“22% increase in profits with declining consumption is in need of investigation!”
Our family and community understand this as we are involved in the
controversial rollout of “Smart meters” the new electronic transmitting meters that are known to cause health problems especially with those who have “electromagnetic sensitivities” ES or EMS sensitivities to electromagnetic fields being created by these meters.
Doing our research we have found that the tariff charges for power is now being changed (as these meter tariffs are unregulated by Gov’t)
The method is called TOU or (Time of use,) in which minutes are separated and recorded by the computer inside the Smart meter as to the time of use is and that are setting a tariff that is much higher than when the EA/Gov’t has previously set for power charges during the day or night.
Now the time of use parcels of time say hypothetically cold be in 20 minute intervals would be higher by 300% during peak time of day than 9pm at night.
So people who use more power during the day will now be desperately trying to turn off their Heat pumps freezers and other high use appliances during the day to lower their monthly bills.
It is another Key Government ploy to extract the maximum profit from the least investment.
Hope this helps. We need an investigation into this criminal fleecing of consumers. who must see the real issues here,
I joined Grey Power Power via Pulse and was able to request the successful removal of the smart meter installed here at my house. No charge was applied to me either.
Don’t think others will do it. I was a Powershop customer until I moved here, but they couldn’t ( or wouldn’t ? ) do it. A Powershop rep told me to call Grey Power Power .. and here I am, a happy customer freed from 24 hour a day microwaves on the wide of my house next to my bedroom.
I also objected on the grounds it did one more person out of their job as a meter reader.
I sell pure mechanical Analogue meters if anyone needs them.
Most Power companies contactors cant supply them but we can,.
Some will refuse to use them but we have forced them to accept them now, as our right to own our own meters, so don’t’ take their crap that they are mandatory that is a lie, this is going on under this Government.
Time mind time of day/peak charging but it must be communicated before hand so that people know that it’s happening and they must also know also know how much they’re being charged. The present smart meters don’t do that.
GCHQ in the UK has the ability to manipulate political landscape !
The GSCB has the same ability here!
Key has already shown he is not above using any means to disrupt democracy!
srylands is one of the GSCB’s plants its so obvious!
Key has more to answer!
So how did Slater find out about politicians visiting Dotcom.
Key has denied Gscb and SIS but no one asked him if the police passed on info!
If it was PI’s who paid them!
He has to stand by them – he has always maintained that Dirty Politics is untrue and is a beat-up from the left. If he didn’t stand by them then he is admitting the book is correct.
He has a problem.
But don’t forget; Key lies (he just can’t help it).
You will notice that everytime he says NZers care about policy he walks away? Funny that. No real policy Mr key, just upgrading schools and building new schools which any govt has to do over the next few years. Calling it policy. Bah
John Key all of a sudden wants to discuss policy.
Here’s one to discuss then.
How does he plan to tackle systematic poverty in the country?
A letter to the Dominion Post yesterday.
“Child poverty within New Zealand remains a national shame. Low-incomes see New Zealand families always on the brink, one setback away from financial disaster.
Often these families find themselves resorting to third tier borrowing which traps them in a downward, never-ending cycle of indebtedness, powerlessness and increased poverty.
The gap between incomes and affordable housing has grown – housing affordability deteriorated by 7.6 per cent in the 12 months ending May 2014.”
…suggesting they “made bad decisions” also isn’t the answer. How the hell does a new born child make a “lifestyle choice” to live in poverty. How the hell do they consciously extricate themselves from the influence of their environment and culture. No question marks required on those statements.
Your topic, Mr.Key, is everything you ignore, your time starts now…
Paul, Dave + Crocc, Child & mother’s care in Key’s world.
I have in Daughter who lives away from our area, and works to keep her son in Playschool but he got a bug two days ago from Playschool and it is contagious so She (mother had to stay at home and care for his fever and cough.
Since she hasn’t been there at the job for six months yet, she wont get paid, and now she has contracted the virus off the son so she was forced to drop him at playschool today dosed up the panadol and her with the same and due to financial reasons forced herself to go back to work so she has to pass it o to others and her son too?
This illustrates the mindless Key government that can’t see the consequences of their actions.
She cannot get WINS help either so she is sick with a son and forced to work, = Key’s plan for us all.
Classic example of how mindless sanctions against the poorer parts of society can end up harming the wealthy. A more benign regime would reward behaviour which reduces the spread of disease.
Susie Ferguson – another disgraceful interview by a supposed public broadcaster.
Is she able to work beyond smears?
Waiting to hear her discuss the issues of housing, employment, inequality, the environment,
Just obsessed about polls and alliances.
What about informing your audience about the party’s policies and asking difficult questions about that?!
Rnz aside from the odd spot of professionalism like espinner yesterday is part of the nact pr machine. Theyve had many morning report combos since griffin was installed to get the mix right.
That is amusing since many consider RNZ to be a hotbed of left wingers. Reminds me of when I worked for TVNZ News and we were happy when both sides attacked us becuase obviously we were walking down the centre, hard as that is, but of course that was twenty five years ago … today I subscribe first sentance unfortunately.
Seeing Key and co. self destruct is a historic spectacle, especially with MSM players who are slowly realising that they have been complicit in the entire criminal John Key enterprise.
However none of this makes for a winning strategy for the Left. The election remains on a knife edge. (I don’t count having to cobble together a multi-multi party coalition simply to put together a sliver 2-3 seat majority as a win). We have a few more days of revelling in Key’s political demise – but it doesn’t mean that he won’t be PM again come Sept 20 – or that National won’t be in again come 2017.
This country’s politics is undergoing a major crisis which is almost constitutional in nature. Now is the moment – the opportunity – for major proposals and reforms to be put forward, by the Left to clean things up.
Regulations on lobbyists and unofficial spokespeople. On corporate money and campaign financing. On journalistic standards and public broadcasting. On democractic accountability – including within the security services. On cpmprehensive whistleblower, leaker and journalistic protections.
It’s clear we need broad, brave new measures to safeguard our democracy and to stop US style political rot taking hold in NZ.
Let’s see some gutsy proposals from the progressive parties to detoxify our politics.
They may well have some for all we know, the media isn’t focusing on policies and hasnt for a while. Is it a coincidence that only the Left have really been releasing any?
The Right Wing learnt the lesson a century ago via Freud, Bernays etc that through mass media, people are swayed far more by their emotions and their prejudices, than by rational fact and discussion. And they’ve put this understanding into action ever since. At the same time the left has continuously driven down increasingly narrow intellectual over rationalising cul de sacs and become less and less able to connect to and give moral voice to the people really suffering in our society.
Have you read Jaques Ellul : Formation of Men’s Attitudes (about Propaganda)? If you haven’t mind I be so bold as to recommend you do. I think you would “enjoy” it. He wrote during the Cold war, but he could have been talking about now.
The Left may call them policies but to me they sound more like bribes …. the one policy which would make a huge difference has been ignored for decades and I have no faith that either side will address the matter … ample State Housing for all who need it.
A warm dry roof over one’s head is the most important aspect of living in an inclement climate.
My top ones would be around end to end whistleblower/leaker/journalistic protections in any case where the public interest or democratic interest was at stake.
Also transparency of not just the funding of political entities but where that money is spent in terms of media advice and media buys.
Improvement of journalistic/news standards + public broadcasting.
Increased sanctions for the politicisation of the civil service/intelligence services.
given the militarisation of the USA and its decline in press freedom (now 40th in the world) we don’t want to follow their example… but do journos have some kind of constitutional protection in NZ already?
This country’s politics is undergoing a major crisis which is almost constitutional in nature.
Not ‘almost’, it is constitutional. What Hager reveals in Dirty politics is an outright undermining of our democracy and we need to have the tools to do something about despicable actions like these when they’re discovered.
They are fiddling the system, that’s what people who succeed in markets the best do. They call it finding loopholes BUT they also manipulate ( in the book there is a bit about manipulating ipredict) and lie and break rules. They rationalise and justify. BUT anyone who thinks that Key made it as far as he did in his chosen business without similar tactics is mad, or as slylands likes to say needs to stop being stupid all their life. And he clearly hasnt set aside those strategies since becoming PM.
The market failed the people, and now the market has disenfranchised the people.
I agree, it is constitutional. And who is final refuge for us ? The Governor General. And let’s recall, Jerry Mateparae was removed as head of GCSB to be replaced by Key’s ‘can’t-remember-him’ buddy Fletcher. His ‘reward’ was to become GG. And it remains to be seen if Key and his $$ masters own him. Be an interesting struggle I think, as Mateparae has previously seemed to be a man of great personal integrity.
Having watched all those years ago as Watergate unravelled from a single loose stitch at the bottom to the very top of the Republican knitting, maybe a major constitutional crisis is brewing here.
We’ve been considering the actions that the GG might take too, yeshe! What would it take for him to act, is he impartial, many, many things to ponder at the moment – The information is coming so thick and fast, it’s hard to know which murky pond to gaze upon next! What kind of creatures will we see emerging, who are their National party buddies and what nefarious enterprizes have they been involved in? Been wondering too, how good old Queen Lillibet is feeling these days? Think there will be any more invitations to Balmoral?
That is my fear: That just as Douglas radically changed the basis of the NZ economy, so Key is dismantling the constraints associated with political office, and turning the PM role into something more akin to a branch manager. He is one of the “leaders from central casting” that began to pop up in the Western world in the mid 2000’s.
Ad says, on the “Will the real National Party Please Stand up” thread, Nicky is merely holding a small mirror to New Zealand society on the morality of the Washington Consensus. By and large New Zealand voters chose this over several decades with their Faustian eyes wide open.
There are four main elements of concern that come up in the book, quite apart from the malignancy the main players: (1) The misuse of privileged information, (2) The theft of opposition information, with a view to giving them grief, (3) The use of this malignant group as a sort of news filter, so that anyone who wanted to meet deadlines,etc, had to pass through WO’s slanted interpretations, and (4) The group’s making use of any information they could get their hands on to bend others to their will.
I would like to be able to fathom how much of this is a deliberate attempt to irrevocably shift the political compass, and how much of it is simply rogue elements, living in a fantasy world, enjoying unbridled license under a PM who is “not a politician.”
I would like to be able to fathom how much of this is a deliberate attempt to irrevocably shift the political compass, and how much of it is simply rogue elements, living in a fantasy world, enjoying unbridled license under a PM who is “not a politician.”
Well, it seems to me to be a bit of both. The hackers refer to it as a “network”. By definition that is a complex of inter-relationships, rather than a centrally organised conspiracy. networks are also more flexible, less clearly defined, and rely a lot on personal connections and associations, albeit that they also link into associations with organisations and institutions.
I have done a few posts on Key’s “networks of influence” – these include a range of contacts and associations he nurtures – ones that Key can draw on when and as situations arise. My posts focused on the networks of powerful corporate and political players. In my nativity, I failed to included the kinds of underground networks that Slater et al play with and draw on: prostitutes, etc.
Suddenly, I have an idea for a future “networks of influence” post.
Yes, those underground networks are important, because they are able to do great damage to people. I think you are probably right about “the bit of both.” What is important is that the rogue elements are not working against the preferred direction, but are in general seen to be helping to achieve it, if indirectly.
NZ is a young country, and I think its population by and large have a limited conception of what a civic society is, just a vague sense of “decent people like me meeting my standards of decency.” If they vote Key in again, after all that has been revealed, I will be very frightened for this country.
I take it you mean the “two track system” that Hager has spoken of and written about in his book – where the PM remains aloof and lets thugs do his dirty work for him. If you are right, the book ought by rights to put pressure on that plan, but it remains to be seen how much influence it will have on voting patterns. The relaxed, untarnished image Key has cultivated is now seriously compromised, whether or not he ends up getting a third term.
+++10 Colonial Viper, true.
“This country’s politics is undergoing a major crisis which is almost constitutional in nature. Now is the moment – the opportunity – for major proposals and reforms to be put forward, by the Left to clean things up”
Cut out the corrupt political cancer.
This recapturing of honest open political policy must be aggressively perused by the opposition prior to the election as a major platform otherwise the cancer will infect any future Government also.
We really need something like the Australian corruption commissions. As things stand, Ede should have been arrested, there should be a warrant for Slug Boy, Collins should have been stood down, and Key should have been dismissed. All we seem to have is the GG, and he’s just a Tory who used to be in uniform. Something like a BOR tribunal would also be good, to ensure legislation and activities didn’t violate the Bill of Rights. It would need teeth. Both would need to be constituted as democratically as possible, rather than becoming one party’s toys via appointments.
If we don’t get something like this, the Tories are just going to get worse.
Whaledumper has done what the left wing parties have failed to do in the past 6 years. He/she has shown up the parties in a spectacular way.
I hope Whaledumper does not overegg it though. We are getting very close to the point where absolutely everyone agrees that Key, Collins at al are scum. Once we reach that point, more vile from the mouth and emails of Slater will not add anything to the issue and will run the risk of public exhaustion.
My strategy would be leak for a few more days. Then just let the media hammer Key until election day.
Ah, you haven’t read the book. Yup Mr Slater whom Mr Key wont distance himself from used a former prostitute to trawl brothels to try to catch politicians and people Slater doesn’t like “at it”.
Mr Bhatnagar seemed to revel in Slater’s gutter dwelling, and didn’t Ms Collins give him a job???
‘Hager’s Dirty Politics: what the book ultimately reveals is abuse of power’
By Martyn Bradbury / August 19, 2014
“Slater & Co are not bloggers, they are political sadists…Nicky’s book is now doing what I suspected it would do, create a shockwave of revulsion. Andrew Geddis over at Pundit Blog sums up this attitude best, and it’s reverberations build with every single new person who reads the book.
This is the outrage and the uproar caused by a mere 10 000 print run, what level of crescendo do you think we’ll hit when it becomes 20 000? 30 000? 40 000? What the headlines miss is the stinging hatred that shines through all the messages of those involved and that spite is shocking people. Politics can be angry, politics can be loud – but hateful? Hate politics has no place in a modern democracy….
“The Left may call them policies but to me they sound more like bribes …. the one policy which would make a huge difference has been ignored for decades and I have no faith that either side will address the matter … ample State Housing for all who need it.”
If you chopped all these transfer payments and used the money for a boost to the state housing stock and income related rents, you could achieve the same outcome in a much cleaner way.
Yes lots of ways to simplify and overhaul what has become a very convoluted system.
Our current political left has not a single radical bone in its body though, preferring to tinker with a machine which is increasingly broken and not fit for purpose – the care of NZ citizens from cradle to grave.
When did ANYTHING John Key said, actually MEAN anything? The Shallow Man doesn’t think deeply enough for anything he says to MEAN anything, but he does do an expert spin, better than a whirling dervish!!
“No one’s asked us to discuss whether the emails are real. Since this has not happened, there is doubt over whether or not they are made up. We are too big and powerful to offer to pre-empt the question. Power does not bow to open dialogue. I can be asked if I am willing to be asked to discuss the emails, but not on Mondays and not while I’m in the office or during interviews. Please make an appointment when I’m not in the office, at such time I will then be unwilling to discuss the emails.”
or a more literal translation,
“We have never argued that the emails are real, I don’t think anyone’s made that point. I have not come out and openly said they are. How can you accuse us of things we did if we don’t agree that we did them?*”
refer to general traits of psychopathic personality.
If I can borrow a boxing analogy, Bob Jones didn’t see it coming. His piece in the Herald must have been written early last week, because it looks terribly dated now:
Just got off the phone with the Ministry of Justice about sorting out a traffic fine I had.
I was going to do a payment arrangement, at $10 or $20 per week but apparently if you want to make a payment arrangement you have to provide a budget of income and expenses.
Seeing as I wasnt really keen on having to submit my personal affairs to justice system so they decide that I was worthy enough to be allowed to pay it off in the method I think best (I wasnt trying to get out of paying it, I just wanted to pay the damn thing off over time) out came the credit card.
Personally I reckon that is bullshit, and penalises the poor more than anyone else, just getting them further and further into debt, they shouldnt have to submit a budget because they cannot shit out $121 on the spot.
It seems that Courts Minister Chester Burrows has made it a mission bankrupt people through the fine system.
Right, that’s you done for. Expect your name to be passed on by judith to cam for outing her ministries sh!t systems and prepare for the attack on your character to commence. That’s how it works these days, isn’t it?
Interesting comment, Millsy. We had the same argument with ACC – but we just went ahead and
started paying off the ACC debt by $20 a fortnight instead of the amount they wanted – much more – and haven’t heard a word since. We have another few months to go before the debt is fully paid up.
I don’t see why how much we earn is any of their business. Nor is what we spend our money on. This could be something that Mana would look at. I doubt if Labour care.
Latest National Party policy regarding the poor was the announcement of a loan deal via one of the Australian banks hiring a woman from one of the payroll lenders whose market interest rate is often around 500%. The Govt is contributing a meagre $250,000 to the plan, not that it’s necessarily a good plan in the first place.
Why is it acceptable for our Prime Minister and his colleagues not to READ THE BOOK, in order that they could then answer each accusation point by point? I don’t understand why people allow this bullshit response. If you are an honest PM and someone accuses those closest to you of corruption, wouldn’t the first thing you’d want to do be to read the accusations so you can then investigate them? More needs to be made of the fact that Key refuses to do so. In my book that’s an admission of guilt in itself – and this needs to be slammed home.
Emphasis mine but very, very true. Key knows how deep the corruption goes and he’s trying to hide it.
So who will win the upcoming nat party leadership election contest?
Obviously judith, despite her arrogance probably disagreeing, is now out of the running and joyce, with his creepy and slimy dirty politics defence is looking somewhat lame, so with both pre race favourites falling at the starting gate, who’s left?
At a guess, English is happiest of the party stablemates right now.
Paula could be cake and sticked into making an attempt at a run.
And a longshot is Simple Simon from Tauranga, just as long as he doesn’t have to think and elucidate on the campaign trail.
Part of the Crosby Textor strategy is to dissuade people from voting at all, which was what happened last time.
That idea was explained in Dirty Politics by Simon Lusk.
“There are a few basic propositions with negative campaigning that are worth knowing about. It lowers turnout, favours right more than left as the right continues to turn out, and drives away the independents.’ In short, many people stop participating in politics. If politicians cannot be trusted, if politics looks like a petty or ugly game, and if no one seems to be talking about the things that matter, then what’s the point of bothering to participate? Just leave them to it.”
When you vote take 2 people with you and get them to take 2 people etc.etc.
Simon Lusk overstates the effect of negative campaigning. It may stop people participating in organised mainstream politics, but it also encourages stronger community links and unofficial groups. People don’t just throw up their hands and think, “oh well boss man is just too big for me. Best I just stand by and let my family die …”. Happens all over the world, throughout history, and while not entirely a constructive example it’s already happened here too: The Mongrel Mob.
I wonder why Colin Craig has been so quiet since publication of Dirty Politics ?
And then there is this … I guess if you want to defile a hoarding for any reason, it’s good to have some creative talent ! And yes, as is commented, it is an improvement of the Splendour In The Grass images …
Now John Key is using RNZAF A109’s to get himself around the country and campaign. What an appalling man and not very sound judgement. I know he occupies the highest office in the land, but there has to be a stage where public servants can say GTFO we can’t do that for you PM.
A couple of years back people said Key didn’t look like he wanted the job, and tories were outraged.
Then it turned out that yeah, he was seriously considering quitting the job.
Does this look like someone who wants to stay PM? I don’t think so – he’ll be off after the election, however it turns out. Joyce, Blinglish and Collins will be fighting over the succession: who gets to be PM if they win, and who doesn’t have to be caretaker leader of the opposition if they lose.
Well if people were as interested in Nicky Hager and dirty politics as the left were hoping then Campbells ratings would have been up yet his ratings were poo so I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusion as to why his ratings are in the toilet
Treasury says the economy is “growing strongly” and expected to continue to do so, with recent falls in dairy prices not outside forecasts.
This year the books are forecast to return to surplus; wafer-thin at $297 million. It nevertheless fulfils a major political promise which if missed could have hurt Finance Minister Bill English’s credibility.
Beyond 2014/15 the surpluses will not grow at nearly the rate that Treasury had forecast, owing to a cut in the level of expected revenue from tax, especially GST.
This means debt will be higher for longer, now peaking higher and later at $67.9b in 2017/18.
Unemployment is forecast to drop to 4.5 per cent by 2018, down from 5.6 per cent at the end of June
New Zealand First MP Andrew Williams is set to be dumped to an unelectable position on the party list, with former MP Ron Mark set to rejoin the party.
Stuff understands a draft copy of the NZ First list, determined by the party’s selection committee on the weekend, has Williams ranked at 13, and Mark ranked at 9.
A draft copy eh, can anyone confirm with Nicky Hager if Cameron Slater was involved? But seriously this is good for NZFirsts survival beyond Winston
well maybe an online petition /letter of concern could be started….I certainly would be willing to sign….she certainly does not do the legal fraternity any favours … in fact she brings them into disrepute
I really would like to know what is Labours Policy on Broadcasting/Media.
Nothing on the website but if they are serious about cleaning up NZ they need a strong Broadcasting Policy
‘cept that’s the Arts policy, and Ron was asking about the Broadcasting/Media policy, which it’s fair to say isn’t yet articulated on the Labour website.
Kris Faafoi seems to have been largely AWOL since the corporate box affair…
oh, ok, arts culture and heritage doesn’t involve media.
I guess if it hasn’t been released yet we must assume that it does not exist and everyone in caucus is a neoliberal rogernome. Seems reasonable.
‘Panic setting in for National as they realise what’s about to happen’
By Martyn Bradbury / August 19, 2014
“Whaledump has the potential to reveal the full picture and the full picture is just so much more disgusting and damaging than what is currently out in front of the public, that’s why those within National and the Right who are being informed just how vile that picture is are putting as much distance between themselves and Slater as they humanly can….
Radio LIVE Daily Poll
Thank You for Participating
1. Have you found it a struggle to pay your power bill this winter?
Yes 59 of votes 59%
No 41 of votes 41%
….what is his profile?
…who is he married/partnered to? ( anyone famous?)
….what is his CV background? ( Harvard? Cambridge?)
…where are the photos? ( golfing body shots are not clear enough)
…what exactly is his relationship with John Key?
… thus far Ede seems to have swum under the radar….but maybe he is pivotal?
Ok, so there’s this poster on a completely different forum which I used to be a memeber of who says he went to school with Ede. The poster is a fleewee, lives in London but likes to comment favourably toward the right when talking about NZ even though he’s not contributed to this country for some years now. I’ll post some of his musings on this…
One thing that is interesting is that apart from an obscured photo of Ede firing a golf ball into the ocean there are no known photographs of him. This is very clever on his part. He must have spent years keeping a lid on that, especially difficult in today’s age of selfies and camera phones. So there is no bullseye visible target for the media to focus on. They can’t seem to even doorstep him or track his movements.
He is a tremendously cunning f**k.
Unlike the Damian McBride incident in the UK, which is a close parallel, they can’t seem to take aim at the lead character. He refuses to speak to anyone too. This means that the connection to the Beehive remains a bit hazy. If one of the lead characters is essentially invisible, the plot is not as interesting and it may have less legs.
I guess we’ll have to see if they can smoke him out.
I recall Alistair Campbell saying these things have a shelf-life of three days. But if it goes on for longer than three days then you have a real problem, and the fire is out of control. With the weekend coming up you would think the National Party are hoping for it to die out then. If it’s still around Monday, then trouble ahead.
and
I went to school with ede and was fairly good mates with him. What I thought was funny at the time was that he made a unilateral decision in 7th form to stop wearing school uniform. A few old school teachers pulled him up on it but just sneered and ignored them. It was quite funny. He didn’t go to university. Went straight to radio and developed an ultra cynical methodology immediately. He has no philosophy. Amazing how long he’s been in the shadows.
well thanks for that …but still the faceless man of mystery….seems like a pivot man in the whole scheme of things ….even a junior Mr. Smiley ( but then i am just a nosey Chook with too much imagination)
…but maybe things will clarify…i look forward to a special Post on him on the Standard
i remember a book i used to read to the kids ….’Where is Wally?’
Yes, I know as much as anyone on Ede. The first I remember his name being mentioned was the photos of the aftermath of the press party sent straight to the hate speech merchant, Cameron Slater.
Yes, I have looked for stuff on Ede before and found very little via google. I thought I saw a link to a newspaper article back in about 2005 or so – maybe earlier, maybe later. I thought it was a newspaper article that was written by Jason Ede, about John key.
I just had another look tonight.
I found this mention from a couple of days ago on NZ Herald, with a bit about Ede being a former journalist and Don Brash’s press secretary.
I found this, which is total heresay, and as far as I know, could just be someone’s fantasy – although, he does have a bit of contextual detail – elaborate fantasy, if it is one.
‘Can someone in the media please ask the PM of NZ to categorically deny any National Party staff worked with Cam Slater in the smearing of Tania Billingsley? ‘
Prime Minister says he reads the standard and John – I can watch this again and again and again he goes on to say that hagers book only has pejorative things to say about about him personally. ?.not that hes read the book…wtf?
Has anyone posted a comment about the item tonight on Campbell Live which is that EQC is very short of money to complete their commitments. The reason is that the Government wants to hide the debt because if it was counted, then the “surplus” heralded by the Government does not exist. If proven this would suggest that the Govt is lying. Surely not.
Disturbed outlined what’s happening power companies are paying bigger surpluses to shareholders basically a cartel no competition .The previous price rises were for upgrades of infrastructure now the spend on infrastructure is declining rapidly instead of competing for customers with lower prices shareholders are taking windfall profits and tuning time for govt intervention!
I see that @whaledump has this evening tweeted “This is not all about party politics. Be patient. You’ll see.”
Pure speculation, but I wonder if Mssrs. Mallard and/or Cosgrove are about to take a tumble. Mallard has been unusually silent on social media re: #dirtypolitics.
Assuming those two are the primary ABC sources for the likes of Garner and Gower, it doesn’t seem beyond the question they’ve been in communication with Slater.
Surely anything about Labour would still be “party politics” as well. The simplest way to read “not all about party politics” is that there are leaks involving individuals or institutions that are not commonly associated with particular parties in the public eye.
There is a striking “bulge” in National’s electoral support in the 50 to 64 age bracket, and the profile is very different from 2011 :
Percentage of population by age bracket supporting National December 2011
18 to 24 – 38.4%
25 to 34 – 36.2%
35 to 49 – 46.7%
50 to 64 – 38.9%
65 plus – 44.4%
Percentage of population by age bracket supporting National July 2014
18 to 24 – 25.8%
25 to 34 – 32.9%
35 to 49 – 42.2%
50 to 64 – 51.2%
65 over – 44.6%
Two remarks
1) that’s a large constituency of people of roughly JK’s age who are fairly apolitical and identify with him (nice guy, winner)
2) They are National’s “soft underbelly”… (sorry, couldn’t resist)
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Private Energy companies don’t serve the people.
They serve wealthy overseas shareholders.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11310769
22% increase in profits with declining consumption is in need of investigation!
Thanks for mentioning this Trickledrown,
“22% increase in profits with declining consumption is in need of investigation!”
Our family and community understand this as we are involved in the
controversial rollout of “Smart meters” the new electronic transmitting meters that are known to cause health problems especially with those who have “electromagnetic sensitivities” ES or EMS sensitivities to electromagnetic fields being created by these meters.
http://www.stopsmartmeters.org.nz/
Doing our research we have found that the tariff charges for power is now being changed (as these meter tariffs are unregulated by Gov’t)
The method is called TOU or (Time of use,) in which minutes are separated and recorded by the computer inside the Smart meter as to the time of use is and that are setting a tariff that is much higher than when the EA/Gov’t has previously set for power charges during the day or night.
Now the time of use parcels of time say hypothetically cold be in 20 minute intervals would be higher by 300% during peak time of day than 9pm at night.
So people who use more power during the day will now be desperately trying to turn off their Heat pumps freezers and other high use appliances during the day to lower their monthly bills.
It is another Key Government ploy to extract the maximum profit from the least investment.
Hope this helps. We need an investigation into this criminal fleecing of consumers. who must see the real issues here,
I joined Grey Power Power via Pulse and was able to request the successful removal of the smart meter installed here at my house. No charge was applied to me either.
Don’t think others will do it. I was a Powershop customer until I moved here, but they couldn’t ( or wouldn’t ? ) do it. A Powershop rep told me to call Grey Power Power .. and here I am, a happy customer freed from 24 hour a day microwaves on the wide of my house next to my bedroom.
I also objected on the grounds it did one more person out of their job as a meter reader.
I sell pure mechanical Analogue meters if anyone needs them.
Most Power companies contactors cant supply them but we can,.
Some will refuse to use them but we have forced them to accept them now, as our right to own our own meters, so don’t’ take their crap that they are mandatory that is a lie, this is going on under this Government.
xlnt .. thx
Time mind time of day/peak charging but it must be communicated before hand so that people know that it’s happening and they must also know also know how much they’re being charged. The present smart meters don’t do that.
Yep, ripped off – as everybody knew we would be.
Time to impose a super tax on these power companies, as an interim measure.
+100 CV
‘
Rod Oram spells it out: http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20146212
The government will, of course, exclaim that the higher profits is a result of better management and not that we’re being ripped off.
GCHQ in the UK has the ability to manipulate political landscape !
The GSCB has the same ability here!
Key has already shown he is not above using any means to disrupt democracy!
srylands is one of the GSCB’s plants its so obvious!
Key has more to answer!
So how did Slater find out about politicians visiting Dotcom.
Key has denied Gscb and SIS but no one asked him if the police passed on info!
If it was PI’s who paid them!
John Key all of a sudden wants to discuss policy.
Here’s one to discuss then.
How is he going to solve Christchurch’s housing problems?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/business/your-property/10358544/Christchurch-housing-reaches-new-record
Clue :Calling them scum, Mr Key isn’t the answer….
As long as Key stands by Slater and Ede, he is calling earthquake victims “scum” , not to mention calling Pike River victims “sluts” and “ferals”.
And for some reason, it seems he does have to stand by them.
Whatever they have on Key, it must be something that would make him look worse than having Slater and Ede as mates.
+1
He has to stand by them – he has always maintained that Dirty Politics is untrue and is a beat-up from the left. If he didn’t stand by them then he is admitting the book is correct.
He has a problem.
But don’t forget; Key lies (he just can’t help it).
he doesn’t have a problem with his behaviour. Joyce made it very clear from his first utterance post book release. They think dirty politics is ok.
++10 Now Key is re-inventing McCarthyism.
We are now all left wing —-next terrorists ? —–Communists?
The criminal behaviour here should send a chill to anyone wondering what key has in mind now do to the truth unveiled in the Dirty Politics book.
You will notice that everytime he says NZers care about policy he walks away? Funny that. No real policy Mr key, just upgrading schools and building new schools which any govt has to do over the next few years. Calling it policy. Bah
Yeah he said NZers care. Never said he does though.
John Key all of a sudden wants to discuss policy.
Here’s one to discuss then.
How does he plan to tackle systematic poverty in the country?
A letter to the Dominion Post yesterday.
“Child poverty within New Zealand remains a national shame. Low-incomes see New Zealand families always on the brink, one setback away from financial disaster.
Often these families find themselves resorting to third tier borrowing which traps them in a downward, never-ending cycle of indebtedness, powerlessness and increased poverty.
The gap between incomes and affordable housing has grown – housing affordability deteriorated by 7.6 per cent in the 12 months ending May 2014.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/letters-to-the-editor/10390390/Child-poverty-a-national-shame
Clue :Calling them losers, Mr Key, isn’t the answer….
…suggesting they “made bad decisions” also isn’t the answer. How the hell does a new born child make a “lifestyle choice” to live in poverty. How the hell do they consciously extricate themselves from the influence of their environment and culture. No question marks required on those statements.
Your topic, Mr.Key, is everything you ignore, your time starts now…
Paul, Dave + Crocc, Child & mother’s care in Key’s world.
I have in Daughter who lives away from our area, and works to keep her son in Playschool but he got a bug two days ago from Playschool and it is contagious so She (mother had to stay at home and care for his fever and cough.
Since she hasn’t been there at the job for six months yet, she wont get paid, and now she has contracted the virus off the son so she was forced to drop him at playschool today dosed up the panadol and her with the same and due to financial reasons forced herself to go back to work so she has to pass it o to others and her son too?
This illustrates the mindless Key government that can’t see the consequences of their actions.
She cannot get WINS help either so she is sick with a son and forced to work, = Key’s plan for us all.
Classic example of how mindless sanctions against the poorer parts of society can end up harming the wealthy. A more benign regime would reward behaviour which reduces the spread of disease.
national/slater have destroyer themselves
Susie Ferguson – another disgraceful interview by a supposed public broadcaster.
Is she able to work beyond smears?
Waiting to hear her discuss the issues of housing, employment, inequality, the environment,
Just obsessed about polls and alliances.
What about informing your audience about the party’s policies and asking difficult questions about that?!
Rnz aside from the odd spot of professionalism like espinner yesterday is part of the nact pr machine. Theyve had many morning report combos since griffin was installed to get the mix right.
That is amusing since many consider RNZ to be a hotbed of left wingers. Reminds me of when I worked for TVNZ News and we were happy when both sides attacked us becuase obviously we were walking down the centre, hard as that is, but of course that was twenty five years ago … today I subscribe first sentance unfortunately.
Seeing Key and co. self destruct is a historic spectacle, especially with MSM players who are slowly realising that they have been complicit in the entire criminal John Key enterprise.
However none of this makes for a winning strategy for the Left. The election remains on a knife edge. (I don’t count having to cobble together a multi-multi party coalition simply to put together a sliver 2-3 seat majority as a win). We have a few more days of revelling in Key’s political demise – but it doesn’t mean that he won’t be PM again come Sept 20 – or that National won’t be in again come 2017.
This country’s politics is undergoing a major crisis which is almost constitutional in nature. Now is the moment – the opportunity – for major proposals and reforms to be put forward, by the Left to clean things up.
Regulations on lobbyists and unofficial spokespeople. On corporate money and campaign financing. On journalistic standards and public broadcasting. On democractic accountability – including within the security services. On cpmprehensive whistleblower, leaker and journalistic protections.
It’s clear we need broad, brave new measures to safeguard our democracy and to stop US style political rot taking hold in NZ.
Let’s see some gutsy proposals from the progressive parties to detoxify our politics.
Well said.
They may well have some for all we know, the media isn’t focusing on policies and hasnt for a while. Is it a coincidence that only the Left have really been releasing any?
The Right Wing learnt the lesson a century ago via Freud, Bernays etc that through mass media, people are swayed far more by their emotions and their prejudices, than by rational fact and discussion. And they’ve put this understanding into action ever since. At the same time the left has continuously driven down increasingly narrow intellectual over rationalising cul de sacs and become less and less able to connect to and give moral voice to the people really suffering in our society.
agreed.
Have you read Jaques Ellul : Formation of Men’s Attitudes (about Propaganda)? If you haven’t mind I be so bold as to recommend you do. I think you would “enjoy” it. He wrote during the Cold war, but he could have been talking about now.
Ahhh very nice thanks I will follow up.
The Left may call them policies but to me they sound more like bribes …. the one policy which would make a huge difference has been ignored for decades and I have no faith that either side will address the matter … ample State Housing for all who need it.
A warm dry roof over one’s head is the most important aspect of living in an inclement climate.
I see your perspective and it makes some sense 🙂
Government should be about the interests of the people and the fact that narrative has been lost makes everything look like a “bribe”
Agree.
Any thoughts on what those proposals might be?
My suggestion would be that anyone caught acting as described in Dirty Politics never be allowed near government again – ever.
I suggested a few areas of interest above.
My top ones would be around end to end whistleblower/leaker/journalistic protections in any case where the public interest or democratic interest was at stake.
Also transparency of not just the funding of political entities but where that money is spent in terms of media advice and media buys.
Improvement of journalistic/news standards + public broadcasting.
Increased sanctions for the politicisation of the civil service/intelligence services.
given the militarisation of the USA and its decline in press freedom (now 40th in the world) we don’t want to follow their example… but do journos have some kind of constitutional protection in NZ already?
I don’t think so, although the proof for libel is quite high and difficult to reach.
I would also suggest a transparent lobbyist register/audit.
Also, I would contract in Wikileaks to help build and run a Crown whistleblower site.
+1
Not ‘almost’, it is constitutional. What Hager reveals in Dirty politics is an outright undermining of our democracy and we need to have the tools to do something about despicable actions like these when they’re discovered.
They are fiddling the system, that’s what people who succeed in markets the best do. They call it finding loopholes BUT they also manipulate ( in the book there is a bit about manipulating ipredict) and lie and break rules. They rationalise and justify. BUT anyone who thinks that Key made it as far as he did in his chosen business without similar tactics is mad, or as slylands likes to say needs to stop being stupid all their life. And he clearly hasnt set aside those strategies since becoming PM.
The market failed the people, and now the market has disenfranchised the people.
I agree, it is constitutional. And who is final refuge for us ? The Governor General. And let’s recall, Jerry Mateparae was removed as head of GCSB to be replaced by Key’s ‘can’t-remember-him’ buddy Fletcher. His ‘reward’ was to become GG. And it remains to be seen if Key and his $$ masters own him. Be an interesting struggle I think, as Mateparae has previously seemed to be a man of great personal integrity.
Having watched all those years ago as Watergate unravelled from a single loose stitch at the bottom to the very top of the Republican knitting, maybe a major constitutional crisis is brewing here.
We will be counting on you Jerry. Can we ?
We’ve been considering the actions that the GG might take too, yeshe! What would it take for him to act, is he impartial, many, many things to ponder at the moment – The information is coming so thick and fast, it’s hard to know which murky pond to gaze upon next! What kind of creatures will we see emerging, who are their National party buddies and what nefarious enterprizes have they been involved in? Been wondering too, how good old Queen Lillibet is feeling these days? Think there will be any more invitations to Balmoral?
That is my fear: That just as Douglas radically changed the basis of the NZ economy, so Key is dismantling the constraints associated with political office, and turning the PM role into something more akin to a branch manager. He is one of the “leaders from central casting” that began to pop up in the Western world in the mid 2000’s.
Ad says, on the “Will the real National Party Please Stand up” thread, Nicky is merely holding a small mirror to New Zealand society on the morality of the Washington Consensus. By and large New Zealand voters chose this over several decades with their Faustian eyes wide open.
There are four main elements of concern that come up in the book, quite apart from the malignancy the main players: (1) The misuse of privileged information, (2) The theft of opposition information, with a view to giving them grief, (3) The use of this malignant group as a sort of news filter, so that anyone who wanted to meet deadlines,etc, had to pass through WO’s slanted interpretations, and (4) The group’s making use of any information they could get their hands on to bend others to their will.
I would like to be able to fathom how much of this is a deliberate attempt to irrevocably shift the political compass, and how much of it is simply rogue elements, living in a fantasy world, enjoying unbridled license under a PM who is “not a politician.”
I would like to be able to fathom how much of this is a deliberate attempt to irrevocably shift the political compass, and how much of it is simply rogue elements, living in a fantasy world, enjoying unbridled license under a PM who is “not a politician.”
Well, it seems to me to be a bit of both. The hackers refer to it as a “network”. By definition that is a complex of inter-relationships, rather than a centrally organised conspiracy. networks are also more flexible, less clearly defined, and rely a lot on personal connections and associations, albeit that they also link into associations with organisations and institutions.
I have done a few posts on Key’s “networks of influence” – these include a range of contacts and associations he nurtures – ones that Key can draw on when and as situations arise. My posts focused on the networks of powerful corporate and political players. In my nativity, I failed to included the kinds of underground networks that Slater et al play with and draw on: prostitutes, etc.
Suddenly, I have an idea for a future “networks of influence” post.
Yes, those underground networks are important, because they are able to do great damage to people. I think you are probably right about “the bit of both.” What is important is that the rogue elements are not working against the preferred direction, but are in general seen to be helping to achieve it, if indirectly.
NZ is a young country, and I think its population by and large have a limited conception of what a civic society is, just a vague sense of “decent people like me meeting my standards of decency.” If they vote Key in again, after all that has been revealed, I will be very frightened for this country.
Olwyn
Yes Key wanted to clear all moderate politician’s out as you saw post dissolving of parliament last month.
He is running a campaign as you quote is similar to Hitler’s grip on power in 1933 till the war.
We are very disturbed.
I take it you mean the “two track system” that Hager has spoken of and written about in his book – where the PM remains aloof and lets thugs do his dirty work for him. If you are right, the book ought by rights to put pressure on that plan, but it remains to be seen how much influence it will have on voting patterns. The relaxed, untarnished image Key has cultivated is now seriously compromised, whether or not he ends up getting a third term.
+++10 Colonial Viper, true.
“This country’s politics is undergoing a major crisis which is almost constitutional in nature. Now is the moment – the opportunity – for major proposals and reforms to be put forward, by the Left to clean things up”
Cut out the corrupt political cancer.
This recapturing of honest open political policy must be aggressively perused by the opposition prior to the election as a major platform otherwise the cancer will infect any future Government also.
We really need something like the Australian corruption commissions. As things stand, Ede should have been arrested, there should be a warrant for Slug Boy, Collins should have been stood down, and Key should have been dismissed. All we seem to have is the GG, and he’s just a Tory who used to be in uniform. Something like a BOR tribunal would also be good, to ensure legislation and activities didn’t violate the Bill of Rights. It would need teeth. Both would need to be constituted as democratically as possible, rather than becoming one party’s toys via appointments.
If we don’t get something like this, the Tories are just going to get worse.
One word. Herald.
Brilliant media management by the Whaledumper. This is going to be fun.
It has been brilliant to date.
Whaledumper has done what the left wing parties have failed to do in the past 6 years. He/she has shown up the parties in a spectacular way.
I hope Whaledumper does not overegg it though. We are getting very close to the point where absolutely everyone agrees that Key, Collins at al are scum. Once we reach that point, more vile from the mouth and emails of Slater will not add anything to the issue and will run the risk of public exhaustion.
My strategy would be leak for a few more days. Then just let the media hammer Key until election day.
Oh, and what the Viper said.
Listened to Harré taking ownership of Plunket. Catch and release before it starts to smell, Laila.
Listened to Key on RNZ admit it’s all true and offer ‘but but but but Lllllaaaabbbboooouuuurr’ as an excuse. Enjoy your retirement, trash.
Prostitutes is it now? The Herald eats its former trusted sources.
Ah, you haven’t read the book. Yup Mr Slater whom Mr Key wont distance himself from used a former prostitute to trawl brothels to try to catch politicians and people Slater doesn’t like “at it”.
Mr Bhatnagar seemed to revel in Slater’s gutter dwelling, and didn’t Ms Collins give him a job???
obviously your power is restored again today Tracey ! +100%
Meanwhile the Govt debt is
NZ$ 84,561,089,428
now
NZ$ 84,561,092,596
now
NZ$ 84,561,095,500
it rose 6000 while i was writing this comment
The Left really needs to quietly mention National’s mismanagement of the economy every chance they get.
this debt creating money system is a nightmare.
As in, if it’s a rock star economy, it is a very dead rock star !
The plastic surgery and groupie worship proved fatal in the end
🙂 @CV
Well, stop writing it then!
/old joke
LOL
I am a slow typist
Now
NZ$ NZ$ 84,561,303,053
Another good day to be left 😀
‘Hager’s Dirty Politics: what the book ultimately reveals is abuse of power’
By Martyn Bradbury / August 19, 2014
“Slater & Co are not bloggers, they are political sadists…Nicky’s book is now doing what I suspected it would do, create a shockwave of revulsion. Andrew Geddis over at Pundit Blog sums up this attitude best, and it’s reverberations build with every single new person who reads the book.
This is the outrage and the uproar caused by a mere 10 000 print run, what level of crescendo do you think we’ll hit when it becomes 20 000? 30 000? 40 000? What the headlines miss is the stinging hatred that shines through all the messages of those involved and that spite is shocking people. Politics can be angry, politics can be loud – but hateful? Hate politics has no place in a modern democracy….
Man, I was head-desking hard listening to Susie Ferguson being unable to grasp a straight forward answer from David Cunliffe.
It’s difficult to understand a point when ones livelihood depends on not understanding it.
She is a Natz patsy
RNZ Headline: “PM sticking to his line…”
There once was a fellow called Key,
Who lied to you and to me.
His lies tripped him up so,
Deceitful a new low,
And everybody can see.
jcuk says:
“The Left may call them policies but to me they sound more like bribes …. the one policy which would make a huge difference has been ignored for decades and I have no faith that either side will address the matter … ample State Housing for all who need it.”
If you chopped all these transfer payments and used the money for a boost to the state housing stock and income related rents, you could achieve the same outcome in a much cleaner way.
Yes lots of ways to simplify and overhaul what has become a very convoluted system.
Our current political left has not a single radical bone in its body though, preferring to tinker with a machine which is increasingly broken and not fit for purpose – the care of NZ citizens from cradle to grave.
In the Herald re TV3 Firstline this morning Key:
Mr Key stood by his stance that the emails were “selective” and an attempt to smear the government.
“We’ve never refuted actually that the emails were real, I don’t think anyone’s made that point.”
What does the last sentence mean?
When did ANYTHING John Key said, actually MEAN anything? The Shallow Man doesn’t think deeply enough for anything he says to MEAN anything, but he does do an expert spin, better than a whirling dervish!!
Either:
“No one’s asked us to discuss whether the emails are real. Since this has not happened, there is doubt over whether or not they are made up. We are too big and powerful to offer to pre-empt the question. Power does not bow to open dialogue. I can be asked if I am willing to be asked to discuss the emails, but not on Mondays and not while I’m in the office or during interviews. Please make an appointment when I’m not in the office, at such time I will then be unwilling to discuss the emails.”
or a more literal translation,
“We have never argued that the emails are real, I don’t think anyone’s made that point. I have not come out and openly said they are. How can you accuse us of things we did if we don’t agree that we did them?*”
another interpretation:
“I’m not saying these things didn’t happen, what I’m saying is that not enough people are saying they didn’t happen.”
If I can borrow a boxing analogy, Bob Jones didn’t see it coming. His piece in the Herald must have been written early last week, because it looks terribly dated now:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11311023
Just got off the phone with the Ministry of Justice about sorting out a traffic fine I had.
I was going to do a payment arrangement, at $10 or $20 per week but apparently if you want to make a payment arrangement you have to provide a budget of income and expenses.
Seeing as I wasnt really keen on having to submit my personal affairs to justice system so they decide that I was worthy enough to be allowed to pay it off in the method I think best (I wasnt trying to get out of paying it, I just wanted to pay the damn thing off over time) out came the credit card.
Personally I reckon that is bullshit, and penalises the poor more than anyone else, just getting them further and further into debt, they shouldnt have to submit a budget because they cannot shit out $121 on the spot.
It seems that Courts Minister Chester Burrows has made it a mission bankrupt people through the fine system.
Right, that’s you done for. Expect your name to be passed on by judith to cam for outing her ministries sh!t systems and prepare for the attack on your character to commence. That’s how it works these days, isn’t it?
Yep right on Planet Key.
Interesting comment, Millsy. We had the same argument with ACC – but we just went ahead and
started paying off the ACC debt by $20 a fortnight instead of the amount they wanted – much more – and haven’t heard a word since. We have another few months to go before the debt is fully paid up.
My budget would have been:
Income $X
Expenses $X-10
I don’t see why how much we earn is any of their business. Nor is what we spend our money on. This could be something that Mana would look at. I doubt if Labour care.
Latest National Party policy regarding the poor was the announcement of a loan deal via one of the Australian banks hiring a woman from one of the payroll lenders whose market interest rate is often around 500%. The Govt is contributing a meagre $250,000 to the plan, not that it’s necessarily a good plan in the first place.
Nicky Hager’s sister has written a very moving piece on her blog about Nicky and “Dirty Politics.”. It’s worth reading.
http://mandyhager.blogspot.fr/p/occasional-political-rant.html
Emphasis mine but very, very true. Key knows how deep the corruption goes and he’s trying to hide it.
This has probably been linked to already:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Key-Left-wing-has-given-up-arguing-policy/tabid/1607/articleID/357418/Default.aspx
Stunning video of Key unraveling on TV3
@geoff-Notice how Key calls him “Cam” not Cameron Slater. Dead giveaway.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10396668/Today-in-politics-Tuesday-August-19
“Labour leader David Cunliffe tried to score a point over John Key yesterday by saying he rarely talks to bloggers, but that seems a stretch. ”
That has to be the understatement of the day
Don’t try and drag Cunliffe into this
Why not? Let’s make the comparison: David Cunliffe has done Q&A sessions right here at The Standard. Something to be ashamed of, not.
Now we know the Prime Minister hires people to post at Whaleoil for him, which begs the question: why can’t he post there under his own name?
Come on Puckish Runt, let’s hear it.
PR
And your point is?
So who will win the upcoming nat party leadership election contest?
Obviously judith, despite her arrogance probably disagreeing, is now out of the running and joyce, with his creepy and slimy dirty politics defence is looking somewhat lame, so with both pre race favourites falling at the starting gate, who’s left?
At a guess, English is happiest of the party stablemates right now.
Paula could be cake and sticked into making an attempt at a run.
And a longshot is Simple Simon from Tauranga, just as long as he doesn’t have to think and elucidate on the campaign trail.
sounds like a script for a horror movie.
A very interesting Blogpost by Giovani tiso…I wondered who might have written the anonymous articles in the Listerner….possibly Jane Clifton.
http://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/of-journalism-and-monsters.html
Part of the Crosby Textor strategy is to dissuade people from voting at all, which was what happened last time.
That idea was explained in Dirty Politics by Simon Lusk.
“There are a few basic propositions with negative campaigning that are worth knowing about. It lowers turnout, favours right more than left as the right continues to turn out, and drives away the independents.’ In short, many people stop participating in politics. If politicians cannot be trusted, if politics looks like a petty or ugly game, and if no one seems to be talking about the things that matter, then what’s the point of bothering to participate? Just leave them to it.”
When you vote take 2 people with you and get them to take 2 people etc.etc.
Simon Lusk overstates the effect of negative campaigning. It may stop people participating in organised mainstream politics, but it also encourages stronger community links and unofficial groups. People don’t just throw up their hands and think, “oh well boss man is just too big for me. Best I just stand by and let my family die …”. Happens all over the world, throughout history, and while not entirely a constructive example it’s already happened here too: The Mongrel Mob.
I wonder why Colin Craig has been so quiet since publication of Dirty Politics ?
And then there is this … I guess if you want to defile a hoarding for any reason, it’s good to have some creative talent ! And yes, as is commented, it is an improvement of the Splendour In The Grass images …
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11310723
Now John Key is using RNZAF A109’s to get himself around the country and campaign. What an appalling man and not very sound judgement. I know he occupies the highest office in the land, but there has to be a stage where public servants can say GTFO we can’t do that for you PM.
A couple of years back people said Key didn’t look like he wanted the job, and tories were outraged.
Then it turned out that yeah, he was seriously considering quitting the job.
Does this look like someone who wants to stay PM? I don’t think so – he’ll be off after the election, however it turns out. Joyce, Blinglish and Collins will be fighting over the succession: who gets to be PM if they win, and who doesn’t have to be caretaker leader of the opposition if they lose.
Collins to Slater email; Pleasants ph. numbers supplied
https://twitter.com/whaledump/status/501519060782551040
interestingly not from collins’ govt email but her private ‘judithcollinslaw’ which is hugely ironic …
(maybe she is related to coleslaw from banks’ cabbage boat ?)
when ‘last’ doesn’t mean ‘last’ .. another lie from Key .. but at least he has been forced to address it, or so it seems .. Key on Collins …
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11311222
( she is getting another chance because it’s all a left-wing smear campaign ffs !
http://www.throng.co.nz/2014/08/ratings-campbell-live-suffers-worst-week-2014/
What is not as big a deal?
Well if people were as interested in Nicky Hager and dirty politics as the left were hoping then Campbells ratings would have been up yet his ratings were poo so I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusion as to why his ratings are in the toilet
because they flipped over to 7 Sharp that was screen the same thing maybe?
Ok so
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/10396698/Surplus-on-track-Treasury-figures-show
Well done National and John Key
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10399377/Ron-Mark-back-with-NZ-First
New Zealand First MP Andrew Williams is set to be dumped to an unelectable position on the party list, with former MP Ron Mark set to rejoin the party.
Stuff understands a draft copy of the NZ First list, determined by the party’s selection committee on the weekend, has Williams ranked at 13, and Mark ranked at 9.
Christchurch Earthquake
Take that out of the equation and we are in a deep recession.
National has failed on every count
Maybe pr is given them a last last last chance, which seems to be in vogue down nat party lane.
This year the books are forecast to return to surplus
The projected surplus is less then the model error.(and already wrong due to the models finalization in early august)
Whose books? Nicki Hagers?
Just joking, I know how little he’ll make from this.
Bryce Edwards dumped by NZH – Cathy Odgers and Pagani doing columns
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11300033
So, Josie for the centre right, Cathy Odgers for the contract killer vote, who have they got from the left?
lol…i shouldnt laugh because it is very very, serious …..potentially fatal…that horrible Cactus woman should come somewhere under the Crimes Act imo
…i hope someone hauls her arse and those of her co-conspirators /collaborators before the courts
Law Society needs lots of letters.
well maybe an online petition /letter of concern could be started….I certainly would be willing to sign….she certainly does not do the legal fraternity any favours … in fact she brings them into disrepute
Fricking Josie Pagani. Figures. At least she’s good at being a careerist.
I really would like to know what is Labours Policy on Broadcasting/Media.
Nothing on the website but if they are serious about cleaning up NZ they need a strong Broadcasting Policy
Ron +100
Jacinda inadvertently broached this in the Arts debate covered here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11309897
Revive TVNZ7 or similar public broadcaster, apparently.
I’ll assume there’s quite a bit more substance to it than that, because otherwise it would be utterly pathetic and ineffectual.
fair assumption.
‘cept that’s the Arts policy, and Ron was asking about the Broadcasting/Media policy, which it’s fair to say isn’t yet articulated on the Labour website.
Kris Faafoi seems to have been largely AWOL since the corporate box affair…
oh, ok, arts culture and heritage doesn’t involve media.
I guess if it hasn’t been released yet we must assume that it does not exist and everyone in caucus is a neoliberal rogernome. Seems reasonable.
lol
Farrar on the Panel.
How does he get selected?
What happens if Mora has to interview him about Dirty Politics in Checkpoint.
Not good enough, RNZ.
Jim Mora’s a Nat’s spinner mole, and should go or come clean and give promised unbiased media.
‘Panic setting in for National as they realise what’s about to happen’
By Martyn Bradbury / August 19, 2014
“Whaledump has the potential to reveal the full picture and the full picture is just so much more disgusting and damaging than what is currently out in front of the public, that’s why those within National and the Right who are being informed just how vile that picture is are putting as much distance between themselves and Slater as they humanly can….
.
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/08/19/panic-setting-in-for-national-as-they-realise-whats-about-to-happen/#sthash.fWh2KlNN.dpuf
Hi Trickledown, 1.1 at 7.11am
you should see this after you said;
“Why have my power bills gone up so much”.
Todays poll on high power prices.
http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Winston-Peters-A-burglary-that-went-horribly-wrong-for-the-president/tabid/721/articleID/52607/Default.aspx
Don’t forget Nixon on History channel after 8pm tonight.
Radio LIVE Daily Poll
Thank You for Participating
1. Have you found it a struggle to pay your power bill this winter?
Yes 59 of votes 59%
No 41 of votes 41%
Hi Trickledown, 1.1 at 7.11am
you should see this after you said;
“Why have my power bills gone up so much”.
Have a look at the graph how much power costs have risen. Nat’s said all happened under Labour.’
Bloody liars again!!!MMMMMM
http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Duncan-Garner-Power-prices-revealed-Why-you-pay-what-you-do/tabid/674/articleID/52614/Default.aspx
ZB reporting that Slater has called Ede squeamish and gutless for not speaking about his black ops role. Weehee! the right are eating themselves!
Anyone got a link?
Slater calling Ede a gutless —-
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbpol/953007518-new–whaledump–info-targets-judith-Collins
7;pm Campbelllive in Rununga west coast talking to folks about the Feral /Slater issue.
8pm on History Nixon – Watergate tonight.
also on Herald site first I think …
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11311070
@ Weepus Beard….Ede really is the dark horse here
Call me a nosey Chook but:
….what is his profile?
…who is he married/partnered to? ( anyone famous?)
….what is his CV background? ( Harvard? Cambridge?)
…where are the photos? ( golfing body shots are not clear enough)
…what exactly is his relationship with John Key?
… thus far Ede seems to have swum under the radar….but maybe he is pivotal?
Ok, so there’s this poster on a completely different forum which I used to be a memeber of who says he went to school with Ede. The poster is a fleewee, lives in London but likes to comment favourably toward the right when talking about NZ even though he’s not contributed to this country for some years now. I’ll post some of his musings on this…
and
– Seneca of the Night
well thanks for that …but still the faceless man of mystery….seems like a pivot man in the whole scheme of things ….even a junior Mr. Smiley ( but then i am just a nosey Chook with too much imagination)
…but maybe things will clarify…i look forward to a special Post on him on the Standard
i remember a book i used to read to the kids ….’Where is Wally?’
….where is Jason?
Yes, I know as much as anyone on Ede. The first I remember his name being mentioned was the photos of the aftermath of the press party sent straight to the hate speech merchant, Cameron Slater.
Well we didn’t have uniforms in the 7th Form.
Has anybody seen Ede then, or is he an alter-ego of someone?
Yes, I have looked for stuff on Ede before and found very little via google. I thought I saw a link to a newspaper article back in about 2005 or so – maybe earlier, maybe later. I thought it was a newspaper article that was written by Jason Ede, about John key.
I just had another look tonight.
I found this mention from a couple of days ago on NZ Herald, with a bit about Ede being a former journalist and Don Brash’s press secretary.
I found this, which is total heresay, and as far as I know, could just be someone’s fantasy – although, he does have a bit of contextual detail – elaborate fantasy, if it is one.
My link to John Key. saying Ede knows where Key’s bodies are buried.
Ede also gets a mention in the Hollow Men. Forwarding and email of story about Brash.
Ede and Kevin Taylor were both Press secretaries for Brash.
Bryce Edwards said way back, that Ede came from TV3.
Why do Brash and Key need two press secretaries for? Kevin seems to do a good enough job. Jason seems invisible.
Slater is calling him gutless.
Interesting that Slater is really pally with Jason but when he needs to ask a press secretary a favour regarding access to Key he asks Kevin.
Do you think Key takes Jason to Hawaii?
‘Can someone in the media please ask the PM of NZ to categorically deny any National Party staff worked with Cam Slater in the smearing of Tania Billingsley? ‘
By Martyn Bradbury / August 19, 2014
“Force him to go on the record!..
From Thursday – so long ago right?
http://www.3news.co.nz/Video-John-Key-talks-Nicky-Hagers-Dirty-Politics/tabid/1607/articleID/356848/Default.aspx
Prime Minister says he reads the standard and John – I can watch this again and again and again he goes on to say that hagers book only has pejorative things to say about about him personally. ?.not that hes read the book…wtf?
Has anyone posted a comment about the item tonight on Campbell Live which is that EQC is very short of money to complete their commitments. The reason is that the Government wants to hide the debt because if it was counted, then the “surplus” heralded by the Government does not exist. If proven this would suggest that the Govt is lying. Surely not.
Amazing what technology can do these days
Facebook to point out satire from news
http://www.3news.co.nz/Facebook-to-point-out-satire-from-news/tabid/412/articleID/357416/Default.aspx
Next they’ll be able to point out all cam slater’s comments and posts are sh!t.
Nixon & Watergate on at 8.30 tonight on History channel
Or 10.20 on maori tv tonight- Russell and Nicky
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BvX9HJECEAAPQW9.jpg
Disturbed outlined what’s happening power companies are paying bigger surpluses to shareholders basically a cartel no competition .The previous price rises were for upgrades of infrastructure now the spend on infrastructure is declining rapidly instead of competing for customers with lower prices shareholders are taking windfall profits and tuning time for govt intervention!
“power companies are paying bigger surpluses to shareholders”.
Quite right too, old boy. Gott’a get something out of the trough before those bally socialists win the election and nationalise it all again.
I see that @whaledump has this evening tweeted “This is not all about party politics. Be patient. You’ll see.”
Pure speculation, but I wonder if Mssrs. Mallard and/or Cosgrove are about to take a tumble. Mallard has been unusually silent on social media re: #dirtypolitics.
Assuming those two are the primary ABC sources for the likes of Garner and Gower, it doesn’t seem beyond the question they’ve been in communication with Slater.
Hope I’m wrong.
Surely anything about Labour would still be “party politics” as well. The simplest way to read “not all about party politics” is that there are leaks involving individuals or institutions that are not commonly associated with particular parties in the public eye.
You’re right, that is the most logical interpretation, which I think is the same point disturbed was making below.
The common factor will be whaleoil, and who he “runs interference” with/for.
Nah more like the Justice or other intel arm has been burnt now.
Did you watch Nixon Watergate tonight on History channel I posted it.
So way out about how far Nixon reached out to control all, so these guys may be in the play too.
Just looking at the Electoral Consortium stuff just put on line :
http://www.electionresults.co.nz/national-loses-youth-gains-middle-aged
There is a striking “bulge” in National’s electoral support in the 50 to 64 age bracket, and the profile is very different from 2011 :
Percentage of population by age bracket supporting National December 2011
18 to 24 – 38.4%
25 to 34 – 36.2%
35 to 49 – 46.7%
50 to 64 – 38.9%
65 plus – 44.4%
Percentage of population by age bracket supporting National July 2014
18 to 24 – 25.8%
25 to 34 – 32.9%
35 to 49 – 42.2%
50 to 64 – 51.2%
65 over – 44.6%
Two remarks
1) that’s a large constituency of people of roughly JK’s age who are fairly apolitical and identify with him (nice guy, winner)
2) They are National’s “soft underbelly”… (sorry, couldn’t resist)