The way two bills are being dealt with by the Government suggests that NZ First is getting away with wagging the dog and pup.
Labour and the Greens say they are allowing NZ First to progress their waka jumping bill. The Greens in particular have compromised their principles significantly in order to allow the bill to pass with a unified majority.
But when it comes to Medical Cannabis, a bill that is important enough for Labour to include in their 100 day plan, and important enough to the Greens to keep a Member’s Bill that goes further (and for Labour to support leaving that bill in), indications are that NZ First, with 9 votes to Labour-Greens 54, seems to be getting away with crippling the bill.
It’s not just a significant majority in Cabinet that NZ First is thwarting. A Curia poll in July shows strong public support:
• Growing and/or using cannabis for any medical reasons such as to alleviate pain
17% illegal
21% decriminalised
57% legal
• Growing and/or using cannabis for medical reasons if you have a terminal illness
15% illegal
22% decriminalised
59% legal
• Possessing a small amount of cannabis for personal use
31% illegal
37% decriminalised
28% legal
• Growing a small amount of cannabis for personal use
41% illegal
32% decriminalised
23% legal
• Growing a small amount of cannabis for giving or selling to your friends
69% illegal
16% decriminalised
10% legal
• Selling cannabis from a store
57% illegal
11% decriminalised
23% legal
The poll was conducted from July 3-18, with 938 people participating. The margin of error is +/-3.1 per cent.
We will see what the bill looks like when it is introduced today, but Ardern, Shaw and Minister of Health David Clark have all talked down expectations in advance.
Shock horror! Coalition government involves compromise. Quick, put a patronising and negative spin on it!
NZ1st will compromise their principles in supporting this bill. Looks like the dog is wagging the tail, or perhaps it’s more a case of “yap yap little weasel”.
This morning’s RNZ reports = More road deaths today. (three truck accidents and deaths over night.) RNZ news 8am.
Please let us compromise Labour Coalition Transport Minister Phil Twyford & the ‘Road Transport Forum’ (RTF) CEO Ken Shirley!!!!!!
As trucks are involved again in Waikato killing on our simgle laned roads (highway 27) near Karipiro, while the rail lays dorment.
Rail needs to become dominant again the ‘principal carrier of freight’, or else nothing will change on these narrow roads will change the climbing road deaths from ocurring.
‘Let us use rail to move our freight as we used to do.’
Make our roads safe for other roads users please by using rail everywhere.
I’ll bet the people on the road below the railway line were grateful that it was a passenger rather than a freight train in that latest crash in the US.
I doubt if they would, as appears to have been the miraculous case, have all survived if it had been heavy loaded freight wagons rather than comparatively light passenger cars that had crashed down on them.
I think that a freight train would have caused far more deaths, don’t you?
Of course you seem to want to show *’the worst possible scenerio’ .
You seem to prefer road freight do you?
You do know that the report showed the train was reported to be speeding at three times lawful speed across that bridge at that time?
If it was well designed by Engineers they should have not used a train track across a busy highway but it seemed Donald trump was right that the rail infrustructure needed upgrading so they need to plan seperate rail corridors if high speed trains are to be used.
You could see in this case the bridge was curved and the train was going so fast it left the bend in the track as the train did in Spain as it was on a rail curve bend when that crash occurred two years ago.
Rail freight is governed by much lower safer speeds then passenger rail is as our rail engineers tell us.
We have a Kennedy road highway road overbridge in napier that curves simailer to thios accident and the NZTA are keen to bump the speed up to 110kms and in an audit done on this Kennedy road overbridge that states that with heavy truck flows at 90 kms approaching this overbridge is dangerous.
So we are now afraid that trucks going at 110kms or 30% faster may hit the flimsy steel rails on the curved overbridge and crash below onto the very busy Kennedy road below carrying 30 0000 vehicles daily.
* ‘the worst possible scenerio’
So this is the opposite side of your comments here to what you posed above where in Napier any one of the 2400 hundred HPMV (63 tonne trucks) that pass the Kennedy road overbridge every day may possibly also crash over the top of a ‘known dangerous overbridge’ in the “Safety Audit by Hamilton based consultants Bloxham and Associates,” and may destroy the lives of many people here if speeds are allowed to increase.
No rail is involved here.
Problems today are that everyone is not keeping up the standards now as they are ‘do minimum’ planning everywhere, as I worked for ministry of works in 1970s this was not a ‘do minimin’ engineering time then.
Btw @ CG – you realise MoBIE maybe in panic mode at the moment, as their use of contractors in various key areas are being looked at.
But then …. “I promise, I promise!!!!! I won’t do it again” says it snr. mgmnt.
….. next
These are supposedly experienced, ethical and committed people FFS!
(Unfortunately they’re also people who can lie straight-faced to their Minister)
The contractors in Gisborne HB are crap and worst are downers as they are patching te roads only and when rain comes pop out comes the ‘temporary plug’ and a big hole emerges to break down our suspenion and sterring on cars when an accident occurs.
Fulton Hogan are o/k as is Higgins, so is ‘Works infrustructure’ “was Ministry of Works” is o/k but seldom seen now sadly.
Re rail, see my comment to you which I put on the BSA post/thread (although unrelated to that post/thread) in reply to your latest comment there in an effort to make sure you saw it (a remark made by Shane Jones in Parliament this morning re Wairoa – Napier Railway.)
We missed that speech silly me was out feeding the sheep at the time missed Shane.
Will move on this as we have Iwi in Gisborne who want the rail from Waroa to be leased to them to operate a freight & tourism/passenger service if Government won’t re-open the leg to Gisborne from Wairoa.
What symies us is that the first labour government under MJ Sagave opened that leg to Gisborne from 1942.
So we hope Shane re-opens the final leg again so we can finish the link to Murupara / Galitea and on to tauranga and rotorua as planned in 1939 but never done due the war taking all funds at that time. This was called “the East coast rail” to Auckland. and was explained as far back as 1911 in Parliamentary papers on the “Ways & Means” reports at that time later covered by the rail famed PM Vogel and his partner MP Coats.
This is the most isolated region in the whole country, and abused badly by successive national lead governments as labour finished the rail to Gisborne national never was interested in it’s completion stupid clowns when they were so into ‘tourism’ eh?
Please look after yourselves over xmas and new year season as the roads are seriously beaten up now and dangerous.
Yes, coalition (and confidence and supply) governments involve compromise. But here the compromises seem to be coming from Labour and Greens, with little in return from NZ First.
Medical cannabis was supposed to be a priority issue for Labour, but they appear to be rolling over with the Greens.
Not a good note to end the year on, and it’s a problem that won’t go away, it has been simmering for many years. Finally there seemed hope of genuine cannabis law reform, until now.
All Ardern and Clark have done is whimper over the last couple of days. Especially considering the Helen Kelly legacy, there is likely to be widespread feelings of disappointment if not betrayal (on the left especially) if a neutered medical cannabis bill is introduced today.
Pete, hold still until the wording of the bill’s out.
I will be very, very interested in the regulatory impact statement.
That had better show that the Police, Pharmac, ACC, DHB’s, Foodsafe, palliative care and oncology specialists are all on board with this.
I think there are a number of tight turns for this bill to get around before it even gets to its first reading.
I don’t see why I have to ask or search PHARMAC to find out why you make those assertions of yours or what you base your opinions on.
Anyway, I assume that you base your opinion on this:
PHARMAC takes a consistent and evidence-based approach to consider the funding of any medicine. No application for funding any products that contain cannabidiol has yet demonstrated to us that it is the next best use of the public funds available for medicines.
On Te Karare today it seems a Ruatoria based company: Hikurangi Enterprises have been granted a license to grow and process medicinal cannabis. I think it’s important that these early start-ups do all they can to be squeaky clean and above board. I was surprised to see children harvesting buds, near the end, about 2:40 into the item.
If I was head of Pharmac I’d be adopting a ‘Wait and see’ approach re: funding. Handled right, I think they’ll fund it. Too many stories about gangs clipping through security fences and we’ll find ourselves absorbed by topics away from what really matters and a reluctant Pharmac funding committee.
That’s good thinking David Mac. Keeping a sense of reality rather than good here is a good earner for the marae will be important.
It has been the hotbed of funds for criminal gangs who have their own codes of behaviour which are well embedded. If only cannabis could have been decriminalised years ago, but I feel that NZ has never really grown out of its stolid status quo thinking and just grasps occasional winners to milk them without any long term rational national planning. We used to have a Planning Council but that would have gone the way of the huia when ‘forcing market forces medicine’ down our throats.
Click the share button, next door to the thumbs up thumbs down buttons.
That will open a pop up which will give you the option of starting at a set time
Hi Grey, I think the government sanctioned growing of marijuana has the potential to do great things for the Far North but it’s a double edged sword. It has NZ’s best climate for growing it and as global resistance to medicinal cannabis eases export markets for a country with our reputation will open up.
‘Brought to you with love by the indigenous people of 100% pure NZ.’
At all costs we need to avoid Maori leaders arriving at the assumption ‘We’re worse off now than we were when it was illegal, our young people legally married to game consoles and munchie food.’
I don’t want to learn how to do it. I’d rather flick another coat of clear over my dune buggy. Help me out will ya sport? The Hikurangi Enterprises story in Te Karare today. I’ll take you for a bounce over some humps when I get it sorted.
One of the commenters on your website yesterday said that ” …Andrew Little hosted big pharma and they donated 155k to the Labour party …”
I know about the Medicines NZ (Big Pharma lobby group) lunch do…and I’ve seen their “Election 2017” ‘invoice’….but I cannot find any evidence that $$$ were donated to Labour, or any other party.
Is there evidence, or was the person just blowing smoke?
My prediction is that Labour’s Bill on this will be so….conservative….that even National could vote for it.
FWIW…the Green’s bill most accurately reflects the reality.
Whatever the outcome…folks are still going to grow and produce their own rongoa.
Folks are still going to grow for recreational use.
Enabling those people with a doctor’s certificate to grow and produce their own rongoa might just protect them from having to engage with the recreational market.
And, thanks for the advice about Pete George’s site…but I’m perfectly capable of making my own decisions about what I read. I’m a great believer in reading widely and listening to the opinions of others, even if I don’t agree with them.
I didn’t say don’t read it, I said don’t read too much into it 😉
I reckon we should get the money out of politics altogether: fund political parties via the Electoral Commission, from taxes. If other individuals and groups want to donate to the democratic process those donations can be shared among the parties.
Totally agree OAB. No political donations should be allowed. When you need to be a billionaire or even millionaire to become a US president – you can see why Trump prevailed. Not so sure that has been good for society though.
Likewise in NZ, the roading industry donations for the Natz has stopped public transport and utilisation of trains. Chinese and overseas donations have created a lazy approach to exporting. Kiwis are encouraged to ‘Clip the ticket’ rather than actually running things and innovating. Due to gross government stupidity on policy and strategy, there seems to be less and less ticket available to clip and more intervention on what suits other nation’s needs rather than NZ. Locals pay for water while exporters get it for free.
At the very least, donations should only be able to come from within NZ to stop our government parties becoming more interested in protecting offshore interests than local welfare.
If you look at the UK and USA – globalisation has failed as locals start reacting to being unwanted citizens in their own country as cheaper workers and people are bought in to replace them and corporations refuse to train and locals become less and less skilled and more and more reliant on external citizens.
At the same time multinational corporate welfare is at every turn and favourable tax accounting means overseas based firms pay less than local ones and can out compete them.
Net result, less and less taxes coming in for government and the locals paying more taxes than other’s using their country to profit.
Ask anyone who lives in Auckland if they pay for water – the answer is yes – monthly. That is on TOP of rates and government taxes and any resource consents we may apply for.
They pay for the SUPPLY of water. No person or council is being charged for the actual water.
If you wanted to take water from the ground like the water bottlers you would need a resource consent and there would be a small charge for that (same as for them), but no charge for the actual water.
Whatever the wording local residents in Auckland PAY for the provision of water and it’s a monopoly to boot.
It is extremely doubtful unless well connected in government, that anyone in Auckland would be able to get a resource consent to take water from the ground, pipe across public land and then export it from Ports of Auckland. However it seems consents are going on in other parts of the country exporting water in a similar way.
NZ seem to have dropped the ball is that they get so hung up on wording or numbers which they generally rely on paid private practise lawyers to check, the actual practical reality, long term result and fairness of what they are doing seems to be completely lost on them. Sadly to some people too, but I guess they are the first ones complaining that other’s are not paying enough taxes for them while seemingly not seeing any issues with profiteers taking NZ natural resources for virtually nothing and on sell them with little to zero benefit to those communities who live there and actually leaving them with the unknown risks of such a venture.
It is more than wording. If the export water bottlers bottled from the tap rather than extracting from the ground then they too would pay for the SUPPLY of that water. Your statement “Locals pay for water while exporters get it for free” is nonsense.
Auckland’s water is not extracted from the ground but comes from dams in the Hunua ranges and now increasingly is pumped from the Waikato river: !!
As usual you miss the point. We would not be allowed to extract it from groundwater in Auckland which is why it is pumped from Waikato. But again you miss the point of my post.
1/ Some Kiwis pay for water or the supply of it over public land. Note the pipes are already there and any improvements are so slow as virtually un noticeable. There has been water shortages in Auckland so having water one year does not necessarily mean you will have the same supply the next year. But that was not my original point.
2/ other’s including businesses who export it, do not pay for the supply of it or pay virtually nothing – even if the pipes are going over public land including conservation land and many risks are unknown and not possible to foresee, such as climate changes.
3/ Why would any reasonable person allow that?
“2/ other’s including businesses who export it, do not pay for the supply of it or pay virtually nothing –”
AND the Auckland City council pays NOTHING for the water it takes out of the Waikato River and the Hunua Ranges. The cost to households is the cost of cleaning and piping the water.
“1/ Some Kiwis pay for water or the supply of it over public land.”
The cost is the maintenance on the pipes not the fact that it goes through public land.
I agree that we should not give our water away to exporters, but they do not pay any less for water than anybody else.
According to this investigation, water bottling companies are paying an average 500 times less than ratepayers for each litre of water they’re allowed to use.
An incredibly crappy article. No surprise from the Herald.
“A Herald investigation into water fees set by every regional council around the country found bottlers were charged an average $0.003 – or one third of a cent – per cubic metre of water.
Comparatively, in Auckland, Watercare charges $1.40 per cubic metre (1000 litres) for water piped to houses, while the rest of the country paid an average $1.60 per cubic metre.”
In this situation the water bottler is not taking processed Waikato River water from a tap in Auckland. If they were they would be paying the same as other users.
Also there is a difference between water extracted away from the country of origin and water irrigated, as at least irrigated water falls back into the land where it came from (whether you believe it should be charged for or allowed, is another matter).
The water bottling seem to be hiding within the irrigation debate, to say they are the same thing and they are not the same business at all.
No surprise to me, that metro water charges 500 times more than water bottlers are charged. It’s the rip off culture that has been allowed to develop which means more and more people can’t afford the basics in this country while corporations making on average 1.5 million per year and multinational’s like Coke $500million a year pay a fraction of what someone on minimum wage will be paying for water or the supply of it.
But John Key says “nobody owns water” so that’s all right then
Workers building a new Chinese-owned water bottling plant in Christchurch sleep on boxes and balance on forklift trucks to carry out construction – huge level of unsafe practices going on https://t.co/Mwxi95TNnY— DaveMac (@davemacpherson7) December 16, 2017
It is actually British Common Law that says that nobody owns water. That is the legal framework we have inherited. I’m sure that Key would like water to be owned, but if the government passed a law to say that water is something that can be owned and it is the Crown who owns it, then that is a confiscation of something that must have belonged to Maori all along.
soltka, Key doesn’t know shit about British Common Law, his comments were directly aimed at cutting off Maori claims to water custodianship.
If anyone has responsibility for proper management of water and NZ natural resources it is central government, and Key’s comment was a gross abdication of duty.
It is now obvious that there are a lot of foreign investors keen to get their hands on this water that “nobody” owns for bottling and turning it into $$$.
A classic case of “tragedy of the commons”, privatisation of a public resource, and theft/enclosure of the commonwealth for private interests.
“No person is charged for the actual water”
Why then is my bill from Watercare larger if I use more water? Do they need to buy bigger pipes, spend more on chemicals for treatment? What purpose does the volumetric component of the bill actually serve?
Technically you are only charged for the delivery infrastructure, water is “free”
Pretending it is a free, unlimited resource means the Crown and local councils don’t have to compensate Maori for exploiting their taonga. Even though water is life.
Total bullshit that leads to perverse outcomes, like greedy corporate exploitation and irrigation in unsuitable places, and poisoning the Hawkes Bay water supply.
Yes it does cost them more the more water that people use. As demand increases more sources are needed. The addition of Waikato water to Auckland’s supply is a relatively recent addition. This water requires a huge amount of processing as my link above shows. Dams also are expensive things to build. If there were no volume charge people would generally be more carefree with their use and the total volume would increase requiring more infrastructure to be built.
$1.40 for 1000 litres delivered to the household sounds very cheap considering the service required to collect, process and pump the water across Auckland.
Yes i am here mostly to distract myself from other stuff, but I guess you don’t mean that. All I am doing in this thread is confronting bullshit that has been spread that water bottlers pay less for water than the rest of us. I can’t stand bullshit regardless of whether it is Key and co or supposedly left wing people on a blog.
That sucks. I hope the police get involved in the first incident. As for the second, isn’t there some sort of character test for residency and/or citizenship?
There sure is. And it looks like being a religious fundamentalist racist who’d like to import foreign racial superiority ideology into NZ passes that character test. Three cheers for good governance!
“…there was a South African ‘refugee’ who persistently called the middle aged Maori deckhand ‘boy’…”
Many years ago I worked with a big, racially diverse bunch of PI’s – they were FBIs, Cook Islanders, Samoans, Fijians and Tongans. I was the only white person, so a standing joke when anyone came to complain about anything was to point straight at me and and say “ask the white guy”.
As a tight team of friends, I was able to reply by saying “yeah, they are just a bunch of coconuts”.
Anyway, one day this new minted South African Kiwi showed up. He’d heard us talking so he said to a huge Cook Island Maori guy (in a heavy Afrikaans accent) “Which one of you coconuts should I talk to?”
Once I had saved him and taken him to a corner, I explained this wasn’t an appropriate way to talk to people you don’t know, especially in a thick South African accent. His response? He accused me of discriminating against South Africans.
I shrugged and told him to be my guest, see how far calling an enormous Cook Islander “a coconut” would get him.
There was a simple requirement for respect from Maori all through the colonising period till today.
When building the Roxburgh Dam some men from England were employed there, and soon after they arrived and went to work in their hats and waistcoats, one called a Maori tractor driver ‘boy’. Within seconds he was off the tractor, and with his hands on the collar of the man’s shirt, asked him to repeat his instructions. Which I think he declined to do, and changed his mind and manner.
NZ has been importing in racists for years. One South African guy who was coloured told me he was shocked to see another South African from the secret police who had detained his coloured parents in South Africa, had settled up North in NZ and (I think) joined the police up there.
Now there is less talk of racism from the righties and more interest in exploitation of other to make profits, regardless of colour. Not sure how much progress there has been in the 21st century. Less democracy, individual rights and freedom of speech in NZ than 20 years ago in my view and then a narrow focus on racism and sexism related to speech, not in actual policy that has not got any better and actually over all conditions has got worse. A worker 25 years ago could survive on 1 income and be well paid with secure work. That right has now gone regardless of gender or ethnicity . Prisoners unable to vote. Passports being confiscated. Mass surveillance and non disclosure of that. People being detained without the right to a lawyer etc.
Someone is trying to use a exsquse of a lot of advertising revenue going to the big TECH companys Fbook Google justify the merger of NZ ME an FAIR FAX YEA RIGHT one minute they are arguing for a free market economy and when it suits them we need to change the principle of the commercish commission that protects US from the media becoming a monopoly we all know that opens the door for big money to control our views on reality. So as survival of the fittest OUR media companys will have to become more inervative to survive. PS
I would have a sore face if John Campbell and Hillary Barry took on the 7 pm show come on John you no the bigger the audience the bigger influence you and Hillary can have on making OUR SOCIETY more equal and humane. And you will show that a good Kiwi battler can win against the ODDS.
I see a good article by Nardine Higgins on the Herald website about how Jacinda assertive actions have helped change our Australian cousins view on plans to dich tertiary subsides for Kiwi students in Australia the Bill failed in Parliament so they dropped it. This is how a Prime minister looks after her people Ka pai
There is a good article on the Guardian website about the NZ WARS its title is
New Zealand Northern war mass grave reveals bodies of British soldiers its a good read and shows the Mana OUR tepuna have so all OUR Maori culture people chin up and be proud of yourself selves not many cultures can compare to
OUR Great tepuna art music innervation Intelligents ECT Ka kite ano
Jeez, next we’ll have the orangemen marching on the 12th July
In Latvia the Waffen SS or whats left of them get in to their uniforms and march
through town every year on March 16.It used to be a national remembrance day.
Free speech be damned, it shouldn’t be allowed in our country when its banned in theirs
Troll alert again here. PM above. Ignore for health and mental wellbeing reasons.
[Expressing an opinion on the substance of a comment is not trolling. A quick look at your commenting history shows you making that call on a few comments recently. Oddly enough, that itself is a form of trolling. Stop doing it.] – Bill
The way I see it rongao has had a war waged against it from the booze barons for the last hundy years they have use the media to demonise a natural health product given to us from the God’s. A poor person can put a seed in mother earth and walar six months later they have some medicine this fact cuts out big businesses and this proper gander by the booze barons and stops them milking US. This is still going on the reality is that the positive facts far out weight the negative on weed booze has way more negative effects to OUR WORLD SOCIETY and the booze barons have conned US into axcepting all the bad facts of booze as being acceptable one would just have to resharch our western society health record to prove this fact
All the broken people because they used booze far more than any broken by weed. All the people locked up in jail that started from weed offence and once they are in the justice system it’s hard for them to pull them selves out of it. This is a man made negative that’s is laughable we spend all this money on this dum ass law that has distorted OUR reality on a plant that has many benefits it can be used to displace some carbon based products so in my view the sooner we stop letting big businesses distort our views on weed to reality the sooner we can reap the benefits of this plant and. One argument is weed leads to stronger more dangerous drugs well I say booze has more of a influence to intice the young people to try stronger drugs than weed some young people get pissed up and will try anything as booze change there personality into idiots in half a hour this is fact not hearsay. Let’s approach this subject with intelligence
and change the laws to suit the 99% and not just the 1% who just want the profits and control of us the 99% Kai kaha
Agreed, it is a waste of police resources chasing weed. Alcohol abuse is a huge cost on society but “liberal” governments don’t want to regulate it properly, instead lowering the drinking age and allowing booze shops everywhere.
It’s very handy for Remmers professionals to be able to pop to the shops for some wine, but not so good for poorer communities when their young men are destroyed by it.
Alcoholism is another side effect of the inequality/homelessness/austerity imposed on NZ by the Rogernomics revolution.
Yang back in the news. Lloyd Burr needs to doorstep and houbd him for at least a week. Jooking aaide why isnt the National Party cutting this guy loose? Maybe tge new govt could start asking questions of National.
‘The NZ mainstream media utterly missing in action for 9 years
The greatest fraud in the BIMS reports that highlight the horror of National’s 9 years in power is that the NZ mainstream media unquestioningly allowed these scumbags to get away with it for a decade!
Where the hell was the NZ media for the last 9 years when the conclusions of the BIM reports were so obvious to everyone else?
Let’s call the last 9 years of National’s rule what it really was – class-austerity. A draconian policy that destroyed the most vulnerable but because media are middle class they never saw it and allowed them to get away with it.
How can we have such an apocalyptic conclusion of 9 years worth of policy failure and the vast majority of NZ media not pick up on the enormity of damage being perpetrated?
How did this all go unnoticed for so long?
The biggest story for the mainstream media this year was demonising and destroying Metiria Turei for having the audacity to tell her story of misleading Social Welfare to feed her child with her chin up.
We don’t just need a new Government, we desperately need a new media!‘
‘After Canterbury University Professor Anne-Marie Bradley’s brutal research into how , the National Party is nothing more than a front for Chinese business interestsyou would think the sleepy hobbits of muddle Nu Zilind would wake up.
They didn’t. The National Party itself is now wedded and compromised personally to wealthy Chinese interests. Jenny Shipley, Don Brash, Ruth Richardson and Chris Tremain are Director’s of the China Construction Bank, Judith Collins interaction with Chinese Officials to help her husbands Chinese Company, Oravida, to gain more Chinese money and Maurice Williamson’s love affair with Donghua Liu saw him become Liu’s personal handyman when doing up Liu’s batch and heavying the Police to drop domestic violence charges.
The National Government are as dependent on their Chinese friends as the entire property speculating middle class have now become and that’s why National are still over 44% in the polls.
What was most astounding is that 44% of NZ still voted for National despite a Chinese Spy being outed as a senior member of the National Party. I love how foreign media covering this story always seems bewildered and bemused that NZers haven’t done anything about the outing of a Chinese Spy in their own Government.’
This is the problem here in NZ. Too much building on sand and not enough solidity of deep basecourse thought to start from, no wonder we get divided and fall. Working bee anyone – to help pick up Humpty Dumpty and put all together again?
Awww Ed
She’ll be right. And my property is up by 15% this year, better than any share investment. Steady increase that’s what I like. Got to keep your eye on the ball, not get confused with all this talk about what should be. I go for certainties; my rising assets value.
/sarc
Better put ‘sarc or I’ll have some newbie lecturing who wouldn’t know sarcasm and satire if he/she fell over or into them.
There you go all the article about the people who are suppose to have OUR best interests at heart are treating us like consumer Good and exploitationing us look like these people have all the power to do what the want. You see everything ECO has said about the police is true good link Ed to the daily blog ECO is going to win this contest Ka pai
We’ve been on the case of this ignorant, conceited, puffed up, self-involved pile of political bollocks, this prancing, pretentious, poisonous fool, this fervent devotee of Bill Cosby, for a long time….
Yesterday, yet again, the Broadcasting Standards Authority condemned him for outright lying….
Mike Hosking misled Seven Sharp viewers when he told them they couldn’t vote for the Māori Party if they weren’t Māori, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. The BSA ruled Hosking breached its accuracy standard when he said to his co-presenter, “…you can’t vote for the Māori Party because you’re not enrolled in the Māori electorate”.
The comment was made on August 23, just under a month out from this year’s general election. The BSA found Hosking’s comment could have misled voters.
….
Hosking attempted to clarify his comment the following evening, saying: “The fact that anyone can vote for them as a list party I automatically assumed we all knew given we have been doing this for 20 years… and it went without saying. So hopefully that clears all of that up.”
However the BSA said the clarification was “flippant” and too general to correct the inaccurate information for viewers.
“The incorrect statements made by Mr Hosking were presented at a critical time, when voters required accurate information to enable them to make informed voting decisions. In this case, the flippant apology provided did not reflect a genuine appreciation for the important role of media during this time,” the BSA said in its decision.
The BSA determined that TVNZ should broadcast a statement before the 2017 summer holiday break acknowledging its breach of the accuracy standard.
Jeremy Corbyn leads criticism of Paradise Papers legal action
Labour leader among senior politicians alarmed by Appleby action against BBC and Guardian over tax haven investigations
Good to see after they closed the trust loophole that the last national government had opened, NZ has fallen off the shady rader. For now, I’d like to see some work done with the Cooks and Samoa, looking at the influence of NZ and Australian business that keeps these countries operating as deplorable tax havens.
Think your vote can’t make a difference? The Virginia State House has just gone from a 51-49 Repug majority to a 50-50 tie when a Dem won the seat by 1 (yes, one) vote on the recount.
“We’ve acknowledged Mike Hosking’s comments made on Seven Sharp on 23 August about voting for the Māori Party required clarification. It was addressed the following day on the show when Mike clarified that anyone can vote for the Māori Party as a list party. There was no intention to mislead viewers and Mike’s comments were presented as a throwaway line made in the context of a light-hearted exchange between the hosts.”
—–Unnamed “TVNZ spokesperson”, Tuesday 19 December 2017
In light of Matt Damons comments and Minnie Driver’s on his, this is a compelling read
” In the weeks after Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey first reported the story in the New York Times, as colleagues and strangers on the internet moved to identify the Weinsteins within their own industries, I felt uneasy. Behind every brave outing I saw a legal liability. I suppose that’s what happens when you know enough men with money. Such men are minor kings among us, men with lawyer-soldiers at their employ who can curtail certain kinds of talk. While I do believe in false allegations, and I do believe that women can be bullies, it’s hard, sometimes, not to be cynical about the defence. Some men love free speech almost as much as they love libel lawyers. ”
This is a well thought out article. Worth the read.
Thank you Tracey, this was indeed worth the read. Her point about “losers” near the end is particularly thought provoking and certainly offers a plausible explanation for the “male backlash against feminism.” Much to ponder here.
It’s good to see a clean up of MSM it’s happening to the justice department to yes this is the positive thing getting people to lead our state services whom can self anerlise and admite there mistakes bigots will never be able to do this so they will have to retire Ka pai.
I will have to learn how to cut and paste links to the article I read thanks ropata for the Guardian link. I have decided to keep my dignity and remain humble and keep my ego in check as not all the police have a beef with ECO so I will try and keep the insult to my self beside they like to push my buttons and me resistanceing will piss them off more lol so Ka kite ano
‘I’ve learned when you say ‘let’s do this’, you actually can.’ Head on over to our Facebook page now to watch PM @jacindaardern’s last speech of the year in Parliament #LIVE ▶️ https://t.co/fjEaIBdM8v— New Zealand Labour (@nzlabour) December 20, 2017
I disagree with Ian McKellen he is trying to put a smiley face on the actions of harvey weinstein and Co for there disrespect of our Lady’s with an excuse that Lady’s had pictures of themselves that indicated they were open to have sex with the directors of the film.
1 Who was is in control of the film theatre industry men
2 who set the culture of these industries men
3 these ladies had to do that to advance there career this is the culture men with power have set these industries up so they could use these ladies as there toys this is why I will never give permission for my mokos to enter those jobs. This is 2017 and all those things that happen in the past should not be used to justify the abuse of our Lady’s now I say once again if one cannot admit they are wrong than they are bigots so retire and retire your dum ass views with them its time for equality for our ladies Ka kite ano
The make up of the “Tax Working Group” is discouraging in my opinion. Of the 10 members, 6 are clearly in the camp of those who serve the interests of the wealthiest 1% (my ** below). When even one member from ten would overrepresent that group.
I don’t see any substantial change coming from this, unfortunately.
Professor Craig Elliffe, University of Auckland ** (formerly KPMG / Chapman Tripp)
Joanne Hodge, former tax partner at Bell Gully **
Kirk Hope, Chief Executive of Business New Zealand **
Nick Malarao, senior partner at Meredith Connell **
Geof Nightingale, partner at PwC New Zealand **
Robin Oliver, former Deputy Commissioner at Inland Revenue
Hinerangi Raumati, Chair of Parininihi ki Waitotara Inc
Michelle Redington, Head of Group Taxation and Insurance at Air New Zealand **
Bill Rosenberg, Economist and Director of Policy at the CTU
Marjan Van Den Belt, Assistant Vice Chancellor (Sustainability) at Victoria University
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
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With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
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New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
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Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
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Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
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Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
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Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
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The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
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Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
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The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
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The way two bills are being dealt with by the Government suggests that NZ First is getting away with wagging the dog and pup.
Labour and the Greens say they are allowing NZ First to progress their waka jumping bill. The Greens in particular have compromised their principles significantly in order to allow the bill to pass with a unified majority.
But when it comes to Medical Cannabis, a bill that is important enough for Labour to include in their 100 day plan, and important enough to the Greens to keep a Member’s Bill that goes further (and for Labour to support leaving that bill in), indications are that NZ First, with 9 votes to Labour-Greens 54, seems to be getting away with crippling the bill.
It’s not just a significant majority in Cabinet that NZ First is thwarting. A Curia poll in July shows strong public support:
We will see what the bill looks like when it is introduced today, but Ardern, Shaw and Minister of Health David Clark have all talked down expectations in advance.
Shock horror! Coalition government involves compromise. Quick, put a patronising and negative spin on it!
NZ1st will compromise their principles in supporting this bill. Looks like the dog is wagging the tail, or perhaps it’s more a case of “yap yap little weasel”.
OAB + Pete,
This morning’s RNZ reports = More road deaths today. (three truck accidents and deaths over night.) RNZ news 8am.
Please let us compromise Labour Coalition Transport Minister Phil Twyford & the ‘Road Transport Forum’ (RTF) CEO Ken Shirley!!!!!!
As trucks are involved again in Waikato killing on our simgle laned roads (highway 27) near Karipiro, while the rail lays dorment.
Rail needs to become dominant again the ‘principal carrier of freight’, or else nothing will change on these narrow roads will change the climbing road deaths from ocurring.
‘Let us use rail to move our freight as we used to do.’
Make our roads safe for other roads users please by using rail everywhere.
“by using rail everywhere”.
Yes, we really should use rail because it is totally safe.
Nobody ever gets hurt by a puff-puff.
Oh wait.
https://www.apnews.com/964d389a70a441b09ab6320e9402796d/A-list-of-recent-Amtrak-derailments
Alwyn was that just (cync) there Alwyn?
We were discussing about road freight vs rail freight did you understand that?
We hope you can see the diffenence here as ‘road freight is the road killer,’ not buses.
I’ll bet the people on the road below the railway line were grateful that it was a passenger rather than a freight train in that latest crash in the US.
I doubt if they would, as appears to have been the miraculous case, have all survived if it had been heavy loaded freight wagons rather than comparatively light passenger cars that had crashed down on them.
I think that a freight train would have caused far more deaths, don’t you?
So a train newly run on a line without current safety technology kills three people and it makes global news for days.
A truck crash killing three people barely makes the national news in NZ.
Thanks for the feedback Alwyn,
Of course you seem to want to show *’the worst possible scenerio’ .
You seem to prefer road freight do you?
You do know that the report showed the train was reported to be speeding at three times lawful speed across that bridge at that time?
If it was well designed by Engineers they should have not used a train track across a busy highway but it seemed Donald trump was right that the rail infrustructure needed upgrading so they need to plan seperate rail corridors if high speed trains are to be used.
You could see in this case the bridge was curved and the train was going so fast it left the bend in the track as the train did in Spain as it was on a rail curve bend when that crash occurred two years ago.
Rail freight is governed by much lower safer speeds then passenger rail is as our rail engineers tell us.
We have a Kennedy road highway road overbridge in napier that curves simailer to thios accident and the NZTA are keen to bump the speed up to 110kms and in an audit done on this Kennedy road overbridge that states that with heavy truck flows at 90 kms approaching this overbridge is dangerous.
So we are now afraid that trucks going at 110kms or 30% faster may hit the flimsy steel rails on the curved overbridge and crash below onto the very busy Kennedy road below carrying 30 0000 vehicles daily.
* ‘the worst possible scenerio’
So this is the opposite side of your comments here to what you posed above where in Napier any one of the 2400 hundred HPMV (63 tonne trucks) that pass the Kennedy road overbridge every day may possibly also crash over the top of a ‘known dangerous overbridge’ in the “Safety Audit by Hamilton based consultants Bloxham and Associates,” and may destroy the lives of many people here if speeds are allowed to increase.
No rail is involved here.
Problems today are that everyone is not keeping up the standards now as they are ‘do minimum’ planning everywhere, as I worked for ministry of works in 1970s this was not a ‘do minimin’ engineering time then.
Merry xmas.
Btw @ CG – you realise MoBIE maybe in panic mode at the moment, as their use of contractors in various key areas are being looked at.
But then …. “I promise, I promise!!!!! I won’t do it again” says it snr. mgmnt.
….. next
These are supposedly experienced, ethical and committed people FFS!
(Unfortunately they’re also people who can lie straight-faced to their Minister)
….. next
Yes Once was tim, Thanks for that.
The contractors in Gisborne HB are crap and worst are downers as they are patching te roads only and when rain comes pop out comes the ‘temporary plug’ and a big hole emerges to break down our suspenion and sterring on cars when an accident occurs.
Fulton Hogan are o/k as is Higgins, so is ‘Works infrustructure’ “was Ministry of Works” is o/k but seldom seen now sadly.
Re rail, see my comment to you which I put on the BSA post/thread (although unrelated to that post/thread) in reply to your latest comment there in an effort to make sure you saw it (a remark made by Shane Jones in Parliament this morning re Wairoa – Napier Railway.)
https://thestandard.org.nz/broadcasting-standards-authority-finds-mike-hoskings-election-comments-about-the-maori-party-inaccurate-and-misleading/#comment-1428569
Many thanks veutoviper,
Very informative,
We missed that speech silly me was out feeding the sheep at the time missed Shane.
Will move on this as we have Iwi in Gisborne who want the rail from Waroa to be leased to them to operate a freight & tourism/passenger service if Government won’t re-open the leg to Gisborne from Wairoa.
What symies us is that the first labour government under MJ Sagave opened that leg to Gisborne from 1942.
So we hope Shane re-opens the final leg again so we can finish the link to Murupara / Galitea and on to tauranga and rotorua as planned in 1939 but never done due the war taking all funds at that time. This was called “the East coast rail” to Auckland. and was explained as far back as 1911 in Parliamentary papers on the “Ways & Means” reports at that time later covered by the rail famed PM Vogel and his partner MP Coats.
This is the most isolated region in the whole country, and abused badly by successive national lead governments as labour finished the rail to Gisborne national never was interested in it’s completion stupid clowns when they were so into ‘tourism’ eh?
Please look after yourselves over xmas and new year season as the roads are seriously beaten up now and dangerous.
Yes, coalition (and confidence and supply) governments involve compromise. But here the compromises seem to be coming from Labour and Greens, with little in return from NZ First.
Medical cannabis was supposed to be a priority issue for Labour, but they appear to be rolling over with the Greens.
Not a good note to end the year on, and it’s a problem that won’t go away, it has been simmering for many years. Finally there seemed hope of genuine cannabis law reform, until now.
All Ardern and Clark have done is whimper over the last couple of days. Especially considering the Helen Kelly legacy, there is likely to be widespread feelings of disappointment if not betrayal (on the left especially) if a neutered medical cannabis bill is introduced today.
Your malice is showing again.
Very funny. Your irony is showing again, on malice and on “yap yap little weasel”. Do you do that deliberately?
Think of me as the [deleted] to your [deleted].
[Absolutely over the line. Take the day off. Don’t go attacking people when you come back.] – Bill
Pete, hold still until the wording of the bill’s out.
I will be very, very interested in the regulatory impact statement.
That had better show that the Police, Pharmac, ACC, DHB’s, Foodsafe, palliative care and oncology specialists are all on board with this.
I think there are a number of tight turns for this bill to get around before it even gets to its first reading.
I found it interesting that a reporter yesterday asked Clark if he had spoken with the Drug Foundation…he had..but not on this issue.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99986020/medicinal-marijuana-bill-will-be-introduced-to-parliament-today
So…I wandered over to the Drug Foundation and…
https://www.drugfoundation.org.nz/news-media-and-events/drug-foundation-backs-medical-cannabis/
from ten bloody years ago…
Pharmac will not touch medicinal cannabis with a barge poll.
And you still don’t want to explain why you think this?
Next time do your own research.
https://www.pharmac.govt.nz/information-for/enquiries/
I don’t see why I have to ask or search PHARMAC to find out why you make those assertions of yours or what you base your opinions on.
Anyway, I assume that you base your opinion on this:
I also assume that you have read the minutes of the meeting of the Pharmacology and Therapeutics Advisory Committee (PTAC), which reviewed the evidence for funding of Sativex: https://www.pharmac.govt.nz/assets/ptac-minutes-2015-08.pdf
It is common courtesy to provide your reasons/reasoning when somebody asks you in a public forum, don’t you agree?
On Te Karare today it seems a Ruatoria based company: Hikurangi Enterprises have been granted a license to grow and process medicinal cannabis. I think it’s important that these early start-ups do all they can to be squeaky clean and above board. I was surprised to see children harvesting buds, near the end, about 2:40 into the item.
If I was head of Pharmac I’d be adopting a ‘Wait and see’ approach re: funding. Handled right, I think they’ll fund it. Too many stories about gangs clipping through security fences and we’ll find ourselves absorbed by topics away from what really matters and a reluctant Pharmac funding committee.
Oops wrong item, sorry, I’ll try again.
OK, I give up. The link wants to start at story 1. It’s story 3. Hikurangi Enterprises.
That’s good thinking David Mac. Keeping a sense of reality rather than good here is a good earner for the marae will be important.
It has been the hotbed of funds for criminal gangs who have their own codes of behaviour which are well embedded. If only cannabis could have been decriminalised years ago, but I feel that NZ has never really grown out of its stolid status quo thinking and just grasps occasional winners to milk them without any long term rational national planning. We used to have a Planning Council but that would have gone the way of the huia when ‘forcing market forces medicine’ down our throats.
Click the share button, next door to the thumbs up thumbs down buttons.
That will open a pop up which will give you the option of starting at a set time
https://youtu.be/y2ECjowZUCU?t=1m8s
Hi Grey, I think the government sanctioned growing of marijuana has the potential to do great things for the Far North but it’s a double edged sword. It has NZ’s best climate for growing it and as global resistance to medicinal cannabis eases export markets for a country with our reputation will open up.
‘Brought to you with love by the indigenous people of 100% pure NZ.’
At all costs we need to avoid Maori leaders arriving at the assumption ‘We’re worse off now than we were when it was illegal, our young people legally married to game consoles and munchie food.’
Cool BM, thanks
But that’s not a link to the story. Was it an example for your tutorial?
I was just using that as an example, picked a random time.
I wasn’t quite sure what the bit you wanted to show started.
I don’t want to learn how to do it. I’d rather flick another coat of clear over my dune buggy. Help me out will ya sport? The Hikurangi Enterprises story in Te Karare today. I’ll take you for a bounce over some humps when I get it sorted.
With overwhelming public support, one wonders why a number of our politicians are so conservative on this matter?
Pete George.
One of the commenters on your website yesterday said that ” …Andrew Little hosted big pharma and they donated 155k to the Labour party …”
I know about the Medicines NZ (Big Pharma lobby group) lunch do…and I’ve seen their “Election 2017” ‘invoice’….but I cannot find any evidence that $$$ were donated to Labour, or any other party.
Is there evidence, or was the person just blowing smoke?
My prediction is that Labour’s Bill on this will be so….conservative….that even National could vote for it.
Thanks for pointing out the big pharma claim, I’m not aware of that. I have asked for evidence.
Hi Rosemary. The malicious drivel at Yawnz probably refers to this.
Here are the donations records. I can’t see anything in there that looks like Medicines NZ.
Yawnz is a wannabe Dirty Politics website, so I wouldn’t read too much into it.
Yes, OAB, I referred to that site in my comment to TC last night…https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19-12-2017/#comment-1428262
…but I also found this…http://www.elections.org.nz/parties-candidates/registered-political-parties/party-donations-and-loans/donations-protected
..so it all gets rather murky.
FWIW…the Green’s bill most accurately reflects the reality.
Whatever the outcome…folks are still going to grow and produce their own rongoa.
Folks are still going to grow for recreational use.
Enabling those people with a doctor’s certificate to grow and produce their own rongoa might just protect them from having to engage with the recreational market.
And, thanks for the advice about Pete George’s site…but I’m perfectly capable of making my own decisions about what I read. I’m a great believer in reading widely and listening to the opinions of others, even if I don’t agree with them.
I didn’t say don’t read it, I said don’t read too much into it 😉
I reckon we should get the money out of politics altogether: fund political parties via the Electoral Commission, from taxes. If other individuals and groups want to donate to the democratic process those donations can be shared among the parties.
Totally agree OAB. No political donations should be allowed. When you need to be a billionaire or even millionaire to become a US president – you can see why Trump prevailed. Not so sure that has been good for society though.
Likewise in NZ, the roading industry donations for the Natz has stopped public transport and utilisation of trains. Chinese and overseas donations have created a lazy approach to exporting. Kiwis are encouraged to ‘Clip the ticket’ rather than actually running things and innovating. Due to gross government stupidity on policy and strategy, there seems to be less and less ticket available to clip and more intervention on what suits other nation’s needs rather than NZ. Locals pay for water while exporters get it for free.
At the very least, donations should only be able to come from within NZ to stop our government parties becoming more interested in protecting offshore interests than local welfare.
If you look at the UK and USA – globalisation has failed as locals start reacting to being unwanted citizens in their own country as cheaper workers and people are bought in to replace them and corporations refuse to train and locals become less and less skilled and more and more reliant on external citizens.
At the same time multinational corporate welfare is at every turn and favourable tax accounting means overseas based firms pay less than local ones and can out compete them.
Net result, less and less taxes coming in for government and the locals paying more taxes than other’s using their country to profit.
“Locals pay for water while exporters get it for free.”
Reaally? Care to explain?
Ask anyone who lives in Auckland if they pay for water – the answer is yes – monthly. That is on TOP of rates and government taxes and any resource consents we may apply for.
They pay for the SUPPLY of water. No person or council is being charged for the actual water.
If you wanted to take water from the ground like the water bottlers you would need a resource consent and there would be a small charge for that (same as for them), but no charge for the actual water.
Whatever the wording local residents in Auckland PAY for the provision of water and it’s a monopoly to boot.
It is extremely doubtful unless well connected in government, that anyone in Auckland would be able to get a resource consent to take water from the ground, pipe across public land and then export it from Ports of Auckland. However it seems consents are going on in other parts of the country exporting water in a similar way.
NZ seem to have dropped the ball is that they get so hung up on wording or numbers which they generally rely on paid private practise lawyers to check, the actual practical reality, long term result and fairness of what they are doing seems to be completely lost on them. Sadly to some people too, but I guess they are the first ones complaining that other’s are not paying enough taxes for them while seemingly not seeing any issues with profiteers taking NZ natural resources for virtually nothing and on sell them with little to zero benefit to those communities who live there and actually leaving them with the unknown risks of such a venture.
It is more than wording. If the export water bottlers bottled from the tap rather than extracting from the ground then they too would pay for the SUPPLY of that water. Your statement “Locals pay for water while exporters get it for free” is nonsense.
Auckland’s water is not extracted from the ground but comes from dams in the Hunua ranges and now increasingly is pumped from the Waikato river: !!
https://blog.greens.org.nz/2011/04/29/aucklanders-you-know-youre-drinking-the-waikato-river/
It may be stupid to let exporters to take it for nothing, but they are not getting it for any less than the rest of us.
As usual you miss the point. We would not be allowed to extract it from groundwater in Auckland which is why it is pumped from Waikato. But again you miss the point of my post.
1/ Some Kiwis pay for water or the supply of it over public land. Note the pipes are already there and any improvements are so slow as virtually un noticeable. There has been water shortages in Auckland so having water one year does not necessarily mean you will have the same supply the next year. But that was not my original point.
2/ other’s including businesses who export it, do not pay for the supply of it or pay virtually nothing – even if the pipes are going over public land including conservation land and many risks are unknown and not possible to foresee, such as climate changes.
3/ Why would any reasonable person allow that?
@savenz
“2/ other’s including businesses who export it, do not pay for the supply of it or pay virtually nothing –”
AND the Auckland City council pays NOTHING for the water it takes out of the Waikato River and the Hunua Ranges. The cost to households is the cost of cleaning and piping the water.
“1/ Some Kiwis pay for water or the supply of it over public land.”
The cost is the maintenance on the pipes not the fact that it goes through public land.
I agree that we should not give our water away to exporters, but they do not pay any less for water than anybody else.
According to this investigation, water bottling companies are paying an average 500 times less than ratepayers for each litre of water they’re allowed to use.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11859175
An incredibly crappy article. No surprise from the Herald.
“A Herald investigation into water fees set by every regional council around the country found bottlers were charged an average $0.003 – or one third of a cent – per cubic metre of water.
Comparatively, in Auckland, Watercare charges $1.40 per cubic metre (1000 litres) for water piped to houses, while the rest of the country paid an average $1.60 per cubic metre.”
In this situation the water bottler is not taking processed Waikato River water from a tap in Auckland. If they were they would be paying the same as other users.
Great link The Chairman!
Also there is a difference between water extracted away from the country of origin and water irrigated, as at least irrigated water falls back into the land where it came from (whether you believe it should be charged for or allowed, is another matter).
The water bottling seem to be hiding within the irrigation debate, to say they are the same thing and they are not the same business at all.
No surprise to me, that metro water charges 500 times more than water bottlers are charged. It’s the rip off culture that has been allowed to develop which means more and more people can’t afford the basics in this country while corporations making on average 1.5 million per year and multinational’s like Coke $500million a year pay a fraction of what someone on minimum wage will be paying for water or the supply of it.
But John Key says “nobody owns water” so that’s all right then
It is actually British Common Law that says that nobody owns water. That is the legal framework we have inherited. I’m sure that Key would like water to be owned, but if the government passed a law to say that water is something that can be owned and it is the Crown who owns it, then that is a confiscation of something that must have belonged to Maori all along.
soltka, Key doesn’t know shit about British Common Law, his comments were directly aimed at cutting off Maori claims to water custodianship.
If anyone has responsibility for proper management of water and NZ natural resources it is central government, and Key’s comment was a gross abdication of duty.
It is now obvious that there are a lot of foreign investors keen to get their hands on this water that “nobody” owns for bottling and turning it into $$$.
A classic case of “tragedy of the commons”, privatisation of a public resource, and theft/enclosure of the commonwealth for private interests.
“No person is charged for the actual water”
Why then is my bill from Watercare larger if I use more water? Do they need to buy bigger pipes, spend more on chemicals for treatment? What purpose does the volumetric component of the bill actually serve?
I think Soltka is only here to distract.
Technically you are only charged for the delivery infrastructure, water is “free”
Pretending it is a free, unlimited resource means the Crown and local councils don’t have to compensate Maori for exploiting their taonga. Even though water is life.
Total bullshit that leads to perverse outcomes, like greedy corporate exploitation and irrigation in unsuitable places, and poisoning the Hawkes Bay water supply.
Yes it does cost them more the more water that people use. As demand increases more sources are needed. The addition of Waikato water to Auckland’s supply is a relatively recent addition. This water requires a huge amount of processing as my link above shows. Dams also are expensive things to build. If there were no volume charge people would generally be more carefree with their use and the total volume would increase requiring more infrastructure to be built.
$1.40 for 1000 litres delivered to the household sounds very cheap considering the service required to collect, process and pump the water across Auckland.
@Ed
Yes i am here mostly to distract myself from other stuff, but I guess you don’t mean that. All I am doing in this thread is confronting bullshit that has been spread that water bottlers pay less for water than the rest of us. I can’t stand bullshit regardless of whether it is Key and co or supposedly left wing people on a blog.
From your Stuff link
A ‘big pharma’ lobby group has sunk more than $150,000 into a mysterious scheme called “Election 2017 Project”.
Financial statements for the pharmaceutical lobby group Medicines NZ show it spent $151,106 on the project, the firm’s second largest expense of 2016.
Yet, also from your Stuff link it states, there are no records that show Medicines NZ donated money to any political party.
Medicines NZ managing director Dr Graeme Jarvis would not respond to requests for comment.
So where did the money go? Backhanders?
some shockers
stupid racists everywhere
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11962742
and this one – oh fucken dear
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/99925523/racist-afrikaans-day-revived-in-nz
Be good when we don’t have to worry about homegrown and imported racists – they spoil everything.
That sucks. I hope the police get involved in the first incident. As for the second, isn’t there some sort of character test for residency and/or citizenship?
There sure is. And it looks like being a religious fundamentalist racist who’d like to import foreign racial superiority ideology into NZ passes that character test. Three cheers for good governance!
Apparently the character test consists of looking at the applicant’s bank balance. /sarc
The money test trumps the character test and the language test.
Some years ago, out on a fishing charter boat, there was a South African ‘refugee’ who persistently called the middle aged Maori deckhand ‘boy’.
The look on Meneer’s face when I did the same to him.
“…there was a South African ‘refugee’ who persistently called the middle aged Maori deckhand ‘boy’…”
Many years ago I worked with a big, racially diverse bunch of PI’s – they were FBIs, Cook Islanders, Samoans, Fijians and Tongans. I was the only white person, so a standing joke when anyone came to complain about anything was to point straight at me and and say “ask the white guy”.
As a tight team of friends, I was able to reply by saying “yeah, they are just a bunch of coconuts”.
Anyway, one day this new minted South African Kiwi showed up. He’d heard us talking so he said to a huge Cook Island Maori guy (in a heavy Afrikaans accent) “Which one of you coconuts should I talk to?”
Once I had saved him and taken him to a corner, I explained this wasn’t an appropriate way to talk to people you don’t know, especially in a thick South African accent. His response? He accused me of discriminating against South Africans.
I shrugged and told him to be my guest, see how far calling an enormous Cook Islander “a coconut” would get him.
He chose not to use the term again.
There was a simple requirement for respect from Maori all through the colonising period till today.
When building the Roxburgh Dam some men from England were employed there, and soon after they arrived and went to work in their hats and waistcoats, one called a Maori tractor driver ‘boy’. Within seconds he was off the tractor, and with his hands on the collar of the man’s shirt, asked him to repeat his instructions. Which I think he declined to do, and changed his mind and manner.
NZ has been importing in racists for years. One South African guy who was coloured told me he was shocked to see another South African from the secret police who had detained his coloured parents in South Africa, had settled up North in NZ and (I think) joined the police up there.
Now there is less talk of racism from the righties and more interest in exploitation of other to make profits, regardless of colour. Not sure how much progress there has been in the 21st century. Less democracy, individual rights and freedom of speech in NZ than 20 years ago in my view and then a narrow focus on racism and sexism related to speech, not in actual policy that has not got any better and actually over all conditions has got worse. A worker 25 years ago could survive on 1 income and be well paid with secure work. That right has now gone regardless of gender or ethnicity . Prisoners unable to vote. Passports being confiscated. Mass surveillance and non disclosure of that. People being detained without the right to a lawyer etc.
FYI we have a new bunch of racists now. Remember Melissa Lee’s comment about “criminals from South Auckland driving up the Waterview motorway”?
https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/08/beyond-the-pale-chinas-cheerful-racists/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/14/chinese-museum-accused-of-racism-over-photos-pairing-africans-with-animals
However, (according to the Nats at least), saying anything critical about mass immigration is also racism & xenophobia
(Not to mention our homegrown regressive rednecks/arrogant nerds like Don Brash and that guy from Southland)
Someone is trying to use a exsquse of a lot of advertising revenue going to the big TECH companys Fbook Google justify the merger of NZ ME an FAIR FAX YEA RIGHT one minute they are arguing for a free market economy and when it suits them we need to change the principle of the commercish commission that protects US from the media becoming a monopoly we all know that opens the door for big money to control our views on reality. So as survival of the fittest OUR media companys will have to become more inervative to survive. PS
I would have a sore face if John Campbell and Hillary Barry took on the 7 pm show come on John you no the bigger the audience the bigger influence you and Hillary can have on making OUR SOCIETY more equal and humane. And you will show that a good Kiwi battler can win against the ODDS.
I see a good article by Nardine Higgins on the Herald website about how Jacinda assertive actions have helped change our Australian cousins view on plans to dich tertiary subsides for Kiwi students in Australia the Bill failed in Parliament so they dropped it. This is how a Prime minister looks after her people Ka pai
There is a good article on the Guardian website about the NZ WARS its title is
New Zealand Northern war mass grave reveals bodies of British soldiers its a good read and shows the Mana OUR tepuna have so all OUR Maori culture people chin up and be proud of yourself selves not many cultures can compare to
OUR Great tepuna art music innervation Intelligents ECT Ka kite ano
Thanks for the heads up, interesting little story there. Looks like the Guardian put a bit of British spin on it, but the essential facts are there
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/18/new-zealands-northern-war-mass-grave-reveals-bodies-of-british-soldiers
Jeez, next we’ll have the orangemen marching on the 12th July
In Latvia the Waffen SS or whats left of them get in to their uniforms and march
through town every year on March 16.It used to be a national remembrance day.
Free speech be damned, it shouldn’t be allowed in our country when its banned in theirs
Free speech be damned…
Quelle surprise…
Troll alert again here. PM above. Ignore for health and mental wellbeing reasons.
[Expressing an opinion on the substance of a comment is not trolling. A quick look at your commenting history shows you making that call on a few comments recently. Oddly enough, that itself is a form of trolling. Stop doing it.] – Bill
Comment as “flag”.
The way I see it rongao has had a war waged against it from the booze barons for the last hundy years they have use the media to demonise a natural health product given to us from the God’s. A poor person can put a seed in mother earth and walar six months later they have some medicine this fact cuts out big businesses and this proper gander by the booze barons and stops them milking US. This is still going on the reality is that the positive facts far out weight the negative on weed booze has way more negative effects to OUR WORLD SOCIETY and the booze barons have conned US into axcepting all the bad facts of booze as being acceptable one would just have to resharch our western society health record to prove this fact
All the broken people because they used booze far more than any broken by weed. All the people locked up in jail that started from weed offence and once they are in the justice system it’s hard for them to pull them selves out of it. This is a man made negative that’s is laughable we spend all this money on this dum ass law that has distorted OUR reality on a plant that has many benefits it can be used to displace some carbon based products so in my view the sooner we stop letting big businesses distort our views on weed to reality the sooner we can reap the benefits of this plant and. One argument is weed leads to stronger more dangerous drugs well I say booze has more of a influence to intice the young people to try stronger drugs than weed some young people get pissed up and will try anything as booze change there personality into idiots in half a hour this is fact not hearsay. Let’s approach this subject with intelligence
and change the laws to suit the 99% and not just the 1% who just want the profits and control of us the 99% Kai kaha
Agreed, it is a waste of police resources chasing weed. Alcohol abuse is a huge cost on society but “liberal” governments don’t want to regulate it properly, instead lowering the drinking age and allowing booze shops everywhere.
It’s very handy for Remmers professionals to be able to pop to the shops for some wine, but not so good for poorer communities when their young men are destroyed by it.
Alcoholism is another side effect of the inequality/homelessness/austerity imposed on NZ by the Rogernomics revolution.
Yang back in the news. Lloyd Burr needs to doorstep and houbd him for at least a week. Jooking aaide why isnt the National Party cutting this guy loose? Maybe tge new govt could start asking questions of National.
Unlikely to happen.
‘The NZ mainstream media utterly missing in action for 9 years
The greatest fraud in the BIMS reports that highlight the horror of National’s 9 years in power is that the NZ mainstream media unquestioningly allowed these scumbags to get away with it for a decade!
Where the hell was the NZ media for the last 9 years when the conclusions of the BIM reports were so obvious to everyone else?
Let’s call the last 9 years of National’s rule what it really was – class-austerity. A draconian policy that destroyed the most vulnerable but because media are middle class they never saw it and allowed them to get away with it.
How can we have such an apocalyptic conclusion of 9 years worth of policy failure and the vast majority of NZ media not pick up on the enormity of damage being perpetrated?
How did this all go unnoticed for so long?
The biggest story for the mainstream media this year was demonising and destroying Metiria Turei for having the audacity to tell her story of misleading Social Welfare to feed her child with her chin up.
We don’t just need a new Government, we desperately need a new media!‘
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/12/19/10-biggest-nz-political-scandals-and-scams-of-2017/
True 100% Ed we need a new media platform come on labour “lets do this”
Unlikely to happen Part 2.
Bradbury….
‘After Canterbury University Professor Anne-Marie Bradley’s brutal research into how , the National Party is nothing more than a front for Chinese business interestsyou would think the sleepy hobbits of muddle Nu Zilind would wake up.
They didn’t.
The National Party itself is now wedded and compromised personally to wealthy Chinese interests. Jenny Shipley, Don Brash, Ruth Richardson and Chris Tremain are Director’s of the China Construction Bank, Judith Collins interaction with Chinese Officials to help her husbands Chinese Company, Oravida, to gain more Chinese money and Maurice Williamson’s love affair with Donghua Liu saw him become Liu’s personal handyman when doing up Liu’s batch and heavying the Police to drop domestic violence charges.
The National Government are as dependent on their Chinese friends as the entire property speculating middle class have now become and that’s why National are still over 44% in the polls.
What was most astounding is that 44% of NZ still voted for National despite a Chinese Spy being outed as a senior member of the National Party.
I love how foreign media covering this story always seems bewildered and bemused that NZers haven’t done anything about the outing of a Chinese Spy in their own Government.’
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/12/19/10-biggest-nz-political-scandals-and-scams-of-2017/
Bloody good article from our ‘other voice on democracy at TDB.’
“Together we sand divided we fall.”
This is the problem here in NZ. Too much building on sand and not enough solidity of deep basecourse thought to start from, no wonder we get divided and fall. Working bee anyone – to help pick up Humpty Dumpty and put all together again?
Awww Ed
She’ll be right. And my property is up by 15% this year, better than any share investment. Steady increase that’s what I like. Got to keep your eye on the ball, not get confused with all this talk about what should be. I go for certainties; my rising assets value.
/sarc
Better put ‘sarc or I’ll have some newbie lecturing who wouldn’t know sarcasm and satire if he/she fell over or into them.
There you go all the article about the people who are suppose to have OUR best interests at heart are treating us like consumer Good and exploitationing us look like these people have all the power to do what the want. You see everything ECO has said about the police is true good link Ed to the daily blog ECO is going to win this contest Ka pai
Liars of Our Time
No. 57: MIKE HOSKING
We’ve been on the case of this ignorant, conceited, puffed up, self-involved pile of political bollocks, this prancing, pretentious, poisonous fool, this fervent devotee of Bill Cosby, for a long time….
https://thestandard.org.nz/31082011/#comment-369908
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15032015/#comment-985614
He’s been busted by the Broadcasting Standards Authority for his heinously unfair and partisan comments….
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/72551742/ponytailgate-bsa-rules-against-mike-hosking
Yesterday, yet again, the Broadcasting Standards Authority condemned him for outright lying….
Peruse the entire list of liars HERE….
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9182619394637139656&pli=1#editor/target=post;postID=7019263873283614006
I notice one of my comments has gone to moderation – I don’t believe any trigger words are in there unless ‘doofus’ has been added ☺
[Nope. A whole pile dropped in there for no apparent reason] – Bill
Thanks bill
Understood Bill,
We just got pissed off with the costant sulking of the National Trolls of late.
Will moderate our ‘troll’ coments with some substance; – Thanks.
Jeremy Corbyn leads criticism of Paradise Papers legal action
Labour leader among senior politicians alarmed by Appleby action against BBC and Guardian over tax haven investigations
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/19/jeremy-corbyn-leads-criticism-of-paradise-papers-legal-action
It’s so nice to see good journalism. And once again International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, do just that.
Here is how your release a leak, look and learn wikileaks.
https://www.icij.org/blog/2017/12/four-caribbean-tax-havens-added-offshore-leaks-database/
And this is so worth a read, the EU not quite coming up to the mark on tax havens.
https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/bermuda-luxembourg-new-eu-blacklist-omits-major-tax-havens/
Good to see after they closed the trust loophole that the last national government had opened, NZ has fallen off the shady rader. For now, I’d like to see some work done with the Cooks and Samoa, looking at the influence of NZ and Australian business that keeps these countries operating as deplorable tax havens.
Bill we have lost some enteries too.
Bill said
Nope. A whole pile dropped in there for no apparent reason] – Bill
Test.
Think your vote can’t make a difference? The Virginia State House has just gone from a 51-49 Repug majority to a 50-50 tie when a Dem won the seat by 1 (yes, one) vote on the recount.
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/19/politics/virginia-house-of-delegates/index.html
Good point Andre,
Everyone should vote as our forebearers paid dearly to give us this right.
Merry Xmas.
A good read
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11961744
Liars of Our Time
No. 58: “A TVNZ spokesperson”
Catch up with ALL the Liars….
http://morrisseybreen.blogspot.co.nz/
In light of Matt Damons comments and Minnie Driver’s on his, this is a compelling read
” In the weeks after Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey first reported the story in the New York Times, as colleagues and strangers on the internet moved to identify the Weinsteins within their own industries, I felt uneasy. Behind every brave outing I saw a legal liability. I suppose that’s what happens when you know enough men with money. Such men are minor kings among us, men with lawyer-soldiers at their employ who can curtail certain kinds of talk. While I do believe in false allegations, and I do believe that women can be bullies, it’s hard, sometimes, not to be cynical about the defence. Some men love free speech almost as much as they love libel lawyers. ”
This is a well thought out article. Worth the read.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/19/reckoning-with-a-culture-of-male-resentment-sexual-harassment?CMP=fb_gu
Thank you Tracey, this was indeed worth the read. Her point about “losers” near the end is particularly thought provoking and certainly offers a plausible explanation for the “male backlash against feminism.” Much to ponder here.
Merely acting on behalf of a constituent or helping to install another spy?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11962652
It’s good to see a clean up of MSM it’s happening to the justice department to yes this is the positive thing getting people to lead our state services whom can self anerlise and admite there mistakes bigots will never be able to do this so they will have to retire Ka pai.
I will have to learn how to cut and paste links to the article I read thanks ropata for the Guardian link. I have decided to keep my dignity and remain humble and keep my ego in check as not all the police have a beef with ECO so I will try and keep the insult to my self beside they like to push my buttons and me resistanceing will piss them off more lol so Ka kite ano
PM’s closing speech of 2017
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Kim Dotcom: Caught in the web documentary on TVOne tonight, 8.30pm – 1-.45pm
Probably available ondemand later.
I disagree with Ian McKellen he is trying to put a smiley face on the actions of harvey weinstein and Co for there disrespect of our Lady’s with an excuse that Lady’s had pictures of themselves that indicated they were open to have sex with the directors of the film.
1 Who was is in control of the film theatre industry men
2 who set the culture of these industries men
3 these ladies had to do that to advance there career this is the culture men with power have set these industries up so they could use these ladies as there toys this is why I will never give permission for my mokos to enter those jobs. This is 2017 and all those things that happen in the past should not be used to justify the abuse of our Lady’s now I say once again if one cannot admit they are wrong than they are bigots so retire and retire your dum ass views with them its time for equality for our ladies Ka kite ano
The make up of the “Tax Working Group” is discouraging in my opinion. Of the 10 members, 6 are clearly in the camp of those who serve the interests of the wealthiest 1% (my ** below). When even one member from ten would overrepresent that group.
I don’t see any substantial change coming from this, unfortunately.
Professor Craig Elliffe, University of Auckland ** (formerly KPMG / Chapman Tripp)
Joanne Hodge, former tax partner at Bell Gully **
Kirk Hope, Chief Executive of Business New Zealand **
Nick Malarao, senior partner at Meredith Connell **
Geof Nightingale, partner at PwC New Zealand **
Robin Oliver, former Deputy Commissioner at Inland Revenue
Hinerangi Raumati, Chair of Parininihi ki Waitotara Inc
Michelle Redington, Head of Group Taxation and Insurance at Air New Zealand **
Bill Rosenberg, Economist and Director of Policy at the CTU
Marjan Van Den Belt, Assistant Vice Chancellor (Sustainability) at Victoria University
Heartily concur. I think the rabbits are in charge of the lettuce patch. Very disappointing.
Yeah, where’s MIsty from Cannons Creek?
It’s appalling people rely on charity to be fed.
Pay people properly.
Give everyone jobs.
Give everyone a good house.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/life-style/christmas/99726479/poverty-doesnt-stop-at-christmas-how-you-can-help-vulnerable-kiwis