NZ Herald’s 50 coolest Kiwis is of passing interest, and says as much about the NZ Herald as it does about (allegedly) cool Kiwis – in some categories it seems being an Alpha male (or even an alpha female) gets a lot of applause. However, the politics category is pretty cool: the coolest MPs of all time – John A Lee, Marily Waring and Big Norm!.
As for having Jacinda Ardern as the only cool current MP 🙄 – except it seems Labour MPs are cooler than any others!
Yep although how they could miss out Michael Joseph Savage is beyond me. Marilyn Wearing is the only National MP I can think of who would have fitted perfectly well in the Labour Party.
That’s the weakness list articles, they’re reductive, lack context, and are basically just lazy clickbait. Good to see it feature John A Lee though whom younger readers especially are less likely to know than Savage. I suppose if coolness was defined as being a maverick, while still achieving a significant political legacy, than Lee would win over Savage in those stakes. Well, before he became reactionary and hawkish in his later years, anyway.
Lee on Savage:
”Joe sees socialism as piles of goods fairly equitably divided and work equitably divided. I am sure he never sees it as the opportunity to play football, get brown on the beach, dance a fox trot, lie on one’s back beneath the trees, enjoy the intoxication of verse, the perfume of flowers, the joys of a novel, the thrill of music.”
Whereas now, it would be quite enough to have Labour MPs who embrace the utilitarian tenets of socialism.
love the quote, and it sums up so much of what the current Labour party needs.
The 3 blokes in suits who contested the leadership contest were all impressive candidates, but they didn’t really have it or have been shared to show it. If they did they’d be keen to present a united front from with the Greens with Labour leading I’d say. But you need the saxophonists in the band, the guitarists….
Opportunity to have a life and have some love, not work for less than a life and live in a tiny house with no garden and no park nearby and no window to see the sun.
Was thinking about this- Savage gets all the press with that photo…hardly anyone would recognise Peter Fraser or Wally Nash who arguably left a much larger legacy….Though rebels and authors are always cool, I mean has MJS got a corner in Point Chev?
Cool current Mps…hmmm…not too many rebels or authors amongst any of them…
John Clarke is still one of the coolest Kiwis ever (not just in 1972). The fact that he’s lived in Australia for the past 30 years is a reflection on NZ, not on Clarke’s coolness.
New Zealand indirectly gets a mention when journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Ewen MacAskill hold a press conference in New York earlier this week after winning a Polk Award for their reporting on Edward Snowden and the NSA.
“GLENN GREENWALD: For me, the most significant revelation is the ambition of the United States government and its four English-speaking allies to literally eliminate privacy worldwide, which is not hyperbole. “
The Scottish Independence Referendum is on the 18th of September. The Yes Campaign of the SNP has Momentum and is closing the gap on the No team of Tories and Labour.
Some Labour people are deserting to the Yes side. This is what Iain Macwhirter of the Herald Scotland has to say:
“Labour allowed the SNP to become the party of the NHS, nuclear disarmament and free education, while it has become the party of the benefits cap, immigration controls and weapons of mass destruction. I sometimes have to mentally pinch myself to remember that this is actually the case. But it is. Last month, Labour MPs voted overwhelmingly for the Coalition’s arbitrary welfare cap – surely a defining moment in British politics.
Labour introduced university tuition fees when they promised they would not; they supported the renewal of the Trident missile system; they talk enthusiastically about limiting immigration. Indeed, UK Labour politicians spend most of their time apologising for “getting it wrong” on immigration. About the only party that has a good word to say about migrants – or the European Union – is the Scottish National Party, which, as anyone who has any knowledge of nationalist parties in the rest of Europe knows, is remarkable.”
I know I’m banned but this is more important…where the f**k is Val Adams!!! Shes not only cool (look at the confidence and attitude she has she knows shes better then everyone else and can prove it) shes also the best template I can think of for young kiwi girls (and young kiwi guys for that matter) to follow
Some on the left are prepared to confront the issues:
Does anyone know the whereabouts of that stalwart and courageous David Cunliffe who bore every insult that his enemies could hurl at him. The David Cunliffe who sat stoically on the back benches while his party fought for his return. The David Cunliffe who campaigned up and down the length of New Zealand for a rededication to Labour’s core values. The David Cunliffe who promised to rescue New Zealand from John Key’s “crony capitalism”. If anyone does know where he is could they please advise Moira Coatsworth and Tim Barnett immediately – he is sorely missed.
And sorely needed. Because, if that David Cunliffe is not found – and soon – the pallid and oh-so-timid fellow currently masquerading as the leader of the Opposition is going to lose the election. Not just for Labour, the Greens and Mana, but for every other New Zealander seeking a radical change in their country’s direction.
And before the usual, I don’t agree with everything Chris has said – for example the left could still ‘win’ the election despite Labour – but what’s quoted here is pertinent to Labour’s current predicament.
One problem here may be that people commenting on blogs are powerless bystanders, and sad truths can be unpalatable. It could be a long tough five months.
Pete it was one poll taken during the royal visit, Labour and the Greens went down and the right track wrong track rating went up by a similar amount to National’s increase. Wait for the next few polls and then have the discussion. Or do you think that we should cancel the election now and just let Key get on with it.
And do you always agree with Chris or just when he backs up your world views?
I don’t agree with Chris when I disagree with him. What about you?
I understand the political tradition of trying to act as if nothing is wrong. But I agree with Chirs on one thing – I think Labour has to get real and get radical. Piddly policy releases and unconvincing public performances – with too much pissiness – are not working.
Yes, it was just one poll. Amongst a string of just one polls. Labour in Roy Morgan polls this year:
33.5
33
30.5
31.5
32
28.5
Even if Labour bounces back to the low thirties that’s not flash, you must admit that. Cunliffe has as good as acknowledged that he is reliant on at least one and probably both of the next biggest parties.
I think Cunliffe said during the week about not sweating the small stuff. I don’t see the hard yards being done on the important stuff, that’s something else I agree with Chris on.
Cunliffe and Labour should do less things, far better. Who really cares about caravan registrations?
A “cluster-truck” (hat-tip Te Radar) masquerading as coherent transport policy.
Who buys the ‘buy Kiwi made” policy when most people buy Chinese because they know it’s a damn sight cheaper?
What Cunliffe and Labour are doing isn’t working, it isn’t inspiring. Sure they are in a media rut where every little thing is nitpicking, but this situation is of their own making.
Something significant needs to change and Labour needs to up it’s game or all it can hope for is an election Lotto where they share the prize with parties with settled leadership and much better defined aims.
Ok, Labour have allowed it to become of the media’s making.
Blaming the media won’t solve anything, if anything it will make things worse.
Politicians and parties have to earn credibility and positive coverage. It may be one step forward and five steps backwards but those steps forward have to be made by Labour, you can’t avoid that reality.
I want MPs and leaders who are human. I doubt that there is anything wrong with Cunliffe. He’s just in an impossible situation. I don’t agree with everything he does, and in that sense I’m part of the crowd waiting for the Big Sign from Labour. But that is not all Cunliffe’s fault, it’s about the whole situation.
The MSM think that their job is to tear people down, and if they survive then they’re be respected. I want to live in a world where leaders are supported to be the best they can. I don’t want to live in a world where the only leaders we have are those who have to survive the school of hard knocks (or have enough money or influence in the new boys network).
What is your point? (yes, everyone, I know I will regret asking that). You say that Cunliffe has to earn credibility and positive coverage, but you acknowledge that the MSM is fixated on tearing people down. How does that work apart from the MSM getting to dictact political culture in NZ?
And are you seriously arguing that because some MPs/parties are bullies that it’s ok for the MSM to be as well?
In an election year the job of the media is to present information about politics to the country so that people can be informed. They can analyse what is going on, and they can investigate things that are of high public interest. But that’s not what is going on now. It’s fucked, anti-democracy, and a very large part of why we’re in such a mess as a country.
And are you seriously arguing that because some MPs/parties are bullies that it’s ok for the MSM to be as well?
I didn’t argue that at all. MPs/parties and media often feed off each other, reliant on each for the attention they seek. That sometimes gets to a level of frenzied bullying. I don’t argue for that at all. I argue for more honesty and decency in politics and the media.
The challenge for Labour and the Greens is to have a policy that makes the voter, and media, go “wow”. If that doesn’t happen for the voter particularly, it’s the policy that misses the mark. In the absence of a policy convincing enough to make the centre voter swing to the left, the results shouldn’t be a surprise. Thinking that voters are idiots because they don’t agree with you, also doesn’t change their perception of a person or a policy that fails to resonate with them. Perhaps try a policy grand enough to change people’s opinion and the MSM might report it as such. Putting “kiwi” in front of everything doesn’t seen to be working either. Time will tell I guess.
I think the answer, Micky, is that Trotter and Pooter are both conservative bores, who reinforce each other. The rest of us are just going to get on with winning the election. Never mind the bollocks, eh.
MS, I have friends asking me where are Labour’s announcements about restoring the integrity and principles of our social welfare system, public health and public education systems.
About how Labour is going to put in place game changers to sort out poverty especially child poverty in NZ once and for all.
They want to see announcements like NZ Power which put National on the back foot and which force National to make uncomfortable excuses and compromises. And it’s not happening.
I think that I can safely presume that you have been fielding similar.
This is what NZers want to hear from the Labour leader, not speculations about whether or not the Royal Visit had elements of playing politics or other random Thorndon Bubble focussed commentary.
So what do we get this week? Labour releases transport policy around “making it easier to get a family holiday on the road.” My friends in the over-stretched Dunedin social services sector were tearing their hair out at this. Families in poverty can barely get on the road in the first place, let alone go for a nice road trip around the country. Even Transport Blog slammed the policies as a distraction saying that the policy release is “absolute rubbish with it seemingly designed just to target a handful of complainers.”
Then there was the recent Bowel Screening announcement. Bowel screening is important to be sure, but honestly NO VOTER in NZ was thinking of colon cancer as a Top Ten election issue. And none still do.
So it looks to me like PG has a point when he says that its going to be a long 5 months ahead. Yes, we should definitely wait for the next few polls to come out and discuss them as well. But by then it will be just 4 long months ahead.
Good analysis CV. Thank goodness we have thinking people analysing present political policy offerings and attempting to vitalise and lift the low angle of the sterile political scene.
It’s not a loop but link. Loops in transports systems are actually really inefficient.
Oh and I live in Levin so something about some jobs down here
What’s in Levin that makes jobs there viable?
What is it about jobs that people keep going on about them? We don’t need jobs, we need a viable distribution system the distributes the wealth of our economy properly.
An ever more productive economy results in ever fewer jobs – especially labouring jobs. It won’t be long before bus drivers are redundant. That may not sound like much but there’s tens of thousands of them. Thus we need to take those people who have been made redundant and retrain them into the non-labouring sector.
That means training them in R&D and arts and craft and getting them away from the financial sector which, as it stands, is easy work, doesn’t produce anything and is massively over-rewarded. And when I’m talking R&D I’m talking about a better mouse trap but materials science, automation, medical and biological tech, etc etc. Stuff that we’re not doing enough of now.
The future you are expecting is not going to materialise, DTB. For instance, automated vehicle navigation and driving is going to remain a googlelabs curio as economic and energy decline sets in even harder.
As private transport becomes less affordable, the number of bus drivers we need may increase, not decrease. Labouring will become more common as fossil fuel energy use becomes increasingly expensive, and we start to lose the ability to support highly specialised and expensive disciplines.
The future you are expecting is not going to materialise
Well, it won’t if we keep whinging about it being too hard. Don’t need fossil fuels to run buses or trains. Renewable electricity is great for them.
As private transport becomes less affordable, the number of bus drivers we need may increase, not decrease.
The point is that we don’t want to increase them. Having more bus drivers doesn’t do us any good. There’s much better things we can have those people doing.
If Labour really wanted to make an impact transport wise, then it would cancel the Holiday Highway and used the money saved to restore the cuts to rural road funding, and perhaps set a bold target of sealing all the remaining metal/gravel roads in the country by 2025 (or thereabouts). It would reach deep into National’s heartland, as farmers in, say, Pipiriki would be able to get their goods to market without going though a quagmire in the winter.
And beef up our navy to protect our coastal shipping.
Two things keep me from voting green – the feel good vagueness of much of their policy and their total disregard for our military needs.
The Green Party will:
Ensure that New Zealand has sufficient maritime surveillance capabilities, including airplanes, to properly monitor the waters around New Zealand, and to assist South Pacific island states.
Ensure that New Zealand has sufficient capabilities for peacekeeping, search and rescue, disaster relief, fisheries and border control tasks. We should phase out any equipment that are not optimal for such tasks.
Ensure that New Zealand has sufficient naval capacity to conduct appropriate patrols: around our coasts, into Antarctic waters, and to assist South Pacific islands states. The capacity could include some sea transport capacity, but from multi-purpose ships, not specialised transport ships. We welcome the introduction into our navy of a multi-role ship and new patrol boats as they will be useful for our border protection and South Pacific and Antarctic work. We will continue to ensure that New Zealand has adequate naval capacity for these tasks.
I think a far more rewarding bold action would be to scrap the Navy altogether.
Replace it with a Coastguard type service that is capable of patrolling all our waters from Antarctica to the Pacifica Islands. Supply them with aircraft, patrol vessels and sufficient crew trained for Rescue work. Much better use of money. We do not need a Navy
And beef up our navy to protect our coastal shipping
Government really helping the regions, the agricultural/horticultural sector as a whole, not just dairy. What a sound idea. I wonder when someone will think of that, and when gummint will act on it?
Someone in one of the boondock territories of rural NZ was complaining about the way that logging trucks create big problems of dust, destroying road surface, extra traffic, unpleasant industrial-type noise that is ongoing for much of the 24 hours. But there is not the money available to pave the roads, to maintain them, ie not extra from government, not in the cash-strapped local area suffering this abuse to its roads, and not from the users causing the problem, the logging companies.
A real farmers party would show some more care for the rural sector in every way. But the NACTs have hypnotised them into thinking that they should not ask for much from the government, that they are hardworking, smart, resilient etc. and free, strong, independent people not like the townies, those effete, chair-sitters, those lazy bludgers on the government tit living off money provided by the proud hard-working achievers of the country. Then they are horribly surprised that when disaster strikes them, that social welfare is so meanly given when they are on their bare bones. And still some of them feel it is beneath them to ask for help, because of all the years they have been absorbing the propaganda about the worthlessness of people on welfare.
The underlying attitude that is cultivated by farm leaders when comparing the agricultural sector to those in the metropolis is not far different from that shown in soviet posters with strong, proud figures with bulging muscular arms holding agricultural tools.
Actually the smaller farmers are being allowed to go to the wall.
Their farms are being amalgamated into giant units until they are a convenient size to make an attractive package to some rich overseas or city type swollen with money from gorging more than their share of the incomes paid out those working,
or just plotting financial coups.
Napier should have a good rail system for their products to feed them into the country, not just to the ports as fresh or manufactured food for the outsiders.
Give the regions what they need FGS to do business locally and for export, and take us away from borrowing money for dairy and imports which probably helps to shove up our exchange rate. If we have a period of adjustment while we have to pay more for petrol and oil and other imported goods then so be it. Face it now, and survive virtually intact though poorer, or have it dump on us in a smothering debacle that will likely ruin us.
The country being run down like an aged business beyond its maturity date is crap for wan..rs with MBAs who are learning how to become robber barons at some mercenary university.
I want NZ Post for one, to keep going 5 days a week, and for government to put its post through it. NZ as a country that has to pull together in this uncivil war against the people. Is that too much to ask? Don’t reply to that, just leave the question hanging in the air and fashion a society that means a positive answer.
We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.
attr. to Benjamin Franklin 1776, but Dryden said similar first in 1717
What about the manufacturing announcement CV? It feels like Labour is being criticised for not releasing policy, releasing minor policy and releasing major policy all at the same time!
What manufacturing announcement? They keep saying that they’re going to upgrade the economy and manufacturing but all I keep seeing from them is more tax breaks and government subsidies to the private sector.
Therein lies the problem on one day a mirth inducing “cluster truck” follow by a serious manufacturing policy immediately lost in the mirth of the previous policy.
It seems to me strategy wise nothing has changed since the last election. Doesn’t matter who the leader is or the ‘media bias’ if whoever is deciding on strategy is serving up lemons no amount of good intention will work. It quickly descending to farce. If you look left or right in terms of the greens or the nats strategy wise they are miles ahead….
Peter Dunne is a moral void. He has the power to ban the so called legal highs yet he does not.
He sees no conflict in the fact that he son’s income is derived from the sale of theses drugs that is bringing havoc to families.
Peter Dunne had the power to say that the government would not deal with Dunne Junior.
I bet Peter Dunne gets very very nice birthday presents from his very well paid son.
The discussion now needs to move to an alternative solution. Challenging as it is the wider community, medical fraternity, law makers and decision makers need to collaborate on the way forward. It is easy to simply view the “legalise dope” as the same old debate we have heard for the last 50 years accompanied by public smoke ups, dreadlocks and all the cliches. We have a different set of issues to address now and we need to put some intellectual grunt into the solutions. Legal highs have simply brought this debate to a head (pun intended).
I have been working on a series of practical pieces of work in the short term that may pave the way for a more regulated approach to the sale of legal highs which may make the future discussion on legal sale of marijuana more acceptable.
We cannot pretend that we can solve the issues by pushing them underground, the alternative is challenging but I think we are ready for the debate. The need to escape our day to day life via a variety of chemical substances is as old as humanity, lets get over the prejudice and on with finding a humane way forward.
I think this is the direction we need to be looking in. There’s a growing realisation that the Psychoactive Substances Act only addresses a part of the problem.
The cannabis elephant in the room needs to be confronted.
The way forward is the direction we need to look in. We must have the discussion in the future. Astonishingly insightful. No wonder you agree with it so equivocally.
Dunne has deeply damaged the credibility of the office of a minister.
All around the country kids are hearing that the Toxic Shot is legal and that it will not be banned by the minister, whose son is making a living out of selling the Toxic shit.
No wonder so many do not vote when they see such self serving bullshit.
Dear Standardistas. Do not engage with Peter George on the decriminalization of Cannabis. etc. It is a smoke screen for his hero Peter Dunne and his drug industry son, James.
“Peter Dunne is a moral void. He has the power to ban the so called legal highs yet he does not.
He sees no conflict in the fact that he son’s income is derived from the sale of theses drugs that is bringing havoc to families.
Peter Dunne had the power to say that the government would not deal with Dunne Junior.
I bet Peter Dunne gets very very nice birthday presents from his very well paid son”
Bollocks, Peter Dunne’s new law gives councils the power to put these shops out of business.
If Hamilton can use the new law to close down the puff shops then other lazy councils need to
get off their arse and start to earn their salary.
Dunne junior is an adult and there is no conflict in the fact that he like a lot of lawyer’s make a living from defending scum. What a feeble attempt of a smear
“Um the law allows Councils to regulate not ban”
The link says they have been banned, the point is they have been shutdown and they cant sell drugs. You can call it what ever you like
There’s been this bizarre disconnect between Pete George with his hat on as politicheck, for which I have been occasionally been impressed with some of the work, as I didn’t think he was capable of it.
Why? There’s Pete George the thread hijacker, line spinner and right wing blog personality, and in this case concern troll.
Not looking at the polls and looking at Cunliffe’s performances on camera as well as the co ordination of the party’s work and the appointments that have been made, the news has been all positive for Labour. If you are behind in a game and you rearrange your line up and make some subs, you don’t look at the score on the board now. You say ‘are we doing the basics right’ and ‘can we get some momentum going’. The answer to both of these is yes.
A cursory checking of the facts would tell you that Trotter is only on the left on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. This post was written on a Friday, when he is known to support the National Party.
But on Thursday evening, she said she had checked her notes and believed she had spoken to the ambassador about the dinner the following day and told him “nothing had occurred that was untoward and it was just a very private friendly dinner that was short”.
Why would she specifically say to the Ambassador that “nothing had occurred that was untoward” That has to be one of the strangest revelations so far. Why was she compelled to use those words. This is someone who knew at the time was skating on thin ice, had probably be warned by the Ambassador.
If Collins was trying to boost her husband’s company into a ‘preferred supplier’ or even ‘quasi-monopoly supplier’ to the massive China market, then this is dynamite.
We are getting into the good old ‘secret commissions’ area…and that is criminal.
Would be good to see this followed up.
And the PM as shill for Oravida….an interesting footnote which should not be neglected.
Yes, it was a disappointing and depressing poll prompting a sinking feeling, but I would like to see the next 4 polls (from Colmar Brunton, TV3 Reid, Herald Digi and Fairfax Ipsos) to see if this poll is consistent or not.
Exactly, you were supposed to feel disappointed and depressed by such polls, and the others to come from the TV channels and the print media, that’s why they publish these things,
Physical Action results in the endorphins in the body being stirred, stirring the bodies endorphins promotes psychological well being leading to a lack of disappointment and depression,
Contact the political party of your choice and ask them to be included on their list of pamphlet deliverers in your electorate,
Put aside an hour a day/night to pamphlet drop your electorate street by street…
i am surprised by all the Doom and Gloom, does everyone forget their lessons of history that easily,
Cast your minds back to 2011, the election with Phill Goff as Labour leader, now how many here actually supported poor old Phill, you could just about count such supporters on one finger,
The mantra from the right leading into the 2011 election,”National can Govern alone”),there is certainly no ”original thought” apparent this time round with the same old same old being promoted by the usual suspects,
Take out the 3 Maori Party MP’s this time round and i would suggest that it is going to be that close a contest,
Save the Doom and Gloom for after the vote if we don’t get at least a slightly left leaning Government…
Yes, bad 12, I get that and I do that, but I also had the general public in mind when I made the comment. My gut feeling tells me that the polls will shift towards the left block, but today’s interview by Turei on the Nation regarding the Green’s cabinet deputy PM ambitions/expectations, even before the voters have shown their hand, was a shocker.
Seem to me like she was carrying a blunt spade to naively dig the Left grave with her at that answer.
Didn’t see ‘the Nation’ this morning, you will perhaps like to explain further why you see Metiria as ‘digging the left’s grave’,
That from where i sit sounds like a very interesting comment,(at Labour),from Met’s, did it come across as a ”if the Green Party is not included in Labour’s thinking as being a large part of the next Government, Forget It!!!),
If the comment from Metiria was in fact in that vein, then, i would say ”nice one”, what point a Labour ”lead” Government including NZFirst in a cozy ”business as usual” combination which has the Green Party shut out,???,
That to me we have already had from the Clark Government, the best i can say about that from the position i got to view it is ”it wasn’t National”,
If Labour attempt this time round to ”shut out” the Greens i would suggest that along with Mana they take to the cross benches and ”extract” gains by horse trading on every piece of Legislation which would simply mean that Labour/NZFirst would have to enact a piece of Green/Mana Legislation for every one allowed by the bloc further to the left…
See what you think.
In politics, politicians have to be thoughtful on what one says in public. Some things are for private discussion. Big mouths can cause indigestion and give a sick feeling. Dumb.
Lolz, you are making a mountain out of a molehill, on the current numbers Labour have to negotiate NZFirst into a coalition which will also necessitate the Green Party being involved,
Your whole spew of abuse this morning contends not only that the Green Party should shut up and confine itself to a script set by Labour/NZFirst, it also gives the impression (unwritten of course), that you consider that the Green Party should just hand over support to ANY coalition that Labour negotiate including being outside of a minority Government of Labour/NZFirst,
The Green Party is free to give its supporters and potential voters an indication NOW of what it expects from a Labour/NZFirst coalition as far as Ministerial positions goes despite all Your mumbo jumbo trotting out of the Labour/NZFirst lines,
i would urge both Russell and Metiria to spell it out loudly and publicly what the Green Party and it’s Members expect from a Labour/NZFirst Government in both Ministerial positions and Policy gains for the Green Party should they agree to support a Labour/NZFirst Government,
Your comments this morning simply firm up my belief that this time round if Labour propose a Labour/NZFirst Government without a strong Green presence in MInisterial roles that the Greeen Party would better itself and its supporters by taking to the cross benches along with Mana and horse trading Policy gains Legislation by Legislation,
This i would suggest will provoke Labour/NZFirst into seeking National/ACT support in pushing through its Legislative progam thus showing you all the true colors of the relevant parties…
Labour will not shut out the Greens. Greens will be a large part of the next Labour led government, with cabinet posts. Cunliffe has already made that VERY clear just recently. Don’t understand why the Greens are spreading so much misinformation and unnecessary discord.
I do not agree with you at all. You are imagining things I did not say or imply re shutting Greens out etc. That Greens will be or may be shut out by Labour won’t happen nor is desirable. By making silly stance now about getting TWO deputy pm posts, aren’t these Greens trying to hamstring Labour already prior to the election and prior to the coalition discussions and agreements? In my mind, that is an arrogant, stupid, naive, cunning and crap attitude to take, besides planting discord among Labour and scaring away potential left supporters.
I am annoyed at the Greens now and I am calling it as I see it.
Those 4 you mention are all Right leaning polls Mainly ring Landlines only and have a strict list of leading questions. The best of the lot is Morgans poll
Even Morgan is suspect with the son of Roy being deeply involved in mining,(not that i would propose that this would deliberately skew a Morgan poll against the Greens, snigger)…
Those 4 you mention are all Right leaning polls Mainly ring Landlines only and have a strict list of leading questions. The best of the lot is Morgans poll
Phill you could start a legalize pot party, oh wait there is already one in operation, now how many votes have they achieved in total in how many elections again…
Good to see you back from the naughty corner Philip Ure! ……( and bad12 missed you too….he hasnt been the same without you…but i suggest you two play at the opposite ends of the sandpit for a while)
@ Bad12…..well legalise pot makes a lot of sense!….and criminalise the synthetic stuff…everyone around the country hates what the synthetic stuff is doing to young people….except Peter Dunne and son …and NACT of course….their entrepreneurs are probably selling it.
Yup, the sort of thing a 3rd term Government would do, legalize marijuana that is, oh except for the small fact that Labour have no intention of going anywhere near legalization,
So while Phill can gnash what’s left of His teeth down to the gums, a 10–15% Green Party are unlikely to convince Labour to move on the issue,and, on the present numbers NZFirst as well…
The Christchurch Press and all the local newspapers are full of horror stories about synthetic cannabis./party drugs …makes the real stuff seem positively harmless ( even some local police think so)
….this could be an Election Issue with not a few votes ….such is the anguish of parents whose kids are hooked and the kids themselves… with very bad side effects according to A@E doctors…..at very least Labour/Greens /Mana/NZF should overturn legalising the synthetic stuff and seriously consider make the real stuff legal
agreed they are making a lot of money!!! ….and they are despicable!!!!…this one could turn around and savagely maul NACT and Peter Dunne
…there are quite a few votes in this for making the synthetic stuff illegal and legalising the old ‘tried and true real stuff’ to those 18 and over…the precedent has been set in USA and other countries
Yes, I saw that too. I wonder why we still have guaranties for banks if they are doing so nicely? Besides, the rebuild in Christchurch does skewer the figures and the US financial wizkids do as usually have no clue but want to brush everybody with the same stroke.
Whilst the time frame of the rebuild in CCH is scandalous to keep it civilized, it is no New Orleans where people have to donate and beg to have a roof over their heads and meanwhile the Freddie’s jump out of the hat. As for the foreign investors in NZ, yes absolutely it needs to be curtailed as land is not something anyone can “produce”.
I can’t believe that the Green leaders are so arrogant, so politically naive and frankly a little stupid going by their previous Labour-Green pre election coalition stunt designed to help themselves and harm Labour and now this interview comment by Turei on the Nation today regarding her ambition on the deputy PM position in a Labour led coalition after the election.
She, like Norman, presumes too much even before the election, even before the voters have spoken! This is political naivity in the extreme, unbelievable arrogance and frankly stupid, in my opinion. I am afraid this sort of carry by these naive numpties may drive more people away from Labour/Greens. A very counter productive cocky stance to take.
Any coalition deals and terms need to be discussed in private between the parties and announced after the election, not before. Simple common sense politics 101. NZF and even National must be happily rubbing their luck once again.
It’s a message to the people who vote for the GP and who might vote for the GP. It’s not a message to people like you Clem.
I’m not sure if you are objecting to Norman and Turei wanting to be deputy PM, or if you are objecting to them saying so before the election. Myself, I prefer transparency.
Seems that Clem wants the Green Party to be silenced and adhere to a script being ”run” by Labour/NZFirst,
i would urge the Green Party to become more specific leading into this election as to exactly what Ministerial roles it expects to fill in a Labour/NZFirst Government along with pointing out Policy areas in which the Party will require a ”strong” say,
Other than that i would urge the Green Party leadership to begin devising a strategy of ”negotiating” from the cross benches…
You are ascribing various views implying they are mine! You are wrong. Greens can say what they want and show the public how stupid and arrogant the Greens are. What I am saying is that in my view, politically, they are being smug, silly, arrogant and stupid, damaging the left cause overall.
@ Clemogeopin,
It would be really good if you could take bad12 (or weka’s) comments as highlighting that what you are saying may be implying certain things that you don’t intend – rather than take the comments too personally.
I am interested in what you are saying and what weka and bad12’s (and others on previous threads) have responded. And also, if you take their responses seriously, how you would respond back to the points they make.
I think there is some real relevance to what you are saying – even if it is a ‘perception thing’ i.e. that the ‘Greens are radical’ seems to be a false idea that has been conjured up and seeded by the right with the aim of dividing and conquering – yet the discussion still needs to be had by the left because this propaganda technique appears to be taking hold of some people’s views and having done so, the discussion is very worthy because to work through it in a level-headed manner could assist in undermining the effects of the propaganda.
I sort of get what you are saying, but taking public stance on expected potential baubles etc is not being level headed of Greens and is counter productive to the left block in my view and that annoys me and probably does to a lot of other potential left inclined voters. I don’t want this kind of tactics to result in us snatching a stupid defeat. Watch for the right wing parties and the media use this premature pre-election comment to pound Labour and Greens even further now.
It is one thing to talk about party policies to gather more votes, but quite another to go bauble hunting before the election.
How will Norman, Turei, you and the green supporters feel if Cunliffe may not be be able to offer the plum deputy PM posts to the these two ambitious naive/cunning nitwits?
Clem
Russel Norman and Metiria Turei are not naive twits. I hope they are cunning or in parliament they’ll end up like bunnies facing ferrets. That may be nature but not the environment that Greens work in.
You seem to have a thing against the Greens. Can you try to think politically (politics being the art of the possible) and not think of the election as a sporting contest where there is usually a definite winner and loser, occasionally a draw or bye. In politics a Party can win, and not just the opposition will lose, but so may the whole country. A Party can achieve one good thing and yet most people not receive one positive improvement or advantage. What then is winning? The Greens are more important and steadfast for NZ than you give them credit for.
The actions of pollies directly affect my life and I want more understanding of the complex tasks that pollies need to do to be acknowledged. It’s not just simply aiming to get a ball in goal..
No, I am NOT against the Greens or their policies or them being in the government or the cabinet. I am against their stupid counter productive political stunts and statements I mentioned earlier which in my opinion harm the left aim of winning this election.
Why? Plenty of organisations have co-vice presidents, or more than one person at the second tier. The Greens have managed to make the co-leader structure work, there’s no practical reason for it to not work just as well at the Deputy PM level.
It would hardly be the most ridiculous Cabinet position ever invented to please a coalition partner (cough, Treasurer, cough).
I do like transparency too. But why do I get the feeling that those two are played and NZ1 has a role in all of this? Can’t say why but it’s like a stone in the show if you know what I mean.
I suspect the Greens see Labour as a hindering albatross, with more justification. Which party looks the most united and best organised and prepared?
I don’t see any problem with any party being up front about their preferences for any possible coalition deal. Shouldn’t voters know this in advance? I don’t buy the “let the voters decide” then parties do as they please approach. They have no idea what voters were thinking and wanting.
Turei as deputy PM this is hilarious, this is the same woman who called Fonterra and Sanitarium feeding the school kids “corporate welfare” There needs to be some sort of IQ test for this position.
That will really scare the horses.
Corporate welfare is a defined term. It refers to things like subsidies and tax breaks that are used to entice businesses or increase profit and compare them to welfare payments. The Rio Tinto situation for instance was an act of corporate welfare.
The idea is that governments who demonise welfare and beneficiaries often engage in corporate welfare and pick favourites and provide them with favourable tax breaks and subsidies. It’s welfare but for a much less deserving audience.
So, Turei really was wrong to refer to Fonterra feeding the kids initiative as “corporate welfare”. However, it is largely semantics. I can think of far more important tests to see whether someone should be Deputy Prime Minister.
I think Turei as DPM would probably do a decent job. It might make the media at least remember she’s a leader of the Green Party.
you’re right. It should only be the serious men with suits who are allowed to get government titles. Good to see that Turei will have to give up her playing at leader once Clem and his ilk fumble towards power.
Turei has been a strong politician- especially with her response to the attacks on her and the invitation of the press to her ‘castle’ worth an Auckland car park to see her wardrobe.
She provides a clear point of difference to the samey-ness across the leadership on the left- Cunliffe, Parker, Robertson, King, Jones, Adern, Cosgrove, Hipkins, Norman- she’s young, Maori, passionate and with a profile and doesn’t appear to be part of the careerist politicians who are careful to follow the party line. She seems to have a purpose about her entry to parliament and to me suggesting this kind of unorthodox arrangement that isn’t ‘common-sense’ like Peters, UF et al are…suggests why she is needed by the left.
Where did I say anything anything of the sort?
Why is that you and some others here do not actually understand the actual points I made in my posts? Read it again.
It would be good if bloggers when discussing an individual pollie gave their first name. It would make them sound like respected people, rather than pawns on the political chess board.
“Justice Minister Judith Collins has recovered her memory after telling Parliament she could not recall whether she had briefed New Zealand’s ambassador to Beijing about her Oravida dinner.
…..
In Parliament’s last session before a two-week recess, she again refused to identify the official she dined with, said she did not know of Oravida’s difficulties in the Chinese market before the dinner, and said she could not remember whether she had briefed ambassador to Beijing Carl Worker about the dinner.
She told the Weekend Herald she didn’t believe she had spoken about the dinner to Mr Worker beyond an initial discussion beforehand when he said he would not attend.
But on Thursday evening, she said she had checked her notes and believed she had spoken to the ambassador about the dinner the following day and told him “nothing had occurred that was untoward and it was just a very private friendly dinner that was short”.
She said Mr Worker had asked her on the day of the dinner to just let him know if there was anything that he needed to know about.
…….”
DUH?
Who ‘takes notes’ at a private dinner with friends?
In what capacity did Minister of Justice Judith Collins speak “.. to the ambassador about the dinner the following day and told him “nothing had occurred that was untoward and it was just a very private friendly dinner that was short”.
Did Minister of Justice Judith Collins speak to Carl Worker in his capacity as NZ Ambassador to China?
If so – then this can NOT have been a ‘private dinner’ for which Judith Collins had no Ministerial responsibility.
Who invited Carl Worker, (who just happens to be the NZ Ambassador to China) to this dinner?
WHY did Carl Worker, (who just happens to be the NZ Ambassador to China) decline to attend this dinner?
Is there some sort of parallel universe happening here – where it just so happens that these very important and influential people – are also close personal friends, so there is no clear line of demarcation between private lives and public duties?
Is that why, in my considered opinion, Minister of Justice Judith Collins HAS CROSSED THE LINE and is indeed no longer ‘fit for duty’?
What a DISGRACE.
National’s Minister of Justice Judith Collins is treating both Parliament and the public with total contempt.
But I can understand Prime Minister John Key’s reluctance to sack her from Parliament.
Do the maths.
National is a MINORITY government with only 59 MPs out of 121.
Judith Collins is an electorate MP.
(As are Peter Dunne and John Banks).
Oh dear …… whatever could happen next to this (in my considered opinion) COALITION OF THE CORRUPT?
No wonder while on Minister of Justice Judith Collins’ watch – New Zealand STILL has not yet ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption.
Which New Zealand political party is going to pick up the ball on this one, and announce that getting the legislative anti-corruption framework in place so that New Zealand can ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption will be a most URGENT political priority?
More on Dotcom, exposed by Spiegel TV, on German TV, but they have little sympathy for him, as they see well through him:
He has at least been working on the borderline of legality, and he will face justice soon. You Tube are not releasing recently released movies, but Mega Upload did. He got away with heaps, but his days are numbered, just many Kiwis are as dumb as ever, as they voted a money speculator into power, they have sympathy for a law breaker. Hah, wake up, idiots.
He cannot be deported now, as he has children here, just smartly organised, like some from other nations, who have off spring here, knowing it is the licence to welfare! Hah, bingo, here you go, TS, you love that, right?
Sorry, I wish I had never come back, I tried to make an end, but it did not work, so I just want to say, please fight on standardistas, I am no longer able to, I am too ill. The way things are it is terrible, we are as people on benefits told the help us but it is a lie same as the Nazis told lies.
I am too tired and sick, I will not communicate further, take care and try to fight the horrible policies and this minister that tells us the lies she “cares”. She should be bloody ashamed of herself!
I do not want to live in this country any more, it is not the country it once was.
Concentrate on finding a way forward xtasy. I hope you find a real solution soon. You are not alone and despite what the world is trying to tell people, many out there do care about others.
There are too many in similar positions where their health is failing as fast as the system that is meant to help them, but as the realities are too complex for the MSM to cram into a soundbite, too many are being left to battle their health problems alone.
But don’t give up on ‘ol kiwiland just yet. I also hate what NZ has become but refuse to believe it is too far gone to recover.
I always thought that NZers are prone to being take for a ride, and Kim Dotcom has taken you for a fucking ride, for sure, you silly fools, and the day he goes you will finally wake up from your “addiction”, and I know what addiction means, you are hooked, the ones that fall for this conman!
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
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 ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
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. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
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 ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
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. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99) 2 The Life of Dai by Dai Henwood and Jaquie Brown (HarperCollins, $39.99) 3 A Life Less Punishing by Matt Heath (Allen & Unwin, $37.99) 4 Waitohu by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin Random House, $35) ...
NZ Herald’s 50 coolest Kiwis is of passing interest, and says as much about the NZ Herald as it does about (allegedly) cool Kiwis – in some categories it seems being an Alpha male (or even an alpha female) gets a lot of applause. However, the politics category is pretty cool: the coolest MPs of all time – John A Lee, Marily Waring and Big Norm!.
As for having Jacinda Ardern as the only cool current MP 🙄 – except it seems Labour MPs are cooler than any others!
Yep although how they could miss out Michael Joseph Savage is beyond me. Marilyn Wearing is the only National MP I can think of who would have fitted perfectly well in the Labour Party.
That’s the weakness list articles, they’re reductive, lack context, and are basically just lazy clickbait. Good to see it feature John A Lee though whom younger readers especially are less likely to know than Savage. I suppose if coolness was defined as being a maverick, while still achieving a significant political legacy, than Lee would win over Savage in those stakes. Well, before he became reactionary and hawkish in his later years, anyway.
Lee on Savage:
”Joe sees socialism as piles of goods fairly equitably divided and work equitably divided. I am sure he never sees it as the opportunity to play football, get brown on the beach, dance a fox trot, lie on one’s back beneath the trees, enjoy the intoxication of verse, the perfume of flowers, the joys of a novel, the thrill of music.”
Whereas now, it would be quite enough to have Labour MPs who embrace the utilitarian tenets of socialism.
love the quote, and it sums up so much of what the current Labour party needs.
The 3 blokes in suits who contested the leadership contest were all impressive candidates, but they didn’t really have it or have been shared to show it. If they did they’d be keen to present a united front from with the Greens with Labour leading I’d say. But you need the saxophonists in the band, the guitarists….
Opportunity to have a life and have some love, not work for less than a life and live in a tiny house with no garden and no park nearby and no window to see the sun.
*scared
Was thinking about this- Savage gets all the press with that photo…hardly anyone would recognise Peter Fraser or Wally Nash who arguably left a much larger legacy….Though rebels and authors are always cool, I mean has MJS got a corner in Point Chev?
Cool current Mps…hmmm…not too many rebels or authors amongst any of them…
Jacinda Adern hardly makes a blip on the public radar…Labour really must get a better person to front against Paula Bennett!!!!
Doing our best to supply one but really its going to depend on the list rankings. If we dont get the list correct then we deserve all we get.
John Clarke is still one of the coolest Kiwis ever (not just in 1972). The fact that he’s lived in Australia for the past 30 years is a reflection on NZ, not on Clarke’s coolness.
New Zealand indirectly gets a mention when journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Ewen MacAskill hold a press conference in New York earlier this week after winning a Polk Award for their reporting on Edward Snowden and the NSA.
“GLENN GREENWALD: For me, the most significant revelation is the ambition of the United States government and its four English-speaking allies to literally eliminate privacy worldwide, which is not hyperbole. “
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2014/4/11/video_glenn_greenwald_laura_poitras_q
Yep. NZ has been part of the Five Eyes arrangement for almost 70 years now.
The Scottish Independence Referendum is on the 18th of September. The Yes Campaign of the SNP has Momentum and is closing the gap on the No team of Tories and Labour.
Some Labour people are deserting to the Yes side. This is what Iain Macwhirter of the Herald Scotland has to say:
“Labour allowed the SNP to become the party of the NHS, nuclear disarmament and free education, while it has become the party of the benefits cap, immigration controls and weapons of mass destruction. I sometimes have to mentally pinch myself to remember that this is actually the case. But it is. Last month, Labour MPs voted overwhelmingly for the Coalition’s arbitrary welfare cap – surely a defining moment in British politics.
Labour introduced university tuition fees when they promised they would not; they supported the renewal of the Trident missile system; they talk enthusiastically about limiting immigration. Indeed, UK Labour politicians spend most of their time apologising for “getting it wrong” on immigration. About the only party that has a good word to say about migrants – or the European Union – is the Scottish National Party, which, as anyone who has any knowledge of nationalist parties in the rest of Europe knows, is remarkable.”
I know I’m banned but this is more important…where the f**k is Val Adams!!! Shes not only cool (look at the confidence and attitude she has she knows shes better then everyone else and can prove it) shes also the best template I can think of for young kiwi girls (and young kiwi guys for that matter) to follow
[lprent: 😈 ]
If all fraud is equal, how come partners of benefit fraudsters get fined or locked up, meanwhile big time fraudsters’ partners
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9958230/Wife-gets-900k-from-mansion-sale
There are separate rules for those who can afford a QC to represent them, don’t you know.
at around $600 an hour…
Some on the left are prepared to confront the issues:
From That Sinking Feeling: Labour’s urgent need for persuasive words and courageous deeds.
And before the usual, I don’t agree with everything Chris has said – for example the left could still ‘win’ the election despite Labour – but what’s quoted here is pertinent to Labour’s current predicament.
One problem here may be that people commenting on blogs are powerless bystanders, and sad truths can be unpalatable. It could be a long tough five months.
Pete it was one poll taken during the royal visit, Labour and the Greens went down and the right track wrong track rating went up by a similar amount to National’s increase. Wait for the next few polls and then have the discussion. Or do you think that we should cancel the election now and just let Key get on with it.
And do you always agree with Chris or just when he backs up your world views?
I don’t agree with Chris when I disagree with him. What about you?
I understand the political tradition of trying to act as if nothing is wrong. But I agree with Chirs on one thing – I think Labour has to get real and get radical. Piddly policy releases and unconvincing public performances – with too much pissiness – are not working.
Yes, it was just one poll. Amongst a string of just one polls. Labour in Roy Morgan polls this year:
33.5
33
30.5
31.5
32
28.5
Even if Labour bounces back to the low thirties that’s not flash, you must admit that. Cunliffe has as good as acknowledged that he is reliant on at least one and probably both of the next biggest parties.
I think Cunliffe said during the week about not sweating the small stuff. I don’t see the hard yards being done on the important stuff, that’s something else I agree with Chris on.
Cunliffe and Labour should do less things, far better. Who really cares about caravan registrations?
Who buys the ‘buy Kiwi made” policy when most people buy Chinese because they know it’s a damn sight cheaper?
What Cunliffe and Labour are doing isn’t working, it isn’t inspiring. Sure they are in a media rut where every little thing is nitpicking, but this situation is of their own making.
Something significant needs to change and Labour needs to up it’s game or all it can hope for is an election Lotto where they share the prize with parties with settled leadership and much better defined aims.
So they are in a media rut where every little thing is nitpicking but this situation is of their own making?
Funny I would have said that this was of the media’s making.
Ok, Labour have allowed it to become of the media’s making.
Blaming the media won’t solve anything, if anything it will make things worse.
Politicians and parties have to earn credibility and positive coverage. It may be one step forward and five steps backwards but those steps forward have to be made by Labour, you can’t avoid that reality.
🙄 and this 🙄 …
I want MPs and leaders who are human. I doubt that there is anything wrong with Cunliffe. He’s just in an impossible situation. I don’t agree with everything he does, and in that sense I’m part of the crowd waiting for the Big Sign from Labour. But that is not all Cunliffe’s fault, it’s about the whole situation.
The MSM think that their job is to tear people down, and if they survive then they’re be respected. I want to live in a world where leaders are supported to be the best they can. I don’t want to live in a world where the only leaders we have are those who have to survive the school of hard knocks (or have enough money or influence in the new boys network).
When they sense vulnerability, yes. But some MPs and parties do exactly the same, and they work with media to try and achieve it.
What is your point? (yes, everyone, I know I will regret asking that). You say that Cunliffe has to earn credibility and positive coverage, but you acknowledge that the MSM is fixated on tearing people down. How does that work apart from the MSM getting to dictact political culture in NZ?
And are you seriously arguing that because some MPs/parties are bullies that it’s ok for the MSM to be as well?
In an election year the job of the media is to present information about politics to the country so that people can be informed. They can analyse what is going on, and they can investigate things that are of high public interest. But that’s not what is going on now. It’s fucked, anti-democracy, and a very large part of why we’re in such a mess as a country.
I didn’t argue that at all. MPs/parties and media often feed off each other, reliant on each for the attention they seek. That sometimes gets to a level of frenzied bullying. I don’t argue for that at all. I argue for more honesty and decency in politics and the media.
🙄
Can you please explain exactly how National and Key earned their supposed credibility ?.What brilliant policies have they brought to the table?
+1 and not only the MSM it would appear here…
The challenge for Labour and the Greens is to have a policy that makes the voter, and media, go “wow”. If that doesn’t happen for the voter particularly, it’s the policy that misses the mark. In the absence of a policy convincing enough to make the centre voter swing to the left, the results shouldn’t be a surprise. Thinking that voters are idiots because they don’t agree with you, also doesn’t change their perception of a person or a policy that fails to resonate with them. Perhaps try a policy grand enough to change people’s opinion and the MSM might report it as such. Putting “kiwi” in front of everything doesn’t seen to be working either. Time will tell I guess.
I think the answer, Micky, is that Trotter and Pooter are both conservative bores, who reinforce each other. The rest of us are just going to get on with winning the election. Never mind the bollocks, eh.
“…it’s a swindle! A swindle!
MS, I have friends asking me where are Labour’s announcements about restoring the integrity and principles of our social welfare system, public health and public education systems.
About how Labour is going to put in place game changers to sort out poverty especially child poverty in NZ once and for all.
They want to see announcements like NZ Power which put National on the back foot and which force National to make uncomfortable excuses and compromises. And it’s not happening.
I think that I can safely presume that you have been fielding similar.
This is what NZers want to hear from the Labour leader, not speculations about whether or not the Royal Visit had elements of playing politics or other random Thorndon Bubble focussed commentary.
So what do we get this week? Labour releases transport policy around “making it easier to get a family holiday on the road.” My friends in the over-stretched Dunedin social services sector were tearing their hair out at this. Families in poverty can barely get on the road in the first place, let alone go for a nice road trip around the country. Even Transport Blog slammed the policies as a distraction saying that the policy release is “absolute rubbish with it seemingly designed just to target a handful of complainers.”
Then there was the recent Bowel Screening announcement. Bowel screening is important to be sure, but honestly NO VOTER in NZ was thinking of colon cancer as a Top Ten election issue. And none still do.
So it looks to me like PG has a point when he says that its going to be a long 5 months ahead. Yes, we should definitely wait for the next few polls to come out and discuss them as well. But by then it will be just 4 long months ahead.
And why are all our politicians still talking about achieving “economic growth” (green or otherwise)…
IMF and World Bank mantra. Happy Easter mate.
And to you, good Trooper.
Good analysis CV. Thank goodness we have thinking people analysing present political policy offerings and attempting to vitalise and lift the low angle of the sterile political scene.
So you try the big issues and leave the little shite till later
1: Social Policy what is Labour going to do about the shell shocked beneficiaries who have been used and abused for the last 6 years?
A: probably nothing.
2: Housing policy No one is listening.
3: Jobs
4: Sensible roading projects
5: Christchurch rebuild
6: Auckland Inner Rail Loop
7: Housing bubble.
8: the soaring Dollar
Oh and I live in Levin so something about some jobs down here, but first a CREDIBLE candidate would be nice!
It’s not a loop but link. Loops in transports systems are actually really inefficient.
What’s in Levin that makes jobs there viable?
What is it about jobs that people keep going on about them? We don’t need jobs, we need a viable distribution system the distributes the wealth of our economy properly.
You may not want to structure it as “jobs” but there will be no ‘wealthy economy’ without people turning up to do labour every day.
An ever more productive economy results in ever fewer jobs – especially labouring jobs. It won’t be long before bus drivers are redundant. That may not sound like much but there’s tens of thousands of them. Thus we need to take those people who have been made redundant and retrain them into the non-labouring sector.
That means training them in R&D and arts and craft and getting them away from the financial sector which, as it stands, is easy work, doesn’t produce anything and is massively over-rewarded. And when I’m talking R&D I’m talking about a better mouse trap but materials science, automation, medical and biological tech, etc etc. Stuff that we’re not doing enough of now.
The future you are expecting is not going to materialise, DTB. For instance, automated vehicle navigation and driving is going to remain a googlelabs curio as economic and energy decline sets in even harder.
As private transport becomes less affordable, the number of bus drivers we need may increase, not decrease. Labouring will become more common as fossil fuel energy use becomes increasingly expensive, and we start to lose the ability to support highly specialised and expensive disciplines.
Well, it won’t if we keep whinging about it being too hard. Don’t need fossil fuels to run buses or trains. Renewable electricity is great for them.
The point is that we don’t want to increase them. Having more bus drivers doesn’t do us any good. There’s much better things we can have those people doing.
“There’s much better things we can have those people doing.”
Maybe they actually like driving the bus
Well, I suppose we can keep a couple of old relics going for tourism.
Aside from the fact that quite a lot of our terraine isn’t suited to rail
I have NFI WTF that has to do with buses.
If Labour really wanted to make an impact transport wise, then it would cancel the Holiday Highway and used the money saved to restore the cuts to rural road funding, and perhaps set a bold target of sealing all the remaining metal/gravel roads in the country by 2025 (or thereabouts). It would reach deep into National’s heartland, as farmers in, say, Pipiriki would be able to get their goods to market without going though a quagmire in the winter.
Yep. And secure the future of our heavy transport rail lines and coastal shipping!
And beef up our navy to protect our coastal shipping.
Two things keep me from voting green – the feel good vagueness of much of their policy and their total disregard for our military needs.
https://www.greens.org.nz/policy/defence-and-peacekeeping-armed-services-policy
The Green Party will:
Ensure that New Zealand has sufficient maritime surveillance capabilities, including airplanes, to properly monitor the waters around New Zealand, and to assist South Pacific island states.
Ensure that New Zealand has sufficient capabilities for peacekeeping, search and rescue, disaster relief, fisheries and border control tasks. We should phase out any equipment that are not optimal for such tasks.
Ensure that New Zealand has sufficient naval capacity to conduct appropriate patrols: around our coasts, into Antarctic waters, and to assist South Pacific islands states. The capacity could include some sea transport capacity, but from multi-purpose ships, not specialised transport ships. We welcome the introduction into our navy of a multi-role ship and new patrol boats as they will be useful for our border protection and South Pacific and Antarctic work. We will continue to ensure that New Zealand has adequate naval capacity for these tasks.
I think a far more rewarding bold action would be to scrap the Navy altogether.
Replace it with a Coastguard type service that is capable of patrolling all our waters from Antarctica to the Pacifica Islands. Supply them with aircraft, patrol vessels and sufficient crew trained for Rescue work. Much better use of money. We do not need a Navy
defence and peacekeeping.
Government really helping the regions, the agricultural/horticultural sector as a whole, not just dairy. What a sound idea. I wonder when someone will think of that, and when gummint will act on it?
Someone in one of the boondock territories of rural NZ was complaining about the way that logging trucks create big problems of dust, destroying road surface, extra traffic, unpleasant industrial-type noise that is ongoing for much of the 24 hours. But there is not the money available to pave the roads, to maintain them, ie not extra from government, not in the cash-strapped local area suffering this abuse to its roads, and not from the users causing the problem, the logging companies.
A real farmers party would show some more care for the rural sector in every way. But the NACTs have hypnotised them into thinking that they should not ask for much from the government, that they are hardworking, smart, resilient etc. and free, strong, independent people not like the townies, those effete, chair-sitters, those lazy bludgers on the government tit living off money provided by the proud hard-working achievers of the country. Then they are horribly surprised that when disaster strikes them, that social welfare is so meanly given when they are on their bare bones. And still some of them feel it is beneath them to ask for help, because of all the years they have been absorbing the propaganda about the worthlessness of people on welfare.
The underlying attitude that is cultivated by farm leaders when comparing the agricultural sector to those in the metropolis is not far different from that shown in soviet posters with strong, proud figures with bulging muscular arms holding agricultural tools.
Actually the smaller farmers are being allowed to go to the wall.
Their farms are being amalgamated into giant units until they are a convenient size to make an attractive package to some rich overseas or city type swollen with money from gorging more than their share of the incomes paid out those working,
or just plotting financial coups.
Napier should have a good rail system for their products to feed them into the country, not just to the ports as fresh or manufactured food for the outsiders.
Give the regions what they need FGS to do business locally and for export, and take us away from borrowing money for dairy and imports which probably helps to shove up our exchange rate. If we have a period of adjustment while we have to pay more for petrol and oil and other imported goods then so be it. Face it now, and survive virtually intact though poorer, or have it dump on us in a smothering debacle that will likely ruin us.
The country being run down like an aged business beyond its maturity date is crap for wan..rs with MBAs who are learning how to become robber barons at some mercenary university.
I want NZ Post for one, to keep going 5 days a week, and for government to put its post through it. NZ as a country that has to pull together in this uncivil war against the people. Is that too much to ask? Don’t reply to that, just leave the question hanging in the air and fashion a society that means a positive answer.
attr. to Benjamin Franklin 1776, but Dryden said similar first in 1717
+1000 CV
What about the manufacturing announcement CV? It feels like Labour is being criticised for not releasing policy, releasing minor policy and releasing major policy all at the same time!
What manufacturing announcement? They keep saying that they’re going to upgrade the economy and manufacturing but all I keep seeing from them is more tax breaks and government subsidies to the private sector.
Why did they release that minor policy/comment re transport just prior to releasing the gruntier policy on manufacturing?
It appears that the minor policy grabbed the attention and diverted attention away from the more fundamental and substantial manufacturing policy. 🙁
Therein lies the problem on one day a mirth inducing “cluster truck” follow by a serious manufacturing policy immediately lost in the mirth of the previous policy.
It seems to me strategy wise nothing has changed since the last election. Doesn’t matter who the leader is or the ‘media bias’ if whoever is deciding on strategy is serving up lemons no amount of good intention will work. It quickly descending to farce. If you look left or right in terms of the greens or the nats strategy wise they are miles ahead….
@ Cricklewood,
Sadly, this is the opinion I am starting to form too
Peter Dunne is a moral void. He has the power to ban the so called legal highs yet he does not.
He sees no conflict in the fact that he son’s income is derived from the sale of theses drugs that is bringing havoc to families.
Peter Dunne had the power to say that the government would not deal with Dunne Junior.
I bet Peter Dunne gets very very nice birthday presents from his very well paid son.
Penny Hulse has some sensible things to say about synthetics and natural cannabis.
I think this is the direction we need to be looking in. There’s a growing realisation that the Psychoactive Substances Act only addresses a part of the problem.
The cannabis elephant in the room needs to be confronted.
🙄
The way forward is the direction we need to look in. We must have the discussion in the future. Astonishingly insightful. No wonder you agree with it so equivocally.
+1111
i would likely to add this, 🙄 …
To smoke or not to smoke is not the question.
Dunne has deeply damaged the credibility of the office of a minister.
All around the country kids are hearing that the Toxic Shot is legal and that it will not be banned by the minister, whose son is making a living out of selling the Toxic shit.
No wonder so many do not vote when they see such self serving bullshit.
Dear Standardistas. Do not engage with Peter George on the decriminalization of Cannabis. etc. It is a smoke screen for his hero Peter Dunne and his drug industry son, James.
That is blatantly untrue. Ignorance or malicious?
Drugs not demonstrably safe will be banned – or we’ve been had by the whole of Parliament.
And legal highs have been available for years.
🙄
“Peter Dunne is a moral void. He has the power to ban the so called legal highs yet he does not.
He sees no conflict in the fact that he son’s income is derived from the sale of theses drugs that is bringing havoc to families.
Peter Dunne had the power to say that the government would not deal with Dunne Junior.
I bet Peter Dunne gets very very nice birthday presents from his very well paid son”
Bollocks, Peter Dunne’s new law gives councils the power to put these shops out of business.
If Hamilton can use the new law to close down the puff shops then other lazy councils need to
get off their arse and start to earn their salary.
http://www.legalhighs.co.nz/synthetic-cannabis/six-hamilton-legal-highs-stores-closed/2014
Dunne junior is an adult and there is no conflict in the fact that he like a lot of lawyer’s make a living from defending scum. What a feeble attempt of a smear
Um the law allows Councils to regulate not ban naki.
“Um the law allows Councils to regulate not ban”
The link says they have been banned, the point is they have been shutdown and they cant sell drugs. You can call it what ever you like
PD and PG are the useful idiots the corporate elite need to run the world.
Sad really.
(this was my response to trotters’ piece..)
i welcome the separation of the greens from labour..
..labour can go and harvest those soft national votes..
..and the greens can get back to their knitting..
..(as long as they haven’t lost their balls..of wool..)
..i was finding that whole waltz-down-the-aisle-together/no-bottom-lines/lead-me-to-my-bmw!- routine..
..both alarming and tacky..
..and if the greens again find their balls..of wool..
..maybe they will also find some of those lost bottom-lines..?
..we live in hope..
..the total of that union was not greater than the sum of its’ parts..
..it was just pallid..and pallider..(you pick which was which..)
..whereas the opposite applies to mana/internet party..
..the total there is definitely greater than the sum of its’ parts..
..so the same reasons apply for the mana/internet coming together..
..and the labour party/green cleaving apart..
..funny that..!
(and we did a cartoon about that mana/internet sum total..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/original-whoar-cartoon-why-the-mana-party-and-the-internet-party-should-coalesce/
There’s been this bizarre disconnect between Pete George with his hat on as politicheck, for which I have been occasionally been impressed with some of the work, as I didn’t think he was capable of it.
Why? There’s Pete George the thread hijacker, line spinner and right wing blog personality, and in this case concern troll.
Not looking at the polls and looking at Cunliffe’s performances on camera as well as the co ordination of the party’s work and the appointments that have been made, the news has been all positive for Labour. If you are behind in a game and you rearrange your line up and make some subs, you don’t look at the score on the board now. You say ‘are we doing the basics right’ and ‘can we get some momentum going’. The answer to both of these is yes.
+10000
“Some on the left are prepared to confront the issues”
Passive-aggressive much?
A cursory checking of the facts would tell you that Trotter is only on the left on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. This post was written on a Friday, when he is known to support the National Party.
In the Herald today
But on Thursday evening, she said she had checked her notes and believed she had spoken to the ambassador about the dinner the following day and told him “nothing had occurred that was untoward and it was just a very private friendly dinner that was short”.
Why would she specifically say to the Ambassador that “nothing had occurred that was untoward” That has to be one of the strangest revelations so far. Why was she compelled to use those words. This is someone who knew at the time was skating on thin ice, had probably be warned by the Ambassador.
+1. Further Collins dissection required. The gift that goes on giving.
Good to see some penetrating questions in the House finally having an impact.
Originally, was this ‘private dinner’ not ‘maybe a cup of tea on the way to the airport’?
And is Collins’ husband really using her ministerial car as a commuter vehicle?
When he is apparently a well paid Oravida director/executive/owner…well Ms C, what is he exactly?
Oravida has other investments in NZ apart from fresh milk processing. These should be given wider airplay.
And let us hear again, how the PM’s photo appeared on an Oravida product wrapper? After all, he doesn’t need the money…
And precisely what role does Goodfellow play in all this? Bagman?
There is a nasty smell of corruption here, wafting right to the top.
The latest is this, which bears careful reading
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11240644
If Collins was trying to boost her husband’s company into a ‘preferred supplier’ or even ‘quasi-monopoly supplier’ to the massive China market, then this is dynamite.
We are getting into the good old ‘secret commissions’ area…and that is criminal.
Would be good to see this followed up.
And the PM as shill for Oravida….an interesting footnote which should not be neglected.
And why would she keep notes from a harmless dinner?
Yes, it was a disappointing and depressing poll prompting a sinking feeling, but I would like to see the next 4 polls (from Colmar Brunton, TV3 Reid, Herald Digi and Fairfax Ipsos) to see if this poll is consistent or not.
Exactly, you were supposed to feel disappointed and depressed by such polls, and the others to come from the TV channels and the print media, that’s why they publish these things,
Physical Action results in the endorphins in the body being stirred, stirring the bodies endorphins promotes psychological well being leading to a lack of disappointment and depression,
Contact the political party of your choice and ask them to be included on their list of pamphlet deliverers in your electorate,
Put aside an hour a day/night to pamphlet drop your electorate street by street…
and todays Gardening Tip
i am surprised by all the Doom and Gloom, does everyone forget their lessons of history that easily,
Cast your minds back to 2011, the election with Phill Goff as Labour leader, now how many here actually supported poor old Phill, you could just about count such supporters on one finger,
The mantra from the right leading into the 2011 election,”National can Govern alone”),there is certainly no ”original thought” apparent this time round with the same old same old being promoted by the usual suspects,
Take out the 3 Maori Party MP’s this time round and i would suggest that it is going to be that close a contest,
Save the Doom and Gloom for after the vote if we don’t get at least a slightly left leaning Government…
Yes, bad 12, I get that and I do that, but I also had the general public in mind when I made the comment. My gut feeling tells me that the polls will shift towards the left block, but today’s interview by Turei on the Nation regarding the Green’s cabinet deputy PM ambitions/expectations, even before the voters have shown their hand, was a shocker.
Seem to me like she was carrying a blunt spade to naively dig the Left grave with her at that answer.
Didn’t see ‘the Nation’ this morning, you will perhaps like to explain further why you see Metiria as ‘digging the left’s grave’,
That from where i sit sounds like a very interesting comment,(at Labour),from Met’s, did it come across as a ”if the Green Party is not included in Labour’s thinking as being a large part of the next Government, Forget It!!!),
If the comment from Metiria was in fact in that vein, then, i would say ”nice one”, what point a Labour ”lead” Government including NZFirst in a cozy ”business as usual” combination which has the Green Party shut out,???,
That to me we have already had from the Clark Government, the best i can say about that from the position i got to view it is ”it wasn’t National”,
If Labour attempt this time round to ”shut out” the Greens i would suggest that along with Mana they take to the cross benches and ”extract” gains by horse trading on every piece of Legislation which would simply mean that Labour/NZFirst would have to enact a piece of Green/Mana Legislation for every one allowed by the bloc further to the left…
http://www.3news.co.nz/Greens-aim-for-co-deputy-PM-role/tabid/1607/articleID/340726/Default.aspx
See what you think.
In politics, politicians have to be thoughtful on what one says in public. Some things are for private discussion. Big mouths can cause indigestion and give a sick feeling. Dumb.
Lolz, you are making a mountain out of a molehill, on the current numbers Labour have to negotiate NZFirst into a coalition which will also necessitate the Green Party being involved,
Your whole spew of abuse this morning contends not only that the Green Party should shut up and confine itself to a script set by Labour/NZFirst, it also gives the impression (unwritten of course), that you consider that the Green Party should just hand over support to ANY coalition that Labour negotiate including being outside of a minority Government of Labour/NZFirst,
The Green Party is free to give its supporters and potential voters an indication NOW of what it expects from a Labour/NZFirst coalition as far as Ministerial positions goes despite all Your mumbo jumbo trotting out of the Labour/NZFirst lines,
i would urge both Russell and Metiria to spell it out loudly and publicly what the Green Party and it’s Members expect from a Labour/NZFirst Government in both Ministerial positions and Policy gains for the Green Party should they agree to support a Labour/NZFirst Government,
Your comments this morning simply firm up my belief that this time round if Labour propose a Labour/NZFirst Government without a strong Green presence in MInisterial roles that the Greeen Party would better itself and its supporters by taking to the cross benches along with Mana and horse trading Policy gains Legislation by Legislation,
This i would suggest will provoke Labour/NZFirst into seeking National/ACT support in pushing through its Legislative progam thus showing you all the true colors of the relevant parties…
Labour will not shut out the Greens. Greens will be a large part of the next Labour led government, with cabinet posts. Cunliffe has already made that VERY clear just recently. Don’t understand why the Greens are spreading so much misinformation and unnecessary discord.
I do not agree with you at all. You are imagining things I did not say or imply re shutting Greens out etc. That Greens will be or may be shut out by Labour won’t happen nor is desirable. By making silly stance now about getting TWO deputy pm posts, aren’t these Greens trying to hamstring Labour already prior to the election and prior to the coalition discussions and agreements? In my mind, that is an arrogant, stupid, naive, cunning and crap attitude to take, besides planting discord among Labour and scaring away potential left supporters.
I am annoyed at the Greens now and I am calling it as I see it.
@ clem..re turei/deputy prime minister claim..
..i agree..
..who the hell is advising them on strategy..?
..both norman and tureu are coming across as having their eyes on ministerial-baubles..
..and little else..
..and i know we shouldn’t focus on the trivialities like clothing/choice of dress..
..but that white power-jacket turei sported for me just emphasised the apparent distance of the greens from their constituencies/who put them there..
..turei looked more at home in a russian doll set..along with the likes of collins/bennett..
..the greens..in their long/wholesale efforts not to offend..
..seem to have walked away from much of their traditional/long-term support..
..those wanting to end the blight of poverty..now have to look to mana..
..the pot-vote has to look to the internet party (?)..
..and those there for ‘green’/environmental-reasons will be in denial –
if not dismayed by normans’ recent ennunciations of ‘no bottom lines’..
..on pretty much everything..
..i’m sorry..but looking from out here..
..the greens seem lost/blinded by personal-ambitions/baubles..
..and tureis’ claim/assumptions on the deputy prime minister role..
..only reinforces that image..
..bottom-line:..the greens need to sack their current team of strategists/advisers..
..they are leading them towards irrelevancy..
..(or..this is just being driven by the elites/leadership/small group that runs the party..
..and if that is the case..they are digging their own graves of irrelevancy..)
..ourt here in the real world of poverty/prohibition..and the like..
..who gives a flying fuck who is ‘deputy-prime-minister’..?
..the green party/leadership..really need to get a fucken grip..
..they are/seem lost..somewhere on the road to that garage housing the ministerial-bmw’s..
Those 4 you mention are all Right leaning polls Mainly ring Landlines only and have a strict list of leading questions. The best of the lot is Morgans poll
Even Morgan is suspect with the son of Roy being deeply involved in mining,(not that i would propose that this would deliberately skew a Morgan poll against the Greens, snigger)…
Those 4 you mention are all Right leaning polls Mainly ring Landlines only and have a strict list of leading questions. The best of the lot is Morgans poll
I agree RM is the best. National on 48%, Labour imploding. Is it still your favourite?
there was an outbreak of reefer-madness yesterday..in the gen-debate thread..
..this unpacks the trigger/cause of that ‘reefer-madness’..
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/why-medias-fearmongering-marijuana-effects-brain-faulty
“..A neuroimaging study of the brains of marijuana smokers caused unwarranted frenzy..”
and of course..this is one of the main reasons the mana/any(?) party should swing in behind a decriminalise/regulate/tax policy on pot..
….all reasons that are obvious..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/18/weed-legalization_n_5169750.html
“..Ultimately, though, it will be a net public health “win” –
if rising pot consumption deters heavy drinking –
which does much more societal and personal damage..”
..and as per the mana party/pot-policy..my understanding is the party membership/younger members esp. –
..and it is the older members in power in the party..
..who are blocking that popular will amongst the party members..
..(and the general public..if that campbell live poll showing 84% support for the ending of cannabis prohibition is to be given any credence..)
Phill you could start a legalize pot party, oh wait there is already one in operation, now how many votes have they achieved in total in how many elections again…
Good to see you back from the naughty corner Philip Ure! ……( and bad12 missed you too….he hasnt been the same without you…but i suggest you two play at the opposite ends of the sandpit for a while)
@ Bad12…..well legalise pot makes a lot of sense!….and criminalise the synthetic stuff…everyone around the country hates what the synthetic stuff is doing to young people….except Peter Dunne and son …and NACT of course….their entrepreneurs are probably selling it.
Yup, the sort of thing a 3rd term Government would do, legalize marijuana that is, oh except for the small fact that Labour have no intention of going anywhere near legalization,
So while Phill can gnash what’s left of His teeth down to the gums, a 10–15% Green Party are unlikely to convince Labour to move on the issue,and, on the present numbers NZFirst as well…
The Christchurch Press and all the local newspapers are full of horror stories about synthetic cannabis./party drugs …makes the real stuff seem positively harmless ( even some local police think so)
….this could be an Election Issue with not a few votes ….such is the anguish of parents whose kids are hooked and the kids themselves… with very bad side effects according to A@E doctors…..at very least Labour/Greens /Mana/NZF should overturn legalising the synthetic stuff and seriously consider make the real stuff legal
…Seems like NACT and Peter Dunne have gone mad
@ chooky..
..and a lot of people..are making a lot of money..
..off of this crap..
..they are as bad as the tobacco/alcohol-pushers..
agreed they are making a lot of money!!! ….and they are despicable!!!!…this one could turn around and savagely maul NACT and Peter Dunne
…there are quite a few votes in this for making the synthetic stuff illegal and legalising the old ‘tried and true real stuff’ to those 18 and over…the precedent has been set in USA and other countries
On Stuff
“New Zealand’s economic boom is about to pop with dramatic results, the US business magazine Forbes reports today.”
The Forbes article
IF, the dairy auctions keep bringing in the rate of decline in prices paid on the current trend ”things” aint going to be pretty in a year or two,
We all know what occurs when the Western World’s economies go belly up, the field of battle is currently being defined by talks in Europe…
Ta,very interesting.That should make more than a few think.[why aren’t they]Makes you wonder why you would wont to govern.
Yes, I saw that too. I wonder why we still have guaranties for banks if they are doing so nicely? Besides, the rebuild in Christchurch does skewer the figures and the US financial wizkids do as usually have no clue but want to brush everybody with the same stroke.
Whilst the time frame of the rebuild in CCH is scandalous to keep it civilized, it is no New Orleans where people have to donate and beg to have a roof over their heads and meanwhile the Freddie’s jump out of the hat. As for the foreign investors in NZ, yes absolutely it needs to be curtailed as land is not something anyone can “produce”.
Greens are Labour’s hindering albatross.
I can’t believe that the Green leaders are so arrogant, so politically naive and frankly a little stupid going by their previous Labour-Green pre election coalition stunt designed to help themselves and harm Labour and now this interview comment by Turei on the Nation today regarding her ambition on the deputy PM position in a Labour led coalition after the election.
She, like Norman, presumes too much even before the election, even before the voters have spoken! This is political naivity in the extreme, unbelievable arrogance and frankly stupid, in my opinion. I am afraid this sort of carry by these naive numpties may drive more people away from Labour/Greens. A very counter productive cocky stance to take.
Any coalition deals and terms need to be discussed in private between the parties and announced after the election, not before. Simple common sense politics 101. NZF and even National must be happily rubbing their luck once again.
With friends like Greens, who needs enemies?
http://www.3news.co.nz/Greens-aim-for-co-deputy-PM-role/tabid/1607/articleID/340726/Default.aspx
It’s a message to the people who vote for the GP and who might vote for the GP. It’s not a message to people like you Clem.
I’m not sure if you are objecting to Norman and Turei wanting to be deputy PM, or if you are objecting to them saying so before the election. Myself, I prefer transparency.
Seems that Clem wants the Green Party to be silenced and adhere to a script being ”run” by Labour/NZFirst,
i would urge the Green Party to become more specific leading into this election as to exactly what Ministerial roles it expects to fill in a Labour/NZFirst Government along with pointing out Policy areas in which the Party will require a ”strong” say,
Other than that i would urge the Green Party leadership to begin devising a strategy of ”negotiating” from the cross benches…
You are ascribing various views implying they are mine! You are wrong. Greens can say what they want and show the public how stupid and arrogant the Greens are. What I am saying is that in my view, politically, they are being smug, silly, arrogant and stupid, damaging the left cause overall.
@ Clemogeopin,
It would be really good if you could take bad12 (or weka’s) comments as highlighting that what you are saying may be implying certain things that you don’t intend – rather than take the comments too personally.
I am interested in what you are saying and what weka and bad12’s (and others on previous threads) have responded. And also, if you take their responses seriously, how you would respond back to the points they make.
I think there is some real relevance to what you are saying – even if it is a ‘perception thing’ i.e. that the ‘Greens are radical’ seems to be a false idea that has been conjured up and seeded by the right with the aim of dividing and conquering – yet the discussion still needs to be had by the left because this propaganda technique appears to be taking hold of some people’s views and having done so, the discussion is very worthy because to work through it in a level-headed manner could assist in undermining the effects of the propaganda.
Hope that makes sense
I sort of get what you are saying, but taking public stance on expected potential baubles etc is not being level headed of Greens and is counter productive to the left block in my view and that annoys me and probably does to a lot of other potential left inclined voters. I don’t want this kind of tactics to result in us snatching a stupid defeat. Watch for the right wing parties and the media use this premature pre-election comment to pound Labour and Greens even further now.
It is one thing to talk about party policies to gather more votes, but quite another to go bauble hunting before the election.
Cheers for your post. Have a nice Easter.
lol I think perhaps I didn’t make a very clear point…possibly not entirely clear on it , I will have to think some more on that one.
I keep forgetting it is Easter, I wish you a good Easter too, cheers!
How will Norman, Turei, you and the green supporters feel if Cunliffe may not be be able to offer the plum deputy PM posts to the these two ambitious naive/cunning nitwits?
Clem
Russel Norman and Metiria Turei are not naive twits. I hope they are cunning or in parliament they’ll end up like bunnies facing ferrets. That may be nature but not the environment that Greens work in.
You seem to have a thing against the Greens. Can you try to think politically (politics being the art of the possible) and not think of the election as a sporting contest where there is usually a definite winner and loser, occasionally a draw or bye. In politics a Party can win, and not just the opposition will lose, but so may the whole country. A Party can achieve one good thing and yet most people not receive one positive improvement or advantage. What then is winning? The Greens are more important and steadfast for NZ than you give them credit for.
The actions of pollies directly affect my life and I want more understanding of the complex tasks that pollies need to do to be acknowledged. It’s not just simply aiming to get a ball in goal..
No, I am NOT against the Greens or their policies or them being in the government or the cabinet. I am against their stupid counter productive political stunts and statements I mentioned earlier which in my opinion harm the left aim of winning this election.
Well it was a bit ridiculous of Turei to suggest that she could be co-Deputy Prime Minister
Why? Plenty of organisations have co-vice presidents, or more than one person at the second tier. The Greens have managed to make the co-leader structure work, there’s no practical reason for it to not work just as well at the Deputy PM level.
It would hardly be the most ridiculous Cabinet position ever invented to please a coalition partner (cough, Treasurer, cough).
Or Minister of Foreign Affairs but not Trade and Outside Cabinet.
I do like transparency too. But why do I get the feeling that those two are played and NZ1 has a role in all of this? Can’t say why but it’s like a stone in the show if you know what I mean.
I suspect the Greens see Labour as a hindering albatross, with more justification. Which party looks the most united and best organised and prepared?
I don’t see any problem with any party being up front about their preferences for any possible coalition deal. Shouldn’t voters know this in advance? I don’t buy the “let the voters decide” then parties do as they please approach. They have no idea what voters were thinking and wanting.
I actually agree with that.
Turei as deputy PM this is hilarious, this is the same woman who called Fonterra and Sanitarium feeding the school kids “corporate welfare” There needs to be some sort of IQ test for this position.
That will really scare the horses.
How is Fonterra feeding the kids not corporate welfare?
It’s actually worse than corporate welfare. It’s corporate welfare with propaganda attached.
Corporate welfare is a defined term. It refers to things like subsidies and tax breaks that are used to entice businesses or increase profit and compare them to welfare payments. The Rio Tinto situation for instance was an act of corporate welfare.
The idea is that governments who demonise welfare and beneficiaries often engage in corporate welfare and pick favourites and provide them with favourable tax breaks and subsidies. It’s welfare but for a much less deserving audience.
So, Turei really was wrong to refer to Fonterra feeding the kids initiative as “corporate welfare”. However, it is largely semantics. I can think of far more important tests to see whether someone should be Deputy Prime Minister.
I think Turei as DPM would probably do a decent job. It might make the media at least remember she’s a leader of the Green Party.
AAA+++
If a fool like Bill English can be deputy PM then anyone can, even you Mad Naki..
lolz, thanks fender.
not so much ‘corporate welfare’..
..as them pushing their deeply unhealthy products on new generations..
..getting them hooked on the health-harming sugar/fat-laden muck they peddle..
Milk and Wheetbix you oaf
@ pops..
..yes..?..
..yr point..?
..(tho’ i withdraw the ‘sugar’..it is the cow bye-product that is the nasty in this combo..)
Is that you there Bomber?
Oh those evil Greens! With their… principles… and recognition that they are no longer a minor party.
Hi son! Wow! I had given up thinking we would never meet!
you’re right. It should only be the serious men with suits who are allowed to get government titles. Good to see that Turei will have to give up her playing at leader once Clem and his ilk fumble towards power.
Turei has been a strong politician- especially with her response to the attacks on her and the invitation of the press to her ‘castle’ worth an Auckland car park to see her wardrobe.
She provides a clear point of difference to the samey-ness across the leadership on the left- Cunliffe, Parker, Robertson, King, Jones, Adern, Cosgrove, Hipkins, Norman- she’s young, Maori, passionate and with a profile and doesn’t appear to be part of the careerist politicians who are careful to follow the party line. She seems to have a purpose about her entry to parliament and to me suggesting this kind of unorthodox arrangement that isn’t ‘common-sense’ like Peters, UF et al are…suggests why she is needed by the left.
Where did I say anything anything of the sort?
Why is that you and some others here do not actually understand the actual points I made in my posts? Read it again.
It would be good if bloggers when discussing an individual pollie gave their first name. It would make them sound like respected people, rather than pawns on the political chess board.
but warbler..in the main..they aren’t ‘respected people’..
..and they are just ‘ pawns on the political chess board’..most of them..
..is there anything more pathetic/useless to man or beast..
..than an opposition backbencher..?
..and remember..they are ranked below used car salesmen..
..(or their modern equivalent..the internet bye-product peddler..)
..by most of us mug-punters..
..so a sirname is more than the ‘hey you!’ most of them deserve..
..i remember farrar got his knickers quite knotted when i started doing that @ kiwiblog..
..he had an ‘it’s not polite!’ tizzy/hissy-fit…
..which was dutifully ignored..
The political hole deepens for Minister for Justice – Judith Collins …..
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11240640
“Justice Minister Judith Collins has recovered her memory after telling Parliament she could not recall whether she had briefed New Zealand’s ambassador to Beijing about her Oravida dinner.
…..
In Parliament’s last session before a two-week recess, she again refused to identify the official she dined with, said she did not know of Oravida’s difficulties in the Chinese market before the dinner, and said she could not remember whether she had briefed ambassador to Beijing Carl Worker about the dinner.
She told the Weekend Herald she didn’t believe she had spoken about the dinner to Mr Worker beyond an initial discussion beforehand when he said he would not attend.
But on Thursday evening, she said she had checked her notes and believed she had spoken to the ambassador about the dinner the following day and told him “nothing had occurred that was untoward and it was just a very private friendly dinner that was short”.
She said Mr Worker had asked her on the day of the dinner to just let him know if there was anything that he needed to know about.
…….”
DUH?
Who ‘takes notes’ at a private dinner with friends?
In what capacity did Minister of Justice Judith Collins speak “.. to the ambassador about the dinner the following day and told him “nothing had occurred that was untoward and it was just a very private friendly dinner that was short”.
Did Minister of Justice Judith Collins speak to Carl Worker in his capacity as NZ Ambassador to China?
If so – then this can NOT have been a ‘private dinner’ for which Judith Collins had no Ministerial responsibility.
Who invited Carl Worker, (who just happens to be the NZ Ambassador to China) to this dinner?
WHY did Carl Worker, (who just happens to be the NZ Ambassador to China) decline to attend this dinner?
Is there some sort of parallel universe happening here – where it just so happens that these very important and influential people – are also close personal friends, so there is no clear line of demarcation between private lives and public duties?
Is that why, in my considered opinion, Minister of Justice Judith Collins HAS CROSSED THE LINE and is indeed no longer ‘fit for duty’?
What a DISGRACE.
National’s Minister of Justice Judith Collins is treating both Parliament and the public with total contempt.
But I can understand Prime Minister John Key’s reluctance to sack her from Parliament.
Do the maths.
National is a MINORITY government with only 59 MPs out of 121.
Judith Collins is an electorate MP.
(As are Peter Dunne and John Banks).
Oh dear …… whatever could happen next to this (in my considered opinion) COALITION OF THE CORRUPT?
No wonder while on Minister of Justice Judith Collins’ watch – New Zealand STILL has not yet ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption.
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/signatories.html
I for one, doubt that she has even read it.
Here – have a look for yourselves:
http://www.unodc.org/documents/treaties/UNCAC/Publications/Convention/08-50026_E.pdf
Which New Zealand political party is going to pick up the ball on this one, and announce that getting the legislative anti-corruption framework in place so that New Zealand can ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption will be a most URGENT political priority?
Penny Bright
Are you going to put up a Friday social post? I’ve got a good poetry piece for it.
Or what about an Easter break social post? How’s everyone going out there. We have sun, lovely weather for now.
Been working.
For all those thickoes that do not get it, where Kim Schmitz aka Dotcom comes from, get a translator and learn:
More on Dotcom, exposed by Spiegel TV, on German TV, but they have little sympathy for him, as they see well through him:
He has at least been working on the borderline of legality, and he will face justice soon. You Tube are not releasing recently released movies, but Mega Upload did. He got away with heaps, but his days are numbered, just many Kiwis are as dumb as ever, as they voted a money speculator into power, they have sympathy for a law breaker. Hah, wake up, idiots.
He cannot be deported now, as he has children here, just smartly organised, like some from other nations, who have off spring here, knowing it is the licence to welfare! Hah, bingo, here you go, TS, you love that, right?
Sorry, I wish I had never come back, I tried to make an end, but it did not work, so I just want to say, please fight on standardistas, I am no longer able to, I am too ill. The way things are it is terrible, we are as people on benefits told the help us but it is a lie same as the Nazis told lies.
I am too tired and sick, I will not communicate further, take care and try to fight the horrible policies and this minister that tells us the lies she “cares”. She should be bloody ashamed of herself!
I do not want to live in this country any more, it is not the country it once was.
Concentrate on finding a way forward xtasy. I hope you find a real solution soon. You are not alone and despite what the world is trying to tell people, many out there do care about others.
There are too many in similar positions where their health is failing as fast as the system that is meant to help them, but as the realities are too complex for the MSM to cram into a soundbite, too many are being left to battle their health problems alone.
But don’t give up on ‘ol kiwiland just yet. I also hate what NZ has become but refuse to believe it is too far gone to recover.
You are stronger than their lies xtasy,
Kia kaha
I always thought that NZers are prone to being take for a ride, and Kim Dotcom has taken you for a fucking ride, for sure, you silly fools, and the day he goes you will finally wake up from your “addiction”, and I know what addiction means, you are hooked, the ones that fall for this conman!
Remember to take a screenshot to put in with your expenses claim.
Now, who exactly here is addicted to Dotcom?