Strike me ! ya Tory Blaggards, Scurvy Cut-throats and Scurrilous Scabs ! … If I aint just posted this provocative little treatise on me very own Blog !!! … Aye !, but not before sailing her to the South Pacific, scuttling her on the seas of high finance.and rowing ashore every last God-forsaken barrel of rum !!!
Ere’s a heartbreakin’ little quote from me very own Conclusion that pretty well sums up the whole Goddam thing, me Hearties
Prominent National Party operative David Farrar has very successfully managed to sell the MSM a bogus honeymoon meme. This, in turn, has generated a whole series of negative headlines for the Ardern Coalition … reinforcing, in the process, some of National’s key attack lines around the alleged fragility and illegitimacy of the new Government.
Hey swordfish, how about emailing a ‘condensed’ version of your findings to each of the journalists/columnists named and to Farrar himself of course. I say condensed because I doubt the attention span of some would be sufficient to cover the whole post.
Great work. If you want to condense it, can I suggest starting with your section containing the actual figures, then adding the preamble for those who need it. Also maybe explicitly add in NZF figures separately.
Would be great to see how some journos (don’t) react.
To clarify (now that my caffeine levels have been restored), I mean move the numbers section to the beginning.
I also believe you may be giving Farrar too much credit for strategic campaigns masterminded and spread by the Nat leader’s office (as we saw with Dirty Politics) to all their party operatives including the penguin and assorted tame hacks.
Aaarr matey, ’tis not International Talk Like a Pirate day til September, but Go’bli’me if it ain’t fun anytime.
Fuck that was a good post. Like the media suckers busy repeating it, I hadn’t imagined that Farrar would just make shit up to that extent. Thanks for putting in the work on it.
Apparently all pirates, including Arab, Turkish and Chinese pirates spoke with Cornish accents, and the were supposedly all loveable rogues, and not essentially Mongerel Mob prospects on sailing ships.
I was thinking the last time I saw ITLAP Day advertised that there’s probably a movie many decades ago of Treasure Island with someone hamming it up as Long John Silver, and that’s become the default “pirate” in people’s minds, even for those of us who’ve never seen that movie.
What amazes me about the obsession pundits on left blogs have with Farrara ability to craft media narratives is how it’s all rooted in jealously that no one can do it on the left. Despite all the outrage on twitter he generates
Post-election honeymoons are quite common across the world. It seems to me that David Farrar quite successfully appealed to people’s common sense and wishful thinking, with their other biases filling in the gaps, to concoct and highly plausible storyline, which then gets a life of its own and becomes self-perpetuating, self-reinforcing and sometimes even self-fulfilling …
There is a welcome, but sadly rare, investigation into the sale of Aotearoa to wealthy foreigners on Stuff this morning. Entitled Half a million hectares sold, it looks into the privatisation of the high country. The introfuction says.
We’ve paid $65m to get rid of some of our most treasured landscapes, through an obscure process critics have described as a vast wave of privatisation. Wealthy foreigners are snapping up valuable land once owned by the public, who in some cases paid to dispose of it. As gated estates and manicured golf courses spread through our wild places, Charlie Mitchell investigates: Who owns the high country?
It would be great to see continued follow up to this story in the mainstream media as it is an important story. Murray Horton and the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa have for too long run a solo mission to record and struggle against the take over of our country by rich foreign interests. From the key facts page on their website, there are many startling piece of information many New Zealanders will not know. Here is one.
Foreign investors owned 24% (or $368 billion) of net wealth in New Zealand whose commercial net value totalled $1.5 trillion at March 2015. They owned 27% of private net wealth. This comprised housing, land, other property, plant, equipment and financial assets owned directly or indirectly by households, government, non-profit organisations and foreign investors.
This is another sad story of how New Zealand was looted and pillaged by neo-liberalism.
Key politicians should be brought before a people’s court and tried for treason.
you’ll get silence from the labour as they love giving good land to farmers while turning mountain country into weeds and killing of the high country lifestyle in one sweep, the Clark gov went full throttle at tenure review
i bet they were , they got paid for land that wasn’t theirs got to own top land for cheap then could afford to invest heavily on irrigation etc, and sell for huge capital gain if they wanted, the losers were the rest of us.
This one looks at how Maggy Barry and others pulled the wool over New Zealanders eyes with advertising and thereby put our threatened birdlife even more at risk.
Of course, if Fairfax cared about this issue, it would be a story front and foremost week in, week out, that would shame governments about our conservation. For 9 long years, under John Key, he was given a free hand by the media to loot and pillage this land for his very wealthy puppeteers.
Ask Tourism New Zealand what 100% Pure means and they’ll tell you: it’s not a ‘clean, green’ campaign, but a campaign that delivers a “100% Pure New Zealand experience”.
What it is is 100 per cent pure advertising, and a slogan fit to replace the fertiliser used in the country’s intensive farming.
John Saker has written an interesting piece which has some connection to the article I referred to about the looting of our high country. His story is about the corporate and foreign takeover of our wine industry.
He starts by saying
When I heard last year that Central Otago’s Mount Difficulty had been swallowed up by Foley Family Wines (one of US billionaire Bill Foley’s many companies), I felt a small sadness…….
He coninues
The Mount D sale hammered home how New Zealand’s wine-producing profile is being reshaped right now.
While overseas ownership is on the rise (roughly 40 per cent of the grapes crushed every year are foreign owned), so is the overall corporate share of NZ wine.
You are far too credulous with your rightie-rose-tinted spectacles, Stunned Mullet. Your foreign-owned vinyards that have been ‘reinvested in’ will be paying minimum wages or less, driving our country ever-deeper into the disastrous low-wage economy zone, while the vast majority of benefits go overseas. Your beloved policies will turn us into third-world tenants in our own country. Look to globalist right-wingers for throwaway buzzwords like ‘increased prosperity for all’.
Any link for the Foley Family Wines group paying minimum wage to their employees ?
Any link for the majority of benefits going overseas ?
Do you expect all of these wineries to stay in the original owners hands for ever ?
Good grief before you start bemoaning all and sundry why don’t you ask employees at the actual wineries in question how they are treated and the unions that represent them and then perhaps try to get some input from the senior people in the wine industry in NZ before going straight to the ‘overseas investment is bad mkay’.
But assuming that the new owner/s still employs, produces, sells, exports and the business resides in NZ for tax purposes surely there’s no net difference to the ‘riches’ or lack thereof for the ‘we’.
Big assumptions that have not been borne out over NZ history, in all categories you mention.
But to be kind to you, let’s go with all of them.
There are many smart New Zealanders who raise up a business out of nothing, and risk everything absolutely everything they have to do it, then in time sell.
Some of those who cash up reinvest in other businesses. And good on them.
But too many cash up in New Zealand.
The net effect is the businesses stay very small within NZ, or are subsumed. Wealth doesn’t grow, and is too highly concentrated.
Whereas what New Zealand needs more of is ambitious owners who are not satisfied, are prepared to form and protect a brand, don’t cash out, grow a business requiring more local shareholders, forming a broader pool of those who get the real money: profit in the form of dividends.
Neither National nor Labour have been able to support that over two decades.
So instead we have the pathetic necessity of the government having to shore up low wages with Working For Families increases. Which IMHO is no way to run a successful economy. And not enough rich people. And too many wage slaves. And of course far too many poor children.
Ok understand your position and I agree with much of what you say to a large extent – but from what I understand in this particular case the group who bought this vineyard and other vineyards in their group have taken private smallish vineyards and maintained the NZ flavour, workforce and managment and are reinvesting in the vineyards and have also allowed public investment.
We also have the perverse situation when individuals do just as you say – I’m thinking of people like George Fistonich of Villa Maria wines they’ll be accused by many commenters here of being rich pricks, 1%’rs etc etc.
Let’s face it Stunned, anything for the benefit of the general populace of New Zealander and not foreign owners or governments is bizarre to the right isn’t it mate.
Yes, seriously, right-wingers call that “investment.” The theory is that the guys the foreigners bought out will now spend that money on growing new NZ businesses, rather than taking an extended overseas vacation and buying some property and a new boat. Theory may not of course be born out in practice.
…rather than taking an extended overseas vacation and buying some property and a new boat.
And when that happens they say that it’s really great that the rich person has created some jobs while completely ignoring the fact that many more jobs have been lost and that the wages paid are going down.
NZ has been for sale, against the wishes of the people, since the neo-liberal implementation by the 4th Labour Government. And Labour still refuses to listen to the people and listens to the ideologues instead.
All these folks who are buying up NZ horticulture are not stupid.
They know the god profits they get here can be milked and extracted from this country with out any ‘real’ taxing of profit.
We the taxpayer of NZ are being milked for all its worth to these overseas “investors” they are in it for profits not to ‘enrich us all here on our very low wage economy.
Wine industry uses massive levels of water irrigation also, so folks need to remember the cost to our economy here too.
I’ve tracked the issue down. I usually access The Standard through an Opera browser on my phone.
I found one of the boxed Xs on my phone and navigated to the same post on my PC and found a smiley face. I went through the generic browser on my phone to find, the same smiley face.
So it seems to be a mobile Opera issue where it presents “smiley faces” as a small vertical box with a X in it.
Phew! I thought people had secret language you have to be “in” to use more advanced than smiley faces. 😀
It’s really scary when one is driving up the valley and a campervan is in front of you driving on the wrong side of a straight piece of road while approaching a blind corner.
Flashed my lights and leaned on the horn flat out, he pulled over (on the wrong side), I indicated to his Mrs to roll down the window, called out (nicely) that we drive on the left in NZ, they responded with a friendly wave, then seconds later a car towing a trailer came around the blind corner.
Something needs to be done about educating overseas visitors about our road rules. A big bright sticker on the dash reading keep left would be a good start. Not much scares me, but that sure did.
Cinny…if it was a rental campevan…get the rego and phone the rental company and kick up the appropriate amount of shit. Give them dates. times, location. They will have the renter’s cellphone number on record and will contact them…I understand threats/gentle reminders ensue. I have done this…
OTOH…having traveled hither and thither, on and off the tarseal, to all corners of the Rohe I’d safely bet that the predominant centre -line crossers are locals.
And…the more off road capable the vehicle looks, the more likely it is to be over the centre line avoiding the rough on the edge of the road.
Will do if it happens again, was so flabbergasted at the time I didn’t think about it. Good advice.
Locals are centre line crosses especially up the valley with the narrow roads (me included), blind corners being the exception, but dang, driving on the wrong side, that’s a def not a local thing.
I once hitchhiked in a camper van where the driver took photos of the river while driving over a one lane bridge. Not stopping, but actually driving, camera up to the face kind of thing. I guess the rails would have stopped us going over, but a big drop if we did.
Apparently insurance records show most accidents are caused by locals (proportionally). But I do think that there is a thing whereby if someone is used to driving on the right and they get into a fast moving situation their body memory is going to have to be overridden to prevent them from doing the wrong things. That combined with being on holiday is not a good mix.
And yep, locals who drive too fast or have vehicles that make them feel bullet proof, definitely an issue too.
That’s a good idea, but a shit design. Needs a little louvre screen over the top or something so the driver can’t see the sticker arrow pointing towards them.
“Forget the educating – just don’t let them drive.”
Today I’m cleaning up our 22 year old honda odyssey (with 275,000 ks on the clock) with the view to sell to the highest bidder. As a trade in…$500-1000 if we smile very nicely to a dealer. Advertise in the backpacker car arena and these wee 4 wheel drive puppies can go for at least $2000 with a current wof and rego.
We really need the $$$, so a sale to an young overseas driver is on the cards…and this doesn’t particularly worry me, as unsurprisingly the younger foreign travelers have much less of a problem adapting to driving on the left.
And they tend to drive these smaller, older vehicles.
The real problem, and I’m betting again, lies with the older drivers….30 years and up…who simply forget, or revert to drive right when stressed.
And these older overseas travelers are the ones who can afford to rent larger campervans or newer, higher powered cars.
(Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to do a bit of driver and camper education when we sell….)
I think the problem is bit deeper than that Rosemary.
From my own experience we spent three months driving around Europe on the right (in our mid-20s) without a mishap or scare. Except for driving the wrong way down a one-way street in Delft but that had nothing to do with being on any side of the road!
Three decades later we spent some days driving in Italy and a week driving in Spain again with no mishaps. Got tooted at in Italy once and Spain once because in two situations I wasn’t sure who had right of way. We may have had one occasion where I started off on the wrong side after a stop but luckily my wife was alert.
So older people can drive safely in foreign lands as well as younger folk. But I think we were okay because at every stage we were very aware we were in somone else’s country and needed to follow their rules and wanted desparately not to have an embarassing crash and injure anyone.
In other words we were sh*t scared of doing anything wrong.
I think many of our tourists just don’t seem to give a sh*t. (Or they do but it’s by dumping in scenic places but that’s another story as we know).
I think we’re dealing with a shift in a whole lot of values, lack of empathy and responsibility, a sense of entitlement etc, that we thought were shared, but now aren’t.
It’s not just overseas drivers who do this – there is a poster on here who admits to doing it on purpose. To avoid the possibility of a filling rock from memory.
More than 677,000 users interacted with 50,000 supposedly Russian linked accounts tweeting the same message about the election at roughly the same time,
But it’s all a big nothing.
/
Consistent with our commitment to transparency, we are emailing notifications to 677,775 people in the United States who followed one of these accounts or retweeted or liked a Tweet from these accounts during the election period. Because we have already suspended these accounts, the relevant content on Twitter is no longer publicly available.
[…]
We have also provided Congress with the results of our supplemental analysis into activity believed to be automated, election-related activity originating out of Russia during the election period. Through our supplemental analysis, we have identified 13,512 additional accounts, for a total of 50,258 automated accounts that we identified as Russian-linked and Tweeting election-related content during the election period, representing approximately two one-hundredths of a percent (0.016%) of the total accounts on Twitter at the time. However any such activity represents a challenge to democratic societies everywhere, and we’re committed to continuing to work on this important issue.
How about we work on what we agree on – that trump is bad for working people. Rather than go with this divisive approach.
The Russian elites are as bad as the U.S elites. So let’s leave this stuff to investigators and wonks, and get on with helping our friends in the US fight this anti-work racist puke.
MORE: Coroner's office says specific cause of Petty's accidental death was "multisystem organ failure due to resuscitated cardiopulmonary arrest due to mixed drug toxicity (fentanyl, oxycodone, temazepam, alprazolam, citalopram, acetylfentanyl, and despropionyl fentanyl).— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 20, 2018
As a fan of his work I am also sad.
However how on earth can anyone call that “accidental drug overdose”?
How did he get hold of all those drugs? And why was he taking such a lethal cocktail? Didn’t anyone vet them or care what he was ingesting?
Am also a great fan and was very sad to hear of his death. But just as an aside as to the lethal cocktail of drugs and noting that he was suffering from a number of ailments..
I was in hospital for a couple of weeks recently following an accident and while there a man was admitted to our orthopaedic ward as there no beds left in the medical wards in a very bad state. He was on 29! different medications. All prescribed by his doctor, and administered to him by his wife a nurse who worked at the hospital. The first task was to wean him of all those medications monitoring his BP and and heart rates etc until he was stabilized.
But really – one would think that health professionals would know that mixing medications can have serious side effects.
They should, but it’s rich person and performance medicine combined. Michael Jackson was similar, and then there’s sports team doctors.
I was on a course with a bunch of folks about ten years back, and one of the others was an ER doctor. Some of the others asked if he was into sports medicine (because they were sporty) and his response was that he couldn’t do that to people. Had a sports figure turn up in ER with massive rectal bleeding because the team doctor had the player on antiinflammatories at high doses for so long that it bust his guts.
When physical performance goals conflict with the health of the patient, the person paying the cheque will usually find someone willing to try to balance that conflict in favour of performance and hope the patient doesn’t fall off the surfboard.
But 29 different pills! the poor guy was swallowing something different almost ever other hour! He was at deaths door when they admitted him.
My daughter had an experience a while back with an antibiotic and something else which I cant remember. She was getting much worse rather than better so I looked up the two prescriptions on line to see that there could be a reaction between them. I rang our doctor to see which she should cease. Ooops yes you are right! Dropping off the second medication had almost immediate positive results.
Yeah, it can be difficult enough looking for conflicts with just a few meds.
But when you get chronic pain, that gives a combo of slow release and maybe something to have at really bad times. Then you have surgeries on top, and the pit crew who managed the surgery might not have coordinated with the GP about who’s prescribing what. And then you have one that’s kind of the same as the other but not as good, but it does let/help you sleep, so that’s for night time. And if he was on the road and saw local docs, there’d be no coordination at all.
if you do find clashes or contra-indications that the doc has missed…say something…unless the doc has an ego problem you’ll be thanked.
It is imperative that people do their own research, double check, get second opinions and if you feel that the medical staff are not on to it…kick up bobsey…
When y’all having nothing better to do, spend a wee time here…
You really do need to be your own advocate, and learn what your on. Especially if you have or develop a chronic condition.
I would like to endorse Rosemary McDonalds comments and encourage people to look stuff up. New Ethicals is in plan(ish) english, a major plus by health advocates has been to get the medical profession to supply information in plan english. It’s no longer a hidden language.
If you do an internet search, check the source , check it’s peer reviewed, and check it’s legitimate – because there is still some idiots pushing ill informed quackery out there.
The Wellington Phoenix is a soccer team, isn’t it?
Someone at RNZ National doesn’t seem to realize.
RNZ National news, 5 p.m., Saturday 20 January 2018
Last item on the sports news in today’s bulletin was this surprising announcement:
…. and the Wellington Phoenix will play the Newcastle Jets tonight in an Australian Football League match, beginning at 9:30.
I’m sure I’m not the only one to be astonished that the Phoenix, and also by the sound of it, the Newcastle Jets, have abandoned the A-League and started playing in the Australian Football League.
What makes it more surprising is that the Australian Football League doesn’t start its 2018 season for another couple of months.
Radio New Zealand National: does NOT sound like us.
The Hyundai A league identify themselves [sic] as a football league
It’s a football league just like Super Rugby is, and just like the AFL is. But it’s known as a soccer league, and that’s what Australians call it. It doesn’t call itself the Australian Football League because that name has already been taken by what used to be the Victorian Football League.
….but feel free to revel in your pedantry if it makes you feel better.
Pedantry? Is the A-League the AFL or is it not? Try to be honest, now.
Actually, it’s mostly the yanks who tried to call football “soccer”. NZ and aus followed, but now we’re going with what the rest of the world calls it.
Yes, it can cause confusion, but if you’re going to play football then don’t use your bloody hands.
Actually, it’s mostly the yanks who tried to call football “soccer”.
It’s an English term, and it was used to distinguish Association football (codified in 1863) from Rugby football (codified in 1871). And the “Yanks” don’t try to call it soccer, they do call it soccer.
NZ and aus followed,
Along with Canada, Japan, Korea, and a good deal of the rest of the world.
but now we’re going with what the rest of the world calls it.
The rest of the world calls it soccer. Where there’s any doubt, it’s called soccer. When people like your good self scold others for using the word “soccer”, you’re simply following a directive from Sepp Blatter to stop calling it soccer and always call it football.
Yes, it can cause confusion, but if you’re going to play football then don’t use your bloody hands.
Goalkeepers? Heading? Throwing the ball in from touch? No kind of football is purely played with the feet.
Any other types of “football” where touching the ball with your hand is a foul?
Sure, other places also call football “soccer”. But the official name is football, always has been. It was founded as the “football association”, not a fucking soccer association.
Whatever, dude. If you want to follow american cultural norms, that’s your business.
Most of the forward movement is picking it up and carrying it, no?
No. There is only one way to propel the ball forward: that is to kick it. Yes it can be carried, too, but unlike in American football or rugby league, the kick is ever an option.
It’s “cuddleball”.
Unwittingly, perhaps, you’ve imitated perfectly the sneering putdowns of soccer that used to be so dire in this country, and that still, thanks to halfwits like Max Kellerman and Michelle Beadle on ESPN, are rife in the United States.
Drop goal. Is that the one where they hold it in their hands, then dropkick it?
The only type of scoring in rugby that doesn’t involve hands in some way is when literally everyone else stops playing and watches one dude kick.
There’s only one player in football who can hold the ball when the game is actually progressing and the ball is in the bounds of the game. And even then the space in which that is legal is heavily restricted. Even a football tackle is done with the feet.
Drop goal. Is that the one where they hold it in their hands, then dropkick it?
At last he shows some knowledge of football! Well done!
The only type of scoring in rugby that doesn’t involve hands in some way is when literally everyone else stops playing and watches one dude kick.
Fair point. Like soccer, hands are also used in rugby football. You’re onto it!
There’s only one player in football who can hold the ball when the game is actually progressing and the ball is in the bounds of the game.
Wrong. Any and all thirty players in football can hold the ball when the game is actually in progress.
And even then the space in which that is legal is heavily restricted.
In soccer, when the goalkeeper has the ball in his hands he can’t be shouldered or touched in any way. He’s protected absolutely, in the same way a kicker is in the NFL. (Now THERE’s a game which should not be called football; I wonder if you’re making a similar quixotic effort to police the language of Americans. Have you tried signing on to Deadspin?)
Even a football tackle is done with the feet.
Yes, when the ball is being dribbled, it is. But unfortunately, dribbling is almost always stymied because the laws of the game allow an opponent to dive on the ball and kill it—just like the goalkeeper does in association football.
and, lol, I ain’t you’re buddy, guy.
I told you before about “lol”. You haven’t got enough cred. to carry that off without coming across as a fool.
So to recap, the game you call football is primarily played with the hands holding the ball, and the game primarily played with the feet controlling the ball should not be called football.
In football, the ball is not merely dribbled – it is passed forward and back, and intercepted solely with the feet. Not in rugby (sorry, “cuddleball”).
Been called “Soccer” in New Zealand for over fifty years that I know of. Since I played it as a five year old.
Of course, if you want to be the language police?
What are you smoking, KJT? Only morons like Tony Veitch use that infantile word. It’s called “rugby” or “football”. It’s almost never called “rugby union”, “rugger” or “union”. And, as already mentioned, only the doltish and the puerile use the infantile “footy.”
Yeah – but what can you expect from Aussies!
Anyway they have 4 different types of “Footie” – just as well the American game hasn’t caught on there – so it can all be a bit confusing
The sandflys were swarming to day. They had 3 plays going at the same time lol like water off a ducks back. I could have gone for a check mate today but that risked a confrontation and they will minupulat that situation to what ever story they could dream up. Eco Maori say at least they won’t be harresing our Mokos and locking them up while they are pissing in the wind trying to play Me.
I think they should pay me with the crime rates in OUR beautiful COUNTRY NZ drop because of the ECO MAORI effect ie informaing the people about the realitys of the justice system of NZ and the west. Ana to kai
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Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzI was in Switzerland recently and discovered that they haven’t ...
So, You Gov's MRP poll - the weird one that tries to reflect what will happen at a constituency level and which pretty much nailed the hung parliament in 2017 - is not looking too good for Labour:
We've known about climate change for over forty years now,and it has been a major political issue for twenty. And yet fossil fuel companies have kept polluting with impunity, while government have looked the other way and twiddled their thumbs and refused to do anything because "the economy", or just ...
Sheer Loopiness: Many of those expressing bemusement at the antics of these #turnardern effacers, were convinced that they were yet another expression of the National Party’s increasingly spiteful anti-government propaganda campaign. They marvelled at the oddness of the perpetrators’ mindset and questioned the common-sense of allowing the rest of New Zealand ...
Brad Scott, GNS Science VolcanologistThis post was originally published by GeoNet.Following the 9 December devastating eruption at Whakaari/White Island we have put together some information about the island. New Zealand’s most active volcano Whakaari/White Island is currently New Zealand’s most active volcano, it has been since an eruptive episode ...
The Justice Committee has reported back on its Inquiry into the 2017 General Election and 2016 Local Elections, with a host of recommendations about how to improve our electoral systems. Some of their recommendations are already incorporate din the Electoral Amendment Bill currently before Parliament, but there's also a recommendation ...
Back in 2017, in order to make themselves "electable" in the eyes of rich people who oppose everything they stand for, the Greens signed up for NeoLiberalism, adopting a restrictive set of "Budget Responsibility Rules" which basicly prevented them from using government to make things better. Now, they're finally abandoning ...
Since invading in 2001, the US has consistently claimed that their war in Afghanistan has been going well, even when it continued year after year after year. Of course, they were lying, and thanks to the Washington Post and the US Freedom of Information Act, we get to see just ...
How should we think about artificial intelligence and the implications that it has for our work and leisure? There are many articles on artificial intelligence and its potential impacts on jobs, and the ethics of applications. These are important topics, but I want to focus on some less discussed aspects, ...
I love data. It’s amazing the sort of “discoveries” I can make given a data set and computer statistical package. It’s just so easy to search for relationships and test their statistical significance. Maybe relationships which ...
The other big story concerning Leeds Hospital is Boris Johnson's bizzare behaviour at Leeds Hospital, where he was confronted by a journalist and challenged about a four year old boy with suspected pneumonia who was left sleeping on the floor, rather than getting abed like a sick kid would in ...
So, for a brief period of history, it was alleged that a protester had punched Matt Hancock's SPAD (not a euphemism; special adviser) when Hancock visited Leeds Hospital.This was reported by the likes of Robert Peston and Laura Keunssberg, as well as the less credible Guido Fawkes. It also quickly ...
by Daphna Whitmore Last week France passed a law that equates anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. It is based on a definition of anti-Semitism that includes criticism of Israel such as: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist ...
Over the past year we've seen major bus problems in Hamilton and Wellington, as drivers have sought better wages and an end to the bullshit of split shifts, which basicly see them "married to the job". And now its Auckland's turn. When NZBus's drivers planned low-level strike action of not ...
The government has been congratulating itself over the passage of the Zero Carbon Act, which sets out long-term emissions targets. But those targets are insufficient. Meanwhile, Denmark is showing us how its done:Denmark’s parliament adopted a new climate law on Friday, committing to reach 70% below its 1990 emissions in ...
Another day, another piece of legislation with a secrecy clause. This time its the innocuous-seeming Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill, which (after establishing a new body and making it subject to the OIA in three different ways) includes the rapidly-becoming-standard clauses enabling it to request information from other public ...
The state of the United Kingdom is fractured, torn up, shredded. The Empire is gone, it died a long time ago. And yet, the country is still tracking with a lead in favour of the ones who play to the ingrained, class-bound division for political gain. It is a disgrace ...
On 27 September, Greta Thunberg addressed a crowd of 500,000 at the School Strike for Climate in Montreal, saying: “You are a nation that is allegedly a climate leader. And Sweden is also a nation that is allegedly a climate leader. And in both cases, it means absolutely nothing. Because ...
It should be obvious by now but let’s be clear: The same folk who regularly traffic in disinformation, misinformation and “fake news” are also those who most strongly claim that their freedom of expression rights are being violated when moves are made to curb hate speech (as opposed to protected ...
Michael SchulsonWhen Shane Burcaw flies on an airplane, he brings along a customized gel cushion, a car seat, and about 10 pieces of memory foam. The whole arsenal costs around $1,000, but for Burcaw it’s a necessity. The 27-year-old author and speaker — who, alongside his fiancée, Hannah ...
We are very pleased to publish this submission is from Lucinda Stoan. She is a social justice activist, mother, and educator, based in Washington State in the US. This detailed and comprehensive source-linked overview of trans issues and what is at stake will be useful for many people, especially in ...
New Zealand's Underarm Banker: It bears recalling that the “independence” of the Reserve Bank Governor was for decades held up by neoliberal capitalists as the most compelling justification for passing the Reserve Bank Act. Interesting, is it not, how the ruling class’s support for the Bank’s independence lasted no longer than ...
Rubbish In, Rubbish Out: Put all this together, and it’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that anyone who responds positively to a pollster’s request to “answer a few questions” is just ever-so-slightly weird. Desperately lonely? Some sort of psephological train-spotter? Political party member primed to skew the poll for or against ...
“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. A long and bitter court feud between former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig and Jordan Williams has been settled, with an apology and compensation from Williams. On Tuesday, Craig sent out ...
Samuel Becher, Victoria University of Wellington and Jessica C Lai, Victoria University of WellingtonEarlier this year, the New Zealand-based pizza chain Hell Pizza offered a limited-edition “Burger Pizza”. Its customers weren’t told that the “meat” was plant-based. Some customers complained to the Commerce Commission, which enforces consumer law in ...
Some people seem to want to close down any critical discussion of the current research into the relationship between water fluoride and child IQ. They appear to argue that claims made by researchers should not be open to critical review and that the claims be accepted without proper consideration ...
The government has been congratulating itself over the passage of the Zero Carbon Act, which sets out long-term emissions targets. Meanwhile, Climate Action Tracker has the shameful reality: those targets are insufficient:While New Zealand is showing leadership by having passed the world’s second-ever Zero Carbon Act in November 2019, under ...
The government introduced a Racing Industry Bill today. As an urban who horse racing as pointless-to-cruel, and gambling as a tax on stupidity and/or hope, this isn't normally a bill which would interest me in the slightest, beyond grumpiness at more government money for a dying industry. But there is ...
Check. Check. One, two, three, four. Is this thing ON? Hello readers, I logged in last night (yeah, it’s been a while) to mark THE END of the landmark legal case, Jordan Williams v Colin Craig, which (gulp) reached The Supreme Court, in which New Zealand’s most-defamed man was suing the politician he ...
Before The Birth: Israel’s most fervent supporters set their clocks ticking in Biblical times. They cite the kingdoms of David and Solomon as proof that, in the words of the Exodus movie’s theme-song: “This land is mine.” The majority of Israel’s backers, however, start their clocks in 1933 – the year Adolf ...
In an unreliable, strange and confusing world, Public Address is proud to present a measure of comfort and stability by annually asking everyone what words or phrases sum up the year that's been – and then giving some of them consumer goods as prizes for being clever or simply lucky.Well, ...
Both my parents are pretty handy – and they seem to have the right tools for most jobs in the garage and they know how to fix practically anything. A similar story could be told about their generation’s experience in the workforce – being a generalist was not unusual and ...
When it was revealed that NZ First had tried to enrich itself from public office via the Provoncial Growth Fund, the Prime Minister assured us that everything was OK as Shane Jones, the Minister responsible for the fund, had recused himself. Except it seems that that recusal came very late ...
Today is a Member's Day, and probably the last one of the year. After the marathon of the End of Life Choice Act, most of the bills up for debate today are uncontentious. First up is the second reading of Chlöe Swarbrick's Election Access Fund Bill. This will be followed ...
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has reported back on the government's odious and tyrannical control orders bill. As expected, the fraudulent select committee process has made no significant changes (partly because they couldn't agree, but mostly because it was a stitch-up from the start, with no intention of ...
Yesterday, the government released its draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill, which will be put to a non-binding referendum at the next election. I'm not a drug policy expert, but Russell Brown is, and he thinks its pretty good. And pretty obviously, it will be a massive improvement on the ...
As you're probably aware, the draft bill outlining the proposed legal cannabis regime to be put to a referendum late next year was published yesterday, and has already attracted a flurry of comment. It's notable that a good deal of the comment is about proposals that aren't actually new.A minimum ...
One of the big problems in New Zealand climate change policy is the government working at cross-purposes with itself. It wants to reduce fossil fuel use, but encourages oil and gas exploration. It wants to reduce transport emissions, but then builds enormous new roads. The problem could be avoided if ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzAccording to the United Nations, food shortages are a threat ...
Last year, the government announced it was ending offshore oil exploration by no longer issuing new permits. The idea was that the industry would then die off as permits expired. Except almost immediately the government revealed its bad faith, by saying they would extend permits and alter conditions to keep ...
The government introduced the Education and Training Bill to Parliament yesterday. Its a massive bill, which replaces both existing Education Acts, as well as various other bits of legislation (including some which are still proceeding through the House). I'll leave the serious analysis to teachers and people who actually know ...
Amelia SharmanThere’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to micro-credentials, those bits of bite-sized learning that can help workers stay on top of technological change. What’s a micro-credential? While definitions vary, micro-credentials can be understood as short courses that allow people to learn new skills or have an existing competency recognised. ...
All Smiles Now: Claire Szabo is taking up her presidential role after serving as the CEO of Habitat For Humanity. Which is absolutely perfect! After KiwiBuild was so comprehensively mismanaged by Phil Twyford, the party has not only elected a new president from a thoroughly respectable not-for-profit, but one who ...
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...
by Daphna Whitmore At Golden Oaks, a luxurious country retreat in the Hudson Valley, pregnant women have the best care money can buy. From the organic food, personalised exercise programmes, private yoga instruction and daily massages Golden Oaks looks like a country lodge for the upper class. Set some time ...
When Labour was running for election in 2017, it felt it needed to demonstrate "fiscal responsibility" and signed itself up to masochistic "budget responsibility rules". It was a fool's errand: the sorts of voters who demand fiscal responsibility are also the sorts of voters who believe that labour can never ...
Writing in Stuff, Joel MacManus looks at what we need to do to meet the Zero Carbon Act's targets. The core of it:1. Convert 85 per cent of vehicles on the road to electric. 2. Eliminate fossil fuels from all industrial heating up to 300 degrees Celsius. 3. Double our ...
Professors Janet Hoek and Richard Edwards, Emeritus Professor Phil Gendall, Jude Ball, Dr Judith McCool, Anaru Waa, Dr Becky FreemanRecent media reports have presented conflicting evidence on youth vaping in NZ. While some NZ school principals report concerns about increasing vaping on school grounds and confiscating vapes, ASH Year ...
“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...
Image credit:The beginner’s guide to blogging I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is ...
1080 is used to control pests in NZ. Its use is contested by a noisy few. A new report claims high levels of 1080 in rats washed up on a beach. Flora and Fauna of Aotearoa (F&F) won’t name the laboratory that did their testing. It has sparked a hunt ...
What Kind Of Empire? The thing for Kiwis to decide is what kind of empire they want to belong to. The kind that, while offering its own citizens democratic rights, demands absolute obedience from its “friends”? Or, the kind that, while authoritarian at home, takes a relaxed attitude to the ...
It hasn't been a good week for the Conservatives, pollwise. All major recent polls are showing their lead shrinking.Comparing each pollster's current (between 29/11 and 22/11) and previous most recent poll.Com Res - Conservative lead down 3 points.You Gov - Conservative lead down 1 point.Kantar - Conservative lead down 4 ...
Paramedics have reiterated their support for New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball's bill to impose mandatory prison sentences on those who assault our first responders and prison officers. There are more than 50 cases of abuse and assault against New Zealand paramedics each week. The figure has remained largely unchanged ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has revealed the Party’s stance on a proposed single public broadcaster. He said it had been the NZ First policy to support and strengthen public sector media. "For this reason, we welcome the initiative of Minister Faafoi to progress work in this area. Both ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First Introduction Good morning, and thank you for your attendance here today. Let us start by acknowledging the work of all the media outlets and reporters, particularly the regional reporters, who have been covering this week’s tragedy at Whakaari White Island. It ...
New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball’s bill introducing a six-month minimum sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its first reading in Parliament. Mr Ball said the new offence of "injuring a first responder or prison officer with intent" would target people who attacked paramedics, police, firefighters, and corrections ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters gave his final interview for 2019 on The Country to tell farmers they have never had it better under the current coalition Government. “Here you've got these record returns [for farmers]. These returns would be nothing like a record if the currency under the ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said that New Zealand's Cook Islands High Commissioner, Tessa Temata, has died over the weekend. Ms Temata, 52, died in Palmerston North and had returned to New Zealand for medical treatment. She was the first New Zealand High Commissioner to the Cook Islands of Cook Island ...
A new defence report has mapped out how New Zealand's soldiers will navigate rising seas, and a year after the Defence Force announced its need to prepare for climate change. In the “Responding to the Climate Crisis” report, the Force restates its operational plan and sets goals to tackle climate ...
We're rebuilding New Zealand - our transport network, our hospitals, our schools and more... After nine years of neglect there's a lot to fix - but we're getting on with the job. ...
We're rebuilding New Zealand - our transport network, our hospitals, our schools and more... After nine years of neglect there's a lot to fix - but we're getting on with the job. ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, has called for awareness to be raised and more stringent biosecurity checks to be put in place for African Swine Fever (ASF), a widespread virus that is uncontrolled in most of Asia and a serious ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Human Rights A critical step has been taken to end gender based violence against women and girls in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Human Rights Jenny Marcroft MP has welcomed the passing of the first reading of the Crimes (Definition of Female ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says it's time to recognise market forces haven't led to the expected reduction in Māori smoking rates and try a new approach. The Party had recently invoked the agree to disagree clause in their Coalition Agreement with the Labour Party, and will not support ...
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...
The Coalition Government will be banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, ahead of next year’s general elections. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament and passed under urgency – emphasising the need for such restrictions to safeguard our democracy. The bill introduces a new requirement that party secretaries and ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones opened Taipā's $19 million bridge recently, improving transport infrastructure in the Northland region. The two-lane bridge is 107m long with a 2.5m-wide shared walking and cycling path, and will reduce the congestion that the old one-lane bridge was notorious for. The project had also included ...
The Overseas Investment Office have rejected the application of Mercury Agriculture LP, which is 92 per cent controlled by Canadian interests, to purchase more than 2000 hectares of South Canterbury and Otago land. Mercury wanted to buy 2000ha at Rangitata, 1494ha near Ashburton, 816ha near Cromwell and 212ha near Temuka. ...
This weekend was Labour's 103rd Party Conference! We welcomed over 500 of our Labour whānau in red to Whanganui, where we reflected on the last two years in Government, and looked ahead to 2020 and beyond. We know the long-term challenges facing New Zealand won't be tackled overnight, but we're making ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced that the Provincial Growth Fund will invest $9.6 million to seal the final unsealed section of State Highway 43 from Stratford to Taumarunui. The Minister said sealing the 12-kilometre gravel section of the highway – also called the “Forgotten World Highway” - through ...
Former Finance Minister and former chair of the Tax Working Group, Sir Michael Cullen, has voiced his support for New Zealand First’s decision to oppose the planned increase in tobacco excise tax. In an interview with The Weekend Collective, he said that increasing the price was no longer effective in ...
Māori are natural storytellers. On the marae we use stories to tell our history, to teach the next generation life lessons and to let people know, in our most creative of ways, who we are and where we have come from. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development A $261,000 loan from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has helped a family-run business in Manawatū to scale up manufacturing capacity, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced at its opening today. Ashhurst-based skin-care business The Herb Farm is on track to ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Regional Freight Hub near Palmerston North has taken a step forward with the completion of the master plan, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said. Shane Jones unveiled the high-level design of the new Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) backed rail-road hub ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of DefenceTērā te haeata takiri ana mai i runga o Pukaha!Ara tai uru, whai uru, whai uru!Ara whai ato, whai ato, whai ato!Ara rā tini, ara rā tini, ara ri!The rays of the morning sun strike a new dawn upon Pukaha ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic DevelopmentThe Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $772,000 in opportunities for growth in Manawatū-Whanganui, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today.NZ Bio-Forestry Limited will receive a $380,000 boost for game-changing research which could unlock significant growth in the wood processing sector, ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced today the appointment of diplomat Sarah Lee as New Zealand’s High Commissioner to South Africa. She will be the first female Head of Mission to represent New Zealand in Africa. “New Zealand’s relationship with South ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones wants to create a log barging facility at Hicks Bay and turn the area into a Special Economic Zone. The move would be part of protecting New Zealand's forests from being depleted by India and China, he said. It follows his announcement last week to strengthen ...
New Zealand First supports the changes recommended by the Winter Grazing Taskforce to improve animal welfare outcomes through the winter months, and the establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement them. New Zealand First Primary Industries Spokesperson Mark Patterson says the report highlights areas of concern about the animal ...
Former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key, formerly from the Labour and National parties respectively, have joined forces in support of New Zealand First’s plan to relocate Auckland's port to Whangārei. While Ms Clark and Sir John spent their political careers on opposite sides of the political divide, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Japan for the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the G20 grouping of countries as one of nine "invited" countries. He has used the opportunity to cast a spotlight on the plight of Pacific countries, calling out countries which still offered subsidies or Government assistance to ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson on his election victory. “New Zealand and the United Kingdom are close friends and despite our distance we are strongly connected by our history and people,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I look forward to continuing to work with Prime ...
The Government has released its long term vision for a sustainable 21st Century rail network that gets our cities moving, connects our regions and gets more freight off the roads. Deputy Prime Minister and State Owned Enterprises Minister Winston Peters said the Government is committed to rebuilding New Zealand’s ...
I want to start by acknowledging the families who have experienced such grief and such loss since the extraordinary tragedy on Monday. Today was all about reuniting them with their loved ones. We've just come from the airport where many of them were gathered and in amongst what you can ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further support for Samoa’s longer term needs as it continues to respond to a devastating measles epidemic. “Samoa’s health system has experienced massive strain in the wake of the measles epidemic. The volume of patients needing care during this outbreak, and the number of ...
Discounted electric bikes will be offered up to public sector staff across the country as part of the Government’s work to reduce transport emissions and support healthier transport options. Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter officially launched the new initiative at Wellington Hospital today. “The Government has negotiated bulk-purchase ...
The Australian and New Zealand Governments today launch an historic joint bid to bring the FIFA Women’s World Cup to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time. Australian Minister for Youth and Sport, Richard Colbeck and New Zealand Minister for Sport and Recreation Grant Robertson will announce the bold campaign, ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has approved a $15 million loan to help re-establish a gold mining operation at Blackwater Gold Mine, near Reefton, Rural Communities Minister and local MP Damien O’Connor announced at an event on the West Coast today. “This is great news for the Coast that could ...
Papakāinga model inspires whānau well-being A housing project by Kohupātiki whānau in Hastings is an outstanding example of a Māori-led housing initiative that can reduce financial pressure and reconnect whānau to their whakapapa says the Minister for Māori Development Hon Nanaia Mahuta. Minister Mahuta officially opened the Aroha Te Rangi ...
Restoration efforts for a significant wetland in the Hawke’s Bay are getting more support announced Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage. “Wetlands are vital to healthy landscapes and ecosystems. They function as nature’s ‘kidneys’, filtering and protecting water quality, acting as nature’s sponges after rain and are home to ...
Nelson has today seen the launch of Housing First Nelson Tasman. Today’s launch marks the expansion of the Government’s homelessness programme, Housing First, to the top of the South Island. “Housing First is a proven programme that puts people who are experiencing homelessness and multiple, high and complex needs into ...
New Government funding announced today will help communities make a difference in tackling environmental issues Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage announced in Hawkes Bay today. The Ministry for the Environment’s Community Environment Fund is dedicating $243,101 to growing the capacity and capability of the Environment Hubs Aotearoa’s (EHA) ...
The days of vulnerable consumers falling victim to loan sharks, truck shops and other predatory lenders are numbered, following the Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill passing its third reading tonight. “Too many Kiwis are being given loans that are unaffordable and unsuitable, trapping them in debt and leaving their families ...
A Bill that prevents terrorism and supports the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas has passed its third reading, Justice Minister Andrew Little says. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill is a carefully targeted response to manage the risk posed by a small number of New Zealanders who have ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to Samoa on Friday, where New Zealand medical teams are helping Samoa respond to an outbreak of measles. “New Zealand has been working closely with the Government of Samoa and offering our assistance from the ...
The Government has changed the law to improve student safety and welfare in university halls of residence and other student accommodation. The Education (Pastoral Care) Amendment Bill passed its third reading this afternoon and details of an interim Code of Practice setting out the Government’s expectations of tertiary providers have also been released. ...
A new tool to help councils fund and finance infrastructure could mean some housing developments happen a decade earlier than currently planned, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said today. “This new tool, developed by the Government in partnership with industry and high-growth councils, will allow councils to access private debt ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has welcomed the release of a bold new vision for the country’s vital food and fibre sector. “I’m delighted that New Zealand’s major farmer and grower organisations are today supporting the Primary Sector Council’s vision – Fit for a Better World,” he said. “The international consumers ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has congratulated the Government of Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville Government for completing a well-conducted referendum on the future political status of Bougainville. “New Zealand supported the referendum process by providing technical advice through the New Zealand Electoral Commission and leading a Regional Police ...
In light of Cabinet’s position that freight operations on prime land in downtown Auckland are no longer viable, the Government will now embark on a short work programme to enable decision-making in the first half of next year, Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones is today releasing the ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter has received the report back from a surgical mesh restorative justice process undertaken by Victoria University. The process heard stories, either in person or online submission, from more than 600 people affected by surgical mesh. “The report made for heart-breaking and confronting reading,” says ...
The Water Services Regulator Bill – Taumata Arowai , introduced to Parliament today, is a milestone for drinking water safety in New Zealand and will help improve environmental outcomes for urban waterways, rivers and lakes. “This is a breakthrough for New Zealanders in terms of providing safe drinking water throughout ...
Kia ora koutouE ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā matā wakaTēnā koutou katoaHaere ngā, moe maiKoutou ma ngā Rangatira Ko Anaru ahauKo au te Minita mo ngā TureHe Honore tino nui kei roto I ahau No reira tena koutou katoa Today, we are releasing two reports that are the ...
The Government is looking to turn around the long-term challenges of criminal justice by taking a new approach to break the cycle of offending to ensure there are fewer victims of crime. Justice Minister Andrew Little released two reports today, Turuki! Turuki! from Te Uepū Hāpai I te Ora, and ...
New Zealand firms expanding beyond the start-up phase are set for more support after today’s passage of the Venture Capital Fund Bill, Associate Finance Minister David Parker said. The Bill, which establishes a $300 million Venture Capital Fund, puts in place a key initiative of the Wellbeing Budget’s economic package. ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira mā. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Señora Presidenta, Excellencies, Delegates. International action A common thread that runs through the Paris Agreement is the commitment we have made to each other to do what we can to ...
The Government is lifting capital investment to the highest level in more than 20 years as it takes the next step to future-proof New Zealand. Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced $12 billion of new investment, with $8 billion for specific capital projects and $4 billion to be added to ...
The Government is forecast to run $12 billion worth of surpluses across the four years to 2023/24 as the economy continues to grow. The surpluses will help fund day-to-day capital requirements each year. These include fixing leaky hospitals, building new classrooms to cover population growth and take pressure off class ...
Budget 2020 will continue the Coalition Government’s focus on tackling the long-term challenges facing New Zealand while also investing to future-proof the economy. When the Government took office in 2017 it was left with crumbling infrastructure, severe underinvestment in public services, degraded rivers and lakes, a housing crisis and rising ...
The Minister responsible for the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 (te Takutai Moana Act 2011), Andrew Little has welcomed the launch of an online geospatial tool that provides data-rich, dynamic coastline maps that will significantly boost research and evidence-gathering under the Act. Te Kete Kōrero a Te ...
The Chief Victims Advisor to Government Dr Kim McGregor, QSO, has been reappointed in her role for a further two years. Dr McGregor has held the role since it was established in November 2015. She provides independent advice to government on how to improve the criminal justice system for victims. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Civil Defence Minister Peeni Henare have today announced the deployment of a network of DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami) buoys. “New Zealand and the Pacific region are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. It is vital we have adequate warning systems in place,” ...
DART Buoys Announcement Aotea Wharf, 9.30am 11 December 2019 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements to Minister for Civil Defence Hon Peeni Henare also here today. White Island It is with regret that this event shadows the tragic natural disaster two days ago. The volcanic eruptions on White Island have claimed 5 lives, ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has welcomed the first reading of the Racing Industry Bill in parliament today. This is the second of two Bills that have been introduced this year to revitalise New Zealand’s racing industry. “Our domestic racing industry has been in serious decline. The Government is committed to ...
Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni, is pleased to announce that $291,321 is to be awarded to national and local community initiatives to maintain and promote the use of New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). “New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world where Sign Language is an ...
Minister for Veterans Ron Mark has announced today the Coalition Government’s initial response to work completed by the independent statutory body, the Veterans’ Advisory Board. “When Professor Ron Paterson completed his review of the Veterans’ Support Act in 2018, he made a number of recommendations, including one which I referred ...
The Government will fund the bulk of the cost of a rural water supply for the Ohakea community affected by PFAS contamination, Environment Minister David Parker announced today at a meeting of local residents. This new water scheme will provide a reliable and clean source of drinking water to the ...
I have had the opportunity to be briefed on the details of the volcanic eruption of Whakaari/White Island, off the coast of Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty. The eruption happened at 2.11pm today. It continues to be an evolving situation. We know that there were a number of tourists ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare have today confirmed initial Government support of $100,000 for communities affected by the severe weather that swept across the South Island and lower North Island over the weekend. The contribution will be made to Mayoral relief funds across the ...
New Zealand's High Commissioner to the Cook Islands, Tessa Temata, died in Palmerston North over the weekend, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said today. Ms Temata, 52, had recently returned to New Zealand for medical treatment. "On behalf of the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, we extend ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today announced construction is underway on Wellington commuter rail upgrades which will mean more frequent services and fewer breakdowns. The upgrades include converting the Trentham to Upper Hutt single track section to a double track, with a new signalling system, upgraded stations and level crossings, and ...
Analysis - The "do nothing" government announces a big spend-up on infrastructure, moving the Port of Auckland, and Winston Peters throws his weight behind NZME's bid to buy Stuff. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]For their last video for the year, University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini and Michelle Grattan look backwards to the big issues which have shaped political discourse. They discuss the surprise election results, and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has acknowledged Ngāti Awa for their role as tangata whenua (people of the land) in leading and caring for affected whānau (family members), following the Whakaari / White Island eruption and recovery operation earlier today. ...
The Environment Committee has opened for public submissions on the Urban Development Bill. The bill follows on from the Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities bill, which disestablished Housing New Zealand and set up a Crown entity in the same name. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Loader, Emeritus Professor of New Testament at Murdoch University, Murdoch University This article is part of our Gender and Christianity series. To understand contemporary Christian ideas about gender, and specifically masculinity, we need to go all the way back to the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Gissing, General Manager, Risk Frontiers, Adjunct Fellow, Macquarie University Calls are growing for a national bushfire plan, including from former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who says they are an issue of national security and the federal government must provide hands-on leadership. ...
Pro-democracy lobby group Democracy Action welcome New Zealand First’s commitment to hold firm rejecting the Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene’s bill to entrench the Māori seats. The Bill, which would require any changes to the seats to require the ...
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s.Sometimes you are just doing a podcast as usual and then Colin Mathura-Jeffree gives you a call and throws your world off its axis. In a very special edition of Colin’s Cranny: Live, ...
We get a handle on the artists and artworks that shaped this decade in Aotearoa.As 2019 draws to a close, the four nominees for this year’s Turner Prize subverted the competition – they asked to receive the award as a collective. Meanwhile, at Art Basel Miami Beach, a banana taped ...
The second and final report of Te Uepū Hāpai i te Ora, the Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group, contains nothing we didn’t know 30 years ago. Yet generations of politicians have ignored the same advice, writes Laura O’Connell Rapira.Between the 1950s and 1990s, New Zealand experienced seismic social, economic ...
Fuel company Z Energy has cut its earnings forecast for the year by 10 percent because of tougher competition and falling margins, and is forecasting a big cut in dividends. ...
Liquidators of the hacked cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia have travelled to the United States, to retrieve customers' information and certain crypto-assets. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kath Albury, Professor of Media and Communication, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology Popular commentary on dating apps often associates their use with “risky” sex, harassment and poor mental health. But anyone who has used a dating app ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Grimmer, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania Australian shoppers are set to spend $52.7 billion this Christmas. In the words of the retail industry, we are “stampeding” to empty our wallets, both online and ...
NZ Herald and many other media outlets ran a story on a man whose farts could repel mosquitos, despite the story coming from a satire news site and not being verified in any way, writes Dan Satherly for Newshub.“Man’s farts so deadly he kills mosquitoes in a 6m radius” is ...
Timing right to borrow our way to a stronger economy in 2020 The Government’s announcement of its intent to invest significantly in the county’s infrastructure could turbo charge an economic recovery that was already showing positive signs for ...
A poem by writer, journalist, and former Manus Island refugee Behrouz Boochani.Forgive me my loveTranslated by Moones Mansoubi, Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, 2018 Forgive me my bird as I am not able to embrace you.But here,in this corner,I know some migrating birds that I smile to at dawn.I embrace them ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Powles, Senior Lecturer in Security Studies, Massey University The Autonomous Region of Bougainville, a chain of islands that lie 959 kilometres northwest of Papua New Guinea’s capital, Port Moresby, has voted unequivocally for independence. The referendum saw 85% voter turnout during ...
Fisheries New Zealand starts consultation today on proposed changes to catch settings for rock lobster and scallops for the new fishing year beginning 1 April 2020. ...
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. This was the declaration of the pigs who control the government in George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm– a tart comment on the hypocrisy of governments that proclaim the absolute equality of their citizens but gives power and privileges ...
SPCA has been working flat out to desex more than 80 animals a day over the last year, which is the most desexing SPCA has done since recording the figures. ...
“The fact so many families are struggling to pay the rent and put food on the table must be addressed urgently if we’re to provide the foundations for a good life for the next generation of New Zealanders,” says Scott Figenshow, Chief Executive ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (Hamish Hamilton, $40)Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize.2The Body: ...
This holiday season Te Tari Taiwhenua, Department of Internal Affairs wants to offer parents and caregivers some advice on how to help keep your family safe online. ...
A report released by the Chief Victims advisor Kim McGregor advising there needs to be an Independent Victims body is being welcomed by Victim Rights lobby group Sensible Sentencing Trust. National spokesperson Jess McVicar says the trust have ...
For the third time in five years, the United Kingdom has gone to the polls today. From the summer islands of New Zealand, join The Spinoff as we follow the results rolling in.9.30am: So, with polls about 90 minutes away from closing, the top line is this – we’ve got ...
Winston Peters will back an NZME proposal to buy Stuff with a 'Kiwishare' guarantee the merged news company will keep regional news and separate websites for at least two years. ...
The Executive Director of Dapaanz (Addiction Practitioners’ Association Aotearoa New Zealand), Sue Paton says the announcement that Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment court would become permanent immediately, following successful pilots in Auckland ...
Online marketplace Sidekicker is taking advantage of people who have little choice but to juggle multiple low-paying jobs to make ends meet, writes artist and freelancer Ben Markley.After graduating early this year with one of the least vocational degrees, I didn’t expect the largest array of job prospects. Nevertheless, I ...
National is vowing to bring back and expand health sector targets dropped by the current Government and mulling whether to scrap elected District Health Boards. ...
More than 10,000 people have signed a petition launched a week ago, calling for better support and funding for community midwives. The 10k figure was reached after the first four days. Chief executive of the College of Midwives, Alison Eddy, said last ...
Information obtained by animal rights organisation SAFE has revealed rodeo organisers are refusing to halt calf-roping events in rodeo, despite the Government’s animal welfare advisors’ recommendation that they do so. ...
Subject; Deputy PM said quote; “New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has challenged his Cabinet colleagues for the delay over a Northport decision, criticising it as "paralysis by analysis". https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/405385/paralysis-by-analysis-winston-peters-assessment-of-the-delay-over-northport ...
If the Productivity Commission's report on local government funding, released yesterday, had been relied on by NASA as the basis for getting astronauts to the moon, its greatest achievement by now would have been launching a $2 skyrocket 40 feet into the air ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Mayne, Molecular biologist and bioinformatician, CSIRO Humans have a “natural” lifespan of around 38 years, according to a new method we have developed for estimating the lifespans of different species by analysing their DNA. Extrapolating from genetic studies of species with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Evans, Professor of Governance and Director of Democracy 2025 – bridging the trust divide at Old Parliament House, University of Canberra A new, ongoing survey on how young Australians understand and imagine their democracy is already challenging long-held stereotypes. The survey ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francesco Paolucci, Associate Professor; Head of Health Policy Program, Sir Walter Murdoch School of Public Policy and International Affairs, University of Newcastle Private health insurance has come under intense scrutiny in recent months, as it becomes clear health insurers are failing to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Zaphir, Researcher for the University of Queensland Critical Thinking Project; and Online Teacher at Education Queensland’s IMPACT Centre, The University of Queensland This is the second of two essays exploring key theories – cognitive load theory and constructivism – underlying teaching ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW On Monday the Australian government will release the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO). This will – as required by the Charter of Budget Honesty – provide an update on the key assumptions made in this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia It seems like every time we switch on the idiot box we are confronted with news footage of another disaster. Bushfires in Australia. A hurricane in North America. A tsunami ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Andrew Little indicates justice system changes after reports, Auckland buses back on the road, and National release health proposals. Two significant reports for the justice sector were released yesterday. The first was Turuki! Turuki! Transforming our Criminal Justice System from the Chester Borrows-led Safe and ...
On Wednesday, the government announced a $12 billion infrastructure package. It turns out that scrapped National Party roading projects are back in consideration for funding under the scheme. ...
Andy Ruiz Jr pulled of a massive shock by KO’ing Anthony Joshua in New York. And then delivered another stunning moment when he stepped onto the scales in Saudi Arabia. ...
What happens when your work is the victim of attempted sabotage by a group of slow-moving middle-aged men? Author and journalist Michelle Duff reveals all.Initially, it was kind of unclear what I was looking at. The disembodied hand loomed from the shaky first-person footage, flipping the cover of the book ...
The National Party leader sits down with Alex Braae to talk political rhetoric, misinformation, and whether he’ll have any dance partners after next year’s election.How cynical is Simon Bridges? It’s a question that has dogged National’s leader over the past year.Being an opposition leader is, of course, a difficult job ...
Sharon Brettkelly calls home to the Bay of Plenty to give us an insight into what Whakatane locals are thinking in the wake of Whakaari-White Island's eruption ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison is picking up that Australia’s devastating, prolonged fires are producing a soured, anti-government mood among many in the community. It may not be entirely rational for people to turn on politicians in such ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katharine Kemp, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, UNSW, and Co-Leader, ‘Data as a Source of Market Power’ Research Stream of The Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation, UNSW Today, the federal government responded to the recommendations of the Australian Competition and ...
Winston Peters hopes mergers of NZME and Stuff and RNZ and TVNZ will save local journalism. Bernard Hickey argues they are more likely to again prove costly diversions. ...
The foreign affairs minister Winston Peters will be travelling to Samoa tomorrow to visit hospitals and medical teams dealing with the ongoing measles outbreak. ...
Andrew Little says the justice system is “taking wrecked lives and wrecking them just a little bit more”, but will the Govt cough up with what's needed for transformative change? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lidia Morawska, Professor, Science and Engineering Faculty; Director, International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health (WHO CC for Air Quality and Health); Director – Australia, Australia – China Centre for Air Quality Science and Management (ACC-AQSM), Queensland University of Technology Bushfire smoke ...
Winston Peters is bemoaning how long a decision on Northport is taking, saying if you're faced with inevitability, you should act. But Cabinet ministers have put off making a call until next year. ...
A review of the ANZ Bank New Zealand's missteps over the past year has found complacency at the most senior level, leading to the departure of its long serving chief executive. ...
Open Mike 20/01/2018 
by Karim Pourhamzavi Mass protests are occurring across Iran, taking place in over 100 cities. The protests have been sparked by the government’s cutting of fuel subsidies, a measure which caused fuel prices to double overnight. Mass protests are hardly new in Iran, but there is an important difference ...3 hours ago
What other song could we play as the UK's political rule book gets torn up and thrown away?Video courtesy of YouTubeThis post is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...7 hours ago
Legendary in my own mind, I mean. All times are NZ, which is an hour10.00am (NZ) There's about an hour to go until the exit poll is released. At that point, half of the British voting public will devastated, and the other half celebrating wildly. Unless everyone is simply confused.Turnout seems ...11 hours ago
If you want to study propagandist techniques, you are typically told to study Dictatorships. Not unfair, but what’s always been more interesting to me is so-called “democratic” countries and their broader information systems. Why? Because people opt for it, even as they decry “totalitarian regimes!”.. It’s quite an eye ...1 day ago
Introducing legislation which shits on the public's right to know seems to have become a daily occurrence for this government. Today's example is the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Bill. The bill establishes a framework for the establishment of "special purpose vehicles" (SPVs) to hide debt from local government balance sheets ...1 day ago
Below is the longlist of words and phrases generated in the korero phase of Public Address Word of the Year 2019, with some editorial moderation. Now it's time to vote. As you'll doubtless be able to see, you get three ranked choices. Use your power wisely. Or frivolously, whatever.As usual, ...1 day ago
by Daphna Whitmore This week 800 unionised bus drivers in Auckland were suspended from work after they refused to collect fares as part of a campaign of industrial action. Drivers working for Auckland’s largest bus company NZ Bus are asking for more pay and better working conditions after being offered ...1 day ago
As details emerge about what unfolded on Whakaari / White Island two days ago, my thoughts go out to all the families affected by this terrible event. My thoughts are also with the first responders who worked in perilous circumstances to assist and protect those affected. Both local and ...1 day ago
I love data. It’s amazing the sort of “discoveries” I can make given a data set and computer statistical package. It’s just so easy to search for relationships and test their statistical significance. Maybe relationships which ... 3 days ago
The state of the United Kingdom is fractured, torn up, shredded. The Empire is gone, it died a long time ago. And yet, the country is still tracking with a lead in favour of the ones who play to the ingrained, class-bound division for political gain. It is a disgrace ...6 days ago
It should be obvious by now but let’s be clear: The same folk who regularly traffic in disinformation, misinformation and “fake news” are also those who most strongly claim that their freedom of expression rights are being violated when moves are made to curb hate speech (as opposed to protected ...6 days ago
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“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...2 weeks ago
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Strike me ! ya Tory Blaggards, Scurvy Cut-throats and Scurrilous Scabs ! … If I aint just posted this provocative little treatise on me very own Blog !!! … Aye !, but not before sailing her to the South Pacific, scuttling her on the seas of high finance.and rowing ashore every last God-forsaken barrel of rum !!!
Farrar’s Honeymoon Scam
https://subzpsubzp.blogspot.co.nz/
Ere’s a heartbreakin’ little quote from me very own Conclusion that pretty well sums up the whole Goddam thing, me Hearties
Least ways, that’s how I sees it, says I.
Good post. Mind if we cross post these from time to time?
No Probs, micky
Though this particular one is probably slightly out of date (really should’ve finished it weeks ago), not to mention a little overly-long & repetitive
I need to be just a little more ruthless with my editing
Hey swordfish, how about emailing a ‘condensed’ version of your findings to each of the journalists/columnists named and to Farrar himself of course. I say condensed because I doubt the attention span of some would be sufficient to cover the whole post.
Excellent job from an excellent pundit.
Great work. If you want to condense it, can I suggest starting with your section containing the actual figures, then adding the preamble for those who need it. Also maybe explicitly add in NZF figures separately.
Would be great to see how some journos (don’t) react.
To clarify (now that my caffeine levels have been restored), I mean move the numbers section to the beginning.
I also believe you may be giving Farrar too much credit for strategic campaigns masterminded and spread by the Nat leader’s office (as we saw with Dirty Politics) to all their party operatives including the penguin and assorted tame hacks.
You be cross posting that treasure chest, arrrhhh to be sure.
ummm, why are we talking like pirates?
Aaarr matey, ’tis not International Talk Like a Pirate day til September, but Go’bli’me if it ain’t fun anytime.
Fuck that was a good post. Like the media suckers busy repeating it, I hadn’t imagined that Farrar would just make shit up to that extent. Thanks for putting in the work on it.
Apparently all pirates, including Arab, Turkish and Chinese pirates spoke with Cornish accents, and the were supposedly all loveable rogues, and not essentially Mongerel Mob prospects on sailing ships.
I was thinking the last time I saw ITLAP Day advertised that there’s probably a movie many decades ago of Treasure Island with someone hamming it up as Long John Silver, and that’s become the default “pirate” in people’s minds, even for those of us who’ve never seen that movie.
Robert Newton.
Funnily enough, the origin of the pirate voice came up somewhere a week or two back – probably a QI rerun lol
Excellent analysis swordfish! Very interesting read. And your analysis of voting preference compared to family income is telling!
Nice work…..the length would deter some but none of it superfluous.
Have you sent a copy to all the ‘journalists’ named?
Farrar’s Honeymoon Scam
Actual link for posterity.
What amazes me about the obsession pundits on left blogs have with Farrara ability to craft media narratives is how it’s all rooted in jealously that no one can do it on the left. Despite all the outrage on twitter he generates
In this case, “craft media narratives” is a euphemism for “lying”.
People on the left can certainly lie. We just try not to, because it’s wrong.
Nailed it. Well done.
Post-election honeymoons are quite common across the world. It seems to me that David Farrar quite successfully appealed to people’s common sense and wishful thinking, with their other biases filling in the gaps, to concoct and highly plausible storyline, which then gets a life of its own and becomes self-perpetuating, self-reinforcing and sometimes even self-fulfilling …
There is a welcome, but sadly rare, investigation into the sale of Aotearoa to wealthy foreigners on Stuff this morning. Entitled Half a million hectares sold, it looks into the privatisation of the high country. The introfuction says.
It would be great to see continued follow up to this story in the mainstream media as it is an important story. Murray Horton and the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa have for too long run a solo mission to record and struggle against the take over of our country by rich foreign interests. From the key facts page on their website, there are many startling piece of information many New Zealanders will not know. Here is one.
This is another sad story of how New Zealand was looted and pillaged by neo-liberalism.
Key politicians should be brought before a people’s court and tried for treason.
Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa
http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/
you’ll get silence from the labour as they love giving good land to farmers while turning mountain country into weeds and killing of the high country lifestyle in one sweep, the Clark gov went full throttle at tenure review
yeah, but it’s not like farmers weren’t really into it either given they got given huge tracts of public land for really good prices.
i bet they were , they got paid for land that wasn’t theirs got to own top land for cheap then could afford to invest heavily on irrigation etc, and sell for huge capital gain if they wanted, the losers were the rest of us.
yep. Something just turned up on twitter about this (or more, the net loss to taxpayers), might see if I can get a post up.
what you say is essentially so although the previous Labour Gov. did belatedly stop the process in 2007…only for Key to reinstate it upon election
“But not long after the reviews were stopped, the John Key-led National Party came to power, and in 2009 restarted the process.”
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2018/01/half-a-million-hectares-sold/
An excellent article in Stuff today.
Kiwis need to realise 100 per cent pure is 100 per cent propaganda.
This one looks at how Maggy Barry and others pulled the wool over New Zealanders eyes with advertising and thereby put our threatened birdlife even more at risk.
Of course, if Fairfax cared about this issue, it would be a story front and foremost week in, week out, that would shame governments about our conservation. For 9 long years, under John Key, he was given a free hand by the media to loot and pillage this land for his very wealthy puppeteers.
The final story from Stuff to catch my eye this morning is titled Are our wine regions at risk?
John Saker has written an interesting piece which has some connection to the article I referred to about the looting of our high country. His story is about the corporate and foreign takeover of our wine industry.
He starts by saying
He coninues
Aotearoa is not for sale.
Yeah, right.
Great to see the ongoing support for and investment in the NZ wine industry.
So you didn’t read the article.
Yes read it earlier today – great to see the ongoing support for and investment in the nz wine industry.
So you call buying the whole thing out and taking the profits overseas “investment”? A bit rose-tinted? Others might call it economic imperialism.
So the profits are being taken out overseas, no reinvestment into the wine industry in NZ ? I call bullshit on your throwaway buzzwords.
You are far too credulous with your rightie-rose-tinted spectacles, Stunned Mullet. Your foreign-owned vinyards that have been ‘reinvested in’ will be paying minimum wages or less, driving our country ever-deeper into the disastrous low-wage economy zone, while the vast majority of benefits go overseas. Your beloved policies will turn us into third-world tenants in our own country. Look to globalist right-wingers for throwaway buzzwords like ‘increased prosperity for all’.
Any link for the Foley Family Wines group paying minimum wage to their employees ?
Any link for the majority of benefits going overseas ?
Do you expect all of these wineries to stay in the original owners hands for ever ?
Good grief before you start bemoaning all and sundry why don’t you ask employees at the actual wineries in question how they are treated and the unions that represent them and then perhaps try to get some input from the senior people in the wine industry in NZ before going straight to the ‘overseas investment is bad mkay’.
We’re not going to get rich unless we own the business
So we’re nationalising the wine industry now ?
Bizarre notion but I’m willing to listen to the argument.
Nope not proposing nationalizing anything let alone the wine industry.
It’s pretty simple:
We will stay a low-wage and low-innovation economy unless we own the businesses.
Who’s ‘we’.
“We” of New Zealand.
ah OK understood.
But assuming that the new owner/s still employs, produces, sells, exports and the business resides in NZ for tax purposes surely there’s no net difference to the ‘riches’ or lack thereof for the ‘we’.
Big assumptions that have not been borne out over NZ history, in all categories you mention.
But to be kind to you, let’s go with all of them.
There are many smart New Zealanders who raise up a business out of nothing, and risk everything absolutely everything they have to do it, then in time sell.
Some of those who cash up reinvest in other businesses. And good on them.
But too many cash up in New Zealand.
The net effect is the businesses stay very small within NZ, or are subsumed. Wealth doesn’t grow, and is too highly concentrated.
Whereas what New Zealand needs more of is ambitious owners who are not satisfied, are prepared to form and protect a brand, don’t cash out, grow a business requiring more local shareholders, forming a broader pool of those who get the real money: profit in the form of dividends.
Neither National nor Labour have been able to support that over two decades.
So instead we have the pathetic necessity of the government having to shore up low wages with Working For Families increases. Which IMHO is no way to run a successful economy. And not enough rich people. And too many wage slaves. And of course far too many poor children.
Ok understand your position and I agree with much of what you say to a large extent – but from what I understand in this particular case the group who bought this vineyard and other vineyards in their group have taken private smallish vineyards and maintained the NZ flavour, workforce and managment and are reinvesting in the vineyards and have also allowed public investment.
We also have the perverse situation when individuals do just as you say – I’m thinking of people like George Fistonich of Villa Maria wines they’ll be accused by many commenters here of being rich pricks, 1%’rs etc etc.
Stunned @1.30pm wrote,
“Bizarre notion”
Let’s face it Stunned, anything for the benefit of the general populace of New Zealander and not foreign owners or governments is bizarre to the right isn’t it mate.
Yes, seriously, right-wingers call that “investment.” The theory is that the guys the foreigners bought out will now spend that money on growing new NZ businesses, rather than taking an extended overseas vacation and buying some property and a new boat. Theory may not of course be born out in practice.
And sending the profits to the Caymans
And when that happens they say that it’s really great that the rich person has created some jobs while completely ignoring the fact that many more jobs have been lost and that the wages paid are going down.
I though you and Ed were anti anything to do with alcohol are you now arguing for more local owners and growth. ?
Do you have any evidence of many jobs have being lost and the wages paid are going down in this case ?
It’s a general trend.
Wages have decreased and to counter the loss of real work we’ve seen the rise of Bullshit Jobs.
So that’s a no …good oh.
Specificity isn’t necessary as we have the general trend.
But you already knew that which is why you for specific data related to the wine industry. It’s a distraction from what’s actually happening.
In other words, reality is proving you wrong again and so you’re trying to hide from it by ignoring all relevant information.
🙄
NZ has been for sale, against the wishes of the people, since the neo-liberal implementation by the 4th Labour Government. And Labour still refuses to listen to the people and listens to the ideologues instead.
100% Draco,
All these folks who are buying up NZ horticulture are not stupid.
They know the god profits they get here can be milked and extracted from this country with out any ‘real’ taxing of profit.
We the taxpayer of NZ are being milked for all its worth to these overseas “investors” they are in it for profits not to ‘enrich us all here on our very low wage economy.
Wine industry uses massive levels of water irrigation also, so folks need to remember the cost to our economy here too.
Can someone tell me what the vertical X box thing means please.
This might be a bit cryptic. I’m referring to the framed X symbol used occasionally by posters on The Standard.
Still a bit cryptic I’m afraid. Can you link to an example?
😳
I’ve tracked the issue down. I usually access The Standard through an Opera browser on my phone.
I found one of the boxed Xs on my phone and navigated to the same post on my PC and found a smiley face. I went through the generic browser on my phone to find, the same smiley face.
So it seems to be a mobile Opera issue where it presents “smiley faces” as a small vertical box with a X in it.
Phew! I thought people had secret language you have to be “in” to use more advanced than smiley faces. 😀
heh, there are a few geeks around who occasionally do some things with comments the rest of us can’t. Glad you got it sorted.
Clean green New Zealand.
100 % pure.
Yeah right.
Don’t swim on the Kapiti Coast this weekend.
I used to know a time when we all had a clean green country when the population was half what it is now at around 2.4 Million.
I am sad at 74 yrs old how our beautiful country has now suffered so badly.
It’s really scary when one is driving up the valley and a campervan is in front of you driving on the wrong side of a straight piece of road while approaching a blind corner.
Flashed my lights and leaned on the horn flat out, he pulled over (on the wrong side), I indicated to his Mrs to roll down the window, called out (nicely) that we drive on the left in NZ, they responded with a friendly wave, then seconds later a car towing a trailer came around the blind corner.
Something needs to be done about educating overseas visitors about our road rules. A big bright sticker on the dash reading keep left would be a good start. Not much scares me, but that sure did.
+1
A sticker is a good idea.
Cinny…if it was a rental campevan…get the rego and phone the rental company and kick up the appropriate amount of shit. Give them dates. times, location. They will have the renter’s cellphone number on record and will contact them…I understand threats/gentle reminders ensue. I have done this…
OTOH…having traveled hither and thither, on and off the tarseal, to all corners of the Rohe I’d safely bet that the predominant centre -line crossers are locals.
And…the more off road capable the vehicle looks, the more likely it is to be over the centre line avoiding the rough on the edge of the road.
Humans.
Will do if it happens again, was so flabbergasted at the time I didn’t think about it. Good advice.
Locals are centre line crosses especially up the valley with the narrow roads (me included), blind corners being the exception, but dang, driving on the wrong side, that’s a def not a local thing.
I once hitchhiked in a camper van where the driver took photos of the river while driving over a one lane bridge. Not stopping, but actually driving, camera up to the face kind of thing. I guess the rails would have stopped us going over, but a big drop if we did.
Good idea about the photos/contacting.
Apparently insurance records show most accidents are caused by locals (proportionally). But I do think that there is a thing whereby if someone is used to driving on the right and they get into a fast moving situation their body memory is going to have to be overridden to prevent them from doing the wrong things. That combined with being on holiday is not a good mix.
And yep, locals who drive too fast or have vehicles that make them feel bullet proof, definitely an issue too.
Rentals have all sorts of keep left reminders splashed over the steering wheel/dash/instrument panel.
https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/n/e/c/3/a/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620×349.1ncazw.png/1513055027503.jpg
I can’t make out what that is. Is it a sticker? Or a screen?
Poor man’s heads up display – a reflective sticker on the dash.
It’s a sticker on the dashboard designed to reflect on the windscreen so that the driver can see it without losing visibility.
ok, so the arrow going the wrong way is ignorable, the person driving just sees something on the left so they know they have to stay on that side?
Yes.
That’s a good idea, but a shit design. Needs a little louvre screen over the top or something so the driver can’t see the sticker arrow pointing towards them.
Forget the educating – just don’t let them drive.
“Forget the educating – just don’t let them drive.”
Today I’m cleaning up our 22 year old honda odyssey (with 275,000 ks on the clock) with the view to sell to the highest bidder. As a trade in…$500-1000 if we smile very nicely to a dealer. Advertise in the backpacker car arena and these wee 4 wheel drive puppies can go for at least $2000 with a current wof and rego.
We really need the $$$, so a sale to an young overseas driver is on the cards…and this doesn’t particularly worry me, as unsurprisingly the younger foreign travelers have much less of a problem adapting to driving on the left.
And they tend to drive these smaller, older vehicles.
The real problem, and I’m betting again, lies with the older drivers….30 years and up…who simply forget, or revert to drive right when stressed.
And these older overseas travelers are the ones who can afford to rent larger campervans or newer, higher powered cars.
(Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to do a bit of driver and camper education when we sell….)
Good luck Rosemary.
I think the problem is bit deeper than that Rosemary.
From my own experience we spent three months driving around Europe on the right (in our mid-20s) without a mishap or scare. Except for driving the wrong way down a one-way street in Delft but that had nothing to do with being on any side of the road!
Three decades later we spent some days driving in Italy and a week driving in Spain again with no mishaps. Got tooted at in Italy once and Spain once because in two situations I wasn’t sure who had right of way. We may have had one occasion where I started off on the wrong side after a stop but luckily my wife was alert.
So older people can drive safely in foreign lands as well as younger folk. But I think we were okay because at every stage we were very aware we were in somone else’s country and needed to follow their rules and wanted desparately not to have an embarassing crash and injure anyone.
In other words we were sh*t scared of doing anything wrong.
I think many of our tourists just don’t seem to give a sh*t. (Or they do but it’s by dumping in scenic places but that’s another story as we know).
I think we’re dealing with a shift in a whole lot of values, lack of empathy and responsibility, a sense of entitlement etc, that we thought were shared, but now aren’t.
Some tourist tipped his campervan on Baldwin st. His only comment was that the insurance guy wasn’t going to be happy. Didn’t give a shit.
deport
Forget the educating – just don’t let them drive.
Love it! Problem solved.
All the New Zealanders I see crossing the centreline and passing, on blind corners.
Confiscate their car. Problem solved.
It’s not just overseas drivers who do this – there is a poster on here who admits to doing it on purpose. To avoid the possibility of a filling rock from memory.
Finally, one rag gets it right about Trump’s physical.
https://archive.li/1dPRU/7540e78381f56da637c0ab6aaa6569948c74231e.png
😆
😆 😆
On shit-holes 🙂
😆
😆
Outstanding! Made my day.
Thanks Bill, that was so awesome.
🙂 🙂 🙂
More than 677,000 users interacted with 50,000 supposedly Russian linked accounts tweeting the same message about the election at roughly the same time,
But it’s all a big nothing.
/
Consistent with our commitment to transparency, we are emailing notifications to 677,775 people in the United States who followed one of these accounts or retweeted or liked a Tweet from these accounts during the election period. Because we have already suspended these accounts, the relevant content on Twitter is no longer publicly available.
[…]
We have also provided Congress with the results of our supplemental analysis into activity believed to be automated, election-related activity originating out of Russia during the election period. Through our supplemental analysis, we have identified 13,512 additional accounts, for a total of 50,258 automated accounts that we identified as Russian-linked and Tweeting election-related content during the election period, representing approximately two one-hundredths of a percent (0.016%) of the total accounts on Twitter at the time. However any such activity represents a challenge to democratic societies everywhere, and we’re committed to continuing to work on this important issue.
https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/company/2018/2016-election-update.html
How about we work on what we agree on – that trump is bad for working people. Rather than go with this divisive approach.
The Russian elites are as bad as the U.S elites. So let’s leave this stuff to investigators and wonks, and get on with helping our friends in the US fight this anti-work racist puke.
Oh fuck, this makes me sad.
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/music/tom-petty-died-accidental-drug-overdose-coroner-family-say-n839381
As a fan of his work I am also sad.
However how on earth can anyone call that “accidental drug overdose”?
How did he get hold of all those drugs? And why was he taking such a lethal cocktail? Didn’t anyone vet them or care what he was ingesting?
Read the family statement.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DT8WYMVWkAYQMfv.jpg
Am also a great fan and was very sad to hear of his death. But just as an aside as to the lethal cocktail of drugs and noting that he was suffering from a number of ailments..
I was in hospital for a couple of weeks recently following an accident and while there a man was admitted to our orthopaedic ward as there no beds left in the medical wards in a very bad state. He was on 29! different medications. All prescribed by his doctor, and administered to him by his wife a nurse who worked at the hospital. The first task was to wean him of all those medications monitoring his BP and and heart rates etc until he was stabilized.
But really – one would think that health professionals would know that mixing medications can have serious side effects.
They should, but it’s rich person and performance medicine combined. Michael Jackson was similar, and then there’s sports team doctors.
I was on a course with a bunch of folks about ten years back, and one of the others was an ER doctor. Some of the others asked if he was into sports medicine (because they were sporty) and his response was that he couldn’t do that to people. Had a sports figure turn up in ER with massive rectal bleeding because the team doctor had the player on antiinflammatories at high doses for so long that it bust his guts.
When physical performance goals conflict with the health of the patient, the person paying the cheque will usually find someone willing to try to balance that conflict in favour of performance and hope the patient doesn’t fall off the surfboard.
But 29 different pills! the poor guy was swallowing something different almost ever other hour! He was at deaths door when they admitted him.
My daughter had an experience a while back with an antibiotic and something else which I cant remember. She was getting much worse rather than better so I looked up the two prescriptions on line to see that there could be a reaction between them. I rang our doctor to see which she should cease. Ooops yes you are right! Dropping off the second medication had almost immediate positive results.
Yeah, it can be difficult enough looking for conflicts with just a few meds.
But when you get chronic pain, that gives a combo of slow release and maybe something to have at really bad times. Then you have surgeries on top, and the pit crew who managed the surgery might not have coordinated with the GP about who’s prescribing what. And then you have one that’s kind of the same as the other but not as good, but it does let/help you sleep, so that’s for night time. And if he was on the road and saw local docs, there’d be no coordination at all.
Shouldn’t have bloody happened.
Y”eah, it can be difficult enough looking for conflicts with just a few meds.?
Shouldn’t be.
You’ll find a copy of this…
http://www.mims.co.nz/MIMSNewEthicals.aspx
…on most hospital wards and medical centres.
Ask to borrow a copy and look shit up.
if you do find clashes or contra-indications that the doc has missed…say something…unless the doc has an ego problem you’ll be thanked.
It is imperative that people do their own research, double check, get second opinions and if you feel that the medical staff are not on to it…kick up bobsey…
When y’all having nothing better to do, spend a wee time here…
http://www.hdc.org.nz/decisions–case-notes/commissioner's-decisions
You really do need to be your own advocate, and learn what your on. Especially if you have or develop a chronic condition.
I would like to endorse Rosemary McDonalds comments and encourage people to look stuff up. New Ethicals is in plan(ish) english, a major plus by health advocates has been to get the medical profession to supply information in plan english. It’s no longer a hidden language.
If you do an internet search, check the source , check it’s peer reviewed, and check it’s legitimate – because there is still some idiots pushing ill informed quackery out there.
The Wellington Phoenix is a soccer team, isn’t it?
Someone at RNZ National doesn’t seem to realize.
RNZ National news, 5 p.m., Saturday 20 January 2018
Last item on the sports news in today’s bulletin was this surprising announcement:
I’m sure I’m not the only one to be astonished that the Phoenix, and also by the sound of it, the Newcastle Jets, have abandoned the A-League and started playing in the Australian Football League.
What makes it more surprising is that the Australian Football League doesn’t start its 2018 season for another couple of months.
Radio New Zealand National: does NOT sound like us.
The Hyundai A league identify themselves as a football league but feel free to revel in your pedantry if it makes you feel better.
The Hyundai A league identify themselves [sic] as a football league
It’s a football league just like Super Rugby is, and just like the AFL is. But it’s known as a soccer league, and that’s what Australians call it. It doesn’t call itself the Australian Football League because that name has already been taken by what used to be the Victorian Football League.
….but feel free to revel in your pedantry if it makes you feel better.
Pedantry? Is the A-League the AFL or is it not? Try to be honest, now.
https://www.a-league.com.au
Actually, it’s mostly the yanks who tried to call football “soccer”. NZ and aus followed, but now we’re going with what the rest of the world calls it.
Yes, it can cause confusion, but if you’re going to play football then don’t use your bloody hands.
Actually, it’s mostly the yanks who tried to call football “soccer”.
It’s an English term, and it was used to distinguish Association football (codified in 1863) from Rugby football (codified in 1871). And the “Yanks” don’t try to call it soccer, they do call it soccer.
NZ and aus followed,
Along with Canada, Japan, Korea, and a good deal of the rest of the world.
but now we’re going with what the rest of the world calls it.
The rest of the world calls it soccer. Where there’s any doubt, it’s called soccer. When people like your good self scold others for using the word “soccer”, you’re simply following a directive from Sepp Blatter to stop calling it soccer and always call it football.
Yes, it can cause confusion, but if you’re going to play football then don’t use your bloody hands.
Goalkeepers? Heading? Throwing the ball in from touch? No kind of football is purely played with the feet.
Any other types of “football” where touching the ball with your hand is a foul?
Sure, other places also call football “soccer”. But the official name is football, always has been. It was founded as the “football association”, not a fucking soccer association.
Whatever, dude. If you want to follow american cultural norms, that’s your business.
In rugby football, you cannot move the ball forward except by kicking it. It’s football.
Most of the forward movement is picking it up and carrying it, no? And they have that weird group hug thing too.
It’s “cuddleball”.
Most of the forward movement is picking it up and carrying it, no?
No. There is only one way to propel the ball forward: that is to kick it. Yes it can be carried, too, but unlike in American football or rugby league, the kick is ever an option.
It’s “cuddleball”.
Unwittingly, perhaps, you’ve imitated perfectly the sneering putdowns of soccer that used to be so dire in this country, and that still, thanks to halfwits like Max Kellerman and Michelle Beadle on ESPN, are rife in the United States.
lol
So how is a try scored again?
And how’s a drop-goal scored exactly?
Word of advice, buddy: drop the “lol” habit. It does as much for your credibility as your assertion that “the yanks” invented the word “soccer.”
Drop goal. Is that the one where they hold it in their hands, then dropkick it?
The only type of scoring in rugby that doesn’t involve hands in some way is when literally everyone else stops playing and watches one dude kick.
There’s only one player in football who can hold the ball when the game is actually progressing and the ball is in the bounds of the game. And even then the space in which that is legal is heavily restricted. Even a football tackle is done with the feet.
and, lol, I ain’t you’re buddy, guy.
Drop goal. Is that the one where they hold it in their hands, then dropkick it?
At last he shows some knowledge of football! Well done!
The only type of scoring in rugby that doesn’t involve hands in some way is when literally everyone else stops playing and watches one dude kick.
Fair point. Like soccer, hands are also used in rugby football. You’re onto it!
There’s only one player in football who can hold the ball when the game is actually progressing and the ball is in the bounds of the game.
Wrong. Any and all thirty players in football can hold the ball when the game is actually in progress.
And even then the space in which that is legal is heavily restricted.
In soccer, when the goalkeeper has the ball in his hands he can’t be shouldered or touched in any way. He’s protected absolutely, in the same way a kicker is in the NFL. (Now THERE’s a game which should not be called football; I wonder if you’re making a similar quixotic effort to police the language of Americans. Have you tried signing on to Deadspin?)
Even a football tackle is done with the feet.
Yes, when the ball is being dribbled, it is. But unfortunately, dribbling is almost always stymied because the laws of the game allow an opponent to dive on the ball and kill it—just like the goalkeeper does in association football.
and, lol, I ain’t you’re buddy, guy.
I told you before about “lol”. You haven’t got enough cred. to carry that off without coming across as a fool.
So to recap, the game you call football is primarily played with the hands holding the ball, and the game primarily played with the feet controlling the ball should not be called football.
In football, the ball is not merely dribbled – it is passed forward and back, and intercepted solely with the feet. Not in rugby (sorry, “cuddleball”).
lol
The fool invokes foolishness.
Been called “Soccer” in New Zealand for over fifty years that I know of. Since I played it as a five year old.
Of course, if you want to be the language police?
no shortage of recruits to the force in this thread…
You can singlehandedly try to change the long used, and standard NZ word “Soccer” if you wish. Good luck with that.
And Rugby was “Rugby” or “footy”.
“Football”is the anachronism in New Zealand .
What are you smoking, KJT? Only morons like Tony Veitch use that infantile word. It’s called “rugby” or “football”. It’s almost never called “rugby union”, “rugger” or “union”. And, as already mentioned, only the doltish and the puerile use the infantile “footy.”
Yeah – but what can you expect from Aussies!
Anyway they have 4 different types of “Footie” – just as well the American game hasn’t caught on there – so it can all be a bit confusing
The word is football.
And there’s a fair case for saying that the American game is NOT football, as this idiotic article demonstrates…
https://deadspin.com/5823549/dear-chris-kluwe-when-we-want-the-punters-opinion-well-ask-for-it-we-wont
You use the word “football”if that makes you happy.
Aussies go to the “Footie”
No, they go to the football. Only the puerile and the stupid—like Tony Veitch and All Black flanker Sam Cane—use that infantile word for football.
On refection you’re absolutely right Moz – send a letter to RNZ demanding the immediate execution of the employee in question.
As is evident by the sloppiness of that item, standards of accuracy matter little at RNZ.
I think a protest in person is vital Moz – get the placard ready and turn up outside their offices bright and early Monday morning.
Great idea, Mullet. Thanks.
Shush….they’re easily confused so don’t tell them…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gridiron_Australia#Member_leagues_and_teams
The sandflys were swarming to day. They had 3 plays going at the same time lol like water off a ducks back. I could have gone for a check mate today but that risked a confrontation and they will minupulat that situation to what ever story they could dream up. Eco Maori say at least they won’t be harresing our Mokos and locking them up while they are pissing in the wind trying to play Me.
I think they should pay me with the crime rates in OUR beautiful COUNTRY NZ drop because of the ECO MAORI effect ie informaing the people about the realitys of the justice system of NZ and the west. Ana to kai