Further evidence of a society in disarray.
The selfish neo-liberal approach is damaging the social structure.
Don’t expect the Herald to make the link between an economic system and such consequences, though.
However the Spirit Level has the research to prove it.
‘New research has found that New Zealanders are losing touch with their neighbours – and it’s affecting our wellbeing.
In the recently released results of the Sovereign Wellness Index, New Zealand trailed behind other countries when it came social connections and community, with our neighbourly relations particularly lacking.
“We came last when compared to 29 European countries that deployed the same survey, which is not only a disappointing result but, when compared to the first Sovereign Wellbeing Index in 2013, it shows no improvement,” said Grant Schofield professor of public health at AUT University, who led the research.’
I’ve been watching “Someone else’s country” again. In a general way you see the machinery at work during the 80’s/90’s that began to transform our society from a collective and cohesive one to a self serving and socially isolating one.
It’s certainly not in our imaginations that this transition occurred. The theorist, Uri Bronfenbrenner, who studied Human Development came up with his well known Ecological Theory to illustrate the impact of systems, including political systems upon the development of the individual. The political system exists within the Chronosystem. See handy chart below:
On the development where I live it’s all too easy to see the effect of community cohesion break down. It’s on the outer perimeter of existing suburbs, people are reliant of cars despite a good bus service, and very few residents have put any effort into creating gardens in the neighbourhood. There appears to be no connection to nature or one another.
To try and combat this sense of alienation I joined neighbourly.co.nz in an attempt to get people talking and break the ice. (The founder of that website is quoted in the Herald article) Twice I advertised an an afternoon tea at our place to discuss community resilience and response during an emergency, to be hosted by my husband whose a civil defence volunteer. Not one response from the 100+ members on the site. Twice I advertised an all ages kite flying day, a get to know your neighbours thing and once again, not one response.
It’s really quite depressing living here, but it’s what you do when you can’t afford to live in the established neighbourhoods closer to town.
Interestingly it’s those neighbourhoods that appear to be going from strength to strength with their efforts to improve social cohesion. There are many reports in the local papers about all the events they put on and their community building activities.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see more fracturing of social cohesion as we continue to sprawl out into former farmlands and as we move further away from our formerly collective and caring society. It can’t be denied that this is political in its origin.
The dismantling of the “awards” system for purposes of workplace bargaining along with disestablishing compulsory unionism should not be underestimated as to why there is less social cohesion in NZ society today. We have been forced into believing the neo liberal framing of the narrative that individual responsibility is saintly and collectivism & the concept of team work only works when it is controlled by the privileged and powerful for the benefits of capital.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a link existed between the politically motivated promotion of individualism in the workplace, the loss of widespread Union membership and diminishing social cohesion. – solidarity and collective strength is something that spreads beyond the walls of the workplace and into people’s consciousness.
You lose those bonds and surely that weakens the community as a whole. Think of the lock outs and strikes of the pre 1990 ECA era and how neighbours and sometimes local businesses rallied around to support the workers.
There are many contributing factors though and we are a long way now, from where we used to be.
The problem with the mass developments, like the one I live on, is often they’re out of sight out of mind, they’re new and not part of the culture of the region or city and all the more isolated because of it. It’s made worse by the fact that they often don’t have any amenities (shops etc) and no recreational facilities so there is no gathering place, something once so crucial to human socialising.
Thanks Rosie, I think you are 100% correct. I recall attending union meetings where the topic of conversation wasn’t solely focused on pay & conditions. Large work places were especially fertile ground for wider social issue type conversations. Where else could a large group of working people come together and share their thoughts and points of view on topics as diverse as social welfare benefits ( for freezing workers whose work was seasonal this was important – still is -) or the Vietnam war ( the recent deployment of troops to the Middle East makes that conversation as meaningful today as it was back in the 60’s & 70’s ).
The white apartheid regime in South Africa, especially when the All Blacks were due to tour was a hot topic that divided loyalties but raised consciousness levels of the many who supported tours, albeit begrudgingly and often with the exchange of more than a few words!
Of course it wasn’t all beer & skittles. People were shouted down. The loudest voice was sometimes the only one heard, while others were handier with their tongues then their mitts. But it was all part of the growing pains of a new and growing nation – we still are -.
I sympathise with what you are having to endure and as social animals we deserve better.
I should probably make it clear that when I speak of pre 1990 ECA era workplaces I speak not from experience but from learning from doco’s and sitting and listening to the fascinating stories of older Union activists.
You echo what my friend told me of his experiences in a large workplace where people sat in the canteen and discussed the Springbok tour. He was deeply involved in the anti tour movement and discussions got very lively, there was some aggro but on the whole, people did get to learn and came round to understanding why he did what he did, even if they didn’t always support him.
As for the ECA, I had been in the work force only two years before the ECA was introduced and the changes were horrendous. Our pay was dropped as we lost our penal rates and we had to work 6 days instead of 5 just to make up for the loss in wages. Retailers got to exploit the new law and it made it cheaper for them to keep shops open for longer. Thats were our long opening hours in retail came from, the ECA of 1990.
Bastards. Thats what woke me up. After that I started paying attention to what politicians do and what we can do to stop them.
‘Farmers seeking staff for the new milking season risk being named and shamed on social media if the money being offered in their job advertisement is below the minimum wage.
Outgoing Waikato Federated farmers dairy chairman Craig Littin revealed that trade unions were picking apart farm jobs placed on Fonterra’s Farm Source website.
Littin told farmers at the group’s annual meeting that unions were doing simple calculations around listed salary, hours worked and days off and posting them on social media.’
Helen Kelly has been doing that for months. Some of the jobs she highlights are atrocious. It highlights how NZ is becoming a low wage, high hours economy.
New Zealand’s ‘rock star economy’ is growing slower.
‘New Zealand’s recent economic growth is actually lower in the last two years than it has averaged over the last 20, despite being hailed as a “rock star economy”.
Quarterly growth figures show the economy grew on average 2.8 per cent between 1995 and 2014, slightly more than the 2.6 per cent it averaged in 2013-14.’
Yes… but at the same time not so subtly putting the knife into Little for shying away from CGT as it was seen as a vote shedder. Labour was on the right track, but really failed to deliver a clear and concise CGT policy that was not easily picked apart, with some artistic scaremongering, by the Nats.
@ Ben
Yes I thought that too. Why should the Hairy offer positives about Cunliffe? Just a way to pour a little salt and water into any crack they might find in Labour skin.
Not sure that Labour has ditched the CGT. Didn’t they just comment that it was the wrong time and not well presented to the electorate at that time. Now on the back burner.
CGT is one of the many previous policies Labour has under review – whether it gets picked up again is still debatable – there may well be other ways of dealing with property speculation eg removing tax benefits like property losses against other income.
Hi ianmac, I don’t think it was a case of being badly presented, but the political climate that still existed prior to the election made it the wrong time. To my way of thinking David Parker did a very good job of presenting it, but he was up against a well resourced and hostile political machine that successfully convinced the public they were going to “lose lots of money” when they sold their houses.
I hope Labour has finally learned the lesson that a little bit of pre-election subterfuge is inevitable if you want to get into power and make a real difference for everyone and not just a chosen few.
In an ideal world, none of this would be necessary…
Notes for Labour Party handlers #2:
“Phrases of a negative tone that have as the subject, “things that aren’t big”, should never leave the leader’s mouth. Instead, try positive expositions on how things that are not big often become important, and are necessary to success.”
I am disappointed that there is not more coverage of this and more dissembling of the way National frame moderate CPI-based increases in funding to essential services as ‘propping up’.
No such concern at ‘propping up’ yachties or aluminium smelters owned by wealthy overseas companies.
But to her credit MS Tolley has not checked the bloodlines which no Minister of the Crown would do. (Sarc)
Mihi is pretty good in a quiet understated way.
Luxon from Airnz on line with Radionz at 9.35am. He is one of those fast speakers who don’t sound as if there is room for thought between sentences! Comes up with a block of words that provide an explanation as to why they are doing okay as they are.
He is being questioned about their attitude to the provincial services and lack of co-operation. Highly complex systems are needed by the replacement regional services with IT etc.
Seems to be good at batting away suggestions. At a fast pace.
Auckland councillor Penny Webster is alarmed that some controls should be put on dairies selling sugar laden food. …the suggestions were “totally overboard” and she would oppose them if they were put before the council.
Sour woman, don’t know what her spiel to get into Council was. It couldn’t have been to help the people with planning and action to have a healthy and happy community.
The idea is to act with plans to lobby for changes to the Resource Management Act to give councils the power to stop new dairies, convenience stores and takeaways being built, in the same way they can for alcohol outlets.
Sounds a good idea. Talk about supermarkets and garages also being lolly outlets is just a smokescreen, and a strawman argument. The dairies are local, common and easily accessed. Way back, on my way to Sunday School, I would spend my collection money on chocolate fish, so know about the sweet temptation! Also I have had a dairy and being near a school is being near a good customer source for sales, and also on the downside, for shop stealing.
Retail industry lobbies and spokespeople for dairy owners, often Indian, need to step back or else they will be viewed negatively. They already are seen often running liquor stores in poor areas, and making a living from selling goods with a health-destroying effect will not give them mana in the community, quite the opposite.
During the apartheid era various performers disgraced themselves by playing at Sun City.
Today, Israel offers a lucrative market for various musicians. Some people just play there and take the blood money; some declare their love for the repressive racist state and complain how it is misunderstood. The latest ratbag in this category is the airhead Lady Gaga.
Meanwhile Roger Waters, ex of Pink Floyd, maintains his integrity, calling on artists to turn down offers to play there.
Ron Why don’t you just say that you do like Israelis, no matter what nasty people say about them – like running over protesters with a bulldozer. Using massive force against puny protests etc. But perhaps you are amoral as they have chosen to be.
Well I do like Israelis, I have not meet any that I dislike. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for some of people of other countries that I have met.
Better put me on the list
Don’t like the Israeli government or their policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and lethal use of heavy military weapons on civilians. That’s quite different to “not liking Israelis.”
Israeli Apologist Vs Pro-Palestinian Celebs and near-Celebs (a little list I’ve been compiling)
(one or two, as you’ll see, are now deceased)
In no particular order
Israel Cheerleaders (includes everything from extensive outspoken support for Israel to explicit opposition to BDS to signing pro-Israeli petitions/advertisements – usually as PR exercises during one of Israel’s regular massacres in Gaza, the West Bank or Lebanon)
Serena Williams (US tennis champ)
Ellen DeGeneres (US comedian/talkshow host)
Samuel L Jackson (US actor)
Scarlett Johansson (US actress/model)
Lady Gaga (US musician)
Simon Cowell (UK record/tv producer/prominent Tory supporter)
Vanessa Williams (US singer/actress)
Howard Stern (US radio personality)
Sylvester Stallone (US actor)
Nicole Kidman (Aussie actress)
Dennis Hopper (US actor/prominent Republican)
Bruce Willis (US actor/Republican)
Danny De Vito and Rhea Perleman (US actors/couple)
Don Johnson (US actor)
James Wood (US actor/prominent Republican)
Charlie Daniels (US Country Music)
Bill Maher (US comedian/talkshow host)
Dionne Warwick (US singer)
Ashton Kutcher (talentless US actor)
Jesse Eisenberg (US actor)
Joan Rivers (US comedian)
Jon Voight (US actor/prominent Republican)
Mayim Bialik (US actress)
Justin Timberlake (UK singer)
Mark Pellegrino (US actor – Lost/Dexter)
Robert De Niro (US actor)
Kelly Preston (US actress)
William Hurt (US actor)
Danny Schuler (US musician – Biohazard)
Jackie Mason (US comedian)
Gene Simmons (remarkably talentless US musician)
Ridley Scott (US Director)
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones (US/UK actors/’power couple’)
Dick Donner (US Director)
Tony Scott (US Director)
Michael Mann (US Director)
Elton John (UK singer/drama queen)
Patricia Heaton (US actress)
Barbra Streisand (US actress/singer)
Gal Gadot (US actress)
Adam Baldwin (US actor)
Madonna (US singer)
Adam Sandler (talentless US actor/comedian)
Arnold Schwarzenegger (over-the-top US/Austrian actor/politician)
John Lydon (UK musician – Sex Pistols)
Chuck Norris (US actor)
Maureen Lipman (UK actress)
Sympathy for Palestinians/Gaza/BDS and explicit criticism of Israel
Nelson Mandela
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Naomi Wolf (US author/political consultant)
Danny Glover (US actor)
Alice Walker (US writer/poet)
Roger Waters (UK musician – Pink Floyd)
Rihanna (US/Barbadian singer)
Alan Rickman (UK actor)
Mia Farrow (US actress)
Brian Eno (UK musician/producer/prominent LibDem)
Anthony Bourdain (US celebrity chef)
Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz (Spanish actors/’power couple’)
Rob Schneider (US actor/comedian)
Rosie O’Donnell (US actress/talkshow host)
John Cusack (US actor)
Selena Gomez (US actress/singer)
Stephen Hawking (UK leading Physicist)
Peter Gabriel (UK musician)
Bryan Adams (Canadian Singer)
Bobby Gillespie (Scots musician – Primal Scream)
William Dalrymple (UK journalist/historian)
David Morrissey (UK actor)
Maxine Peake (UK actress)
Alexei Sayle (UK comedian)
Mario Balotelli (Italian/Ghanaian Football player)
Whoopi Goldberg (US comedian/actress)
Dwight Howard (US NBA Basketballer)
Talib Kweli (US Hip Hop artist)
Joey Barton (UK Football)
Eddie Vedder (US singer – Pearl Jam)
Jarvis Cocker (UK musician – Pulp)
Sinead O’Connor (Irish singer/musician)
Zayn Malik (UK Boy Band singer)
Mark Ruffalo (US actor)
John Stewart (US – The Daily Show)
Wallace Shawn (US actor/playwright)
Jonathan Demme (US director)
Emma Thompson (UK actress)
Elvis Costello (UK musician)
Bella Freud (UK fashion designer)
Ken Loach (UK director/filmmaker)
Robert del Naja (UK musician – Massive Attack)
Jemima Khan (UK journalist/activist)
Will Self (UK writer)
Pedro Almodovar (Spanish director)
Hanif Kureishi (UK playwright/filmmaker)
Esther Freud (UK novelist)
Laura Bailey (UK actress)
Jeremy Hardy (UK comedian)
David Randall (UK music producer)
Boots Riley (US rapper/arts producer)
Chris Hedges (US journalist)
Kool A.D/Victor Vazquez (US musician)
Michael Ondaatje (Canadian writer)
Mike Leigh (UK writer/director)
Vanessa Redgrave (UK actress)
Christiano Ronaldo (Portuguese Football legend)
Lupe Fiasco (US Hip Hop)
Michael Radford (UK director/screenwriter)
Amare Stondemire (US NBA Basketballer)
Gianluigi Buffon (Italian footballer – Goalkeeper)
Dustin Hoffman (US actor)
Cynthia Nixon (US actress – Sex in the City)
Stephen Fry (UK actor/comedian)
Miriam Margolyes (UK actress)
Harold Pinter (UK playwright legend)
Jimmy McGovern (UK screenwriter)
Zoe Wanamaker (UK actress)
Jenny Diski (UK author)
Ben Elton (UK writer/comedian)
Susan Wooldridge (UK actress)
Patrick Neville (UK actor)
Tom Adams (US musician)
Andy de la Tour (UK actor/writer)
Mike Hodges (UK director/screenwriter)
Earl Okin (UK musician/comedian)
Hayley Carmichael (UK actress)
Reem Kelani (UK musician)
David Calder (UK actor)
Norma Cohen (UK actress)
Somaye Zadeh (UK singer/musician)
Pablo Navarette (director/producer)
Chris Thomas (UK director)
Laurie Penny (UK journalist)
Mark Thomas (UK comedian)
Kate Tempest (UK musician)
Robert Wyatt (UK musician)
Yeah, well I guess the SNP has, in its own way, become a kind of “celeb or near-celeb” since the Referendum/May Election. 🙂
That’s a pretty refreshing stance, akin to the position adopted by various Nordic Left-Socialist parties (and, to some extent, Germany’s Die Linke).
Starkly contrasting with Britain’s two major parties with their powerful Friends of Israel lobbies (although, it seems Labour started to make some – admittedly tentative and half-hearted – moves away from knee-jerk Israeli support under Ed Miliband – enough to upset Zionist erstwhile-Labour-supporters like Maureen Lipman).
That’s amazing list Swordfish. Whaleoil for NZ and there is a new company starting up. They have very fresh ideas in business in Israel, very go-ahead, eating and living for two states I suppose has that effect.
Without going through the list with a fine tooth comb but Dennis Hoppers been dead 5 years and Joan Rivers passed away last year I’d suggest your lists are a bit out of date
There is a Neolib view in New Zealand that restricting the DPB stops teenage pregnancies ( see Post comments by Andrew on Miteria Turei’s May guest blog on the ‘Daily Blog’)
This is counter to the international prevailing view that looks at other social issues such as young female wellbeing and rights ….contraception, supportive family , education and employment independence opportunities etc…better to address these issues than chauvinist female victim blaming and making children of the poor even more disadvantaged
“In developed countries, teenage pregnancies are often associated with social issues, including lower educational levels, higher rates of poverty, and other poorer life outcomes in children of teenage mothers. Teenage pregnancy in developed countries is usually outside of marriage, and carries a social stigma in many communities and cultures.[8] By contrast, teenage parents in developing countries are often married, and their pregnancies welcomed by family and society. However, in these societies, early pregnancy may combine with malnutrition and poor health care to cause medical problems.
Teenage pregnancies appear to be preventable by comprehensive sex education and access to birth control.[9] Abstinence-only sex education does not appear to be effective.[10]”
In countries where women have equality of opportunity and good contraception options they do not choose to have teenage pregnancies…this is a feminist issue , a human rights issue and also an overpopulation issue
“There is a Neolib view in New Zealand that restricting the DPB stops teenage pregnancies..”
Even if it did, it would be no justification for making children and their parents suffer financial and material hardship. But since ‘the left’ (I’m using that term loosely) has ceded the debate on just about every fucking thing these days, we ain’t going to hear how it’s simply decent for society to support those most in need of support as much as possible.
Vodafone is bad, but Spark is worse 😉 I stick with vodafone because the call centre is better. That I have to call the call centre that much to be able to tell is an indictment of the whole telecommunications industry in NZ.
More like Banksie’s wife got some mates to make up some extra evidence. If you have enough money, you can buy just about anything these days – well, unless the US government is after you.
NOW?
Pity all those gullible leftists who let their bullshit detecting faculties get completely disarmed by the hope that KDC might be able to do some real damage to JK didn’t realise that THEN.
Too late now. Three more years….
Just hope those of you who got taken for absolute dummies will remember this case next time you get tempted by a false messiah pandering to your ‘obsession with JK’ weak point.
So you were the mug who bought it were you?
Now you realise that you were stupid to do so you are trying to palm it off on some other sucker. I doubt you will find anyone though who is quite as credulous as you were though.
Cue a post and one thousand comment thread about judicial corruption. What with centre-right governments being elected around the world the left can’t take a trick at the moment.
John Banks gets off, wipes egg from face, and denies it was ever there. Proceeds to fowlhouse for further feathered foolhardy, furtive and futile fandangos.
Todays the private sector can’t do it better than a collective comment.
Have a wee look at the phone book. I know you probably don’t – but at work yesterday we lost the internet – and, well, we tried using a phone book. It became a nightmare of epic proportions.
Try finding a government department – or anything which is community based. Ministry of health. And you local community centre.
Now that has probably frustrated you no end – think back before a private company got hold of it and it was privatised.
Just heard john key reiterate that there is no housing crisis in Auckland, and Andrew Little say there is one.
Why then has no one asked john Key what symptoms would be present in his opinion he would see for him to acknowledge that there is a crisis.
What is IOM – Part of United Nations Alliance of Civilisations http://www.unaoc.org/ibis/about/who-we-are-international-organization-for-migrations/ The IOM believes about half a dozen boats remain at sea, some close to shore. Mr. Lowry likened the search for the vessels that are further out to “looking for specific needles in a giant haystack,” and says a much greater search and rescue effort from the region’s governments is needed.
Food has been dropped to some by Thai helicopter. Indonesia is also offering help.
What is New Zealand doing to help its trading partner and Pacific neighbour Indenesia.
Two days ago – http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/15/asia/thailand-malaysia-rohingya-refugees/
The Thai govt is cracking down on smugglers. This boat had called into Malaysia which had provided water and food and sent it off. It broke down off Thailand, but after the engine was fixed, and food and water given it went back to Malaysia. An observer says it is like a game of ping-pong. And many boats have been abandoned by the smugglers because they have not been able to offload their passengers and are afraid for their own safety.
We need to help these truly helpless If not – The shame is on all of us. The USA military budget is $600 billion, Australian $32 B. The matter is widely reported by media from wealthy nations.
I did a google search –
What aid offered to Myanmar boat people by Red Cross
Red Cross have nothing up about these people, last is Nepal.
Then World Vision below
Then Oxfam – they have been working in Myanmar, but the boats no.
World Vision – a summary of the problemMyanmar’s Rohingya minority adrift with little aid
As many as 120,000 members of the Rohingya ethnic and religious group have fled Myanmar and Bangladesh by sea in the past three years. Now, about 8,000 of them are stranded in boats in the Andaman sea, having been abandoned by their traffickers as a result of crackdowns on international trafficking. Boatloads of Rohingya that have been left adrift without food and water are now being turned away by Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian authorities. About 1.3 million Rohingya have lived for generations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, but are not counted among its citizens. The Rohingya have long suffered displacement, abuse, and extreme poverty.
Google headings – The Guardian –
Burma’s boatpeople ‘faced choice of annihilation
also
5 days ago – With up to 8000 desperate people – Rohingya Muslims from Burma and … leaving an estimated 6,000 refugees to fend for themselves, according to reliable aid .
USNews –
500 people on a boat found Wednesday off northern Penang state were given …
Yahoo –
Southeast Asia for years tried to quietly ignore the plight of Myanmar’s 1.3 million …
independent.co.uk –
Southeast Asia for years tried to quietly ignore the plight of Myanmar’s 1.3 million …
phuketwan –
Nations Must Speedily Aid Desperate Boatpeople, Says Rights Group … to work together to rescue these desperate people and offer them humanitarian aid, help in … ”The world will judge these governments by how they treat these most …
msn news –
4 days ago – More than 1,600 migrants and refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh have…
trust –
Jeffrey Savage, who works for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees … boats for the next 20 days and given only small amounts of food and water.
jakartapost –
Australia’s slashing of foreign aid by almost Aus$1.0 billion (US$800 million) will hurt the most .
thedailybeast –
4 days ago – BANGKOK—As boatloads of stateless Rohingya people and other migrants drift off the … 8,000 boat people seeking to land somewhere—anywhere—as they struggle with a ..
Rohingya Blogger http://www.rohingyablogger.com/
6 hours ago – The price of living in a world of rules and norms widely shared is that you do not get … Malaysia prodded Myanmar on Sunday to halt the exodus from its shores as ..
Can AsEAN help in its own territory? NON-INTERVENTION PRINCIPLE
At the core of ASEAN’s inaction is its principle of non-interference in internal political affairs of its member states, observers said.
“There is a lot of sensitivity, a lot of prejudices and a lot of mutual suspicion that make it difficult for any entity to do something about this situation,” Surin said.
The U.N. has said the deadly pattern of migration across the Bay of Bengal would continue unless Myanmar ends discrimination against the Rohingya.
Most of Myanmar’s 1.1 million Rohingya are stateless and live in apartheid-like conditions. Almost 140,000 were displaced in clashes with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in 2012.
Is the UN going to wait till talks on May 29 which Myanmar says it will not attend if the word Rohingya is mentioned! Can people live on air and hope? Is this a time to put aside regional thoughts and make it an all-world crisis and do the blaming and reproaching later!!
Recent http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2015/05/18/indonesias-boat-people-the-numbers/
After this is over it might be that we should look at helping Muslim Aid as a counter to so much of the destruction and violence that they are suffering. It might help in the healing that hopefully would come soon. Muslim Aid
The USA military budget is $600 billion, Australian $32 B.
This is a statement from somebody who doesn’t understand economics. Economics isn’t about money but about resources and we’re running out of them.
There’s also the point that, no matter how much money was spent on militaries around the world, almost none of those resources would help the people on the boats even if they hadn’t left their homeland. You cannot eat or drink steel.
You can’t say that if we just spent the money here rather than there and everything will be fixed because of the difference between what resources are being used and what resources are needed to bring about the change you desire.
What are you on about DTB. You’re making an argument out of a mud pie.
If countries can afford to spend on war to that extent then they can find the machinmery to fly or sail to help those people. They can find a bit in a corner of their extensive budgets to pay for water food and humanitarian aid. Don’t make a blockbuster drama out of a very simple premise.
Stop being so objective too, when people are hurting. They don’t want your considered opinion on the cost benefit of helping them, or care whether you care or not, just as long as you don’t stop other people from paying attnetion to their plight which was what my bloody comment was about.
I’ve taken the leap and joined twitter. So if you really, really need to know two minutes ahead of time that I’m about to put up a post, this is the place for you:
Any PR/media consultants/publicists with the inside goss to share are welcome to send it to me as well. No promises that it’ll make it into the Standard though; my bullshit detector is finely tuned.
Labour Party in England is repeating the exact same mistake as in the last leader selection: only Oxbridge graduates who subsequently became “Special Advisers” are entered into the race.
Andy Burnham: English, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.
Yvette Cooper: PPE, Balliol College, Oxford.
Mary Creagh:Languages, Pembroke College, Oxford.
Liz Kendall: History, Queen’s College, Cambridge.
Tristram Julian William Hunt: History, Trinity College, Cambridge.
As long as they continue to draw from this small clique they will continue to be loosers.
In contract the SNP intake is remarkably representative of broad society.
Pretty much the same issue here. Caused in no small part by the destruction of the trade union movement and Labours natural leaders. Of course Andrew Little at least has a union background and a strong understanding of workers issues. Unfortunately the union movement in this country is predominantly led by academics and they are appointed rather than elected, albeit they are in all probability good people with sound humanitarian values, but I would doubt that any of them would have ever lined up in the dole queue waiting to see their case officer or boned a quarter of beef or sweated over a cheese vat or polished a lino floor 40 hours a week.
With respect I think you’d find that many people with academic qualifications, especially older ones have in their student days.done the sorts of jobs that you mention.
and your point is? Roger Douglas was a pig farmer once.
I wasn’t trying to be disingenuous as I think their hearts and intentions are noble and some of them could have (had) high paying positions utilising their qualifications in other vocations.
But I wonder if they have the passion, understanding and desire to lead those who perform those jobs their entire working lives? Douglas didn’t.
Oh well I hope I’m wrong.
My point about Oxbridge, SPADs and the small elite which had control of the English Labour Party.
There are 109 universities in the current UK. There is an additional 133 Higher Education Institutes that don’t use the term university. The great prosperity bestowed (another story) on “Oxbridge” was and is marvellous. I don’t begrudge them their history and their current standing as two great places of learning, research and thought leadership.
When the five contestants for Labour leadership in 2010 and the five in 2015 all come from a tiny section of society there is a systemic problem.
No argument from me Northsider. I’m with you on this one.
My 25.1.1.2 was a response to 25.1.1.
Seems to me that Labour here and the UK need a broader mix of people standing for public office and a reconnection with communities and their real needs. Ain’t necessarily enough to simply ask about & attempt to resolve there issues, but more about having as their representatives those people themselves. Not really convinced that Grant is capable of representing the financial views of labour simply because he picked a few apples during the summer break.
I’ve no issue with an individual Oxbridge grad and spad becoming a Labour MP. I’ve no issue with an individual rolling down the hill from Victoria to a back office role in a political office and then onto becoming an MP.
When a powerful group at HQ all have the same career profile then there is a systemic problem. Robertson, Ardern, Faafoi in Labour and many in the Nats have these narrow profiles.
The public hear similar mechanical messaging styles.
The public turn off.
In the 1970s UK Labour had a third of its MPs come from labouring and manual work backgrounds, including a couple of dozen MPs who were former coal miners. The unions frequently sponsored workers from within their own ranks to run as candidates in electorates.
Today, Labour all around the world are professional middle class and upper middle class politicians: former student politicians, former Parliamentary staffers, former academics and policy wonks, PhDs and upper middle class professionals.
Labour thinks that it represents the best interests of almost all NZers; sadly only about one in five voters agreed.
When a powerful group at HQ all have the same career profile then there is a systemic problem. Robertson, Ardern, Faafoi in Labour and many in the Nats have these narrow profiles.
Yep. Hipkins. It’s a self perpetuating systemic issue with Labour now, as you infer.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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. ...
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Further evidence of a society in disarray.
The selfish neo-liberal approach is damaging the social structure.
Don’t expect the Herald to make the link between an economic system and such consequences, though.
However the Spirit Level has the research to prove it.
‘New research has found that New Zealanders are losing touch with their neighbours – and it’s affecting our wellbeing.
In the recently released results of the Sovereign Wellness Index, New Zealand trailed behind other countries when it came social connections and community, with our neighbourly relations particularly lacking.
“We came last when compared to 29 European countries that deployed the same survey, which is not only a disappointing result but, when compared to the first Sovereign Wellbeing Index in 2013, it shows no improvement,” said Grant Schofield professor of public health at AUT University, who led the research.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11450741
http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resources/spirit-level
I’ve been watching “Someone else’s country” again. In a general way you see the machinery at work during the 80’s/90’s that began to transform our society from a collective and cohesive one to a self serving and socially isolating one.
It’s certainly not in our imaginations that this transition occurred. The theorist, Uri Bronfenbrenner, who studied Human Development came up with his well known Ecological Theory to illustrate the impact of systems, including political systems upon the development of the individual. The political system exists within the Chronosystem. See handy chart below:
http://cicsworld.centerforics.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/02061.jpeg
On the development where I live it’s all too easy to see the effect of community cohesion break down. It’s on the outer perimeter of existing suburbs, people are reliant of cars despite a good bus service, and very few residents have put any effort into creating gardens in the neighbourhood. There appears to be no connection to nature or one another.
To try and combat this sense of alienation I joined neighbourly.co.nz in an attempt to get people talking and break the ice. (The founder of that website is quoted in the Herald article) Twice I advertised an an afternoon tea at our place to discuss community resilience and response during an emergency, to be hosted by my husband whose a civil defence volunteer. Not one response from the 100+ members on the site. Twice I advertised an all ages kite flying day, a get to know your neighbours thing and once again, not one response.
It’s really quite depressing living here, but it’s what you do when you can’t afford to live in the established neighbourhoods closer to town.
Interestingly it’s those neighbourhoods that appear to be going from strength to strength with their efforts to improve social cohesion. There are many reports in the local papers about all the events they put on and their community building activities.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see more fracturing of social cohesion as we continue to sprawl out into former farmlands and as we move further away from our formerly collective and caring society. It can’t be denied that this is political in its origin.
The dismantling of the “awards” system for purposes of workplace bargaining along with disestablishing compulsory unionism should not be underestimated as to why there is less social cohesion in NZ society today. We have been forced into believing the neo liberal framing of the narrative that individual responsibility is saintly and collectivism & the concept of team work only works when it is controlled by the privileged and powerful for the benefits of capital.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a link existed between the politically motivated promotion of individualism in the workplace, the loss of widespread Union membership and diminishing social cohesion. – solidarity and collective strength is something that spreads beyond the walls of the workplace and into people’s consciousness.
You lose those bonds and surely that weakens the community as a whole. Think of the lock outs and strikes of the pre 1990 ECA era and how neighbours and sometimes local businesses rallied around to support the workers.
There are many contributing factors though and we are a long way now, from where we used to be.
The problem with the mass developments, like the one I live on, is often they’re out of sight out of mind, they’re new and not part of the culture of the region or city and all the more isolated because of it. It’s made worse by the fact that they often don’t have any amenities (shops etc) and no recreational facilities so there is no gathering place, something once so crucial to human socialising.
Thanks Rosie, I think you are 100% correct. I recall attending union meetings where the topic of conversation wasn’t solely focused on pay & conditions. Large work places were especially fertile ground for wider social issue type conversations. Where else could a large group of working people come together and share their thoughts and points of view on topics as diverse as social welfare benefits ( for freezing workers whose work was seasonal this was important – still is -) or the Vietnam war ( the recent deployment of troops to the Middle East makes that conversation as meaningful today as it was back in the 60’s & 70’s ).
The white apartheid regime in South Africa, especially when the All Blacks were due to tour was a hot topic that divided loyalties but raised consciousness levels of the many who supported tours, albeit begrudgingly and often with the exchange of more than a few words!
Of course it wasn’t all beer & skittles. People were shouted down. The loudest voice was sometimes the only one heard, while others were handier with their tongues then their mitts. But it was all part of the growing pains of a new and growing nation – we still are -.
I sympathise with what you are having to endure and as social animals we deserve better.
I should probably make it clear that when I speak of pre 1990 ECA era workplaces I speak not from experience but from learning from doco’s and sitting and listening to the fascinating stories of older Union activists.
You echo what my friend told me of his experiences in a large workplace where people sat in the canteen and discussed the Springbok tour. He was deeply involved in the anti tour movement and discussions got very lively, there was some aggro but on the whole, people did get to learn and came round to understanding why he did what he did, even if they didn’t always support him.
As for the ECA, I had been in the work force only two years before the ECA was introduced and the changes were horrendous. Our pay was dropped as we lost our penal rates and we had to work 6 days instead of 5 just to make up for the loss in wages. Retailers got to exploit the new law and it made it cheaper for them to keep shops open for longer. Thats were our long opening hours in retail came from, the ECA of 1990.
Bastards. Thats what woke me up. After that I started paying attention to what politicians do and what we can do to stop them.
I’m quite sure we share different political beliefs Rosie, but can I just say I was quite moved by your story. Well spoken.
Thanks Jan
Stingy farmers named and shamed on social media.
‘Farmers seeking staff for the new milking season risk being named and shamed on social media if the money being offered in their job advertisement is below the minimum wage.
Outgoing Waikato Federated farmers dairy chairman Craig Littin revealed that trade unions were picking apart farm jobs placed on Fonterra’s Farm Source website.
Littin told farmers at the group’s annual meeting that unions were doing simple calculations around listed salary, hours worked and days off and posting them on social media.’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/68509128/stingy-farmers-named-and-shamed-on-social-media
Helen Kelly has been doing that for months. Some of the jobs she highlights are atrocious. It highlights how NZ is becoming a low wage, high hours economy.
telling headlines eh…stingy, not illegal, naming and shaming, not prosecution.
New Zealand’s ‘rock star economy’ is growing slower.
‘New Zealand’s recent economic growth is actually lower in the last two years than it has averaged over the last 20, despite being hailed as a “rock star economy”.
Quarterly growth figures show the economy grew on average 2.8 per cent between 1995 and 2014, slightly more than the 2.6 per cent it averaged in 2013-14.’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/68626049/new-zealands-rock-star-economy-is-growing-slower
So the Herald is now praising David Cunliffe’s CGT policies (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11450781).
I now look forward to it apologising to David for its Donghua Liu coverage (http://thestandard.org.nz/the-more-complete-donghua-liu-timeline/).
Yes… but at the same time not so subtly putting the knife into Little for shying away from CGT as it was seen as a vote shedder. Labour was on the right track, but really failed to deliver a clear and concise CGT policy that was not easily picked apart, with some artistic scaremongering, by the Nats.
@ Ben
Yes I thought that too. Why should the Hairy offer positives about Cunliffe? Just a way to pour a little salt and water into any crack they might find in Labour skin.
Not sure that Labour has ditched the CGT. Didn’t they just comment that it was the wrong time and not well presented to the electorate at that time. Now on the back burner.
CGT is one of the many previous policies Labour has under review – whether it gets picked up again is still debatable – there may well be other ways of dealing with property speculation eg removing tax benefits like property losses against other income.
Hi ianmac, I don’t think it was a case of being badly presented, but the political climate that still existed prior to the election made it the wrong time. To my way of thinking David Parker did a very good job of presenting it, but he was up against a well resourced and hostile political machine that successfully convinced the public they were going to “lose lots of money” when they sold their houses.
I hope Labour has finally learned the lesson that a little bit of pre-election subterfuge is inevitable if you want to get into power and make a real difference for everyone and not just a chosen few.
In an ideal world, none of this would be necessary…
Notes for Labour Party handlers #2:
“Phrases of a negative tone that have as the subject, “things that aren’t big”, should never leave the leader’s mouth. Instead, try positive expositions on how things that are not big often become important, and are necessary to success.”
yeah it’s the basics…
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/05/19/what-happens-if-there-is-another-example-of-key-pulling-a-womans-hair-in-a-workplace/
Hmmm? Possible that someone knows that there is? Indeed what then!
Very cryptic indeed. Sounds like there is another case of hair pulling waiting in the wings.
“He” behaves like those horrible boys in my day who liked pulling wings off butterflies and tipping baby birds out of their nests.
And in a Government department.. was this Roger Sutton’s ponytail?
Bradbury shouldn’t play games with this (as evidenced by his readers comments who either make jokes or say nothing will happen).
This story highlights the effects of a funding freeze on services.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/273983/govt-won't-'prop-up'-counselling-service
I am disappointed that there is not more coverage of this and more dissembling of the way National frame moderate CPI-based increases in funding to essential services as ‘propping up’.
No such concern at ‘propping up’ yachties or aluminium smelters owned by wealthy overseas companies.
Listening confirmed my take-away from lasts nights Native Affairs – Tolley’s a dissembling fool.
@ 22 minutes, Mihi Forbes has the fool on the rack over the make up the CYF review panel and lack of Māori input.
http://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/native-affairs/S09E011/native-affairs
But to her credit MS Tolley has not checked the bloodlines which no Minister of the Crown would do. (Sarc)
Mihi is pretty good in a quiet understated way.
I’m not sure why but the bloodline references turned my stomach.
And in IMO Mihi Forbes is by far the best interviewer on the box today.
Defining poverty down
And National’s actual priorities?
Proof, if any more was actually needed, that National just doesn’t give a shit about anything except protecting the status quo.
Luxon from Airnz on line with Radionz at 9.35am. He is one of those fast speakers who don’t sound as if there is room for thought between sentences! Comes up with a block of words that provide an explanation as to why they are doing okay as they are.
He is being questioned about their attitude to the provincial services and lack of co-operation. Highly complex systems are needed by the replacement regional services with IT etc.
Seems to be good at batting away suggestions. At a fast pace.
Mike Yardley – columnist for The Press seems to be kept awake at night at the thought of the City of Christchurch owning power grids and airports.
Auckland councillor Penny Webster is alarmed that some controls should be put on dairies selling sugar laden food. …the suggestions were “totally overboard” and she would oppose them if they were put before the council.
Sour woman, don’t know what her spiel to get into Council was. It couldn’t have been to help the people with planning and action to have a healthy and happy community.
The idea is to act with plans to lobby for changes to the Resource Management Act to give councils the power to stop new dairies, convenience stores and takeaways being built, in the same way they can for alcohol outlets.
Sounds a good idea. Talk about supermarkets and garages also being lolly outlets is just a smokescreen, and a strawman argument. The dairies are local, common and easily accessed. Way back, on my way to Sunday School, I would spend my collection money on chocolate fish, so know about the sweet temptation! Also I have had a dairy and being near a school is being near a good customer source for sales, and also on the downside, for shop stealing.
Retail industry lobbies and spokespeople for dairy owners, often Indian, need to step back or else they will be viewed negatively. They already are seen often running liquor stores in poor areas, and making a living from selling goods with a health-destroying effect will not give them mana in the community, quite the opposite.
Webster is from the Act party.
Sacha Useful to know. It is good that ACT are staying true to their do-nothing, don’t care motto.
During the apartheid era various performers disgraced themselves by playing at Sun City.
Today, Israel offers a lucrative market for various musicians. Some people just play there and take the blood money; some declare their love for the repressive racist state and complain how it is misunderstood. The latest ratbag in this category is the airhead Lady Gaga.
Meanwhile Roger Waters, ex of Pink Floyd, maintains his integrity, calling on artists to turn down offers to play there.
Pimping for Israel: Lady Gaga, Madonna and Dionne Warwick:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/pimping-for-israel-lady-gaga-madonna-and-dionne-warwick/
Why not just say that you don;t like Israelis
I imagine because that is not what he is saying Ron.
Ron Why don’t you just say that you do like Israelis, no matter what nasty people say about them – like running over protesters with a bulldozer. Using massive force against puny protests etc. But perhaps you are amoral as they have chosen to be.
Well I do like Israelis, I have not meet any that I dislike. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for some of people of other countries that I have met.
Better put me on the list
Don’t like the Israeli government or their policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and lethal use of heavy military weapons on civilians. That’s quite different to “not liking Israelis.”
Golly you are going to have a real problem with Hamas, ISISL, Boko Haram then
Israeli Apologist Vs Pro-Palestinian Celebs and near-Celebs (a little list I’ve been compiling)
(one or two, as you’ll see, are now deceased)
In no particular order
Israel Cheerleaders (includes everything from extensive outspoken support for Israel to explicit opposition to BDS to signing pro-Israeli petitions/advertisements – usually as PR exercises during one of Israel’s regular massacres in Gaza, the West Bank or Lebanon)
Serena Williams (US tennis champ)
Ellen DeGeneres (US comedian/talkshow host)
Samuel L Jackson (US actor)
Scarlett Johansson (US actress/model)
Lady Gaga (US musician)
Simon Cowell (UK record/tv producer/prominent Tory supporter)
Vanessa Williams (US singer/actress)
Howard Stern (US radio personality)
Sylvester Stallone (US actor)
Nicole Kidman (Aussie actress)
Dennis Hopper (US actor/prominent Republican)
Bruce Willis (US actor/Republican)
Danny De Vito and Rhea Perleman (US actors/couple)
Don Johnson (US actor)
James Wood (US actor/prominent Republican)
Charlie Daniels (US Country Music)
Bill Maher (US comedian/talkshow host)
Dionne Warwick (US singer)
Ashton Kutcher (talentless US actor)
Jesse Eisenberg (US actor)
Joan Rivers (US comedian)
Jon Voight (US actor/prominent Republican)
Mayim Bialik (US actress)
Justin Timberlake (UK singer)
Mark Pellegrino (US actor – Lost/Dexter)
Robert De Niro (US actor)
Kelly Preston (US actress)
William Hurt (US actor)
Danny Schuler (US musician – Biohazard)
Jackie Mason (US comedian)
Gene Simmons (remarkably talentless US musician)
Ridley Scott (US Director)
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones (US/UK actors/’power couple’)
Dick Donner (US Director)
Tony Scott (US Director)
Michael Mann (US Director)
Elton John (UK singer/drama queen)
Patricia Heaton (US actress)
Barbra Streisand (US actress/singer)
Gal Gadot (US actress)
Adam Baldwin (US actor)
Madonna (US singer)
Adam Sandler (talentless US actor/comedian)
Arnold Schwarzenegger (over-the-top US/Austrian actor/politician)
John Lydon (UK musician – Sex Pistols)
Chuck Norris (US actor)
Maureen Lipman (UK actress)
Sympathy for Palestinians/Gaza/BDS and explicit criticism of Israel
Nelson Mandela
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Naomi Wolf (US author/political consultant)
Danny Glover (US actor)
Alice Walker (US writer/poet)
Roger Waters (UK musician – Pink Floyd)
Rihanna (US/Barbadian singer)
Alan Rickman (UK actor)
Mia Farrow (US actress)
Brian Eno (UK musician/producer/prominent LibDem)
Anthony Bourdain (US celebrity chef)
Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz (Spanish actors/’power couple’)
Rob Schneider (US actor/comedian)
Rosie O’Donnell (US actress/talkshow host)
John Cusack (US actor)
Selena Gomez (US actress/singer)
Stephen Hawking (UK leading Physicist)
Peter Gabriel (UK musician)
Bryan Adams (Canadian Singer)
Bobby Gillespie (Scots musician – Primal Scream)
William Dalrymple (UK journalist/historian)
David Morrissey (UK actor)
Maxine Peake (UK actress)
Alexei Sayle (UK comedian)
Mario Balotelli (Italian/Ghanaian Football player)
Whoopi Goldberg (US comedian/actress)
Dwight Howard (US NBA Basketballer)
Talib Kweli (US Hip Hop artist)
Joey Barton (UK Football)
Eddie Vedder (US singer – Pearl Jam)
Jarvis Cocker (UK musician – Pulp)
Sinead O’Connor (Irish singer/musician)
Zayn Malik (UK Boy Band singer)
Mark Ruffalo (US actor)
John Stewart (US – The Daily Show)
Wallace Shawn (US actor/playwright)
Jonathan Demme (US director)
Emma Thompson (UK actress)
Elvis Costello (UK musician)
Bella Freud (UK fashion designer)
Ken Loach (UK director/filmmaker)
Robert del Naja (UK musician – Massive Attack)
Jemima Khan (UK journalist/activist)
Will Self (UK writer)
Pedro Almodovar (Spanish director)
Hanif Kureishi (UK playwright/filmmaker)
Esther Freud (UK novelist)
Laura Bailey (UK actress)
Jeremy Hardy (UK comedian)
David Randall (UK music producer)
Boots Riley (US rapper/arts producer)
Chris Hedges (US journalist)
Kool A.D/Victor Vazquez (US musician)
Michael Ondaatje (Canadian writer)
Mike Leigh (UK writer/director)
Vanessa Redgrave (UK actress)
Christiano Ronaldo (Portuguese Football legend)
Lupe Fiasco (US Hip Hop)
Michael Radford (UK director/screenwriter)
Amare Stondemire (US NBA Basketballer)
Gianluigi Buffon (Italian footballer – Goalkeeper)
Dustin Hoffman (US actor)
Cynthia Nixon (US actress – Sex in the City)
Stephen Fry (UK actor/comedian)
Miriam Margolyes (UK actress)
Harold Pinter (UK playwright legend)
Jimmy McGovern (UK screenwriter)
Zoe Wanamaker (UK actress)
Jenny Diski (UK author)
Ben Elton (UK writer/comedian)
Susan Wooldridge (UK actress)
Patrick Neville (UK actor)
Tom Adams (US musician)
Andy de la Tour (UK actor/writer)
Mike Hodges (UK director/screenwriter)
Earl Okin (UK musician/comedian)
Hayley Carmichael (UK actress)
Reem Kelani (UK musician)
David Calder (UK actor)
Norma Cohen (UK actress)
Somaye Zadeh (UK singer/musician)
Pablo Navarette (director/producer)
Chris Thomas (UK director)
Laurie Penny (UK journalist)
Mark Thomas (UK comedian)
Kate Tempest (UK musician)
Robert Wyatt (UK musician)
Might want to throw the SNP on that second list Swordfish 😉
http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/scottish-first-minister-6963
Yeah, well I guess the SNP has, in its own way, become a kind of “celeb or near-celeb” since the Referendum/May Election. 🙂
That’s a pretty refreshing stance, akin to the position adopted by various Nordic Left-Socialist parties (and, to some extent, Germany’s Die Linke).
Starkly contrasting with Britain’s two major parties with their powerful Friends of Israel lobbies (although, it seems Labour started to make some – admittedly tentative and half-hearted – moves away from knee-jerk Israeli support under Ed Miliband – enough to upset Zionist erstwhile-Labour-supporters like Maureen Lipman).
I thought Maureen Lipman was a humorist. Has she lost her fine sense of what’s ridiculous and what’s nauseous?
That’s amazing list Swordfish. Whaleoil for NZ and there is a new company starting up. They have very fresh ideas in business in Israel, very go-ahead, eating and living for two states I suppose has that effect.
Without going through the list with a fine tooth comb but Dennis Hoppers been dead 5 years and Joan Rivers passed away last year I’d suggest your lists are a bit out of date
Hence, my second sentence (in parentheses)
Ridley Scott’s a Brit..
Our scumbag PM is addressing child poverty – by redefining what counts:
https://www.greens.org.nz/news/press-releases/pms-%E2%80%98oliver-twist%E2%80%99-poverty-measure-excuse-breaking-budget-promise
There is a Neolib view in New Zealand that restricting the DPB stops teenage pregnancies ( see Post comments by Andrew on Miteria Turei’s May guest blog on the ‘Daily Blog’)
This is counter to the international prevailing view that looks at other social issues such as young female wellbeing and rights ….contraception, supportive family , education and employment independence opportunities etc…better to address these issues than chauvinist female victim blaming and making children of the poor even more disadvantaged
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_pregnancy
“In developed countries, teenage pregnancies are often associated with social issues, including lower educational levels, higher rates of poverty, and other poorer life outcomes in children of teenage mothers. Teenage pregnancy in developed countries is usually outside of marriage, and carries a social stigma in many communities and cultures.[8] By contrast, teenage parents in developing countries are often married, and their pregnancies welcomed by family and society. However, in these societies, early pregnancy may combine with malnutrition and poor health care to cause medical problems.
Teenage pregnancies appear to be preventable by comprehensive sex education and access to birth control.[9] Abstinence-only sex education does not appear to be effective.[10]”
http://sjp.sagepub.com/content/36/4/415.abstract
In countries where women have equality of opportunity and good contraception options they do not choose to have teenage pregnancies…this is a feminist issue , a human rights issue and also an overpopulation issue
“There is a Neolib view in New Zealand that restricting the DPB stops teenage pregnancies..”
Even if it did, it would be no justification for making children and their parents suffer financial and material hardship. But since ‘the left’ (I’m using that term loosely) has ceded the debate on just about every fucking thing these days, we ain’t going to hear how it’s simply decent for society to support those most in need of support as much as possible.
Smile of the morning, I got a phishing email pretending to be vodafone and it was signed off with ‘Yours Truly’.
Just giving up on Vodafone and switching to Spark @ $30 less per month. Hope the service is OK.
Vodafone is bad, but Spark is worse 😉 I stick with vodafone because the call centre is better. That I have to call the call centre that much to be able to tell is an indictment of the whole telecommunications industry in NZ.
I have never had to ring Spark as I have never had a problem, and have been with them for years.
Banksie.
Discuss,
Kim Dotcom changed his evidence.
zero credibility now for the fat german
More like Banksie’s wife got some mates to make up some extra evidence. If you have enough money, you can buy just about anything these days – well, unless the US government is after you.
Yeah more like that
“zero credibility now for the fat german”
NOW?
Pity all those gullible leftists who let their bullshit detecting faculties get completely disarmed by the hope that KDC might be able to do some real damage to JK didn’t realise that THEN.
Too late now. Three more years….
Just hope those of you who got taken for absolute dummies will remember this case next time you get tempted by a false messiah pandering to your ‘obsession with JK’ weak point.
At least now its official before the courts. Dotcom is telly porkies.
John Banks was/is the most credible witness.
I have a collateralised future dividend option on Auckland Harbour Bridge that might interest you.
But apparently there are two harbour bridges and you have conveniently forgotten to tell the crown about the other one?
Metaphor fail: Banks agrees that donations were discussed; the disclosure failure was the Crown’s.
Nice try though: far better than Alwyn’s feeble effort.
So you were the mug who bought it were you?
Now you realise that you were stupid to do so you are trying to palm it off on some other sucker. I doubt you will find anyone though who is quite as credulous as you were though.
Some interesting questions during question time today in parliament.
Here are the questions:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1505/S00275/questions-for-oral-answer-may-19.htm
Here is the parliament TV available from 2 pm:
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/about-parliament/see-hear/ptv
Cue a post and one thousand comment thread about judicial corruption. What with centre-right governments being elected around the world the left can’t take a trick at the moment.
The anglo-saxon FVEY nations have systems biased towards the establishment conservative (now right wing) players. No one argues that is not the case.
John Banks gets off, wipes egg from face, and denies it was ever there. Proceeds to fowlhouse for further feathered foolhardy, furtive and futile fandangos.
The court found it was never there. He has been acquitted, therefore did not commit the crime of which he was accused.
Never mind the courts. Do you really think he is not guilty?
Mud’s mud.
@ SHG
Well that’s good for you.
John Banks acquitted today of submitting false returns. Honest John at last.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/68668623/john-banks-acquitted-by-court-of-appeal-on-falsereturn-charges
Post up now. http://thestandard.org.nz/john-banks-conviction-quashed/
Todays the private sector can’t do it better than a collective comment.
Have a wee look at the phone book. I know you probably don’t – but at work yesterday we lost the internet – and, well, we tried using a phone book. It became a nightmare of epic proportions.
Try finding a government department – or anything which is community based. Ministry of health. And you local community centre.
Now that has probably frustrated you no end – think back before a private company got hold of it and it was privatised.
Just heard john key reiterate that there is no housing crisis in Auckland, and Andrew Little say there is one.
Why then has no one asked john Key what symptoms would be present in his opinion he would see for him to acknowledge that there is a crisis.
Meanwhile Rohingya people from Myanmar float on boats crying for water, fighting, hungry, lying sick. What can we do about it.
http://blogs.wsj.com/indonesiarealtime/2015/05/18/international-agencies-pitch-in-to-help-boat-people-in-indonesia/
What is IOM – Part of United Nations Alliance of Civilisations
http://www.unaoc.org/ibis/about/who-we-are-international-organization-for-migrations/
The IOM believes about half a dozen boats remain at sea, some close to shore. Mr. Lowry likened the search for the vessels that are further out to “looking for specific needles in a giant haystack,” and says a much greater search and rescue effort from the region’s governments is needed.
Food has been dropped to some by Thai helicopter. Indonesia is also offering help.
What is New Zealand doing to help its trading partner and Pacific neighbour Indenesia.
Two days ago –
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/15/asia/thailand-malaysia-rohingya-refugees/
The Thai govt is cracking down on smugglers. This boat had called into Malaysia which had provided water and food and sent it off. It broke down off Thailand, but after the engine was fixed, and food and water given it went back to Malaysia. An observer says it is like a game of ping-pong. And many boats have been abandoned by the smugglers because they have not been able to offload their passengers and are afraid for their own safety.
We need to help these truly helpless If not – The shame is on all of us. The USA military budget is $600 billion, Australian $32 B. The matter is widely reported by media from wealthy nations.
I did a google search –
What aid offered to Myanmar boat people by Red Cross
Red Cross have nothing up about these people, last is Nepal.
Then World Vision below
Then Oxfam – they have been working in Myanmar, but the boats no.
World Vision – a summary of the problemMyanmar’s Rohingya minority adrift with little aid
As many as 120,000 members of the Rohingya ethnic and religious group have fled Myanmar and Bangladesh by sea in the past three years. Now, about 8,000 of them are stranded in boats in the Andaman sea, having been abandoned by their traffickers as a result of crackdowns on international trafficking. Boatloads of Rohingya that have been left adrift without food and water are now being turned away by Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian authorities. About 1.3 million Rohingya have lived for generations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, but are not counted among its citizens. The Rohingya have long suffered displacement, abuse, and extreme poverty.
Google headings – The Guardian –
Burma’s boatpeople ‘faced choice of annihilation
also
5 days ago – With up to 8000 desperate people – Rohingya Muslims from Burma and … leaving an estimated 6,000 refugees to fend for themselves, according to reliable aid .
USNews –
500 people on a boat found Wednesday off northern Penang state were given …
Yahoo –
Southeast Asia for years tried to quietly ignore the plight of Myanmar’s 1.3 million …
independent.co.uk –
Southeast Asia for years tried to quietly ignore the plight of Myanmar’s 1.3 million …
phuketwan –
Nations Must Speedily Aid Desperate Boatpeople, Says Rights Group … to work together to rescue these desperate people and offer them humanitarian aid, help in … ”The world will judge these governments by how they treat these most …
msn news –
4 days ago – More than 1,600 migrants and refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh have…
trust –
Jeffrey Savage, who works for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees … boats for the next 20 days and given only small amounts of food and water.
jakartapost –
Australia’s slashing of foreign aid by almost Aus$1.0 billion (US$800 million) will hurt the most .
thedailybeast –
4 days ago – BANGKOK—As boatloads of stateless Rohingya people and other migrants drift off the … 8,000 boat people seeking to land somewhere—anywhere—as they struggle with a ..
Rohingya Vision TV | Human Trafficking
http://www.rvisiontv.com/category/daily-news-2/human-trafficking/
6 days ago – … Myanmar migrants on a boat stranded for a week in the Andaman Sea with no ..
Rohingya Blogger
http://www.rohingyablogger.com/
6 hours ago – The price of living in a world of rules and norms widely shared is that you do not get … Malaysia prodded Myanmar on Sunday to halt the exodus from its shores as ..
Can AsEAN help in its own territory?
NON-INTERVENTION PRINCIPLE
At the core of ASEAN’s inaction is its principle of non-interference in internal political affairs of its member states, observers said.
“There is a lot of sensitivity, a lot of prejudices and a lot of mutual suspicion that make it difficult for any entity to do something about this situation,” Surin said.
The U.N. has said the deadly pattern of migration across the Bay of Bengal would continue unless Myanmar ends discrimination against the Rohingya.
Most of Myanmar’s 1.1 million Rohingya are stateless and live in apartheid-like conditions. Almost 140,000 were displaced in clashes with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in 2012.
Is the UN going to wait till talks on May 29 which Myanmar says it will not attend if the word Rohingya is mentioned! Can people live on air and hope? Is this a time to put aside regional thoughts and make it an all-world crisis and do the blaming and reproaching later!!
Recent
http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2015/05/18/indonesias-boat-people-the-numbers/
Help Medecins Sans Frontieres with donation? http://www.msf.org.au/refugee/?gclid=CLmuoN7jzMUCFUIAvAodPJgA1Q
After this is over it might be that we should look at helping Muslim Aid as a counter to so much of the destruction and violence that they are suffering. It might help in the healing that hopefully would come soon.
Muslim Aid
This is a statement from somebody who doesn’t understand economics. Economics isn’t about money but about resources and we’re running out of them.
There’s also the point that, no matter how much money was spent on militaries around the world, almost none of those resources would help the people on the boats even if they hadn’t left their homeland. You cannot eat or drink steel.
You can’t say that if we just spent the money here rather than there and everything will be fixed because of the difference between what resources are being used and what resources are needed to bring about the change you desire.
What are you on about DTB. You’re making an argument out of a mud pie.
If countries can afford to spend on war to that extent then they can find the machinmery to fly or sail to help those people. They can find a bit in a corner of their extensive budgets to pay for water food and humanitarian aid. Don’t make a blockbuster drama out of a very simple premise.
Stop being so objective too, when people are hurting. They don’t want your considered opinion on the cost benefit of helping them, or care whether you care or not, just as long as you don’t stop other people from paying attnetion to their plight which was what my bloody comment was about.
I’ve taken the leap and joined twitter. So if you really, really need to know two minutes ahead of time that I’m about to put up a post, this is the place for you:
https://twitter.com/tereoputake
Any PR/media consultants/publicists with the inside goss to share are welcome to send it to me as well. No promises that it’ll make it into the Standard though; my bullshit detector is finely tuned.
Me on Twitter
Cheers, DTB. Only quite a few thousand tweets before I catch up with you!
Meh, I’m only a baby tweeter really. A mere 7000 tweets in 5 years.
Add it to the twitter-auto-poster – right side of a post.
No women should look at this link – you might just get the wrong idea.
https://www.facebook.com/usauncut/photos/a.190167221017767.44131.186219261412563/936768469690968/?type=1&fref=nf
Labour Party in England is repeating the exact same mistake as in the last leader selection: only Oxbridge graduates who subsequently became “Special Advisers” are entered into the race.
Andy Burnham: English, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.
Yvette Cooper: PPE, Balliol College, Oxford.
Mary Creagh:Languages, Pembroke College, Oxford.
Liz Kendall: History, Queen’s College, Cambridge.
Tristram Julian William Hunt: History, Trinity College, Cambridge.
As long as they continue to draw from this small clique they will continue to be loosers.
In contract the SNP intake is remarkably representative of broad society.
Pretty much the same issue here. Caused in no small part by the destruction of the trade union movement and Labours natural leaders. Of course Andrew Little at least has a union background and a strong understanding of workers issues. Unfortunately the union movement in this country is predominantly led by academics and they are appointed rather than elected, albeit they are in all probability good people with sound humanitarian values, but I would doubt that any of them would have ever lined up in the dole queue waiting to see their case officer or boned a quarter of beef or sweated over a cheese vat or polished a lino floor 40 hours a week.
With respect I think you’d find that many people with academic qualifications, especially older ones have in their student days.done the sorts of jobs that you mention.
yeah but that aint the same is it.
not
by
a
long
shot
aint no substitute for experience and time
and your point is? Roger Douglas was a pig farmer once.
I wasn’t trying to be disingenuous as I think their hearts and intentions are noble and some of them could have (had) high paying positions utilising their qualifications in other vocations.
But I wonder if they have the passion, understanding and desire to lead those who perform those jobs their entire working lives? Douglas didn’t.
Oh well I hope I’m wrong.
My point about Oxbridge, SPADs and the small elite which had control of the English Labour Party.
There are 109 universities in the current UK. There is an additional 133 Higher Education Institutes that don’t use the term university. The great prosperity bestowed (another story) on “Oxbridge” was and is marvellous. I don’t begrudge them their history and their current standing as two great places of learning, research and thought leadership.
When the five contestants for Labour leadership in 2010 and the five in 2015 all come from a tiny section of society there is a systemic problem.
No argument from me Northsider. I’m with you on this one.
My 25.1.1.2 was a response to 25.1.1.
Seems to me that Labour here and the UK need a broader mix of people standing for public office and a reconnection with communities and their real needs. Ain’t necessarily enough to simply ask about & attempt to resolve there issues, but more about having as their representatives those people themselves. Not really convinced that Grant is capable of representing the financial views of labour simply because he picked a few apples during the summer break.
I’ve no issue with an individual Oxbridge grad and spad becoming a Labour MP. I’ve no issue with an individual rolling down the hill from Victoria to a back office role in a political office and then onto becoming an MP.
When a powerful group at HQ all have the same career profile then there is a systemic problem. Robertson, Ardern, Faafoi in Labour and many in the Nats have these narrow profiles.
The public hear similar mechanical messaging styles.
The public turn off.
In the 1970s UK Labour had a third of its MPs come from labouring and manual work backgrounds, including a couple of dozen MPs who were former coal miners. The unions frequently sponsored workers from within their own ranks to run as candidates in electorates.
Today, Labour all around the world are professional middle class and upper middle class politicians: former student politicians, former Parliamentary staffers, former academics and policy wonks, PhDs and upper middle class professionals.
Labour thinks that it represents the best interests of almost all NZers; sadly only about one in five voters agreed.
Yep. Hipkins. It’s a self perpetuating systemic issue with Labour now, as you infer.
Tell me something, interesting?
Eggs don’t bounce and steam rollers don’t roll steam!