Did somebody say unions? I wonder if Matt McCarten is relaxed about Unite Support Services unpaid and overdue taxes? That’s assessed taxes by the way, not “potential” taxes legally avoided.
[Stop trolling. First and last warning. Stick to the subject matter of the post – MS]
Good grief. I would have thought the situation with Unite was at least partly relevant, although in their case it probably wasn’t avoidance.
[lprent: Because the post was about
If you want to make your own rules then create your own blog and your own audience. If you try it here… Well read the self-martyrdom offences in the policy. Do you have any rational questions – possibly ones related to rule making procedures on privately held blogs?
Please note that I have less interest in litigating the meaning of what we put in our policy than I do in the creative process of writing pithy and highly offensive notes as I ban someone. ]
Why does the government sign a deal so that Big Pharma need more corporate welfare and tax discounts, and longer patents so that big Pharma receive more profits, under TPPA?
More robbing the poor to pay more to the rich!
Bet that’s not mentioned on the tax payer funder Roadshow.
Its great eh the way rich think about tax .
They are controlling the game merely by their presence and able to lie about paying tax to the govt because the govt is in the same game of lying to the country
Then we really have a democratic economics problem
They are both crooks
Key is the epitome of this ,he was made by this system first highlighted by Bruce Jesson in “Behind the Mirrored Glass”way back in the 80s ,nothing has been done because all these crooks have and will continue to run the system
Roger Douglas Bob Jones Ron Brierly and the weasel of Telecom and the Mother of all economic fuck ups, Bolger, Shipley the list goes on , the founding fathers and mothers of this corrupt system in NZ.
Now we have this system of the multinationals and they about to snuff out our sovereignty in the TPPA and NZ will become like Britain with huge pressure caused by a govt whose only way of staying ahead of the rort is to up immigration of those whose bank accounts can swell the tax take that will continue to be bled out of us to the overseas corporate blood suckers supported by this govt
The solution NZ First because they are the only ones who have had the balls to call it out
It a “Highway to Hell” to quote ACDC
Tricledrown: Comment:Message from Andrew Little about TPPA
Date published: 4:19 pm, January 29th, 2016
Hooton that’s not ratified in … as a result. Bang on Mathew your full of shit.
So he has not been seen on TS since Jan 29th or am I missing something? don’t get me wrong I am not missing his biased and provocative comments just curious.
Takes serious resources to pursue the big boys, clip those back and that’s about all they can chase.
Do this across com com, sfo, electoral commission and a host of other bodies that are intended to level the playing field and umpire proceedings that’s what you get left with, anything but a level field.
your descriptors of “insane ramblings” +”diseased mind” +”funny” + “sad” = a reflection on yourself and misogyny and chauvinism imo ( which is how she was treated)
…Kay Griggs gives huge amount of credible factual detail and names
…let people make up their own minds and view it themselves
Two network sources also confirmed the unprecedented control the television networks have surrendered to Trump in a series of private negotiations, allowing him to dictate specific details about placement of cameras at his event, to ensure coverage consists primarily of a single shot of his face.
Network officials say the ratings have borne out commercial incentives to devote their campaign coverage to largely unfiltered streams of Trump talking. Trump’s presence in the race has also been good for local television stations who reap the benefits of increased spending on advertisements. CBS CEO Les Moonves quipped that Trump “may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS, that’s all I got to say.”
Good for business apparently. Not so good for anything else.
“In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max and Stacy ask what’s the matter with Kansas? And Virginia? North Carolina? Florida? Alabama? Michigan and Massachusetts? Are voters flocking to Donald Trump because they’re racist? Or, is it the economy and so-called ‘free trade’ deals driving them nuts?
In the second half, Max continues his interview with Satyajit Das, author of Extreme Money and A Banquet of Consequences about the coming market collapse.”
Trade is an issue that polarizes Americans by socio-economic status. To the professional class, which encompasses the vast majority of our media figures, economists, Washington officials and Democratic powerbrokers, what they call “free trade” is something so obviously good and noble it doesn’t require explanation or inquiry or even thought. Republican and Democratic leaders alike agree on this, and no amount of facts can move them from their Econ 101 dream.
This is true in NZ as well. Both major parties and most, if not all, minor parties see trade as the be all, end all of politics. And yet, when we look at trade we see declining jobs and increasing poverty. Trains bought from China instead of being made here despite the fact that making them here would have done more for the economy and society in general.
Who agrees that it is significant ‘conflict of interest’ for Auckland Council to be a member of the NZ Property Council?
‘Democracy for developers’?
On 31 March 2016 the Auckland Council Governing Body will be voting on whether Auckland Council should withdraw its membership of the NZ Property Council.
In my view, it is a serious ‘conflict of interest’ for Auckland Council to be a member of the NZ Property Council.
(Who actually represents Auckland Council at meetings of the NZ Property Council?
To whom do they report back?
Where are the ‘minutes’?
Where are the ‘boundaries’ – between ‘public’ and property developers?)
(There is an interesting story on this matter in the current print version of the NBR).
As an Auckland Mayoral candidate I am absolutely opposed to Auckland Council and Auckland Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) being members of private sector lobby groups such as the NZ Property Council AND the Committee for Auckland.
Most councils are chummy with developers, its all about the money and the neverending growth model society has adopted. Long term effects on the environment and community are usually just ignored. This applies to pretty much all the subdivisions we’ve been building for the last 50 years.
I don’t wish to engage in ???? about the minutiae. In principle and in proper, decent practice, it is amply clear. They cannot be so engaged. Runs the risk of people liking some other people too much and not doing their honest duty.
BP, Z and Mobil all insist that petrol price hikes are temporary, “in a very literal sense.” The nation’s major petrol providers are trying to allay customer fears over prices, promising that they’ll move to lower them again “immediately” when the Middle East is returned to its formerly peaceful state. ...
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by Philip Ferguson Much of the left, even people who formally identify as marxists, have collapsed politically in the face of postmodern gender theory of the sort pioneered by American philosopher Judith Butler. For Butler even biological sex is socially constructed. “If the immutable character of sex is contested, perhaps ...
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By Simon Bridges. The following is a press release from the office of Simon Bridges, leader of The National Party. Key ora, New Zealand. Happy Maori Language Week. Look, I’m writing to you today because I want to clear something up. There’s been a lot of kerfuffle around some things ...
I understand there's some stuff going round about how the SIS "was removed from the list of public offices covered by the Public Records Act in 2017". The context of course being their records derived from US torture, which will be disposed of or sealed. The good news is that ...
Dr. Christopher Labos and Jonathan Jarry discuss the recent Canadian fluoride/IQ research. They provide an expert analysis of the paper and its problems. Click on image to go to podcast. The critical debate about the recent ...
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Auckland Philippines Solidarity is excited to host Professor Judy Taguiwalo for a speaking tour of NZ in September. She is a well-known activist in the Philippines and was a political prisoner under the Marcos dictatorship. Professor Taguiwalo briefly served as a Cabinet member under President Duterte but was forced from ...
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Today is a Member's day, and David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill continues its slow crawl through its committee stage. They're spending the whole day on it today, though the first hour is likely to be spent on voting left over from last time. After that they'll move on ...
An ambitious plan to fly to Los Angeles petered out into a brief sight-seeing trip and a desire to return home and get some sleep before work tomorrow. Air New Zealand has confirmed a flight to Los Angeles last night was turned back about a quarter of the way into ...
There appears to be consensus – by omission – that the concept of indigenous futures should be accepted at face value. So I scavenged the internet to see if I could locate an academic descriptor or a framework around how we think about it as a concept, and whether it ...
Here’s another novelty chocolate to shove in your gob, New Zealand Cadbury could be seeking to make itself great again with a rumoured new release: Pineapple Trumps, a spin on its classic chocolate-encased pineapple treat and do-it-yourself tooth remover. The global confectionery manufacturer and bumbling “before” character in an infomercial, ...
During my time in the Pentagon I had the privilege of sitting down with military leaders and defence and security officials from a variety of Latin American nations. Sometimes I was present as a subordinate assistant to a senior US defence department official, sometimes as part of a delegation that ...
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Eighteen months ago, the government promised to strengthen the Bill of Rights Act, by explicitly affirming the power of the courts to issue declarations of inconsistency and requiring Parliament to formally respond to them. So how's that going? I was curious, so I asked for all advice about the proposal. ...
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Last week, English Prime Minister Boris Johnson boldly declared that he would rather die be dead in a ditch than delay Brexit. Unfortunately for him, the UK parliament accepted the challenge, and promptly dug one for him. The "rebellion bill" requires him to ask for and secure yet another temporary ...
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by Daphna Whitmore Every Sunday for the past two months unionists from First Union, with supporters from other unions, have set out to the Ihumatao land protest, put up gazebos and gas barbeques, and cooked food for a few hundred locals and supporters who have come from across the country. ...
Newsroom today has an excellent, in-depth article on pine trees as carbon sinks. The TL;DR is that pine is really good at soaking up carbon, but people prefer far-less efficient native forests instead. Which is understandable, but there's two problems: firstly, we've pissed about so long on this problem that ...
Canan Kaftancioglu is a Turkish politician and member of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). Like most modern politicians, she tweets, and uses the platform to criticise the Turkish government. She has criticised them over the death of a 14-year-old boy who was hit by a tear gas grenade during ...
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FIRST Union today welcomed Westpac’s public admission of the significant gender pay gap in its workforce and reiterated its call for employers to work with unions to close this disparity, arguing that this work must begin at the bottom of the pay ...
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Kiingi Tuuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has successfully guided the mana whenua of lhumaatao to reach a consensus on the future of their whenua. ...
Two activists disguised as shareholders interrupted the AGM of a gold mining company in central Auckland this morning to inform shareholders their plans to mine for gold in conservation estate in the Karangahake Gorge were unwelcome. ...
The Capital and Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) has been labelled ‘NATO’ (no action, talk only) when it comes to child mental health, with just 0.6 full time staff (24 hours per week) for inpatient child psychology and just 0.8 full time staff ...
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL has awarded three New Zealand climate youth groups with its Ambassador of Conscience award, its highest recognition for human rights work, previously given to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Ai Weiwei and Malala Yousafzai. ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union , in partnership with the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance , has today published this year's Ratepayers' Report – online local government league tables – at www.ratepayersreport.nz . ...
NZUS Council executive director Jordan Small welcomes the news New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will meet with US President Donald Trump in New York next week. ...
The recent NZIER report trivialises the significant role the dairy sector plays in New Zealand’s economy – and fails to look at the specifics of the Government’s freshwater package, according to DairyNZ. DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle said ...
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Lawrence Yule MP wrote to our Office with concerns about the Department of Corrections' approach to procuring design and build services for rapid deployment of prison accommodation. We have published our response to Mr Yule on our website . ...
That from the chair of the Wellington Region of the College of Midwives, Siobhan Connor, following the news that Hutt Valley District Health Board is targeting midwives from overseas to help fill gaps in maternity units. ...
70% of New Zealand’s surface water take is allocated to Meridian’s Manapouri Power Scheme. But when Environment Minister David Parker asked to exempt the Scheme from his Freshwater Action Plan, he didn’t tell Cabinet that. ...
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that officers responded in a timely and appropriate manner as soon as they were aware that a fleeing driver had hit a pedestrian. ...
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Covering Climate Now: A new web series challenges the false idea that rangatahi Māori “aren’t engaged” in politics or civic participation, and presents what aims to be a more hopeful and inclusive alternative. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Over the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Anne Kenny, Associate Professor, School of Law, Murdoch University Today, the Sri Lankan family who had resettled in the small town of Biloela in Queensland was given a last-minute reprieve in their fight to stay in Australia. A federal court judge ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sebastien Darchen, Senior Lecturer in Planning, The University of Queensland The crashing chords of punk echoed through the end of the 70s, heralding the arrival of a diverse bunch of subcultures. In Brisbane, none was more notable than the tribe known as ...
Covering Climate Now: As the temperature of the planet increases, so to does the number of documentaries about climate change. Jean Sergent watched all of them to bring you this harrowing listicle. Do you want to know which climate change documentaries will make you depressed and which will make you hopeful? ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Ian Taylor, founder of of Animation Research Ltd.This week on Business is Boring ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lucas Walsh, Professor, Education Policy and Practice, Youth Studies in the Faculty of Education. Latest books with Rosalyn Black include "Imagining Youth Futures: University Students in Post-Truth Times" and "Rethinking Youth Citizenship after the Age of Entitlement", Monash University Senator Jacqui Lambie ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dodd, Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne Today on Media Files, a podcast on major themes and issues in the media, we meet Bastian Obermayer, the Pulitizer prize-winning journalist who led the Panama Papers investigation into global ...
Trade, women's economic empowerment, the Pacific and space were among the broad range of topics discussed between Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Japanese counterpart. ...
Vegan lube? Faux feather strokers? Condoms made from employees paid the living wage? Emily Writes delves into the world of having ethical sex. There are many upsides to being vegan, but when it comes to getting down (and by that I mean rooting), it can be quite a challenge finding 100% ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is making no apology for her focus on the Christchurch Call at the United Nations next week and points to Facebook's recent action as a sign of early success. ...
Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere's latest verbal outrage moves his campaign strategy from the bellicose to the bizarre. Mark Jennings listens in at yet another debate. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Coates, Program Director, Household Finances, Grattan Institute Compared to the rest of the world, income inequality is not particularly high in Australia, nor is it getting much worse. The real problem is housing inequality. Rising house prices have increased wealth inequality. ...
A harrowing account of what it’s like trying to save your child from suicide, and the toll it takes on everyone involved.This essay discusses suicide in detail. Please proceed with caution.Last week there was a lot of stuff shared around suicide awareness, and I wanted to share something as well, ...
Chloe Blades reviews Kate Weinberg’s first novel, which is selling like mad and earning the London writer comparisons to Agatha Christie and Donna Tartt. It was always going to be unfair on whichever book I read after Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women; that divisive, genre-defying masterpiece on the manipulation of female desire. ...
Annual economic growth has slowed to its weakest level in nearly six years as growth in service industries offset construction and manufacturing weakness. ...
By Wansolwara staff in Suva Twelve leading journalists from 11 Pacific Island countries will converge in Suva, Fiji, this Friday to discuss critical issues affecting the region including climate change and natural disaster relief and recovery and regional security. The one-day “Capstone at The University of the South Pacific” (USP) Laucala ...
Covering Climate Now: The release of the new Nissan Leaf electric vehicle signals a shift in the role of cars in our society. Simon Day was at the launch of the new model. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!According to ...
Covering Climate Now: Charging businesses for their greenhouse gas emissions seems simple enough, but in New Zealand, at least, emissions keep on rising. Is the system flawed, or is it how we’re implementing it?The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Economists ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Foreign affairs and trade Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Global uncertainty and domestic troubles as Ardern heads ...
Covering Climate Now: Earlier this year, the climate change response (zero carbon) bill had its first reading. The public was then invited to submit their takes on it to the government. We assessed a few of the stranger ones.The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to ...
Op-Ed by Luis Alfonso de Alba – UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Climate Action SummitLuis Alfonso de Alba – UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Climate Action SummitClimate change is not a far-away problem– it is causing huge damage right now in Asia-Pacific and around the world. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bill Bateman, Associate professor, Curtin University Every spring in Australia is heralded by reports of magpies swooping at people. While it is of little comfort to those at the receiving end of a surprise attack, such events are actually quite rare when ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University There’s no shortage of special days throughout the year. Some — like International Literacy Day — speak to important issues in society. Others speak to our inner dag. Today marks one of the daggier days, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Pickles, Professor of History at the University of Canterbury and current Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi James Cook Research Fellow, University of Canterbury Today marks the passing of the much celebrated 1893 Electoral Act, 126 years ago, which made ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meagan Brennan, Clinical A/Prof Breast Physician, Westmead Breast Cancer Institute, University of Sydney Victorian Minister for Health Jenny Mikakos recently announced six new 3D breast screening machines would be rolled out across the state. These will be used to assess women recalled ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Brodie, Professorial Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University Few feel the pain of the Great Barrier Reef’s decline more acutely than the scientists trying to save it. Ahead of next week’s UN climate summit, two ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hilary Whitehouse, Associate Professor, James Cook University This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Youqing Fan, Lecturer, Western Sydney University Affordable housing is a critical problem for Australia’s biggest housing markets. Five Australian cities are in the top 25 with “severely unaffordable” housing in a 2019 Demographia survey of 91 major metropolitan markets. Sydney was ranked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Angelina Hurley, PhD candidate, Griffith University From Darkness, directed by Isaac Drandic, La Boite Theatre From Darkness is the story about the aftermath of sorry business – Aboriginal rituals that are observed during a period of mourning. It looks at how, on ...
Mana whenua say they want the government to negotiate with Fletcher Building to return the land at Ihumātao. But Winston Peters is questioning if the consensus includes everyone's voice. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Difficult decision looms for govt over Ihumātao, NZDF story scrutinised at inquiry, and innovative new bus service to be trialled in Timaru. This is far from the end of the story about what will happen to the land at Ihumātao. A ...
People in central and eastern Europe take a different view on climate change than many in the west, writes the Hungarian news site Index, for the Covering Climate Now project. ...
Open mike 19/03/2016 
Open mike is your post.
BP, Z and Mobil all insist that petrol price hikes are temporary, “in a very literal sense.” The nation’s major petrol providers are trying to allay customer fears over prices, promising that they’ll move to lower them again “immediately” when the Middle East is returned to its formerly peaceful state. ...3 hours ago
South African coach Rassie Erasmus says he has no idea what they’re going to do about the boat. In a highly anticipated press conference this afternoon, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has finally unveiled the team’s boat for its Rugby World Cup 2019 campaign. In a press conference that went ...4 hours ago
The Operation Burnham inquiry continued to question senior NZDF staff today, and their shoddy coverup over their knowledge of civilian casualties continue to fall apart. If you recall, first, we were asked to believe that it was all a series of "mistakes and errors": a senior officer with multiple degrees ...7 hours ago
Get Back Jojo! The elation in Mayor Phil Goff’s camp may be easily imagined as they watched social media light up in indignation at challenger John Tamihere’s "Sieg Heil to that" quip. Just when JT’s notoriously right-wing, sexist and homophobic stains were beginning to fade back into his ‘colourful’ past, ...17 hours ago
Patrick Gower is good value when he's high. Not that I've ever, you know, got stoned with him. But in the second part of his documentary Patrick Gower on Weed, he does what you'd expect in a modern weed documentary and immerses himself – first with a doctor, then a ...1 day ago
We surveyed candidates on their attitudes to issues facing the Western Bay Region, find out what they think: “Closing the Gap” Tauranga, one of the area groups of Income Equality Aotearoa NZ Inc., has surveyed all candidates in the three local body elections to discover attitudes to some basic issues ...1 day ago
Please spread widely, and sign, to support science and rationalism over the new irrationalism sweeping universities and institutions. PROJECT NETTIE Sexual reproduction, the generation of offspring by fusion of genetic material from two different individuals, evolved over 1 billion years ago. It is the reproductive strategy of all higher animals ...1 day ago
Why is New Zealand climate change policy so crap? The Herald this morning has a long article on the twists and turns of climate change policy in New Zealand [paywalled / depaywall script], which shows where we've been. The short version is that the government first began worrying about this ...2 days ago
The All Blacks have been, for more than a century, arguably the most successful International sports team in the world. But they are more than that; even for those Kiwis who are immune to the charms of rugby (and there are more than a few), the All Blacks are ambassadors ...2 days ago
3 days ago
In times of hysteria about the “World coming to an end” and “rising sea levels” so-called ‘Journalists’ who can barely spell words longer than four letters are having a ball! Though the majority of the Public have worked out that manmade climate change is nothing short of pseudo-science, and the ...3 days ago
3 days ago
Dangerous Foes: For those readers of Bowalley Road who feel disposed to dismiss any prospect of an Israeli destabilisation of New Zealand politics, the example of the United Kingdom repays close attention. Ever since the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the British Labour Party, the Israelis have sanctioned, funded and ...3 days ago
Make It 16, the youth-led campaign to lower New Zealand's voting age, is holding an official campaign launch at Parliament this Friday from 16:30. If you'd like to attend, you can register using EventBrite here. ...3 days ago
by Don Franks It was a lovely sunny Wellington afternoon with blue skies above the beaches. In Courtenay Place, political activists packed out a stuffy upstairs room for an important meeting. The assembled pacifists, anarchists, communists and independent young radicals of Peace Action Wellington felt the need for a mission ...3 days ago
From the Wall Street Journal:Inside a room of the ornately decorated Hotel du Palais during last month’s Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France, President Trump awaited a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. Mr. Trump looked over a gathering of American and Egyptian officials and called out in ...4 days ago
. . This blogpost is different to my usual format of reporting on issues… Since July 1011, I have blogged on a variety of political issues; near always political and/or environmental; mostly highly critical of the previous National Government. Other issues included Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and repression of ...6 days ago
Those close to the Police Minister believe the initiative may be the result of Nash “seeing a great deal” on AliExpress. In a move that comes seemingly out of nowhere, Police Minister Stuart Nash announced this afternoon that he expects all frontline staff to don bearskin hats, famously worn by ...6 days ago
Moving And Shaking: There was a time when people spoke matter-of-factly about the “labour movement” – a political phenomenon understood to embrace much more than the Labour Party. Included within the term’s definition was the whole trade union movement – many of whose members looked upon the Labour Party as ...7 days ago
By Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern I am every bit as angry as you are. I am every bit as disappointed as you must be. The people with power, oversight and the ability to do something about these processes within the Labour Party should be ashamed. Whoever those people are, I ...1 week ago
Two-Faced? Labour insiders' commitment to the neoliberal status quo puts them at odds with their party’s membership; its trade union affiliates; and a majority of Labour voters, but this only serves to strengthen the perception they have of themselves as a special elite. Among the lesser breeds, they’ll talk up a ...1 week ago
By Simon Bridges. The following is a press release from the office of Simon Bridges, leader of The National Party. Key ora, New Zealand. Happy Maori Language Week. Look, I’m writing to you today because I want to clear something up. There’s been a lot of kerfuffle around some things ...1 week ago
Dr. Christopher Labos and Jonathan Jarry discuss the recent Canadian fluoride/IQ research. They provide an expert analysis of the paper and its problems. Click on image to go to podcast. The critical debate about the recent ... 1 week ago
An ambitious plan to fly to Los Angeles petered out into a brief sight-seeing trip and a desire to return home and get some sleep before work tomorrow. Air New Zealand has confirmed a flight to Los Angeles last night was turned back about a quarter of the way into ...1 week ago
There appears to be consensus – by omission – that the concept of indigenous futures should be accepted at face value. So I scavenged the internet to see if I could locate an academic descriptor or a framework around how we think about it as a concept, and whether it ...1 week ago
Here’s another novelty chocolate to shove in your gob, New Zealand Cadbury could be seeking to make itself great again with a rumoured new release: Pineapple Trumps, a spin on its classic chocolate-encased pineapple treat and do-it-yourself tooth remover. The global confectionery manufacturer and bumbling “before” character in an infomercial, ...1 week ago
During my time in the Pentagon I had the privilege of sitting down with military leaders and defence and security officials from a variety of Latin American nations. Sometimes I was present as a subordinate assistant to a senior US defence department official, sometimes as part of a delegation that ...1 week ago
Kia ora, Aotearoa. It’s that magical time of year. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. In English, the week that frightens talk radio. As you probably know by now, all your favourite media outlets are participating, some more successfully than others. Stuff has changed its name to Puna for the ...1 week ago
Lost In Political Space: The most important takeaway from this latest Labour sexual assault scandal, which (if I may paraphrase Nixon’s White House counsel’s, John Dean’s, infamous description of Watergate) is “growing like a cancer” on the premiership, is the Labour Party organisation’s extraordinary professional paralysis in the face of ...1 week ago
Bewhiskered Cassandra? Professor Hugh White’s chilling suggestion, advanced to select collections of academic, military and diplomatic Kiwi experts over the course of the past week, is that the assumptions upon which Australia and New Zealand have built their foreign affairs and defence policies for practically their entire histories – are ...2 weeks ago
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee today launched an eight-week, nationwide call for evidence on options available to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. ...3 hours ago
The battle for Puriri Park is a microcosm of New Zealand's housing crisis. ...1 hour ago
At the UN, Jacinda Ardern will update the world on the Christchurch Call - but how did it come together, and where to next? ...3 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Hanna, Honorary Senior Fellow, Australian National University This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. Global warming is accelerating, driven by the continuing rise in ...4 hours ago
To tackle the crises of climate and unsustainability we need great cultural changes in civil society, business and politics. ...5 hours ago
Despite some early success the Government had lowering the prison population, remand is now on the rise. ...5 hours ago
Covering Climate Now: A new web series challenges the false idea that rangatahi Māori “aren’t engaged” in politics or civic participation, and presents what aims to be a more hopeful and inclusive alternative. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Over the ...6 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Anne Kenny, Associate Professor, School of Law, Murdoch University Today, the Sri Lankan family who had resettled in the small town of Biloela in Queensland was given a last-minute reprieve in their fight to stay in Australia. A federal court judge ...6 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sebastien Darchen, Senior Lecturer in Planning, The University of Queensland The crashing chords of punk echoed through the end of the 70s, heralding the arrival of a diverse bunch of subcultures. In Brisbane, none was more notable than the tribe known as ...6 hours ago
Covering Climate Now: As the temperature of the planet increases, so to does the number of documentaries about climate change. Jean Sergent watched all of them to bring you this harrowing listicle. Do you want to know which climate change documentaries will make you depressed and which will make you hopeful? ...6 hours ago
Trade, women's economic empowerment, the Pacific and space were among the broad range of topics discussed between Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Japanese counterpart. ...8 hours ago
Christchurch's economy continues to fall well below the national average due to declining rebuild activity. ...8 hours ago
Vegan lube? Faux feather strokers? Condoms made from employees paid the living wage? Emily Writes delves into the world of having ethical sex. There are many upsides to being vegan, but when it comes to getting down (and by that I mean rooting), it can be quite a challenge finding 100% ...8 hours ago
An investigation into the poisoning of cattle with 1080 on a King Country farm a year ago still has not been completed. ...9 hours ago
Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere's latest verbal outrage moves his campaign strategy from the bellicose to the bizarre. Mark Jennings listens in at yet another debate. ...10 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Coates, Program Director, Household Finances, Grattan Institute Compared to the rest of the world, income inequality is not particularly high in Australia, nor is it getting much worse. The real problem is housing inequality. Rising house prices have increased wealth inequality. ...10 hours ago
A harrowing account of what it’s like trying to save your child from suicide, and the toll it takes on everyone involved.This essay discusses suicide in detail. Please proceed with caution.Last week there was a lot of stuff shared around suicide awareness, and I wanted to share something as well, ...10 hours ago
Chloe Blades reviews Kate Weinberg’s first novel, which is selling like mad and earning the London writer comparisons to Agatha Christie and Donna Tartt. It was always going to be unfair on whichever book I read after Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women; that divisive, genre-defying masterpiece on the manipulation of female desire. ...10 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Rich, Lecturer in International Relations and Security Studies, Curtin University This week’s strikes on the Abqaiq and Khurais oil processing facilities in Saudi Arabia represent the latest in a pattern of actions by the Islamic Republic of Iran to escalate tensions ...11 hours ago
Annual economic growth has slowed to its weakest level in nearly six years as growth in service industries offset construction and manufacturing weakness. ...11 hours ago
By Wansolwara staff in Suva Twelve leading journalists from 11 Pacific Island countries will converge in Suva, Fiji, this Friday to discuss critical issues affecting the region including climate change and natural disaster relief and recovery and regional security. The one-day “Capstone at The University of the South Pacific” (USP) Laucala ...11 hours ago
Covering Climate Now: The release of the new Nissan Leaf electric vehicle signals a shift in the role of cars in our society. Simon Day was at the launch of the new model. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!According to ...13 hours ago
Covering Climate Now: Charging businesses for their greenhouse gas emissions seems simple enough, but in New Zealand, at least, emissions keep on rising. Is the system flawed, or is it how we’re implementing it?The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here!Economists ...13 hours ago
Op-Ed by Luis Alfonso de Alba – UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Climate Action Summit
New Zealand's largest bank has said it has no intention of selling off farm debt to overseas investors. ...15 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bill Bateman, Associate professor, Curtin University Every spring in Australia is heralded by reports of magpies swooping at people. While it is of little comfort to those at the receiving end of a surprise attack, such events are actually quite rare when ...15 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Rich, Lecturer in International Relations and Security Studies, Curtin University This week’s strikes on the Abqaiq and Khurais oil processing facilities in Saudi Arabia represent the latest in a pattern of actions by the Islamic Republic of Iran to escalate tensions ...15 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University There’s no shortage of special days throughout the year. Some — like International Literacy Day — speak to important issues in society. Others speak to our inner dag. Today marks one of the daggier days, ...15 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meagan Brennan, Clinical A/Prof Breast Physician, Westmead Breast Cancer Institute, University of Sydney Victorian Minister for Health Jenny Mikakos recently announced six new 3D breast screening machines would be rolled out across the state. These will be used to assess women recalled ...15 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Brodie, Professorial Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University Few feel the pain of the Great Barrier Reef’s decline more acutely than the scientists trying to save it. Ahead of next week’s UN climate summit, two ...15 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Angelina Hurley, PhD candidate, Griffith University From Darkness, directed by Isaac Drandic, La Boite Theatre From Darkness is the story about the aftermath of sorry business – Aboriginal rituals that are observed during a period of mourning. It looks at how, on ...15 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Difficult decision looms for govt over Ihumātao, NZDF story scrutinised at inquiry, and innovative new bus service to be trialled in Timaru. This is far from the end of the story about what will happen to the land at Ihumātao. A ...17 hours ago
Agency offshoot’s first product taps into anonymised location data from mobile phone towers. ...18 hours ago
People in central and eastern Europe take a different view on climate change than many in the west, writes the Hungarian news site Index, for the Covering Climate Now project. ...18 hours ago
Did somebody say unions? I wonder if Matt McCarten is relaxed about Unite Support Services unpaid and overdue taxes? That’s assessed taxes by the way, not “potential” taxes legally avoided.
[Stop trolling. First and last warning. Stick to the subject matter of the post – MS]
[lprent: Moved to OpenMike as being off topic. ]
Good grief. I would have thought the situation with Unite was at least partly relevant, although in their case it probably wasn’t avoidance.
[lprent: Because the post was about
1. ‘Taxpayers union’
2. Overseas corporations
3. Taxes
If you want to make your own rules then create your own blog and your own audience. If you try it here… Well read the self-martyrdom offences in the policy. Do you have any rational questions – possibly ones related to rule making procedures on privately held blogs?
Please note that I have less interest in litigating the meaning of what we put in our policy than I do in the creative process of writing pithy and highly offensive notes as I ban someone. ]
YouGov poll backs up the recent ICM Guardian poll and says that squabbling over Europe is hurting the government.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/new-poll-puts-labour-ahead-of-tories-for-first-time-since-jeremy-corbyn-became-leader-a6937926.html
Don’t normally bother to link to herald but this caught my eye
Cancer drug giant’s tax bill less than PM’s
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11608228
Why does the government sign a deal so that Big Pharma need more corporate welfare and tax discounts, and longer patents so that big Pharma receive more profits, under TPPA?
More robbing the poor to pay more to the rich!
Bet that’s not mentioned on the tax payer funder Roadshow.
Its great eh the way rich think about tax .
They are controlling the game merely by their presence and able to lie about paying tax to the govt because the govt is in the same game of lying to the country
Then we really have a democratic economics problem
They are both crooks
Key is the epitome of this ,he was made by this system first highlighted by Bruce Jesson in “Behind the Mirrored Glass”way back in the 80s ,nothing has been done because all these crooks have and will continue to run the system
Roger Douglas Bob Jones Ron Brierly and the weasel of Telecom and the Mother of all economic fuck ups, Bolger, Shipley the list goes on , the founding fathers and mothers of this corrupt system in NZ.
Now we have this system of the multinationals and they about to snuff out our sovereignty in the TPPA and NZ will become like Britain with huge pressure caused by a govt whose only way of staying ahead of the rort is to up immigration of those whose bank accounts can swell the tax take that will continue to be bled out of us to the overseas corporate blood suckers supported by this govt
The solution NZ First because they are the only ones who have had the balls to call it out
It a “Highway to Hell” to quote ACDC
A refreshing read as well, what’s happened to Granny??
Dawit Arshak enjoys the freedom and safety of his life in New Zealand.
“I love that people have the right to talk, to express themselves. I can be against John Key, and he won’t be after me.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11608054
+++(Unless you are Nicky Hager, Bradley Ambrose and Dotcom and more…)+++
+ 100%
Key dancing on immigration numbers on the Nation.
Key says he has no problem with current immigration numbers and then goes on to highlight the problems?
http://www.newshub.co.nz/tvshows/thenation/interview-john-key-2016031910#axzz438VM4zZx
Keyed in Matthew Hooton and this is what I got,
Tricledrown: Comment:Message from Andrew Little about TPPA
Date published: 4:19 pm, January 29th, 2016
Hooton that’s not ratified in … as a result. Bang on Mathew your full of shit.
So he has not been seen on TS since Jan 29th or am I missing something? don’t get me wrong I am not missing his biased and provocative comments just curious.
Using in search for comments (in advanced)
@author “Hooton”
gives this
/?s=%40author+%22Hooton%22&isopen=block&search_comments=true&search_sortby=date
Thanks for that tip Iprent.
Great cartoon on how the Government/IRD chase the little cheats and turn a blind eye to the Big ones. A picture is worth a…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11608119
Takes serious resources to pursue the big boys, clip those back and that’s about all they can chase.
Do this across com com, sfo, electoral commission and a host of other bodies that are intended to level the playing field and umpire proceedings that’s what you get left with, anything but a level field.
For a chilling insider story on how corporate power in USA is upheld by corruption, depravity and worse …key into utube ‘Kay Griggs’ interviews.
Kay Griggs is a whistleblower of the stature of Julian Assange and Edward Snowden…and even Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The insane ramblings of a diseased mind, chilling to you. Just funny and sad to most normal people..
your descriptors of “insane ramblings” +”diseased mind” +”funny” + “sad” = a reflection on yourself and misogyny and chauvinism imo ( which is how she was treated)
…Kay Griggs gives huge amount of credible factual detail and names
…let people make up their own minds and view it themselves
Free-market proves that it’s incapable of holding power to account:
Good for business apparently. Not so good for anything else.
On Donald Trump and the media
https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/335928-episode-max-keiser-889/
“In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max and Stacy ask what’s the matter with Kansas? And Virginia? North Carolina? Florida? Alabama? Michigan and Massachusetts? Are voters flocking to Donald Trump because they’re racist? Or, is it the economy and so-called ‘free trade’ deals driving them nuts?
In the second half, Max continues his interview with Satyajit Das, author of Extreme Money and A Banquet of Consequences about the coming market collapse.”
Quoting the Mentioned Guardian article:
This is true in NZ as well. Both major parties and most, if not all, minor parties see trade as the be all, end all of politics. And yet, when we look at trade we see declining jobs and increasing poverty. Trains bought from China instead of being made here despite the fact that making them here would have done more for the economy and society in general.
It’s interesting the so-called anti-establishment Trump has been given so much free air time from establishment networks.
maybe they are looking their short term profits?…and he is bringing them in viewers and hence advertising revenue?
…if you can’t beat him join him?
….and then hope to get a hold over him
who owns the media in the USA
http://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america-2012-6
http://www.dcclothesline.com/2014/10/23/owns-media-6-monolithic-corporations-control-almost-everything-watch-hear-read/
http://www.rense.com/general44/sevenjewishamericans.htm
http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart
America huh
/
Greg Pinelo
@gregpinelo
This is outrageous and the Sanders campiagn should repudiate it.
https://twitter.com/gregpinelo/status/710485230747041792
Greg Pinelo
@gregpinelo
Sanders backers saying “the Confederacy shouldn’t get to choose our President:” In Dem primaries, you’re talking about black people. Stop it
https://twitter.com/gregpinelo/status/710509323999432704
Strange place.
The southern states will basically decide the Democrats candidate, but will have no effect on the national result in November.
PJ Harvey Once again rocks the world with a message of hope.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11607817
God hope they’re not gonna lift the arse to presidential level.
Sometimes I have this consciousness of witnessing a terrible history happening.
Government and Big Business have been one big con in this country for the past 40 years, Business Round Table yeah right, nah?
Fantastic to hear that Europe’s Most Wanted Man and Terrorist … has finally been caught.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/18/four-month-hunt-shootout-capture-paris-terror-suspect-salah-abdeslam-brussels
Who agrees that it is significant ‘conflict of interest’ for Auckland Council to be a member of the NZ Property Council?
‘Democracy for developers’?
On 31 March 2016 the Auckland Council Governing Body will be voting on whether Auckland Council should withdraw its membership of the NZ Property Council.
In my view, it is a serious ‘conflict of interest’ for Auckland Council to be a member of the NZ Property Council.
(Who actually represents Auckland Council at meetings of the NZ Property Council?
To whom do they report back?
Where are the ‘minutes’?
Where are the ‘boundaries’ – between ‘public’ and property developers?)
(There is an interesting story on this matter in the current print version of the NBR).
As an Auckland Mayoral candidate I am absolutely opposed to Auckland Council and Auckland Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) being members of private sector lobby groups such as the NZ Property Council AND the Committee for Auckland.
Penny Bright
+100 Penny
Most councils are chummy with developers, its all about the money and the neverending growth model society has adopted. Long term effects on the environment and community are usually just ignored. This applies to pretty much all the subdivisions we’ve been building for the last 50 years.
Yes Yes Yes Penny !
I don’t wish to engage in ???? about the minutiae. In principle and in proper, decent practice, it is amply clear. They cannot be so engaged. Runs the risk of people liking some other people too much and not doing their honest duty.
Yes Yes Yes Penny !
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11606016
Look at the picture. What’s going on here ? What’s someone trying to suggest what’s going on here ?
Sorry for my frequent comments……haven’t had a chance until now to have a good look at what’s going on.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11608086
I reckon we’re gonna get something fine here…..
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11608086
Retired High Court judge Rodney Hansen QC is an excellent, excellent jurist.
Get ready for excellence of report.
Rodney *Hansen*.
An explainer of what’s going on in Brazil
you remember Brazil…one of those BRICS that was going to drive world economic growth…..hows things in Russia, China and South Africa of late?
Thanks, that was very interesting.
Two phrases for NZ,
This ends in pizza (a Brazilian saying about scandals that fizz out).
“I steal, but I get results” (a Brazilian man running for office where corruption is the norm. Key could use “I like, but I get results”).
“I lie but I get results”.
Meet DRU – The newest team member to join the Domino’s family! He’s the world’s first autonomous delivery vehicle!
Posties and couriers will be next…
It’s only a matter of time.
New Zealand could become the first country in the world to use a driverless pizza delivery unit from Domino’s, the Government has announced.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/78022236/new-zealand-could-become-first-country-to-use-pizza-delivery-robot