It’s time Shearer calls Key “corrupt” as often as possible.
Otherwise Peters as a smart lawyer will seek a judicial review of the Convention Centre deal as soon as it is made, and the story is his and bigger than the Winebox thing because it could take the Prime Minister down.
Yes, I was hoping this morning that one of the disgruntled tenderers would launch judicial review of this decision. Always hard to do in the case of tenders because the first stop is usually seen to be the contract (or the first process contract). However the Privy Council 1994 decision in Mercury Energy v ECNZ still applies. That decision holds in essence that a commercial contract will not be reviewable, except in the situation of “fraud, corruption or bad faith.”
The Whitianga Environment Court decision that Minister Chris Carter overturned and then got pinged for is also worth considering here, although of course we are a long way from that kind of procedure.
In the end what John Key is doing is what he has done over The Hobbit: because they control Parliament they really can make tradeoffs weighing economic good to social harm. We have been used to a Clark Government which did little of this and was simply anti-commercial.
What Key will need to release to forestall the NZHerald and TV1 holding their own inquiry, is a precise timetable of:
– the tendering proces
– the weighting criteria
– the people in the room making the decision and their delegations
– the advice from officials every step of the way
– and all of that matched against every phone call or email or pull-aside or meeting he or his Ministers have had with Sky since the 2008 election.
He either has to dump all of this in public fast and visibily, or it will cut his tree down blow by blow. And he needs to get a Minsiter to take the fall for this as well.
If the media get to do this inquiry, it will be repeated in the High Court – and probably within this Parliamentary term.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 1.1.1.2
New Zealand has had a long tradition of career prime ministers people who have learnt protocol. (Same goes for our diplomatic service.) Suddenly we get someone who has been plucked from the business world and the nature of the office changes.
When it comes to the right wing fanatics and their love of foreign landlords they have often claimed, as the likes of Gosman has repeatedly here, that “they can’t take the land with them” as if the effect on our sovereignty is nil.
This is patent nonsense as common sense knows that every person will make moves to protect what they consider theirs no matter its location or political position. Evidence for this was recently provided when a Chinese under-diplomat at the Chinese Embassy in Wellington made statements about the effect of NZ banning foreign ownership of land with particular reference to the Crafar farms.
This has been followed up this week with the fourth-ranking leader of China, visiting at the moment, apparently making points re the Crafar farms and their desire for other purchases of New Zealand. Yesterday this man, more powerful by a universe than any person in our lands, visited Synlait, a 51% Chinese-owned dairy factory just outside Christchurch. Clearly, the ownership of New Zealand is important to the Chinese.
Argentina is a sovereign nation, entitled to make its own rules about anything. It has a government elected by its people, yet here is Europe jumping up and down saying “no, you cannot make those rules in Argentina, and if you do then we will take action against you”.
The evidence is clear people. Sell New Zealand to foreigners and we lose control of our country.
Okay. You have no effective sovereignty right now. None. Zip. Nada. So what you afraid of losing again?
And if you are just against foreign ownership of land (as opposd to the consistent position of being against private ownership of land, full stop.) then does that extend to all foreign entities owning land in other coountries? What about Fonterra’s recent moves into China where they are assuming control (effective sovereignty) of arable lands? Is that okay? And their acquisitions in S.America, are they okay?
And please bear in mind that Fonterra (at last time of looking) enjoy the fruits of NZ prison labour…slave labour as some would have it.
Bill, you have raised this issue before. The reference to soveignty is a reference to our current political structure and commonly recognised sovereignty, with your noted warts and all. Our current “sovereignty” is the position against which this is measured.
As for NZers going and spending money in other countries that is up to them. Also nothing to do with what I am talking about. If they want to take the same political risks with their money that is their business. And the business of those other countries. Bloody risky if you ask me but they seem to think that world geopolitics is stable enough to make those calls. Good luck to them.
As for Fonterra’s slave labour use, again, not related to my point.
*sigh* Sovereignty is control. You and I have no control over land use and so on. (Oh sure, we can petition and protest, but we have no positive and empowering input) But you accept a meaningless definition of sovereignty…a thing devoid of agency. Meaning you accept the loss of our sovereignty…yet complain about a potential loss of our sovereignty!
As for Fonterra investing ‘their’ money (as you put it) in foreign ventures, doesn’t that underscore the point that private ownership robs us of sovereignty? It’s their money that came from their businesses run on their land….the same land that, if they chose to sell some to a foreign interest would suddenly become our land… and not up for grabs.
It’s a massive disconnect vto and one that is going to tie swathes of the left in knots. Why not adopt a position that at least offers consistency, that avoids the potential for jingo-ism and that offers a modicum of solidarity to all those people overseas finding themselves in a similar position to the one NZ ers are getting so het up about?
Or is it a jingoistic case predicated on a notion of *our* Fonterra (quick, quick, wave the flag! what a fantastic kiwi business it is!) versus the world…going into bat for *us* against the rest of the world? And the rest of the world (that’s mostly people like you and me btw) can ‘look out’ for themselves if they choose… Fonterra…the kiwi ‘big batter’ is coming to town…ra-ra Fonterra and hiss boo ‘the others’?
Who does control it? The owners of course! And you and I in’t the owners.
And if you can’t follow the simple logic of private entities investing overseas and why your tacit support of that = a level of inconsistency or hypocrisy, then it means you don’t understand….not that I’m getting tied in knots. If you discern inconsistencies in my stance, then elucidate.
That is patent nonsense. I have a plenty experience in property ownership and using it and trying to change its use and I can tell you that an owner’s control over its land is in fact small. Surely it doesn’t need pointing out that both central and local government exercise the major control thru e.g. RMA, Council plans, govt legislation concerning mining, burial, policing, taxation, the list goes on and on and on.
The control and use of land in NZ is effected through our common law, our land tenure system, central government legislation and local government regulation and planning. Nothing else.
We are clearly miles apart in our understandings, which means my original point, in this context, cannot even begin to be discussed.
Yes vto. The owners exert control…make decisions and take actions…exercise their sovereign rights as it were, within the context of a legislative framework. Granted.
And if we were looking at a situation of ‘the commons’ then there would be a framework delimiting sovereignty too. The difference being that we would be the ones instituting the rules and bounderies within which we acted…in other words, substantive sovereignty guided by democratic principles.
Now where is our ability to partake in decisions and actions within the context of private land ownership guided or delimited by government legislation? How do we express any meaningful sovereignty over that land? What opportunities for control do we have? There’s nothing there, is there?
Well, we clearly do. By way of example, we vote in governments to make changes to the legislated framework around ownership (further example being recent more restrictive changes to foreign ownership of land). Another example, submissions and voting in of councils around the regulatory policies concerning local land use (further particular example being the changes made to rural Councils plans around rural land use around ten years ago).
Brining this back to my original point. The above control that we have (shown by law and example) is affected when ownership is held by foreigners when they try to influence those Council and government decision-making processes. And my original point outlined three examples of where that has happenned.
This is how we lose control of our sovereignty, as outlined in my original point.
I guess you kind of glazed over at the word meaningful in my previous comment. Sure, you and I can vote ‘representatives’ into positions of power and hope they will represent something…anything!… we actually give a shit about. And sometimes they might enact legislative changes that we agree with…or not, as the case may be.
And powerful economic actors with a kiwi identity (a head office here or whatever) don’t attempt to influence councils and governments?! Or if they do, it’s all okay because their influence doesn’t affect our (well, your imagined) sovereignty…unlike nefarious foreigners?
Ever considered that if nationalisation was to be seen a possible step in the direction of people someday realising a measure of actual sovereignty, that it would be far easier for a government to nationalise foreign owned ‘stuff’ cause they would possibly enjoy more public support than they would if the ‘stuff’ was in the private hands of nz companies?
Just throwing that out there for you to mull over…
“Effective sovereignty” is such a lame-ass phrase. Bottom line is that China will not allow Fonterra to ever own that land, and don’t mistake the illusion of control over it for actual control.
A squad from the Chinese Army turns up and your “effective sovereignty” and control of that farm land is all over, just like that.
Should have read (perhaps for the sake of clarity becasue it was not intended to be read as a phrase) ‘effectively sovereignty’…ie control…but if that;’s nonsense then what is sovereignty when it is just a vacuous label or word with no ‘real world’ expression in terms of the things it traditionally pertains to ie control?
Genuine query. But in on way or another, wouldn’t ‘nz’ pay millions no matter who the owners were? Externalised costs and all that. And through paying $10 -$15 for a block of cheese that sells on the world market for about $2?
Petey Petey petey, you are such a waste of oxygen, what about the inconvenient truth that NZrs were never given the opportunity to buy the farms. Sure a handful of elite groups made a half arsed pitch as a collected lot, and the few that tried faced such a wall of predetermination the cause was lost before it began. There has also not yet been a full and frank explanation as to why the farms were not offered to NZ as individual lots in the same way they were offered to overseas interests. Lastly, who cares who is employed to run them where is the profit going??? oh yeah, offshore, like everything else of worth in NZ.
yes, we all know that and once the liquidation process is over the farms will become regular earners again and with foreign ownership that money goes offshore, so the point of your comment is what exactly?
A lot of New Zealanders are employed by foreign owned companies. Fact of life.
It would be great if all our land could be owned by New Zealanders, and all companies be owned and run by New Zealanders, but that’s simply not feasible.
Benefits don’t just come as profits (some of which go to overseas owners) – employment and the money it injects into the economy. And downstream business is very significant.
It’s been claimed that for every new job at Marsden point due to the proposed refurbishment and expansion there will be six jobs due to associated business. That’s employment and profits (in many cases) for New Zealanders.
You really don’t get it do you. Just because you did not die from the first three head on collisions does not mean the next hit won’t check you out. Sooner or later the brakes must be applied. Selling what minuscule scraps of NZ that remain, is not a good idea.
i was going to be a little less polite CV, though it is hard not to think PeteG is the posterboy for some words i recall from my youth.
‘Works all day busy doing nothing Working very hard to find nothing to do.’
Since i first realised a human has the capacity for independent thought (i was six and refusing my first holy communion, twice) i have been battling fuckwits who fail to see that NZ is possibly the only country in the modern world which had the potential to show the rest of the world there is a better way. Emphasis sadly is now on the ‘had’ instead of ‘has’
Chinese investors have shown encouraging interest towards the Auckland Council’s planned $10.8 billion worth of infrastructure projects and other trade and investment opportunities, Auckland Mayor Len Brown says. …
China, as our second largest trading partner, was one of the few countries with significant capital to invest offshore and was particularly interested in tourism investment, Brown said.
The first project off the block will be the $2.4b inner city rail loop and Brown favours a PPP (public/private/partnership) deal over borrowing, issuing infrastructure bonds, or raising rates and taxes in order to fund it.
China, as our second largest trading partner, was one of the few countries with significant capital to invest offshore and was particularly interested in tourism investment, Brown said.
Money is nothing and the Chinese seem to understand that. All that nothing that the Chinese will invest will be used to benefit China from our resources making us poorer.
Emphasis sadly is now on the ‘had’ instead of ‘has’
freedom:
NZ is still the country to do it in. No matter how far we’ve slid backwards…everyone else has gone even further!!! There will be opportunities, that I can promise you.
“It would be great if all our land could be owned by New Zealanders, and all companies be owned and run by New Zealanders, but that’s simply not feasible.”
It would be great if all our land could be owned by New Zealanders, and all companies be owned and run by New Zealanders, but that’s simply not feasible.
It’s perfectly feasible – all we have to do is ban foreign ownership.
Benefits don’t just come as profits (some of which go to overseas owners) – employment and the money it injects into the economy.
Profit is a dead weight loss and so those profits going overseas are a loss to NZ and it’s greater than the money injected into NZ – else that money wouldn’t have been injected in the first place. I don’t count becoming a serf for foreign owners as much of a benefit either.
No Pete, you need to explain because it was you who made the claim, not me …… and here is the evidence that you did so, from your early post …
“It would be great if all our land could be owned by New Zealanders, and all companies be owned and run by New Zealanders, but that’s simply not feasible.”
Why on earth should I need to make an explanation about your point? That is nonsense.
So come on, back yourself and the points you make. How is it not feasible?
Right, so you meant not feasible in just the political sense. By the nature of the post/thread it was imagined that you meant for other reasons as well, like economically, socially, international pressurely, practically, etc.
But it is entirely feasible politically. The Greens, who are already shaping up as a very strong third force in NZ, already have a policy of banning foreign ownership of land. Labour have recently moved theirs towards heavier restriction. Even the Nats have recently tightened up (quite pathetically) due to public pressure and opinion.
What can be gleaned from this is that politically the issue is heading in the direction of banning foreign ownership.
Similarly, many / most countries in the world do not allow non-residents to own their land.
The direction of the politics is clear therefore I would suggest that your claim that it is not feasible politically is wrong. In addition, for all those other reasons it is also entirely feasible, which you would surely agree with given that you neglected to mention them, presumably because they carried even less weight for your argument.
Winston if the wind blows ri-well, left.
The Greens might.
Labour might.
Not forced sales, but a moratorium on new ownership or an effective one by tightening up OIO rules.
You seem to think that just because it might not have been in policy for the last election, something along those lines won’t be new policy in the next.
The more National act dickishly – and they’ve lost the plot politically – the father the pendulum will sing.
For it to be capable of being done you need a party who is likely to do it, and to be likely to be able to do it.
Ah, no. It is feasible because parliament is supreme, they’re the ones who set the rules. Whether it will be done is another question and it’s certainly looking like it’s on the table for most of the left of NACT/UF parties. You know, the ones that will be in government next term.
Interesting concept capital base….I would contend that the valuation of “capital base” as described by the standard mainstream economist, and as valued excludes any externalities, paid for by the environment or by somebody else in providing the ability to use that “capital”.
It is also a concept that goes with the old unspoken idea of empire: letting the locals control their “assets” and resultant production. This is antithetical to the wealth pump of empire, which is based upon the concept of the core of empire sending capital to the periphery, buying / owning the locals productive capacity and bringing the capital home at a greater rate than that sent out.
If we were to disallow this movement of capital and prevent ownership under the current imperial system the shit would hit the fan. We would be asking to sell our wares at a fair exchange. And that is where the “Free Trade Agreements” we have signed would crucify us, it is what they are designed to do: they guarantee and institutionalise unfair trade.
I would contend that the valuation of “capital base” as described by the standard mainstream economist, and as valued excludes any externalities, paid for by the environment or by somebody else in providing the ability to use that “capital”.
Economists have two definitions of capital.
1.) Capital – the actual physical resources/machinery
2.) Finance Capital – Money
Whenever capital is being talked about by politicians and economists in the media they’re talking about the 2nd definition. The first definition, which is the most important one, is never mentioned.
If we were to disallow this movement of capital and prevent ownership under the current imperial system the shit would hit the fan. We would be asking to sell our wares at a fair exchange. And that is where the “Free Trade Agreements” we have signed would crucify us, it is what they are designed to do: they guarantee and institutionalise unfair trade.
“We want to increase the level of earnings and the level of incomes of the average New Zealander and we think we have a quality product with which we can do that.”
And Mark Unsworth, from memory has been having quite a bit to do with representing US Pharmaceutical interests in regard to trying to weaken Pharmac’s role as a public medicines supplier, so the NZ market can be more open to US pharmaceutical manufactuers……..(Sorry, no links for that).
He is certainly a traitor to the people of NZ. This whole lobbying business is way out of hand, and as mentioned, anti democratic and just plain dodgy.
Realised that years ago. Secret discussions between private enterprise and MPs that result in what private enterprise wants against the wishes of the people is pure dictatorship – Banana Republic stuff.
DTB – I think the term you are looking, for is conspiracy to commit……..
Banana Republic is what NZ has been for a very long time! If we are lucky, we may not progress past whatever the status might be that follows a Banana Republic. What happens next will already have been decided however!
And don’t forget Greenpeace representative, one from FOL, and one from Labour Party, who attends caucus meetings. And Nat party president.
What about the lobbyist from the media RNZ, TVNZ, TV3 etc
Look forward to see full list.
More great news about Australian manufacturing plants moving here for our skilled work force, and cost competitiveness Australian Unions are slowly driving them all out of the Country could be a windfall for us.
our PM is basically fapping away to the loutish cheers of the banking fraternity, as they get ready for another good ‘ol game of pass the biscuit. ( p.s. we are the biscuit ! )
sick bunch of fuckwits the lot of them
Agreed completely. That is absolutely fucking appalling.
The man is shallow. So shallow that he does not even know what he is saying or doing. He only undrstands the world and NZ in a single financial context. No doubt he will justify it as saying it is a good time to attract investment etc, but he is just a shallow man of little understanding. He is selling us down the road. What a complete and utter wanker.
Gobsmacked.
If the opposition parties can’t blast him loose after this and other insights into Key’s workings then I will simply give up and go fishing (actually, might do that anyway).
Buy New Zealand everybody! We’re cheap. And the value will rise. Buy now before the locals cotton on. Buy now while I am leader. Last chance. Come one and all … free balloons and law changes ….
I’m in two minds about this. On one hand we have a lot of people that want jobs, particularly in the unskilled / semiskilled sector as evidenced by the turnouts at supermarket opening etc., This is acutally good for unemployment and ‘good’ for the economy if it moves people from the dole to having a little bit more money to spend and a little more comfortable life.
However its also nothing to get too excited about, especially from National’s point of view (though they are trying hard to spin it into a positive).
* It further highlights the gap between NZ and Oz when it comes to working conditions and wages, something National promised to narrow then gave up on after one round of ‘tax switch’
* It is one of the only things that seems to be happening to reduce unemployment, and its not generated by anything positive the Government has done, quite the opposite, by poor handling of the economy we have made ourselves low wage and desperate enough for Australia to export jobs to us.
* It shows that Bill English was right to be bragging about our low wage economy, something that didn’t go down well with the public if I recall and Key distanced himself from.
It would be far better to be growing the economy, be innovative in research (not sending our brightest off shore) and have other countries investing in our workers because they are high value not because they are cheap.
BUT we are stuck with these fullas till 2014 so if some more jobs can come this way and help some folks out I don’t think we should be too quick in turning them away.
“We want to increase the level of earnings and the level of incomes of the average New Zealander and we think we have a quality product with which we can do that.”
Oh, no magic product, it’s just BAU. Let me translate. The key phrase here is “average New Zealander”. It provdies the point of reference for measuring “increase level of earnings and level of incomes”.
Key has recently given descriptions of “the average New Zealander”: They own their own home freehold; they are in a position to buy enough shares in SOE sales to maintain control; people of influence and financial wealth.
Sometimes they are called “Mums and Dads” and generally he means anyone not quite as wealthy as him, but certainly not week-to-week wage workers and definitely not poorer types. No one sick, disabled or recieving social security, is anywhere near “average” to him.
So his product is the National party line, division and hate, and oppression as usual. Reduce wages, increase working hours, reducing costs for the employer class, thereby giving more to the “middle classes” that raises their level of income.
There will be more shufflings of phrases like this as his happy band of averageness steps further into the kind of soulessness that uses comparisons of social harm vs. economic good.
Why listen to Gould – he is a failed UK MP and his policies for New Zealand are similar – negative as always – brought in by Margaret Wilson, as he couldn’t find a job in the UK, to be overpaid at a second rate University.
Of course he now one of our Party advisors but why cannot we get somebody who we can look up to – not a failure.
Fortran, I suggest you change your name to Basic. Gould was (as you obviously dont know) a very successful and high ranked MP in the UK. You don’t get to be part of the Shadow cabinet or get to lead a leadership challenge if you are a “failure”.
The Righties are (very) scared of ability. Notice how the big projects they are involved with always shit themselves in a big way; a few make of with the cash but mostly its just collateral damage.
Peak Oil Most people wish it would just go away letting us continue our happy motoring lifestyles.
However There is now evidence that the plateau of production we’ve been on mostly with the help of deep sea, oil shale, oil sands and additional small field discoveries is failing and we’re on the terminal supply decline curve that AFKTT and R.Atack, Colin Campbell, and many others have been warning us about for 15 years at least. Some evidence:
1. Brent prices are yo yoing upwards
2. Argentina is nationalising a Spanish oil company in Argentina.
3. UK economy in doo doo with North Sea in terminal decline.
4. Even the ultra conservative IEA saying we’re past peak oil
5.Nations are gearing up to exploit the Arctic for oil as the ice cap recedes despite Lucy Lawless’s efforts to stop them!
Now this video interview with corporate spokesperson commodities expert Dr Stephen Leeb who is saying that high oil prices are due to scarcity, I’ll say that again scarcity not speculation! See for yourself but I think probably signifies the downward supply curve beginning. As R. Atack and others say this is not to be feared if we but face reality and adapt. For Example No more wasted money on motorways!
In this World controlling your own energy sector is becoming paramount. This shows up the ideological madness of Privatising our Power Companies and sending profits and dividends overseas on the backs of the ordinary kiwi. John Key’s ok with 50,000,000 Dinero in the hip pocket increased power charges are easily covered by the interest payments on his investments.
It is going to get quite difficult for the Average Joe to get the concept of what happens next as supply declines. For anyone interested it goes like this:
* the oil supply declines….causing price to increase to an unsustainable level as supply cant meet demand ….causing economic contraction……causing drop in demand……resulting in price decline…which in turn results in lack of capital investment in new production..so demand take a while to recover…then the whole cycle begins again.
* As this goes on the EROEI (energy returned on energy invested) gets less and less, the capital required to pump goes up, and the whole thing gets uneconomic in energy terms.
Meanwhile idiot entrail readers from the Treasury predict growth and suggest printing cash etc, the MSM run stories about new energy supply sources that never seem to be as big or good as promised, politicians predict growth so long as we cut services and wages, and the whole economy delays the movement to a requisite low energy structure resulting in massive suffering and dislocation.
The sick thing in this environment for NZ is that the hydro dams electricity wont be able to be bought by the people, they wont have any cash. The investors wont be getting a return, and the whole thing will turn to violence. Well done National, anybody with half a brain could see this coming.
Rightwing blogger David Farrar has complained about an excellent post by Morgan Godfery at Maui Street. He thinks Godfery is being unfair to the cops who brutally disbanded a peaceful protest in Glenn Innes on Tuesday…
I think Morgan was being very unfair to all police. He blogged:
They’re desperate for recruits so they, more often than not, recruit brain-dead males fresh from failing to gain university entrance or any meaningful academic qualification. I’ve always said, you become a cop if you’re too dumb to do law and too soft to join the military.
That’s an awful thuing to say about the police – who have to deal with the worst our society dishes up, and most of the time the do it admirably.
It doesn’t look like I’d qualify, I wouldn’t pass the swimming competency test.
And it’s not true about his army comparison, most of the time being in the army would be a much softer option than working in the frontline of the police force.
When a cop is a violent thug I’ll rail against them – when it’s proven. I think most police do a reasonable (and very difficult) job most of the time. I could even grizzle about the two that arrested me and then lied in court, but I wouldn’t blame all police all of the time.
As for some protesters who claim they have been thugged by police – I’ll rail against that if it’s proven.
And if it can be proven that the very experienced protesters manufactered the situation, provoked a sound bite reaction and exaggerated the outcome to attract attention I’ll rail against that too.
Whether you blame all police all the time is largely irrelevant. The thing is Pete is that the actions of a few police reflect badly on the entire force. It makes those who are impacted treat the police differently and therefore reduces the effectiveness of law enforcement. There is also a certain climate in the force that is unhealthy. Godfery’s post articulates that and the way most young people feel about the police very well.
I agree that a few actions can taint the whole police force.
I think he articulates some things well, and some things poorly.
Godfery’s post articulates that and the way most young people feel about the police very well.
Most young people? I wonder how he would know that.
And actually the complainers in the Glen Innes protest where not very young. They have been too a few protests in their day and know who it works. And how to work it for all it’s worth. And how gullible “most young people” can be when they jump to conclusions based on their prejudices.
Yes, I meant “how it works”. By that I mean that they are well aware of how to get media attention, and how far they can push the police in order to get coveraghe they think will give there cause good coverage.
Cops are very happy to lie in court, seen it first hand myself more than once. Those involved were senior too, and the IPCC investigation which followed was beyond a joke, I lost respect for the police after that.
My opinion went from knowing that they had a tough job, and someone had to do it, to, I have seen police lies/thuggery etc too many times, they are a crooked gang, working for a crooked establishment!
The police reflect those who govern them, they are no different to society.
Their track record speaks loud and clear, and I would expect that violence and general clamp down of society will become more prevelant in coming years. You want to have certain types onboard who are comfortable dishing out the type of violence seen in NZ by The Crowns force!
That’s an awful thuing to say about the police – who have to deal with the worst our society dishes up, and most of the time the do it admirably.
Oh no, I agree with Morgan! We all had a good laugh at an absolute dumb-arse back in Rotorua who joined the police – and his brother who wanted to, but failed the intelligence test – he had some!
PuddleGlum takes a look at the CCDU, the CERA, the DRP, the CCP, and the CCBD, and discovers a disturbing whiff of BS emanating from the BFC: http://www.thepoliticalscientist.org/?p=788
Thanks for the link – recommend others also read it and would be interested in comments from people in Christchurch on it. As a Wellingtonian, I prefer not to comment as I am not close enough to what is going on in Chch.
Gormless I take it that you are referring to Shearer’s speech in Nelson, in which he endorses a voluntary living wage campaign, following on Millibrand doing the same thing in London last month.
I really do want to feel heartened by this, and I am to the extent that the words “living wage” are proceeding from the mouths of politicians. But the cautious, non-committal language surrounding both men’s claims, and the emphasis on “voluntary,” given AFFCO etc, has the ring of “I feel your pain, and I’d really like to do something though it but my hands are tied. But I really really do feel your pain.” But perhaps I have become too pessimistic, and too ready to fixate upon the slightest equivocation.
I see now what you mean – he gave a major speech today, which included talk of the living wage. I have nos skimmed it, but have not had time to absorb it properly
I think I know what he means but I hope not to many people take it as meaning they don’t have to do anything becasue the country will do everything for them.
And then he launched in to dissing the rich pricks overseas and I groaned. Then I skipped to the grand finale.
What we need are big changes. We need a clean, green, clever country where the world wants to live.
That sounds like same old rhetoric, nothing changed.
Above all we need to grow a new economy so that we all share in the benefits.
That’s the new New Zealand I want to create.
We can only build on what we have, it’s impossible to start with a new economy. He’ll have to try creating somewhere where there is no estbalished economy with international relationships and dependencies.
If you like the idea of a New Zealand where most people are struggling to get ahead and a happy few are wondering which of the 26 toilets they might use tomorrow, then we don’t need to change a thing.
Ok, maybe a grand diss rather than finale. Whoever though up that speech closing needs to be flushed, one toilet will suffice.
But if you think we can do better, let’s get going.
I guess he doesn’t mean to Australia.
At a time when a strong opposition and a real alternative government is at about it’s most important this is really quite depressing.
“Credit where credit’s due. This might not be the most deceitful New Zealand Government of the past 50 years but it’s certainly the most brazenly deceitful. If there were to be awards for sneering-in-your-face dishonesty; for being deliberately misleading and for sweeping inconvenient truths under the carpet, the Class of 2012 would already be assured of the silverware. Seldom, in the field of shameless chicanery, has one Government achieved so much.
The only remaining question is how many imaginery “Shiftys” our National-led coalition deserve. They can certainly look forward to multiple nominations for their performance over the Sky City scandal, in which they’re blatantly exchanging Government policy for the equivalent of a brown paper bag full of money. The PM’s declaration that he wasn’t, before conceding in his next breath that he’d actually initiated proceedings, also puts him in line for Best Accidental Comic.
Biggest Hypocrite? Bill English is already tipped to win this one after his recent effort on the Paid Parental Leave issue. His insistence that the proposal will be vetoed without discussion was a delightful piece of phony austerity, particularly in light of his own track-record. “Double Dipton” we used to call him, so opportunistic and carefree was he over taxpayer money. But, oh no. Far too responsible a man to tolerate the excesses of more PPL.”
Thursday 19 April 2012, 4:25 p.m.
Jock Anderson (NBR) finds Key’s dishonesty repugnant
National Radio, The Panel with Jim Mora, Jock Anderson and Josie McNaught
The discussion turns to the secret deal that the Prime Minister has done with the casino company Sky City.
Listen to National Business Review journalist Jock Anderson: “There’s a serious smell about this. There’s going to be a serious backlash against Mr Key. His approach to this is arrogant and offhand. We cannot have this kind of deal in this country. The perception of John Key and his government is very bad. It is a moral issue and the community needs to stand up against this. Why should community groups need to go cap in hand to alcohol barons and gambling operators to get funds that the government refuses to hand out?”
National Party supporters will have noted with concern who the speaker is. He’s one of the most right wing thinkers in the country, but he finds the Key regime utterly repugnant.
Two and a half more years indeed, thats if Te Party Maori and the Hair-do for Ohariu can stand (a), the stench of Slippery’s corruption for that long, and, (b), having to face down the thundering locomotive of electoral oblivion without blinking for that two and a half years,
The damage tho has been done,(again),to our economy and while we dont intend to get into a full on slagging of Dave Shearer and Labour at this point we would like to insert a ‘what the f**k’ here in response to the latest offering from the Labour Leader,
Lucky New Zealand we have the Green Party which will give Socialism in this country the Steel it needs in Government for the trying times ahead…
Long before the internet I read of how the finance/commerce of the World was ultimately in the hands of a very few unknown shadowy international conglomerates. Every company was in turn owned by other companies but surely that couldn’t be so. Who could wonder about some innocent sounding group called Blue Circle for instance? Surely such a shadow could not possibly own a quarter of the Worlds money? Must be science fiction surely.
MPs Mallard and Little will not be apologising to Collins. It seems she demanded in her latest letter that they pay her legal costs which they have also declined to do.
What they should do however is buy her a broom, put a red ribbon around the handle and present it to her when parliament reconvenes.
The government dictates the terms of settlement and therefore bears some responsibility for how and who manages it. And that’s where this story gets interesting…
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
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In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
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A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
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And in breaking news the stench of corruption surrounding the Sky City legislation for investment deal grows stronger.
Sky City Chairman Rod McGeoch said the access was enabling the company to change the way it was seen by “key influencers”.
So this Government is happy to give gambling a veneer of respectability as long as the price is right.
Its true colors are finally showing.
Oops should have said “access to cabinet ministers”
It’s time Shearer calls Key “corrupt” as often as possible.
Otherwise Peters as a smart lawyer will seek a judicial review of the Convention Centre deal as soon as it is made, and the story is his and bigger than the Winebox thing because it could take the Prime Minister down.
Yes, I was hoping this morning that one of the disgruntled tenderers would launch judicial review of this decision. Always hard to do in the case of tenders because the first stop is usually seen to be the contract (or the first process contract). However the Privy Council 1994 decision in Mercury Energy v ECNZ still applies. That decision holds in essence that a commercial contract will not be reviewable, except in the situation of “fraud, corruption or bad faith.”
The Whitianga Environment Court decision that Minister Chris Carter overturned and then got pinged for is also worth considering here, although of course we are a long way from that kind of procedure.
In the end what John Key is doing is what he has done over The Hobbit: because they control Parliament they really can make tradeoffs weighing economic good to social harm. We have been used to a Clark Government which did little of this and was simply anti-commercial.
What Key will need to release to forestall the NZHerald and TV1 holding their own inquiry, is a precise timetable of:
– the tendering proces
– the weighting criteria
– the people in the room making the decision and their delegations
– the advice from officials every step of the way
– and all of that matched against every phone call or email or pull-aside or meeting he or his Ministers have had with Sky since the 2008 election.
He either has to dump all of this in public fast and visibily, or it will cut his tree down blow by blow. And he needs to get a Minsiter to take the fall for this as well.
If the media get to do this inquiry, it will be repeated in the High Court – and probably within this Parliamentary term.
Peters is many things but he is not a smart lawyer.
New Zealand has had a long tradition of career prime ministers people who have learnt protocol. (Same goes for our diplomatic service.) Suddenly we get someone who has been plucked from the business world and the nature of the office changes.
When it comes to the right wing fanatics and their love of foreign landlords they have often claimed, as the likes of Gosman has repeatedly here, that “they can’t take the land with them” as if the effect on our sovereignty is nil.
This is patent nonsense as common sense knows that every person will make moves to protect what they consider theirs no matter its location or political position. Evidence for this was recently provided when a Chinese under-diplomat at the Chinese Embassy in Wellington made statements about the effect of NZ banning foreign ownership of land with particular reference to the Crafar farms.
This has been followed up this week with the fourth-ranking leader of China, visiting at the moment, apparently making points re the Crafar farms and their desire for other purchases of New Zealand. Yesterday this man, more powerful by a universe than any person in our lands, visited Synlait, a 51% Chinese-owned dairy factory just outside Christchurch. Clearly, the ownership of New Zealand is important to the Chinese.
Now we see further evidence of the effect of foreign ownership on sovereignty in Argentina, with Eurpoe making continent-wide threats against Argentina which has has nationalised an energy company. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/6766653/Spain-threatens-Argentina-over-YPF-seizure
Argentina is a sovereign nation, entitled to make its own rules about anything. It has a government elected by its people, yet here is Europe jumping up and down saying “no, you cannot make those rules in Argentina, and if you do then we will take action against you”.
The evidence is clear people. Sell New Zealand to foreigners and we lose control of our country.
Proved.
Think.
Okay. You have no effective sovereignty right now. None. Zip. Nada. So what you afraid of losing again?
And if you are just against foreign ownership of land (as opposd to the consistent position of being against private ownership of land, full stop.) then does that extend to all foreign entities owning land in other coountries? What about Fonterra’s recent moves into China where they are assuming control (effective sovereignty) of arable lands? Is that okay? And their acquisitions in S.America, are they okay?
And please bear in mind that Fonterra (at last time of looking) enjoy the fruits of NZ prison labour…slave labour as some would have it.
Bill, you have raised this issue before. The reference to soveignty is a reference to our current political structure and commonly recognised sovereignty, with your noted warts and all. Our current “sovereignty” is the position against which this is measured.
As for NZers going and spending money in other countries that is up to them. Also nothing to do with what I am talking about. If they want to take the same political risks with their money that is their business. And the business of those other countries. Bloody risky if you ask me but they seem to think that world geopolitics is stable enough to make those calls. Good luck to them.
As for Fonterra’s slave labour use, again, not related to my point.
*sigh* Sovereignty is control. You and I have no control over land use and so on. (Oh sure, we can petition and protest, but we have no positive and empowering input) But you accept a meaningless definition of sovereignty…a thing devoid of agency. Meaning you accept the loss of our sovereignty…yet complain about a potential loss of our sovereignty!
As for Fonterra investing ‘their’ money (as you put it) in foreign ventures, doesn’t that underscore the point that private ownership robs us of sovereignty? It’s their money that came from their businesses run on their land….the same land that, if they chose to sell some to a foreign interest would suddenly become our land… and not up for grabs.
It’s a massive disconnect vto and one that is going to tie swathes of the left in knots. Why not adopt a position that at least offers consistency, that avoids the potential for jingo-ism and that offers a modicum of solidarity to all those people overseas finding themselves in a similar position to the one NZ ers are getting so het up about?
Or is it a jingoistic case predicated on a notion of *our* Fonterra (quick, quick, wave the flag! what a fantastic kiwi business it is!) versus the world…going into bat for *us* against the rest of the world? And the rest of the world (that’s mostly people like you and me btw) can ‘look out’ for themselves if they choose… Fonterra…the kiwi ‘big batter’ is coming to town…ra-ra Fonterra and hiss boo ‘the others’?
So Bill if we have no control whatsoever over the use and ownership of land in NZ then who does control it?
And I don’t follow your logic re NZers investing overseas. It seems it is you getting tied up in knots.
Who does control it? The owners of course! And you and I in’t the owners.
And if you can’t follow the simple logic of private entities investing overseas and why your tacit support of that = a level of inconsistency or hypocrisy, then it means you don’t understand….not that I’m getting tied in knots. If you discern inconsistencies in my stance, then elucidate.
“Who does control it? The owners of course! ”
That is patent nonsense. I have a plenty experience in property ownership and using it and trying to change its use and I can tell you that an owner’s control over its land is in fact small. Surely it doesn’t need pointing out that both central and local government exercise the major control thru e.g. RMA, Council plans, govt legislation concerning mining, burial, policing, taxation, the list goes on and on and on.
The control and use of land in NZ is effected through our common law, our land tenure system, central government legislation and local government regulation and planning. Nothing else.
We are clearly miles apart in our understandings, which means my original point, in this context, cannot even begin to be discussed.
Yes vto. The owners exert control…make decisions and take actions…exercise their sovereign rights as it were, within the context of a legislative framework. Granted.
And if we were looking at a situation of ‘the commons’ then there would be a framework delimiting sovereignty too. The difference being that we would be the ones instituting the rules and bounderies within which we acted…in other words, substantive sovereignty guided by democratic principles.
Now where is our ability to partake in decisions and actions within the context of private land ownership guided or delimited by government legislation? How do we express any meaningful sovereignty over that land? What opportunities for control do we have? There’s nothing there, is there?
Well, we clearly do. By way of example, we vote in governments to make changes to the legislated framework around ownership (further example being recent more restrictive changes to foreign ownership of land). Another example, submissions and voting in of councils around the regulatory policies concerning local land use (further particular example being the changes made to rural Councils plans around rural land use around ten years ago).
Brining this back to my original point. The above control that we have (shown by law and example) is affected when ownership is held by foreigners when they try to influence those Council and government decision-making processes. And my original point outlined three examples of where that has happenned.
This is how we lose control of our sovereignty, as outlined in my original point.
I guess you kind of glazed over at the word meaningful in my previous comment. Sure, you and I can vote ‘representatives’ into positions of power and hope they will represent something…anything!… we actually give a shit about. And sometimes they might enact legislative changes that we agree with…or not, as the case may be.
And powerful economic actors with a kiwi identity (a head office here or whatever) don’t attempt to influence councils and governments?! Or if they do, it’s all okay because their influence doesn’t affect our (well, your imagined) sovereignty…unlike nefarious foreigners?
Ever considered that if nationalisation was to be seen a possible step in the direction of people someday realising a measure of actual sovereignty, that it would be far easier for a government to nationalise foreign owned ‘stuff’ cause they would possibly enjoy more public support than they would if the ‘stuff’ was in the private hands of nz companies?
Just throwing that out there for you to mull over…
Speaking of the Commons, Via Campesina occupy farm land in Honduras
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2012/04/201241915516662950.html
Bill, Fonterras use of slave prison labour? Tell me more.
Been away in the real world Bored. Here’s a link to a post NRT did about prison/slave labour a year or two back that refers to Fonterra among others.
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2010/07/shining-spotlight-on-prison-slave.html
Foreign ownership of an economy is bad for that economy thus it is not Ok for Fontera to take control of Chinas lands.
And, yes, private ownership of land in NZ also needs to be banned with the present deeds being turned into leases.
Thankyou for articulating a position that’s consistant….was beginning to feel quite lonely I was…
“Effective sovereignty” is such a lame-ass phrase. Bottom line is that China will not allow Fonterra to ever own that land, and don’t mistake the illusion of control over it for actual control.
A squad from the Chinese Army turns up and your “effective sovereignty” and control of that farm land is all over, just like that.
Should have read (perhaps for the sake of clarity becasue it was not intended to be read as a phrase) ‘effectively sovereignty’…ie control…but if that;’s nonsense then what is sovereignty when it is just a vacuous label or word with no ‘real world’ expression in terms of the things it traditionally pertains to ie control?
Crafar decision 2 due out tomorrow.
All indicators are pointing to a piece of our Paradise being run by the Chinese very very shortly.
Makes me so Angry
Unless plans have changed the farms are to be run by New Zealanders. The Chinese are providing the money and a market.
And NZ is to pay millions of dollars to run the farms!
Genuine query. But in on way or another, wouldn’t ‘nz’ pay millions no matter who the owners were? Externalised costs and all that. And through paying $10 -$15 for a block of cheese that sells on the world market for about $2?
I understand that Landcorp were to manage the Crafer Farms, with New Zealanders from Landcorp being employees paid in New Zealand dollars.
Yeah well Landcorp should own the land as well. And then we could profit as a nation from their competent working of it.
Petey Petey petey, you are such a waste of oxygen, what about the inconvenient truth that NZrs were never given the opportunity to buy the farms. Sure a handful of elite groups made a half arsed pitch as a collected lot, and the few that tried faced such a wall of predetermination the cause was lost before it began. There has also not yet been a full and frank explanation as to why the farms were not offered to NZ as individual lots in the same way they were offered to overseas interests. Lastly, who cares who is employed to run them where is the profit going??? oh yeah, offshore, like everything else of worth in NZ.
The money is to pay off the mortgages held by overseas banks.
yes, we all know that and once the liquidation process is over the farms will become regular earners again and with foreign ownership that money goes offshore, so the point of your comment is what exactly?
The overseas banks can where the loss that was part of the risk that they took on when they gave out the loans.
A lot of New Zealanders are employed by foreign owned companies. Fact of life.
It would be great if all our land could be owned by New Zealanders, and all companies be owned and run by New Zealanders, but that’s simply not feasible.
Benefits don’t just come as profits (some of which go to overseas owners) – employment and the money it injects into the economy. And downstream business is very significant.
It’s been claimed that for every new job at Marsden point due to the proposed refurbishment and expansion there will be six jobs due to associated business. That’s employment and profits (in many cases) for New Zealanders.
You really don’t get it do you. Just because you did not die from the first three head on collisions does not mean the next hit won’t check you out. Sooner or later the brakes must be applied. Selling what minuscule scraps of NZ that remain, is not a good idea.
Sounds like you’re the one that doesn’t get it.
The country is called New Zealand, not New Utopia.
You don’t get the concept of economic sovereignty. Which is not surprising since neither does Dunne.
If you have no ideals and vision for the future of the nation, get the fuck out of politics.
i was going to be a little less polite CV, though it is hard not to think PeteG is the posterboy for some words i recall from my youth.
‘Works all day busy doing nothing Working very hard to find nothing to do.’
Since i first realised a human has the capacity for independent thought (i was six and refusing my first holy communion, twice) i have been battling fuckwits who fail to see that NZ is possibly the only country in the modern world which had the potential to show the rest of the world there is a better way. Emphasis sadly is now on the ‘had’ instead of ‘has’
Len Brown is exploring possibilities:
Alternately he could ask for commenters on The Standard to provide the investment capital required.
Money is nothing and the Chinese seem to understand that. All that nothing that the Chinese will invest will be used to benefit China from our resources making us poorer.
In fact China is looking to unload its about-to-become-worthless Treasuries on to useless saps like us, in exchange for the best hard assets we own.
The Chinese used to respect us, but these days they realise we’re just like the rest of the short term thinking money hungry capitalists.
freedom:
NZ is still the country to do it in. No matter how far we’ve slid backwards…everyone else has gone even further!!! There will be opportunities, that I can promise you.
-1
“It would be great if all our land could be owned by New Zealanders, and all companies be owned and run by New Zealanders, but that’s simply not feasible.”
rubbish
explain why that is not feasible
It’s perfectly feasible – all we have to do is ban foreign ownership.
Profit is a dead weight loss and so those profits going overseas are a loss to NZ and it’s greater than the money injected into NZ – else that money wouldn’t have been injected in the first place. I don’t count becoming a serf for foreign owners as much of a benefit either.
It’s perfectly feasible – all we have to do is ban foreign ownership.
Theoretically it could be done, but I don’t think any New Zealand Government in the forseeable future would attempt it.
It would require and force massive changes, and many of them would not be positive.
You need more explanation Pete to back up your claim. A bare claim is not much use.
No, you need to explain how you think it would be feasible, and what positive and negative efeects there are likely to be.
No Pete, you need to explain because it was you who made the claim, not me …… and here is the evidence that you did so, from your early post …
“It would be great if all our land could be owned by New Zealanders, and all companies be owned and run by New Zealanders, but that’s simply not feasible.”
Why on earth should I need to make an explanation about your point? That is nonsense.
So come on, back yourself and the points you make. How is it not feasible?
Feasibility
Parliament is sovereign and makes the rules
Positive effects
Our resources and efforts no longer going to enrich private individuals in other economies thus making us better off
Negative effects
Can’t think of any
1. Find a party that is prepared and able to do it.
If you can’t do that then it won’t happen. Unless you can start a revolution – and get it to turn out how you want – but that’s even less likely.
Your question was feasibility – not which party will do it.
fea·si·ble
1. capable of being done, effected, or accomplished: a feasible plan.
2. probable; likely: a feasible theory.
For it to be capable of being done you need a party who is likely to do it, and to be likely to be able to do it.
What parties currently have policies to ban all foreign ownership?
Right, so you meant not feasible in just the political sense. By the nature of the post/thread it was imagined that you meant for other reasons as well, like economically, socially, international pressurely, practically, etc.
But it is entirely feasible politically. The Greens, who are already shaping up as a very strong third force in NZ, already have a policy of banning foreign ownership of land. Labour have recently moved theirs towards heavier restriction. Even the Nats have recently tightened up (quite pathetically) due to public pressure and opinion.
What can be gleaned from this is that politically the issue is heading in the direction of banning foreign ownership.
Similarly, many / most countries in the world do not allow non-residents to own their land.
The direction of the politics is clear therefore I would suggest that your claim that it is not feasible politically is wrong. In addition, for all those other reasons it is also entirely feasible, which you would surely agree with given that you neglected to mention them, presumably because they carried even less weight for your argument.
Winston if the wind blows ri-well, left.
The Greens might.
Labour might.
Not forced sales, but a moratorium on new ownership or an effective one by tightening up OIO rules.
You seem to think that just because it might not have been in policy for the last election, something along those lines won’t be new policy in the next.
The more National act dickishly – and they’ve lost the plot politically – the father the pendulum will sing.
Ah, no. It is feasible because parliament is supreme, they’re the ones who set the rules. Whether it will be done is another question and it’s certainly looking like it’s on the table for most of the left of NACT/UF parties. You know, the ones that will be in government next term.
The right always says, for some reason, that we do not have a decent capital base in NZ.
Selling these farms to foreigners means that capital base is now lost too, so they have just made the situation worse.
Interesting concept capital base….I would contend that the valuation of “capital base” as described by the standard mainstream economist, and as valued excludes any externalities, paid for by the environment or by somebody else in providing the ability to use that “capital”.
It is also a concept that goes with the old unspoken idea of empire: letting the locals control their “assets” and resultant production. This is antithetical to the wealth pump of empire, which is based upon the concept of the core of empire sending capital to the periphery, buying / owning the locals productive capacity and bringing the capital home at a greater rate than that sent out.
If we were to disallow this movement of capital and prevent ownership under the current imperial system the shit would hit the fan. We would be asking to sell our wares at a fair exchange. And that is where the “Free Trade Agreements” we have signed would crucify us, it is what they are designed to do: they guarantee and institutionalise unfair trade.
Economists have two definitions of capital.
1.) Capital – the actual physical resources/machinery
2.) Finance Capital – Money
Whenever capital is being talked about by politicians and economists in the media they’re talking about the 2nd definition. The first definition, which is the most important one, is never mentioned.
Exactly.
We’ve got our own fucking money thank you very much. Further we’re the ones with the farming expertise to farm the land profitability.
Landcorp should simply buy the land and lease it back to the Chinese on a 25 year term.
Be a good profitable deal for NZ. If you were interested in such a thing, PG.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/6769199/Key-wants-a-high-wage-NZ
words from our great leader?
“We want to increase the level of earnings and the level of incomes of the average New Zealander and we think we have a quality product with which we can do that.”
so John, what is this magic product? Do tell!
Blue eyed babies for sale anyone?
This might interest people….
“There are 16 people with swipe card security access to Parliament, but their names and organisations are secret.”
http://www.3news.co.nz/Name-the-lobbyists-Lockwood/tabid/1135/articleID/250692/Default.aspx
“We know two of them – Sky TV’s Tony O’Brien and Wellington consultant Mark Unsworth.”
Sky TV have been getting some cosy deals on content lately and the Herald had this report in 2010 about Unsworth and the PMs advisor…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10650068
Lobbying is the antithesis of democracy.
Thanks for this. But it makes me want to puke.
And Mark Unsworth, from memory has been having quite a bit to do with representing US Pharmaceutical interests in regard to trying to weaken Pharmac’s role as a public medicines supplier, so the NZ market can be more open to US pharmaceutical manufactuers……..(Sorry, no links for that).
He is certainly a traitor to the people of NZ. This whole lobbying business is way out of hand, and as mentioned, anti democratic and just plain dodgy.
Bingo!
Realised that years ago. Secret discussions between private enterprise and MPs that result in what private enterprise wants against the wishes of the people is pure dictatorship – Banana Republic stuff.
DTB – I think the term you are looking, for is conspiracy to commit……..
Banana Republic is what NZ has been for a very long time! If we are lucky, we may not progress past whatever the status might be that follows a Banana Republic. What happens next will already have been decided however!
And don’t forget Greenpeace representative, one from FOL, and one from Labour Party, who attends caucus meetings. And Nat party president.
What about the lobbyist from the media RNZ, TVNZ, TV3 etc
Look forward to see full list.
More great news about Australian manufacturing plants moving here for our skilled work force, and cost competitiveness Australian Unions are slowly driving them all out of the Country could be a windfall for us.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10799908
Ahh NZ, how you are fortunate to be the sweatshop of the western world!
Taking jobs from your NZ relatives in Australia, getting paid much less over here,
Smiling while the corporates pocket as shareholder profits the difference inbetween!
As the Prime Gambler has just told an international audience, we are a “buy on the dips”. Yippee.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10799922
Quick, sell off NZ!
And he has been ringing around his fellow investment banking mates.
our PM is basically fapping away to the loutish cheers of the banking fraternity, as they get ready for another good ‘ol game of pass the biscuit. ( p.s. we are the biscuit ! )
sick bunch of fuckwits the lot of them
This needs emphasising.
According to Jim’s link above, John Key is not out to get us the best price for our assets. He’s out to get the best price for the overseas buyers.
Nat supporters, you need to think about this.
Agreed completely. That is absolutely fucking appalling.
The man is shallow. So shallow that he does not even know what he is saying or doing. He only undrstands the world and NZ in a single financial context. No doubt he will justify it as saying it is a good time to attract investment etc, but he is just a shallow man of little understanding. He is selling us down the road. What a complete and utter wanker.
Gobsmacked.
If the opposition parties can’t blast him loose after this and other insights into Key’s workings then I will simply give up and go fishing (actually, might do that anyway).
Buy New Zealand everybody! We’re cheap. And the value will rise. Buy now before the locals cotton on. Buy now while I am leader. Last chance. Come one and all … free balloons and law changes ….
Felix, that’s an oxymoron, Nat supporters and thinking.
I was hoping that at the very least they’d be able to think in their own self interest 😀
They will – as soon as Jonkey tells them what their self-interest is.
I’m in two minds about this. On one hand we have a lot of people that want jobs, particularly in the unskilled / semiskilled sector as evidenced by the turnouts at supermarket opening etc., This is acutally good for unemployment and ‘good’ for the economy if it moves people from the dole to having a little bit more money to spend and a little more comfortable life.
However its also nothing to get too excited about, especially from National’s point of view (though they are trying hard to spin it into a positive).
* It further highlights the gap between NZ and Oz when it comes to working conditions and wages, something National promised to narrow then gave up on after one round of ‘tax switch’
* It is one of the only things that seems to be happening to reduce unemployment, and its not generated by anything positive the Government has done, quite the opposite, by poor handling of the economy we have made ourselves low wage and desperate enough for Australia to export jobs to us.
* It shows that Bill English was right to be bragging about our low wage economy, something that didn’t go down well with the public if I recall and Key distanced himself from.
It would be far better to be growing the economy, be innovative in research (not sending our brightest off shore) and have other countries investing in our workers because they are high value not because they are cheap.
BUT we are stuck with these fullas till 2014 so if some more jobs can come this way and help some folks out I don’t think we should be too quick in turning them away.
Yeah, you mentioned this BS yesterday, I’m pretty sure you’ll get the same response today.
Did I and will I? I think you have me confused…
“We want to increase the level of earnings and the level of incomes of the average New Zealander and we think we have a quality product with which we can do that.”
Oh, no magic product, it’s just BAU. Let me translate. The key phrase here is “average New Zealander”. It provdies the point of reference for measuring “increase level of earnings and level of incomes”.
Key has recently given descriptions of “the average New Zealander”: They own their own home freehold; they are in a position to buy enough shares in SOE sales to maintain control; people of influence and financial wealth.
Sometimes they are called “Mums and Dads” and generally he means anyone not quite as wealthy as him, but certainly not week-to-week wage workers and definitely not poorer types. No one sick, disabled or recieving social security, is anywhere near “average” to him.
So his product is the National party line, division and hate, and oppression as usual. Reduce wages, increase working hours, reducing costs for the employer class, thereby giving more to the “middle classes” that raises their level of income.
There will be more shufflings of phrases like this as his happy band of averageness steps further into the kind of soulessness that uses comparisons of social harm vs. economic good.
Brian Gould hits the nail on the head:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10799825
Why listen to Gould – he is a failed UK MP and his policies for New Zealand are similar – negative as always – brought in by Margaret Wilson, as he couldn’t find a job in the UK, to be overpaid at a second rate University.
Of course he now one of our Party advisors but why cannot we get somebody who we can look up to – not a failure.
Fortran, I suggest you change your name to Basic. Gould was (as you obviously dont know) a very successful and high ranked MP in the UK. You don’t get to be part of the Shadow cabinet or get to lead a leadership challenge if you are a “failure”.
The Righties are (very) scared of ability. Notice how the big projects they are involved with always shit themselves in a big way; a few make of with the cash but mostly its just collateral damage.
Peak Oil Most people wish it would just go away letting us continue our happy motoring lifestyles.
However There is now evidence that the plateau of production we’ve been on mostly with the help of deep sea, oil shale, oil sands and additional small field discoveries is failing and we’re on the terminal supply decline curve that AFKTT and R.Atack, Colin Campbell, and many others have been warning us about for 15 years at least. Some evidence:
1. Brent prices are yo yoing upwards
2. Argentina is nationalising a Spanish oil company in Argentina.
3. UK economy in doo doo with North Sea in terminal decline.
4. Even the ultra conservative IEA saying we’re past peak oil
5.Nations are gearing up to exploit the Arctic for oil as the ice cap recedes despite Lucy Lawless’s efforts to stop them!
Now this video interview with corporate spokesperson commodities expert Dr Stephen Leeb who is saying that high oil prices are due to scarcity, I’ll say that again scarcity not speculation! See for yourself but I think probably signifies the downward supply curve beginning. As R. Atack and others say this is not to be feared if we but face reality and adapt. For Example No more wasted money on motorways!
Link:
http://www.collapsenet.com/free-resources/collapsenet-public-access/news-alerts/item/7494-commodities-expert-oil-scarcity-not-speculation-driving-up-prices
In this World controlling your own energy sector is becoming paramount. This shows up the ideological madness of Privatising our Power Companies and sending profits and dividends overseas on the backs of the ordinary kiwi. John Key’s ok with 50,000,000 Dinero in the hip pocket increased power charges are easily covered by the interest payments on his investments.
Ideological, yes, but not madness. It’s sole purpose is to ensure that the rich remain rich at everyone else’s expense.
It is going to get quite difficult for the Average Joe to get the concept of what happens next as supply declines. For anyone interested it goes like this:
* the oil supply declines….causing price to increase to an unsustainable level as supply cant meet demand ….causing economic contraction……causing drop in demand……resulting in price decline…which in turn results in lack of capital investment in new production..so demand take a while to recover…then the whole cycle begins again.
* As this goes on the EROEI (energy returned on energy invested) gets less and less, the capital required to pump goes up, and the whole thing gets uneconomic in energy terms.
Meanwhile idiot entrail readers from the Treasury predict growth and suggest printing cash etc, the MSM run stories about new energy supply sources that never seem to be as big or good as promised, politicians predict growth so long as we cut services and wages, and the whole economy delays the movement to a requisite low energy structure resulting in massive suffering and dislocation.
The sick thing in this environment for NZ is that the hydro dams electricity wont be able to be bought by the people, they wont have any cash. The investors wont be getting a return, and the whole thing will turn to violence. Well done National, anybody with half a brain could see this coming.
Kiwiblog vs Maui Street
Rightwing blogger David Farrar has complained about an excellent post by Morgan Godfery at Maui Street. He thinks Godfery is being unfair to the cops who brutally disbanded a peaceful protest in Glenn Innes on Tuesday…
I think Morgan was being very unfair to all police. He blogged:
That’s an awful thuing to say about the police – who have to deal with the worst our society dishes up, and most of the time the do it admirably.
It may well be awful, Pete, but the question is whether it’s true.
It’s true he said it, it’s still on his blog.
It’s not true what he’s said about most police recruits. Entrance requirements are quite extensive – you can see them at http://www.newcops.co.nz/application-process
It doesn’t look like I’d qualify, I wouldn’t pass the swimming competency test.
And it’s not true about his army comparison, most of the time being in the army would be a much softer option than working in the frontline of the police force.
Rather than looking at the entrance requirements, how about looking at the cops that actually get through?
You usually rail against violent thugs, Pete.
What’s changed?
Nothing has changed.
When a cop is a violent thug I’ll rail against them – when it’s proven. I think most police do a reasonable (and very difficult) job most of the time. I could even grizzle about the two that arrested me and then lied in court, but I wouldn’t blame all police all of the time.
As for some protesters who claim they have been thugged by police – I’ll rail against that if it’s proven.
And if it can be proven that the very experienced protesters manufactered the situation, provoked a sound bite reaction and exaggerated the outcome to attract attention I’ll rail against that too.
Whether you blame all police all the time is largely irrelevant. The thing is Pete is that the actions of a few police reflect badly on the entire force. It makes those who are impacted treat the police differently and therefore reduces the effectiveness of law enforcement. There is also a certain climate in the force that is unhealthy. Godfery’s post articulates that and the way most young people feel about the police very well.
I agree that a few actions can taint the whole police force.
I think he articulates some things well, and some things poorly.
Most young people? I wonder how he would know that.
And actually the complainers in the Glen Innes protest where not very young. They have been too a few protests in their day and know who it works. And how to work it for all it’s worth. And how gullible “most young people” can be when they jump to conclusions based on their prejudices.
“…and know who it works”
I’m gonna assume you meant to type “how it works”.
What do you mean by that?
Oh Peeeteeeey….. where aaaaaareeee yooooouuuuu?
Yes, I meant “how it works”. By that I mean that they are well aware of how to get media attention, and how far they can push the police in order to get coveraghe they think will give there cause good coverage.
Are you saying they wanted to get bashed by the cops?
That they were asking for it?
Wow.
That’s real cute, Pete.
I bet you think those two cops who lied in court are the exception.
Cops are very happy to lie in court, seen it first hand myself more than once. Those involved were senior too, and the IPCC investigation which followed was beyond a joke, I lost respect for the police after that.
My opinion went from knowing that they had a tough job, and someone had to do it, to, I have seen police lies/thuggery etc too many times, they are a crooked gang, working for a crooked establishment!
The police reflect those who govern them, they are no different to society.
Their track record speaks loud and clear, and I would expect that violence and general clamp down of society will become more prevelant in coming years. You want to have certain types onboard who are comfortable dishing out the type of violence seen in NZ by The Crowns force!
Oh no, I agree with Morgan! We all had a good laugh at an absolute dumb-arse back in Rotorua who joined the police – and his brother who wanted to, but failed the intelligence test – he had some!
Kiwirail’s Hillside Workshops up for sale? Summary of reports including union statement.
No word on potential nationality of any buyers.
This could be bad for Dunedin, or it could end up working for the better. Depends on a lot of things.
Oh fuck off.
It’s going to be a kick in the nuts that Dunedin doesn’t need, you dick.
PuddleGlum takes a look at the CCDU, the CERA, the DRP, the CCP, and the CCBD, and discovers a disturbing whiff of BS emanating from the BFC: http://www.thepoliticalscientist.org/?p=788
Thanks for the link – recommend others also read it and would be interested in comments from people in Christchurch on it. As a Wellingtonian, I prefer not to comment as I am not close enough to what is going on in Chch.
Thanks Felix. What we see is not what we get. I used to admire magicians sleight of hand. Not now.
But only yesterday we were being told the stocks markets had improved on the back on the IMF “growth forecast” and confidence
Actually the entire media world is designed for nothing more than sucking your energy!
Really base level stuff this!
Should David Shearer be worried that not even the Standard is interested in his big announcement of today?
Gormless I take it that you are referring to Shearer’s speech in Nelson, in which he endorses a voluntary living wage campaign, following on Millibrand doing the same thing in London last month.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6772899/Labour-gets-behind-living-wage-movement
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/mar/14/statutory-london-living-wage-ed-miliband
I really do want to feel heartened by this, and I am to the extent that the words “living wage” are proceeding from the mouths of politicians. But the cautious, non-committal language surrounding both men’s claims, and the emphasis on “voluntary,” given AFFCO etc, has the ring of “I feel your pain, and I’d really like to do something though it but my hands are tied. But I really really do feel your pain.” But perhaps I have become too pessimistic, and too ready to fixate upon the slightest equivocation.
I see now what you mean – he gave a major speech today, which included talk of the living wage. I have nos skimmed it, but have not had time to absorb it properly
http://www.labour.org.nz/news/speech-a-country-that-works-for-you
I was really hoping that David Shearer might provide some insipiration and leadership and great new ideas. May have to wait a bit longer.
His speech may have some good bits, I haven’t had time to have a read right through. But it started with the heading:
A country that works for you.
I think I know what he means but I hope not to many people take it as meaning they don’t have to do anything becasue the country will do everything for them.
And then he launched in to dissing the rich pricks overseas and I groaned. Then I skipped to the grand finale.
That sounds like same old rhetoric, nothing changed.
We can only build on what we have, it’s impossible to start with a new economy. He’ll have to try creating somewhere where there is no estbalished economy with international relationships and dependencies.
Ok, maybe a grand diss rather than finale. Whoever though up that speech closing needs to be flushed, one toilet will suffice.
I guess he doesn’t mean to Australia.
At a time when a strong opposition and a real alternative government is at about it’s most important this is really quite depressing.
I read his speech and it was just more BAU BS. Still following the delusional growth meme that capitalism needs and that’s destroying the environment.
Great article by RICHARD BOOCK
“Credit where credit’s due. This might not be the most deceitful New Zealand Government of the past 50 years but it’s certainly the most brazenly deceitful. If there were to be awards for sneering-in-your-face dishonesty; for being deliberately misleading and for sweeping inconvenient truths under the carpet, the Class of 2012 would already be assured of the silverware. Seldom, in the field of shameless chicanery, has one Government achieved so much.
The only remaining question is how many imaginery “Shiftys” our National-led coalition deserve. They can certainly look forward to multiple nominations for their performance over the Sky City scandal, in which they’re blatantly exchanging Government policy for the equivalent of a brown paper bag full of money. The PM’s declaration that he wasn’t, before conceding in his next breath that he’d actually initiated proceedings, also puts him in line for Best Accidental Comic.
Biggest Hypocrite? Bill English is already tipped to win this one after his recent effort on the Paid Parental Leave issue. His insistence that the proposal will be vetoed without discussion was a delightful piece of phony austerity, particularly in light of his own track-record. “Double Dipton” we used to call him, so opportunistic and carefree was he over taxpayer money. But, oh no. Far too responsible a man to tolerate the excesses of more PPL.”
Continued: http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/blogs/an-auckland-minute/6767682/Our-government-is-brazenly-deceitful
Well spotted SL and well summarised Richard.
Thursday 19 April 2012, 4:25 p.m.
Jock Anderson (NBR) finds Key’s dishonesty repugnant
National Radio, The Panel with Jim Mora, Jock Anderson and Josie McNaught
The discussion turns to the secret deal that the Prime Minister has done with the casino company Sky City.
Listen to National Business Review journalist Jock Anderson: “There’s a serious smell about this. There’s going to be a serious backlash against Mr Key. His approach to this is arrogant and offhand. We cannot have this kind of deal in this country. The perception of John Key and his government is very bad. It is a moral issue and the community needs to stand up against this. Why should community groups need to go cap in hand to alcohol barons and gambling operators to get funds that the government refuses to hand out?”
National Party supporters will have noted with concern who the speaker is. He’s one of the most right wing thinkers in the country, but he finds the Key regime utterly repugnant.
Two and a half more years, maximum.
Two and a half more years indeed, thats if Te Party Maori and the Hair-do for Ohariu can stand (a), the stench of Slippery’s corruption for that long, and, (b), having to face down the thundering locomotive of electoral oblivion without blinking for that two and a half years,
The damage tho has been done,(again),to our economy and while we dont intend to get into a full on slagging of Dave Shearer and Labour at this point we would like to insert a ‘what the f**k’ here in response to the latest offering from the Labour Leader,
Lucky New Zealand we have the Green Party which will give Socialism in this country the Steel it needs in Government for the trying times ahead…
http://truth-out.org/news/item/8558-the-european-stabilization-mechanism-or-how-the-goldman-vampire-squid-just-captured-europe
The economic stuff is fairly straight-forward, so that’s good!
Long before the internet I read of how the finance/commerce of the World was ultimately in the hands of a very few unknown shadowy international conglomerates. Every company was in turn owned by other companies but surely that couldn’t be so. Who could wonder about some innocent sounding group called Blue Circle for instance? Surely such a shadow could not possibly own a quarter of the Worlds money? Must be science fiction surely.
Astoundment at injustice ….. leads to resentment ……. leads to anger …………. leads to hatred……..
One of life’s consistent patterns and oh so destructive.
Can best, and often only, be nipped in the bud at the beginning. Vigilance for the unjust.
…just been on mine mind …
As long as you know just who to target vto.
MPs Mallard and Little will not be apologising to Collins. It seems she demanded in her latest letter that they pay her legal costs which they have also declined to do.
What they should do however is buy her a broom, put a red ribbon around the handle and present it to her when parliament reconvenes.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/103777/labour-mps-'won't-apologise'-to-acc-minister
Haha! What a vulgar display of entitlement. She expects people to pay to be threatened by her.
Greg White – Asshole of the Week
The government dictates the terms of settlement and therefore bears some responsibility for how and who manages it. And that’s where this story gets interesting…
Certainly qualified to be a National party candidate, should be given speech writing time in a cell. He’s more than a weeks worth of assholeness.