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
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Rachael Potter, Research Associate and Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, University of South Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Pregnant women and workers with children are often unfairly treated by their bosses and colleagues, despite laws to protect against workplace discrimination ...
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.