You now have until Wednesday, 18 April 2018 to have your say on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The Foreign Affairs,Defence and Trade Committee is now inviting submissions on the treaty.
The CPTPP is a free trade agreement negotiated by 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including New Zealand, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, and Viet Nam.
As soon as these companies start to lose profits because their industry is declining (oil and coal mining comes to mind but there are plenty of industries that are rich but declining) their lawyers will be looking to keep as much profit as possible by using these type agreements to sue for damages.
The current agreement is not fit for purpose for the 21c and climate change and declining wages and increasingly inequality.
They don’t need to successfully sue. It costs millions to defend a position, aka Phillip Morris and OZ.
Having lawyers have the ability to disrupt in international courts which the EU has just ruled are illegal is not OK.
Having lawyer fight it out in the Andrew Little case, he eventually won after two trials, but his life was disrupted, the election was disrupted and I guess he will be much less likely to question corporate donations followed by lucrative government contracts again.
The threat is as much the problem as the rules which are being used weekly to sue governments in these agreements and are out of step with how the public perceives their governments should operate (aka in the public’s interest of their country NOT in the business/lawyers interests).
Labour’s bottom line in that regard was “successfully”. And people aren’t governments. Governments can deal with court cases alongside all sorts of other things.
If you are elected on a party list, you should stay with that party or leave Parliament.
Otherwise you are cheating voters who voted for that party and their list.
Nothing wrong with a bill saying so.
The Waka jumping bill is a classic example of the political scientists, technocrats and experts being at loggerheads with the commonsense of voters. For the expertocracy, the waka jumping bill is an affront to democracy, because they are paid to believe certain bits of constitutional fantasy – like that list MPs are the same as electorate MPs and that MPs in general are elected, and ignore the reality they mostly owe their jobs to being on a party slate.
We need to be real about this. List MPs owe their jobs exclusively to the party list and therefore have an obligation to the party that should require their resignation from parliament if they are no longer members of the party that elected them. Electorate MPs should have the guts to face their voters if they change sides. If they are cowards who move parties for expediency but won’t re-consult their elecotors, then sack them.
Instad of pretending the system operates by a set of rules that are anachronistic, our expert class would be far better employed pointing out that political parties now have major role in our electoral arrangements, yet our constitution is completely silent on their role and this needs to be changed urgently.
List MPs owe their jobs exclusively to the party list and therefore have an obligation to the party that should require their resignation from parliament if they are no longer members of the party that elected them. Electorate MPs should have the guts to face their voters if they change sides.
agree 100% dv. The bill is entirely democratic and sensible.
The attempt to derail this bill is opportunistic and wishful thinking by the Nats that this government could fall in a years time when there is a crisis relating to the behaviour of one or two MP’s in the La/Gr/Nzf coalition causing resignations.
Yep and try and stay in til the next election so you get voted back and they get voted out. Don’t hand the power to them work with the party activists for change.
So you mitigated their damage and were a thorn in their side until then.
A caucus hijacking of a party sooner or later needs to be run by the membership. If you win, the splitters get kicked out. If they win, you were in the wrong damned party anyway.
Mr Shaw wants them both out as soon as possible, and says the rest of the caucus MPs are backing Ms Turei.
“I feel betrayed by the way they have gone about this and so do the rest of the caucus,”
“Tomorrow morning at the caucus meeting I’ll be moving a motion to suspend both of them from the Green party caucus.
“The way that they have chosen to go about it is strongly in violation of every Green Party norm, culture and process that we have.”
The decision was later confirmed by the party. I already know you disagree with them, so there’s no point in repeating that, ad nauseam.
Party hoppers don’t have to give support to any other party. They can choose to continue to support their party on all but those areas of principle on which that party has betrayed their voters or their principles (eg standing behind the actions of a self confessed fraudster).
“Graham broke protocol…”
So Shaw claims. I’d say Graham and Clendon called out the party for supporting a self confessed fraudster, and they didn’t like it.
I’d say Graham and Clendon called out the party for supporting a self confessed fraudster….
You would say that, yes. Is there some reason members of the Green Party should give a shit what you, a person who doesn’t share their values and is ignorant of their kaupapa, would say about an internal issue within their party?
A member losing the confidence of fellow members for an egregious breach of protocol is very much an internal matter. Whatever that shit is that you’re on about is another subject entirely.
What about a Cabinet Minister deliberately breaking our Privacy laws? Or creating a situation where an innocent guy got death threats? Or a Cabinet Minister uses his power to get a friend preferential treatment. Ora PM assaulting a member of the public, multiple times… what do you call tgat? Business as usual?
“A member losing the confidence of fellow members for an egregious breach of protocol is very much an internal matter.”
A member disagreeing with a political party effectively condoning benefit fraud is very much a matter for the public.
“What about a Cabinet Minister deliberately breaking our Privacy laws? ”
If another member of that CM’s party spoke out against that CM, then all power to them. That’s exactly the point I’m making. Why should a political party stamp on an individual MP’s conscience when they are effectively challenging a party who has compromised it’s own principles?
Like Collins leak lead to a guy getting death threats… to her asking tge police to fudge figures for her newsletter… bennett deliberately break the Privacy Law and only a few days National Party broke tge Privacy laws again.
Armed pedestrians would have confronted and shot out the tyres of car involved – but even then, that may not have stopped the car.
This tragedy in Arizona (thoughts and prayers) shows the need to strengthen the 2nd amendment to include small pieces of artillery, like the recoilless 84mm Carl Gustav.
Competent and skilled citizens with recoilless artillery would have stopped this car in its track.
Yes, I suspect human error. The person that was behind the wheel at the time. Especially with a driver unfamiliar with the vehicle, what a part autonomous vehicle can and can’t do without human interaction is a grey area. When the new Model 3 Tesla wants the driver to take the controls, a bell chimes. No system will protect a cyclist that immediately appears in any vehicle’s path. They have a better chance with a system that can react in a quarter of the time it takes a human to stop the vehicle….especially a human scanning his next Uber job.
It’s an issue that has been prevalent with minor tech advances. Like folk driving into corners 10% faster because their new vehicle has ABS and traction control. Black ice takes no prisoners.
Couple of things to remind people about just how fucking bad the new sharing economy is for workers.
‘
Uber and Lyft drivers in the US make a median profit of as little as $8.55 per hour before taxes, according to a new report that suggests a majority of ride-share workers make below minimum wage and that some actually lose money.
Researchers did an analysis of vehicle cost data and a survey of more than 1,100 drivers for the ride-hailing companies for the paper, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. The first draft of the paper, released last month, said the median profit was $3.37 an hour, but the author released a new analysis on Monday following criticism from Uber.
[…]
Other academics and commentators who expressed skepticism about the initial finding said the new numbers seemed more appropriate.
Harry Campbell, founder of the Rideshare Guy, a website that conducts surveys of drivers and had partnered with Zoepf on this research, told the Guardian last week that he thought the $3.37 figure seemed too low. On Monday, he said the new numbers “definitely seem in the right ballpark”.
We will never know the full story of Douglas Schifter, a New York cab and limo driver who completed suicide earlier this week in front of City Hall. Those of us who don’t know him personally have no special insight into his mental health, or what else was going on in his life.
But in his final Facebook note and in trade magazine columns written under his byline, Schifter left a trail of commentary about the stress of surviving as a driver in New York, and with it, a view into how the so-called disruption led by Uber and Lyft, and cities’ mishandling of it, weighs dangerously on workers.
Schifter’s note (which Facebook has since taken down), posted hours before he died, chronicles the economic struggles of a livery driver in New York. He says he worked at least 100 hours every week, and still ended his career in financial ruin.
He blamed the powers that be in New York, pointing at the politicians who allowed more cabs on the road, flooding in more competition, and then adding green cabs too. “There was always meant to be numbers of cars below the demand. That was the guarantee of a steady income,” Schifter wrote.
Mr Turnbull described how, having obtained damaging material on opponents, Cambridge Analytica can discreetly push it onto social media and the internet.
He said: “… we just put information into the bloodstream of the internet, and then, and then watch it grow, give it a little push every now and again… like a remote control. It has to happen without anyone thinking, ‘that’s propaganda’, because the moment you think ‘that’s propaganda’, the next question is, ‘who’s put that out?’.”
“Reportedly, Facebook thought it was allowing a CA partner to pull data for academic purposes only. Data access for academic research tends to be more open than access for commercial uses, so Facebook may have scaled its controls according to the purported use, and thereby let down its guard. According to Wylie, “Facebook could see [massive data collection] was happening. Their security protocols were triggered because [University of Cambridge professor Aleksandr Kogan]’s apps were pulling this enormous amount of data, but apparently Kogan told them it was for academic use. So they were like, ‘Fine’.”
Lots of fun if the timeline covers tRump’s long weekend in Moscow and the compromised position he’s alleged to have found himself in.
Wylie says Cambridge Analytica had tested Trump campaign slogans since 2014: "I was surprised when I saw the Trump campaign and it started, you know, talking about building walls or draining the swamp. And I’m remembering in my head, wait, we tested this." pic.twitter.com/BL8uHeqg8Y— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) March 20, 2018
[I literally cannot tell which are your words and which are from the link. I’ve been asking people to be clear for quite some time now and am sick of asking so from now on I’m just going to delete what I can’t makes sense of. If the commenter is someone I remember warning before I am also likely to moderate. The onus is on the commenter to make it clear what is their own words and what they are quoting. – weka]
So much for “transparency” – that Jacinda promised us eh???
The coalition is responsible for Auckland city, really?.
“It’s upsetting and stressful,” Bright said
For eleven years Ms Bright availed herself of infrastructure and services financed by folk who do pay their rates, and now she has the gall to squeal poor little me – DFO
/
Penny Bright is largely the author of her own misfortune. I’d also like to drive a truck through various sections of the LG(AC) Act. Alienating allies and making potentially defamatory allegations against public servants are two things I’d try and stay away from though.
NZers notionally support ‘underdogs’, but the responses here to Bright’s protest/campaign/crusade/comeuppance are probably more generous than those of most ratepayers, for whom transparency isn’t a concern.
Was it Bright’s intent to diminish the credibility of everybody seeking to improve local government for citizens? Best of luck with those on-going efforts – good to know someone’s doing it right.
Weka I read this second press release from Penny about the issue of Council selling her home and the point I wanted to make was that she wanted proof of why her rates were always increasing so she said in the press that she was always intending to pay her rates but never was in receipt of the evidence yet, so I feel she was entitled to see the evidence before she paid her rates.
I call that a good call to request the evidence for the rate increases firstly and it was up to the council to provide that firstly.
There was nothing wrong with the content. Please reread my moderation note. I need to know if from now on you will make it clear which are your words and which are quotes from a link.
I will spell out the quote in the article link for you in future.
But I was two months ago told not to use parts of the text of the link in my blog, as you said TS is not a newspaper media service, so I have since been as brief as i could weka.
I doubt that that is what I said (feel free to link). What isn’t ok is to post huge tracts of text in a comment. Make a comment, cut and paste portions of an article that support your point, include a link, and make it obvious which bits are the cut and paste and which are your own words. This isn’t rocket science and as I said, I’m sick of having to explain it. I’d prefer if you thought through what I am asking and see the reasoning behind it.
Mate, we are well into wasting moderator time territory. Are you trying to piss me off even more?
What I’m getting here is that you will comply with my moderator requests when I make them, but are largely unwilling to learn what is being requested, which means I will have to keep going over and over this. I am unwilling to do that, so next time I will just moderate in a way that saves myself a whole bunch of time.
“I feel she was entitled to see the evidence before she paid her rates”
A learned judge disagreed with you – as does all previous case law. Madame Notsobright can demand whatever she wants but there is no legal basis for not either paying her rates or negotiating the standard deferred payment arrangement. There’s nothing brave about being a stubborn dunce.
That sucks. I really hope she has the cash in an account to pay on the last possible day, but it could just as easily turn out that her house will be sold and she’ll be dragged out of it. Then she’ll start harrassing the new residents because she thinks they’re trespassing.
As OAB said, the author of her own misfortune. If you have a good point, don’t get so obsessed you shoot yourself in the foot.
“Intending” doesn’t necessarily mean “cash at the ready”, like many lenders to friends and flatmates find out. When reality hits and the due date is looming, will she be able to keep her home at the last minute? Only she knows.
Sweet, since she was “:always intending” to pay the rates, she will have paid them into a savings or trust account and will have no troubling clearing the debt without losing her house.
I reckon she spent the money instead, which wouldn’t be very “transparent” of her.
That was my point that we need to stand against the loss of “transparency” from any governing body no matter who they are and Auckland was wrong to not give all documents to Penny that she needed to satisfy her rates increases, as we need to be able to hold them to account for the increases don’t we.
weka; the article said that in their article quoting Penny.
Is Bright even left wing? Adopting some left wing rhetoric to oppose cycleways and claim it’s all been initiated by big corporations seems a little off the map.
Sticking up for the interests of comfortable property owners in St Heliers (Unitary Plan) and Westmere (cycleway o doom) is hardly a radical socialist act. Always been easy to get some public support by bagging the council.
More like Winston Peters or Trump than Corbyn or Sanders.
Takeaway from this Cambridge Analytica story should be that powerful people from all over the world are constantly working to undermine democracy and install puppet leaders. The stupidest people alive are doing mental gymnastics to try and pin it all on Russia.
.
When you spend all day trying to find the Russia connection in our heavily globalised society, you’ll find it. But if you think it’ll all unravel once we’ve dealt with that pesky old Vladimir Putin, you’re set to get badly rolled. The calls are coming from inside the house
.
Countdown until I get called “Pro-Putin” or accused of “whataboutism” for making the basic observation that power is shared, in varying degrees, by many different people and pretty much all of them hate you.
The Cambridge Analytica story, as far as I can see, indicates a replacement of Crosby Textor, with a new bunch of election and political manipulators and propagandists – ones looking for ways to tap into digital connectivity as well as on the ground political activities.
Like Crosby Textor, the Cambridge Anlytica people in the C4 vid talk about targeting emotions and not bothering about facts.
And it indicates a new bunch of propagandists, some more successful these day than others.
On the UK 2017 election campaign, aiming at wiping out Corbyn, which failed to do that. The Tories paid b=for Crosby’s services during the campaign:
Overall the Conservatives were invoiced £2.1 million ($3.8 million) by Facebook, compared with £577,000 ($1.05 million) to Labour and £412,000 ($744,000) to the Liberal Democrats.
…
The Conservatives also paid £544,000 ($983,000) to the Messina Group; Jim Messina, the strategist behind Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, brought expertise on how to target ‘persuadable’ voters on social media.
May’s chief advisor Nick Timothy, who resigned after the election, blamed “campaign consultants” for the Conservatives’ poor performance.
So it seems to be a highly competitive area of commercial activity – paid propagandists, targeting emotions, and trying to disguise their propaganda as something else. And working through subcontractors to hide their activities and where they are operating around the world.
The C4 video has them saying they often use subcontractors that use ex M15 and ex MI6 operatives. T’is a very murky arena.
“Countdown until I get called “Pro-Putin” or accused of “whataboutism” for making the basic observation that power is shared, in varying degrees, by many different people and pretty much all of them hate you.”
If anyone is holding their breath to see whether there will be any change to how Question Time operates today – don’t.
The Green Party has only been allocated one question this week – Question 12 tomorrow, Weds 21 March – so it will be interesting to see whether it is given to National.
Today’s list of oral questions follow the original allocation of 8 National Questions, 3 Labour and one NZF.
Tomorrow’s original allocation was 8 National Questions, 3 Labour and one Green. So if the Green’s one goes to National it will be 9 National and 3 Labour.
Thursday’s original allocation was 7 National Questions, 4 Labour and one NZF. So there will be no change on Thursday.
Next Green questions originally allocated are one next Tuesday and one next Thursday.
i am really beginning to wonder why the Greens needed a big announcement on Sunday.
Perhaps its more about the co-leader campaign divide between the realo (Genter)and fundo (Davidson) candidates as suggested by Chris Trotter. Never one to pass up a conspiracy theory … LOL.
So in addition to missing the point of the poem, the Greens are doomed because they made an announcement on a Sunday and got pretty decent traction out of it. Hyperbole much?
I think the Greens aren’t meant to be doing it at all. Anything that improves democracy is inherently bad if the right benefit from it too. We must remember this is a war, and National are the enemy and this is the centre of everything else that happens and should inform all decisions.
(not having a go at you VV, this is my impression from the arguments of some others).
that’s not the kind of war they are talking about.
Sun Tzu applies as much to this type of war as any other.
Consider, for example, the “moral law” in this context.
“The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.”
Green principles are laid out for all to see in the charter. I was thinking of this among other things when I said “One way to get people to change sides is to keep your word, especially when it comes to points of principle.”
I still think that is a different kind of war than the one Trotter and co are intent on keeping going. Tbh, I think they like it that way and will resist attempts to effect change via principle. If I were being kinder I might say they simply don’t understand it, but I think there is also attachment to the power mongering way of doing things.
Are you saying that the Sun Tzu approach applies where people still want to fight?
the long game … the one Trotter and co are intent on keeping going
Sun Tzu said that opposing forces can strive against one another for decades, whereas victory is decided in a single day. He also said siege warfare is the worst kind.
on the long game and opposing forces – what if it’s the wealthy elites, corporations an National Party business types who want to maintain inequalities, power and privilege, and will not really negotiate in good faith?
You’re welcome, Cinny. I probably come across as a “Know all”, but I just get really frustrated at how much time, effort etc that is wasted here by people not checking the facts, rules etc – and the amount of misinformation. Most of this stuff is just a click or two away if you know where to go.
I am a strong believer in civics education being a compulsory subject at school. I spent almost seven years in Washington DC from age 14 – 20+ and had to do several years of civics education to graduate from high school, before going on to university there.
It really sparked an interest that has stayed with me ever since, although I had grown up here in NZ with government/parliament always present in my younger years due to my father’s work. Parliament was always on the radio when the House was sitting, and I was very privileged to know people like Arnold Nordmeyer, Bill Sutch, Jack Marshall and others of that vintage (also Dr Lloyd Geering now 100 and still going strong!) as real people not just names in the newspaper and on the radio. And I followed my father’s footsteps into an interesting career in the NZ public service including some years overseas working for the UK govt as well.
Back to the here and now. I finally re-found this handy little tool on the Parliament website – the Oral Question Roster for the 52nd Parliament drawn up and approved by the Business Committee last Nov which sets out by sitting day, the number of primary Oral Questions allocated to each party making up the 12 Questions for the day.
The actual sequence often changes but the numbers don’t. I doubt that this will be rejigged in light of the Greens decision as this is in essence an informal decision by the Greens and their arrangement with National is outside (but not contrary to) the current formal procedures and rules of the House.
Today is Sitting Day 30. This day number is always at the top of the Order Paper for each sitting day if you get confused. A useful little tool to keep a check on what the Greens do hereon in.
Hi again Cindy
Today I pointed out this Roster to alwyn on Open Mike and he has now suggested that yesterday was in fact Day 28 not 30, and this actually brings the sequencing etc into line! Well spotted by alwyn and shows the worth of peer review.
Today Oral Questions fit exactly with Day 29 – with the Greens Q10 taken up the Nats – Nick Smith. Quite a hot one, actually with Smith coming back later during the General Debate to give a Personal Explanation.
Here is my comment to alwyn today on the above, plus links to another Roster which is the Roster for speeches in the fortnightly General Debates – again with generic numbering not dates. Think today was No 7 sequence. Asked Alwyn to double check!
It was my guess that the policy had come from (strategist) Genter and current co-leader, Shaw. However, If Davidson was co-leader, she would still be able to ask primary questions when necessary. And Shaw has said they will still be asking supplementary questions.
Genter as a Minister cannot question other Ministers under the rules; whereas Davidson is much freer to do so because she is not a Minister.
This applies regardless of which of them ends up as Co-Leader.
So I found it interesting that Trotter brought the Co-Leader campaign into the question issue in the way he did as I had not considered any connection between the two – but you seem to be not surprised at his contention re the Genter camp.
Relevant extract for anyone who has not read the Trotter opinion piece:
“The Greens as a whole are not out in front on this issue. But the Greens realo (realist) faction is, almost certainly, behind it.
Let us, for the sake of argument, assume that at this point in the race for the Green Party’s female co-leadership, the fundi (fundamentalist) Marama Davidson is out in front.
One of the more substantial planks in Marama’s election platform has been her argument that as a Green MP without ministerial responsibilities, she will be well-placed to raise the issues, and voice the concerns, that are exercising the Green Party membership.
How would that be done? Well, she could ask questions of the Labour-NZ First Coalition Government: questions relating to the CPTPP, oil-drilling and climate-change. She could hold Jacinda and Winston (and James?) to account on their commitment to end child poverty and homelessness. It’s a promise with clear appeal to those members of the Green Party already heartily suspicious of the pig they’re being asked to support – and the poke it came in.
But, just how effective could Marama be if there were no questions to ask?
The idea of putting a muzzle on the Greens’ fundi faction would have enormous appeal to those realo members of the party determined not to blow this long-awaited opportunity to demonstrate that Green Ministers can make a real difference.
It would also be received with profound relief by the apprehensive leaders of Labour and NZ First.”
It will be interesting to see how it pans out vis a vis who becomes Co-Leader.
Lilia Harre made the same suggestion on Q & A. Given that she will have inside knowledge of the Greens, I don’t think the suggestion can be dismissed out of hand.
Some parts of the Greens are obviously nervous about Marama Davidson as Co-Leader, especially now that they are in government. Obviously other Greens are widely enthusiastic about the prospect of Marama to provide a more left wing edge to the government.
Just because she is not a minister does not mean that she does not make up part of the government. Her vote is one of the votes that make up the Greens Confidence and Supply Agreement.
I can imagine there are quite a few in the government, across all three parties, that think the government is already sufficiently left wing. Pressure to make it more so not only exposes potential rifts within the government, it also will make it harder to get re-elected.
Just about everything the PM says seems to have this as a key driver; “How will my statements appeal to the electorate.”
She seems to have a clever blend of reassurance that they are safe, coupled with a degree of kiwi adventurism and aspiration (climate change, being Minister to eradicate Child Poverty). I guess that skill is not so surprising for politician with a Bachelor of Communication degree.
Some parts of the Greens are obviously nervous about Marama Davidson as Co-Leader
Do you have a single quote from anyone in the Green Party to illustrate this “obvious” attack of nerves, or are you just repeating the behaviour that earned you your last ban?
tbf, if he linked to what he is talking about he risks people seeing him saying that the only governments that kill spies are Russia and North Korea.
As for what Harre said, she did say the timing with the co-leadership process was interesting, but she didn’t say how or explain what she meant. Only that MD and other newer MPs would lose the ability to ask questions in the House. Which is daft because the Greens have retained the ability to ask Primary Qs when they need to, as well as the Supplementaries.
So I have no idea what she is on about. Mapp agreed with her but likewise didn’t say what the actual point was. Are they suggesting that the caucus came to a consensus decision to silence the perceived left wing MPs and that this is the real reason for the decision? Tui award right there.
Carolyn, the PM doesn’t come across as a liar. She is a sraight shooter. If Government has’t sanctioned something she is asked, she can only give the current position, even if that is frustrating for the questioner.
Yes, I think/hope Trotter is stretching it in terms of seeing the question thing as being a set-up to push the realo faction to the fore.
Initially at the start of the co-leader campaign, I thought that there might be some advantages of having Davidson as Co-Leader and therefore freer to ask questions; but I then realised the situation stays the same regardless of which of them is Co-Leader.
But now the whole situation of any Green MPs asking any questions is going to be a tricky one – and will be used by others in the House to get in little digs etc. There was a tiny bit of this in Question Time today
Re the “tribal” comment, to be fair he did say other things (paraphrasing, that he was anti-patsy questions while in opposition so the ethical thing to do in govt was opt out of them). Fair point, although it does ignore the fact that they didn’t need to be asking patsies (& have been until now, with all of their allocated questions).
Right. So now, having “given away all patsy questions”, what happens when the Greens use one or more of their questions – as they can at any time, given that the decisions will be made on a week-to-week basis?
Will the fact that they’ve ‘suddenly’ “taken one of their questions back from National” be more likely to make the news or not?
From my perspective, this principled move brings pragmatic advantage. I’m probably wrong.
Are you sure about the rule that a Minister cannot question another Minister or do mean only with a Primary Question?
They can and do throw in Supplementary Questions.
For example in Q6 to Shane Jones Winston came in with
“Rt Hon Winston Peters: I wonder whether the Minister could tell us exactly how he has been received around the country, and particularly up north, by the people up there with respect to projects for which they have waited sometimes three decades?”
This did get an answer.
Would you consider that is only an interjection?
I wonder how the Greens will feel about their first gifted #nzqt primary being used to put pressure on the Government to keep New Zealand open for Oil Exploration?
7:50 am – 20 Mar 2018
.
weka
@wekatweets
7m7 minutes ago
Replying to @strewnryan
How is this a problem unless Labour are prevaricating on ending oil exploration in NZ?
Maybe someone can explain the problem to me, because I still don’t get it.
The Government is at a critical point in its decision-making over the future of its oil and gas exploration permits.
Jacinda Ardern said, when accepting Greenpeace’s petition, “I ask now for a bit more time. We’re working hard on this issue and we know it’s something that we can’t afford to spend much time on but we are actively considering it now.”
Because it’s an important issue that should have been developed as Labour policy, and coalition consensus, well before now, instead of asking “for a bit more time”. Your “now” may be different to my “now”. 🙂
Also an underlying implication that because National are evil they should have less say in parliament despite voters having voted for them. That’s not how democracy works.
I would have thought the underlying implication was that because National are evil they shouldn’t have more say in Parliament than what their share of the vote entitles them too. That’s how democracy works.
That argument only works if you believe that QT is functioning well for democracy. Many people, including the Greens, think it is not at needs to be changed. The Greens appear to be saying that QT is for the Opposition to hold the govt to account. The Greens are in govt, and kind of not, but they’re not full time Opposition so it does make sense that they might see themselves as not needing those questions or even being entitled to them. Just because the current system allocates questions the way it does, doesn’t make if fair or right.
It then becomes an issue of what they should do with them. Some are arguing that the Greens should use them to ask meaningful questions of Labour and NZF, essentially being in a ‘hold them to account’ role, but more constructively. I’ve yet to see an explanation of how that would work, but I also wondered why they didn’t. One issue is that the MSM will use the Greens asking hard Qs to shit stir over splits in the govt. See how that works? NZ doesn’t yet know how to think about our current MMP arrangement (that’s a block to better democracy btw).
Another suggestion was to give the questions to the public. I like this one too, and would be interested to go back and look at when this was tried before.
Be fair, weka. No-one’s saying the Nats should have “less say” – they have an allocation of questions already. As they’re the biggest single party they get to ask the most questions already. Hard to see that as “less say”.
Hey, I’m all for reforming how QT is run. I addressed the less issue in my comment above. It’s not about that, it’s about the roles of various parties. If this was Labour in Opposition I doubt there would be the same fuss at all. So much of the argument is partisan, which I understand, but the Greens still have a principle here that is valid.
Maybe Shaw and Ardern got together and agreed that Labour was having a really bad coupla weeks with heaps of negative press and a distraction was needed. On that basis the Greens announcement regarding their questions benefits them and also benefits Labour.
Hehe…It’s a stretch I know, but is the only scenario I can come up with that benefits the coalition as opposed to just the National Party..Also, if you didn’t assume it to be a deliberate beneficial distraction, then the Greens timing is really really bad.
Yes, I know it might be about the Greens just wanting to improve democracy… but then they could have waited a coupla weeks maybe.. (unless it was a distraction of course)
Facebook’s chief information security officer, Alex Stamos, will leave the company after internal disagreements over how the social network should deal with its role in spreading disinformation, according to current and former employees briefed on the matter.
Mr. Stamos had been a strong advocate inside the company for investigating and disclosing Russian activity on Facebook, often to the consternation of other top executives, including Sheryl Sandberg, the social network’s chief operating officer, according to the current and former employees, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters.
BREAKING: Facebook WAS inside Cambridge Analytica's office but have now "stood down" following dramatic intervention by UK Information Commissioner's Office..— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 19, 2018
To be clear, @facebook was trying to "secure evidence" ahead of the UK authorities. Nice try, @facebook. The UK Information Commissioner's Office cracking whip…British legal investigation MUST take precedence over US multibillion $ company.. https://t.co/CNNXwv1M3R— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 19, 2018
Please note our call for “no more neglect please for lack of our rail services.”
Our HB/Gisborne rail support communities are somewhat surprised today and heartened when we heard Shane Jones warning another public transport SOE (Air NZ) ” not to neglect our regions” transport services, as he did when warning Air NZ not to “neglect” Gisborne as they did Kapiti.
Since National took over in 2008 they have systematically run down our regional rail services by lack of funds and caused the blocked drains that washed out the rail line closing it in 2012.
So we now expect Shane jones along with the minister of SOE (Hon’ Winston Peters to warn kiwirail also not to neglect our regions on the current lack of services we have yet to have retrurned to us after 6 long years of national/Kiwirail neglect.
Minister to Air NZ: Don’t neglect regions
From Nine To Noon, 9:09 am today
The Minister for Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has criticised Air New Zealand for degrading its services to the regions. Mr Jones’s comments come after Air New Zealand’s abrupt withdrawal from flights into Kapiti – it gave the region just three weeks notice that it would pull out. Kathryn Ryan speaks with Minister Jones and with the mayors of Gisborne and Whangarei districts, Meng Foon and Sheryl Mai.
It was more of a threat from the way article reads.
Interesting move by Jones good on him but I don’t think it make any difference to what Air NZ will do they are a listed corporate and if a service is making a loss they can end it.
Some in the regions will hail him as sticking up for them and increase support for NZF.
I know NZF policy as I have been to several public meetings over the last several years and Shane is very much saying NZ first here to AirNZ as it is sending a clear message to the board to come home with services, not be just a global player, and todnights feedback on the media had some positive feedback for his stand to drive a policy for NZ first to be serviced by our soe that was funded by the NZ taxpayer.
We now see Winston again entering into the argument as “Minister of SOE”.
So maybe this is NZF pushing for a scrap with those SOE’s weho are turning their backs on the local services market that we all pay for as taxpayers, of all these publicly owned SOE’s.
Time will tell if our challenge to Shane on (13) to return our rail service as another bad example of yet another “SOE “neglected” public regional service?.
Air NZ is not a SOE, the govt is a majority shareholder and has some representatives on the board. It is listed company on the stock exchange so they have a responsibility to all shareholders to be profitable.
I would say that operating a regional service would be very expensive as you can only use small planes and they would spreading the cost over less punters and if it is poorly used then it would end up costing money.
Rail in NZ has been poorly run for years and years and we have lost many opportunities to have a regional rail service, but the questions comes down to cost again, servicing a small community with rail or for that matter flights who pays.
Does it mean increased rates or taxes to cover the infrastructure costs as it would take a lot of passengers to make it break even. Lets say I live in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch should I have to pay for a regional train service that I would never use.
I dont know the answer but I would prefer to see rail in the regions be for cargo mainly and remove trucks from the roads and then the cost is paid by those using it.
The answer is that significant ongoing state investment in public infrastructure, utilities and services creates an environment in which people and business can flourish, not least because of the certainty it provides.
great to see you back, always enjoy your contributions.
In todays environment that has a cost and the money has to come from somewhere to fund it which would be above and beyond current spending.
To have a full regional rail network, that opportunity was lost long ago when they closed them, it would require considerable investment and would it be used to justify the spending.
Looking at Air NZ I am sure they wouldn’t close a regular service if it was making a profit I don’t think they should be forced to keep them going if they are losing money as that has other risks.
So profit & money is considered before the cost to the environment or our health.
We will suffer because of the loss in safe transport be it air or rail passenger services as trucks increase road use at 6% a year (NZTA) figures.
Now our windy narrow fraile regional roads are falling apart and we see these PPP beginning to use our former SOE’s as cash cows by squeezing every dollar of profit out while the ratepayer is left to foot the road repairs and propping up air transport.
Also we will suffer health effects of climate change increased air pollution, and airborne diseases from warmer hot air mass and circulation under high winds and dust conditions but our public health cost will also increase at the same time so again the taxpayer is left to prop up these so called business ventures.
“You can’t get blood out of a stone” a fitting term.
I guess we’ll find out just how truly vile this man is.
#BREAKING@WeinsteinFilms announces bankruptcy deal. "The Weinstein Company Holdings LLC today entered into a “stalking horse” agreement with an affiliate of Lantern Capital Partners, a Dallas-based private equity company." — statement pic.twitter.com/hbUAfYl9p2— John Stempin (@johnstempinNPR) March 20, 2018
"It has been reported that Harvey Weinstein used non-disclosure agreements as a secret weapon to silence his accusers. Effective immediately, those “agreements” end. The Company expressly releases any confidentiality provision to the extent it has prevented individuals….— John Stempin (@johnstempinNPR) March 20, 2018
Great to welcome my friend @FrankLuntz to NZ. Thanks for taking time to come by & share your insights with a broad range of Kiwi friends. pic.twitter.com/CYwg6xbgGs— Ambassador Brown (@USAmbNZ) March 20, 2018
Okay Twitter, here's your chance to get rid of me…It’s no longer legal for Americans to buy property in New Zealand, but this house started construction before the law. pic.twitter.com/GNesWpX9ke— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) March 18, 2018
What should I do?— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) March 18, 2018
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
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Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
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CPTPP: Extended submission deadline
You now have until Wednesday, 18 April 2018 to have your say on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The Foreign Affairs,Defence and Trade Committee is now inviting submissions on the treaty.
The CPTPP is a free trade agreement negotiated by 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including New Zealand, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, and Viet Nam.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1803/S00180/cptpp-extended-submission-deadline.htm
Thanks SaveNZ!
Awesome savenz “lets do this”
I watched David parker blurbing his crap today in parliament and he showed that he is not truly confident that we wont be sued by any other party now.
he should have thought of this before he signed iot.
Now we are forced to accept this for 35yrs because of him.
As soon as these companies start to lose profits because their industry is declining (oil and coal mining comes to mind but there are plenty of industries that are rich but declining) their lawyers will be looking to keep as much profit as possible by using these type agreements to sue for damages.
The current agreement is not fit for purpose for the 21c and climate change and declining wages and increasingly inequality.
It should be stopped.
successfully sued.
They don’t need to successfully sue. It costs millions to defend a position, aka Phillip Morris and OZ.
Having lawyers have the ability to disrupt in international courts which the EU has just ruled are illegal is not OK.
Having lawyer fight it out in the Andrew Little case, he eventually won after two trials, but his life was disrupted, the election was disrupted and I guess he will be much less likely to question corporate donations followed by lucrative government contracts again.
The threat is as much the problem as the rules which are being used weekly to sue governments in these agreements and are out of step with how the public perceives their governments should operate (aka in the public’s interest of their country NOT in the business/lawyers interests).
Yawn.
Labour’s bottom line in that regard was “successfully”. And people aren’t governments. Governments can deal with court cases alongside all sorts of other things.
In February alone the US national debt grew by $215 billion.
That’s more than the GDP of NZ.
US debt is increasing 36% faster than the US economy.
Relax the Donald’s a financial genius….just ask him.
Donald Figjam Trump ?
And it’s probably the only thing that’s keeping the US economy afloat – until it crashes it completely.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/03/15/96985/academics-slam-waka-jumping-bill#
C’mon Greens you’re on a roll, do the right thing and stop this bill
If you are elected on a party list, you should stay with that party or leave Parliament.
Otherwise you are cheating voters who voted for that party and their list.
Nothing wrong with a bill saying so.
The Waka jumping bill is a classic example of the political scientists, technocrats and experts being at loggerheads with the commonsense of voters. For the expertocracy, the waka jumping bill is an affront to democracy, because they are paid to believe certain bits of constitutional fantasy – like that list MPs are the same as electorate MPs and that MPs in general are elected, and ignore the reality they mostly owe their jobs to being on a party slate.
We need to be real about this. List MPs owe their jobs exclusively to the party list and therefore have an obligation to the party that should require their resignation from parliament if they are no longer members of the party that elected them. Electorate MPs should have the guts to face their voters if they change sides. If they are cowards who move parties for expediency but won’t re-consult their elecotors, then sack them.
Instad of pretending the system operates by a set of rules that are anachronistic, our expert class would be far better employed pointing out that political parties now have major role in our electoral arrangements, yet our constitution is completely silent on their role and this needs to be changed urgently.
1000%
agree 100% dv. The bill is entirely democratic and sensible.
The attempt to derail this bill is opportunistic and wishful thinking by the Nats that this government could fall in a years time when there is a crisis relating to the behaviour of one or two MP’s in the La/Gr/Nzf coalition causing resignations.
The Greens should support the bill.
“If you are elected on a party list, you should stay with that party or leave Parliament.”
But what if that party abandons the policies and principles on which in was elected?
Then stay in the party and work to put it back on track. Don’t be a coward or a grandstander and leave
Yeah, work to rule. Make the bastards get rid of you for advocating party policy.
Yep and try and stay in til the next election so you get voted back and they get voted out. Don’t hand the power to them work with the party activists for change.
“…so you get voted back and they get voted out.”
And you know this will happen how? If you are a list MP, and your party abandons it’s principles, the chances are you’ll all get voted out!
So you mitigated their damage and were a thorn in their side until then.
A caucus hijacking of a party sooner or later needs to be run by the membership. If you win, the splitters get kicked out. If they win, you were in the wrong damned party anyway.
So someone who upholds party principles in the face of the party machine is a ‘coward’ and ‘grandstander’? Nice.
“If politics transgresses conscience, politics must cede.”
Dr Kennedy Graham.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11905539
Graham broke protocol and ignored the party’s principles.
The decision was later confirmed by the party. I already know you disagree with them, so there’s no point in repeating that, ad nauseam.
And he also eventually resigned from caucus.
Rather than giving support to the nats, like a party-hopper would.
Party hoppers don’t have to give support to any other party. They can choose to continue to support their party on all but those areas of principle on which that party has betrayed their voters or their principles (eg standing behind the actions of a self confessed fraudster).
Either way. Kennedy Graham is not an example of party hopping.
True. I just liked his quote!
A quote which, given his own actions, is irrelevant to the discussion about party-hopping.
“Graham broke protocol…”
So Shaw claims. I’d say Graham and Clendon called out the party for supporting a self confessed fraudster, and they didn’t like it.
Yes, as previously noted, that’s what you’d say, ad nauseam.
I’d say Graham and Clendon called out the party for supporting a self confessed fraudster….
You would say that, yes. Is there some reason members of the Green Party should give a shit what you, a person who doesn’t share their values and is ignorant of their kaupapa, would say about an internal issue within their party?
A co-leader of a political party admitting historical benefit fraud is not ‘an internal issue within their party’.
As to the party’s values and kaupapa…https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/05-02-2018/my-old-party-is-betraying-its-own-proud-history-on-the-waka-jumping-bill/
A member losing the confidence of fellow members for an egregious breach of protocol is very much an internal matter. Whatever that shit is that you’re on about is another subject entirely.
What about a Cabinet Minister deliberately breaking our Privacy laws? Or creating a situation where an innocent guy got death threats? Or a Cabinet Minister uses his power to get a friend preferential treatment. Ora PM assaulting a member of the public, multiple times… what do you call tgat? Business as usual?
“A member losing the confidence of fellow members for an egregious breach of protocol is very much an internal matter.”
A member disagreeing with a political party effectively condoning benefit fraud is very much a matter for the public.
“What about a Cabinet Minister deliberately breaking our Privacy laws? ”
If another member of that CM’s party spoke out against that CM, then all power to them. That’s exactly the point I’m making. Why should a political party stamp on an individual MP’s conscience when they are effectively challenging a party who has compromised it’s own principles?
Like Collins leak lead to a guy getting death threats… to her asking tge police to fudge figures for her newsletter… bennett deliberately break the Privacy Law and only a few days National Party broke tge Privacy laws again.
100% KIT,
National love the bill as they can jump into a opposition Party and wreck them then switch to national afterwards.
Unfortunately, they probably will. Doing so would be the wrong thing to do especially when ~80% of the populace wants it.
We know why National wants it not to pass – they remember the 1990s when enough waka jumpers kept them in power.
After year on year of multi billion dollar losses, Uber’s way to profit depends on ditching humans. Die Uber, die.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/woman-dies-in-arizona-after-being-hit-by-uber-self-driving-car/ar-BBKqSzV
Armed pedestrians would have confronted and shot out the tyres of car involved – but even then, that may not have stopped the car.
This tragedy in Arizona (thoughts and prayers) shows the need to strengthen the 2nd amendment to include small pieces of artillery, like the recoilless 84mm Carl Gustav.
Competent and skilled citizens with recoilless artillery would have stopped this car in its track.
You right, what will be required is a citizens militia armed with Bazookas, better an innocent passenger die that an errant driverless car go free.
Reading that it sounds like she would have been killed even if it was a human driver.
And, yes, we need to do something about the unearned income that is the whole point of capitalism.
Yes, I suspect human error. The person that was behind the wheel at the time. Especially with a driver unfamiliar with the vehicle, what a part autonomous vehicle can and can’t do without human interaction is a grey area. When the new Model 3 Tesla wants the driver to take the controls, a bell chimes. No system will protect a cyclist that immediately appears in any vehicle’s path. They have a better chance with a system that can react in a quarter of the time it takes a human to stop the vehicle….especially a human scanning his next Uber job.
It’s an issue that has been prevalent with minor tech advances. Like folk driving into corners 10% faster because their new vehicle has ABS and traction control. Black ice takes no prisoners.
Couple of things to remind people about just how fucking bad the new sharing economy is for workers.
‘
Uber and Lyft drivers in the US make a median profit of as little as $8.55 per hour before taxes, according to a new report that suggests a majority of ride-share workers make below minimum wage and that some actually lose money.
Researchers did an analysis of vehicle cost data and a survey of more than 1,100 drivers for the ride-hailing companies for the paper, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. The first draft of the paper, released last month, said the median profit was $3.37 an hour, but the author released a new analysis on Monday following criticism from Uber.
[…]
Other academics and commentators who expressed skepticism about the initial finding said the new numbers seemed more appropriate.
Harry Campbell, founder of the Rideshare Guy, a website that conducts surveys of drivers and had partnered with Zoepf on this research, told the Guardian last week that he thought the $3.37 figure seemed too low. On Monday, he said the new numbers “definitely seem in the right ballpark”.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/01/uber-lyft-driver-wages-median-report.
We will never know the full story of Douglas Schifter, a New York cab and limo driver who completed suicide earlier this week in front of City Hall. Those of us who don’t know him personally have no special insight into his mental health, or what else was going on in his life.
But in his final Facebook note and in trade magazine columns written under his byline, Schifter left a trail of commentary about the stress of surviving as a driver in New York, and with it, a view into how the so-called disruption led by Uber and Lyft, and cities’ mishandling of it, weighs dangerously on workers.
Schifter’s note (which Facebook has since taken down), posted hours before he died, chronicles the economic struggles of a livery driver in New York. He says he worked at least 100 hours every week, and still ended his career in financial ruin.
He blamed the powers that be in New York, pointing at the politicians who allowed more cabs on the road, flooding in more competition, and then adding green cabs too. “There was always meant to be numbers of cars below the demand. That was the guarantee of a steady income,” Schifter wrote.
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/neqb58/before-he-died-a-new-york-taxi-driver-wrote-about-how-the-gig-economy-ruined-his-life?utm_source=mbtwitter
C4 in the UK did an undercover investigation and recorded Cambridge Analytica people talking dodgy tactics and boasting about interfering in elections in many countries across the globe.
They’re talking honey traps, bribes and more.
Eh. Cambridge Analytics was also involved in widespread FB privacy breaches
https://iapp.org/news/a/what-privacy-pros-can-learn-from-the-facebook-cambridge-analytica-incident/
“Reportedly, Facebook thought it was allowing a CA partner to pull data for academic purposes only. Data access for academic research tends to be more open than access for commercial uses, so Facebook may have scaled its controls according to the purported use, and thereby let down its guard. According to Wylie, “Facebook could see [massive data collection] was happening. Their security protocols were triggered because [University of Cambridge professor Aleksandr Kogan]’s apps were pulling this enormous amount of data, but apparently Kogan told them it was for academic use. So they were like, ‘Fine’.”
Lots of fun if the timeline covers tRump’s long weekend in Moscow and the compromised position he’s alleged to have found himself in.
https://twitter.com/CNNTonight/status/975928148910051328
There you have an insight. Key did not operate within the rules of fair play. If you operate outside the rules you must be a cheat.
Of course he cheats. Psychological responses in games parallel real life.
I see Penny’s fight with the council is reaching its conclusion.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12016222
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/central-leader/102419024/auckland-protesters-home-to-be-sold-following-11-years-of-unpaid-rates
[delete]
[I literally cannot tell which are your words and which are from the link. I’ve been asking people to be clear for quite some time now and am sick of asking so from now on I’m just going to delete what I can’t makes sense of. If the commenter is someone I remember warning before I am also likely to moderate. The onus is on the commenter to make it clear what is their own words and what they are quoting. – weka]
The coalition is responsible for Auckland city, really?.
For eleven years Ms Bright availed herself of infrastructure and services financed by folk who do pay their rates, and now she has the gall to squeal poor little me – DFO
/
‘It’s so unfair’ wails innocent victim (annotated image via RNZ twitter) https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DYt-dkjUQAApsC_.jpg
Oh dear, that interview.
Penny Bright is largely the author of her own misfortune. I’d also like to drive a truck through various sections of the LG(AC) Act. Alienating allies and making potentially defamatory allegations against public servants are two things I’d try and stay away from though.
She is unfortunately too daft to know which laws apply. Diminishes the credibility of everybody seeking to improve local government for citizens.
NZers notionally support ‘underdogs’, but the responses here to Bright’s protest/campaign/crusade/comeuppance are probably more generous than those of most ratepayers, for whom transparency isn’t a concern.
Was it Bright’s intent to diminish the credibility of everybody seeking to improve local government for citizens? Best of luck with those on-going efforts – good to know someone’s doing it right.
moderation note for you to respond to.
Weka I read this second press release from Penny about the issue of Council selling her home and the point I wanted to make was that she wanted proof of why her rates were always increasing so she said in the press that she was always intending to pay her rates but never was in receipt of the evidence yet, so I feel she was entitled to see the evidence before she paid her rates.
I call that a good call to request the evidence for the rate increases firstly and it was up to the council to provide that firstly.
This was a matter of consumers rights.
There was nothing wrong with the content. Please reread my moderation note. I need to know if from now on you will make it clear which are your words and which are quotes from a link.
Sure weka,
I will spell out the quote in the article link for you in future.
But I was two months ago told not to use parts of the text of the link in my blog, as you said TS is not a newspaper media service, so I have since been as brief as i could weka.
I doubt that that is what I said (feel free to link). What isn’t ok is to post huge tracts of text in a comment. Make a comment, cut and paste portions of an article that support your point, include a link, and make it obvious which bits are the cut and paste and which are your own words. This isn’t rocket science and as I said, I’m sick of having to explain it. I’d prefer if you thought through what I am asking and see the reasoning behind it.
LOL
Mate, we are well into wasting moderator time territory. Are you trying to piss me off even more?
What I’m getting here is that you will comply with my moderator requests when I make them, but are largely unwilling to learn what is being requested, which means I will have to keep going over and over this. I am unwilling to do that, so next time I will just moderate in a way that saves myself a whole bunch of time.
“I feel she was entitled to see the evidence before she paid her rates”
A learned judge disagreed with you – as does all previous case law. Madame Notsobright can demand whatever she wants but there is no legal basis for not either paying her rates or negotiating the standard deferred payment arrangement. There’s nothing brave about being a stubborn dunce.
That sucks. I really hope she has the cash in an account to pay on the last possible day, but it could just as easily turn out that her house will be sold and she’ll be dragged out of it. Then she’ll start harrassing the new residents because she thinks they’re trespassing.
As OAB said, the author of her own misfortune. If you have a good point, don’t get so obsessed you shoot yourself in the foot.
Yes McFlock;
In the article Penny specifically said she “was always intending to pay her rates” but requested evidence for the rate rises before hand.
“Intending” doesn’t necessarily mean “cash at the ready”, like many lenders to friends and flatmates find out. When reality hits and the due date is looming, will she be able to keep her home at the last minute? Only she knows.
Russell Brown reckons Bright will get a capital gains windfall from the sale.
God yes, if she’s owned a house in Auckland for more than ten years.
She’d still get kicked out, though.
Sweet, since she was “:always intending” to pay the rates, she will have paid them into a savings or trust account and will have no troubling clearing the debt without losing her house.
I reckon she spent the money instead, which wouldn’t be very “transparent” of her.
Whether you agree with Penny’s stance or not she must be admired for carrying through with her convictions. No chardonay socalist this one!
If she was willing to lose her home, I’d agree.
If she loses her home because she was in denial about the chances of her success, on the other hand…
True. A scrapper through and through
Agreed Jim, 100%
That was my point that we need to stand against the loss of “transparency” from any governing body no matter who they are and Auckland was wrong to not give all documents to Penny that she needed to satisfy her rates increases, as we need to be able to hold them to account for the increases don’t we.
weka; the article said that in their article quoting Penny.
Is Bright even left wing? Adopting some left wing rhetoric to oppose cycleways and claim it’s all been initiated by big corporations seems a little off the map.
Sticking up for the interests of comfortable property owners in St Heliers (Unitary Plan) and Westmere (cycleway o doom) is hardly a radical socialist act. Always been easy to get some public support by bagging the council.
More like Winston Peters or Trump than Corbyn or Sanders.
Short twitter thread,
radiohead revisionist
@oriwa_
Takeaway from this Cambridge Analytica story should be that powerful people from all over the world are constantly working to undermine democracy and install puppet leaders. The stupidest people alive are doing mental gymnastics to try and pin it all on Russia.
.
When you spend all day trying to find the Russia connection in our heavily globalised society, you’ll find it. But if you think it’ll all unravel once we’ve dealt with that pesky old Vladimir Putin, you’re set to get badly rolled. The calls are coming from inside the house
.
Countdown until I get called “Pro-Putin” or accused of “whataboutism” for making the basic observation that power is shared, in varying degrees, by many different people and pretty much all of them hate you.
https://twitter.com/oriwa_/status/975866285908086784
The Cambridge Analytica story, as far as I can see, indicates a replacement of Crosby Textor, with a new bunch of election and political manipulators and propagandists – ones looking for ways to tap into digital connectivity as well as on the ground political activities.
Like Crosby Textor, the Cambridge Anlytica people in the C4 vid talk about targeting emotions and not bothering about facts.
This from The Oz Age today about Crosby, points to Crosby Textor being on the way out.
And it indicates a new bunch of propagandists, some more successful these day than others.
On the UK 2017 election campaign, aiming at wiping out Corbyn, which failed to do that. The Tories paid b=for Crosby’s services during the campaign:
The Messina Group (Jim Messina) worked for the Obama campaigns before working for the UK Tories.
So it seems to be a highly competitive area of commercial activity – paid propagandists, targeting emotions, and trying to disguise their propaganda as something else. And working through subcontractors to hide their activities and where they are operating around the world.
The C4 video has them saying they often use subcontractors that use ex M15 and ex MI6 operatives. T’is a very murky arena.
“Countdown until I get called “Pro-Putin” or accused of “whataboutism” for making the basic observation that power is shared, in varying degrees, by many different people and pretty much all of them hate you.”
Lol…succinct
If anyone is holding their breath to see whether there will be any change to how Question Time operates today – don’t.
The Green Party has only been allocated one question this week – Question 12 tomorrow, Weds 21 March – so it will be interesting to see whether it is given to National.
Today’s list of oral questions follow the original allocation of 8 National Questions, 3 Labour and one NZF.
Tomorrow’s original allocation was 8 National Questions, 3 Labour and one Green. So if the Green’s one goes to National it will be 9 National and 3 Labour.
Thursday’s original allocation was 7 National Questions, 4 Labour and one NZF. So there will be no change on Thursday.
Next Green questions originally allocated are one next Tuesday and one next Thursday.
i am really beginning to wonder why the Greens needed a big announcement on Sunday.
Perhaps its more about the co-leader campaign divide between the realo (Genter)and fundo (Davidson) candidates as suggested by Chris Trotter. Never one to pass up a conspiracy theory … LOL.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/03/20/questioning-the-greens/
The sky is falling, the sky is falling!
(or, the Greens just moved on one of their projects, reforming how politics is done).
“For whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
John Donne 1624
That went over my head.
We’re all in this together
That’s the point of the poem, but is it Veutoviper’s meaning, and does it therefore translate to “the Greens are doomed and so are we”?
Not “and so are we”.
So in addition to missing the point of the poem, the Greens are doomed because they made an announcement on a Sunday and got pretty decent traction out of it. Hyperbole much?
Since you think it will prove an unpopular move, no doubt you can see the sense of doing it in the first year of being in government.
I think the Greens aren’t meant to be doing it at all. Anything that improves democracy is inherently bad if the right benefit from it too. We must remember this is a war, and National are the enemy and this is the centre of everything else that happens and should inform all decisions.
(not having a go at you VV, this is my impression from the arguments of some others).
They have a point. The National Party’s owners aren’t going to stop.
However, the highest art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
true, but that’s not the kind of war they are talking about.
that’s not the kind of war they are talking about.
Sun Tzu applies as much to this type of war as any other.
Consider, for example, the “moral law” in this context.
Green principles are laid out for all to see in the charter. I was thinking of this among other things when I said “One way to get people to change sides is to keep your word, especially when it comes to points of principle.”
yes, and that is the long game.
I still think that is a different kind of war than the one Trotter and co are intent on keeping going. Tbh, I think they like it that way and will resist attempts to effect change via principle. If I were being kinder I might say they simply don’t understand it, but I think there is also attachment to the power mongering way of doing things.
Are you saying that the Sun Tzu approach applies where people still want to fight?
the long game … the one Trotter and co are intent on keeping going
Sun Tzu said that opposing forces can strive against one another for decades, whereas victory is decided in a single day. He also said siege warfare is the worst kind.
I’m backing the Greens 🙂
on the long game and opposing forces – what if it’s the wealthy elites, corporations an National Party business types who want to maintain inequalities, power and privilege, and will not really negotiate in good faith?
“That’s the point of the poem”
Yes. I said that.
Yes you did. No man is an island.
Thanks for the update VV, was just eyeing up the oral questions for today wondering where everything fits it.
Really appreciate the information and knowledge you share here, especially on said topic, personally I find it incredibly helpful.
Thanks again 🙂
You’re welcome, Cinny. I probably come across as a “Know all”, but I just get really frustrated at how much time, effort etc that is wasted here by people not checking the facts, rules etc – and the amount of misinformation. Most of this stuff is just a click or two away if you know where to go.
I am a strong believer in civics education being a compulsory subject at school. I spent almost seven years in Washington DC from age 14 – 20+ and had to do several years of civics education to graduate from high school, before going on to university there.
It really sparked an interest that has stayed with me ever since, although I had grown up here in NZ with government/parliament always present in my younger years due to my father’s work. Parliament was always on the radio when the House was sitting, and I was very privileged to know people like Arnold Nordmeyer, Bill Sutch, Jack Marshall and others of that vintage (also Dr Lloyd Geering now 100 and still going strong!) as real people not just names in the newspaper and on the radio. And I followed my father’s footsteps into an interesting career in the NZ public service including some years overseas working for the UK govt as well.
Back to the here and now. I finally re-found this handy little tool on the Parliament website – the Oral Question Roster for the 52nd Parliament drawn up and approved by the Business Committee last Nov which sets out by sitting day, the number of primary Oral Questions allocated to each party making up the 12 Questions for the day.
The actual sequence often changes but the numbers don’t. I doubt that this will be rejigged in light of the Greens decision as this is in essence an informal decision by the Greens and their arrangement with National is outside (but not contrary to) the current formal procedures and rules of the House.
Today is Sitting Day 30. This day number is always at the top of the Order Paper for each sitting day if you get confused. A useful little tool to keep a check on what the Greens do hereon in.
https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/52SCBUDeterminations201711081/8711510daa40c86a56295e2b6e5cbece93abf7da
You don’t come across as a ‘know it all’ at all.
Your comments are always interesting and informative.
VV ….. Awesome, thanks ever so much for your reply + the link and explanation, fantastico 🙂
Unfortunately was not taught civics at school, politics however, was never off the agenda around the family dinner table 🙂 Grateful for that
Civics needs to be included in the core curriculum for all students, it would change so many lives for the better.
Brigid.. + 100%
Hi again Cindy
Today I pointed out this Roster to alwyn on Open Mike and he has now suggested that yesterday was in fact Day 28 not 30, and this actually brings the sequencing etc into line! Well spotted by alwyn and shows the worth of peer review.
Today Oral Questions fit exactly with Day 29 – with the Greens Q10 taken up the Nats – Nick Smith. Quite a hot one, actually with Smith coming back later during the General Debate to give a Personal Explanation.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-03-2018/#comment-1464096
Here is my comment to alwyn today on the above, plus links to another Roster which is the Roster for speeches in the fortnightly General Debates – again with generic numbering not dates. Think today was No 7 sequence. Asked Alwyn to double check!
It was my guess that the policy had come from (strategist) Genter and current co-leader, Shaw. However, If Davidson was co-leader, she would still be able to ask primary questions when necessary. And Shaw has said they will still be asking supplementary questions.
Genter as a Minister cannot question other Ministers under the rules; whereas Davidson is much freer to do so because she is not a Minister.
This applies regardless of which of them ends up as Co-Leader.
So I found it interesting that Trotter brought the Co-Leader campaign into the question issue in the way he did as I had not considered any connection between the two – but you seem to be not surprised at his contention re the Genter camp.
Relevant extract for anyone who has not read the Trotter opinion piece:
“The Greens as a whole are not out in front on this issue. But the Greens realo (realist) faction is, almost certainly, behind it.
Let us, for the sake of argument, assume that at this point in the race for the Green Party’s female co-leadership, the fundi (fundamentalist) Marama Davidson is out in front.
One of the more substantial planks in Marama’s election platform has been her argument that as a Green MP without ministerial responsibilities, she will be well-placed to raise the issues, and voice the concerns, that are exercising the Green Party membership.
How would that be done? Well, she could ask questions of the Labour-NZ First Coalition Government: questions relating to the CPTPP, oil-drilling and climate-change. She could hold Jacinda and Winston (and James?) to account on their commitment to end child poverty and homelessness. It’s a promise with clear appeal to those members of the Green Party already heartily suspicious of the pig they’re being asked to support – and the poke it came in.
But, just how effective could Marama be if there were no questions to ask?
The idea of putting a muzzle on the Greens’ fundi faction would have enormous appeal to those realo members of the party determined not to blow this long-awaited opportunity to demonstrate that Green Ministers can make a real difference.
It would also be received with profound relief by the apprehensive leaders of Labour and NZ First.”
It will be interesting to see how it pans out vis a vis who becomes Co-Leader.
Nothing surprises me these days, veuto. I have seen Genter as being a major strategist for the GP, given one or 2 comments she’s made.
I do think there is a bit of a struggle between the left and right wings of the GP, as there is in Labour.
However, Trotter is probably stretching it by linking it to the co-leader campaign.
We shall see how QT and the co-leader results pan out.
Carolyn
Lilia Harre made the same suggestion on Q & A. Given that she will have inside knowledge of the Greens, I don’t think the suggestion can be dismissed out of hand.
Some parts of the Greens are obviously nervous about Marama Davidson as Co-Leader, especially now that they are in government. Obviously other Greens are widely enthusiastic about the prospect of Marama to provide a more left wing edge to the government.
Just because she is not a minister does not mean that she does not make up part of the government. Her vote is one of the votes that make up the Greens Confidence and Supply Agreement.
I can imagine there are quite a few in the government, across all three parties, that think the government is already sufficiently left wing. Pressure to make it more so not only exposes potential rifts within the government, it also will make it harder to get re-elected.
Just about everything the PM says seems to have this as a key driver; “How will my statements appeal to the electorate.”
She seems to have a clever blend of reassurance that they are safe, coupled with a degree of kiwi adventurism and aspiration (climate change, being Minister to eradicate Child Poverty). I guess that skill is not so surprising for politician with a Bachelor of Communication degree.
Some parts of the Greens are obviously nervous about Marama Davidson as Co-Leader
Do you have a single quote from anyone in the Green Party to illustrate this “obvious” attack of nerves, or are you just repeating the behaviour that earned you your last ban?
LOL – Welcome back, how was your latest ban?
tbf, if he linked to what he is talking about he risks people seeing him saying that the only governments that kill spies are Russia and North Korea.
As for what Harre said, she did say the timing with the co-leadership process was interesting, but she didn’t say how or explain what she meant. Only that MD and other newer MPs would lose the ability to ask questions in the House. Which is daft because the Greens have retained the ability to ask Primary Qs when they need to, as well as the Supplementaries.
So I have no idea what she is on about. Mapp agreed with her but likewise didn’t say what the actual point was. Are they suggesting that the caucus came to a consensus decision to silence the perceived left wing MPs and that this is the real reason for the decision? Tui award right there.
In December 2016, Laila Harré announced she had rejoined the Labour Party 27 years after she left to join New Labour.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11766724
Carolyn, the PM doesn’t come across as a liar. She is a sraight shooter. If Government has’t sanctioned something she is asked, she can only give the current position, even if that is frustrating for the questioner.
Wayne, I am aware that a few National Party MPs/supporters would prefer the GP co-leader to be Genter.
So, you are obviously on message.
Yes, I think/hope Trotter is stretching it in terms of seeing the question thing as being a set-up to push the realo faction to the fore.
Initially at the start of the co-leader campaign, I thought that there might be some advantages of having Davidson as Co-Leader and therefore freer to ask questions; but I then realised the situation stays the same regardless of which of them is Co-Leader.
But now the whole situation of any Green MPs asking any questions is going to be a tricky one – and will be used by others in the House to get in little digs etc. There was a tiny bit of this in Question Time today
It’s interesting to have Newsroom today reporting that Shaw made the decision re QT without consulting members.
Mr Shaw then said he made the decision without consulting party membership. When asked if they were happy with that, he replied:
“Some of them are some of them aren’t, there are people who are really partisan and they’re really tribal.
“they’re really tribal”
Fuksake
I might just go bush
Re the “tribal” comment, to be fair he did say other things (paraphrasing, that he was anti-patsy questions while in opposition so the ethical thing to do in govt was opt out of them). Fair point, although it does ignore the fact that they didn’t need to be asking patsies (& have been until now, with all of their allocated questions).
Right. So now, having “given away all patsy questions”, what happens when the Greens use one or more of their questions – as they can at any time, given that the decisions will be made on a week-to-week basis?
Will the fact that they’ve ‘suddenly’ “taken one of their questions back from National” be more likely to make the news or not?
From my perspective, this principled move brings pragmatic advantage. I’m probably wrong.
Why is that interesting? The caucus are empowered by the party to make decisions without consulting the party. That’s how it’s always been.
I would be very surprised if Shaw made the decision himself though.
Can’t find the original audio to see what he actually said.
100% Carolyn well said, I agree.
Are you sure about the rule that a Minister cannot question another Minister or do mean only with a Primary Question?
They can and do throw in Supplementary Questions.
For example in Q6 to Shane Jones Winston came in with
“Rt Hon Winston Peters: I wonder whether the Minister could tell us exactly how he has been received around the country, and particularly up north, by the people up there with respect to projects for which they have waited sometimes three decades?”
This did get an answer.
Would you consider that is only an interjection?
Ryan
@strewnryan
I wonder how the Greens will feel about their first gifted #nzqt primary being used to put pressure on the Government to keep New Zealand open for Oil Exploration?
7:50 am – 20 Mar 2018
.
weka
@wekatweets
7m7 minutes ago
Replying to @strewnryan
How is this a problem unless Labour are prevaricating on ending oil exploration in NZ?
Maybe someone can explain the problem to me, because I still don’t get it.
https://twitter.com/strewnryan/status/975806726350954496
The Government is at a critical point in its decision-making over the future of its oil and gas exploration permits.
Jacinda Ardern said, when accepting Greenpeace’s petition, “I ask now for a bit more time. We’re working hard on this issue and we know it’s something that we can’t afford to spend much time on but we are actively considering it now.”
Possibly prevaricating, certainly pusillanimous.
So why would National asking them hard questions as a way to get them to decide to allow more exploration be a problem?
No idea, I don’t see it as one
She is saying they are actively making a decison now. How is that indecisive/pusillanimous?
Because it’s an important issue that should have been developed as Labour policy, and coalition consensus, well before now, instead of asking “for a bit more time”. Your “now” may be different to my “now”. 🙂
Labour policy may even have been decided beforehand but negotiating with coalition partners could add a little time (geologically speaking).
Jacinda Ardern timid? LOL LOL pusillanimous indeed! Ho Ho!!.
Seems to be a fear that allowing someone to ask a question must result in losing the argument.
Also an underlying implication that because National are evil they should have less say in parliament despite voters having voted for them. That’s not how democracy works.
I would have thought the underlying implication was that because National are evil they shouldn’t have more say in Parliament than what their share of the vote entitles them too. That’s how democracy works.
That argument only works if you believe that QT is functioning well for democracy. Many people, including the Greens, think it is not at needs to be changed. The Greens appear to be saying that QT is for the Opposition to hold the govt to account. The Greens are in govt, and kind of not, but they’re not full time Opposition so it does make sense that they might see themselves as not needing those questions or even being entitled to them. Just because the current system allocates questions the way it does, doesn’t make if fair or right.
It then becomes an issue of what they should do with them. Some are arguing that the Greens should use them to ask meaningful questions of Labour and NZF, essentially being in a ‘hold them to account’ role, but more constructively. I’ve yet to see an explanation of how that would work, but I also wondered why they didn’t. One issue is that the MSM will use the Greens asking hard Qs to shit stir over splits in the govt. See how that works? NZ doesn’t yet know how to think about our current MMP arrangement (that’s a block to better democracy btw).
Another suggestion was to give the questions to the public. I like this one too, and would be interested to go back and look at when this was tried before.
Be fair, weka. No-one’s saying the Nats should have “less say” – they have an allocation of questions already. As they’re the biggest single party they get to ask the most questions already. Hard to see that as “less say”.
Hey, I’m all for reforming how QT is run. I addressed the less issue in my comment above. It’s not about that, it’s about the roles of various parties. If this was Labour in Opposition I doubt there would be the same fuss at all. So much of the argument is partisan, which I understand, but the Greens still have a principle here that is valid.
Maybe Shaw and Ardern got together and agreed that Labour was having a really bad coupla weeks with heaps of negative press and a distraction was needed. On that basis the Greens announcement regarding their questions benefits them and also benefits Labour.
Hehe…It’s a stretch I know, but is the only scenario I can come up with that benefits the coalition as opposed to just the National Party..Also, if you didn’t assume it to be a deliberate beneficial distraction, then the Greens timing is really really bad.
Yes, I know it might be about the Greens just wanting to improve democracy… but then they could have waited a coupla weeks maybe.. (unless it was a distraction of course)
Must be some shit show they’re covering up.
Facebook’s chief information security officer, Alex Stamos, will leave the company after internal disagreements over how the social network should deal with its role in spreading disinformation, according to current and former employees briefed on the matter.
Mr. Stamos had been a strong advocate inside the company for investigating and disclosing Russian activity on Facebook, often to the consternation of other top executives, including Sheryl Sandberg, the social network’s chief operating officer, according to the current and former employees, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/technology/facebook-alex-stamos.html?referer=
Trying to dispose of the body, snapped!.
Gisborne/HB challenge to Shane jones today;; –
Please note our call for “no more neglect please for lack of our rail services.”
Our HB/Gisborne rail support communities are somewhat surprised today and heartened when we heard Shane Jones warning another public transport SOE (Air NZ) ” not to neglect our regions” transport services, as he did when warning Air NZ not to “neglect” Gisborne as they did Kapiti.
Since National took over in 2008 they have systematically run down our regional rail services by lack of funds and caused the blocked drains that washed out the rail line closing it in 2012.
So we now expect Shane jones along with the minister of SOE (Hon’ Winston Peters to warn kiwirail also not to neglect our regions on the current lack of services we have yet to have retrurned to us after 6 long years of national/Kiwirail neglect.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018636845/minister-to-air-nz-don-t-neglect-regions
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018636845
Minister to Air NZ: Don’t neglect regions
From Nine To Noon, 9:09 am today
The Minister for Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has criticised Air New Zealand for degrading its services to the regions. Mr Jones’s comments come after Air New Zealand’s abrupt withdrawal from flights into Kapiti – it gave the region just three weeks notice that it would pull out. Kathryn Ryan speaks with Minister Jones and with the mayors of Gisborne and Whangarei districts, Meng Foon and Sheryl Mai.
It was more of a threat from the way article reads.
Interesting move by Jones good on him but I don’t think it make any difference to what Air NZ will do they are a listed corporate and if a service is making a loss they can end it.
Some in the regions will hail him as sticking up for them and increase support for NZF.
I dunno really Monty,
I know NZF policy as I have been to several public meetings over the last several years and Shane is very much saying NZ first here to AirNZ as it is sending a clear message to the board to come home with services, not be just a global player, and todnights feedback on the media had some positive feedback for his stand to drive a policy for NZ first to be serviced by our soe that was funded by the NZ taxpayer.
We now see Winston again entering into the argument as “Minister of SOE”.
So maybe this is NZF pushing for a scrap with those SOE’s weho are turning their backs on the local services market that we all pay for as taxpayers, of all these publicly owned SOE’s.
Time will tell if our challenge to Shane on (13) to return our rail service as another bad example of yet another “SOE “neglected” public regional service?.
Air NZ is not a SOE, the govt is a majority shareholder and has some representatives on the board. It is listed company on the stock exchange so they have a responsibility to all shareholders to be profitable.
I would say that operating a regional service would be very expensive as you can only use small planes and they would spreading the cost over less punters and if it is poorly used then it would end up costing money.
Rail in NZ has been poorly run for years and years and we have lost many opportunities to have a regional rail service, but the questions comes down to cost again, servicing a small community with rail or for that matter flights who pays.
Does it mean increased rates or taxes to cover the infrastructure costs as it would take a lot of passengers to make it break even. Lets say I live in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch should I have to pay for a regional train service that I would never use.
I dont know the answer but I would prefer to see rail in the regions be for cargo mainly and remove trucks from the roads and then the cost is paid by those using it.
The answer is that significant ongoing state investment in public infrastructure, utilities and services creates an environment in which people and business can flourish, not least because of the certainty it provides.
Hi
great to see you back, always enjoy your contributions.
In todays environment that has a cost and the money has to come from somewhere to fund it which would be above and beyond current spending.
To have a full regional rail network, that opportunity was lost long ago when they closed them, it would require considerable investment and would it be used to justify the spending.
Looking at Air NZ I am sure they wouldn’t close a regular service if it was making a profit I don’t think they should be forced to keep them going if they are losing money as that has other risks.
And herein lies the problem, with essential natural monopoly services, being used as profit taking business
100% KIT.
So profit & money is considered before the cost to the environment or our health.
We will suffer because of the loss in safe transport be it air or rail passenger services as trucks increase road use at 6% a year (NZTA) figures.
Now our windy narrow fraile regional roads are falling apart and we see these PPP beginning to use our former SOE’s as cash cows by squeezing every dollar of profit out while the ratepayer is left to foot the road repairs and propping up air transport.
Also we will suffer health effects of climate change increased air pollution, and airborne diseases from warmer hot air mass and circulation under high winds and dust conditions but our public health cost will also increase at the same time so again the taxpayer is left to prop up these so called business ventures.
“You can’t get blood out of a stone” a fitting term.
In todays environment that has a cost
It’s called “investment”, as per my previous comment.
Facebook is going to do everything that Cambridge Analytica did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2gy2j5pz20
It’s time to regulate Facebook, and all the rest of them.
https://thestandard.org.nz/break-up-social-media-itself/
I’m looking for an alternative social media site. Looking at gnu social, but so far it looks to be inhabited by many news bots.
I guess we’ll find out just how truly vile this man is.
https://twitter.com/johnstempinNPR/status/975918219209986050
Stay the fuck away.