Tze Ming Mok is a writer and social researcher specialising in race and ethnicity, whose parents are from Singapore and Malaysia. His contribution to our multicultural analysis illuminates the dangers of over-generalising. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12144581
“The more the CCP tries to insert its agenda into wider New Zealand Chinese spaces while claiming to speak for all overseas Chinese, the more private animosity there is towards Mainlanders among the non-Mainland-born, even as we try to maintain our own “united front” against racism.”
Well it may fit, as regulars here will testify I can be irritatingly stubborn as a goat, and whacking my head on a steel beam results in a dull thud. 🙂
is that the Tze Ming Mok who writes about NZ from London ?
Its clear she doesnt know enough about circumstances , except to take potshots at labour “Putting aside whether Mr Zhang (MNZM, gonged by Labour)”
Zhang was recommended by National party figures and Goff- thats how it works, its not just the gift of the government.
Seems to me you cant write about life in NZ- from London. especially this
“It’s endlessly irritating and insulting that both Labour and National have lazily assigned Chinese communities as the fiefdoms of politicians openly backed by the Chinese government.”
What is even more irritating is being lectured to from London.
Liked her last paragraph…
“New Zealand needs to be the unicorn that can resist CCP influence as a way to uphold the rights of its own Chinese populations to political independence. We deserve better than to be trapped between knee-jerk racists and Xi Jinping Thought. Abandoning us to this fate is racism too.”
“There’s some rotten, awful things that have happened in the National Party over a long period of time. They should be exposed.” “I think I have a responsibility to keep doing that.”
For a long time, National has been able to cultivate the myth of a unified party while fully engaged in practicing DP to take political all enemies down. Obviously, these two carefully crafted faces, or personae rather, of the National Party were mutually inconsistent if not contradictory but thanks to MSM this incongruence did not take hold in the public and with the voters; it resonated strongly with many people’s beliefs and personal biases. To be clear, this doesn’t make National voters bad or stupid; it simply shows how easily consent can be manufactured and public opinion can be manipulated, with a little help of ‘friends’.
DP (and MSM) operatives have known this for a long time and some have made it their business.
This is my problem that National are seen as covering their own tracks now and hiding any truth now and the media is lax at going at national for the truth.
The media and National caucus leadership are both negligent in their duty to come clean as at present, because their own honesty is wanting.
Let us see the time capsule here beginning from last monday when Jamie Lee Ross said he was going to the police;
At 1pm Monday 15th October 2018; – after the meeting was confirmed with them; – to take his evidence of Simon Bridges conducting illegal activities over a Chinese investor donation of $100 00.
By 16th October 2018; – when the confirmation was made for his evidence delivered of illegal activities of a $100 000 donation,
We heard a series of reports from National Caucus leaders; including;
Simon Bridges,
Judith Collins,
Amy Adams,
Paula Bennett,
Mark Mitchell’
Lawrence Yule.
All said; – there was no evidence found of a “$100 000 donation was ever made to the national Party relating to the allegations made by Jami Lee Ross.
Judith Collins said clearly that it was a “fictitious claim just made up by Jami Lee Ross”.
From the 16th October 2018 the National Party caucus had expelled Jami lee Ross without learning the truth of the truth and existence of the $100 000 donation.
From 16th no retraction/correction of apologies has ever been forthcoming by either National Party caucus, nor any media error of reporting false stories of “no evidence found of a “$100 000 donation was ever made to the national Party relating to the allegations made by Jami Lee Ross.”
So we have sen both the national Party lying and the Media backing those falsely quoted allegations.
The voting public demand honestly and integrity here so we hope the police get the true facts straight now for the NZ Public, and it shows national were releasing the “fictitious claim just made up by (them and not from) Jami Lee Ross”.
Lifted from Scoop. Celia Lashlie is a kiwi hero; I admire her guts and honesty intensely:
Celia Lashlie “(is).. not suggesting poverty or lack of advantage justifies crimimal behaviour:“…but…it has often occurred to me that the people who dismiss any link often do so from a position of relative wealth. They have no idea about what its like to live hand to mouth, to see no hope of changing that way of life on the horizon and to want better for your children. It seems that as the gap between rich and poor has widened in our society, so too has the arrogance of the ‘rich’ grown in terms of the views they hold about how everyone else should live.”
Alongside financial poverty is poverty of opportunity, and alternate choices.
When you have a “wealth of choices” available to you, at little differing cost, then it is sometimes hard to recognise how difficult it is for those without diverse experience or relationship contacts, to make changes or take chances.
Poverty can make every decision fraught with anxiety – because the ‘wrong’ choice can result in even higher levels of deprivation.
“Poverty can make every decision fraught with anxiety – because the ‘wrong’ choice can result in even higher levels of deprivation.”
Molly
Indeed Molly
At the Tenants vs Landlords debate at Uni last Wednesday, it was a surprise to me to discover that the preponderance of the 22 strong audience were mostly made up of landlords.
Speaking with one of the Tenants advocates later. He explained why this might be; saying, ‘What the Landlord advocates don’t realise is that most tenants live with fear and are unlikely to turn up at public events like this, whereas the landlords (and their advocates) don’t know any fear or hesitancy in attending, or putting their point of view across publicly.
Alex Braae is the author of The Bulletin – a daily wrap of New Zealand news and politics from across the media. “Throughout this week, rogue National MP Jami-Lee Ross has shown himself accomplished at the marathon press conference. Tonight, he revealed a hitherto unknown media talent – the train-crash one on one interview. He decided to go head to head with Heather du Plessis-Allen on Newstalk ZB. It was astonishing on the radio. On video, it was something else.”
“the by-election could still go ahead though… They could always invoke the newly passed waka-jumping bill, thus entirely proving Winston Peters right about the value of the law. It won’t necessarily be being used to stifle political dissent – though Ross claims he’s being pushed out for challenging the party hierarchy – it will be used to get rid of a guy who has thrown Molotov cocktails through the caucus room windows.”
“And those will keep coming. Ross says there’s a deep rot in the National party, hinting at stories about the various hits he’s been asked to carry out. “But you were the rot!” protested HDPA. He might have been following orders, and it’s probably worth listening to what he says. But it’s unclear why following orders absolves him from the responsibility of carrying them out. National of course argued vehemently against the waka-jumping legislation, but at this stage of the story, Simon Bridges could easily just say fuck it and force him out.”
Shoot the messenger. Use of the Nuremberg defense viable? Didn’t work for the top Nazis. For many this will prompt the Trumpian reflex condemnation. However, once you factor in political psychology, the nuances come into play. Power morphs human nature. Someone can be well-intentioned, then when a political party puts them in a position of power, they discover they feel good when using it. Like any hormone-trigger, addiction can lead to abuse. Don’t rule out redemption.
The Bulletin is “a free daily digest of the most important news from around New Zealand” launched by The Spinoff early this year. Generic link https://thespinoff.co.nz/category/the-bulletin/
Alex Braae is an author of The Bulletin; but the specific Braae article DF is quoting from is a Spinoff article, and not a specific Bulletin one. Here is the link.
It is well worth reading the full article. Braae also did a couple of earlier ones this week on the JLR disaster – available from the generic Bulletin link above.
It won’t be, as someone wrote here yesterday, just a few husbands afraid to ask the question as to what Jami-Lee Ross does, but a lot of wives as well asking about whether what he says is true.
I’m actually gobsmacked that people appear to be shocked about these revelations about the sex lives of MPs. These are the so-called ”corridors of power”, after all. Are we a prudent lot, naive, or just a tad hypocritical? Perhaps the only real ‘surprise’ is how long they have managed to keep it out of the limelight …
To hell with power, people are working long days together in jobs with highs and lows and a certain bunker mentality. Lange wasn’t a one-off by any means.
From No Right Turn, “Reminder: Saudi Arabia kidnapped people from New Zealand
You have to wonder what our government did about this, should have been an international incident, but I guess when trade is more important than human rights and principals and international law and our government is openly for Sale….
“Earlier this month, journalist Jamal Khashoggi visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He was then beaten, drugged, and dismembered – apparently while still alive – by a 15-man Saudi kill team who had been specially flown in for the purpose. Its a horrific act, and one which should make Saudi Arabia an international pariah. But Khashoggi is not the only victim of the Saudi regime. As Stuff reminds us, in 2014 they apparently kidnapped a refugee from New Zealand:
Friends of Khalid Muidh Alzahrani, who they called Daniel, know what the Saudi regime is capable of.
Four years ago, the refugee disappeared from his sparse flat in Redwood, Christchurch, and they haven’t spoken to him since. They fear he’s been executed.
Daniel had converted to Christianity – a crime in Saudi Arabia – and his friends believe he was forcibly repatriated, possibly with his family’s help.
The original media stories are here and here. And as this story makes clear, Alzahrani wasn’t the only one: in May 2013 an unnamed Saudi refugee was apparently snatched off the street in Auckland and rendered to Saudi Arabia, where he was reportedly tortured.”
That’s a pattern of serious significance. Looks like Putin’s treatment of renegades who flee to Britain, but worse. With Saudi Arabia, add abduction for the purpose of torture, prior to elimination. Onus is now on Trump to do a bit of moral leadership, and fortunately yesterday we had reports he `toughened his language’.
Nothing short of punishment will suffice: he either has to pull the plug on the Saudi regime, or direct it to operate in a civilised manner under the threat of enforcement. Time for the dude to man up.
Interpol ex-chief may be dead, wife fears, after capture by Chinese
Grace Meng speaks out about ‘cruel, dirty’ Chinese authorities after disappearance of France-based Meng Hongwei
There’s big differences between you and CV, Red. For starters, you’re against the march of the totalitarians. CV, on the other hand, wanted to be parade marshall.
Also did the National government turn a ‘blind eye’ because they were trying to bribe Saudi officials with the sheep deal bribe (against all advice) and maybe just ignored the rendition and torture of a refugee on NZ soil?
The only bit about which she had doubts about the legality was the export of live sheep.
You are stretching it a great deal to turn it into a comment that the deal itself was illegal.
Have you been taking lessons from JLR in how to exaggerate things far beyond reality?
The Government has been accused of paying a bribe and doing dodgy deals after pouring more than $11 million of taxpayer money into an influential Saudi businessman’s farm.
The timing of the disappearance of the refugees should be scrutinised, as why there has not been more of an investigation into what happened to them in NZ, and what did happen to them, in light of the reported butcher of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy.
Bennett according to JLR was involved with what was going on in Barclay’s electorate office. Bennett probably was the broker between the electorate worker and Goodfellow. The electorate worker received a payout from a fund which Key had, due to being tapped by Barclay without her knowledge. A confidentiality clause was signed.
JLR was sent to Barclay’s electorate office as matters were starting to stink for English and Bennett was not shutting the stink down.
Now there is a situation involving JLR and a woman and a confidentiality clause between the woman and JLR, which occurred 2 years ago, (I would like to have a precise date for this). There has been no mention of a payment to the woman.
Bennett is throwing mud at JLR, she was sneaky over the Barclay issue, she worked with JLR to protect English, JLR tried to get rid of Barclay but could not once it was revealed tapes existed.
Now Bennett seems to be the front person for Bridges to take JLR down using affairs JLR has had in recent years.
Bennett appears to be an insider for the National Party cover up brigade. JLR is no longer an insider for the cover up brigade, he now appears to be a whistle blower.
How loud his whistle will blow is unknown and the response from those he has in his sight is yet to be established.
Ross’s problem is that he seems to be under the delusion that he is the dark-haired reincarnation of Julian Assange.
He actually makes Assange seem a good person by comparison which is something of a miracle.
Full Ballistic?
I’ll tell you what full ballistic is.
Just go back a couple of months to when Ardern’s baby was born. Trevor Mallard, that pillar of bullshit and shit throwing threatened the Gallery journalists that if they ever accidentally took a photo of the baby in the public areas of Parliament, including the area where TV interviews are normally done, and did not immediately delete it, he would kick them out of the Press Gallery.
As we have discovered of course his leader uses the baby as a draw card for the women’s magazines. So much for protecting the baby from publicity.
Kicking people out of the Press Gallery for accidentally showing a baby in the background of a public area.
Now that was really going ballistic. Bridges is simply pointing out the truth to the fools in the fourth estate.
Can you defend Trevor?
Surely you don’t consider his actions and threats to be harmless and just the behavior of a caring old grandfather protecting an innocent child from the attention seeking actions of her mother?
Tell me. Do you think that taking your child into the General Assembly of the UN, and posing her for the photographers, is the action of someone who is trying to protect the baby from the eyes of the world?.
Is that going to be less intrusive than the possibility that the baby might, for a few seconds, appear in the distance behind someone being interviewed in the public spaces of Parliament?
Ringing up the media to warn them to comply is over stepping the mark. Especially when you are embroiled in the situation you are trying to prevent the media reporting.
This is not the way to shut down/control the issue.
JLR is leading the race with coming clean.
I really hope that any new issues are not stacked on the pile.
At the end of the day all the actual facts will not be known, those involved will be tarnished or ruined.
Maybe honesty is the policy National need to be working on now.
JLR coming clean? You really are joking, aren’t you?
Really. Have you ever compared what Ross claims he is doing with the “evidence” he produces?
Look at the claims he made about there being a $100,000 donation that the National Party are supposed to have covered up.
It turns out, when he releases a tape, that the party officials actually acted completely within the law. There was no $100,000 donation. There were a number of donations that Ross collected on the parties behalf and that the party official went to some trouble to identify exactly who they were and that they existed.
Ross really seems to have lost his sense of reality. He simply makes up stories which are never justified by the information he produces. Sooner or later the journalists are going to accept that they have been played. A few of them may then start to tell the truth about Ross.
Ross is following in the steps of that unlamented ex-MP Meteria Turei. Fantasies about how she had to lie and defraud the taxpayer to feed her baby. Finally, of course it got to much for the family of the baby’s father and they told the truth to John Campbell. Bye-bye Turei. The same thing will happen to Ross.
Don’t be so silly.
I was comparing Trevor’s threats to the whole of the Press Gallery to Bridges’ fairly mild warning to people in the MSM.
It was Trevor who went totally over the top.
You will have noticed that I never once mentioned the baby’s name or sex or said anything about her at all. I only mentioned her mother.
Jacinda Ardern does not get the same consideration.
Stop trying to divert the debate into irrelevancies because you cannot justify Trevor’s behavior.
Hating babies is one thing – vile attacks are completely ott. It is a sign he’s really gone burger – a seedy wee man smacking his keyboard with hateful strokes and all against a defenceless wee baby.
You have clearly never read what I said.
You are merely exhibiting the truth of the dictum
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”.
You have proved that you are not only a fool but a miserable specimen of humanity in your irrational attacks on what I actually said.
Stick to the point you silly boy. Can you really consider that Bridges has gone ballistic when compared to Mallard’s totally over the top threats to the Press Gallery?
You aren’t going to answer that question of course. To tell the truth would earn you an attack from you foolish friends. To tell a lie and claim that Trevor was simply giving a measured response will make you a laughing stock to all except the one-eyed left leaners.
Aren’t you the person who was demanding to know the names of the women that Ross claimed to have had affairs with?
Why is it any of your business? Do you just want to make more trouble?
You should have stopped your sentence at the end of the word “understand”
Saying “I just don’t understand” is an accurate statement on your part. The rest of it simply exhibits your stupidity.
There, there, muttonhead. Have another go at the P.
Have any kids yourself? You certainly sound like a smelly old billy goat so I suppose it is possible.
Then try, although I am sure you will find it very difficult, to discuss the point of the comment. If you can’t do that give up and let the adults talk. Your stupidity simply illustrates the general intellectual dishonesty of your cabal.
@muttonhead
I suppose that to a 12 year old like you I must seem old.
Never mind. You might, and I have my doubts, become older and wiser some day.
Meanwhile I suppose you will continue to post your ridiculous comments because you are unable to debate the facts.
Sad, really. You are more to be pitied than laughed at, as my Irish friends would say.
The situation has got so out of hand because JLR cannot go through the usual channels an MP would use when they are being warned.
You do not go to your boss if the boss is seen to be dodgy by you, even if you are dodgy.
Bridges has inherited the mess Key and English left behind that JLR was involved in. Then Bennett and Bridges have used affairs and inappropriate behaviour against JLR.
I would like to see the issues dealt with separately because there is so much contamination that no one involved is THINKING straight.
JLR, Bridges and Bennett need to take leave for a couple weeks.
Bridges expenses was the spark and the fire is raging.
It is not hard to do a list of the issues and for the issues to be dealt with separately and independently by those with the proper skills and those slinging shit at each other to have a truce.
Kindergarten kids are better at settling a dispute and have better negoiating skills.
The identity of the leaker into Bridges expenses was inconclusive. There now has to be a further process to either confirm it was JLR or someone else. Or to concede and drop the issue.
Using an affair against someone is blackmail. Two things could be done about inappropriate behaviour, a police complaint or a a work dispute complaint. Had this initially occurred something constructive would have happened. Instead inappropriate behaviour went unchecked and there were no proper consequences.
As for the 100k donation the police are currently investigating and will need to verify who and what was donated.
I would have to agree that Assange is still alive and that it would have to be delusional of Ross.
Does Ross understand that though?
He doesn’t seem to understand that the tapes he is producing support Bridges and make Ross look foolish.
Alwyn, I’m not getting you here; JLR is not “producing” tapes, he’s “providing” them, isn’t he? Are you saying they’re doctored? I also don’t understand the binary thinking about what’s been played out at the moment with SB and JLR as the two focus points at the moment.
D-Day in Malcolm Turnbull’s old seat of Wentworth in Sydney’s eastern suburbs today. It has always voted Liberal so a loss for Dave Sharma, a former Ambassador to Israel (the seat has Australia’s largest Jewish population) would be historic and strip ScoMo of his majority in the House of Reps.
Economically conservative but very progressive socially there are signs that voters in the seat are losing patience with a Liberal Party that they feel has been overrun by the Christian Right and big money Coal and Mining interests. Climate Change and getting the kids off Nauru are touted as the main issues on the minds of voters. Add to that the fact that they are mightily pissed at the way their popular MP, Malcolm Turnbull was treated by his party and it’s possible that independant candidate Dr Kerryn Phelps, the first LGBT woman to become president of the Australian Medical Association, could prevail. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/we-made-it-impossible-for-sharma-senior-liberal-on-wentworth-vote-20181019-p50ar5.html
The swing against the Liberals is historic and the largest ever in a byelection in Australia. Even the bluest areas of the electorate Rose Bay and Point Piper recorded 20% against the Liberals.
Yes, skimmed through it quickly, looks like good read for later. More nuanced than usual; the roots of the collapse are complex, but clearly an example of what happens when socialism degenerates into totalitarianism.
If there is one apparent omission, it underplays the role outside actors, especially the USA and Colombia.
Take that into account, but it doesn’t necessarily invalidate everything else being said. As articles go it’s well informed, well written and reasonably even-handed. It has it’s bias, but then so does everyone; which is why I try and read from a range of sources.
I know this is Gossy playing his usual ‘whaddabout Venezuela’ game … but this linky is worth reading.
For a long time National and ACT, acting as advocates for the property sector have been complaining of a lack of supply as the root cause of the housing crisis.
With over 30,000 empty houses in Auckland alone. The problem is not lack of supply, it is lack of affordability.
Overseas examples are a warning of what is about to occur unless the government acts to prevent it.
As the current building boom reaches its peak, all political effort must be put into making sure that we don’t let the developers and speculators use the excuse of “over supply” to let empty homes rot, (eventually having them demolished en mass).
We have been warned: As long as there one homeless family left unhoused, the government must not let this happen in this country. (Even if we have to nationalise these homes at no recompense to the developers to prevent them leaving these homes to fall into disrepair or be left unfinished)
@Jenny, regarding ‘oversupply in Chch – I guess when Brownlee is recreating the city in his own image, and it’s become a hot bed of corruption and people can’t actually rely on council and building regulations to guarantee the quality of housing in the desperation to build something nobody wants (something that will come back to bite all the other cities in particular Auckland) then yep, nobody wants the houses.
Although just as likely people want to buy the houses but can’t afford them on their low wages and the banks won’t lend on their insecure jobs and their pay outs from the earthquake and the fake recovery on the back of lazy migration and deals for Natz pals, were never going to be a long term fix.
If you fake a recovery and building is not local but just a way to make a profit before moving on, then long term you probably are not creating a healthy longevity community.
Saying that, this article is probably fake news to generate sales and corporate welfare, and the houses cost a bomb, and are overpriced.
@Jenny, regarding the US link – Why neoliberalism is crazy. US has massive homelessness but destroys new houses to keep prices up?? Dysfunctional financing routs!
Thanks Jenny for that housing item and great photographs of the Irish result of the no regulation, sleazy credit decade. Capitalism unfettered – business is not always right or to be trusted. Can we have our country and economy back now please?
But now demolition has begun on some of the last of the remaining ghost estates, built during the economic boom of ‘Celtic Tiger’ years but now deemed ‘not economically viable’.
Between the mid-1990s and 2007, Irish developers flocked to build new homes, spurred on by the easy availability of credit, cheap labour from eastern Europe and a vibrant Dublin property market….
But then the bottom fell out and by 2010 there were an estimated 600 ghost estates in Ireland with an estimated 300,000 homes lying empty.
Some unlucky buyers were caught in the middle of the crash and found themselves trapped living in dangerous, unfinished properties next to rows of empty buildings.
I am sorry Rosemary to cause you distress. Yes it is enough to make you want to cry.
Even the landlords are worried.
The elephant in the room
On Wednesday I attended a debate, between representatives of landlord and property investors on one side, and tenants and student advocates on the other.
The background to the debate are the reforms to The Tenancies Act currently passing through parliament. The tenants advocates argued in support of more regulation of the housing rental industry, while the landlord advocates argued for less.
Near the end of the debate, the question of over supply in Christchurch as related to falling rental returns due to oversupply, was briefly brought up by David Falkner near the end of the debate, at some obvious discomfort to him and the other Landlord Advocates.
Debate – Landlords v Tenants: We need to fix renting!
Motion: We need to fix renting: but do some or all of the RTA reforms go too far?
Pro (yes) : Andrew King (NZPIF), David Faulkner (Real iQ) and Stephen Berry (ACT Party)
Con (no): Robert Whitaker (Renters United), Peter Klein (TPA Auckland) and Helen Munro LLB (AUTSA Advocacy Manager)
The Government is currently amending the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 to make life better for renters in NZ.
Commentators say that the reforms are needed to stop escalating rents, ensure all houses are warm, healthy and dry to stop housing-related illness and generally give better protection for tenants.
Other commentators have said the reforms go too far by unfairly punishing good landlords and driving them out of the renting market which could end up hurting tenants and drive up rents.
· Hosted by The University of Auckland Debating Society and Renters United
Maths & Physics Building – MLT1 303-G23 – University of Auckland
Thankfully, most of the debate between the two sides avoided swapping the sensational horror stories about bad tenants and bad landlords favoured by the media in debates between landlords and tenants,, and instead got down to addressing the fundamental issues, of suitability, availability and affordability, and how these factors play out in a regulated and unregulated market.
The Landlord advocates made a very compelling case of how they are losing money on a falling property market. The repeated common refrain from this sector over the last few years, and repeatedly echoed again here in this debate, by the Landlord’s team was, ‘we need less regulation, so that we can increase supply, which according to them, ‘will increase affordability, in the rental and housing market generally’.
‘
At the end of the debate, In the question and answer session; a property manager in the audience, generally rubbished the claim of lack of supply, she said she managed 50 properties, and media reports of bidding wars were nonsense, and that she was struggling to fill her properties at the current rents. She said that a number of the properties she advertised for rent, (she didn’t say how many), didn’t attract any inquiries at all, and were being kept empty.
Renters vs Landlords debate @35:42 minutes last comment of the night.
Un-named property manager speaks speaks out from the floor, (with some bitterness.)
….You wouldn’t believe it at the moment, I’ve been in the residential property market and rental market for twenty years. Prices are not likely to rise at the moment.
“We are struggling to rent [out] properties at the moment.
If you look on Trade Me Boardroom; Over the last three months, there might be like four thousand properties available. Of that four thousand, two weeks ago,after three months, two and half thousand were still empty.
I’ve got a property, a one bedroom flat, recently reconditioned, $300 a week, empty.”
“So actually at the moment in the market, for the first time, we are seeing that the market, the renters, are saying enough is enough.” [Turning to address the Tenant Advocates] And so they [rents] are going down, we are having to drop some properties [rents] by $50 a week. And so you are winning at the moment…..”
I think you should make clear – the housing estate thats never been lived in is because of the standard of construction makes them unlivableas the building was so slip-shod
Many of the half-finished estates lack basic amenities like lighting and schools and are deemed uneconomically viable
Did it say that the building was slipshod? They were unfinished, so lighting had not been installed, and the lack of regulated planning meant that they were distant from amenities needed, like schools. That is the authorities’ fault.
I can believe that the building may have been slipshod, but that was not made clear as the reason for demolition.
Just as you say Draco, rather than take their losses, they want their pound of flesh, and they intend to get it. Even on a falling market.
History shows that if you leave it up to the landlords and speculators they will demolish new houses, or not finish half completed ones, to artificially limit the supply and keep house prices and rents up.
Wow. Apart from the normal pro-National angle we are used to reading from Tracy Watkins, here she opens up on the simpering relationship she has with Simon Bridges.
Bridges’ valve burst Wednesday evening when he phoned around political editors to warn them he had been defamed and his reputation damaged. In his conversation with me, he threatened to walk away from our weekly interview because I was too negative.
Just think about that for a moment. Bridges has called all the political editors threatening to pull interviews unless they be kinder to him. What a big baby.
And here Watkins duly obliges, fearful of losing her weekly slot with the only party in parliament she has good access to.
Someone in National needs to hold their nose and reach out to rogue MP Jami-Lee Ross to broker a cease fire before any more people are hurt.
That’s how John Key’s National Party would have handled this problem – in-house, below the radar and the leaker dispatched by whatever means necessary.
Talk about a lack of awareness! Key’s approach is what landed them in the shit in the first place. It was Key’s method which has cause the rot within the National Party, Tracy.
Actually his apparent back-ground lends itself to some sympathy for him. Doesn’t know who is father was… mother incapable of looking after him (don’t know why but drugs perhaps) and brought up by his grandmother. No father figure to guide him during his teenage years.
When I first saw his background on Wikipedia long before the present situation, I read the mother bit differently – mh rather than drugs but the two can be well be interlinked – they are not mutually exclusive.
But I just found this article from a couple of days ago, which throws more light on his family background and childhood.
In reality he has achieved a lot in his 32 years – more than many others from more privileged backgrounds and/or much higher educational qualifications.
It is hard to see much likeable, honourable etc etc in him at present and a lot of people are writing him off for the future, but with that history of achievement I actually believe that he is quite capable of “picking himself up, shaking himself off, and starting all over again”.
Who knows, perhaps he has really had a Road to Damascus moment. There are not many people who would come out as he has done and admit adultery etc etc …
Current behaviour may well have a link with his childhood.
There are so many adverse effects children can have due to parental separation, (anger, mistrust, low self esteem, relationship issues in adult years).
I am no counsellor but I had serious detachment in my childhood, more so with my mother than my father.
Once I learnt how to manage my anger without directing it at people, I felt more at peace within my self.
Who knows, perhaps he has really had a Road to Damascus moment.
It’s possible. I’ll be more inclined to believe it if he leaves the National Party of his own free will rather than being pushed and what he does afterwards.
I agree. I’m staying with Jekyll & Hyde. No evidence that Nicky Wagner is right (“psychotic”). So the dark side is bullying, abusive sex, etc, applied coercion.
On the bright side I’ve been seeing the moral crusader from the start. I agree his complicity makes him seem part of the problem, but I had a professional career in television commercial editing before editing news & current affairs stories, and the management practice of applying coercion to make individuals conform to organisational requirements that I experienced in both media often forced me to act against my conscience, and not in the public interest. I expect he suffered the same learning curve. Enough of that shit in the Greens too – easy to imagine it was at least ten times worse in National.
So that bit about taking on Len Brown as a youngster & defeating him to achieve accountability for misuse of council funds rings true, especially as he cited it as his motivation in trying to hold his party accountable. I agree that a positive male role model as mentor would be a great help. Not easy to find these days, eh? Especially in National (and Labour). Can’t see Lusk serving that purpose!
Oh, and the other part of the bright side I forgot to mention is the likelihood that he’s actually empathic to some extent. Not enough to be able to manage relations with partners well, obviously, but enough to suggest the narcissist thesis is invalid. He actually listens to people. His conversation is natural and flows easily. You see that both in his interviews & press conferences. Now a narcissist sees others as part of their interior psychic furniture, as objects. Their style of communicating is consequently to talk at people, rather than with them. No rapport possible.
For some reason Norm Hewitt keeps popping into my mind as someone who could help JLR. I honestly have no idea where this is coming from so I just throw it out there …
But, unlike the media in NZ, they focus on the most important and serious aspect of the affair:
“It looks like a donation from a businessman, but who is that businessman, actually?” Chen said. “The Chinese Communist Party has been gradually making donations to political parties here and there via their agents in Western political circles.”
“This is a very serious problem … and yet the government here in New Zealand doesn’t seem to be taking much of a stand,” Chen said. “The New Zealand’s relationship with China is too cozy, with a lot of vested interests tied up with it.”
When you bite the hand that’s feeding you, you’re losing.
Julian Assange is to launch legal action against the government of Ecuador, accusing it of violating his “fundamental rights and freedoms”.
The Wikileaks co-founder has lived in its UK embassy since 2012 after seeking asylum to avoid extradition to Sweden over a rape inquiry – later dropped.
He was given a set of house rules by the London embassy this week, including taking better care of his cat.
Mr Assange faces arrest for allegedly breaching bail conditions if he leaves.
Wikileaks lawyer Baltasar Garzon is in Ecuador to launch the case, which the Press Association reports is expected to be heard in court next week.
Wikileaks said the country’s government had threatened to remove the protection Mr Assange has had since being granted political asylum.
It added that his access to the outside world had been “summarily cut off”.
In a memo, it threatened to confiscate the pet if he did not look after it, it said.
I commented at 9.1 above that I thought Ross was behaving as if he thought he was Assange.
That was before I read your comment and the linked story. Now your link makes me even more convinced of it. Assange is behaving exactly like Ross as well. I’ll bet that Ecuador are sorry that they ever went near the guy, or more precisely that he let Assange get near them. Talk about lying down with a dog will get you fleas.
Years ago Assange was exhibiting his narcissism, now it looks like he’s actually lost his marbles. I don’t agree with your equation, however. The only common factors are them both taking a strong moral stand and having flawed characters. A combination that is no longer a christian monopoly.
The more I see of Scott Eady’s ‘sculpture’, the more I wonder whether it’s a pisstake tribute to the modern day National Party.
The gold-plated turd with a bit of glittering atop a gNat blue column.
I hope he was paid well. A fitting monument.
(https://www.sculpture.org.nz/the-sculptures
The Scott Eady column in link at 16 dates from 2015 apparently. And also illustrates that rich people when they are philanthropic show this usually in the art world. They don’t appreciate the beautiful works of natural art that are people, or see the curious cultural web that we set up as fantastic art work either. So the money usually doesn’t trickle down to water the amazing creative potential for good that is in all of us.
(https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/speaking-those-no-voice This year, in August, a commissioned public sculpture by Eady was installed in Wellington’s Cuba St. Titled The Philanthropist’s Stone, it is a tall Corinthian column, a gold-plated bronze nugget and 10 candles with hand-blown glass flames.
The 4m-tall sculpture commemorates the centenary of the philanthropic trust established on the death of businessman Thomas George Macarthy, of Wellington.
Mr Macarthy began his fortune in the Otago goldfields and the T. G. Macarthy Trust has given $61.4 million to charities during the past 100 years.
The diamond invention—the creation of the idea that diamonds are rare and valuable, and are essential signs of esteem—is a relatively recent development in the history of the diamond trade. Until the late nineteenth century, diamonds were found only in a few riverbeds in India and in the jungles of Brazil, and the entire world production of gem diamonds amounted to a few pounds a year. In 1870, however, huge diamond mines were discovered near the Orange River, in South Africa, where diamonds were soon being scooped out by the ton. Suddenly, the market was deluged with diamonds. The British financiers who had organized the South African mines quickly realized that their investment was endangered; diamonds had little intrinsic value—and their price depended almost entirely on their scarcity. The financiers feared that when new mines were developed in South Africa, diamonds would become at best only semiprecious gems.
A great example of how advertising manipulates us into false beliefs and positions that are detrimental to us.
It is really rare but again MPs are human and [Mr Ross] is obviously going through something and we just need to be really sensitive to that,” she said.
“My heart goes out to him and I’m thinking of him.”
Ms Kaye said going on leave can be tough and people need to respect Mr Ross.
‘It’s a challenging situation and I think we just need to be really respectful and thoughtful
Was Kaye or the rest of the Nat caucus not briefed at all, or was it merely politically expedient to run this line at the time? Further evidence of the lack of morals and opportunism which has taken root in the National Party of New Zealand.
If this is the level of ‘political management’ offered by Paula Bennett and Simon Bridges then the pair of them need to f**k off, pronto.
I bet Nikki Kaye wishes she could take those words back.
They have to write it that way- Bridges has read the riot act to the editors about defamation. Even though as a politician its a very high bar, but he would have the party chiefs contacting the people who employ the editors and getting them to put the party first
They allude to this by JLR staying in parliament to say ‘things under privilege’- which would keep the national partys lawyers at bay.
It looks like National will rip out the still beating heart of its newest MP if it has to get rid of JLR from Parliament and its protections for what Mps say.
The other approach may be to see if JLR would be tempted by ‘greenmail’ and take a golden parachute for what he could earn from parliament for 2 years
I’m sure there are pleas for fundraising going out to donors right now with which to pay Ross off.
That would be typical of the National Party who believe meeting someones price is the the ethical way to go.
What really disappointed me about this latest Edwards fluff piece is that he claims in the opening sentence both Ross and the National Party are coming to terms with reality:
There are signs that National’s civil war has forced a reality check for both the party and Jami-Lee Ross
Perhaps I’m being naive but that to me suggested that Edwards was going to talk about Ross coming clean on all his own personal misdemeanours and also the toxic methods of the National Party. And it suggested that Edwards felt the National Party were beginning to take a look at themselves, finding their behaviour wasn’t up to scratch and that they were about to embark on a drive to clean out the party on malevolent influence.
But no, it was about Ross suddenly realising he couldn’t win Botany and the ‘reality check’ for National wasn’t about them taking a look at themselves it was about their means of escape.
How this clown Edwards is considered a mature and impartial commenter is beyond me.
Eric Idle on the excellent interview this morning with Kim, said that the British press regularly taking down the Pythons, white-anting them were one of the reasons why they shifted to the USA. Also he commented that the Press in UK were probably behind the push for Brexit; something about the press barons living in tax havens and didn’t want new legislation that would cut their nirvana a notch. e&oe
Listen duration 45′ :56″
Eric Idle is a comedian, actor, writer and musician, most notable for his membership of the Monty Python comedy troupe. His career in comedy began in earnest in 1968 when he began writing and acting in two series of a children’s TV hit, Do Not Adjust Your Set, with Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam.
The success of this show led to four series of Monty Python’s Flying Circus for the BBC from July 1969 through 1973, with the addition of John Cleese and Graham Chapman. The group enjoyed great success on stage and screen until disbanding in 1983.
After Python, Idle continued to work on radio comedies, write books, appear in movies and even on the opera stage. He has recently released a ‘sortabiography’ called Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – also the title of a song he composed for the closing of the movie Life of Brian – and one which has grown to become a signature tune for Monty Python.
“After years on Nauru, 15 asylum seekers, all in families, flew to Australia on Monday. Three more families travelled on Tuesday. Yet more left on Wednesday. And another seven families on Thursday, according to a briefing that Immigration Minister David Coleman gave crossbench members of Parliament this week. All families, all with kids, all travelling on medical advice that they need treatment in Australia.”
Apparently the kids and their families are being resettled in US
” “Anyone with even a stubbed toe is getting approved” for treatment in Australia, he says.”
means they can still say with a straight face- no change in the ‘policy’
Thats when it gets really weird
“Asylum seekers on Nauru are not in detention. They have been free to move and integrate into the community for two years now. They are classified as temporary residents of Nauru with 20-year visas. Under the terms of their visas, they need to get exit visas from the Nauruan government before leaving for Australia.
That would be very interesting if true because it adds to the theory that the Nats dumped the story on Reid in the last couple of weeks as per Ross’ allegation, rather than Reid’s own claim that she’d been working on it with these women for a year.
Also, did the MP having given her anonymous story to Reid not believe she’d have to back it up at some stage?
“That would be very interesting if true because it adds to the theory that the Nats dumped the story on Reid in the last couple of weeks as per Ross’ allegation, rather than Reid’s own claim that she’d been working on it with these women for a year.”
I have no idea what you are implying here
That his behaviour to the women in question is made up?
No. that the National Party of New Zealand held back the complaints but these women when it suited them and then dumped the complaints by these women on the media when it suited them.
Except for the writer of the article who said they had been working on it for a year.
I tend to go with their version given the lack of any other evidence
But if you think
National got all the different stories together, contacted the reporter and talked them into writing it, got the reporter to get all 4 women together and find background and quotes, her editorial team to double check all the sources, the madias lawyers to get together and check that there was no chance of defamation and double check it, the women to then agree with the draft of it being released nationally, all in the space of the 36 hours after his stand up, you have a higher opinion of these peoples skills than I do,
Don’t you find it remarkably convenient this story appeared right when National needed it?
I’m sure these anonymous accounts were lined up ready to go when required.
I know you don’t have much independence of thought and you take your cues from the National party machine but if you could at least make an effort to think for yourself once in a while?
What I would imagine is they just went with it earlier than planned as the subject of the investigation just became national news story of the year after his stand up and it would be stupid not to.
“I know you don’t have much independence of thought and you take your cues from the National party machine but if you could at least make an effort to think for yourself once in a while?”
Lol
I missed this
How about looking at evidence rather than your own need for conspiracy around every corner, for 2 seconds
Well the National Party has created a fertile ground for all sorts of theories behind motivation. This has happened because they are crooked to the core.
Many members of the middle class don’t want to lose all that money they made through Key’s property Ponzi scheme.
35 years of neoliberalism and we have in our midst a significant minority of the population who was incredibly selfish people.
They won’t sacrifice their international holidays to solve poverty. Too many trips overseas in pampered resorts and on slave cruise ships has got them used to being treated as colonial masters.
They want their flash Ute, forget the unemployed.
They want.
They want.
They want.
It all goes back to Roger Douglas.
I hope I live to see the day he goes to trial.
“However, his public reception was dwarfed by the enthusiasm that greeted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
As the Prime Minister left the main stage, she was mobbed by people – many of whom were mothers and young daughter in saris – seeking selfies with her.”
Indian Member of Parliament Kanwaljit Bakshi’s defence of his beleaguered leader Simon Bridges on his clear-as-daylight acquiescence to Jami-Lee Ross’ “Two Chinese would be more valuable than two Indians, I have to say” comment is, to say the least, abject.
[…]
Blaming it all on Ross is fine but as a representative of Kiwi Indians, his constituents would have expected more from Bakshi than this pathetic fig leaf of a defence of his leader. For the question is not of Ross saying what he said. It is rather of Bridges’ acquiescence to what was said and his continuing the conversation about the “value” of ethnic MPs and their numbers and issues around accommodating more of them.
We think (the Waka-jumping Bill) is repugnant to democracy. There’s centuries of thought and practice about what an MP is and their ability to be able to stand up from time to time and say we disagree with our party.
Farrar has tried to worm his way out of this by claiming the Nats only meant policy and not morals and action but quite frankly that will hold little or no water with the media nor the voting public.
Which bit of the media is either serious or fair-minded about this? They’re desperate to bail out poor old Bridges and his cronies. Various “wits” on RNZ National, for example, have been busy ridiculing Jami-Lee Ross and insisting that Bridges will survive this scandal.
I know why Labour has left it for a week but the crux of the matter is about electoral integrity and the need to promote it with the voting public.
JA could and should make a statement gently kicking the Nats in the arse but at the same time reassuring NZ that everything is being done to eliminate poor practice from politics.
BTW, I replied to a post you made on Kiwiblog a while ago, and it has been placed in “moderation”, i.e. it’s been disappeared from that site. I’ve put it on my blog if you’d like to see it…..
That comment by RF is a shocker and should remind us of what it is we are fighting, particularly with reference to what has come to light in the last week about the behaviour, the morals and the motives of the National Party.
Kia ora Newshub Conner I have been following the Wentworth byelection for a bit last nite I posted about it last nite.
Larry Ellison is just a sore loser he lost to Team New Zealand If he was a Honorable person he would have entered a Yacht in the Americas Cup race.
What he is doing he is trying to beat Team New Zealand buy cheating and stealing there competitors and audiences by starting a new competing Yacht race were else but New Zealand.
I think Britain need to have a second vote on the Britexit I will tell what happened the EU told British bankers that they have to stop laundering the worlds corrupt money .
The money people did not like being put into line so they set in motion Britexit as plan as day I see this.
If Britain leaves the EU the bankers will make heaps while the common person will be young dumb and broke.
Niki The League test was a good match the Tongans are good sports people kia kaha Tonga Ka kite ano
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Photo by Ron Fung on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with special guests:5.00 pm ...
1. Who most likely gave LOTO Luxon the idea to pull the rug on the urban density policy?a. A leading thinker on affordable housing b. A leading thinker on 15 minute cities c. A leading thinker on sustainable urban planning d. National-Party-supporting property developers2 . With what was this illustration made?a. Artificial inseminationb. ...
Buzz from the BeehivePoint of Order tallied $314.4 million of spending in the latest ministerial statements posted on the government’s official website. This includes a lump of money to – yes, really – help identify businesses in tourism and hospitality which treat their staffs well and to fund the ...
It’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour from midday (my apologies for the late start today), including:the Government’s payment of $130 million of Climate Emergency Fund money to NZ Steel to help it cut ...
National/ACT would have 62 seats in a 120 seat Parliament if the latest poll results were replicated in the October election, but micro-movements around the median and the size of Te Pāti Māori’s caucus will decide who governs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: National/ACT could govern alone after October ...
Welcome to Friday – again! Hard to believe we’re almost in June. Here’s our latest roundup of stories that caught our eye this week. The Week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Matt covered the transport highlights from this year’s Budget. On Tuesday, Matt asked if the end is ...
What should one make of the Reserve Bank Governor’s extraordinary donation of a hostage to fortune in forecasting an end to interest rate hikes? Conspiracy theorists will be scratching their tinfoil hats and mumbling about positioning for a whacking great payoff on being forced out by a new government. ...
Shocking The Pakeha: An entirely forgivable impulse, some might say, given how easily so many Pakeha are shocked. Merely to suggest that Te Tiriti o Waitangi should be taken seriously is sufficient to set some Pakeha off. Others are shocked by the inclusion of more than a word or two ...
During New Zealand First coalition negotiations our policy was to train and resource 1800 new frontline police. We secured this coalition policy win to ensure our streets had a police force that could tackle crime - after years of neglect. Remember those previous nine years of neglect saw a ‘tag ...
Katie Kenny from Stuff published an article today with a lazy attempt at so-called ‘fact checking’ my recent comments on the World Health Organisation’s concerning new regulations being developed. What is most surprising is that throughout this entire ‘fact checking’ process, Kenny never once rang me asking for my side ...
The National Party has released another confused and rushed policy that will only further worsen the inequality that is driven by unaffordable housing. ...
Welcome to sunny and calm Wellington, which I know those of you who are visiting would of course expect to be the case. It’s been a busy week since we put forward the 2023 Budget. Labour MPs have been out across the motu giving the good oil on the Budget. ...
Kia orana, Talofa lava, Mālo e lelei, Taloha ni, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Noa’ia e mauri, Ni sa bula vinaka, Kia ora, Tena Koutou Katoa. Labour Party President Jill Day, Prime Minister Hipkins, Party faithful, delegates and comrades, whānau and friends, it’s a privilege to be here today. I begin my ...
One of my kaumātua up North stood before the Waitangi Tribunal and said: ‘He aha kē ahau, te tangata kore hara i mua i te Atua, e tu nei kia whakawaatia e koe, te tangata tāhae, te tangata hara, te tangata kore tikanga?Ko koe kē te tika, kia tū ...
New Zealanders will be highly concerned that the World Health Organisation proposes to effectively take control of independent decision making away from sovereign countries and place control with the Director General. W.H.O International Health Regulations on future outbreaks of disease aim to give the Director General extraordinary and wide-sweeping powers. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take responsibility for reducing inflation by taxing wealth instead of leaving RBNZ to continue hiking the Official Cash Rate. ...
The Green Party has released its list of candidates for the 2023 election. With a mix of familiar faces, fresh new talent, and strong tangata whenua voices, this exceptional group of candidates are ready to set the direction of the next Government. ...
Thank you for your invitation to be here, after yesterday's budget, and for the opportunity to talk with you. In the economic and social turmoil following the arrival of COVID 19 in New Zealand many concerns emerged. How would we keep our economy going and maintain our exports which are ...
At the heart of Budget 2023 is a cost of living package, designed to ease the pressure on New Zealanders in the face of global inflation and the challenges of rebuilding from extreme weather events. It provides practical cost of living relief across some of the core expenses facing Kiwis ...
A long standing Green Party policy has been extended yet again in this year’s Budget. This will deliver warmer homes for thousands of people, lower power bills, and cut climate pollution. ...
The Green Party is fully on board with free bus and train travel for under 12s and half price travel for under 25s - next stop, free travel for all under 18s, students, and apprentices. ...
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister announced a billion dollar flood and cyclone recovery package as part of Budget 2023. This is about doing the basics - repairing and rebuilding what has been damaged and making smart investments, including $100 million of protection funding to ensure future events don’t cause ...
The Fuel Industry (Improving Fuel Resilience) Amendment Bill would: boost New Zealand’s fuel supply resilience and economic security enable the minimum stockholding obligation regulations to be adapted as the energy and transport environment evolves. “Last November, I announced a six-point plan to improve the resiliency of our fuel supply from ...
The Government is making sure those on low incomes will no longer have to wait five weeks to get the minimum weekly rate of ACC, and improving the data collected to make the system fairer, Minister for ACC Peeni Henare said today. The Accident Compensation (Access Reporting and Other Matters) ...
A compulsory code of conduct will ensure school board members are crystal clear on their responsibilities and expected standard of behaviour, Minister of Education Jan Tinetti said. It’s the first time a compulsory code of conduct has been published for state and state-integrated school boards and comes into effect on ...
Tena koutou katoa and thank you, Mayor Nadine Taylor, for your welcome to Marlborough. Thanks also Doug Saunders-Loder and all of you for inviting me to your annual conference. As you might know, I’m quite new to this job – and I’m particularly pleased that the first organisation I’m giving a ...
The Government will enter into a funding arrangement with councils in cyclone and flood affected regions to support them to offer a voluntary buyout for owners of Category 3 designated residential properties. It will also co-fund work needed to protect Category 2 designated properties. “From the beginning of this process ...
The Government has announced changes to strengthen requirements in venues with pokie (gambling) machines will come into effect from 15 June. “Pokies are one of the most harmful forms of gambling. They can have a detrimental impact on individuals, their friends, whānau and communities,” Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds said. ...
The total Police workforce is now the largest it has ever been. Police constabulary stands at 10,700 officers – an increase of 21% since 2017 Māori officers have increased 40%, Pasifika 83%, Asian 157%, Women 61% Every district has got more Police under this Government The Government has delivered on ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Nanaia Mahuta met with Korea President Yoon, as well as Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna, during her recent visit to Korea. “It was an honour to represent Aotearoa New Zealand at the first Korea – Pacific Leaders’ Summit. We discussed Pacific ambitions under the ...
The Government’s Research and Development Tax Incentive has supported more than $2 billion of New Zealand business innovation – an increase of around $1 billion in less than nine months. "Research and innovation are essential in helping us meet the biggest challenges and seize opportunities facing New Zealand. It’s fantastic ...
The next ‘giant leap’ in New Zealand’s space journey has been taken today with the launch of the National Space Policy, Economic Development Minister Barbara Edmonds announced. “Our space sector is growing rapidly. Each year New Zealand is becoming a more and more attractive place for launches, manufacturing space-related technology ...
A new Year 7-13 designated character wharekura will be built in Pāpāmoa, Associate Minister of Education Kelvin Davis has announced. The wharekura will focus on science, mathematics and creative technologies while connecting ākonga to the whakapapa of the area. The decision follows an application by the Ngā Pōtiki ā Tamapahore ...
Protecting the environment by establishing a stronger, more consistent system for freedom camping Supporting councils to better manage freedom camping in their region and reduce the financial and social impacts on communities Ensuring that self-contained vehicle owners have time to prepare for the new system The Self-Contained Motor Vehicle ...
A new law passed last night could see up to 25 percent of Family Court judges’ workload freed up in order to reduce delays, Minister of Justice Kiri Allan said. The Family Court (Family Court Associates) Legislation Bill will establish a new role known as the Family Court Associate. The ...
New Zealand businesses will begin reaping the rewards of our gold-standard free trade agreement with the United Kingdom (UK FTA) from today. “The New Zealand UK FTA enters into force from today, and is one of the seven new or upgraded Free Trade Agreements negotiated by Labour to date,” Prime ...
The Government will reform outdated surrogacy laws to improve the experiences of children, surrogates, and the growing number of families formed through surrogacy, by adopting Labour MP Tāmati Coffey’s Member’s Bill as a Government Bill, Minister Kiri Allan has announced. “Surrogacy has become an established method of forming a family ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little departs for Singapore tomorrow to attend the 20th annual Shangri-La Dialogue for Defence Ministers from the Indo-Pacific region. “Shangri-La brings together many countries to speak frankly and express views about defence issues that could affect us all,” Andrew Little said. “New Zealand is a long-standing participant ...
Research, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall and the Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang met in Wellington today and affirmed the two countries’ long-standing science relationship. Minister Wang was in New Zealand for the 6th New Zealand-China Joint Commission Meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation. Following ...
5 percent uplift clearer and simpler to navigate Domestic productions can access more funding sources 20 percent rebate confirmed for post-production, digital and visual effects Qualifying expenditure for post-production, digital and visual effects rebate dropped to $250,000 to encourage more smaller productions The Government is making it easier for the ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs (Pacific Region) Carmel Sepuloni will represent New Zealand at Samoa’s 61st Anniversary of Independence commemorations in Apia. “Aotearoa New Zealand is pleased to share in this significant occasion, alongside other invited Pacific leaders, and congratulates Samoa on the milestone of 61 ...
The Government is continuing to support retailers with additional funding for the highly popular Fog Cannon Subsidy Scheme, Police and Small Business Minister Ginny Andersen announced today. “The Government is committed to improving retailers’ safety,” Ginny Andersen said. “I’ve seen first-hand the difference fog cannons are making. Not only do ...
The Government has received the first independent review of the Intelligence and Security Act 2017, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says. The review, considered by the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, was presented to the House of Representatives today. “Ensuring the safety and security of New Zealanders is of the utmost ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has expressed condolences on behalf of New Zealand to the Kingdom of Tonga following the death of Her Royal Highness Princess Mele Siu’ilikutapu Kalaniuvalu Fotofili. “New Zealand sends it’s heartfelt condolences to the people of Tonga, and to His Majesty King Tupou VI at this time ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has expressed condolences on behalf of New Zealand to the Kingdom of Tonga following the death of Her Royal Highness Princess Mele Siu’ilikutapu Kalaniuvalu Fotofili. “New Zealand sends it’s heartfelt condolences to the people of Tonga, and to His Majesty King Tupou VI at this time ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little and Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta have today announced the extension of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) deployment to Solomon Islands, as part of the regionally-led Solomon Islands International Assistance Force (SIAF). “Aotearoa New Zealand has a long history of working alongside the Royal Solomon ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will travel to the Republic of Korea today to attend the Korea–Pacific Leaders’ Summit in Seoul and Busan. “Korea is an important partner for Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific region. I am eager for the opportunity to meet and discuss issues that matter to our ...
Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor joined ministerial representatives at a meeting in Detroit, USA today to announce substantial conclusion of negotiations of a new regional supply chains agreement among 14 Indo-Pacific countries. The Supply Chains agreement is one of four pillars being negotiated within the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework ...
Our most spoken Pacific language is taking centre stage this week with Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa – Samoa Language Week kicking off around the country. “Understanding and using the Samoan language across our nation is vital to its survival,” Barbara Edmonds said. “The Samoan population in New Zealand are ...
Over 90 per cent of New Zealanders are expected to receive this year’s nationwide test of the Emergency Mobile Alert system tonight between 6-7pm. “Emergency Mobile Alert is a tool that can alert people when their life, health, or property, is in danger,” Kieran McAnulty said. “The annual nationwide test ...
ENGLISH: Whakatōhea and the Crown sign Deed of Settlement A Deed of Settlement has been signed between Whakatōhea and the Crown, 183 years to the day since Whakatōhea rangatira signed the Treaty of Waitangi, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little has announced. Whakatōhea is an iwi based in ...
Elizabeth Longworth has been appointed as the Chair of the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, Associate Minister of Education Jo Luxton announced today. UNESCO is the United Nations agency responsible for promoting cooperative action among member states in the areas of education, science, culture, social science (including peace and ...
Tourism and hospitality employer accreditation scheme to recognise quality employers Better education and career opportunities in tourism Cultural competency to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces Innovation and technology acceleration to drive satisfying, skilled jobs Strengthening our tourism workers and supporting them into good career pathways, pay and working conditions ...
Tourism and hospitality employer accreditation scheme to recognise quality employers Better education and career opportunities in tourism Cultural competency to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces Innovation and technology acceleration to drive satisfying, skilled jobs Strengthening our tourism workers and supporting them into good career pathways, pay and working conditions ...
Greater access to primary care, including 193 more front line clinical staff More hauora services and increased mental health support Boost for maternity and early years programmes Funding for cancers, HIV and longer term conditions Greater access to primary care, improved maternity care and mental health support are ...
Greater access to primary care, including 193 more front line clinical staff More hauora services and increased mental health support Boost for maternity and early years programmes Funding for cancers, HIV and longer term conditions Greater access to primary care, improved maternity care and mental health support are ...
The Government continues progress on the survivor-led independent redress system for historic abuse in care, with the announcement of the design and advisory group members today. “The main recommendation of the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Abuse in Care interim redress report was for a survivor-led independent redress system, and the ...
Aotearoa New Zealand is providing NZ$7.75 million to respond to urgent humanitarian needs in the Horn of Africa, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The Horn of Africa is experiencing its most severe drought in decades, with five consecutive failed rainy seasons. At least 43.3 million people require lifesaving and ...
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall has opened two new state-of-the-art mental health facilities at the Christchurch Hillmorton Hospital campus, as the Government ramps up its efforts to build a modern fit for purpose mental health system. The buildings, costing $81.8 million, are one of 16 capital projects the Government has funded ...
The Government is continuing to invest in our regional economies by announcing another $24 million worth of investment into ten diverse projects, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan says. “Our regions are the backbone of our economy and today’s announcement continues to build on the Government’s investment to boost regional economic ...
An $8 million boost to New Zealand Māori Tourism will help operators insulate themselves for the future. Spread over the next four years, the investment acknowledges the on-going challenges faced by the industry and the significant contribution Māori make to tourism in Aotearoa. It builds on the $15 million invested ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little has marked the arrival of the first 18 Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles for the New Zealand Army, alongside personnel at Trentham Military Camp today. “The arrival of the Bushmaster fleet represents a significant uplift in capability and protection for defence force personnel, and a milestone in ...
A new poem by Wellington poet Victoria Lewis. Carmine well – the cherries appeared quietly there on the kitchen bench as if to smile and say i love you,and you dared to forget those gleaming fruit form a prayer, a devotion bloody on the inside, taut on the out ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra nitpicker/Shutterstock By coincidence, the furore around the consultancy firm PwC is raging just as the National Anti-Corruption Commission is gearing up for its start of business on July 1. The PwC scandal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ricardo Villegas, Senior Lecturer of Law, University of South Australia Today, Federal Court Justice Anthony Besanko handed down his long-awaited judgment in the defamation case that Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living former SAS soldier, brought against the Age, the Sydney Morning ...
Wayne Brown has named and attempted to shame councillors who oppose the sale of the council's airport shares, but some are returning fire, saying he does not have the votes to pass his plan. ...
Some certainty has arrived for those impacted by severe weather events earlier this year but the bulk of the detail for a buyout scheme affecting at least 700 homes is a work in progress, writes political editor Jo Moir.Analysis: Cyclone Recovery Minister Grant Robertson has been determined since February ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Rolph, Professor of Law, University of Sydney At the heart of the spectacular defamation trial brought by decorated Australian soldier Ben Roberts-Smith were two key questions. Had the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times damaged his reputation ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Bateson, Professor of Practice, University of Sydney Shutterstock Australians’ access to a range of contraceptive options depends on where they live and how wealthy they are. A recent parliamentary inquiry recommends ways to end this “postcode lottery” for people ...
Labour's campaign chair is standing by a social media post which likens National's prescriptions policy to dystopian TV show and novel The Handmaid's Tale. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Coalition’s decision to oppose the Voice to Parliament has put its moderate members in a jam. Some moderates are active yes advocates, while others are trying to keep low profiles. Bridget Archer, the outspoken ...
Greenpeace Aotearoa is calling out the agriculture industry’s "undue influence" over the Government’s agricultural emissions policy, saying that " predatory denial and delay " have stalled the development of plans to price and reduce ...
“The huge fire in South Auckland illustrates the serious human health risks of incinerating flock, the residual material left over from the scrap metal process. It is one reason we will be opposing the building of a waste incinerator in Te Awamutu ...
It’s reassuring to think that by paying for private treatment you’re ‘freeing up a bed’ in a public hospital. But the reality is private beds don’t free up public beds, they replace them. Ethicists argue that healthcare is special. Unlike other consumer goods, its availability and accessibility should be based ...
The office of mayor Wayne Brown has hit back at criticism journalists were “cherry-picked” for this morning’s budget announcement. A number of media outlets, including The Spinoff, Stuff, TVNZ and Newshub, were not invited to hear Brown’s budget address. Some, however, made it into the room after Brown had started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Klugman, Research Fellow, Institute for Health & Sport, member of the Community, Identity and Displacement Research Network, and Co-convenor of the Olympic Research Network, Victoria University Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains mention of the Stolen ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sudyumna Dahal, PhD Student, Australian National University Shutterstock The human costs of tobacco and smoking worldwide are huge. 1.3 billion people use tobacco, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. More than 8 million people die prematurely because of tobacco, at ...
Today, the Government released a discussion document: Safer Online Services and Media Platforms. It aims to reduce people’s exposure to harmful content, and create a system that is easier to navigate if people need to report harmful content. The ...
The Act Party’s compared a proposal to improve online safety to the government’s doomed hate speech laws, and pledged to “kill” it off as well. Consultation is set to begin on a Department of Internal Affairs proposal to change how online content is regulated in New Zealand. But David Seymour ...
A new report from the Auditor-General on four initiatives to improve outcomes for Māori has highlighted the importance of strong relationships between public organisations and Māori, and of taking the time needed to build these relationships. However, ...
The Broadcasting Standards Authority welcomes today’s launch of the public discussion document, Safer Online Services and Media Platforms, on a proposed new content regulation framework. The Authority has long been an advocate for a more flexible regulatory ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alice Clement, Research Associate in the College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University Virtual Australian Museum of Palaeontology, Author providedPalaeontology is the study of evolution and prehistoric life, usually preserved as fossils in rocks. It combines aspects of geology ...
Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono welcomes the release of the Safer Online Services and Media Platforms report from Te Tari Taiwhenua, dealing with content regulation for media and social media. “We welcome the move to an independent regulator that ...
The drearily titled “Safer Online Services and Media Platforms” document has just been released. Here’s a TLDR summary from The Spinoff’s Shanti Mathias: The suggested changes are pretty different from what we have right now. All digital industries that publish content, including overseas companies like Meta and Google and local ...
The drearily titled “Safer Online Services and Media Platforms” document has just been released. Here’s a TLDR summary from The Spinoff’s Shanti Mathias: The suggested changes are pretty different from what we have right now. All digital industries that publish content, including overseas companies like Meta and Google and local ...
The Safer Online Services and Media Platforms document has just been released by the government’s Content Regulatory Review. It does more than capitalise nouns – here’s what you need to know about what’s inside. What is this document with the world’s most boring name?It’s a proposal from the Department ...
The Safer Online Services and Media Platforms document has just been released by the government’s Content Regulatory Review. It does more than capitalise nouns – here’s what you need to know about what’s inside. What is this document with the world’s most boring name?It’s a proposal from the Department ...
The 2010s musical theatre phenomenon has finally made it to Spark Arena. Does does it live up to the years of expectation? This Angelica Schuyler is transcendent Full disclosure: I am overly familiar with Hamiton without being a full-on Hamilstan. I’ve listened to the cast recording countless times, watched it ...
The 2010s musical theatre phenomenon has finally made it to Spark Arena. Does does it live up to the years of expectation? This Angelica Schuyler is transcendent Full disclosure: I am overly familiar with Hamiton without being a full-on Hamilstan. I’ve listened to the cast recording countless times, watched it ...
Members of the press being turned away from the door distracted from the announcement of asset sales and inflation-pegged rates in Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s final budget proposal Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown didn’t mince words at a fiery press conference this morning where he confirmed he’d be calling for a ...
During New Zealand First coalition negotiations our policy was to train and resource 1800 new frontline police. We secured this coalition policy win to ensure our streets had a police force that could tackle crime - after years of neglect. Remember those ...
The government and councils will offer a buyout option to property owners whose land is too risky to rebuild on, and co-fund protection works for those who need it. ...
The government will work with councils to offer a “voluntary buyout” for owners of homes written off by Cyclone Gabrielle and other recent severe weather. About 700 category three properties – those where it’s deemed the risk of future severe weather cannot be sufficiently mitigated – are expected to be ...
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s proposed budget presents a dangerous false choice between cutting public services and privatising Auckland’s assets. The proposal to councillors offers to reinstate funding for public services and increase the pay ...
A leaked consultation document from the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) shows plans to draft and introduce legislation that would entirely restructure the New Zealand censorship regime, bringing online speech, such as material on social media ...
A crucial day for the future of the city, and the mayor’s message to hundreds of thousands of Aucklanders: I don’t want to talk to you. Wayne Brown was right. The media is awash with drongos. I personally have behaved drongoistically – to borrow a Winstonism – at least twice ...
The PSA is pleased Te Whatu Ora has listened to its concerns and is seeking further consultation with unions on a major restructuring as it seeks to remove duplication and centralise services. "This will be a huge relief for workers," said ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images When TVNZ cancelled reality TV show Police Ten 7 earlier this year, it certainly rattled some law-and-order cages. The show’s former host Graham Bell, who described suspects variously ...
A new survey from Consumer NZ has once again found customer’s prefer the country’s smaller power providers. For the third year in a row, Powershop has come out on top with a satisfaction score of 74% – the sixth time overall it has achieved the accolade. Frank Energy received a ...
Applications to mine in the ocean could begin in July. Why are scientists and activists so concerned?Far from the light of the surface, animals are pale; some glow in the dense darkness, have translucent shells; grow very big or very small. Even the most comprehensive list of deep ocean ...
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that a Police dog handler was not justified in using his dog to bite a man who was resisting arrest but was justified in using the dog against a second man who threatened Police. At a Whanganui suburb ...
The interdisciplinary artist from Te Whanganui-a-Tara shares all the mahi that happens behind the scenes. Ana (Ngāti Tāwhaki, Ngāi Tūhoe) has won multiple awards for her theatre work, and has been the recipient of the Te Tumu Toi New Zealand Arts Foundation Springboard Award, where she was mentored by ...
Sustainable Tarras (ST) supports today’s commitment from the new Christchurch City Holdings (CCHL) board seeking increased transparency and community engagement on the Tarras airport, as debated with Christchurch City Council (CCC) at today’s ...
This Sunday, 4 June, Wellington and Christchurch will join over 300 cities worldwide in observing the National Animal Rights Day. The events remember the billions of animals who lose their lives each year due to human actions, and acknowledge the ...
EDS has lodged its submission on “ Strengthening National Direction on Renewable Electricity Generation and Electricity Transmission ”, a consultation document prepared by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment and the Ministry ...
Auckland’s mayor snubbed most journalists from a morning launch of his new budget. While the Herald was among a select few allowed in the room, reporters from outlets like Stuff weren’t sent an invitation. In a story headlined “Wayne Brown snubs Stuff readers on major Auckland Council budget update”, a ...
A nationwide poll on pay gaps shows nearly 2 out of every 3 New Zealanders consider pay gaps to be a ‘significant’ or ‘very significant’ issue (64%), with a similar number supporting new pay transparency policies to address the issue (63%). ...
I said we could still be friends but now I just want him to leave me alone.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to [email protected]Dear HeraTowards the end of last year, I was surprised to see a university acquaintance from a different city – we’d had one tutorial together – at ...
Wayne Brown’s proposed budget will see rates increases pegged to inflation – but it requires his desired sell-off of Auckland Airport shores. The mayor is presenting his budget in Auckland today. Few were invited to witness the moment live, with media like Stuff reportedly left out (The Spinoff was not ...
When it was first unveiled, the government’s extension in this year’s Budget of 20 hours free early childhood education to 2-year-olds from next March was hailed as a masterstroke. The Minister of Finance said it would save qualifying households ...
I didn’t know this but because we have reciprocal health agreements with Australia and the United Kingdom, visitors from those countries will not have to pay for prescriptions once the $5 fee is removed here in July. Naturally that means New Zealanders enjoy reciprocity in their experience of local health ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Pang, Research Fellow in Psychology, Monash University Shutterstock The human brain is made up of around 86 billion neurons, linked by trillions of connections. For decades, scientists have believed that we need to map this intricate connectivity in detail ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gapps, Historian and Conjoint Lecturer, University of Newcastle Benjamin Duterrau, The Conciliation 1840, oil on canvas. Purchased by the Friends of TMAG and the Board of Trustees, 1945. Collection: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, AG79.Note of warning: This article ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena Plebanski, Professor of Immunology, RMIT University Philippe Leone/Unsplash Influenza, or the flu, is a virus transmitted by respiratory droplets from coughing and sneezing. It can cause the sudden onset of a fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, headache, muscle ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven J Lade, Resilience researcher at Australian National University, Australian National University Shutterstock People once believed the planet could always accommodate us. That the resilience of the Earth system meant nature would always provide. But we now know this is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vera Weisbecker, Associate Professor, Flinders University Shutterstock Australia’s dingo fence is an internationally renowned mega-structure. Stretching more than 5,600 kilometres, it was completed in the 1950s to keep sheep safe from dingoes. But it also inadvertently protects some native ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Reza M. Monem, Professor of Accounting, Griffith University In 2008 Australia’s federal, state and territory governments set the goal of halving the employment gap between First Nations Australians and others within a decade. That required, by 2018, lifting the employment rate for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Barrett, Associate Professor in Commercial Law and Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Getty Images It’s no secret that Revenue Minister David Parker has long been interested in tax reform in New Zealand. In 2022, he ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lily Moore, PhD Candidate in Classics and Archaeology, The University of Melbourne A Woman Drinking, Andrea Mantegna. about 1495-1506 The National Gallery, London. The ancient Romans venerated wine. It was accessible to the masses, a fundamental staple of mainstream life ...
Auckland’s mayor Wayne Brown is making a list ditch appeal to councillors he claims are holding up a potential sell-off of airport shares. The Herald’s reported that councillors were called to two confidential meetings yesterday, one on the sale of the airport shares and another to discuss a draft of ...
Time is running out to nail down an alternative pricing scheme before the election. Ministers are said to be fed up with the lack of movement and the sector is calling for a delay, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive ...
Objectors continue to push for the canning of a mooted new Central Otago airport as the company pushing it buys the critical final piece of the site A Christchurch City Council committee has expressed concern about one of its subsidiary companies, Christchurch International Airport, pushing ahead with a proposed airport ...
While your grocery bills suggest otherwise, high inflation is not all bad news – especially if you’ve got a New Zealand student loan, Emma Vitz explains. High inflation sucks. The price of lettuce appears to be doubling every time you go to the supermarket. People who bought into the property ...
Welcome to the authors, illustrators and publishers on the shortlist for this year’s New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Books editor Claire Mabey offers her thoughts, alongside comments from student readers.It’s hard to write a great children’s book. The kind that will be reprinted and re-gifted ...
Why would – and how does – a bank get involved in dealing with private capital? In our final podcast in conjunction with BNZ, we meet a woman who introduces fledgling businesses with committed, long-term investors. Head of Private Capital, BNZ, Linda Sturgess tells Emile Donovan why paying it forward is a ...
‘Kia kaha, kia māia, be brave and lean into it.' Newsroom speaks to Spark's Māori development lead Riki Hollings about what it means to be on a te ao Māori journey – and the best way to support that | Content Partnership Riki Hollings is a descendant of Ngāti Ranginui and Ngai ...
It’s unclear why AI-generated images in advertising are more or less deceptive or ethically questionable than using modelsOpinion: There has been a recent furore about the use of AI-generated images featuring people used by the National Party in a political advertisement. My immediate reaction was that this was a storm in ...
Tze Ming Mok is a writer and social researcher specialising in race and ethnicity, whose parents are from Singapore and Malaysia. His contribution to our multicultural analysis illuminates the dangers of over-generalising. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12144581
“The more the CCP tries to insert its agenda into wider New Zealand Chinese spaces while claiming to speak for all overseas Chinese, the more private animosity there is towards Mainlanders among the non-Mainland-born, even as we try to maintain our own “united front” against racism.”
Tze Ming Mok – “He” is a “She”
Thanks for that info – not evident on the Herald page I quoted from.
Love the handle … on that basis maybe I should change mine to WoodenGoat 🙂
If that’s the Chinese animal for your birth year, go for it!
Well it may fit, as regulars here will testify I can be irritatingly stubborn as a goat, and whacking my head on a steel beam results in a dull thud. 🙂
Earth Monkey T Bastard?
Nah, doesn’t roll of the tongue as well.
Ha! Mine’s Earth Monkey too… but happy in Space… 🙂
is that the Tze Ming Mok who writes about NZ from London ?
Its clear she doesnt know enough about circumstances , except to take potshots at labour
“Putting aside whether Mr Zhang (MNZM, gonged by Labour)”
Zhang was recommended by National party figures and Goff- thats how it works, its not just the gift of the government.
Seems to me you cant write about life in NZ- from London. especially this
“It’s endlessly irritating and insulting that both Labour and National have lazily assigned Chinese communities as the fiefdoms of politicians openly backed by the Chinese government.”
What is even more irritating is being lectured to from London.
She was born and educated in Auckland, so I suppose she is as entitled as anyone to express an opinion. http://www.tzemingmok.com
She seems to be making a call for Chinese New Zealanders to stand up and identify as a group separate from the CCP.
Good luck to her, but she will probably be silenced.
Liked her last paragraph…
“New Zealand needs to be the unicorn that can resist CCP influence as a way to uphold the rights of its own Chinese populations to political independence. We deserve better than to be trapped between knee-jerk racists and Xi Jinping Thought. Abandoning us to this fate is racism too.”
“Its clear she doesnt know enough about circumstances , except to take potshots at labour
“Putting aside whether Mr Zhang (MNZM, gonged by Labour)”
Zhang was recommended by National party figures and Goff- thats how it works, its not just the gift of the government.”
One does not have to look far to find a pic of our current PM cuddling said gentleman. Literally…he has his arm right around her. Didn’t see no gun.
Put aside your partisan prejudices and read her piece entire.
“Jacinda Ardern’s actually right. We need a better kind of politics in New Zealand.” JLR to Herald reporter yesterday, explaining that his motivation is accountability. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/video.cfm?c_id=280&gal_cid=280&gallery_id=199619
“There’s some rotten, awful things that have happened in the National Party over a long period of time. They should be exposed.” “I think I have a responsibility to keep doing that.”
For a long time, National has been able to cultivate the myth of a unified party while fully engaged in practicing DP to take
politicalall enemies down. Obviously, these two carefully crafted faces, or personae rather, of the National Party were mutually inconsistent if not contradictory but thanks to MSM this incongruence did not take hold in the public and with the voters; it resonated strongly with many people’s beliefs and personal biases. To be clear, this doesn’t make National voters bad or stupid; it simply shows how easily consent can be manufactured and public opinion can be manipulated, with a little help of ‘friends’.DP (and MSM) operatives have known this for a long time and some have made it their business.
There’s my comment here that covers the manipulation of advertising and, of course, Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent
The simple fact is that we’re manipulated into thinking what the rich want us to think.
Yes Denis;
This is my problem that National are seen as covering their own tracks now and hiding any truth now and the media is lax at going at national for the truth.
The media and National caucus leadership are both negligent in their duty to come clean as at present, because their own honesty is wanting.
Let us see the time capsule here beginning from last monday when Jamie Lee Ross said he was going to the police;
At 1pm Monday 15th October 2018; – after the meeting was confirmed with them; – to take his evidence of Simon Bridges conducting illegal activities over a Chinese investor donation of $100 00.
By 16th October 2018; – when the confirmation was made for his evidence delivered of illegal activities of a $100 000 donation,
We heard a series of reports from National Caucus leaders; including;
Simon Bridges,
Judith Collins,
Amy Adams,
Paula Bennett,
Mark Mitchell’
Lawrence Yule.
All said; – there was no evidence found of a “$100 000 donation was ever made to the national Party relating to the allegations made by Jami Lee Ross.
Judith Collins said clearly that it was a “fictitious claim just made up by Jami Lee Ross”.
From the 16th October 2018 the National Party caucus had expelled Jami lee Ross without learning the truth of the truth and existence of the $100 000 donation.
From 16th no retraction/correction of apologies has ever been forthcoming by either National Party caucus, nor any media error of reporting false stories of “no evidence found of a “$100 000 donation was ever made to the national Party relating to the allegations made by Jami Lee Ross.”
So we have sen both the national Party lying and the Media backing those falsely quoted allegations.
The voting public demand honestly and integrity here so we hope the police get the true facts straight now for the NZ Public, and it shows national were releasing the “fictitious claim just made up by (them and not from) Jami Lee Ross”.
National – un-trustworthy.
Winston Peters admits choosing National would have been ‘tidiest’ option
New Zealand Herald, September 13, 2018
Lifted from Scoop. Celia Lashlie is a kiwi hero; I admire her guts and honesty intensely:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1810/S00091/the-journey-to-prison-celia-lashlies-writing-revisited.htm
She was fabulous – a huge loss to NZ
Alongside financial poverty is poverty of opportunity, and alternate choices.
When you have a “wealth of choices” available to you, at little differing cost, then it is sometimes hard to recognise how difficult it is for those without diverse experience or relationship contacts, to make changes or take chances.
Poverty can make every decision fraught with anxiety – because the ‘wrong’ choice can result in even higher levels of deprivation.
Indeed Molly
At the Tenants vs Landlords debate at Uni last Wednesday, it was a surprise to me to discover that the preponderance of the 22 strong audience were mostly made up of landlords.
Speaking with one of the Tenants advocates later. He explained why this might be; saying, ‘What the Landlord advocates don’t realise is that most tenants live with fear and are unlikely to turn up at public events like this, whereas the landlords (and their advocates) don’t know any fear or hesitancy in attending, or putting their point of view across publicly.
Alex Braae is the author of The Bulletin – a daily wrap of New Zealand news and politics from across the media. “Throughout this week, rogue National MP Jami-Lee Ross has shown himself accomplished at the marathon press conference. Tonight, he revealed a hitherto unknown media talent – the train-crash one on one interview. He decided to go head to head with Heather du Plessis-Allen on Newstalk ZB. It was astonishing on the radio. On video, it was something else.”
“the by-election could still go ahead though… They could always invoke the newly passed waka-jumping bill, thus entirely proving Winston Peters right about the value of the law. It won’t necessarily be being used to stifle political dissent – though Ross claims he’s being pushed out for challenging the party hierarchy – it will be used to get rid of a guy who has thrown Molotov cocktails through the caucus room windows.”
“And those will keep coming. Ross says there’s a deep rot in the National party, hinting at stories about the various hits he’s been asked to carry out. “But you were the rot!” protested HDPA. He might have been following orders, and it’s probably worth listening to what he says. But it’s unclear why following orders absolves him from the responsibility of carrying them out. National of course argued vehemently against the waka-jumping legislation, but at this stage of the story, Simon Bridges could easily just say fuck it and force him out.”
Shoot the messenger. Use of the Nuremberg defense viable? Didn’t work for the top Nazis. For many this will prompt the Trumpian reflex condemnation. However, once you factor in political psychology, the nuances come into play. Power morphs human nature. Someone can be well-intentioned, then when a political party puts them in a position of power, they discover they feel good when using it. Like any hormone-trigger, addiction can lead to abuse. Don’t rule out redemption.
Was the last paragraph yours or Alex Braae’s? A link would have been helpful 😉
Sorry, forgot. Last paragraph was me. Here ’tis: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/19-10-2018/jami-lee-ross-just-heaved-yet-another-gallon-of-petrol-all-over-nz-politics/
Last para is Dennis’.
The Bulletin is “a free daily digest of the most important news from around New Zealand” launched by The Spinoff early this year. Generic link https://thespinoff.co.nz/category/the-bulletin/
Alex Braae is an author of The Bulletin; but the specific Braae article DF is quoting from is a Spinoff article, and not a specific Bulletin one. Here is the link.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/19-10-2018/jami-lee-ross-just-heaved-yet-another-gallon-of-petrol-all-over-nz-politics/
It is well worth reading the full article. Braae also did a couple of earlier ones this week on the JLR disaster – available from the generic Bulletin link above.
EDIT – SNAP with DF’s reply.
Jamie-Lee Ross is saying “there’s a lot of bed hopping in parliament” which makes me want to vomit in my mouth a little
It won’t be, as someone wrote here yesterday, just a few husbands afraid to ask the question as to what Jami-Lee Ross does, but a lot of wives as well asking about whether what he says is true.
This is what I think I heard Jamie Lee Ross say in yesterdays duplicity Allan interview, Oh boy…
I’m actually gobsmacked that people appear to be shocked about these revelations about the sex lives of MPs. These are the so-called ”corridors of power”, after all. Are we a prudent lot, naive, or just a tad hypocritical? Perhaps the only real ‘surprise’ is how long they have managed to keep it out of the limelight …
And power has always been the greatest aphrodisiac.
Exactly.
To hell with power, people are working long days together in jobs with highs and lows and a certain bunker mentality. Lange wasn’t a one-off by any means.
Important by-election across the ditch today; Turnbull’s old seat Wentworth is up for grabs and the Liberals could well lose their one seat majority.
One of the great things about Aussie politics is the sheer diversity of parties on offer:’
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/byelection-expected-in-wentworth-to-replace-malcolm-turnbull/news-story/67422a697c4681e6ee7758bb04dceb91
And the dice rolled … the Lib/Nat coalition lose it’s majority:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-20/wentworth-by-election-results-kerryn-phelps-dave-sharma-battle/10400270
The ScoMo may well be the shortest use PM yet.
lol nice
From No Right Turn, “Reminder: Saudi Arabia kidnapped people from New Zealand
You have to wonder what our government did about this, should have been an international incident, but I guess when trade is more important than human rights and principals and international law and our government is openly for Sale….
“Earlier this month, journalist Jamal Khashoggi visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He was then beaten, drugged, and dismembered – apparently while still alive – by a 15-man Saudi kill team who had been specially flown in for the purpose. Its a horrific act, and one which should make Saudi Arabia an international pariah. But Khashoggi is not the only victim of the Saudi regime. As Stuff reminds us, in 2014 they apparently kidnapped a refugee from New Zealand:
Friends of Khalid Muidh Alzahrani, who they called Daniel, know what the Saudi regime is capable of.
Four years ago, the refugee disappeared from his sparse flat in Redwood, Christchurch, and they haven’t spoken to him since. They fear he’s been executed.
Daniel had converted to Christianity – a crime in Saudi Arabia – and his friends believe he was forcibly repatriated, possibly with his family’s help.
The original media stories are here and here. And as this story makes clear, Alzahrani wasn’t the only one: in May 2013 an unnamed Saudi refugee was apparently snatched off the street in Auckland and rendered to Saudi Arabia, where he was reportedly tortured.”
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2018/10/reminder-saudi-arabia-kidnapped-people.html
That’s a pattern of serious significance. Looks like Putin’s treatment of renegades who flee to Britain, but worse. With Saudi Arabia, add abduction for the purpose of torture, prior to elimination. Onus is now on Trump to do a bit of moral leadership, and fortunately yesterday we had reports he `toughened his language’.
Nothing short of punishment will suffice: he either has to pull the plug on the Saudi regime, or direct it to operate in a civilised manner under the threat of enforcement. Time for the dude to man up.
Interpol ex-chief may be dead, wife fears, after capture by Chinese
Grace Meng speaks out about ‘cruel, dirty’ Chinese authorities after disappearance of France-based Meng Hongwei
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2018/oct/19/interpol-ex-chief-may-be-dead-wife-fears-after-capture-by-chinese
Exactly; while the liberal West distracts itself with endless, largely petty culture wars, the totalitarians march on.
Why do I sometimes feel like I’m channeling CV these days? 🙂
There’s big differences between you and CV, Red. For starters, you’re against the march of the totalitarians. CV, on the other hand, wanted to be parade marshall.
Wonder what happened to ol’ CV….
Dude’s still flat out picking twitter fights armed with a shed load of google-learnings, with predictable results.
Sounds about right
Considering the stories coming out we should be disconnecting our nation from both China and Saudi Arabia and their enablers.
Unfortunately, trade seems to be more important to our ‘leaders’ than morality.
Also did the National government turn a ‘blind eye’ because they were trying to bribe Saudi officials with the sheep deal bribe (against all advice) and maybe just ignored the rendition and torture of a refugee on NZ soil?
Auditor-General had doubts Saudi sheep deal was legal
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/70827429/auditorgeneral-had-doubts-saudi-sheep-deal-might-not-have-been-legal
His crime apparently (the Saudi refugee), is he is a Christian…
The only bit about which she had doubts about the legality was the export of live sheep.
You are stretching it a great deal to turn it into a comment that the deal itself was illegal.
Have you been taking lessons from JLR in how to exaggerate things far beyond reality?
@Alwyn, Government accused of bribery over farm
The Government has been accused of paying a bribe and doing dodgy deals after pouring more than $11 million of taxpayer money into an influential Saudi businessman’s farm.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/274808/government-accused-of-bribery-over-farm
Furthermore,
Saudi sheep deal: No evidence of legal threat from Saudi businessman
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11922583
The timing of the disappearance of the refugees should be scrutinised, as why there has not been more of an investigation into what happened to them in NZ, and what did happen to them, in light of the reported butcher of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy.
Bennett according to JLR was involved with what was going on in Barclay’s electorate office. Bennett probably was the broker between the electorate worker and Goodfellow. The electorate worker received a payout from a fund which Key had, due to being tapped by Barclay without her knowledge. A confidentiality clause was signed.
JLR was sent to Barclay’s electorate office as matters were starting to stink for English and Bennett was not shutting the stink down.
Now there is a situation involving JLR and a woman and a confidentiality clause between the woman and JLR, which occurred 2 years ago, (I would like to have a precise date for this). There has been no mention of a payment to the woman.
Bennett is throwing mud at JLR, she was sneaky over the Barclay issue, she worked with JLR to protect English, JLR tried to get rid of Barclay but could not once it was revealed tapes existed.
Now Bennett seems to be the front person for Bridges to take JLR down using affairs JLR has had in recent years.
Bennett appears to be an insider for the National Party cover up brigade. JLR is no longer an insider for the cover up brigade, he now appears to be a whistle blower.
How loud his whistle will blow is unknown and the response from those he has in his sight is yet to be established.
Ross’s problem is that he seems to be under the delusion that he is the dark-haired reincarnation of Julian Assange.
He actually makes Assange seem a good person by comparison which is something of a miracle.
So Bridges has gone to the countrys political editors and threatened them with defamation laws.
Ross isnt the only one going full ballistic as even the normally compliant Tracy Watkins is warned with being cut off for being ‘too hostile’
Full Ballistic?
I’ll tell you what full ballistic is.
Just go back a couple of months to when Ardern’s baby was born. Trevor Mallard, that pillar of bullshit and shit throwing threatened the Gallery journalists that if they ever accidentally took a photo of the baby in the public areas of Parliament, including the area where TV interviews are normally done, and did not immediately delete it, he would kick them out of the Press Gallery.
As we have discovered of course his leader uses the baby as a draw card for the women’s magazines. So much for protecting the baby from publicity.
Kicking people out of the Press Gallery for accidentally showing a baby in the background of a public area.
Now that was really going ballistic. Bridges is simply pointing out the truth to the fools in the fourth estate.
alwyn. You can defend Bridges ringing journalists and threatening them for being too negative.
Can you defend Trevor?
Surely you don’t consider his actions and threats to be harmless and just the behavior of a caring old grandfather protecting an innocent child from the attention seeking actions of her mother?
alwrong , you are confusing the multiple times Bridges has had the Womens mags in his home doing baby stories with jacinda.
https://www.nowtolove.co.nz/parenting/family/clarke-gayford-on-staying-at-home-with-baby-neve-39079
Look here and we see a story with file photos- not exclusives in the home like Bridges who uses his family like the political opportunist he is.
https://www.nowtolove.co.nz/parenting/parenting-news/national-party-leader-simon-bridges-introduces-his-newborn-daughter-36756
Big big difference in how the photos were done.
Tell me. Do you think that taking your child into the General Assembly of the UN, and posing her for the photographers, is the action of someone who is trying to protect the baby from the eyes of the world?.
Is that going to be less intrusive than the possibility that the baby might, for a few seconds, appear in the distance behind someone being interviewed in the public spaces of Parliament?
Any baby or child is entitled to privacy.
Ringing up the media to warn them to comply is over stepping the mark. Especially when you are embroiled in the situation you are trying to prevent the media reporting.
This is not the way to shut down/control the issue.
JLR is leading the race with coming clean.
I really hope that any new issues are not stacked on the pile.
At the end of the day all the actual facts will not be known, those involved will be tarnished or ruined.
Maybe honesty is the policy National need to be working on now.
JLR coming clean? You really are joking, aren’t you?
Really. Have you ever compared what Ross claims he is doing with the “evidence” he produces?
Look at the claims he made about there being a $100,000 donation that the National Party are supposed to have covered up.
It turns out, when he releases a tape, that the party officials actually acted completely within the law. There was no $100,000 donation. There were a number of donations that Ross collected on the parties behalf and that the party official went to some trouble to identify exactly who they were and that they existed.
Ross really seems to have lost his sense of reality. He simply makes up stories which are never justified by the information he produces. Sooner or later the journalists are going to accept that they have been played. A few of them may then start to tell the truth about Ross.
Ross is following in the steps of that unlamented ex-MP Meteria Turei. Fantasies about how she had to lie and defraud the taxpayer to feed her baby. Finally, of course it got to much for the family of the baby’s father and they told the truth to John Campbell. Bye-bye Turei. The same thing will happen to Ross.
Alywyn…..let’s wait and see what the police find. Too early to tell.
Candidates for donations implied in the recording
Cover up of people by Goodfellow reporting abusive behavior,
I agree early days yet.
Speaking out is the first step. Who you believe is the last step.
Leave the Prime Ministers’ baby out of this National party shitfest please. Nothing to do with her. How low can you go?
Compass rose 100%
Alwyn can go lower I assure you. He’s a real mix of envy and inadequacy. Sad loser.
This is the problem RWNJ losers like alwyn have.
No-one at all accepts their attacks on the baby except other deranged RWNJs.
I do hope he’s not the Alwyn in the education sector
Don’t be so silly.
I was comparing Trevor’s threats to the whole of the Press Gallery to Bridges’ fairly mild warning to people in the MSM.
It was Trevor who went totally over the top.
You will have noticed that I never once mentioned the baby’s name or sex or said anything about her at all. I only mentioned her mother.
Jacinda Ardern does not get the same consideration.
Stop trying to divert the debate into irrelevancies because you cannot justify Trevor’s behavior.
I just don’t understand why you hate babies so much.
Hating babies is one thing – vile attacks are completely ott. It is a sign he’s really gone burger – a seedy wee man smacking his keyboard with hateful strokes and all against a defenceless wee baby.
You have clearly never read what I said.
You are merely exhibiting the truth of the dictum
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”.
You have proved that you are not only a fool but a miserable specimen of humanity in your irrational attacks on what I actually said.
Stick to the point you silly boy. Can you really consider that Bridges has gone ballistic when compared to Mallard’s totally over the top threats to the Press Gallery?
You aren’t going to answer that question of course. To tell the truth would earn you an attack from you foolish friends. To tell a lie and claim that Trevor was simply giving a measured response will make you a laughing stock to all except the one-eyed left leaners.
Lol nah but keep digging alwyn your hole is getting bigger…
The crackiling is great, but Alwyn just can’t get the seasoning right.
Aren’t you the person who was demanding to know the names of the women that Ross claimed to have had affairs with?
Why is it any of your business? Do you just want to make more trouble?
You should have stopped your sentence at the end of the word “understand”
Saying “I just don’t understand” is an accurate statement on your part. The rest of it simply exhibits your stupidity.
Oh dear, the baby hater just doesn’t understand why people would push back against his position.
There, there, muttonhead. Have another go at the P.
Have any kids yourself? You certainly sound like a smelly old billy goat so I suppose it is possible.
Then try, although I am sure you will find it very difficult, to discuss the point of the comment. If you can’t do that give up and let the adults talk. Your stupidity simply illustrates the general intellectual dishonesty of your cabal.
alwyn. You are the troll here.
You offer nothing worth of debate. What you do offer is cantankerously juvenile. It is anti-family and curmudgeonly.
You are like an depressed old man who has nothing left to offer the world except mean barbs.
Why don’t you get off the child hating gig and enjoy what limited time you have left?
@muttonhead
I suppose that to a 12 year old like you I must seem old.
Never mind. You might, and I have my doubts, become older and wiser some day.
Meanwhile I suppose you will continue to post your ridiculous comments because you are unable to debate the facts.
Sad, really. You are more to be pitied than laughed at, as my Irish friends would say.
Most impressed Ross is a whale rider lol.
I hope they recorded him.
The situation has got so out of hand because JLR cannot go through the usual channels an MP would use when they are being warned.
You do not go to your boss if the boss is seen to be dodgy by you, even if you are dodgy.
Bridges has inherited the mess Key and English left behind that JLR was involved in. Then Bennett and Bridges have used affairs and inappropriate behaviour against JLR.
I would like to see the issues dealt with separately because there is so much contamination that no one involved is THINKING straight.
JLR, Bridges and Bennett need to take leave for a couple weeks.
Bridges expenses was the spark and the fire is raging.
It is not hard to do a list of the issues and for the issues to be dealt with separately and independently by those with the proper skills and those slinging shit at each other to have a truce.
Kindergarten kids are better at settling a dispute and have better negoiating skills.
What’s Ross got to gain by doing that?
The identity of the leaker into Bridges expenses was inconclusive. There now has to be a further process to either confirm it was JLR or someone else. Or to concede and drop the issue.
Using an affair against someone is blackmail. Two things could be done about inappropriate behaviour, a police complaint or a a work dispute complaint. Had this initially occurred something constructive would have happened. Instead inappropriate behaviour went unchecked and there were no proper consequences.
As for the 100k donation the police are currently investigating and will need to verify who and what was donated.
Yes, truly delusional, Alwyn, because Julian Assange is not dead yet.
I would have to agree that Assange is still alive and that it would have to be delusional of Ross.
Does Ross understand that though?
He doesn’t seem to understand that the tapes he is producing support Bridges and make Ross look foolish.
Alwyn, I’m not getting you here; JLR is not “producing” tapes, he’s “providing” them, isn’t he? Are you saying they’re doctored? I also don’t understand the binary thinking about what’s been played out at the moment with SB and JLR as the two focus points at the moment.
D-Day in Malcolm Turnbull’s old seat of Wentworth in Sydney’s eastern suburbs today. It has always voted Liberal so a loss for Dave Sharma, a former Ambassador to Israel (the seat has Australia’s largest Jewish population) would be historic and strip ScoMo of his majority in the House of Reps.
Economically conservative but very progressive socially there are signs that voters in the seat are losing patience with a Liberal Party that they feel has been overrun by the Christian Right and big money Coal and Mining interests. Climate Change and getting the kids off Nauru are touted as the main issues on the minds of voters. Add to that the fact that they are mightily pissed at the way their popular MP, Malcolm Turnbull was treated by his party and it’s possible that independant candidate Dr Kerryn Phelps, the first LGBT woman to become president of the Australian Medical Association, could prevail.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/we-made-it-impossible-for-sharma-senior-liberal-on-wentworth-vote-20181019-p50ar5.html
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-20/wentworth-by-election-results-kerryn-phelps-dave-sharma-battle/10400270?section=politics
Independent candidate Kerryn Phelps has claimed victory in the Wentworth by-election …
The swing against the Liberals is historic and the largest ever in a byelection in Australia. Even the bluest areas of the electorate Rose Bay and Point Piper recorded 20% against the Liberals.
A brilliant and detailed article on the background to the current situation in Venezuela.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/south-america/2018-10-15/venezuelas-suicide
Yes, skimmed through it quickly, looks like good read for later. More nuanced than usual; the roots of the collapse are complex, but clearly an example of what happens when socialism degenerates into totalitarianism.
If there is one apparent omission, it underplays the role outside actors, especially the USA and Colombia.
… [ If there is one apparent omission, it underplays the role of outside actors, especially the USA and Colombia. ] …
Oh yes,… but they are always loathe to mention that fact, aren’t they…
Take that into account, but it doesn’t necessarily invalidate everything else being said. As articles go it’s well informed, well written and reasonably even-handed. It has it’s bias, but then so does everyone; which is why I try and read from a range of sources.
I know this is Gossy playing his usual ‘whaddabout Venezuela’ game … but this linky is worth reading.
Yeah some people are so set on the idea the USA must have done it they fail to see how completely inept and corrupt the leaders of Venezuela are
Those are probably people who have difficulty viewing the USA pimples in close-up.
‘
Is Christchurch the only New Zealand city with too many houses?
Michael Wright – Stuff.co.nz, October 20, 2018
For a long time National and ACT, acting as advocates for the property sector have been complaining of a lack of supply as the root cause of the housing crisis.
With over 30,000 empty houses in Auckland alone. The problem is not lack of supply, it is lack of affordability.
Overseas examples are a warning of what is about to occur unless the government acts to prevent it.
As the current building boom reaches its peak, all political effort must be put into making sure that we don’t let the developers and speculators use the excuse of “over supply” to let empty homes rot, (eventually having them demolished en mass).
We have been warned: As long as there one homeless family left unhoused, the government must not let this happen in this country. (Even if we have to nationalise these homes at no recompense to the developers to prevent them leaving these homes to fall into disrepair or be left unfinished)
Demolished, the brand new housing estate that’s NEVER been lived in
Confiscating assets without compensation? Nah, we only do that to Maori in this country.
Is Christchurch the only New Zealand city with too many houses?
The answer sadly is no. That is if you qualify the question as, are there too many unafordable houses.
The Ebert collapse is another early warning.
“Destroying new homes”
“It is sad to watch actually, knowing that someone could have lived in these homes”
This must not be allowed to happen here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ilayp2ykts
@Jenny, regarding ‘oversupply in Chch – I guess when Brownlee is recreating the city in his own image, and it’s become a hot bed of corruption and people can’t actually rely on council and building regulations to guarantee the quality of housing in the desperation to build something nobody wants (something that will come back to bite all the other cities in particular Auckland) then yep, nobody wants the houses.
Although just as likely people want to buy the houses but can’t afford them on their low wages and the banks won’t lend on their insecure jobs and their pay outs from the earthquake and the fake recovery on the back of lazy migration and deals for Natz pals, were never going to be a long term fix.
If you fake a recovery and building is not local but just a way to make a profit before moving on, then long term you probably are not creating a healthy longevity community.
Saying that, this article is probably fake news to generate sales and corporate welfare, and the houses cost a bomb, and are overpriced.
@Jenny, regarding the US link – Why neoliberalism is crazy. US has massive homelessness but destroys new houses to keep prices up?? Dysfunctional financing routs!
Confiscation is definitely preferable to demolition.
More US resources being wasted is unsurprising.
Thanks Jenny for that housing item and great photographs of the Irish result of the no regulation, sleazy credit decade. Capitalism unfettered – business is not always right or to be trusted. Can we have our country and economy back now please?
But now demolition has begun on some of the last of the remaining ghost estates, built during the economic boom of ‘Celtic Tiger’ years but now deemed ‘not economically viable’.
Between the mid-1990s and 2007, Irish developers flocked to build new homes, spurred on by the easy availability of credit, cheap labour from eastern Europe and a vibrant Dublin property market….
But then the bottom fell out and by 2010 there were an estimated 600 ghost estates in Ireland with an estimated 300,000 homes lying empty.
Some unlucky buyers were caught in the middle of the crash and found themselves trapped living in dangerous, unfinished properties next to rows of empty buildings.
That was a disturbing read Jenny….and damn near ruined an otherwise glorious dawn.
There is something cold and close to sociopathic in the language used by the poor, distressed builders and developers.
For some reason I was nearly brought to tears.
Sad that this Current Mob’s model for addressing the housing crisis involves canoodling with these predators.
I am sorry Rosemary to cause you distress. Yes it is enough to make you want to cry.
Even the landlords are worried.
The elephant in the room
On Wednesday I attended a debate, between representatives of landlord and property investors on one side, and tenants and student advocates on the other.
The background to the debate are the reforms to The Tenancies Act currently passing through parliament. The tenants advocates argued in support of more regulation of the housing rental industry, while the landlord advocates argued for less.
Near the end of the debate, the question of over supply in Christchurch as related to falling rental returns due to oversupply, was briefly brought up by David Falkner near the end of the debate, at some obvious discomfort to him and the other Landlord Advocates.
Thankfully, most of the debate between the two sides avoided swapping the sensational horror stories about bad tenants and bad landlords favoured by the media in debates between landlords and tenants,, and instead got down to addressing the fundamental issues, of suitability, availability and affordability, and how these factors play out in a regulated and unregulated market.
The Landlord advocates made a very compelling case of how they are losing money on a falling property market. The repeated common refrain from this sector over the last few years, and repeatedly echoed again here in this debate, by the Landlord’s team was, ‘we need less regulation, so that we can increase supply, which according to them, ‘will increase affordability, in the rental and housing market generally’.
‘
At the end of the debate, In the question and answer session; a property manager in the audience, generally rubbished the claim of lack of supply, she said she managed 50 properties, and media reports of bidding wars were nonsense, and that she was struggling to fill her properties at the current rents. She said that a number of the properties she advertised for rent, (she didn’t say how many), didn’t attract any inquiries at all, and were being kept empty.
Renters vs Landlords debate @35:42 minutes last comment of the night.
Un-named property manager speaks speaks out from the floor, (with some bitterness.)
P.S. All care is taken, but due to the poor quality of the Smart phone recording I apologise in advance for any transcription errors. J.
“I am sorry Rosemary to cause you distress. Yes it is enough to make you want to cry.”
Not you. I’d read that earlier this morning. I nearly posted, but knew someone close to the issue would pick it up.
Respect to those on the frontline of tenants’ advocacy.
I think you should make clear – the housing estate thats never been lived in is because of the standard of construction makes them unlivableas the building was so slip-shod
Many of the half-finished estates lack basic amenities like lighting and schools and are deemed uneconomically viable
Please dont leave out important facts
The fact of the existence of the houses shows that such amenities could also be built.
The problem isn’t if they’re viable or not but if the rich pricks are making a profit.
I guess they deregulated the resource consent process, aka NZ style for in particular for transport… schools…pollution…hospitals…
Did it say that the building was slipshod? They were unfinished, so lighting had not been installed, and the lack of regulated planning meant that they were distant from amenities needed, like schools. That is the authorities’ fault.
I can believe that the building may have been slipshod, but that was not made clear as the reason for demolition.
That proves that the physical resources and capability are available to address these issues but that the people in charge want their pound of flesh.
Just as you say Draco, rather than take their losses, they want their pound of flesh, and they intend to get it. Even on a falling market.
History shows that if you leave it up to the landlords and speculators they will demolish new houses, or not finish half completed ones, to artificially limit the supply and keep house prices and rents up.
Probably just a tax dodge.. and they can write off their losses and save $$$ somewhere else.
That too.
Wow. Apart from the normal pro-National angle we are used to reading from Tracy Watkins, here she opens up on the simpering relationship she has with Simon Bridges.
Just think about that for a moment. Bridges has called all the political editors threatening to pull interviews unless they be kinder to him. What a big baby.
And here Watkins duly obliges, fearful of losing her weekly slot with the only party in parliament she has good access to.
Is that not common or garden blackmail?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/107971088/the-jamilee-ross-saga–dirty-ugly-nasty-politics-with-no-end-in-sight
Also in the same article she states:
Talk about a lack of awareness! Key’s approach is what landed them in the shit in the first place. It was Key’s method which has cause the rot within the National Party, Tracy.
It’s my Party and I’ll cry if I want to …
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbOrjHBaDzQ&w=560&h=315%5D
Edit: as you can tell, I haven’t figured out yet how to embed those video clips 🙁
Simon looks just like the huffy boy who is alway taking his ball home.
I think you just paste the link straight and the clip image eventually comes up.
Like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbOrjHBaDzQ&w=560&h=315%5D
Yup! Any handy tips?
words enter
link address enter
boom!
hopefully 😉
Gawd weren’t some of the 60s songs awful. As a gawky teenage wanna be chick I used to bop away to them in my bedroom – sans male partner.
I quite enjoy feelings of nostalgia but sometimes they turn into melancholy or the odd cringe 😉
Embedding videos is near automatic – just need to have one line between your comment and the link with the link being the last line.
Thus:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6rP-YP4c5I
Lol incognito
Who is the best male in the National Party a generation older than JLR to have a sit down with JLR.
Any other volunteers from another political party or a retired MP.
If anyone really cared about JLR they would reach out to him.
It is not about him being the loudest, it is about his self preservation and holding his ground appropriately.
JLR is in a lonely place in parliament, for attempting to expose the many years of rot within the National Party.
Actually his apparent back-ground lends itself to some sympathy for him. Doesn’t know who is father was… mother incapable of looking after him (don’t know why but drugs perhaps) and brought up by his grandmother. No father figure to guide him during his teenage years.
Being or feeling abandoned or rejected in childhood and not having a male role model would have been tough on him.
Obviously no good role models for him in the National Party.
What were Key and English thinking when they used him to sort out Barclay and other mess.
Both Key and English have nothing to say.
I did not realise JLR is only 32. Too young for what he was asked to do.
When I first saw his background on Wikipedia long before the present situation, I read the mother bit differently – mh rather than drugs but the two can be well be interlinked – they are not mutually exclusive.
But I just found this article from a couple of days ago, which throws more light on his family background and childhood.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12143225
In reality he has achieved a lot in his 32 years – more than many others from more privileged backgrounds and/or much higher educational qualifications.
It is hard to see much likeable, honourable etc etc in him at present and a lot of people are writing him off for the future, but with that history of achievement I actually believe that he is quite capable of “picking himself up, shaking himself off, and starting all over again”.
Who knows, perhaps he has really had a Road to Damascus moment. There are not many people who would come out as he has done and admit adultery etc etc …
Current behaviour may well have a link with his childhood.
There are so many adverse effects children can have due to parental separation, (anger, mistrust, low self esteem, relationship issues in adult years).
I am no counsellor but I had serious detachment in my childhood, more so with my mother than my father.
Once I learnt how to manage my anger without directing it at people, I felt more at peace within my self.
It’s possible. I’ll be more inclined to believe it if he leaves the National Party of his own free will rather than being pushed and what he does afterwards.
I agree. I’m staying with Jekyll & Hyde. No evidence that Nicky Wagner is right (“psychotic”). So the dark side is bullying, abusive sex, etc, applied coercion.
On the bright side I’ve been seeing the moral crusader from the start. I agree his complicity makes him seem part of the problem, but I had a professional career in television commercial editing before editing news & current affairs stories, and the management practice of applying coercion to make individuals conform to organisational requirements that I experienced in both media often forced me to act against my conscience, and not in the public interest. I expect he suffered the same learning curve. Enough of that shit in the Greens too – easy to imagine it was at least ten times worse in National.
So that bit about taking on Len Brown as a youngster & defeating him to achieve accountability for misuse of council funds rings true, especially as he cited it as his motivation in trying to hold his party accountable. I agree that a positive male role model as mentor would be a great help. Not easy to find these days, eh? Especially in National (and Labour). Can’t see Lusk serving that purpose!
Oh, and the other part of the bright side I forgot to mention is the likelihood that he’s actually empathic to some extent. Not enough to be able to manage relations with partners well, obviously, but enough to suggest the narcissist thesis is invalid. He actually listens to people. His conversation is natural and flows easily. You see that both in his interviews & press conferences. Now a narcissist sees others as part of their interior psychic furniture, as objects. Their style of communicating is consequently to talk at people, rather than with them. No rapport possible.
I really like your comment. It is balanced, thoughtful and mature.
For some reason Norm Hewitt keeps popping into my mind as someone who could help JLR. I honestly have no idea where this is coming from so I just throw it out there …
National’s little spat has made it to RFA – Radio Free Asia
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/donation-10192018104953.html
But, unlike the media in NZ, they focus on the most important and serious aspect of the affair:
“It looks like a donation from a businessman, but who is that businessman, actually?” Chen said. “The Chinese Communist Party has been gradually making donations to political parties here and there via their agents in Western political circles.”
“This is a very serious problem … and yet the government here in New Zealand doesn’t seem to be taking much of a stand,” Chen said. “The New Zealand’s relationship with China is too cozy, with a lot of vested interests tied up with it.”
When you bite the hand that’s feeding you, you’re losing.
Julian Assange is to launch legal action against the government of Ecuador, accusing it of violating his “fundamental rights and freedoms”.
The Wikileaks co-founder has lived in its UK embassy since 2012 after seeking asylum to avoid extradition to Sweden over a rape inquiry – later dropped.
He was given a set of house rules by the London embassy this week, including taking better care of his cat.
Mr Assange faces arrest for allegedly breaching bail conditions if he leaves.
Wikileaks lawyer Baltasar Garzon is in Ecuador to launch the case, which the Press Association reports is expected to be heard in court next week.
Wikileaks said the country’s government had threatened to remove the protection Mr Assange has had since being granted political asylum.
It added that his access to the outside world had been “summarily cut off”.
In a memo, it threatened to confiscate the pet if he did not look after it, it said.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45915017
I commented at 9.1 above that I thought Ross was behaving as if he thought he was Assange.
That was before I read your comment and the linked story. Now your link makes me even more convinced of it. Assange is behaving exactly like Ross as well. I’ll bet that Ecuador are sorry that they ever went near the guy, or more precisely that he let Assange get near them. Talk about lying down with a dog will get you fleas.
As a bargaining chip, he’s losing value.
And isn’t the UK looking for trade partners at the moment?
Years ago Assange was exhibiting his narcissism, now it looks like he’s actually lost his marbles. I don’t agree with your equation, however. The only common factors are them both taking a strong moral stand and having flawed characters. A combination that is no longer a christian monopoly.
The more I see of Scott Eady’s ‘sculpture’, the more I wonder whether it’s a pisstake tribute to the modern day National Party.
The gold-plated turd with a bit of glittering atop a gNat blue column.
I hope he was paid well. A fitting monument.
https://www.google.com/search?q=scott+eady+philanthropists+stone&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=XfLX1i6Wf8zafM%253A%252Cw6CdN6R9JFDfuM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kSUFT2rdPDg4cRwsEPdAFk_KE6MyQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2_NmRz5PeAhUFPo8KHdIGAmoQ9QEwAnoECAUQBA#imgrc=XfLX1i6Wf8zafM:
All it needs now is for Wellington’s homeless to camp out at its base
And knives in its back.
Wellington needs to put up brightly coloured tiny houses all over with murals on the side as art works. Thus providing practical as well as artistic points of interest throughout the city. I realise this is a bit mundane and lower class for the higher intellects to entertain but hey it’s thinking outside of the square.
https://theflyingtortoise.blogspot.com/2012/01/tiny-colourful-homes-in-italy.html
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-marina-grande-fishing-village-is-a-timeless-world-with-its-own-pace-39565334.html
(https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=tiny+houses+nz&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiEm6v85JPeAhVJRo8KHcCeD1IQ_AUIDigB&biw=1119&bih=541
colourful tiny houses
Wellington has already had $1 million damage caused from some late-schoolboy-adult knuckledragger.
5:47 pm on 8 October 2018
A Len Lye sculpture on Wellington’s waterfront that cost more than $1 million to install has been broken by a man swinging on it.
(https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/368197/wellington-sculpture-broken-by-man-swinging-on-it
(https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/107729160/wellington-man-who-admitted-climbing-waterfront-sculpture-charged-with-wilful-damage
(https://www.sculpture.org.nz/the-sculptures
The Scott Eady column in link at 16 dates from 2015 apparently. And also illustrates that rich people when they are philanthropic show this usually in the art world. They don’t appreciate the beautiful works of natural art that are people, or see the curious cultural web that we set up as fantastic art work either. So the money usually doesn’t trickle down to water the amazing creative potential for good that is in all of us.
(https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/speaking-those-no-voice
This year, in August, a commissioned public sculpture by Eady was installed in Wellington’s Cuba St. Titled The Philanthropist’s Stone, it is a tall Corinthian column, a gold-plated bronze nugget and 10 candles with hand-blown glass flames.
The 4m-tall sculpture commemorates the centenary of the philanthropic trust established on the death of businessman Thomas George Macarthy, of Wellington.
Mr Macarthy began his fortune in the Otago goldfields and the T. G. Macarthy Trust has given $61.4 million to charities during the past 100 years.
Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?
A great example of how advertising manipulates us into false beliefs and positions that are detrimental to us.
This from Nikki Kaye on 03 October.
Was Kaye or the rest of the Nat caucus not briefed at all, or was it merely politically expedient to run this line at the time? Further evidence of the lack of morals and opportunism which has taken root in the National Party of New Zealand.
If this is the level of ‘political management’ offered by Paula Bennett and Simon Bridges then the pair of them need to f**k off, pronto.
I bet Nikki Kaye wishes she could take those words back.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/10/national-mps-stand-by-jami-lee-ross-over-taking-leave.html
Bryce Edwards steps up to the plate for National again.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/369063/reality-bites-for-jami-lee-ross
They have to write it that way- Bridges has read the riot act to the editors about defamation. Even though as a politician its a very high bar, but he would have the party chiefs contacting the people who employ the editors and getting them to put the party first
They allude to this by JLR staying in parliament to say ‘things under privilege’- which would keep the national partys lawyers at bay.
It looks like National will rip out the still beating heart of its newest MP if it has to get rid of JLR from Parliament and its protections for what Mps say.
The other approach may be to see if JLR would be tempted by ‘greenmail’ and take a golden parachute for what he could earn from parliament for 2 years
I’m sure there are pleas for fundraising going out to donors right now with which to pay Ross off.
That would be typical of the National Party who believe meeting someones price is the the ethical way to go.
What really disappointed me about this latest Edwards fluff piece is that he claims in the opening sentence both Ross and the National Party are coming to terms with reality:
Perhaps I’m being naive but that to me suggested that Edwards was going to talk about Ross coming clean on all his own personal misdemeanours and also the toxic methods of the National Party. And it suggested that Edwards felt the National Party were beginning to take a look at themselves, finding their behaviour wasn’t up to scratch and that they were about to embark on a drive to clean out the party on malevolent influence.
But no, it was about Ross suddenly realising he couldn’t win Botany and the ‘reality check’ for National wasn’t about them taking a look at themselves it was about their means of escape.
How this clown Edwards is considered a mature and impartial commenter is beyond me.
Eric Idle on the excellent interview this morning with Kim, said that the British press regularly taking down the Pythons, white-anting them were one of the reasons why they shifted to the USA. Also he commented that the Press in UK were probably behind the push for Brexit; something about the press barons living in tax havens and didn’t want new legislation that would cut their nirvana a notch. e&oe
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018667675/eric-idle-always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life
arts
Eric Idle – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
From Saturday Morning, 8:10 am today
Listen duration 45′ :56″
Eric Idle is a comedian, actor, writer and musician, most notable for his membership of the Monty Python comedy troupe. His career in comedy began in earnest in 1968 when he began writing and acting in two series of a children’s TV hit, Do Not Adjust Your Set, with Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam.
The success of this show led to four series of Monty Python’s Flying Circus for the BBC from July 1969 through 1973, with the addition of John Cleese and Graham Chapman. The group enjoyed great success on stage and screen until disbanding in 1983.
After Python, Idle continued to work on radio comedies, write books, appear in movies and even on the opera stage. He has recently released a ‘sortabiography’ called Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – also the title of a song he composed for the closing of the movie Life of Brian – and one which has grown to become a signature tune for Monty Python.
Here is the video of yesterdays ZB interview with Jami-Lee Ross.
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/exclusive-jami-lee-ross-admits-to-affairs-with-two-women-vows-to-stay-in-parliament/#ath
“After years on Nauru, 15 asylum seekers, all in families, flew to Australia on Monday. Three more families travelled on Tuesday. Yet more left on Wednesday. And another seven families on Thursday, according to a briefing that Immigration Minister David Coleman gave crossbench members of Parliament this week. All families, all with kids, all travelling on medical advice that they need treatment in Australia.”
https://www.smh.com.au/national/progress-scott-morrison-doesn-t-want-to-advertise-20181019-p50arp.html
Apparently the kids and their families are being resettled in US
” “Anyone with even a stubbed toe is getting approved” for treatment in Australia, he says.”
means they can still say with a straight face- no change in the ‘policy’
Thats when it gets really weird
“Asylum seekers on Nauru are not in detention. They have been free to move and integrate into the community for two years now. They are classified as temporary residents of Nauru with 20-year visas. Under the terms of their visas, they need to get exit visas from the Nauruan government before leaving for Australia.
Oz –
‘Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive.’
Walter Scott
Good news that something positive has been done. Our prayers go with the families and I am sure that the Aussie doctors putting the case for urgent attention has brought the move about. Thanks to those outspoken caring people.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/15/almost-6000-doctors-sign-letter-to-pm-demanding-children-be-taken-off-nauru
Something has pierced the Oz gummint’s thick, insensitive skin. Must have sat on a redback in the dunny.
But they were on Nauru against their free will. Sort of like a political prisoner in detention. Can’t leave the island.
At least there is progress for the children in particular.
Show us the document, Katrina.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/107995418/national-partys-katrina-bungard-received-no-money-at-mediation
It seems the ‘married MP’ who JLR referred to was one of the 4 women who anonymously gave their story to Melanie Reid.
His push back and naming her makes sense ( to him) in that light.
That would be very interesting if true because it adds to the theory that the Nats dumped the story on Reid in the last couple of weeks as per Ross’ allegation, rather than Reid’s own claim that she’d been working on it with these women for a year.
Also, did the MP having given her anonymous story to Reid not believe she’d have to back it up at some stage?
She needs to come out next week.
All very murky.
“That would be very interesting if true because it adds to the theory that the Nats dumped the story on Reid in the last couple of weeks as per Ross’ allegation, rather than Reid’s own claim that she’d been working on it with these women for a year.”
I have no idea what you are implying here
That his behaviour to the women in question is made up?
No. that the National Party of New Zealand held back the complaints but these women when it suited them and then dumped the complaints by these women on the media when it suited them.
That clearly happened.
Well we don’t know that
Except for the writer of the article who said they had been working on it for a year.
I tend to go with their version given the lack of any other evidence
But if you think
National got all the different stories together, contacted the reporter and talked them into writing it, got the reporter to get all 4 women together and find background and quotes, her editorial team to double check all the sources, the madias lawyers to get together and check that there was no chance of defamation and double check it, the women to then agree with the draft of it being released nationally, all in the space of the 36 hours after his stand up, you have a higher opinion of these peoples skills than I do,
Don’t you find it remarkably convenient this story appeared right when National needed it?
I’m sure these anonymous accounts were lined up ready to go when required.
I know you don’t have much independence of thought and you take your cues from the National party machine but if you could at least make an effort to think for yourself once in a while?
What I would imagine is they just went with it earlier than planned as the subject of the investigation just became national news story of the year after his stand up and it would be stupid not to.
Eye-balls = $$
“I know you don’t have much independence of thought and you take your cues from the National party machine but if you could at least make an effort to think for yourself once in a while?”
Lol
I missed this
How about looking at evidence rather than your own need for conspiracy around every corner, for 2 seconds
Well the National Party has created a fertile ground for all sorts of theories behind motivation. This has happened because they are crooked to the core.
What we have is Ross making claims. You jump on them
His evidence doesn’t match his claims. You stop mentioning his claims.
Next we have a story of him being an arsehole to women. You jump on National for not doing anything to help the women
The women say National helped. You stop mentioning National didn’t do anything
Now you turn to not trusting the womens version…..
For what it is worth
You could be right
National may have covered it all up, be as bad as you say.
I just doubt it from the evidence
OMG. Does this clown have no shame?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/10/simon-bridges-defends-asian-comments-from-ross-recording-at-auckland-s-diwali-festival.html
@Muttonbird – Nope. But he will give them 1/2 price MP’s – only $50k donation to make up…
Bridges has been in a lot of photo ops with turban wearing men in the last few days.
I wonder why?
Clearly no shame .
Bridges has no principles he wouldn’t ditch for power.
That’s the thing. His ambitions are to power and status rather than serving Kiwis.
I’m surprised more of the voting public haven’t seen this yet.
Bridges repeats in the clip that ‘we’re talking about one bad egg’ but it’s clear he was bosom buddies with that one bad egg for a decade and more.
Many members of the middle class don’t want to lose all that money they made through Key’s property Ponzi scheme.
35 years of neoliberalism and we have in our midst a significant minority of the population who was incredibly selfish people.
They won’t sacrifice their international holidays to solve poverty. Too many trips overseas in pampered resorts and on slave cruise ships has got them used to being treated as colonial masters.
They want their flash Ute, forget the unemployed.
They want.
They want.
They want.
It all goes back to Roger Douglas.
I hope I live to see the day he goes to trial.
Who is advising him? The first thing he does after monetising Indian candidates in a taped conversation is to go get a red dot on his forehead.
What the hell is he thinking?
Meanwhile…
“However, his public reception was dwarfed by the enthusiasm that greeted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
As the Prime Minister left the main stage, she was mobbed by people – many of whom were mothers and young daughter in saris – seeking selfies with her.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12145904
Play their cards right and Labour may be able to cleave off a substantial part of the nat’s Indian community support and claim it for themselves.
Yep. They just have to keep doing what they’re doing. Leave the gnats to eat themselves and say zip about all the stuff.
Jami-lee thinks he’s in kill bill and demanding ownership of severed limbs but he’s not that character imo – he’s wearing a patch over his eye.
Oh dear.
Indian Member of Parliament Kanwaljit Bakshi’s defence of his beleaguered leader Simon Bridges on his clear-as-daylight acquiescence to Jami-Lee Ross’ “Two Chinese would be more valuable than two Indians, I have to say” comment is, to say the least, abject.
[…]
Blaming it all on Ross is fine but as a representative of Kiwi Indians, his constituents would have expected more from Bakshi than this pathetic fig leaf of a defence of his leader. For the question is not of Ross saying what he said. It is rather of Bridges’ acquiescence to what was said and his continuing the conversation about the “value” of ethnic MPs and their numbers and issues around accommodating more of them.
https://www.indianweekender.co.nz/Pages/ArticleDetails/65/9947/Political/Indian-MPs-fig-leaf-for-beleaguered-National-leader
Well here it is in Bridges’ own words:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/107996313/waka-jumping-bill-could-come-to-the-aid-of-national-as-jamilee-ross-refuses-to-quit
Farrar has tried to worm his way out of this by claiming the Nats only meant policy and not morals and action but quite frankly that will hold little or no water with the media nor the voting public.
Is it time someone from the government made a statement on the shambles that is the National Party of New Zealand?
I feel the Nats implosion in all its enormity is beginning to overshadow the good things the government is doing.
Which bit of the media is either serious or fair-minded about this? They’re desperate to bail out poor old Bridges and his cronies. Various “wits” on RNZ National, for example, have been busy ridiculing Jami-Lee Ross and insisting that Bridges will survive this scandal.
I know why Labour has left it for a week but the crux of the matter is about electoral integrity and the need to promote it with the voting public.
JA could and should make a statement gently kicking the Nats in the arse but at the same time reassuring NZ that everything is being done to eliminate poor practice from politics.
Indeed.
BTW, I replied to a post you made on Kiwiblog a while ago, and it has been placed in “moderation”, i.e. it’s been disappeared from that site. I’ve put it on my blog if you’d like to see it…..
http://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/10/jacinda-derangement-syndrome-on.html
Thanks Morrissey.
That comment by RF is a shocker and should remind us of what it is we are fighting, particularly with reference to what has come to light in the last week about the behaviour, the morals and the motives of the National Party.
Kia ora Newshub Conner I have been following the Wentworth byelection for a bit last nite I posted about it last nite.
Larry Ellison is just a sore loser he lost to Team New Zealand If he was a Honorable person he would have entered a Yacht in the Americas Cup race.
What he is doing he is trying to beat Team New Zealand buy cheating and stealing there competitors and audiences by starting a new competing Yacht race were else but New Zealand.
I think Britain need to have a second vote on the Britexit I will tell what happened the EU told British bankers that they have to stop laundering the worlds corrupt money .
The money people did not like being put into line so they set in motion Britexit as plan as day I see this.
If Britain leaves the EU the bankers will make heaps while the common person will be young dumb and broke.
Niki The League test was a good match the Tongans are good sports people kia kaha Tonga Ka kite ano