One of the headlines of this election is how coal—the prime cause of man-made climate change—lost traction with voters, despite a huge influx of campaign spending by the fossil fuel industry. The industry was hoping to use coal to beat President Obama and win a Senate majority in coal states that also were swing states. In Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Montana, Democratic senators won against that onslaught of coal messaging and money. And the president won a majority in three of those states. On top of that, no senator who had voted against efforts in the Senate to strip the EPA of its ability to work on climate change ended up being punished at the polls. The coal money going into this campaign was a major effort to punish senators for voting for greenhouse gas controls and against coal and that effort failed—dramatically.
No doubt, that at the secret pre-conference meeting on Friday held behind closed doors between business leaders and the Labour caucus, big coal was present.
The message would have been, shut your traps, or else.
After a year of consultation and remits the members choose new Rules.
Shearer/Robertson mis-interpreted the membership power as a threat: mistake; they should have embraced it.
Shearer let journos rattle him over Cunliffe stating the obvious.
Shearer throws his toys out of the pram (and lost all the benefit of a good speech.)
Shearer calls for a vote that ignores the process just agreed by the members.
Shearer confirms all doubts about his ability under fire.
Shearer needs to study Jack Marshall’s speech after he was rolled by Muldoon in 1974. No doubt a nice guy, but not up to the job.
Clearly, he cannot energize caucus and bring forward the essential fresh faces. The Key government has been in chaos for months, yet rolls on almost unscathed due to incompetent Labour attacks. Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, time after time.
No wonder the rank & file are infuriated. It will take more than one mediocre speech to get them enthused.
Totally agree. What Labour needs now, what the country needs now is transparent democracy. National are doing dodgy deals with Sky City and who knows who else behind the public’s back. But what alternative does Labour in its present form offer? We do not need a self interested, vision less cartel to be running Labour into the ground or to be running New Zealand. Shearer and his allies behave like members of the Chinese Communist Party, spreading disinformation, performing hatchet jobs on any perceived threat and conniving in the back room to retain central control of everything. Labour with its present leadership is unvotable, even for someone like myself who has NEVER voted for anyone else. If David Cunliffe does manage to wrestle control away from this bunch it will not be a moment too soon for both the party and New Zealand.
I have heard talk about disciplining and this is amazing. If it occurs it will split the party in two.
The party despite intense pressure tells Caucus that they want to have a greater say in future leadership selection decisions including the endorsement next February.
David Cunliffe has not said he will challenge. He has not ruled it out in the future but there is a right for leadership to be reviewed. A challenge is of course possible and perfectly within his rights under caucus rules.
The ructions that have occurred are because of concern with Shearer’s performance. He had a good day on Sunday and spoke very well. Continued performances like this will mean that leadership issues will become moot.
Shearer should also show leadership by dealing with errant members of caucus. To the leaker who continuously undermines Cunliffe he should be dealt with summarily, Shane Jones undermining of relationships with the Green Party are something that should be dealt with.
Shearer should also deal with caucus and seek to unite it and give positions on merit.
Shearers response to launch the leadership bid within Caucus will (if he wins) tell the rank and file that they have no say on leadership (despite the remits). Key will laugh like crazy as Shearer and his Caucus allies tear the Labour party in two. Is that the mark of the man? Is that the mark of Parliamentary Labour?
I noticed that on Firstline Shearer is all me me me, what happened to whatever is best for the party??? Didn’t take long for him to become a me person.
So he we have Rachael talking to Cunliffe about leadership challenges. And now they say a member on Shearer’s side, (he is live on the phone to Patrick Gower,) is accusing Cunliffe of Treachery!! LIVE on TV3! What a colossal fuckwit! (Mallard comes to mind, he’s spiteful enough) the sooner, this bullshit and idiot that are fanning the flames are hunted down and ejected from the party the better for all.
I mean No wonder the Nats are not losing in the polls, you couldn’t write comedy this good!!
Was any other caucus member asked if they would rule out a future leadership bid?
Surely if Cunliffe was asked and Robertson was not (‘Do you support Shearer?’) is a completely different question) this must be proof of a deliberate stacking of the deck by the reporters concerned.
So many lines appeared to be crossed the past few days, I’ve been wondering about the possibility of a complaint to the broadcasting standards committee. It’s worrying that the media circus appears to now have carte blanche to misrepresent the facts deliberately manipulate future events including public opinion.
Indeed JS – It is the propaganda circus making sure that the people of this country, (those who bother to pay attention), are kept removed from the information, in any way possible.
Just keep confusing all/every message, perhaps people will give up, just to make sure, repeat, repeat, repeat, then litter lies with more lies and deflections, its terrible to see how low the NZ media has sunk over the years.
What do these little cretins think they are achieving, and where are they trained to operate in such dishonest, underhand ways, printing, editing, “reporting” lies!
The more you look at it, the more the media and its operators appear as nothing more than foreign agitators, which is pretty much what the political system is being run by anyway..
Shearers speech is said to be a good one,however, one speech does not make the man,
nothing changes, his ignorance of the internet world,ie commenters,bloggers,etc shows
he has no inclusiveness in mind,he has not even appologized for his statements,neither have
the other ministers.
The wider membership back cunliffe and have for a long time and i am picking that if
shearer stays on then the heart of labour will walk away.
If Cunliffe is ejected from caucus,this will start a strong objection from members,activists,
bloggers,commentators etc.
Shearer needs to do the decent thing and step down,he keeps saying he will be the next
PM, what a joker, no, he simply will be helping that ‘nice’ guy shonkey.
I thought you might like to know which companies are supporting Israel and its murderous policies towards the Palestinians. You might not want to buy their products to tell them what you think of them bombing and killing children and women and keeping the Gaza strip Palestinians starving year after year after year.
Thanks for this. The page links to another that explains how these companies support Israel specifically – helps with the decision-making about whether to boycott or otherwise protest.
It is all about egos between Shearer and Cunliffe.
Shearer’s ego is, I will fight to remain the leader.
Two problems here for me: Shearer cannot ignore what the Labour caucus and the Labour membership want.
Shearer misinterprets political speak due to his inexperience being a politician, I think the misinterpreting makes him come across as being hesitant/indecisive.
Cunliffe’s ego is, I have the ability to be the leader if voted in
Cunliffe does not misinterpret political speak, he does not come across as being hesitant or indecisive.
WTF Apparently Gaza doesn’t have underground shelters for its people. Surely this provision would be a basic, and they have tunnelling expertise which they use for transporting weapons. Which they then use to show Israelis that their opposition is still strong, they are not beaten down.
Then as they send off their missiles they provoke reaction from the extreme firepower that is available to the Jewish state, which then rains down on Gaza and harms their own people. A really vicious circle.
I thought that there was unemployment in Gaza and if so why couldn’t the young men have been assigned to practically help themselves, their families and communities. Maybe they could have something like Coober Pedy has, underground rooms that are cool in the heat. That would depend on their geology though.
Wouldn’t it be great if the USA anounced to Israel that it was going to divert some of the funds and assistance that it gives to them, to development in Gaza to help this war-damaged state. And that every time Gaza attacked Israel, there would be a deduction from the aid funds. And that every time Israel actually used their weapons on the Palestinians there would be a deduction from the weapons assistance program they presently provide to Israel.
As a weapons manufacturer the USA would probably not be allowed to do this because of lobbying opposition. And it is an important part of their economy. And because it also acts as a proxy war and proving ground for weapons, demonstrating USA might to the rest of the world.
WTF Apparently Gaza doesn’t have underground shelters for its people.
Not that it would help much. If a chosen target is assessed to be reinforced against attack, or has a bomb shelter, (US supplied) bunker buster munitions will be used instead of standard ones.
CV
That’s a really ugly scenario. A stain on the USA and Israel both. Old Testament stuff – and we shall rain plagues and fire upon our enemy sort of thing. Jesus came along with an olive branch to bring a new approach.
Re Joyce “threatening” UoA: Interesting to note how the Herald article paints the picture of the UoA being some sort of recalcitrant Leftist organisation. Nothing could be further from the truth. Apart from just talking bollocks, I don’t know how Joyce or a journalist could meet the VC there and decide that he needed guidance on how to understand what is going on.
Leading on from the mindset of the Knowledge Czar, Simon Collins of the Herald is going to take a week to prove that there is no light at the end of tunnel for anyone:
This first introduction simply reflects the limitations of his own opinions and life experience of what is and isn’t possible. For it to be true, a certain number of people would have to cease to exist. People successfully shift industry and the single most influential element is the ability of the employer to possess the kinds of traits that an active affiliation with the arts and humanities encourage. More, not less of these things, will solve the imbalances our working environments tend to experience.
Site is getting a reboot for updates in 30 minutes. I was going to do it on Friday when fast-reacting tech support was available bearing in mind the outage that happened last time I did this, but the site was understandably too active.
So we will be offline for a minute or two at about 11am is everything works ok.
That was a bit more exciting that I’d prefer. I’m not sure yet, but it looks like there was a left over setting from the hardware repair 72 days ago that prevented a clean restart.
There was an active exploit that I needed to get plugged. Wasn’t able to do the reboot last week so I worried about it during the weekend. Did it this morning because I have the time to deal with an outage.
I’ll do another reboot this evening with a hardware tech standing by to see if the restart is actually a real problem.
He is a former overseas Banker
He lives in Central Auckland
He lives in a multi million dollar house
His children go to private schools
He is a multi millionaire
Guess who – Key yea, and ????? our new leader – check the difference
That description could be anyone who owns property in central auckland. If a guy visits Africa and lends someone money expecting interest, does that mean he’s an overseas banker? Maybe Aucklanders should be banned from being holding political positions. Probably do the country good.
There was an interesting interview topic by Kathryn Ryan on 9toNoon this a.m. Morrisey you might be interested. It was about farmers and their problems with interest swop contrivances (better name than derivatives).
It seems that the Australian banks don’t need to worry about a falling Australian economy, they will just milk our milk-based economy with legerdemain in front of farmers who come seeking capital. There will be farmers selling up because of the pressure from the interest rates of these things soon as many suffer a fall in dairy prices. I wonder who will buy their farms then?
One farmer is said to have paid $4 million to get out of the break clause that most of us would know about through our house mortgagors. Mine was too high to change from fixed to floating at one time. The farmers are involved in huge costs to do so!
Overseas they are suing banks about their deceptions or inadequate explanations of these financial instruments – of torture. Here we are just getting started but there are people working on it, despite Federated Farmers who apparently has an ex-banker leading its management team who is pushing the personal responsibility and liability line. Damen O’Connor is doing some sterling work on this.
Water Care – Loss 60m
Auckland Council – Loss 167m
Both these are only this years losses on the instruments, and who knows what the contract positions looks like!
The farmer situations will force the farms into foreign hands, which it given the swaps were designed to reek havoc, one must conclude that this was the desired outcome.
Hooton said Cunliffe was following the TV cameras around. What I saw was the exact opposite. The TV cameras followed Cunliffe around and wouldn’t leave him alone. It was harassment.
Aye. Cunliffe sat ensconced with the New Lynn delegates for most of the conference. On Saturday he did not move during the vote on the constitutional changes. He did not lobby anyone. Every time he went for a pee the cameras jumped on him.
Hooton should not channel Mallard so often and take his comments with a grain of salt …
I didn’t see him lobbying anyone. I did not hear of him lobbying anyone.
I did hear of a lot of lobbying by caucus members to prevent the 60% leadership trigger going through both directly and via the calls, mail and texts that people were sending through. Thank you for doing that and thank you for your trust. Us poor struggling psuedo-journalists like your support.
…This re-birthing process cannot be avoided for the sake of some short term show of “unity’ staged to please the political pundits. Of late, Labour has been led by someone who cannot manage either his party’s best talent or the rogue elements within his own caucus – while the alternative option as leader seems to be deeply resented by many of the senior Labour MPs. Too bad for the party faithful. Evidently, they will need to wait a little while longer for a leadership that’s able to get really tough on John Key, rather than on its own dissatisfied elements.
Learning civics is a good idea
Lowering the age to 16 is a shitty attempt at trying to increase the left vote.
Gullible 16 year olds indoctrinated by left leaning teachers then going out and voting, just the sort of self serving BS you’d expect from Labour
I’d prefer raising the voting age to 20, unless you’re working then you can vote from 18 onwards.
I would have thought that most 16 year olds haven’t got much knowledge of or interest in politics and would most likely follow their parent’s voting habits.
“Lowering the age to 16 is a shitty attempt at trying to increase the left vote.”
Highly debatable. It’s just as easy to make the case that a teenage mindset naturally aligns well with extreme right wing libertarianism. The entire philosophy can be pretty well summed up as “STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO I KNOW MY RIGHTS YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!!”
Remember when you were a teenager and you wanted the freedom to make all your own decisions but you still expected your folks to supply you with a roof over your head and food in the fridge? That’s ACT policy.
Most people go through a bit of that as a teen. Most of us grow out of it.
“just the sort of self serving BS you’d expect from Labour”
Gullible 16 year olds indoctrinated by left leaning teachers
Its a wonder teachers can seem to walk straight when so many of them are known by all to be left-leaning. Some probably have to be carried around reposing horizontally on a palanquin because of the way they are always sloping off.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/7966662/Financial-squeeze-goes-on-the-once-well-off
How many of these people would still have their retirement funds had Key not have ended the deposit guarantee scheme? And why did they no hedge and put some of their funds into banks and secured investments in Australia where there is such a scheme. Now they need the welfare system, a salutatory tale indeed, that once high fliers rightly should get the safety net.
Kiwis born in NZ, who never stepped foot in NZ, could be eligible for student loans when they attend NZ universities? And why would NZ want Kiwis in Australia to get citizenship for their children and so create a class of dual citizens who could quite easily bridge the tasman, owning rentals in Auckland why sunning it in Australia? How does that help our economy?
Dismissing the Reserve Bank’s projections, dismissing Statistics New Zealand and the current unemployment rate, lies concerning youth employment, confusion about interest rates, dishonesty concerning the CGT and dismissing the growing divide between rich and poor just to mention a bit of John Keys recent disingenuous propaganda…
And consider the looming question of knowing or not knowing about Kim Dotcom. According to the wise Mr Hooton, If Key is proven to have known and been involved, then Key would have to resign from Parliament. March next year?
Could be sooner… There’s the SkyCity convention centre deal, which is the subject of an inquiry by the Auditor-General that has Keys dirty mits all over it. Here’s an interesting exchange between Green MP Denise Roche and Steven Joyce from a few days ago.
Do the rank and file have any say about choosing the Leader in the National Party?
It seems that the rank and file decision to have a say is usual in most Western Democracies, and now in Labour. How about the Nats? Democratic are they?
In respect of unemployment – two stories – both of which make me frustrated and sad/angry.
The first; the other night I set out to make an application to the ACC call centre (yes, but that’s how desperate I am). Through several pages on their website, save and continue, so far so good… Then, page 7, voice recording. The applicant must phone a number in any of the four main centres, and make a 30 second recording, entering a 5 digit ID code to do so. So, I disconnect, being that I am on dial up, make the recording, and return to the continue the application. Sadly, when I return, and re-connect, the page refreshes and gives me a new ID number – and tells me that I have not made a recording, having lost all the information I entered under the old ID number. So, I try again, same story. I phone their ‘if you have a problem’ number and leave a message for the HR bunny. She emailed me today, with the totally useless advice that I ‘use a friend’s phone’, or my ‘mobile phone’. Clearly, whatever someone’s reason for having to use dial up, someone with dial-up is excluded from applying for this job.
[The most amazing thing – I have just finished a phone screening by an ACC HR person, in response to my angry email! Wish me luck!]
Story # 2 – which is sadder and more frustrating. I know a guy on Facebook, who I think is about 20 or 21 years old. He’s been unemployed for years, and has made as many applications as I have – 1000+. Now, he’s decided to join the IDF and go off to Israel. (To be fair, he has other reasons for choosing the IDF, reasons I find utterly incomprehensible, but still. My father did the same thing in 1938, for the same reasons – joining the British Army in his case. The consequences for his life and ours, were horrendous. Granted, in his case he would probably have joined the army anyway. However these two incidents (my father and this guy) both demonstrate the kind of person who ends up actually being on the frontline in any war.
I sugges “worker volunteer brigades” to be established in NZ. Sadly most are too corrupted and complacent to even consider active resistance and to stand up for rights. They rather sell their bodies to make ends meet, as MSM tv media and so actualy encourage “alternative” lifestyles. Resistance is non existent in this dumbed down, manipulated and brainwashed country. They do not get it. So it is one against the other, shit on each other and the likes. I see it every day. Kiwis have become the worst cowards in the western world, no guts to even consider taking a stand, hence the flood to Australia. NO NATION, NO DIGNITY, NO WORTH: A SELL OUT COUNTRY IN SHORT!!!
In amongst all the beat up about/by Labour there’s this bit of news:
* 75% of Aucklanders want integrated bus-rail improvements to their public transport
* 64% support building the major City Rail Link (CRL) project, only 14% oppose
* 64% of those who support the CRL want it built “as soon as possible”, 22% by 2020
* Only 3% of CRL supporters think that it does not need to be complete by 2020
* If the CRL increases train frequency to every 15 minutes in peak hours, 6% would switch to using rail to travel to work
* Using conservative assumptions (see report), it is calculated that rail trips in the Auckland area could increase in peak by 5,230,000 trips a year and off peak trips by 1,640,000
* The extra 6,870,000 trips would lift rail patronage 65% above current figures
Depression hit me today, or rather yesterday, about Labour and the left. But I had to get some senses together and chose some musical distractions, of which some are:
Shit, this Opera browser is CRAP too, not showing links, I had enough of all this shit going on. Where are we heading? It is total big brother dictatorship and manipulation. I am starting to realise where not only “Che” came from but even more extreme ones of earlier days. NO faith in this society, that is my conclusion. Draw your own, but you will be an idiot to “trust”. I know too much, and some media may soon come out with some of that!
NZ is an oligopoly commercial dictatorship, media included, that is the bloody truth. Never compromise with that, you may better commit suicide as it is NOT worth living in or under such dictatorship!
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
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The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
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Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
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The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
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Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
Legislation to enable new water service delivery models that will drive critical investment in infrastructure has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a significant step towards the delivery of Local Water Done Well, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly say.“Councils and voters ...
New Zealand is one step closer to reaping the benefits of gene technology with the passing of the first reading of the Gene Technology Bill, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. "This legislation will end New Zealand's near 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab and is ...
ByKoroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor New Zealand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) says impending bad weather for Port Vila is now the most significant post-quake hazard. A tropical low in the Coral Sea is expected to move into Vanuatu waters, bringing heavy rainfall. Authorities have issued warnings to people ...
Cosmic CatastropheThe year draws to a close.King Luxon has grown tired of the long eveningsListening to the dreary squabbling of his Triumvirate.He strolls up to the top floor of the PalaceTo consult with his Astronomer Royal.The Royal Telescope scans the skies,And King Luxon stares up into the heavensFrom the terrestrial ...
Spinoff editor Mad Chapman and books editor Claire Mabey debate Carl Shuker’s new novel about… an editor. Claire: Hello Mad, you just finished The Royal Free – overall impressions? Mad: Hi Claire, I literally just put the book down and I would have to say my immediate impression is ...
Christmas and its buildup are often lonely, hard and full of unreasonable expectations. Here’s how to make it to Jesus’s birthday and find the little bit of joy we all deserve. Have you found this year relentless? Has the latest Apple update “fucked up your life”? Have you lost two ...
Despite overwhelming public and corporate support, the government has stalled progress on a modern day slavery law. That puts us behind other countries – and makes Christmas a time of tragedy rather than joy, argues Shanti Mathias. Picture the scene on Christmas Day. Everyone replete with nice things to eat, ...
Asia Pacific Report “It looks like Hiroshima. It looks like Germany at the end of World War Two,” says an Israeli-American historian and professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University about the horrifying reality of Gaza. Professor Omer Bartov, has described Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza as an ...
The New Zealand government coalition is tweaking university regulations to curb what it says is an increasingly “risk-averse approach” to free speech. The proposed changes will set clear expectations on how universities should approach freedom of speech issues. Each university will then have to adopt a “freedom of speech statement” ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone New York prosecutors have charged Luigi Mangione with “murder as an act of terrorism” in his alleged shooting of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. This news comes out at the same time as ...
Pacific Media Watch The union for Australian journalists has welcomed the delivery by the federal government of more than $150 million to support the sustainability of public interest journalism over the next four years. Combined with the announcement of the revamped News Bargaining Initiative, this could result in up to ...
MONDAY“Merry Xmas, and praise the Lord,” said Sheriff Luxon, and smiled for the camera. There was a flash of smoke when the shutter pressed down on the magnesium powder. The sheriff had arranged for a photographer from the Dodge Gazette to attend a ceremony where he handed out food parcels to ...
It’s a little under two months since the White Ferns shocked the cricketing world, deservedly taking home the T20 World Cup. Since then the trophy has had a tour around the country, five of the squad have played in the WBBL in Australia while most others have returned to domestic ...
Comment: If we say the word ‘dementia’, many will picture an older person struggling to remember the names of their loved ones, maybe a grandparent living out their final years in an aged care facility. Dementia can also occur in people younger than 65, but it can take time before ...
Piracy is a reality of modern life – but copyright law has struggled to play catch-up for as long as the entertainment industry has existed. As far back as 1988, the House of Lords criticised copyright law’s conflict with the reality of human behaviour in the context of burning cassette ...
As he makes a surprise return to Shortland Street, actor Craig Parker takes us through his life in television. Craig Parker has been a fixture on television in Aotearoa for nearly four decades. He had starring roles in iconic local series like Gloss, Mercy Peak and Diplomatic Immunity, featured in ...
The Ōtautahi musician shares the 10 tracks he loves to spin, including the folk classic that cured him of a ‘case of the give-ups’. When singer-songwriter Adam McGrath returns to Kumeu’s Auckland Folk Festival from January 24-27, he’s not planning on simply idling his way through – he wants the late ...
Alex Casey spends an afternoon on the job with River, the rescue dog on a mission to spread joy to Ōtautahi rest homes.Almost everyone says it is never enough time. But River the rescue dog, a jet black huntaway border collie cross, has to keep a tight pace to ...
Asia Pacific Report Fiji activists have recreated the nativity scene at a solidarity for Palestine gathering in Fiji’s capital Suva just days before Christmas. The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network recreated the scene at the FWCC compound — a baby Jesus figurine lies amidst the ...
By 1News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver and 1News reporters A number of Kiwis have been successfully evacuated from Vanuatu after a devastating earthquake shook the Pacific island nation earlier this week. The death toll was still unclear, though at least 14 people were killed according to an earlier statement from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Scully, Professor in Modern History, University of New England Bunker.Image courtesy of Michael Leunig, CC BY-NC-SA Michael Leunig – who died in the early hours of Thursday December 19, surrounded by “his children, loved ones, and sunflowers” – was the ...
The House - On Parliament's last day of the year, there was the rare occurrence of a personal (conscience) vote on selling booze over the Easter weekend. While it didn't have the numbers to pass, it was a chance to get a rare glimpse of the fact ...
A new poem by Holly Fletcher. bejeweled log i was dreaming about wasps / wee darlings that followed me / ducking under objects / that i was fated to pickup / my fingers seeking / and meeting with tiny proboscis’s / but instead / i wake up / roll sideways ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flora Hui, Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Honorary Fellow, Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne Versta/Shutterstock Australians are exposed to some of the highest levels of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the world. While we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Terry, Professor of Business Regulation, University of Sydney Michael von Aichberger/Shutterstock Even if you’ve no idea how the business model underpinning franchises works, there’s a good chance you’ve spent money at one. Franchising is essentially a strategy for cloning ...
If something big is going to happen in Ferndale, it’s going to happen at Christmas. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If there’s one episode of Shortland Street you should watch each year, it’s the annual Christmas cliffhanger. The final episode of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William A. Stoltz, Lecturer and expert Associate, National Security College, Australian National University US President-elect Donald Trump has named most of the members of his proposed cabinet. However, he’s yet to reveal key appointees to America’s powerful cyber warfare and intelligence institutions. ...
Announcing the top 10 books of the the year at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber, $37) The phenomenal Irish writer is the unsurprising chart topper for 2024 with her fourth novel that, much like her first ...
Coal Kills
Kill Coal
Coal kills people
Coal kills planets
Coal kills, Ban it
From the US elections:
http://earthjustice.org/blog/2012-november/climate-change-re-elected-as-political-issue
[lprent: off topic. Sent to OpenMike ]
No doubt, that at the secret pre-conference meeting on Friday held behind closed doors between business leaders and the Labour caucus, big coal was present.
The message would have been, shut your traps, or else.
A global call to arms from “anonymous” to all internet activists.
Anonymous attacks 10,000 Israeli websites over Gaza
National Radio rather hilariously described it as “data bombardment”.
Bombardment Bomber Harris bombardment
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/israeli-government-websites-under-mass-hacking-attack
.
Sold out: http://tumeke.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/cameron-slater-admits-to-taking-pr.html
.
Oh thanks I did need a good laugh this morning.
Excellent. So now we can assume that all posts by WO are paid-for spin.
I was thinking that an exhaustive analysis of previous campaigns by WO and speculating about who paid for them could be interesting.
yeah but would we have to actually read his posts or visit his site? [shudder]
What happened this weekend?
After a year of consultation and remits the members choose new Rules.
Shearer/Robertson mis-interpreted the membership power as a threat: mistake; they should have embraced it.
Shearer let journos rattle him over Cunliffe stating the obvious.
Shearer throws his toys out of the pram (and lost all the benefit of a good speech.)
Shearer calls for a vote that ignores the process just agreed by the members.
Shearer confirms all doubts about his ability under fire.
Shearer needs to study Jack Marshall’s speech after he was rolled by Muldoon in 1974. No doubt a nice guy, but not up to the job.
Clearly, he cannot energize caucus and bring forward the essential fresh faces. The Key government has been in chaos for months, yet rolls on almost unscathed due to incompetent Labour attacks. Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, time after time.
No wonder the rank & file are infuriated. It will take more than one mediocre speech to get them enthused.
Until you need a 5 second sound bite then he’s all at sea!
Totally agree. What Labour needs now, what the country needs now is transparent democracy. National are doing dodgy deals with Sky City and who knows who else behind the public’s back. But what alternative does Labour in its present form offer? We do not need a self interested, vision less cartel to be running Labour into the ground or to be running New Zealand. Shearer and his allies behave like members of the Chinese Communist Party, spreading disinformation, performing hatchet jobs on any perceived threat and conniving in the back room to retain central control of everything. Labour with its present leadership is unvotable, even for someone like myself who has NEVER voted for anyone else. If David Cunliffe does manage to wrestle control away from this bunch it will not be a moment too soon for both the party and New Zealand.
It looks like they aren’t just going to demote Cunliffe – they are going to expel him from the caucus?!?
Where’s that coming from, bomber?
Yep, looks like he’s getting the boot.
No room for back stabbers.
^^^ noise
I have heard talk about disciplining and this is amazing. If it occurs it will split the party in two.
The party despite intense pressure tells Caucus that they want to have a greater say in future leadership selection decisions including the endorsement next February.
David Cunliffe has not said he will challenge. He has not ruled it out in the future but there is a right for leadership to be reviewed. A challenge is of course possible and perfectly within his rights under caucus rules.
The ructions that have occurred are because of concern with Shearer’s performance. He had a good day on Sunday and spoke very well. Continued performances like this will mean that leadership issues will become moot.
Shearer should also show leadership by dealing with errant members of caucus. To the leaker who continuously undermines Cunliffe he should be dealt with summarily, Shane Jones undermining of relationships with the Green Party are something that should be dealt with.
Shearer should also deal with caucus and seek to unite it and give positions on merit.
Shearers response to launch the leadership bid within Caucus will (if he wins) tell the rank and file that they have no say on leadership (despite the remits). Key will laugh like crazy as Shearer and his Caucus allies tear the Labour party in two. Is that the mark of the man? Is that the mark of Parliamentary Labour?
Shearer needs to jump on Cunliffe with jackboots, he’s fighting for his political career.
Time to get bloody.
You mean Shearer should now get rid of a bunch of his MPs, leaving only his closest supporters left standing in caucus?
I suppose it’s one way to win a 60% confidence vote, but for Labour it will be a disaster.
BM: 19 November 2012 at 8:06am
^^^ lousy signal. more noise.
Cunlliffe represents the Alliance
Shearer represents Labour.
There’s no room for both, one has to go and I’d put money on it that it ain’t going to be Shearer.
So credible, so relevant. Do you have any more infinitely wise and noble delusions?
BM: 19 November 2012 at 8:23am
^^^ Rubbish and lots more noise.
Neither of them represent NZ!
I noticed that on Firstline Shearer is all me me me, what happened to whatever is best for the party??? Didn’t take long for him to become a me person.
So he we have Rachael talking to Cunliffe about leadership challenges. And now they say a member on Shearer’s side, (he is live on the phone to Patrick Gower,) is accusing Cunliffe of Treachery!! LIVE on TV3! What a colossal fuckwit! (Mallard comes to mind, he’s spiteful enough) the sooner, this bullshit and idiot that are fanning the flames are hunted down and ejected from the party the better for all.
I mean No wonder the Nats are not losing in the polls, you couldn’t write comedy this good!!
His interview on National Radio was frankly weird and aggressive. He sounded very angry.
Who is ‘he’?
Shearer on firstline:
“I’m not gonna say what I’m gonna do what I’m gonna say I’m gonna do is moving forward…”
Okaaay.
More brilliance from Puddleglum. This time on Key’s “jocular” nature.
http://www.thepoliticalscientist.org/?p=1138#more-1138
you cultural devil you
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/devil-wife-all-hell-breaks-loose-when-a-japanese-woman-wants-a-career-and-a-family-8326937.html
(just saying)
:)-no cookie for me
Little question maybe someone can help me with:
Was any other caucus member asked if they would rule out a future leadership bid?
Surely if Cunliffe was asked and Robertson was not (‘Do you support Shearer?’) is a completely different question) this must be proof of a deliberate stacking of the deck by the reporters concerned.
So many lines appeared to be crossed the past few days, I’ve been wondering about the possibility of a complaint to the broadcasting standards committee. It’s worrying that the media circus appears to now have carte blanche to misrepresent the facts deliberately manipulate future events including public opinion.
Indeed JS – It is the propaganda circus making sure that the people of this country, (those who bother to pay attention), are kept removed from the information, in any way possible.
Just keep confusing all/every message, perhaps people will give up, just to make sure, repeat, repeat, repeat, then litter lies with more lies and deflections, its terrible to see how low the NZ media has sunk over the years.
What do these little cretins think they are achieving, and where are they trained to operate in such dishonest, underhand ways, printing, editing, “reporting” lies!
The more you look at it, the more the media and its operators appear as nothing more than foreign agitators, which is pretty much what the political system is being run by anyway..
The world is but a stage…..
Shearers speech is said to be a good one,however, one speech does not make the man,
nothing changes, his ignorance of the internet world,ie commenters,bloggers,etc shows
he has no inclusiveness in mind,he has not even appologized for his statements,neither have
the other ministers.
The wider membership back cunliffe and have for a long time and i am picking that if
shearer stays on then the heart of labour will walk away.
If Cunliffe is ejected from caucus,this will start a strong objection from members,activists,
bloggers,commentators etc.
Shearer needs to do the decent thing and step down,he keeps saying he will be the next
PM, what a joker, no, he simply will be helping that ‘nice’ guy shonkey.
But he won’t. He has changed into a ME person!
Labour are really looking like they are the government in waiting.
Dicks.
Flanked
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/middle_east/view/20121118syrian_civil_war_spillover_draws_israeli_fire/
Indeed, Entry of the Gladiators.
🙂
almost Wagnerian
Very apt there, Gormless.
I thought you might like to know which companies are supporting Israel and its murderous policies towards the Palestinians. You might not want to buy their products to tell them what you think of them bombing and killing children and women and keeping the Gaza strip Palestinians starving year after year after year.
Thanks for this. The page links to another that explains how these companies support Israel specifically – helps with the decision-making about whether to boycott or otherwise protest.
http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-brands.html
Thank you for that! I am checking it out now…
Brotherhood
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/9686616/Gaza-conflict-Egypt-tries-to-reassert-itself-as-diplomatic-leader-of-Arab-world.html
It is all about egos between Shearer and Cunliffe.
Shearer’s ego is, I will fight to remain the leader.
Two problems here for me: Shearer cannot ignore what the Labour caucus and the Labour membership want.
Shearer misinterprets political speak due to his inexperience being a politician, I think the misinterpreting makes him come across as being hesitant/indecisive.
Cunliffe’s ego is, I have the ability to be the leader if voted in
Cunliffe does not misinterpret political speak, he does not come across as being hesitant or indecisive.
Cliff
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-16/world-s-wealthiest-lose-26-billion-as-fiscal-cliff-nears.html
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1016351-why-america-is-about-to-join-europe-s-austerity-mess-and-what-to-do-about-it
some of our “own” opinion Stuff
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/7920364/
WTF Apparently Gaza doesn’t have underground shelters for its people. Surely this provision would be a basic, and they have tunnelling expertise which they use for transporting weapons. Which they then use to show Israelis that their opposition is still strong, they are not beaten down.
Then as they send off their missiles they provoke reaction from the extreme firepower that is available to the Jewish state, which then rains down on Gaza and harms their own people. A really vicious circle.
I thought that there was unemployment in Gaza and if so why couldn’t the young men have been assigned to practically help themselves, their families and communities. Maybe they could have something like Coober Pedy has, underground rooms that are cool in the heat. That would depend on their geology though.
Wouldn’t it be great if the USA anounced to Israel that it was going to divert some of the funds and assistance that it gives to them, to development in Gaza to help this war-damaged state. And that every time Gaza attacked Israel, there would be a deduction from the aid funds. And that every time Israel actually used their weapons on the Palestinians there would be a deduction from the weapons assistance program they presently provide to Israel.
As a weapons manufacturer the USA would probably not be allowed to do this because of lobbying opposition. And it is an important part of their economy. And because it also acts as a proxy war and proving ground for weapons, demonstrating USA might to the rest of the world.
Not that it would help much. If a chosen target is assessed to be reinforced against attack, or has a bomb shelter, (US supplied) bunker buster munitions will be used instead of standard ones.
CV
That’s a really ugly scenario. A stain on the USA and Israel both. Old Testament stuff – and we shall rain plagues and fire upon our enemy sort of thing. Jesus came along with an olive branch to bring a new approach.
These people lived together in peace and harmony for centuries. They have more in common than not. It’s very unfortunate.
They still do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn4ZX99Fbxs
Correct CV, which is why it is so garlingly obvious that both sides of any “war”, are controlled by the same puppet masters!
Joyce the “knowledge czar”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10848413
110% Pure Fiction Bilbo
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10848410
Re Joyce “threatening” UoA: Interesting to note how the Herald article paints the picture of the UoA being some sort of recalcitrant Leftist organisation. Nothing could be further from the truth. Apart from just talking bollocks, I don’t know how Joyce or a journalist could meet the VC there and decide that he needed guidance on how to understand what is going on.
Leading on from the mindset of the Knowledge Czar, Simon Collins of the Herald is going to take a week to prove that there is no light at the end of tunnel for anyone:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10848317
This first introduction simply reflects the limitations of his own opinions and life experience of what is and isn’t possible. For it to be true, a certain number of people would have to cease to exist. People successfully shift industry and the single most influential element is the ability of the employer to possess the kinds of traits that an active affiliation with the arts and humanities encourage. More, not less of these things, will solve the imbalances our working environments tend to experience.
Joyce is a nasty little fascist.
Blimey, things have turned really nasty in caucus …
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/court/7942505/Shearer-hit-workmate-breaking-tooth
😉
(sorry, just needed a laugh this Monday morning …)
😈
Site is getting a reboot for updates in 30 minutes. I was going to do it on Friday when fast-reacting tech support was available bearing in mind the outage that happened last time I did this, but the site was understandably too active.
So we will be offline for a minute or two at about 11am is everything works ok.
That was a bit more exciting that I’d prefer. I’m not sure yet, but it looks like there was a left over setting from the hardware repair 72 days ago that prevented a clean restart.
One 30 minute outage later….
TS now working fine for me.
Questions were asked on Twitter.
There was an active exploit that I needed to get plugged. Wasn’t able to do the reboot last week so I worried about it during the weekend. Did it this morning because I have the time to deal with an outage.
I’ll do another reboot this evening with a hardware tech standing by to see if the restart is actually a real problem.
Responded on twitter – thanks.
Bumble Dee and Tumble Weed
He is a former overseas Banker
He lives in Central Auckland
He lives in a multi million dollar house
His children go to private schools
He is a multi millionaire
Guess who – Key yea, and ????? our new leader – check the difference
If you are imputing David Cunliffe in this, please say so plainly.
got a spare room next to the pinot noir cellar?
That description could be anyone who owns property in central auckland. If a guy visits Africa and lends someone money expecting interest, does that mean he’s an overseas banker? Maybe Aucklanders should be banned from being holding political positions. Probably do the country good.
There was an interesting interview topic by Kathryn Ryan on 9toNoon this a.m. Morrisey you might be interested. It was about farmers and their problems with interest swop contrivances (better name than derivatives).
It seems that the Australian banks don’t need to worry about a falling Australian economy, they will just milk our milk-based economy with legerdemain in front of farmers who come seeking capital. There will be farmers selling up because of the pressure from the interest rates of these things soon as many suffer a fall in dairy prices. I wonder who will buy their farms then?
One farmer is said to have paid $4 million to get out of the break clause that most of us would know about through our house mortgagors. Mine was too high to change from fixed to floating at one time. The farmers are involved in huge costs to do so!
Overseas they are suing banks about their deceptions or inadequate explanations of these financial instruments – of torture. Here we are just getting started but there are people working on it, despite Federated Farmers who apparently has an ex-banker leading its management team who is pushing the personal responsibility and liability line. Damen O’Connor is doing some sterling work on this.
banks who sell high risk toxic products to their clients should be done for it.
Water Care – Loss 60m
Auckland Council – Loss 167m
Both these are only this years losses on the instruments, and who knows what the contract positions looks like!
The farmer situations will force the farms into foreign hands, which it given the swaps were designed to reek havoc, one must conclude that this was the desired outcome.
More ways for banks to clip the ticket. I wonder how these types can sleep at night.
Time to tune in to radio nz to find out what Trevor’s been telling Matthyawn.
MH said “Cunliffe over-played his hand during the weekend.”
Hooton said Cunliffe was following the TV cameras around. What I saw was the exact opposite. The TV cameras followed Cunliffe around and wouldn’t leave him alone. It was harassment.
Aye. Cunliffe sat ensconced with the New Lynn delegates for most of the conference. On Saturday he did not move during the vote on the constitutional changes. He did not lobby anyone. Every time he went for a pee the cameras jumped on him.
Hooton should not channel Mallard so often and take his comments with a grain of salt …
I didn’t see him lobbying anyone. I did not hear of him lobbying anyone.
I did hear of a lot of lobbying by caucus members to prevent the 60% leadership trigger going through both directly and via the calls, mail and texts that people were sending through. Thank you for doing that and thank you for your trust. Us poor struggling psuedo-journalists like your support.
Overplayed??? I didn’t see anyone threatening to instigate an early leadership vote during the weekend…uh, except Shearer’s team.
Some sober and wise ananlysis from gordon Campbell.
http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2012/11/19/gordon-campbell-on-the-labour-party-ructions/
He concludes:
Is is true that Labour would like to lower the voting age to 16?
Have a look at http://thestandard.org.nz/labour-conference-2012-policy-remits/
Learning civics is a good idea
Lowering the age to 16 is a shitty attempt at trying to increase the left vote.
Gullible 16 year olds indoctrinated by left leaning teachers then going out and voting, just the sort of self serving BS you’d expect from Labour
I’d prefer raising the voting age to 20, unless you’re working then you can vote from 18 onwards.
the agenda of the first four lines are more than just a Bowel Movement
I would have thought that most 16 year olds haven’t got much knowledge of or interest in politics and would most likely follow their parent’s voting habits.
“Lowering the age to 16 is a shitty attempt at trying to increase the left vote.”
Highly debatable. It’s just as easy to make the case that a teenage mindset naturally aligns well with extreme right wing libertarianism. The entire philosophy can be pretty well summed up as “STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO I KNOW MY RIGHTS YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!!”
Remember when you were a teenager and you wanted the freedom to make all your own decisions but you still expected your folks to supply you with a roof over your head and food in the fridge? That’s ACT policy.
Most people go through a bit of that as a teen. Most of us grow out of it.
“just the sort of self serving BS you’d expect from Labour”
Uh huh, whatevs.
“I’d prefer raising the voting age to 20”
Hilar.
Its a wonder teachers can seem to walk straight when so many of them are known by all to be left-leaning. Some probably have to be carried around reposing horizontally on a palanquin because of the way they are always sloping off.
Have you ever taught 16-20 year olds? You know many of them are as likely to want to say or do the opposite of what a teacher tells them, don’t you?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/7966662/Financial-squeeze-goes-on-the-once-well-off
How many of these people would still have their retirement funds had Key not have ended the deposit guarantee scheme? And why did they no hedge and put some of their funds into banks and secured investments in Australia where there is such a scheme. Now they need the welfare system, a salutatory tale indeed, that once high fliers rightly should get the safety net.
Kiwis born in NZ, who never stepped foot in NZ, could be eligible for student loans when they attend NZ universities? And why would NZ want Kiwis in Australia to get citizenship for their children and so create a class of dual citizens who could quite easily bridge the tasman, owning rentals in Auckland why sunning it in Australia? How does that help our economy?
John Keys worst performance ever
Dismissing the Reserve Bank’s projections, dismissing Statistics New Zealand and the current unemployment rate, lies concerning youth employment, confusion about interest rates, dishonesty concerning the CGT and dismissing the growing divide between rich and poor just to mention a bit of John Keys recent disingenuous propaganda…
And consider the looming question of knowing or not knowing about Kim Dotcom. According to the wise Mr Hooton, If Key is proven to have known and been involved, then Key would have to resign from Parliament. March next year?
Could be sooner… There’s the SkyCity convention centre deal, which is the subject of an inquiry by the Auditor-General that has Keys dirty mits all over it. Here’s an interesting exchange between Green MP Denise Roche and Steven Joyce from a few days ago.
Key asked about CGT. Said he was open to debate. That its NO to a CGT. And that we already have one. All in one reply on Q&A. Key is irrelevant.
Do the rank and file have any say about choosing the Leader in the National Party?
It seems that the rank and file decision to have a say is usual in most Western Democracies, and now in Labour. How about the Nats? Democratic are they?
Can someone please explain the meaning of “refutes” to Fairfax’s headline writers?
In respect of unemployment – two stories – both of which make me frustrated and sad/angry.
The first; the other night I set out to make an application to the ACC call centre (yes, but that’s how desperate I am). Through several pages on their website, save and continue, so far so good… Then, page 7, voice recording. The applicant must phone a number in any of the four main centres, and make a 30 second recording, entering a 5 digit ID code to do so. So, I disconnect, being that I am on dial up, make the recording, and return to the continue the application. Sadly, when I return, and re-connect, the page refreshes and gives me a new ID number – and tells me that I have not made a recording, having lost all the information I entered under the old ID number. So, I try again, same story. I phone their ‘if you have a problem’ number and leave a message for the HR bunny. She emailed me today, with the totally useless advice that I ‘use a friend’s phone’, or my ‘mobile phone’. Clearly, whatever someone’s reason for having to use dial up, someone with dial-up is excluded from applying for this job.
[The most amazing thing – I have just finished a phone screening by an ACC HR person, in response to my angry email! Wish me luck!]
Story # 2 – which is sadder and more frustrating. I know a guy on Facebook, who I think is about 20 or 21 years old. He’s been unemployed for years, and has made as many applications as I have – 1000+. Now, he’s decided to join the IDF and go off to Israel. (To be fair, he has other reasons for choosing the IDF, reasons I find utterly incomprehensible, but still. My father did the same thing in 1938, for the same reasons – joining the British Army in his case. The consequences for his life and ours, were horrendous. Granted, in his case he would probably have joined the army anyway. However these two incidents (my father and this guy) both demonstrate the kind of person who ends up actually being on the frontline in any war.
I sugges “worker volunteer brigades” to be established in NZ. Sadly most are too corrupted and complacent to even consider active resistance and to stand up for rights. They rather sell their bodies to make ends meet, as MSM tv media and so actualy encourage “alternative” lifestyles. Resistance is non existent in this dumbed down, manipulated and brainwashed country. They do not get it. So it is one against the other, shit on each other and the likes. I see it every day. Kiwis have become the worst cowards in the western world, no guts to even consider taking a stand, hence the flood to Australia. NO NATION, NO DIGNITY, NO WORTH: A SELL OUT COUNTRY IN SHORT!!!
In amongst all the beat up about/by Labour there’s this bit of news:
Draco,we know all that, but also: None of them want to pay for it! That is NZ!!!
Well that’s the MSM vindicated, sorry M8 )-: they were being played merrily.
Another knee jerk assumption from some blogger with a pseudonym 😀
Depression hit me today, or rather yesterday, about Labour and the left. But I had to get some senses together and chose some musical distractions, of which some are:
Shit, this Opera browser is CRAP too, not showing links, I had enough of all this shit going on. Where are we heading? It is total big brother dictatorship and manipulation. I am starting to realise where not only “Che” came from but even more extreme ones of earlier days. NO faith in this society, that is my conclusion. Draw your own, but you will be an idiot to “trust”. I know too much, and some media may soon come out with some of that!
NZ is an oligopoly commercial dictatorship, media included, that is the bloody truth. Never compromise with that, you may better commit suicide as it is NOT worth living in or under such dictatorship!
Ananau Alborado Peru
and others are ethnic music performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZYpGocxxfo
something worth studying! Tihuanaco!