were motivated to act in accordance with the wishes of the young women, and in their best interests, they focused on the victim’s wishes about prosecution in each individual case and failed to give adequate weight to the potential risk of harm to other young women. Critically, too, the Police investigations into these cases failed in several significant areas to meet the requirements of a good criminal investigation. Deficiencies in investigation practices, poor knowledge or understanding of legislation, and inadequate supervisory oversight were some of the primary factors that led to assessments that lacked critical analysis and sound, evidence-based, decision-making.
118. In the Authority’s view, most of the deficiencies identified in the Police investigations are a result of poor individual practices and cannot be said to be representative of Police child abuse investigations nationwide. The Authority considers that it was the failure of CPT officers to conduct their investigations to the required level, sufficiently meeting the standards of current policy and guidelines, that has had serious consequences in this instance. However, while existing Police child protection policy and investigation guidelines are sound, the lack of emphasis on prevention may be indicative of a more general problem with policy and practice requiring further attention. Police, themselves, have acknowledged that this is an area requiring further policy development to guide Police practice.
119. In 2007, following the 2004 Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct, Dame Margaret Bazley reported that she was satisfied that child abuse policy (applicable at that time) was being applied consistently by Police and was “working well in practice”. However, a special investigation, the ‘Inquiry into Police Conduct, Practices, Policies and Procedures Relating to the Investigation of Child Abuse, commenced by the Authority in December 2009, found that this was not, in fact, the case in a number of policing districts around the country. In May 2010, at the conclusion of the inquiry, the Authority made 34 recommendations to Police to rectify the shortcomings identified.
120. It is disturbing that several themes identified as a result of the Authority’s child abuse inquiry (such as deficiencies in investigative practices, file recording, collaboration with CYF, and case supervision) have, again, been highlighted in the Authority’s current investigation. This is notwithstanding the fact that the related recommendations made in 2010 to address the deficiencies were accepted and embedded by Police.
121. The Authority’s focus in its investigation has been to identify what went wrong in this case so that similar failings can be avoided in the future. It has not considered what action, if any, should be taken in respect of the individual officers responsible for the performance shortcomings set out in this report. That is a matter for the Police.
IPCA report into; “Roast Busters”, is highly critical of police. But the only mention of reopening the case I’ve seen so far is:
The authority recommended an audit be carried out into current cases being investigated by the Waitemata Child Protection Team to determine whether any individual shortcomings remained
Deficiencies included a failure to follow up and pursue positive lines of inquiry. Investigating staff also failed to properly consider all available offences in determining whether or not to prosecute the young men.
Investigating officers tended to approach each case on an individual, case-by-case, basis simply to consider whether there was sufficient evidence to prosecute offenders for sexual violation. IPCA chair Judge Sir David Carruthers said.
“In the authority’s view the officers should have identified the connections between the various cases and worked with other agencies to develop strategies to reduce the recurrence of what was clearly unacceptable and, in some cases, criminal behaviour. Victims were let down by their failure to do so.”
In the nearly 50 years of being an adult so to speak and having a landline in my home I can’t remember when I received the last of maybe 3 unsolicited ‘research organisation’ calls seeking telephone survey participation.
Last night I took a call from an articulate, pleasent voiced young man seeking that I respond to questions in respect of a “major government department”. I asked for the identity of the party commissioning the survey, noting that if it was the National Party……”not interested mate….”. The caller said “that should be obvious from the first question” but no, he was not allowed to expressly identify. Strange ? Refuse to tell me then tell me.
I went along. There were put numerous questions the first and every one following about “the IRD”. For answer on a scale of 1-5. All boiling down to whether IRD is fair, understanding, uses technology well, etc etc. In the round broad brush stuff.
This afternoon another call this time about the ACC. “We are in the middle of a by-election in Northland and I get two calls in two days to my identifiably Northland landline…….no thank you.”
Call me suspicious…….but the coincidence of there being perhaps two and a half decades between the date of the last such call and the two successive days of the 4th and 5th ? About entities under the purview of a cabinet minister……
Didn’t engage the second call but in yesterday’s – demographic established, level of education including degree/post graduate or not, self employed or not, various other categorisations canvassed. Yesterday’s caller did name the organisation conducting the survey which I don’t recall. Today’s didn’t as I recall but it was a short call.
Of course it was not a coincidence. My God they’re getting desperate! Fancy resorting to the pretense of acting on behalf of two controversial govt. departments – IRD and ACC – to glean the views of your average punter in Northland. Next week, what’s the bet there are going to be two major reforms announced concerning the two departments in question.
News just out.
‘Prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault appeals for name suppression.’
A prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault has lodged an appeal after losing his bid for name suppression.
The man lost suppression on February 19 but had his identity protected for one month to allow him the chance to appeal. That appeal was lodged today.
The man denies 12 charges of indecent assault against two people including two representative charges.
Heavy suppression orders mean the man cannot be identified, nor can his alleged victims or their ages.
He has elected trial by jury.
The charges, which include allegations of touching the complainants on the breast, buttocks, groin and thigh, are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Several media organisations, including NZME. publisher of The New Zealand Herald, have lodged a joint request for the appeal to be heard with urgency.’
This has to qualify for some; worst taste ever, award. Using the day of an IPCA report that found that there was; “no indication that because one of the boys fathers was a policeman this had any influence in the early [rape] investigation” to distract from the continued name suppression of an ex-policeman accused of sexual assault. All in aid of not having to explain governmental appointments in the leadup to a rare consultation with those that government supposedly represents!
[If I’m flying too close to the wind for the legal wellbeing of TS in this comment, excise all but the first sentence and: Euuuwwww!!!]
In The North it is very much public knowledge, ackshilly……except that we engage in the charade of discussion with everyone knowing but no one ackshilly saying. As noted by me in a comment here a couple of days ago recounting dancing discussion with a reasonably senior cop. A man I respect very much whom I believe reciprocates that. Wan, ‘not saying’ smiles both sides…….much averting of the eyes.
Notably, this man volunteered as follows when joshingly I enquired as to whether he was voting for Winston – “Well, I’ve always voted National……but this time……really……I dunno.” This man is hard National to coin a phrase ! What’s happening with soft National ? In fact this same man did say he thinks Winston’s gonna piss in.
Which may reflect sentiment he’s privy to on the side of things to which I have minimal access. Although two decent fulla cops I’ve spoken to since are all thumbs up for WP. One had already early-voted.
Completely off that thread – UKTV on in the background – that great wit Stephen Fry – “Confucious said……the good man knows what’s right……the sales man knows what sells !”
Now doesn’t that put you in mind of our very own, variously, simpering, gauche, construct angry, gutless, lying, Richie stalking, Little Churchill man(?), on the 9th floor ?
Which thoroughly accurate various characterisations ackshilly bring us full circle to revisit my policeman friend’s dilemma.
I get a recurring/sporadic/unpredictable problem when putting in clean linkys.
When sending, something inserts extra quotation marks and drops the http: from the address leading to our friend 404, or similar denier of information.
Sometimes I remember to check for it and fix it immediately, now, where did I put that post-it to remind me 🙂
For Post Its I use the old AT Notes programme .. so brilliant but the inventor never did any further work on it, maybe he got bored. But it is still one of the best note systems around imho … so simple and reliable ..
Sometimes it is just aesthetics 🙂
+ you probably know this but if you hover over the clean-link you get the URL at the base of your browser and can always hover + right click for ‘open/copy/save URL” options
Just as well we don’t have nukes! Key doesn’t even know what the gst is on $1.29.
Then again he most likely will tell a made up number for the rate of unemployment and what our govt debt is running at – so it’s all good.
Why dont people get it Key is FASCIST !!!
He has no right to be PM of this country and should be held up as the bastard he is
How much damage can you think of that has directly impacted on those who depend on govt support thru no fault of their own who are being denied the help that any truly free society would ensure was there no matter what the prosperity of the others is
You’d think this country was on the bones of its arse the way national portray it yet it is obvious we are run by a bunch of miserable self serving right wing capitalist who lie, destroy democracy and pander to a war machine that any sound thinking people would not have a bar of
If we are over a monetarist barrel its because we have a traitor for a PM WHO IS NOT A NZER in my view because I grew up with people who had fought in a real war which was about the crap that this govt does without the sanction of a true vote. this govt is corrupt and out of control and we need a new system of representation in govt in this country
Thomas Gallagher points out in Paddy’s Lament that during the first winter of famine, 1846-47, as perhaps 400,000 Irish peasants starved, landlords exported 17 million pounds sterling worth of grain, cattle, pigs, flour, eggs, and poultry—food that could have prevented those deaths. Throughout the famine, as Gallagher notes, there was an abundance of food produced in Ireland, yet the landlords exported it to markets abroad.
Gower on tv3 news tonight was saying Winston is going to make sure the Sabin news will get out before the election.
And Osbourne was saying he knows nothing.
ANDREW LITTLE speaking in Parliament on 10 Feb 2015.
“What about the standards of the Government? What about the promise of 2008 that “The Government I lead will be a Government of good standards.”, and its chance to do something, its chance to demonstrate that National actually is a party of standards in Government? It was confronted with it at the end of last year. One of National’s MPs was under a police investigation. One of its MPs—
Mr SPEAKER : Order! I invite members throughout this debate to be very careful. We know that there was a court case, and we know that all details were suppressed. [Interruption] Order! There is Standing Order 115. Should any members think I should consider this matter differently, I invite them to use that Standing Order and write to me. At this stage no member has done so. I invite Mr Little to continue.
ANDREW LITTLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I understand and appreciate the caution you are expressing. I make no reference at all and make no comment beyond the fact that it is on the record that a MP was under a police investigation. He is not the first. That Government well knows, because it has drawn the attention of the public to other MPs under a police investigation—a police investigation that led to no outcome at all.
But here is the point. We had an MP under investigation, who was then allowed by this Government to chair the parliamentary committee—
Mr SPEAKER : Order! [Interruption] Order! I have given a ruling that I had given considerable consideration to. If the member continues in this vein, I will have no choice but to terminate his speech. I have given a ruling whereby we acknowledge there is a court case of which all details were suppressed. [Interruption] Order! This is a time when this Parliament has a responsibility, a duty, to respect the jurisdiction of the court, and I expect that to occur today. I invite Mr Little to continue.” http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/debates/debates/daily/51HansD_20150210/volume-703-week-7-tuesday-10-february-2015
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Police in Solomon Islands are on high alert ahead of the election of the prime minister today. The two candidates for the top job are former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele at the head of the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation, which is ...
He’s fine but it feels like I’m losing a friend and it’s making me bitter. How do I say ‘enough is enough’? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzHey Hera,I’ve recently moved in with a girlfriend, her partner Steve, and his friend. We all live in a lovely little house. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Chartres, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Sydney shutterstockAhmet Misirligul/Shutterstock You go to the gym, eat healthy and walk as much as possible. You wash your hands and get vaccinated. You control your health. This is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqueline Hendriks, Research Fellow and Lecturer, Curtin University Children and young people may be seeing news headlines about men murdering women or footage of people rallying to call for action. Perhaps they or their friends have even gone to the protests. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Balanzategui, Senior Lecturer in Media, RMIT University ABC “Bluey mania” shows no sign of abating. Bluey’s season finale, The Sign, was the most viewed ABC program of all time on iView. A “hidden” follow-up episode, aptly named The Surprise, created ...
Labour market figures came in softer than the Reserve Bank had forecast, but they won’t be enough to move the needle on interest rates, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Unemployment ...
The campaign will engage the community and encourage submissions on the bill to the New Zealand government by the closing submission deadline of Friday 31st of May 2024 4pm. ...
The paper raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand's political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency plays in that. ...
The Urban Habitat Collective was an attempt to built an innovative new form of apartment building in Wellington. Here’s why it failed, and why the idea could still work, writes co-founder Bronwen Newton. When we started the Urban Habitat Collective in November 2018, we thought we were starting a revolution, ...
Two decades ago this week, a controversial law that attempted to define ownership of the foreshore and seabed prompted a formidable display of outrage and kōtahitanga as 15,000 marched to parliament. Jamie Tahana looks back.‘Hīkoi, hīkoi,” they chanted by the thousands as the biggest Māori march in a generation ...
On an unusually hot night in January 2019, a little boy’s lifeless body was found face up in a small town’s sewage oxidation pond. To the police, it was an open and shut case: three-year-old Lachlan Jones had run away from his home in the Southland town of Gore, climbed ...
A Labour Party Member’s Bill aims to plug a culpability gap between manslaughter and health and safety breaches The post New push for corporate killing laws appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Terence O’Brien had the rare and no doubt undesired distinction of rising to one of the most exalted positions in New Zealand diplomacy, then being unceremoniously recalled to Wellington without explanation just when his career was at its zenith. What is perhaps more surprising is that he appears to have ...
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Why has New Zealand slipped from third to 12th on Quality of Death Indexes over the past decade or so? Hospice New Zealand Chief Executive Wayne Naylor has a list of reasons. “We don’t have a current national strategy – the Government hasn’t renewed our 2001 strategy, so we don’t ...
While women’s sport is exploding in Aotearoa and around the world, you still don’t hear a lot of talk about athletes and their periods, RED-S, breastfeeding and visible panty-lines. SASS (Suze and Sez Sports)Talk isn’t afraid to have that kōrero.LockerRoom founder Suzanne McFadden and Olympian broadcaster Sarah ...
Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter has apologised in Parliament after National accused her of intimidating and attacking one of its ministers in the House. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Prime Minister and state and territory leaders met on Wednesday as the national cabinet to discuss a crisis gripping Australia – the horrific number of women murdered this year. The killings have shocked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Radhika Raghav, Teaching Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Otago Netflix Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his big-budget Bollywood production, featuring grand sets, star casts, meticulously choreographed dance sequences and lavish costumes, jewellery and furnishings. ...
Sir Robert devoted his life to disability rights after living in institutions in his younger years, says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University Violence against women is not a women’s problem to solve, it is a whole of society problem to solve; and men in particular have to take responsibility. Those were the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle Snapshot freddy/ShutterstockPlans to revive an old coal-fired power station using bioenergy are being considered in the Hunter region of New South Wales. Similar plans for the station ...
Responding to the long-awaited release of judges’ special allowances, including free air travel and hotels for spouses, generous sabbaticals, and access to limousines, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Alex Murphy said: “In what world does your employer ...
Analysis - The United States has unveiled plans to boost the weapons trade with Australia and the UK, on the same day that Winston Peters is expected to sketch NZ's position on AUKUS. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Carson, Professor of Political Communication, Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy, La Trobe University Since Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament referendum in October 2023, diverse commentaries have sought to explain why it failed. But what does an analysis of media ...
Lawyers representing two iwi as well as the Māori Women’s Welfare League on Wednesday asked the Court of Appeal to overturn last week’s High Court decision on the Waitangi Tribunal’s decision to summons Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Tribunal is currently investigating the Government’s decision to repeal section 7AA of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will introduce legislation to ban deepfake pornography and provide more funding for the eSafety Commission to pilot age-assurance technologies. The contribution of internet sites to gender-based violence was one major issue ...
Average ordinary time hourly earnings, as measured by the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), increased 5.2 percent in the year to the March 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. Annual wage cost inflation, as measured by the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, FinTech Capability Lead | Senior Lecturer, Emerging Technologies and FinTech, Swinburne University of Technology Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash In the digital era, the job market is increasingly becoming a minefield – demanding and difficult to navigate. According to the Australian Bureau ...
As of the March 2024 quarter, we can now look back on 20 years of data related to youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET), as collected by the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), according to figures released by Stats NZ today. "The ...
Thousands of workers attended public events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch today to celebrate International Workers’ Day (May Day), but union representatives are urging caution and vigilance over the Government’s blatantly "anti-worker" ...
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in the March 2024 quarter, compared with 4.0 percent in the previous quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
The PSA is warning the Government that the sensitive information of New Zealanders held by various agencies will fall into the wrong hands if the latest round of proposed cuts goes ahead. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karinna Saxby, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne MART PRODUCTION/Pexels Increasing income support could help keep women and children safe according to new work demonstrating strong links between financial insecurity and domestic violence. ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark A Gregory, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, RMIT University The telecommunications industry faces a major shakeup following the release of the post-incident report on last November’s 12-hour Optus outage. Telecommunications companies will have to share more information with customers during future ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Eden Denyer, bookseller at Unity Books Auckland.Weirdest question/request you’ve had on the shop floorA mother came in looking for anything we might have on Alaskan bison as that was her little boy’s ...
NZCTU Economist Craig Renney said new data released by Statistics New Zealand shows the need for Government to act now, with unemployment rising from 3.4% to 4.3%. ...
The outpouring of anger over Maiki Sherman’s hyperbolic presentation of this week’s ‘nightmare’ poll is itself an overreaction, argues Stewart Sowman-Lund. Politicians love nothing more than to pretend they don’t care about polls. This week, deputy prime minister Winston Peters said he didn’t give a “rat’s derriere” about a TVNZ ...
Asia Pacific Report Ngāti Kahungunu in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay region has become the first indigenous Māori iwi (tribe) to sign a resolution calling for a “ceasefire in Palestine”, reports Te Ao Māori News. Reporter Te Aniwaniwa Paterson talked to Te Otāne Huata, who has been organising peace rallies ...
By Dale Luma in Port Moresby “We want grants and not concessional loans,” is the crisp message from Papua New Guinea businesses directly affected by the Black Wednesday looting four months ago. The businesses, which lost millions after the January 10 rioting and looting, say they need grants as part ...
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By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Former opposition leader Matthew Wale has been announced as the second prime ministerial candidate ahead of the election in Solomon Islands tomorrow. He will face off against former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele, who was announced by the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation ...
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A Koi Tū discussion paper released today proposes sweeping changes to New Zealand’s media industry. The principal’s key author, Gavin Ellis, explains how journalists have a key role to play in making others value their role in society. This is an abridged version of a piece first published on knightlyviews.com ...
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And the Herald’s intentions with yesterday’s story on Len Brown are revealed in todays editorial. Clearly, a Len Brown run for a third term would be bitterly opposed by the Herald, who annointed Goff their preferred candidate today.
I find their reasoning quite interesting. The clear assumption is Goff will be a right wing mayor, another neo-liberal wolf in sheeps clothing. I guess the big question is this – who is the best candidate to stop privatisation of the CCO’s and ensure the CRL planning goes ahead until such time as a Labour government wins power and Hide’s insane governance model is reformed? If that is your criteria then Goff is as good as any, and his electability is better than anyones.
Diversion tactics 101, find a plausible yet ambiguous topic that you can publish no end of speculation over I.e. no facts or hard evidence required.
Anything but Sabin, northland by election pork barrelling, milk solids price impact of Blingish already BS numbers and how about that 25k liu donation to name a few issues of far more relevance.
Sigh
That indeed IS the question….
When Banks didn’t get to be mayor of the ACT/National juggernaut as planned whoever did get in was going to feel the full force of DP.
Dark days ahead
DP?
FOG?
Yep – I’ve been thinking along those lines too. Auckland will be sold off (the remains of what hasn’t somehow been sold yet) . Sigh ….. and after all the hard work done by hundreds of Aucklanders backing City Vision trying to keep the super-city intact.
Nz MSM and Nz politics both have the same controllers it would seem
Quite the conspiracy
Interesting piece on USA weapon sales – http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/03/16/16913/america-remains-top-arms-seller-world
The old adage – “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” – gets play out well in this piece.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/03/17/16895/south-african-who-attacked-nuclear-plant-hero-his-government-and-fellow-citizens
On what Iprent was saying the other day about new/continuation of Nuclear arms race – The centre for public integrity will be publishing some more on the Nuclear issue over the next few days – I’ll keep you posted.
war is a racket…
listen to USA’s exhortations to EU countries that they must spend more more more on their militaries
Whangarei MP Shane Reti called the protest group organiser last week and told her to stop “agitating” for tar-sealed roads during the by-election campaign. And if they didn’t stop, their wish may not get fulfilled!
It is outrageous for a Government, a Minister or an MP, in a democracy to tell people who are exercising their legitimate rights of freedom and protesting about any issue (dusty roads that need tar seal in this case), to shut up for two weeks until the by-election is finished. It is even more outrageous to be threatened that ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!’ That is definitely blackmail, worse than what Aaron Gilmore did.
National’s campaign manager, Steven Joyce, says there were no instructions to MPs to shut down protest groups. Mr Key says he had nothing to do with Dr Reti’s call.
This arrogant and disgraceful MP, Reti should resign or be sacked immediately. There is no other way. Nothing else is good enough. Is there?
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/labour-pm-must-deal-with-bullying-mp-2015031904
The end of the second paragraph should read :
It is even more outrageous to be threatened with threats which imply that ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!’ That is definitely blackmail, worse than what Aaron Gilmore did.
Key is responsible for his govt why lie about it culpable
” ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!”
You give this statement as a direct quote. They don’t appear in the story you link to.
Can you please provide a source for these words being used?
They are not the DIREST exact words of Reti but they may as well be because that IS the intent and implications of his threat and blackmail.
However, I have added a further comment to my original comment as follows:
The end of the second paragraph should read :
It is even more outrageous to be threatened with threats which imply that ‘if you don’t stop protesting for the next two weeks, we will punish you by not doing a bloody thing about those roads!’ That is definitely blackmail, worse than what Aaron Gilmore did.
The moment we all heard about Reti’s comments (up here in the north) we thought he’d taken a leaf out of his master’s book – threatening to withdraw funding for the 10 bridges if the Nats don’t win this by-election. If Shon Key can indulge in a little blackmail to voters, why shouldn’t Reti follow in his footsteps ? Definitely blackmail.
alwyn, “…” signifies a quote, not ‘…’
Clemgeopin clearly used the latter
On a different topic – I see in the Dom Post that the infamous health scheme initiated by Ryall owes millions in loans which are not being paid back. That health scheme is now being dismantled.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/67439973/Scheme-can-t-pay-back-loans
“” The Government’s flagship health cost-cutting scheme has taken out millions of dollars worth of taxpayer-funded loans, despite concerns it could not pay a cent back, new documents reveal. ………………………””
“” The organisation is now the subject of an investigation by the auditor-general. ……..””
“” HBL is being wound down by Health Minister Jonathan Coleman in June, with its programmes transferred to Auckland regional DHB-led services provider HealthAlliance. ………….””
And I’m left wondering why the heck certain southern health boards are going ahead with its ‘frozen food from Auckland for the patients ‘ proposal when it appears to have been such a shonky scheme.
What extraordinary failure …. and who needs $10 million to develop business plans ? Was this using private consultants ? And now Alkd DHB has to absorb the loss of funds? Baby cheeses.
And agree Jenny .. why on earth would Dunedin be buying frozen pre-cooked food from Auckland ? Clearly nothing to do with patient health and well-being. Stupid, stupid people.
( And have to ask now .. was Ryall pushed for incompetence ?)
This interview with Key by the Northern Advocate this morning is worth a read:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11419691
Thanks Karen. Great article. It reminds me of Effie Trinket visiting District 12!
Thanks Karen. Insightful interview. All those media/security minders! And an interesting trawl through the Northern Advocate.
And the frank and honest response from the PM to the questions asked? Not so much.
Key’s answers read like a Crosby and Textor report card. The interviewer tried, but slippery Key just slimes all over it as usual and never deviates from his scripts.
Personally, I would have offered him the black cup for some mana, so to speak.
Yes Rawshark but at least the way Ms Laird has written up the story just helps show up Shon Key and his slippery non-answers all the more ! And this paper goes out all over the place in the north.
@Karen
Yep thanks for that Karen. Nicely written piece. Key hates being asked tough questions.
Incidentally there was an editorial in the ODT yesterday that was very critical of the behaviour of Key and his government, especially in terms of lack of transparency and what this means for democracy.
I am surprised the herald picked it up.
As usual, read the comments. Very telling about the true state of the campaign..
Oh ah from Chris Hedges.
Utmost respect for this lady
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_most_dangerous_woman_in_america_20150315
How heartening it is to read of Kshama Sawant! I found this bit particularly striking:
“The idea that things have to get a lot worse to have some sort of awakening and bring about an alternative to this corrupt and defunct corporate political system is inaccurate,” she said to me. “What we need is a big surge for an independent working-class political alternative while people are experiencing a sense of confidence, after decades of bitter defeat…
I remember Xtasy, who I think must have left the country, saying we that need a new left wing political party. What we need more is a grassroots political movement that is able to make its presence felt, whether or not it takes the form of a political party.
Ideally it will not be in the form of a political party, but in the form of a pressure/action/education movement which applies leverage to the pressure points of every political party.
I agree with you where New Zealand is concerned. A political party would become an option if the movement’s concerns were not met by existing political vehicles, and the momentum was sufficient to make forming a party look like a goer. But the ability to make our presence felt has to come first.
ideally what would happen is that some capable individuals from the movement would over time eventually join every political party. This would give the movement some voice from within the parties as well, possibly even as candidates and MPs.
However, the independent pressure and presence outside the institutional establishment must always stay strong and separate from those political parties, if the true and honest voice of the people is to be heard true and loud in Wellington. At the moment, it’s not.
I think I see what you are getting at now – that a pressure group outside of the institutional establishment is not open to being transformed into yet another vehicle for the political class. I accept that point, and am mindful as well of the precarious path to a new party’s becoming established. I do not suggest a new party as a desirable outcome (I am a LP member, probably for similar reasons to yours) but would not rule it out altogether where a movement was able to gain real momentum at the grassroots level without also gaining real political influence within the existing establishment.
Yes indeed. The Left needs to re-examine what having “real political influence” means in a modern context. The Right have got the idea very well and exercise their own version of it reasonably ably (sometimes).
Party politics is undemocratic by nature it requires manipulation of the vote to achieve an out come and its is not responsible to the voters only the party
A successful candidate at an election serves his party before the voters or he does not get the favour of the party classic in Northland not much gets done just vote accumulation for the National party’s overall gerrymandering of political system, until now a bunch of false promises and unrealistic political expectations. The destruction of the RMA and the sovereignty of the nations resources in the area ie a sellout to the oil companies spells a F.U.C.K.E.D. PARADISE
Key is a liar and a cheat
Olwyn and CR
Would a left wing think tank be a vehicle that would match what you are talking about they seem very influential and regularly back the memes being presented by RW parties particularly?
I cannot speak for CR, but to me it would be an important part of such a movement. I will have to look up what Sue Bradford has to say about it, since that is the subject of her doctorate. One thing a think tank would hopefully do is pull some of the disparate threads of the left together.
I think Kshama points out an important issue that was taught to left – the hard way, the last election.
Never take money from the corporations.
Even if that corporation is fighting with other corporations, and may be extradited.
Grass roots is going to be broke – all that means is – it must be smarter.
I do not have any beef with either Dotcom or Hone Harawira. I think the lesson there was that money sans connections can be more damaging than no money. There is nothing the powerful hate more than a large sum of money that is not subject to their own concerns and agreements. And I wholeheartedly agree with you about money with corporate strings attached, whether potentially or actively.
How can this be? “She holds a doctorate in economics…” An economist who is driving changes to help the disadvantaged? Must be an aberration. Get rid of her say the powerful country wide elite.
And fancy bringing Seattle to its knees my raising the minimum wage to $15! Sacrilege. Thanks Adam.
On her thesis – elderly labor supply in a less developed rural economy
http://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/citations/2857
marilyn waring has been promoting the idea of unpaid work being valued as part of GDP for decades…
it’s the economists who speak for banks that are trash
The culture of cupidity always has it’s dilettantes.
Have puzzled for days on the reasons Mark Osborne secured Nat selection … have written several times that I think he must have been ‘bought’ for his silence. No basis for it, other than a gut response to his ineptitude .. and yes, I accept he was approved as candidate when Key arrogantly believed there was never a problem in this safe seat.
But this was posted under a March 12 Dita di Boni Herald story on Northland …
Quote:
“The National ‘candidate’ owns the local beauty parlour where his wife and until the s**t hit the fan, Mike Sabin’s wife did all the work, he is not known for his ‘work ethic’. ”
So I am curious if anyone will confirm this ? That Osborne owns the business where Mrs Sabin and Mrs Osborne worked together, that is until Mrs Sabin didn’t for whatever personal reasons?
So has Osborne been bought for his silence on what has happened to Sabin and his family ?
Comment by Barnzy at 11.07 am .. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11415670
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11415670
So how much did Osborne lie to various media when he said he knew nothing of Sabin’s ‘personal matters’ ?
Oh, how I hope Winston bloodies the nose of Key and his crony government. I hope he leaves them reeling and unable to proceed with their anti-NZ agenda.
I think Winston has already bloodied Key’s nose. The fact that the Nats have had to stir themselves and spend big money would never have happened without Winston. Even should Winston not win I am sure that Northland will greatly benefit from the exposure. Woe betide Key if he doesn’t act in the future.
Winston the cunning old dog figured out very quickly that participating in the Northland by-election was a win win for NZ First. Labour eventually figured out that participating in the Northland by-election was going to be a lose-lose for them.
National, they’re just in total reactive mode right now. And ruing how they did not pause for a moment to stick the knife in Winston proper when he was down and out a few years ago.
they look panicked… and some who have so far been unquestioning of this Government, imust begin to wonder why…
@ianmac — yes, much woe betiding 😀 But i want Winston to complete the fight.
and CR .. I thought they did stick the knife in again and again and think him finished. What a lovely horror story for them.
rawshark yeshe
Shades of the Terminator reforming from small pools of metal that roll together, coalesce and rise! I will be back says Winston.
You cant put anything past this govt when it comes to lying and cheating, its head honcho is the master of lies for the whole western alliance
In the future? With what FJK did, he should have resigned already.
Nope – I think you’ll find its not Sabin’s wife who is the hairdresser/beautician, but Osborne’s wife. She runs the beauty parlour, so I’ve been told.
But I do have to say , if Osborne didn’t know much about Sabin before the 2014 election, he probably was the only one in the north who wasn’t questionning that very issue !
The average New Zealand Beauty Salon employs five people. It’s entirely possible that they worked together.
Mark and Jodi Osborne are the owners of Doubtless Beauty in Mangonui, which is just over the hill from Coopers Beach.
According to Slater the prominent NZer who has name suppression that will lapse today is not Mike Sabin but the person Cunliffe had lunch with.
If true, Hooton was particularly mischievious by referring to this in a thread where I asked if Sabin was forgotten.
http://thestandard.org.nz/key-crosses-a-bridge-too-far/#comment-984313
http://thestandard.org.nz/chutzpah-in-northland/#comment-985564
Would Cunliffe have known about the charges at the time he met this person (if what Cameron Slater says about the person is correct)? I imagine there would have been name suppression? Was it widely rumoured at the time? If Cunliffe were to be assumed knowledge of this person’s alleged crimes, would not the same apply to Key’s knowledge of Sabin’s?
Perfect logic Tracey … but we can’t expect Key and msm to play by the same rules they apply to Labour !
Funny, I believe Cunliffe had no idea, but Key knew everything.
Not just knew, but appointed him to as chairman of Parliament’s law and order committee.
Cunliffe didn’t have any political dealings with that other offender.
It seems to me that parliament is the last place to keep a secret. It strikes me as a very insular, gossipy, incestuous place (I include media gallery in this).
So IF it is the person who cunliffe had lunch with, what do we think the headline will be???
Have you got a link for whaleoil?
I don’t know how to do it without infesting people… I NEVER go there as a rule, but looking for the date of the lifting of name suppression i wound up there.
Hopefully you can tell me if I have misunderstood what he was trying to assert
http://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.whaleoil.co.nz%2F2015%2F02%2Fprominent-new-zealander-to-lose-name-suppression-march-19%2F&ei=MgYKVYyAHIfAmAW62oDYDw&usg=AFQjCNGojAAZOgB_efdovSedsVhwdQOn_g&sig2=lkE95svADMm6jnQxquXNPw&bvm=bv.88528373,d.dGY
After posting my comment @9.3, I saw your (Tracey) comment at 9.2.1.
Reading the WO post at the link, IMO this latest post essentially is saying what I was trying to say – that the prominent NZer whose name suppression expires today unless appealed by 5pm today IS NOT the other prominent NZer who Cunliffe had lunch with.
agree vv. it is not the one from the south.
I DID misunderstand… apologies to all impugned by my misunderstanding.
@Tracey .. go to http://www.donotlink.com .. cut and paste the url of the site you do not wish to directly link with and it makes a new link for you which u can cut and paste anywhere ! It’s marvelous .. I think lprent taught me how !
this new link for yr story:
http://www.donotlink.com/e656
thanks
You can even google the article and ctrl +copy link location (or the equivalent on your device) and paste that into donotlink, and that way you don’t have to open the website even once 🙂
GREAT
Your link took my browser straight to the actual whaleoil site. Probably not what you meant to do, but that’s what happened. Thanks but no thanks.
I don’t know how not to CV, and people wanted to know where my source was… I think I have completely understood…
CR .. see my donotlink above at 9.2.1.2
Different ends of the country, Tracey.
The case of the prominent NZer who Cunliffe met took place down south and has finished, with the person given permanent name suppression – against the wishes of the victim and others.
The court hearing that happened on the same day (30 Jan 2015) as Sabin resigned took place at the other end of the country. Although all details were suppressed, including the District Court where the hearing took place, one online (only) news service (Yahoo) actually published the location.
I will not publish a link but their article is still available via Google, using “disputed facts hearing NZ”; country NZ; and customizing the time period for the search.
[WARNING to anyone who finds the article – DO NOT provide a link or name the location here on TS, as the location suppression still continues until lifted.]
Tracey, re your first sentence in your comment @ 9 – Where and when did Slater say that the person whose name suppression will lapse today (unless appealed) is not Sabin but the person who Cunliffe had lunch with?
I have been going to WO using Donotlink to see what he writes on the suppression case(s) quite regularly as WO claims to know a lot about the case or cases (he has implied that there are more than one) but have not seen him claim what you said.
He has written a number of posts on the subject but has been very careful to not breach suppression and has moderated comments strongly to avoid this.
I am not going to go back there and search his archives, but remember that on occasions (including just a couple of days ago) he has implied that there may be more than one person up on current charges with name suppression – but I do not recall anything that linked these current cases with the closed case down south.
Thanks, googled. I posted the link above…
and they were adults in the south case, able to request lifting of their personal name suppression but failed in removing suppression of the felon’s name. Derryn Hinch in Oz made it plain he didn’t like it much.
LOL – I am sure that searches for Derryn Hinch’s blog site have gone up since the southern case!
Maybe he is friend’s with Winston ?
UPDATE
Re the case where name suppression is due to expire at 5pm today, Graeme Edgeler has just tweeted that he understands that an appeal is being lodged today, so the suppression will not lapse.
https://twitter.com/GraemeEdgeler/status/578338832250118145
Last night, Graeme and Matt Nippert (NZ Herald) also had an interesting Twitter exchange, presumably also related to this case. Matt has been trying to get the terms of the suppression order, without success.
https://twitter.com/GraemeEdgeler/status/578135219494109184
EDIT – the latter case may not be the same as Matt mentions High Court in this twitter exchange, whereas I think the other case is still in the District Court.
confusion again then ?
I may be in this instance as to whether Matt’s inquiries are about the same case – or a related but separate case.
The situation seems quite similar, however, in terms of not being able to get the terms of the suppression order ……
we shall see what we can see then … and thanks for twitter links.
I think the appeal against the name suppression in the case we are all interested in has to be lodged in the high court. I suspect it is the same case Matt Nippert is talking about because he first applied a month ago and was complaining about the refusal taking so long.
I would be very surprised if an appeal against the lifting of name suppression was not lodged today, and by leaving it until just before the deadline it is not likely to be heard this month. I doubt if there is any justification for the appeal, but certain people will not want it declined in the near future, hence the cynical last minute submission.
Thanks, Karen. I think you are right about the appeal having to be lodged with the High Court. I also think Matt’s application probably is related.
Leaving the lodging of an appeal today will delay matters and is not unexpected as National certainly don’t want anything getting out into the public arena until after the by-election. Don’t think it will do them any good, though!
and so the appeal lodged today will take revelation past the Northland election date?
The National voters of northland need to drink a can of give a fuck and do the right thing.
Thx Karen … how cynical they are. Interesting you doubt any justification for the appeal ? I expect it due to ‘family matters’.
Key must be sweating blood …. and it couldn’t happen to a better politician.
FURTHER UPDATE
Victoria Young of NBR has confirmed that an appeal has now been lodged and NBR will have an article up shortly. Graeme Edgeler replied that one or two weeks would normally be enough to file such an appeal – as oppose to four weeks in this case.
https://twitter.com/GraemeEdgeler/status/578372179143704576
The suppression order was made and lifted in the District Court. The appealing of the lifting of the order therefore has to be in the High Court. Lodging the appeal on the last possible day is a cynical move to keep the incidents out of the election campaign. The Herald is applying to the High Court to expedite the appeal with urgency.
FJK and NAct are lower than I had ever thought possible in our country.
Slater is lying. The charges are different.
or maybe I have completely misunderstood…. so many maybes…
so maybe have a nice cuppa ? we got there in the end .. well, as far as we could ! 🙂
I’m cutting to the chase!
The suppression order which lapsed today is [deleted]. Of course an appeal was lodged. [deleted]
The MSM if they had any guts would – en masse – ignore the judiciary and print/speak what they know.
[lprent: Too far and too much danger for the site. ]
well sliced Anne ! This goes to the heart of Nats corruption… secrets kept for three elections. Something will come out, I have to believe it as the alternative is just too awful.
Someone needs to (and I never thought I would write that)
When it comes to the establishment and authoritarian regimes like the police, I have a healthy dose of contempt born out of experience. After a number of years of clandestine bullying, intimidation and some other worse forms of criminal behaviour, I approached the police (half a dozen times in total) and they did nothing. Why? Because there was a strong political element to the case, and I was on the ‘wrong’ side of the political fence. It therefore suited them to treat me and my claims with derision. It all happened 20+ years ago now, but I don’t see that anything much has changed.
Hence I have no qualms calling them out when I perceive it to be appropriate… regardless of consequences.
Here it is … and several media applying for urgency on the appeal …
“A prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault has lodged an appeal after losing his bid for name suppression.
The man lost suppression on February 19 but had his identity protected for one month to allow him the chance to appeal. That appeal was lodged today.
The man denies 12 charges of indecent assault against two people including two representative charges.
Heavy suppression orders mean the man cannot be identified, nor can his alleged victims or their ages.
He has elected trial by jury.
The charges, which include allegations of touching the complainants on the breast, buttocks, groin and thigh, are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Several media organisations, including NZME. publisher of The New Zealand Herald, have lodged a joint request for the appeal to be heard with urgency.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11419961
I blame the toffee pops and my complete inability to resist them… addled me poor brain (and the guy mowing lawns for 1.5 hours)
i need toffee pops today ….
They are EVIL!!!!!!!!! They pretend to be good but they want to harm you….
a National Govt biscuit ? Oh dear …. might have to go back to toblerone …
Anybody notice that there were anti neo lib riots in Germany today..350 arrests. Burnt cars. Tear gas. .saw it on RT and BBC. Looked on the rest of the MSN. …Zippo. The revolution will not be televised.
@ Ennui
I heard about the protest.. They are blaming the ECB. A spokesperson for the ECB complained that the protesters did not give them credit for trying to cushion economic blows to the economy. The economy is still alive and well and moving forward in its wheelchair with the help of dedicated attendants. The people are alive and not very well and protesting.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/67441821/teens-stood-down-from-school-after-attack-on-gang-member
Stood down? Should get a commendation.
Commending vigilante/gang prospect behaviour. Yeah, cool mate.
Sometimes the police need a little help every now and then so I’m comfortable with it
How can you be so certain of that, when the amount of information in your link is so sparse?
If some of us attack and assault some MPs who voted against feeding children, will you champion us for commendation?
Go for it and I’ll let you know 🙂
I thought as much.
Seeing as you and others on here wouldn’t commit such an act (wouldn’t have the courage) it seemed a rather pointless question
Assault = courage?
Nice to know, thanks chris.
Did you mean Chris Bishop felix? That would be funny, he’s a right little twerp. What a wannabe tough guy this Puckish Rogue numpty is. He has definitely got some guts.
I meant “chris73” which is one of the many other names “Puckish Rogue” (PR) uses here, although we’re not supposed to say so.
You’re welcome
says the big man with the fake name…
Really? Theres good reasons why people use fake names on here, including but not limited to job security
I thought we were discussing courage… coward
The IPCC report on the pork’s investigation of the Roastbusters is out. No surprises: they were useless and failed at the most basic standards of investigation. Floods of crocodile tears are flowing. Disgusting.
Here’s the form of press releases to follow in all such circumstances in chronological order.
1. There is no problem. Nobody has complained. What’s your problem?
2. You are being mischievous in claiming that there is a problem and undermining public confidence in our good work.
3. There might be a problem, but we are very disappointed that you brought this to public attention when we were really dealing with it.
4. It’s an isolated case.
5. We regret that an external authority has shown us to be absolutely fucking useless because one of the perpetrators was a cop’s son but it’s all historical and everything’s been fixed now so I don’t know why you’re making a fuss about it now.
Repeat the next time it inevitably happens.
The 44 page document from the IPCA can be found here: 19 March 2015 IPCA Public Report – Report on Police’s handling of the alleged offending by ‘Roastbusters’.pdf.
Thanks Rhinocrates and Molly, have created a post
pork?
Yes, an unclean beast.
IPCA report into; “Roast Busters”, is highly critical of police. But the only mention of reopening the case I’ve seen so far is:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/67443183/ipca-roast-busters-report-slams-police
Surely this can’t be the end of it when:
114.6 – The fact that the father of one of the young men was a Police officer had no influence on Police’s handling of the investigations.
How can Sir David Carruthers make such a definitive statement ? I suggest it would be well-nigh impossible to find out the veracity of such a claim.
and fair to suggest Sir David would know exactly that …
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/public-healthcare/news/article.cfm?c_id=294&objectid=11419782
10,000 Kiwi kids in need have support cut …
But, but, but we need a new flag ???
In the nearly 50 years of being an adult so to speak and having a landline in my home I can’t remember when I received the last of maybe 3 unsolicited ‘research organisation’ calls seeking telephone survey participation.
Last night I took a call from an articulate, pleasent voiced young man seeking that I respond to questions in respect of a “major government department”. I asked for the identity of the party commissioning the survey, noting that if it was the National Party……”not interested mate….”. The caller said “that should be obvious from the first question” but no, he was not allowed to expressly identify. Strange ? Refuse to tell me then tell me.
I went along. There were put numerous questions the first and every one following about “the IRD”. For answer on a scale of 1-5. All boiling down to whether IRD is fair, understanding, uses technology well, etc etc. In the round broad brush stuff.
This afternoon another call this time about the ACC. “We are in the middle of a by-election in Northland and I get two calls in two days to my identifiably Northland landline…….no thank you.”
Call me suspicious…….but the coincidence of there being perhaps two and a half decades between the date of the last such call and the two successive days of the 4th and 5th ? About entities under the purview of a cabinet minister……
Didn’t engage the second call but in yesterday’s – demographic established, level of education including degree/post graduate or not, self employed or not, various other categorisations canvassed. Yesterday’s caller did name the organisation conducting the survey which I don’t recall. Today’s didn’t as I recall but it was a short call.
This PM does not indulge in coincidence. Have you asked at kiwiblog? Afterall Farrar has dipped his toe in ethics, hasn’t he? You know after DP?
Incidentally I got a refund cheque fro IRD. had to wait for it to clear. Started to worry the government had bankrupted us 😉
Of course it was not a coincidence. My God they’re getting desperate! Fancy resorting to the pretense of acting on behalf of two controversial govt. departments – IRD and ACC – to glean the views of your average punter in Northland. Next week, what’s the bet there are going to be two major reforms announced concerning the two departments in question.
Golden days for Davey boys Curia, him and the other players like Matty are simply loving the extra work desparation is throwing their way.
Cripes they could bill any value and it would get paid the way listing ship NACT is behaving in order to get it back upright.
Don’t know about Matty, I thought he was still in the dog box. DP Farrar though, mad overtime.
News just out.
‘Prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault appeals for name suppression.’
A prominent New Zealander charged with indecent assault has lodged an appeal after losing his bid for name suppression.
The man lost suppression on February 19 but had his identity protected for one month to allow him the chance to appeal. That appeal was lodged today.
The man denies 12 charges of indecent assault against two people including two representative charges.
Heavy suppression orders mean the man cannot be identified, nor can his alleged victims or their ages.
He has elected trial by jury.
The charges, which include allegations of touching the complainants on the breast, buttocks, groin and thigh, are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Several media organisations, including NZME. publisher of The New Zealand Herald, have lodged a joint request for the appeal to be heard with urgency.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11419961
Waited until the last day …
Unbelievable corruption.
Well dirty is – what dirty does.
I’m sure the amoral person is happy to help justice.
Nothing to fear – nothing to hide?
Yes interesting how some folk are allowed their own privacy.
But don’t want the rest of us any privacy through the TPPA.
Privacy is the tool for the rich, to keep us in the dark, about the fact, they have no morals.
Wonder how public this knowledge is.
very, but not yet enough. http://www.donotlink.com/e67z
This has to qualify for some; worst taste ever, award. Using the day of an IPCA report that found that there was; “no indication that because one of the boys fathers was a policeman this had any influence in the early [rape] investigation” to distract from the continued name suppression of an ex-policeman accused of sexual assault. All in aid of not having to explain governmental appointments in the leadup to a rare consultation with those that government supposedly represents!
[If I’m flying too close to the wind for the legal wellbeing of TS in this comment, excise all but the first sentence and: Euuuwwww!!!]
yes. very noticeable isn’t it ? then I thought I was just being toooo cynical. Yeah? Nah.
In The North it is very much public knowledge, ackshilly……except that we engage in the charade of discussion with everyone knowing but no one ackshilly saying. As noted by me in a comment here a couple of days ago recounting dancing discussion with a reasonably senior cop. A man I respect very much whom I believe reciprocates that. Wan, ‘not saying’ smiles both sides…….much averting of the eyes.
Notably, this man volunteered as follows when joshingly I enquired as to whether he was voting for Winston – “Well, I’ve always voted National……but this time……really……I dunno.” This man is hard National to coin a phrase ! What’s happening with soft National ? In fact this same man did say he thinks Winston’s gonna piss in.
Which may reflect sentiment he’s privy to on the side of things to which I have minimal access. Although two decent fulla cops I’ve spoken to since are all thumbs up for WP. One had already early-voted.
Completely off that thread – UKTV on in the background – that great wit Stephen Fry – “Confucious said……the good man knows what’s right……the sales man knows what sells !”
Now doesn’t that put you in mind of our very own, variously, simpering, gauche, construct angry, gutless, lying, Richie stalking, Little Churchill man(?), on the 9th floor ?
Which thoroughly accurate various characterisations ackshilly bring us full circle to revisit my policeman friend’s dilemma.
If this already got mentioned and I missed it, then just enjoy it all over again 🙂
before you begin to shake with fear recalling these idiots have nukes
didn’t link anywhere, freedom .. maybe check it ?
fixed 🙂
I get a recurring/sporadic/unpredictable problem when putting in clean linkys.
When sending, something inserts extra quotation marks and drops the http: from the address leading to our friend 404, or similar denier of information.
Sometimes I remember to check for it and fix it immediately,
now, where did I put that post-it to remind me 🙂
For Post Its I use the old AT Notes programme .. so brilliant but the inventor never did any further work on it, maybe he got bored. But it is still one of the best note systems around imho … so simple and reliable ..
http://atnotes.free.fr/download.html
I find it easier to just post the link as its own visible self. We get to see the URL that way too, which is often helpful.
Sometimes it is just aesthetics 🙂
+ you probably know this but if you hover over the clean-link you get the URL at the base of your browser and can always hover + right click for ‘open/copy/save URL” options
if we had button html instead of having to type it, I’d probably be more aesthetic too 😉
Harder to see the URL on a phone, have to open a popup, although the txt size on my laptop isn’t that great either.
Just as well we don’t have nukes! Key doesn’t even know what the gst is on $1.29.
Then again he most likely will tell a made up number for the rate of unemployment and what our govt debt is running at – so it’s all good.
Why dont people get it Key is FASCIST !!!
He has no right to be PM of this country and should be held up as the bastard he is
How much damage can you think of that has directly impacted on those who depend on govt support thru no fault of their own who are being denied the help that any truly free society would ensure was there no matter what the prosperity of the others is
You’d think this country was on the bones of its arse the way national portray it yet it is obvious we are run by a bunch of miserable self serving right wing capitalist who lie, destroy democracy and pander to a war machine that any sound thinking people would not have a bar of
If we are over a monetarist barrel its because we have a traitor for a PM WHO IS NOT A NZER in my view because I grew up with people who had fought in a real war which was about the crap that this govt does without the sanction of a true vote. this govt is corrupt and out of control and we need a new system of representation in govt in this country
Just in case there wasn’t enough crappy news today, in barges Rupert Murdoch :
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/67448840/rupert-murdochs-news-corp-takes-apn-stake
Why the Real Story of the Irish Exodus to America Isn’t Taught in Schools
And the same is happening today in NZ. As our children go hungry the capitalists export food.
Gower on tv3 news tonight was saying Winston is going to make sure the Sabin news will get out before the election.
And Osbourne was saying he knows nothing.
It’s Osborne…
ANDREW LITTLE speaking in Parliament on 10 Feb 2015.
“What about the standards of the Government? What about the promise of 2008 that “The Government I lead will be a Government of good standards.”, and its chance to do something, its chance to demonstrate that National actually is a party of standards in Government? It was confronted with it at the end of last year. One of National’s MPs was under a police investigation. One of its MPs—
Mr SPEAKER : Order! I invite members throughout this debate to be very careful. We know that there was a court case, and we know that all details were suppressed. [Interruption] Order! There is Standing Order 115. Should any members think I should consider this matter differently, I invite them to use that Standing Order and write to me. At this stage no member has done so. I invite Mr Little to continue.
ANDREW LITTLE : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I understand and appreciate the caution you are expressing. I make no reference at all and make no comment beyond the fact that it is on the record that a MP was under a police investigation. He is not the first. That Government well knows, because it has drawn the attention of the public to other MPs under a police investigation—a police investigation that led to no outcome at all.
But here is the point. We had an MP under investigation, who was then allowed by this Government to chair the parliamentary committee—
Mr SPEAKER : Order! [Interruption] Order! I have given a ruling that I had given considerable consideration to. If the member continues in this vein, I will have no choice but to terminate his speech. I have given a ruling whereby we acknowledge there is a court case of which all details were suppressed. [Interruption] Order! This is a time when this Parliament has a responsibility, a duty, to respect the jurisdiction of the court, and I expect that to occur today. I invite Mr Little to continue.”
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/debates/debates/daily/51HansD_20150210/volume-703-week-7-tuesday-10-february-2015
How can that idiot speaker claim to be protecting the integrity of parliament?