@ dukeofurl (1.1.3) When I heard the security news this morning, I thought it could be Obama, considering he is in the south pacific region at the moment.
As Obama’s previous shoe shine boy, will former most glorious leader Key be given time off from his “job” in Japan, to come back to NZ, to give Mr ex President’s boots some spit and polish, something he really excels at? Probably also do some caddying as well for Mr ex Pres, on the golf course.
Woodhouse made the announcement here to avoid panicking the horses down here. Take the immigrants out and Queenstown stops, fast. Barclay would have got trashed if this had gone bad.
Where’s that whinging conspiracy theorist Ian when you need him? Always bleating on about the Selwyn River and how nobody reports that it’s flowing again.
Record low flows this summer had been caused by two things – the most significant being the three very dry winters Canterbury had experienced in the last three years, meaning there had been little ground water recharge across the Canterbury Plains.
The second was irrigation, which accounted for about 15 to 20 per cent of the flows in all groundwater fed streams, [Environment Canterbury chief scientist Dr Tim] Davie said.
My bold.
I guess Ian will have to keep on playing the victim.
US carrier Carl Vinson that was supposed to be heading to coast off North Korea was heading in other Direction
“Aircraft Carrier Wasn’t Sailing to Deter North Korea, as U.S. Suggested
..Carl Vinson, and the four other warships in its strike force were at that very moment sailing in the opposite direction, to take part in joint exercises with the Australian Navy in the Indian Ocean, 3,500 miles southwest of the Korean Peninsula.”
No matter the fuckwittery, there’s a Trump tweet to match.
It's almost like the United States has no President – we are a rudderless ship heading for a major disaster. Good luck everyone!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2014
Labour’s immigration policy will focus foremost on whether the number of people entering New Zealand on work visas can be cut, and those positions filled by locals, leader Andrew Little says.
“Were you thinking of voting 6 months early then?”
No, don’t be silly. It’s not about that, it’s about Labour being able to effectively challenge the Government while giving voters time to adsorb it.
“Don’t want national stealing it do we?”
Nothing wrong with Labour dragging National to the Left. Moreover, as I stated to Anne, National can decide to adopt (or implement a version of) Labour’s policy at any given time, hence that argument (keeping their powder dry) doesn’t stack up.
…difficult for voters to take Labour seriously when they fail to have alternative policy.
Hey Chairman you know why. Labour is between a rock and a hard place when it comes to revealing policy detail. Release it too soon and the Nats implement a version of them and the public in their infinite wisdom (?) give them the credit. Release it too late (and too complicated) and the public don’t have time to absorb what it means. The latter happened in 2014.
The answer? Hang on until after the budget then keep it simple!
They have been working on policy detail for the past two years. My pick is: they will start releasing those details from later next month.
Not having policy makes any attempt of Labour challenging the Government look pathetic. One of the first questions asked will be what are Labour going to do differently?
Sorry, but National can decide to adopt (or implement a version of) Labour’s policy at any given time, hence that argument doesn’t stack up.
As for the argument that voters were unable to absorb all of their policies last time, it further highlights why they should be putting them out now, giving voters time to digest them.
However, from the discussions I’ve had, it was more of a case of voters not liking them opposed to not understanding them. Which, of course, led to Little dropping a number of them.
This limited approach to policy suggests Labour don’t want to scare voters off again. The problem is, if they don’t have confidence in them, they can’t expect voters too.
Thing is, if it’s released incrementally then it’s really obvious that national is copying each policy as it’s released (otherwise the nats are releasing substantive policy slower than Labour). If nats release a policy then Labour does and the Labour version strikes a chord, then the nats have to reverse their policy to make it labour-lite.
Oh bollocks. The campaign period hasn’t even started yet. And it’s a shedload more obvious to say “we released that last week” rather than “well, if you refer to page 25 of the manifesto you might remember we launched in january…”
Even besides that, releasing policy all at once is a fucking stupid idea – each core sector of policy needs to be campaigned towards the people who value it most, and releasing policy all at once floods people who might be interested in more than one policy. So you release your otago bit of regional development policy while you’re visiting otago, you release your conservation policy talking to a bunch of conservationists at an event important to them, you release your small business policy to a chamber of commerce meeting, and you release your capital gains policy during a prison visit 😛
Thing is, all of these different policy announcements take time to schedule anyway. Your idea of just putting out a manifesto and being done with it is a fool’s errand.
Oh rubbish. A copy is a copy regardless of when it’s been released. Having it in the manifesto gives them the reference to prove it. So while it may not be fresh in voters minds, it’s easy enough to point to, thus making it obvious to the media and voters it’s been copied.
And just because it was released last week doesn’t mean National can’t copy it tomorrow.
I’m not suggesting they release all their policy at once. However, seeing as the election is only months away, holding off put’s them in the position you’ve just decried. Overwhelming voters with a large policy dump just before the election.
Dude, it’s advertising. It works best when it’s fresh. It works best when it’s already in their minds, rather than having to point them to it.
I’m not saying release it all in one week – they’re doing it about right. Decent announcements every couple of weeks, and I expect that frequency to increase as the election approaches.
Pointing it out to them will freshly put it back into voters minds.
Whenever policy is released the media generally seek out the opposition’s take on it, thus giving Labour the opportunity to replant it.
The problem is, Labour aren’t making policy announcements every couple of weeks, they’ve only got around 10 announced policies listed on their website.
Amongst other things, a number of people I know are concerned about Labour’s compulsory KiwiSaver and their variable savings rate, yet with the election only months away Labour has done nothing to appease this concern. Voters are still unsure if it’s being dropped or not?
Unfortunately, it seems we will have to wait. But considering the major change Labour was proposing and the unsettling impact it had on a number of voters, it’s surprising Labour didn’t pick up on it and put the concern to rest. As they did with lifting the retirement age.
A number were taken back by the fact Labour were going to hand control of the variable saving rate to the Reserve Bank and were concerned about the uncertainty the variable savings rate posed. Which, with no ceiling (as they last proposed) could potentially hit low income earners hard.
Once I see it in the announced policies section of the Labour website I’ll consider it Labour policy until then it’s just a few thoughts which may/may not be acted upon.
Yes, Labour have been talking about it and they announced they are not prepared to place a cap on immigration while also calling for “a bit of a breather”, thus it looks like they are trying to have a quid each way.
Voters require to know their policy position, rhetoric means little.
What will this bit of a breather mean? How will it be achieved?
Well, hopefully they’re talking about a moratorium of at least five years. That, IMO, would be the minimum needed to sort out some of the issues regarding housing and infrastructure.
It is highly unlikely Labour would put in place a moratorium. Their focus seems to be on reducing work visas. But without any policy in place, we don’t actually know.
Polls indicate a good number of voters want to reduce immigration, but as Labour are unwilling to put a cap in place, it seems they are once again on the wrong side of public opinion.
Lynn Freeman meets nobel laureate Muhammud Yunus, known around the world as the grandfather of social business and microfinance. He says entrepreneurship is in our dna, and the financial system doesn’t work to support those who want to start a business.
Professor Yunus founded the Grameen Bank in the 1970s, giving tiny loans of $30 or $40, often to poor, illiterate women. The bank has 9 million borrowers with a repayment rate of almost 100%.
Lynn Freeman meets Nobel Laureate Muhammud Yunus, known around the world as the grandfather of social business and microfinance. He says entrepreneurship is in our dna, and the financial system doesn’t work to support those who want to start a business.
Professor Yunus founded the Grameen Bank in the 1970s, giving tiny loans of $30 or $40, often to poor, illiterate women. The bank has 9 million borrowers with a repayment rate of almost 100%.
He spoke on April 10 in Auckland at AUT University.
Details: https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2017/professor-muhammad-yunus-public-dialogue/auckland
The Aera Foundation is bringing the grandfather of social business and microfinance, Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, is visiting New Zealand for the first time. A groundbreaking social entrepreneur, economist, and global thinker, Professor Muhammad Yunus pioneered the concept of microcredit when he founded the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.
There is a link to the Aera Foundation if you want to learn more about them.
As policy makers puzzle over how to increase the supply of housing around the country a group of people in Dunedin think they’ve found a novel solution. The group are hoping to build New Zealand’s second ever co-housing community on the site of an old primary school in High Street. Kathryn Ryan talks to the head of the project, Catherine Spencer
Okay Maui
I think weka said that before and I didn’t know just what the story was? So the all encompassing link should do it then. I see if has a different identification number too. Thanks for HU.
A Chilean billionaire whose company is behind a mine opposed by treaty tribes is renting a million-dollar home to the daughter of President Donald Trump.
Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, both work at the White House. They are in a position to influence the administration’s position on a mining development in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which falls within Ojibwe treaty territory in Minnesota, independent journalist Mary Annette Pember reported on Indian Country Media Network.
But the White House told The Wall Street Journal that the connection between the couple and mining magnate Andrónico Luksic is coincidence. He purchased the $5.5 million mansion in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C., after the November election and agreed to rent it to Trump and Kushner for $15,500 a month, the paper reported.
“That’s a terrible investment,” Joshua Adler, who owns multiple properties in the wealthy neighborhood, told The Journal. He said the Trump-Kushner family is “getting use of a $5.5 million home for far less than it normally costs to have a home of that value.”
The Obama administration put a halt to the Twin Metals mine development in December, citing threats to the environment. Luksic’s firm is suing the federal government in hopes of overturning the decision.
Since Chicken announced “No New Taxes” No qualification was given. No Ifs and no buts. National have now brought in Pay Equity that will cost $2,000,000,000 and will have further ramifications in the public and private sector. The budget will also bring new spending in Health and Education as always. Without increased taxes or borrowing I cannot understand how Chicken could keep such a pledge. Stephen Joyce will flatten Robbo’s unbelievable figures in the campaign. Why are Labour committed to NO new Taxes.
We’re not planning on raising taxes and we’re going to see what the Government talks about, you know, in its tax changes that it’s foreshadowed, but we are making no plan for lifting taxes.
and We are not planning on any tax changes for the 2017 election. We will finely calibrate what we do once we see what the Government does in its foreshadowed tax changes, which we assume will be in this year’s budget, but who knows?
So, no changes planned, based on current situation and contingent on what the budget is this year, which doevetails nicely with the fact that Labour said around the same time that it was going to review and possibly completely overhaul the tax system when it gets elected. So hardly “no new taxes”, you lying piece of crapulence.
Well, when all you have to defend an outright lie is a tone argument, you can fuck off, too.
I’ve never understood the mentality that is content to receive a tax cut while children go to hospital with third world conditions but blushes whenever someone says a rude word.
No they’re not the same, and besides “We will finely calibrate what we do once we see what the Government does in its foreshadowed tax changes, which we assume will be in this year’s budget, but who knows?” is an absolutely explicit qualification.
You’re a lying piece of shit who owes Labour and Little an apology. Frankly, you owe humanity an apology for giving us all a bad rap.
But the Govt cannot run out of money…[so]when it saves instead of spending…we as individuals…run out of cash. https://t.co/2vNn18FIpo— NewZealandEconomics (@economicsNZ) April 19, 2017
Thing ism there is a necessity to live within our means but it’s the limited physical resources that need to be saved and reused. Money is nothing and is always created ex nihilo.
Your daily laugh? Think of our two main political parties. I wish they would put an effort into competing like these two – from a long ago time.
Anything you can do i can do better.
I notice that Paula Bennett and Judith Collins love to push these sorts of stories.
Personally I don’t care whether it is a lesbian or a heterosexual who is hitting me with a truncheon, I just don’t want to be beaten thanks.
Equality is when there is both a boot and a high heel in your face?
Also, on the Spinoff…. an article claiming that the National Party is Feminist – that even Bill English is.
I have long suspected that there is a campaign by Mi6 and others to push “diversity” and feminism for selfish anterior reasons. But it is more likely a cultural trend being pushed by those that benefit from it. Bennett etc push it because they are women, so essentially as a backhand compliment.
Nobody is going to object, because they will be pegged (no pun intended) as a male threatened with emasculation. But strategically it is quite clever. Take the left’s ground, or what’s left of it: few argue for the other once-were-precepts of the left.
If National succeeds, along wither the Police and other authorities, what reason might people have to vote Labour or the Greens, parties whose vocal membership often focuses mostly on gender and “diversity” issues.
I would love to think that all sectors of society of all political persuasion internalize feminist principles. Perhaps this cultural shift – or the tail end of it, now all the hard battles are won and it is easy to stand up like some kind of hero without being knocked down – will force the left to focus on other things, such as human welfare more generally and economic inequality? I hope. Thoughts?
I agree Peggy, sideshows have diluted Labour’s message and appeal. Yet the message is as pure and simple as it always has been ‘A fair go for everyone’ but is getting lost in the translation. Fragmented points of difference with the competition and narrow concern pet issues push the lure of ‘all encompassing’ aside.
I feel it has much to do with why the guy with 2 ladders on the roof of his van doesn’t vote Labour anymore.
He can won back, he needs to believe that Labour do indeed represent ‘A fair go for everyone. Houses for all of those prepared to make a realistic sacrifice rather than personal wealth generating machines. A new hip for his Mum prior to his attending her funeral.
I feel that the fair go for each and every one of us message is Labour’s ace card, always has been, it needs tabling, in spades.
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
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Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
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Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
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This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
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Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
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 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
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Secrecy over VIP political figure’s visit –Queenstown/Arrowtown? Todd Barclay?
Obama? It features golf and there’s mention of ex-heads of state and Bill Clinton.
Trump????
Probably Obama coming to play golf with his old buddy John Key and his clone Todd Barclay?
Or looking for a bolt hole to hide from Trump’s US?
Yes . Likely Obama as hes currently in Tahiti
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/17/politics/obama-snaps-photo-of-michelle-yacht/
@ dukeofurl (1.1.3) When I heard the security news this morning, I thought it could be Obama, considering he is in the south pacific region at the moment.
As Obama’s previous shoe shine boy, will former most glorious leader Key be given time off from his “job” in Japan, to come back to NZ, to give Mr ex President’s boots some spit and polish, something he really excels at? Probably also do some caddying as well for Mr ex Pres, on the golf course.
I hope we the taxpayer are not paying for this persons security?
English and Woodhousr.
It’s a major immigration speech.
There’s more going down than that.
Woodhouse made the announcement here to avoid panicking the horses down here. Take the immigrants out and Queenstown stops, fast. Barclay would have got trashed if this had gone bad.
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/queenstown/migrants-one-chance-residency-south
Just wish the ODT had found a box for Woodhouse to stand on for the photo op, or put the camera on the floor…
There’s a secure facility / area at Millbrook. It gets used for visiting heads of state and senior military types.
There were all sorts of interesting people around Arrowtown just prior to the Iraq invasion, along with their transport in and out of the airport.
Agora Financial is heavily promoting Pot Stocks…apparently Marijuana is about to cause a massive boom in the US economy.
It will be interesting to see what effects this has over here.
Where’s that whinging conspiracy theorist Ian when you need him? Always bleating on about the Selwyn River and how nobody reports that it’s flowing again.
Well Ian, you can stop wailing, because now someone has.
But oops! What’s this right there in the article?
My bold.
I guess Ian will have to keep on playing the victim.
Yep heard the Selwyn River is flowing again, only took two Cyclones?
US carrier Carl Vinson that was supposed to be heading to coast off North Korea was heading in other Direction
“Aircraft Carrier Wasn’t Sailing to Deter North Korea, as U.S. Suggested
..Carl Vinson, and the four other warships in its strike force were at that very moment sailing in the opposite direction, to take part in joint exercises with the Australian Navy in the Indian Ocean, 3,500 miles southwest of the Korean Peninsula.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/18/world/asia/aircraft-carrier-north-korea-carl-vinson.html?_r=0
More Trump fake news
Does explain why there was a NZ warship involved in all of this.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15042017/#comment-1320537
No matter the fuckwittery, there’s a Trump tweet to match.
I see Little is calling for “a bit of a breather” when it comes to immigration.
But what does that actually mean exactly? Where is their policy?
It’s extremely difficult for voters to take Labour seriously when they fail to have alternative policy.
Just the left wing of the same bird chirping to the faithful?
The rhetoric will resonate with a number. But without policy behind it, it means little.
Just for you, in a sippy cup……
/
Labour’s immigration policy will focus foremost on whether the number of people entering New Zealand on work visas can be cut, and those positions filled by locals, leader Andrew Little says.
http://www.interest.co.nz/news/87017/labours-immigration-policy-focus-foremost-whether-people-entering-nz-work-visas-can-be
That’s just a report and more rhetoric lacking full details. Where is their actual policy?
Its election year. These things are usually staged at appropriate times for full policy launch.
Dont want national stealing it do we ?
Were you thinking of voting 6 months early then ?
“Were you thinking of voting 6 months early then?”
No, don’t be silly. It’s not about that, it’s about Labour being able to effectively challenge the Government while giving voters time to adsorb it.
“Don’t want national stealing it do we?”
Nothing wrong with Labour dragging National to the Left. Moreover, as I stated to Anne, National can decide to adopt (or implement a version of) Labour’s policy at any given time, hence that argument (keeping their powder dry) doesn’t stack up.
…difficult for voters to take Labour seriously when they fail to have alternative policy.
Hey Chairman you know why. Labour is between a rock and a hard place when it comes to revealing policy detail. Release it too soon and the Nats implement a version of them and the public in their infinite wisdom (?) give them the credit. Release it too late (and too complicated) and the public don’t have time to absorb what it means. The latter happened in 2014.
The answer? Hang on until after the budget then keep it simple!
They have been working on policy detail for the past two years. My pick is: they will start releasing those details from later next month.
Hi Anne.
Not having policy makes any attempt of Labour challenging the Government look pathetic. One of the first questions asked will be what are Labour going to do differently?
Sorry, but National can decide to adopt (or implement a version of) Labour’s policy at any given time, hence that argument doesn’t stack up.
As for the argument that voters were unable to absorb all of their policies last time, it further highlights why they should be putting them out now, giving voters time to digest them.
However, from the discussions I’ve had, it was more of a case of voters not liking them opposed to not understanding them. Which, of course, led to Little dropping a number of them.
This limited approach to policy suggests Labour don’t want to scare voters off again. The problem is, if they don’t have confidence in them, they can’t expect voters too.
Thing is, if it’s released incrementally then it’s really obvious that national is copying each policy as it’s released (otherwise the nats are releasing substantive policy slower than Labour). If nats release a policy then Labour does and the Labour version strikes a chord, then the nats have to reverse their policy to make it labour-lite.
Whether released incrementally or not, it’s rather obvious if policy has been copied.
Moreover, if Labour were any slower in releasing policy, the election would be over.
Oh bollocks. The campaign period hasn’t even started yet. And it’s a shedload more obvious to say “we released that last week” rather than “well, if you refer to page 25 of the manifesto you might remember we launched in january…”
Even besides that, releasing policy all at once is a fucking stupid idea – each core sector of policy needs to be campaigned towards the people who value it most, and releasing policy all at once floods people who might be interested in more than one policy. So you release your otago bit of regional development policy while you’re visiting otago, you release your conservation policy talking to a bunch of conservationists at an event important to them, you release your small business policy to a chamber of commerce meeting, and you release your capital gains policy during a prison visit 😛
Thing is, all of these different policy announcements take time to schedule anyway. Your idea of just putting out a manifesto and being done with it is a fool’s errand.
Oh rubbish. A copy is a copy regardless of when it’s been released. Having it in the manifesto gives them the reference to prove it. So while it may not be fresh in voters minds, it’s easy enough to point to, thus making it obvious to the media and voters it’s been copied.
And just because it was released last week doesn’t mean National can’t copy it tomorrow.
I’m not suggesting they release all their policy at once. However, seeing as the election is only months away, holding off put’s them in the position you’ve just decried. Overwhelming voters with a large policy dump just before the election.
Dude, it’s advertising. It works best when it’s fresh. It works best when it’s already in their minds, rather than having to point them to it.
I’m not saying release it all in one week – they’re doing it about right. Decent announcements every couple of weeks, and I expect that frequency to increase as the election approaches.
Pointing it out to them will freshly put it back into voters minds.
Whenever policy is released the media generally seek out the opposition’s take on it, thus giving Labour the opportunity to replant it.
The problem is, Labour aren’t making policy announcements every couple of weeks, they’ve only got around 10 announced policies listed on their website.
Amongst other things, a number of people I know are concerned about Labour’s compulsory KiwiSaver and their variable savings rate, yet with the election only months away Labour has done nothing to appease this concern. Voters are still unsure if it’s being dropped or not?
Whatever dude.
All your “concerned” acquaintances have to do is wait.
Unfortunately, it seems we will have to wait. But considering the major change Labour was proposing and the unsettling impact it had on a number of voters, it’s surprising Labour didn’t pick up on it and put the concern to rest. As they did with lifting the retirement age.
A number were taken back by the fact Labour were going to hand control of the variable saving rate to the Reserve Bank and were concerned about the uncertainty the variable savings rate posed. Which, with no ceiling (as they last proposed) could potentially hit low income earners hard.
“a number”. Lol.
Anyway I’m guessing that one will quietly disappear
And here’s the govt doing exactly what people have been saying – gazumping Labour on immigration policy because they can: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11840831
Labour doesn’t have an immigration policy, how do you gazump something that doesn’t exist?
Whats Nationals policy on immigration?
https://www.immigration.govt.nz
Are you now suggesting that the national party are so lazy, that they will let unknown bureaucrats write policy for them??!?
Labour has been talking about immigration in media in recent days. Not everything needs to be written in a manifesto, comrade.
Talking about immigration is not policy.
Once I see it in the announced policies section of the Labour website I’ll consider it Labour policy until then it’s just a few thoughts which may/may not be acted upon.
Exactly.
And people have explained to you why it’s not written there yet.
Yes, and their argument doesn’t stack up.
Labour have been touting this old line (keeping their powder dry) for years.
Is it any wonder they’re trailing in the polls? How can one say they are going to vote Labour when one doesn’t know what their policies are?
A number of voters don’t trust Labour, and they trust them even less when they don’t know what their policies are.
Yes, Labour have been talking about it and they announced they are not prepared to place a cap on immigration while also calling for “a bit of a breather”, thus it looks like they are trying to have a quid each way.
Voters require to know their policy position, rhetoric means little.
What will this bit of a breather mean? How will it be achieved?
“Labour doesn’t have an immigration policy, how do you gazump something that doesn’t exist?”
Indeed.
Well, hopefully they’re talking about a moratorium of at least five years. That, IMO, would be the minimum needed to sort out some of the issues regarding housing and infrastructure.
It is highly unlikely Labour would put in place a moratorium. Their focus seems to be on reducing work visas. But without any policy in place, we don’t actually know.
Polls indicate a good number of voters want to reduce immigration, but as Labour are unwilling to put a cap in place, it seems they are once again on the wrong side of public opinion.
Someone experienced, thoughtful and successful with economic policies for the good of the country. Was on Radionz yesterday.
business economy
18 Apr 2017
“The financial system is designed the wrong way”
From Nine To Noon, 10:13 am on 18 April 2017
Listen duration 19′ :56″
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201840650
Lynn Freeman meets nobel laureate Muhammud Yunus, known around the world as the grandfather of social business and microfinance. He says entrepreneurship is in our dna, and the financial system doesn’t work to support those who want to start a business.
Professor Yunus founded the Grameen Bank in the 1970s, giving tiny loans of $30 or $40, often to poor, illiterate women. The bank has 9 million borrowers with a repayment rate of almost 100%.
Someone experienced, thoughtful and successful with economic policies for the good of the country. Was on Radionz yesterday.
business economy
18 Apr 2017
“The financial system is designed the wrong way”
From Nine To Noon, 10:13 am on 18 April 2017
Listen duration 19′ :56″
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201840650
Lynn Freeman meets Nobel Laureate Muhammud Yunus, known around the world as the grandfather of social business and microfinance. He says entrepreneurship is in our dna, and the financial system doesn’t work to support those who want to start a business.
Professor Yunus founded the Grameen Bank in the 1970s, giving tiny loans of $30 or $40, often to poor, illiterate women. The bank has 9 million borrowers with a repayment rate of almost 100%.
He spoke on April 10 in Auckland at AUT University.
Details:
https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2017/professor-muhammad-yunus-public-dialogue/auckland
The Aera Foundation is bringing the grandfather of social business and microfinance, Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, is visiting New Zealand for the first time. A groundbreaking social entrepreneur, economist, and global thinker, Professor Muhammad Yunus pioneered the concept of microcredit when he founded the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.
There is a link to the Aera Foundation if you want to learn more about them.
Ten green bottles hanging on the wall. If one green bottle should deliberately be stolen or fouled then …..
Listen duration 4′ :54″
Scientists say man made climate change has led to a river disappearing in Canada.
Radionz
housing
9:36 am today
Cohousing: the solution to a crisis?
From Nine To Noon, 9:36 am today
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201840650
Listen duration 13′ :56″
As policy makers puzzle over how to increase the supply of housing around the country a group of people in Dunedin think they’ve found a novel solution. The group are hoping to build New Zealand’s second ever co-housing community on the site of an old primary school in High Street. Kathryn Ryan talks to the head of the project, Catherine Spencer
Interesting stuff, thanks grey.
The audio player links don’t work for me, but this does http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201840791/cohousing-the-solution-to-a-crisis
Okay Maui
I think weka said that before and I didn’t know just what the story was? So the all encompassing link should do it then. I see if has a different identification number too. Thanks for HU.
Corrupt AF.
A Chilean billionaire whose company is behind a mine opposed by treaty tribes is renting a million-dollar home to the daughter of President Donald Trump.
Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, both work at the White House. They are in a position to influence the administration’s position on a mining development in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which falls within Ojibwe treaty territory in Minnesota, independent journalist Mary Annette Pember reported on Indian Country Media Network.
But the White House told The Wall Street Journal that the connection between the couple and mining magnate Andrónico Luksic is coincidence. He purchased the $5.5 million mansion in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C., after the November election and agreed to rent it to Trump and Kushner for $15,500 a month, the paper reported.
“That’s a terrible investment,” Joshua Adler, who owns multiple properties in the wealthy neighborhood, told The Journal. He said the Trump-Kushner family is “getting use of a $5.5 million home for far less than it normally costs to have a home of that value.”
The Obama administration put a halt to the Twin Metals mine development in December, citing threats to the environment. Luksic’s firm is suing the federal government in hopes of overturning the decision.
https://www.indianz.com/News/2017/04/18/foreign-billionaire-behind-mine-opposed.asp
https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/politics/trump-kushner-townhouse-deal-magnate/
666 5th avenue
nope, not corrupt. not beholden to big money. self funded. not crooked. not! Nope, nopety nope!
Since Chicken announced “No New Taxes” No qualification was given. No Ifs and no buts. National have now brought in Pay Equity that will cost $2,000,000,000 and will have further ramifications in the public and private sector. The budget will also bring new spending in Health and Education as always. Without increased taxes or borrowing I cannot understand how Chicken could keep such a pledge. Stephen Joyce will flatten Robbo’s unbelievable figures in the campaign. Why are Labour committed to NO new Taxes.
link pls because I think you’re lying.
I think what Little actually said was
and We are not planning on any tax changes for the 2017 election. We will finely calibrate what we do once we see what the Government does in its foreshadowed tax changes, which we assume will be in this year’s budget, but who knows?
So, no changes planned, based on current situation and contingent on what the budget is this year, which doevetails nicely with the fact that Labour said around the same time that it was going to review and possibly completely overhaul the tax system when it gets elected. So hardly “no new taxes”, you lying piece of crapulence.
So are you saying that there will be huge tax increases under a Labour government
No, I’m saying you lied when you said “Chicken announced “No New Taxes” No qualification was given”. Put up or shut up, fuckball.
charming, winning kudos for the left again
Well, when all you have to defend an outright lie is a tone argument, you can fuck off, too.
I’ve never understood the mentality that is content to receive a tax cut while children go to hospital with third world conditions but blushes whenever someone says a rude word.
It’s cause they’re thick bullshitting pricks!
+100
You ought to be polite when the RWNJ’s kill the vulnerable with their inhuman policies. /sarc
We’re not planning on raising taxes is the same as No New Taxes which is of course a lie.
Like. “We will not raise GST”. Eh!e
No it’s not you liar.
Not Planning To means that, due to circumstances such as National lying about the state of the economy, plans can change.
No New Taxes means that, even if circumstances are dire, they won’t add any new taxes.
But you already knew that because it’s been explained to you several times.
No they’re not the same, and besides “We will finely calibrate what we do once we see what the Government does in its foreshadowed tax changes, which we assume will be in this year’s budget, but who knows?” is an absolutely explicit qualification.
You’re a lying piece of shit who owes Labour and Little an apology. Frankly, you owe humanity an apology for giving us all a bad rap.
The great ‘living within our means’ con: Why you’re more in debt than ever
Governments have always set the rules where money is concerned. The greatest lie ever sold is that the Australian Government can run out of Australian dollars.
Thing ism there is a necessity to live within our means but it’s the limited physical resources that need to be saved and reused. Money is nothing and is always created ex nihilo.
Your daily laugh? Think of our two main political parties. I wish they would put an effort into competing like these two – from a long ago time.
Anything you can do i can do better.
lol forgot I’d restarted my machine. Replies in moderation. One day I”ll learn…
Stop fiddling around with your IP address, hacker!
lol I should probably shift to a tor browser in these interesting times
This has been building for a while now, but there are stories appearing daily like this and not just in the Daily Mail:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4423238/New-Met-chief-Dick-says-diversity-heart-role.html
I notice that Paula Bennett and Judith Collins love to push these sorts of stories.
Personally I don’t care whether it is a lesbian or a heterosexual who is hitting me with a truncheon, I just don’t want to be beaten thanks.
Equality is when there is both a boot and a high heel in your face?
Also, on the Spinoff…. an article claiming that the National Party is Feminist – that even Bill English is.
I have long suspected that there is a campaign by Mi6 and others to push “diversity” and feminism for selfish anterior reasons. But it is more likely a cultural trend being pushed by those that benefit from it. Bennett etc push it because they are women, so essentially as a backhand compliment.
Nobody is going to object, because they will be pegged (no pun intended) as a male threatened with emasculation. But strategically it is quite clever. Take the left’s ground, or what’s left of it: few argue for the other once-were-precepts of the left.
If National succeeds, along wither the Police and other authorities, what reason might people have to vote Labour or the Greens, parties whose vocal membership often focuses mostly on gender and “diversity” issues.
I would love to think that all sectors of society of all political persuasion internalize feminist principles. Perhaps this cultural shift – or the tail end of it, now all the hard battles are won and it is easy to stand up like some kind of hero without being knocked down – will force the left to focus on other things, such as human welfare more generally and economic inequality? I hope. Thoughts?
I agree Peggy, sideshows have diluted Labour’s message and appeal. Yet the message is as pure and simple as it always has been ‘A fair go for everyone’ but is getting lost in the translation. Fragmented points of difference with the competition and narrow concern pet issues push the lure of ‘all encompassing’ aside.
I feel it has much to do with why the guy with 2 ladders on the roof of his van doesn’t vote Labour anymore.
He can won back, he needs to believe that Labour do indeed represent ‘A fair go for everyone. Houses for all of those prepared to make a realistic sacrifice rather than personal wealth generating machines. A new hip for his Mum prior to his attending her funeral.
I feel that the fair go for each and every one of us message is Labour’s ace card, always has been, it needs tabling, in spades.