James a UK immigrant to NZ ,,, and resident troll here …. supports and participates in the the breaking of NZ laws … and such is his pride he brags about it at left wing blogs.
Uber a tax dodging law flouting corporation came into New Zealand ….. and under the last National Government were allowed to operate …. despite, but yet typically under the last Nact Government, they were at least 80% non-compliant to the Land Transport Passenger Service regulations … under which they are lawfully and legally required to operate.
It makes you wonder what other laws and regulations James thinks should be ignored …. food?, ignoring all those burdensome hygine and food safty regulations… a james bbq with pink chicken would make a uber fine food provider.
Uber doctors? …. where maybe they don’t actually have a legit doctors certificate … but they can fill your prescritions cheap of the internet… what a uber bargin that would be.
anyway it begs the question ….Did James lie on his NZ residency application?? … treating his legal requirements and honesty as merely optional… or did he declare that he would help NZ, by leading the way in showing us what laws and regulations should be ignored
###############################
The Pike River Mine / deathtrap was run like a corner cutting and regulation ignoring Uber outfit.
I highly recommend this Pike River documentary …
Watching it left me vastly better informed of the criminal disregard for workers safety .. red line after red line were crossed and ignored …non compliance with the regulations and ignoring laws pertaining to explosive gasses …all leading to the inevitable but preventable deaths for the 29 West Coast workers.
And for me it really highlighted our dishonest grave dancer Alwyn … and his degenerate smears on this subject relating to Andrew Little.
I need to get my mojo back is what it is, the current set up in National is not motivating enough, I need inspiration, I need National not Labour-lite, I need something to believe in, I need a hero, I need…
Well for someone who was only doing what you suggest as being “His job was to administer the organisation,” he certainly had a lot to say about the details of the operation.
Did you bother to read that link and see exactly what Little did say? They are direct quotes you know.
I’ve read it many times. In fact, pretty much every time some git makes the same mistake about Little’s role. Pike River were anti-union, and incentivised their staff to breach health and safety rules and kept the true situation in the mine secret. Andrew Little is a clever guy, but he doesn’t possess ESP.
“Little was the head of the union.”
And in that capacity he defended PRC management on their safety record, and led a union that failed to act on specific concerns raised prior to the accident.
“His job was to administer the organisation…”
Are you seriously arguing he isn’t responsible for his own comments about PRC? That as head of the union he bears no responsibility for the safety of the union’s members? What was he paid to do exactly?
“…not personally visit every worksite to check for issues.”
But he is responsible for what he says. Particularly when what he says reflects precisely on those safety issues. And he was ultimately responsible for the union and it’s members. He failed.
Again, bullshit. His comments were based on what information he had at the time. As I’ve already said, the company lied through its teeth and made life as difficult as possible for the union. To use the National party’s excuse du jour, it was an operational matter. Andrew was an administrator based in Wellington, not an organiser based in Greymouth. He could only report what he was told, becuase he had no direct involvement.
be good to see Andrew Little make some sort of definitive statement on this, one mad Trot offshoot newsletter, is what the various Nattys keep quoting
as I understand it Mr Whitall ran an anti union/union busting culture that saw the organiser reduced to riding the workers bus to try and get access to the site! Rebecca McFie’s “Tragedy at Pike River Mine” lays it out how marginalised the Union was there, requests from Mr Rockhouse to include the EPMU in training exercises were met with dismissive emails from Whitall–“the Union and Pike are not to be mentioned in the same sentence”…etc.
the attacks on Little are rather transparent given Solid Energy’s “seal it up” plan being derailed, and the Pike River Recovery Agency charging ahead with reentry
You do realise, I hope, that all Andrew’s statements were made AFTER the explosion that almost certainly killed the workers.
The explosion was on 19 November. Little’s statements were made to the Herald, and Close Up on 22 November.
If he hadn’t found out what was going on by then he damn well should have. Both he, and the MP for the area, O’Connor had by then been to the mine and still they defended the company and said that everything was fine and there were no concerns by the Union about safety.
“His comments were based on what information he had at the time.”
Which were ill-informed, and ignored concerns of others from within the business and the industry.
“As I’ve already said, the company lied through its teeth and made life as difficult as possible for the union.”
And Little enabled them.
“Andrew was an administrator based in Wellington, not an organiser based in Greymouth.”
That’s a terrific cop-out. Andrew Little was with the EPMU/Engineers Union since before 1997. He was National Secretary from 2000. In summary, at the time of Pike he had been with the union for more than 13 years, 10 as National Secretary. For you to argue his position was simply as “an administrator based in Wellington” is pure nonsense.
I must say this is a shock. James is not even a real Kiwi even though he pretends he is.
Immigration management in this country in the last 20 years has been terrible. There has been zero work done on the ability of social infrastructure to cope with the flood of toff-nosed poms washing onto our shores.
James claims to be about 48 years old and has sent three kids through Kristin at 25K per annum each. The eldest of these kids owns and runs their own business now and is approximately late 20s.
I’m left wondering when it was that James actually entered New Zealand as an immigrant with his British family?
James himself might like to shed some light on this…
…. anyway it begs the question ….Did James lie on his NZ residency application?? … treating his legal requirements and honesty as merely optional… or did he declare that he would help NZ, by leading the way in showing us what laws and regulations should be ignored
Did ya james ? … do tell.
it will also distract you from your unhealthy obsession with Ed … otherwise known as trolling.
James is an opinionated ignoramus. A classic case of “opening mouth before engaging brain”. I recently posted about the demise of CanTeen’s AYA regional cancer service, only to receive an uninformed, abusive response from this idiot.
Surprisingly little reaction from other Standardistas to what is an avoidable calamity for young cancer patients in New Zealand. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/12/19/370303/the-fight-to-save-cash-strapped-canteen
“CanTeen, which relies on community support and donations, helps youngsters aged between 13 and 24 dealing with cancer. It provides someone to talk to, connects peers, runs activities and workshops, helps people with their grief. The website says: “CanTeen takes care of things like topping up your phone, getting you to appointments or the food situation in your cupboard so you don’t need to stress.””
Such great work supporting very vulnerable people. My niece is younger, with her third cancerous growth returning, at age 12. Such a tough area to be able to support people. I hope finding can come – a vital, underrated service.
As for James he’s just another weakling rwnj. A loser pretender who is probably the saddest of all of us here truth be told.
Ignoring your garbled syntax, “that you obviously have issues” is not a question wee James, it’s a statement. Stalking? Pot, kettle, black?
Are you really so conceited that you can’t appreciate your own immaturity. Back in the UK you’d be rightly termed a prat.
Leading war-mongers are dismayed. “Trump’s own national security adviser, John Bolton, is adamantly opposed to the decision”. “Lindsey Graham, a senior Republican senator who is a Trump loyalist on most issues, denounced the decision. “If these media reports are true, it will be an Obama-like mistake made by the Trump administration,” Graham said in a statement. “While American patience in confronting radical Islam may wane, the radical Islamists’ passion to kill Americans and our allies never wavers.”
Trump wants a Nobel peace prize? He didn’t actually tweet that he had made peace in Syria – yet. But Obama got one without making peace. Perhaps Trump is considering calling the Nobel committee bluff. Would look good on the cv. He could send his Secretary of State to meet Assad with terms: you declare peace, thank Trump for creating it, we’ll give you foreign aid to grind up all them random bits of concrete everywhere, for recycling.
His cabinet ministers calling him a moron, his hired help getting sent to prison, you might think prospects of impeachment had increased since Democrats started promoting them, eh? Well, Gordon Campbell assessed those prospects a week ago and concluded “Trump’s destiny is to be a winner, not a loser.” http://werewolf.co.nz/2018/12/gordon-campbell-on-whether-trump-is-likely-to-be-impeached/
I still feel the same, and doubt Mueller has any rabbit in his hat. Doesn’t matter how much the US media trumpets Trump’s influence-buying, voters know that’s all just American politics as usual – the only way it could harm him is if there was a positive alternative they could anticipate. No sign of that.
Erdogan will be pleased, he can now go ahead and butcher those of the most effective force fighting Islamic State in Syria (which Turkey itself never did).
This might well also enable the settlement of Islamists backed by Turkey in their failed attempt to depose the government of Syria in “Kurdish” areas on their border.
The withdrawal otherwise means the US has no leverage in the future of Syria, but Turkey’s hand will be stronger.
I think its probably also an acknowledgement that the Astana process for a peace settlement and a new constitution in Syria is the only game in town, and the US is not part of it. When you’ve lost the war and are not part of the peace(and the spoils)why waste any more cash
I predict a fresh “outrage” chemical or otherwise,clearly perpetrated by the Syrian govt, to pull the US back in .
Trump attempted this withdrawal once before, Khan Sheikhoun was the result.
I guess Assad just doesn’t want the Yanks to leave (eye- rolling -tongue -in- cheek)
Surely the Kurds knew the US would betray them in the end?
Maybe now they’ll consider the offers of increased autonomy from the Syrian govt
Probably a little late, but there’s surely no chance now of a purely Kurdish state at this point
Sure the smart move for the Kurds would be to do a deal with Damascus and get Syrian government troops in before the Turks can act.
The complication might be the presence of some of the Syrian Arabs who fought IS alongside them, some of whom left the battle against the Syrian government once Islamists began to dominate rebel held areas – they might well now be in the refugee category.
Erdogan will be pleased, he can now go ahead and butcher those of the most effective force fighting Islamic State in Syria (which Turkey itself never did).
That does seem to be the case.
The withdrawal otherwise means the US has no leverage in the future of Syria, but Turkey’s hand will be stronger.
True about the US but I’m sure that Turkey won’t have any say either. This is going to fall to Syria, Russia and Iran to fix. Assad would do bloody well stepping up to support the Kurds.
Since Trump and Erdogan talked last Friday the US has cleared the sale of Patriot missiles to Turkey, ordered State Department personnel in Syria to be evacuated from the country within 24 hours, declared victory over ISIS, and Turkey’s request to extradite Fethullah Gülen is to be looked at.
“President Putin, speaking at a meeting with his top military brass in Moscow, singled out his new Kinzhal hypersonic missile and the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, saying they have significantly bolstered Russia’s military capability, reports news.com.au.
“No one has hypersonic weapons yet, but we have it,” he said.”
ummm vlad I think you mean no one ELSE has them
Also overnight, the US government admitted it is powerless to defend against these ‘game changer’ hypersonic weapons. The Government Accountability Office says their speed, altitude and maneuverability simply make them too difficult to stop.
The report states: “There are no existing countermeasures.”
“Putin has said about a dozen countries were producing missiles of the type banned by the INF treaty.” Well okay, but if Russian intelligence agencies have indeed discovered this and reported it to him, why doesn’t he identify them? If those countries have signed the INF treaty, wouldn’t it expose them to ridicule and condemnation?
Not to mention discrediting the entire notion of arms reduction treaties. And their usage in international law. And, consequently, the viability of international law as a method of peace-keeping. So now we await deployment by those countries, and the reassurance that such proliferation will provide its own deterrent effect on usage.
“Which countries are developing hypersonic weapons? “The U.S., Russia and China are ahead of other nations in developing hypersonic weapons,” Richard Speier, adjunct staff with Rand, told CNBC. Speier, who worked to initiate the Pentagon’s Office of Counter-Proliferation Policy, added that France, India, and Australia are also developing military uses of hypersonic technology.” https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/21/hypersonic-weapons-what-they-are-and-why-us-cant-defend-against-them.html
I think you will find Russia’s missiles are more of a defensive mechanism than an offensive weapon. Useful against western propaganda at least. For instance without the Russian S-400 we would have seen much more destruction in the Middle East.
You do understand that there’s nothing that they can do right?
Climate change is happening. This will result in mass migration. The target countries for that mass migration can’t support the migrants. This means that those target countries have to stop those migrants. Some of those migrants are going to be bloody well armed and so the target countries will also need to be well armed. There will be some well armed other countries trying to force the target countries to take the migrants despite knowing that they can’t afford them.
Countries have the right and the responsibility to defend themselves.
Just accepting reality an the simple fact that, when climate change truly bites, it’s going to leave a lot of people (measured in the billions) either facing death or looking to migrate an that the places that they can migrate to can’t afford them.
The UN really should have looked at curbing population growth back in the 1970s. They didn’t and most governments of the world still think that increasing population is the Bees Knees and so still won’t do it and so out younger generations are still fucked.
Yep. I especially liked one comment:
“Stuart Ward BREAKING NEWS !!!
The ‘national’ party has welcomed the news that they no longer have to worry about what their M.Ps and SUPPORTERS will use for brains if KFC needs the cabbages for coleslaw.
A new product on the hair care market, Control GX “the shampoo with brains” will provide a satisfactory alternative.
Consideration is being given to replacing Simon Bridges with either a “complimentary hotel bottle” of the shampoo, or his nearest contender, an adolescent tiger slug by the name of Slimey Norman”
Meanwhile here in NZ, trying to find out some information through an 0800 number about CourierPost’s processes, I have been taken through 4 options that don’t apply and left with 5 which seemed mostly related to NZPost, where shops are etc and tried that in the absence of other options. I got a repeat of the options from 1-5 again.
So NZPost apparently doesn’t know what it is doing, and proposes to keep customers on a loop running after their tails, while they decide.
Really a small example of the route the country has gone.
I find that true of many businesses and not just in NZ. Their attempt to get the customer to the right person via an automated system almost invariably ends up confusing the customer.
Some have called for New Zealand to be more involved in peace-making and arbitration, as per Norway and Sweden.
Neither of them (Norway is in NATO and Sweden is in the EU) have been involved in the matter of Ukraine. And we have our stalled FTA with Russia to consider. So this is one which we might well take up.
The issues are well known, Russia does not like former territories of the USSR joining NATO or the EU. It uses the presence of ethnic Russians in these territories as an excuse and economic dependence on gas as a means to intefere in their nations affairs politically.
The central issue is the tension that occurs when loyalty to nation state and ethnic identity patriotism (over the future of the Ukraine in the EU and NATO) is divided.
There are obvious paths to resolution, but the question is whether NATO and Russia would prefer the impasse to continue rather than realise one. So the first question that we would have to ask each party (before offering to mediate), do they want the matter resolved?
Does the EU actually want Ukraine?
Particularly now that Its economy has dive bombed. And its adherence to European “values”is seriously in question with the current Poroshenko govt at least
Tymoshenko won’t be much better
Of course Russia doesn’t want NATO on its doorstep, any more than the US would have accepted the Warsaw pact in Mexico
Ukraine can’t be in NATO while there is the war in Eastern Ukraine
Russia would need very strong assurances from NATO (and would they be worth the paper they’re written on) to withdraw their support for Donetsk and Lugansk
And what about the wishes of the people who live in those areas?
Very early on in Putin’s rule , he wanted to join NATO
Maybe this should be looked at again
Sure back in mid 2001 there was the option of a European security co-operation on the one hand and a united defence force for world peace-keeping at UN direction. Russia in NATO. But the later military intervention in the ME (choice of response to 9/11 soon ended the trust required for that).
At the moment the momentum is towards a EU defence force (ironically made possible by the US request for 2% GDP defence spending in the region), with independent relationships with both Russia and (possibly via a continuing NATO) the USA (and maybe UK depending on where that is headed).
The medium term issues – the nature of the EU and Russian gas supply agreements while sanctions continue and whether Russian pressure on Ukraine has any impact on its domestic politics.
Germany’s economic and industrial well being depends on Nord Stream2 ;any alternatives are too expensive. US imposed sanctions are only going to reshape how Europe does business, to the detriment of US control.
US gas, reliant on fracking, is never going to be cost effective against Russian gas, which doesn’t involve fracking, let alone the difficulties of transport.
Germany and Russia together…the horror!
After all NATO was to keep Russia out, to keep America in, and to keep Germany down
Does the EU actually want Ukraine?
Particularly now that Its economy has dive bombed.
Probably not any more. The Ukraine’s economy wasn’t all that good to start with which is why the USSR’s leadership gave it Crimea. Now that Crimean has left it’s back to being a basket case.
And what about the wishes of the people who live in those areas?
According to the US’s overturning of democratic governments – they can be ignored.
Afraid so. This could be even worse than the circumstances that led to the termination of his contract at that Swiss finishing school. More details when they become available.
Earth to Morrissey, are you reading?
Nice to have you back old bean. Squadron Leader and I were seriously, seriously concerned about your time in the brig.
Pip pip. Chin up, let bygones be bygones and we’ll all move forward what?
The country’s first crime and victims survey suggests almost two million crimes were committed last year, about seven times the number reported to police.
I don’t think they got everyone. S.S. trust wrongly exposed a criminal, and so frustrated the he’ll out of everyone who wants to know who these peolle are, it’s a crime surely to distract and misinfirm. Geez how can I be sure that anything the Sen.Sen.Tru. say!
Perhaps the Coalition of Losers will try and take New Zealand back to the situation in the late 1930’s.
Radio news broadcasts were written in the Prime Minister’s office and had to be read out on New Zealand radio stations exactly as they were written.
I’m sure that Tsar Winnie and his off-sider [Jacinda] would love to bring that back.
Then we wouldn’t get stories on the TV news about how they are going to halve the number of children in poverty, but not for at least a decade, book-ended by a story about the number of people needing food parcels from the City Mission having doubled during their first year in office and another story about how the number of homeless people and of drug users on Queen St having also risen greatly in the last year and how people working in shops are routinely assaulted these days.
I’m afraid that this current Government is offering only the promises that were described so well in the Union rallying song of 1911.
As the International Workers of the World put it.
“Work and pray, live on hay, you’ll get pie in the sky when you die.”
“do Facebook”?
Wash your mouth out. I looked at the way Facebook was designed to operate when it started. I decided that I would never, ever go on that crazy system.
Never have and never will.
Obviously I looked at how it would work with a great deal more care than those of you who rushed into it like lemmings running over a cliff and are now regretting it.
“I’ve never been on Facebook”.
I have obviously misjudged you in my assumption.
You are very sensible. I think their business case is a terrible one, particularly as it has become almost compulsory for teenagers to use it if they don’t want to be isolated from everything their friends are up to.
On the other hand I don’t really see how it can be safely “regulated” as you put it. That just puts someone else in a position of power over what people are allowed to see. I think I still prefer the glorious anarchy that was the original internet. The only regulation I would accept is that people should legally own their own data and they, and they alone, should have the ability to allow, or disallow, companies like Facebook from using it.
I think their business case is a terrible one, particularly as it has become almost compulsory for teenagers to use it if they don’t want to be isolated from everything their friends are up to.
Not quite, Facebook is now for Mums and Grandmothers.
All the younger people have bolted to Instagram , snap chat, twitter, what’s app etc.
I had heard that was happening but I didn’t realise that the decline started so long ago.
Those numbers are for the US I suppose. I wonder when it dived here?
Long-haired preachers come out every night
To tell you what’s wrong and what’s right
But when asked how about something to eat
They will answer in voices so sweet:
You will eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land above the sky
Work and pray, live on hay
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die.
That’s a lie
And the starvation army they play
They sing and they clap and they pray
‘Till they get all your coin on the drum
Then they’ll tell you when you’re on the bum:
You’re gonna eat, bye and bye, poor boy
In that glorious land above the sky, way up high
Work and pray, live on hay
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die
Dirty lie
What the PM told us has been achieved so far by this coalition government when she spoke yesterday in the adjournment debate.
“…… I could just say this about the last 12 months: 3.9 percent unemployment, a Budget surplus, 73,000 more jobs, 2.7 percent GDP growth including 1 percent in the June 2018 quarter alone, 111 Provincial Growth Fund projects, 60 million trees planted, $917 million contributed to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund after almost a decade of nothing, 384,000 families better of with the Families Package, 774,000 New Zealanders now receiving a winter energy payment, 4,000 KiwiBuild homes under contract, 1,200 new public housing places, more than 200 new or rebuilt classrooms, 1,500 new teachers, 600 new learning support coordinators, 600,000 New Zealanders with access to cheaper GP visits, and hundreds of new police officers already.”
” $917 million contributed to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund”.
That is a bit like saying that you contributed $100 to the TAB.
In October the return on the fund was -4.84%. That’s right it dropped in value by a couple of billion dollars. I suspect the same thing happened in November and will probably also happen this month. https://www.nzsuperfund.co.nz/sites/default/files/documents-sys/October%202018%20Monthly%20Report.pdf
“4,000 KiwiBuild homes under contract,”.
Really. It is rather more significant that they can’t even get offers on the houses that Twyford is buying, and that the sort of place that they are calling “homes” are studio apartments. Subsidies are now being made available to anyone who will buy a place.
Those places were meant to be for families who were locked out of the market. Instead they have sold to people like the Doctor/Marketing Manager couple we were told about.
Other stories tell us that the lottery winners who are offered the property refuse to buy them and that they are then sold on the open market for whatever they can get for them.
“Yes, I’m extremely proud of the actions we have taken this year as the Government, some of which include extending paid parental leave, stopping foreign purchasing of Kiwi homes, making the first year of tertiary study free, stopping the State house sell-off, building that first KiwiBuild home, restarting super fund contributions, increasing the minimum wage, passing the Child Poverty Reduction Bill in my name, implementing the Families Package, making GP visits cheaper for many New Zealanders, investing in fixing hospitals and schools, funding more teachers, beginning to plant one billion trees, investing in the regions through the Provincial Growth Fund, beginning to recruit 1,800 more police—”
I am trying to suppress the smugness, about 6 or 7 years ago a colleague made the observation that ‘ with Facebook, you are not the customer, you are the product’.
I wish I had thought of that wording. It very accurately, and succinctly, sums up what I thought when I first looked at the scheme.
I suppose I should also follow your example and try and suppress the smugness about never having gone near it.
I finally managed to get out of Facebook (it was like the bloody Hotel California …you can check in but never leave) but still had concerns about my profile being up , so thats a great piece of info there. Thanks for that Joe
Jim Mora apparently believes substandard content is acceptable as long
as he occasionally “balances” it with “the NYT, the Guardian, the Atlantic.”
On Friday 30 November this writer, and no doubt many other people, listened with disbelief and horror as Jim Mora abandoned all pretence to be running any sort of intelligent or reasoned discussion on his RNZ light chat show. The first two guests seemed designed to insult and provoke anyone who cared about anything. At 4:28 p.m. I sent the following email….
Kiwiblog?!!?? Bob McCoskrie?!! WTF?
Dear Jim,
You first quoted the extreme right wing Kiwiblog, then in the very next breath you quoted the even more extreme Bob McCoskrie. Ali Jones reacted the way that any sensible listener would have: “What a load of RUBBISH!”
What’s next? Are you going to approvingly quote the complacent right wing New York Times opinionist David Brooks, or some mad article from the Daily Telegraph, or the so-called “Sensible Sentencing Trust”, as you so often do?
Have you thought of quoting someone who actually writes in a thoughtful and balanced manner? Gordon Campbell perhaps?
You have a duty, surely, to assemble a credible and serious hour of broadcasting. Kiwiblog and Family First are anything but credible and serious.
Yours in concern at the standard of your program,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
At 5:10 p.m. Jim Mora replied:
I also quoted The Standard yesterday, Morrissey, I regularly quote the NYT, the Guardian, the Atlantic. Jim
And that is the core of the problem with Mora and his show: this spurious hypothesis that quoting something relatively sane makes up for treating the likes of Bob McCoskrie as a serious commentator.
Yesterday (Wednesday December 19th) Mora—or his producer Julie Moffett—was back at it. To discuss the planned Hamilton-Auckland rail link, they once again wheeled on the worst possible person. I sent off another email pronto…
Gary Mallett???!!!
Dec 19, 2018, 4:37 PM
Dear Jim,
A lot of people and organizations have spent a great deal of time and effort considering the pros and cons of the Hamilton to Auckland rail link. However, instead of bringing on someone who knew what he/she was talking about, you—or your producer—chose the extreme right wing Hamilton councillor Gary Mallett. He’s an ACT Party member notorious for, amongst other things, his unhinged attacks on Māori. His language in your interview this afternoon reflected his simplistic thinking: “absolutely pathetic….pathetic…absolutely no impact in reducing congestion…. costing mega-millions… this is people’s hard-earned money…I’m completely agnostic as to how we travel…”
Both Penny Ashton and Mike Rehu expressed their disapproval, but you joked that “Gary’s supporting some interesting arguments though!”
That’s five minutes of airtime wasted.
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
So far, Jim Mora has not replied to that remonstration.
What is it with these husband and wife media “duos” you would expect they would have common interests but some impartiality surely goes with the job?
In a double dose today his wife, somebody Lambie, was “doing” the afternoon show on a “competing” station and doing her best to absolve the “Sensible Sentencing ‘Trust'” for their appalling and derelict behaviour. The result was her interviewing the (?) McVicar who immediately somehow to turn it round inextricably to the “trust” being the victim in all this.
Why are these tag teams insulting the people of NZ – that pair, Hosking etc, Soper etc it’s getting beyond tedious they’re everywhere like pack of “Stepford” wives”.
It’s as they say “all about the business” and by the look of it cases of not “what you know” but “who”, do they get two for the price of one?
I find it quite off-putting being harangued, I like something a bit topical or “newsy” while driving but this level of “opinion” will see me turn to the music stations. I’m still trying to work out how Lambie framed McVicar as the “victim” but she did with very little mention of what they had posted and how serious that was – it was found out about last March so that was kept quiet for a long time while donations were still being sought publicly.
Makes my head spin sometimes, but I can believe it – I live in Tauranga and while in lots of ways it is great, the divide in the way we think between me and some family members/aquaintances is sometimes surprising and I am hard pressed to understand how we can see things so differently.
Then I read this https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12180474 and conclude that there are some people in the world who are going quite mad.
Who is this “we” being referred to very often? I believe in the “village” much of the time but not one rigid mindset.
Is he one of these increasingly crazy people who think the public needs saving from itself and only he/we/they “peddle” the truth? It’s becoming quite bizzare.
That fool was nominally “in charge” of the NZRFU in 1999; most infamously, he allowed advertising lout Kevin Roberts to have an Air New Zealand jet “decorated” with a hideous distorted picture of the All Black front row on it. The players were mortified and embarrassed, and pleaded for them not to do it, but Moffett and Roberts didn’t care and the monstrosity was forced through.
Jacinda Ardern is not the first person to be dismissed rancorously by David Moffett. His harebrained “traitors” remark is just the latest in a long line of stupid insults. When he was NZRFU head creep, he angered Rugby League supporters by (accurately) scoffing at the sport as “five tackles and kick”. Later, the hypocrite took a job as CEO of the National Rugby League.
Another Australian whacko, Peter Scutts, was the CEO of the Auckland Blues while Moffett was running his ignorant mouth. Scutts, to show how “professional” the Auckland Rugby Union was, took it on himself to ban the Wellington Supporters Club from running onto the hallowed turf of Eden Park with their Leo the Lion mascot, something that they’d done for about a hundred years. Even worse than that little piece of meanness, in 1997 Scutts refused to change the playing strip of the Blues for the Super 12 final against the ACT Brumbies; both teams had almost identical strips. Scutts cited “the heritage of the Auckland Blues”—-the team was less than two years old. In the event, the final was a shambles, with two almost identically dressed teams on the field, and the game of rugby football reduced to a laughing stock.
I like Mr Farrar, and I appreciate the light hand he wields on his site. However, to pretend that anyone with his stridently anti-union and wildly pro-Israel views—he came back from a (guided) tour of the Occupied Territories a few years back and solemnly informed Jim Mora that he had seen nothing going on there—is not extremely right wing would be less than honest.
He’s certainly more civilized and personable than Cameron Slater, but there’s not a great deal of difference in their politics.
There are many Jewish (and wider related group of relatives) centrists blinded by nationalism and or religion into a pro Zionist position, this does not make them right wing, let alone extreme right wing. DPF would be in the former cateogry (though he is right wing all the same).
There are many Christian Adventists (Slater is one) whose support for Zionism is religious and part of some concept of a Judeo-Christian nationalism where Israel is a western Christendom colonial pet project.
This is right wing in that this Christian dominionism (American) uses the idea of end time Advent ending human self government/democracy to justify lack of human action on social justice (and climate change) in the USA or the wider world. It serves to enable the GOP to serve 1% mammon with their votes.
Tempting to file him in the `useful idiot’ category of rightists, but probably a tad unfair and I was inclining toward your more generous view when I realised a reality-check is probably a good idea. So I googled his political alignment and found this on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Farrar_(blogger)
“Farrar professes a classical liberal approach to politics, that is often compromised by his party affiliation with the liberal conservative National Party (for instance over state security powers vs individual rights) and identifies as a moderate of the center-right on the political spectrum. He was a co-chair of National’s Classical Liberal Policy Advisory Group at its formation in 2004. He supported the legalisation of prostitution and of civil unions in New Zealand. Farrar supports a New Zealand republic, and is on the National Council of the New Zealand Republican Movement. Economically his views are more in keeping with those of parties to the right of the National Party, such as the market fundamentalism of the minority ACT party.”
So socially liberal, economically dry, but the quote implies he self-identifies “as a moderate of the center-right on the political spectrum.” As a Republican, he seems progressive rather than conservative to us (but the contrary to Americans due to their early departure from monarchy).
Extreme right and extreme left is quite rare, so I would agree.
He is a liberal, but a right wing one, certainly no centrist.
The debate point is between centre right or simply right. I’d go with the latter – some confuse his being liberal with being centre right. No so for mine. Sure there is common cause between right wing and centrist and centre-left liberals from time to time but his vehemently anti-Green posts do not come from a centrist position, but a right wing one. The same with his involvment with the Taxpayers Union.
Like most of the right wing of the National Party they tend to hide in plain sight and manouvre to achieve the right wing change by both stealth and by increment.
I challenge anyone to condemn me for promoting a plant based diet.
After watching this 45 minute documentary from the UK.
It is not for the faint-hearted.
I condemn thee for the sin of hubris, nay even the of crime against all humanity in seeking us to forsake our own Judith-given right to the flesh, the delicious flesh, of farmed animals, to give up out culture, our beliefs, there is only one sentence:
Nope. I’ve already stated that the best path for NZ would be to make all sheep, beef, pork and chicken (and any other type of animal I’ve missed) farming free range
Whilst I have no issues with people choosing to follow a vegan lifestyle (usually this is done when a person has had a chance to challenge all the information put before them), I’m against people trying to force others to follow it as if there is no other dietary choice. The reality is that this world does not need overlords – especially vegan ones.
I’m not trying to force you to follow a plant based diet.
However I am asking that you actually look at what 21st century industrial farming looks like.
But all of you critics are too scared to confront the reality of what factory farming looks like.
Why lead with this then? “I challenge anyone to condemn me for promoting a plant based diet.” Should you have lead with, “I challenge anyone to support factory farming, after watching this.”
Just because he is pro Israel does not make him extreme right.
I would agree he is right rather than centre right. But if you think David is extreme right, then so is Simon Bridges. But maybe that is what you think.
“if you think David is extreme right, then so is Simon Bridges.”
Simon Bridges is far right, so is the current lot of all National MP’s, and i would include Bill English, the double dipper from Dipton in that lot too.
There is not one current man or women in the National Party that would not put themselves and Party above Country, Duty and Honor. A bit like the republican lot in the US.
The National party are extreme because their beliefs do no match up with reality.
Me, I’m all for living within the physical limits of the world. Which means to say that I’m not extreme in anyway, shape or form.
The problem that you, like many, is that you think that trying to live within those limits is extreme. And yet, the whole point of the market was actually to bring about living within those limits.
I don’t actually think how you think I do and we have more in common that you might realise. Particularly around how finite our resources are and how they need to be utilised.
But you can’t just say “National are extreme right” based upon your own metrics because it doesn’t work that way. They aren’t extreme right by any real political, economic or social methodology that is in common parlance or study. It’s no different to someone on Kiwiblog saying labour are extreme left because they are so far right themselves.
When you or the kiwi blogger say “extreme right/left” what I hear is “I don’t know what words mean”
I don’t actually think how you think I do and we have more in common that you might realise. Particularly around how finite our resources are and how they need to be utilised.
I have, occasionally, considered that we may be talking past each other.
But you can’t just say “National are extreme right” based upon your own metrics because it doesn’t work that way.
Reality isn’t my metric – it just is. It has physical constraints that we need to live within and we’re not doing that.
And compared to reality Labour is also extreme right-wing as they’re still following the same failed economics that National follow.
The question I have is: Why do so many econ students (or anyone else for that matter) not learn about the physical resources that the economy is based upon?
Given the greatly amplified role of professional economists at every level of policy making, the extent to which economics is disconnected from reality is becoming more alarming.
This is most telling point about modern economics that needs to said and repeated:
Modern economics is simply not connected to reality.
This article misses a bit though that may even be far more important than the fact that economics ignores actual human motivations. Modern economics misses the fact that economics is about the availability and distribution of scarce resources.
How much land do we have?
How much of that land can be used to support humanity?
How much is needed to maintain a healthy environment?
These are questions (and others of a similar bent) that modern economics not only doesn’t answer – it doesn’t ask. And so we have nations converting every square in of land to farms and the extinction rate increasing tilting the environment further to outright collapse. We’ve fished up so much fish that the ocean ecology is also close to collapse.
We do this for profit because its supposed to bring about the best outcome and yet all the evidence shows that the profit motive is bringing about the worst possible outcomes. Climate change and ecological collapse has been brought about by the drive for profit and the need to have a growing economy to feed that profit. A growing economy can only come about with a growing population.
All the evidence is that the carrying capacity of the Earth as far as humans go is about two billion. We’re presently at seven and climbing.
Economics, the stuff that the economists and politicians ignore, tells us that we need to live within physical constraints but we’ve gone way past those constraints chasing profit.
Labour is centrist, and the Green Party’s agreement with them to spend no more than 30% GDP declared their coalition government would be centrist. This is why they could and did include NZ First. They had to in any case to get a majority and that need gives them an excuse for their moderation – which is given again and again to their party members and all those in society who wanted more.
It’s not getting worse under them, it’s going to get better … slowly.
Or they will not go further right, but they will not cross any centre lines moving back to the left at such a slow pace.
Dang !!! That’s a lot of expensive bureaucratic paperwork.
Has been suggested to give out credit cards, which would absolutely cut back processing costs for expenses.
I thought they would already have ministerial credit cards, then I remembered paula bennet, her staff member misused the office credit card.
Can someone clear up my confusion please, as it appears ministerial credit cards are not a new thing, were they scrapped at some stage? Or did they never exist?
Government Ministers still have credit cards, Cinny. They have not been scraped.
I don’t have time to go into detail as due out, but here are a couple of links re these Ministerial credit cards. All expenses etc relating to Ministers of the Crown are handled by Ministerial Services, part of the Dept of Internal Affairs.
I actually found that Newshub article confusing and questionable, but don’t have time etc at present to go into detail but MPs who are not Ministers also can claim expenses etc but this is done through Parliamentary Service – not Ministerial Services in DIA.
Up north the land of stupid people end their year will all the class one would expect of them.
May the great prevaricator, who takes procrastination to another level, has apparently reduced Corbyn, the great communicator, to whispering to himself “stupid woman” (no recording of this exists, he claims he said “stupid people”).
After recent attempts to pose a vote of no confidence in the PM, but not yet her government, this does not seem credible (the argument that either stupid woman and stupid people were statements of fact is a strong one, and one leads to the other, as these were the people that kept her on as leader of their party).
Apparently because May is a woman, noting that she is stupid while being a woman is seen as a sexist attack, or misogny. This is taking identity politics micro aggression to the next level, and given this is the Tory Party, it is obviously an attempt trying to divert attention from their own reality – May has chosen to delay the vote on her Brexit plan and leave it to the media to run a Brexit with no deal scare campaign over the holiday break to soften up the MP’s before the vote.
All ones eggs in one basket (she has said their will be not be another referendum to over-ride a parliamentary impasse).
So should the deal not get parliamentary approval, Corbyn will propose a vote of no confidence in the government over it facing a no deal Brexit (the media scare campaign will help him in this).
So will posing Corbyn as an anti-semite, and now as a misogynist, save the Tory Party from their own Brexit divisions. May needs the so called “Blairites” (while moderates and the May deal is the middle course between a no deal Brexit and staying in the EU, they mostly prefer going back to a referendum) to vote for the deal for fear of a no deal Brexit if they vote no. Thus the hard-line refusal to go to a referendum is to influence them.
Stupid people are playing chicken on the highway called Brexit in the UK parliament because they claim giving the people another say, is not respecting what they decided last time they were asked. This is a brain dead parliament that reigns as a tyrant for 5 years and treats it subjects for this period of incarceration as fools. Stupid people.
On the face to it, Corbyn has shown himself completely incompetent during the Brexit debates. His standing will have gone down (including among his moderate MP’s), though perhaps not enough to stop him becoming PM at the next election.
However, nothing he has done has either bought an election forward, or will result in a second referendum. He should have been able to achieve one of those.
Instead he has made it more likely May’s deal will get through. Maybe that is what he wants, hence his tactics to date. So an election, whenever it happens, can be fought in clear air.
His policy is to have the May deal fail in parliament.
A sort of alliance between the hard Brexit Tories and those who want a referendum facilitated by having a position based standards for a deal they would support not being met (maybe not possible).
If he is successful, May might resign rather than preside over a no deal Brexit – after all parliament could easily deny consent to a no deal Brexit government being in office.
Corbyn could however choose to play white knight – entice Tories against a no deal Brexit into supporting a parliamentary move to suspend Brexit and call for a new referendum, rather than a new election.
With a May deal, the government takes responsibility – most now favour remain in polls – and the Tory Party divisions (there are as many for a hard Brexit and remain as in favour in their caucus and party membership) are going nowhere. Nor is the Northern Ireland, Scotland and the LD (where will the pro remain Tories and anti Corbyn Blairites go?).
There is no way the Tories can win this game, whatever happens, Corbyn’s Labour has the advantage/all the cards.
101 stuff that UK labour or Corbyn haven’t found an answer to. The distraction that sticks
Parliament descended into chaos on Wednesday as angry Tory MPs accused Jeremy Corbyn of calling Theresa May a “stupid woman”, which the Labour leader vehemently denied.
I liked this bit: “While May was still in the house, the former Tory chair Patrick McLoughlin asked Bercow to censure Corbyn. “He muttered words which were quite clearly visible, accusing the prime minister of being a ‘stupid woman’,” he said, as MPs shouted “Shame!” and “Disgrace!””
Since the former Tory chair confirms that the words were clearly visible, they will show up on any video recording of Corbyn uttering them, so their inaudibility is no real problem. Sceptics just need to watch the recording to see those words hanging there in the air just after emerging from his mouth…
What he should have said was “I realise honourable members are looking for ways to take offence, and I now wonder whether they’d have preferred it if I’d said – Silly Lady boy, and “I’m offended you are offended just as you will be offended I am offended by you’re being offended”
Well it looks like Hummer’s an arsehole but not a workplace bully christy, and being an arsehole is pretty much de rigueur for high placed smootharse bureaucrats.
A new report (on the Funded Family Care system) commissioned by the Government points to a host of failings, but makes no recommendation for change.
A disability advocate says the report is a waste of time and the Government should simply get on with changes everyone knows are overdue.
There is concern the report will allow the Government to procrastinate.
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter said she expected the government would announce its plans to overhaul the Funded Family Care system in less than a year, but she wouldn’t commit to a specific time-frame nor give away any details. However, she acknowledged affected families have been waiting a long time for justice.
@Anne and Denis, and probably a few others:
You might be interested in this (as in when the PS started to go tits up with corporatisation): https://www.bbc.com/news/education-46608818
Kia ora Newshub One has to expect more accidents with all the exra cars and people in Aotearoa of late and not much investment in the road network in the last few years.
Those are huge hailstones in Australia hope not to many people have been hurt what a mess we have to get use to weather like that.
We need to pay a return on waste to save our wild life and enviroment that poor seal nearly lost its life paying a return on all waste is way cheaper than have to try and pull plastic waste out of the sea the size of the Pacific waste .
Ka pai Mark with your song we built this city on sausagerolls hitting number one in Britain lol
One must be real carefull when working in construction I have heard of some shocking accidents
Rob that’s the way Wellington showing you the aroha for being Maori santa . People in Aotearoa have expect maori are going to show there pride of being a tangata whenua.
Kate Wreck it Ralph will keep the mokopunas happy for a while.
ka kite ano P.S I have to use a new search ap and it has not got spell check loaded yet some one crashed the old one
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Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
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You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
Uber Pike
James a UK immigrant to NZ ,,, and resident troll here …. supports and participates in the the breaking of NZ laws … and such is his pride he brags about it at left wing blogs.
Uber a tax dodging law flouting corporation came into New Zealand ….. and under the last National Government were allowed to operate …. despite, but yet typically under the last Nact Government, they were at least 80% non-compliant to the Land Transport Passenger Service regulations … under which they are lawfully and legally required to operate.
It makes you wonder what other laws and regulations James thinks should be ignored …. food?, ignoring all those burdensome hygine and food safty regulations… a james bbq with pink chicken would make a uber fine food provider.
Uber doctors? …. where maybe they don’t actually have a legit doctors certificate … but they can fill your prescritions cheap of the internet… what a uber bargin that would be.
anyway it begs the question ….Did James lie on his NZ residency application?? … treating his legal requirements and honesty as merely optional… or did he declare that he would help NZ, by leading the way in showing us what laws and regulations should be ignored
###############################
The Pike River Mine / deathtrap was run like a corner cutting and regulation ignoring Uber outfit.
I highly recommend this Pike River documentary …
Watching it left me vastly better informed of the criminal disregard for workers safety .. red line after red line were crossed and ignored …non compliance with the regulations and ignoring laws pertaining to explosive gasses …all leading to the inevitable but preventable deaths for the 29 West Coast workers.
And for me it really highlighted our dishonest grave dancer Alwyn … and his degenerate smears on this subject relating to Andrew Little.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKlT0HLivyc
Wow you really do have an unhealthy obsession with me.
Nice to see I’m in that little head of yours so early in the morning.
“And for me it really highlighted our dishonest grave dancer Alwyn … and his degenerate smears on this subject relating to Andrew Little.”
My, you really woke up with a hangover this morning, didn’t you.
I’m feeling a tad left out, don’t I even rate a mention?
You’re fully assimilated now, Pucky. Perhaps we should have said…a small ceremony, perhaps, maybe a badge…sorry!
I need to get my mojo back is what it is, the current set up in National is not motivating enough, I need inspiration, I need National not Labour-lite, I need something to believe in, I need a hero, I need…
https://i1.wp.com/www.whaleoil.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/1478989_561528227258268_120535684_n.jpg
There it is 🙂
I’m afraid you have gone over to the dark side.
Anakin Skywalker, better known as Darth Vader, seems to be more appropriate for you nowadays.
Well thats just mean 🙁
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi5jjXTPtyY
🙂
That’s not a documentary, it’s a dressed up presentation of opinions.
“and his degenerate smears on this subject relating to Andrew Little.”
I’m not aware of what James has said about Andrew Little and Pike River, but if it relates to Little’s time with the EPMU, then he may well have been referring to this http://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.com/2014/12/how-andrew-little-failed-pike-river.html.
Andrew Little was asleep at the wheel.
Bullshit. Little was the head of the union. His job was to administer the organisation, not personally visit every worksite to check for issues.
Well for someone who was only doing what you suggest as being “His job was to administer the organisation,” he certainly had a lot to say about the details of the operation.
Did you bother to read that link and see exactly what Little did say? They are direct quotes you know.
I’ve read it many times. In fact, pretty much every time some git makes the same mistake about Little’s role. Pike River were anti-union, and incentivised their staff to breach health and safety rules and kept the true situation in the mine secret. Andrew Little is a clever guy, but he doesn’t possess ESP.
“Little was the head of the union.”
And in that capacity he defended PRC management on their safety record, and led a union that failed to act on specific concerns raised prior to the accident.
“His job was to administer the organisation…”
Are you seriously arguing he isn’t responsible for his own comments about PRC? That as head of the union he bears no responsibility for the safety of the union’s members? What was he paid to do exactly?
“…not personally visit every worksite to check for issues.”
But he is responsible for what he says. Particularly when what he says reflects precisely on those safety issues. And he was ultimately responsible for the union and it’s members. He failed.
Again, bullshit. His comments were based on what information he had at the time. As I’ve already said, the company lied through its teeth and made life as difficult as possible for the union. To use the National party’s excuse du jour, it was an operational matter. Andrew was an administrator based in Wellington, not an organiser based in Greymouth. He could only report what he was told, becuase he had no direct involvement.
be good to see Andrew Little make some sort of definitive statement on this, one mad Trot offshoot newsletter, is what the various Nattys keep quoting
as I understand it Mr Whitall ran an anti union/union busting culture that saw the organiser reduced to riding the workers bus to try and get access to the site! Rebecca McFie’s “Tragedy at Pike River Mine” lays it out how marginalised the Union was there, requests from Mr Rockhouse to include the EPMU in training exercises were met with dismissive emails from Whitall–“the Union and Pike are not to be mentioned in the same sentence”…etc.
the attacks on Little are rather transparent given Solid Energy’s “seal it up” plan being derailed, and the Pike River Recovery Agency charging ahead with reentry
Hi Tiger.
The claims regarding Little’s involvement with Pike stem from his own comments and his own inaction. The material in the post (http://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.com/2014/12/how-andrew-little-failed-pike-river.html) is damning.
You do realise, I hope, that all Andrew’s statements were made AFTER the explosion that almost certainly killed the workers.
The explosion was on 19 November. Little’s statements were made to the Herald, and Close Up on 22 November.
If he hadn’t found out what was going on by then he damn well should have. Both he, and the MP for the area, O’Connor had by then been to the mine and still they defended the company and said that everything was fine and there were no concerns by the Union about safety.
Of course it’s conceivable he was lied to wally.
“His comments were based on what information he had at the time.”
Which were ill-informed, and ignored concerns of others from within the business and the industry.
“As I’ve already said, the company lied through its teeth and made life as difficult as possible for the union.”
And Little enabled them.
“Andrew was an administrator based in Wellington, not an organiser based in Greymouth.”
That’s a terrific cop-out. Andrew Little was with the EPMU/Engineers Union since before 1997. He was National Secretary from 2000. In summary, at the time of Pike he had been with the union for more than 13 years, 10 as National Secretary. For you to argue his position was simply as “an administrator based in Wellington” is pure nonsense.
I must say this is a shock. James is not even a real Kiwi even though he pretends he is.
Immigration management in this country in the last 20 years has been terrible. There has been zero work done on the ability of social infrastructure to cope with the flood of toff-nosed poms washing onto our shores.
James claims to be about 48 years old and has sent three kids through Kristin at 25K per annum each. The eldest of these kids owns and runs their own business now and is approximately late 20s.
I’m left wondering when it was that James actually entered New Zealand as an immigrant with his British family?
James himself might like to shed some light on this…
More fun to leave you wondering and obsessing.
There are honest commenters on this forum, and then there is you.
There are morons – then there is you who will never raise to that level of intellect.
…. anyway it begs the question ….Did James lie on his NZ residency application?? … treating his legal requirements and honesty as merely optional… or did he declare that he would help NZ, by leading the way in showing us what laws and regulations should be ignored
Did ya james ? … do tell.
it will also distract you from your unhealthy obsession with Ed … otherwise known as trolling.
Spill your 10 pound pom uber guts ….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdGHe5QXKtI
Resin – if James trolls you, you are doing something right.
Remember Roosevelt’s words.
“I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.”
And are reasons statements true James?
Reason seems to think so. But then again he/she seems to have issues.
So you don’t deny them then.
Interesting to know.
I note that reason hasn’t denied having an unhealthy obsession with me – interesting to know.
So james. I will have to believe what Reason has written about you.
Sayonna
James is an opinionated ignoramus. A classic case of “opening mouth before engaging brain”. I recently posted about the demise of CanTeen’s AYA regional cancer service, only to receive an uninformed, abusive response from this idiot.
Surprisingly little reaction from other Standardistas to what is an avoidable calamity for young cancer patients in New Zealand.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/12/19/370303/the-fight-to-save-cash-strapped-canteen
I missed your post thanks for reposting.
“CanTeen, which relies on community support and donations, helps youngsters aged between 13 and 24 dealing with cancer. It provides someone to talk to, connects peers, runs activities and workshops, helps people with their grief. The website says: “CanTeen takes care of things like topping up your phone, getting you to appointments or the food situation in your cupboard so you don’t need to stress.””
Such great work supporting very vulnerable people. My niece is younger, with her third cancerous growth returning, at age 12. Such a tough area to be able to support people. I hope finding can come – a vital, underrated service.
As for James he’s just another weakling rwnj. A loser pretender who is probably the saddest of all of us here truth be told.
Your comments beg the question that you obviously have issues.
Do you stalk women on the internet publishing what you think you know about them?
Are you one of those creepy internet stalkers ?
Ignoring your garbled syntax, “that you obviously have issues” is not a question wee James, it’s a statement. Stalking? Pot, kettle, black?
Are you really so conceited that you can’t appreciate your own immaturity. Back in the UK you’d be rightly termed a prat.
I note that reason hasn’t denied staking women on the internet- interesting to know.
You stalk goats don’t you or is it just sheep? Come on geezer fess up.
You’re getting James confused with Bwaghorn.
He’s the sheep botherer.
Deleted.
I never bothered a sheep that didn’t deserve it.
You guys just dropped down too Kiwiblog speak.
Only the good looking goats.
And the occasional opossum.
Onya
So you live in the Americas to enjoy opossums, James?
We have possums in NZ, phalangeridae, the bushy-tailed phalanger.
Opossums are Amurrican.
This fact makes me doubt your assertion.
I import them.
You’re now worse than the Hawkes Bay slave trader, James……. I’d quit while you’re still out of jail!
About the only crime not committed here is treason, so I’d leave the corgis well out of it.
Trump tweeted that Isis is defeated in Syria: “Trump is reported to have ordered a full, rapid withdrawal of the 2,000 US troops in Syria, declaring victory over the Islamic State, and taking allies and his own advisers by surprise.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/19/us-troops-syria-withdrawal-trump
Leading war-mongers are dismayed. “Trump’s own national security adviser, John Bolton, is adamantly opposed to the decision”. “Lindsey Graham, a senior Republican senator who is a Trump loyalist on most issues, denounced the decision. “If these media reports are true, it will be an Obama-like mistake made by the Trump administration,” Graham said in a statement. “While American patience in confronting radical Islam may wane, the radical Islamists’ passion to kill Americans and our allies never wavers.”
Trump wants a Nobel peace prize? He didn’t actually tweet that he had made peace in Syria – yet. But Obama got one without making peace. Perhaps Trump is considering calling the Nobel committee bluff. Would look good on the cv. He could send his Secretary of State to meet Assad with terms: you declare peace, thank Trump for creating it, we’ll give you foreign aid to grind up all them random bits of concrete everywhere, for recycling.
His cabinet ministers calling him a moron, his hired help getting sent to prison, you might think prospects of impeachment had increased since Democrats started promoting them, eh? Well, Gordon Campbell assessed those prospects a week ago and concluded “Trump’s destiny is to be a winner, not a loser.” http://werewolf.co.nz/2018/12/gordon-campbell-on-whether-trump-is-likely-to-be-impeached/
I still feel the same, and doubt Mueller has any rabbit in his hat. Doesn’t matter how much the US media trumpets Trump’s influence-buying, voters know that’s all just American politics as usual – the only way it could harm him is if there was a positive alternative they could anticipate. No sign of that.
Erdogan will be pleased, he can now go ahead and butcher those of the most effective force fighting Islamic State in Syria (which Turkey itself never did).
This might well also enable the settlement of Islamists backed by Turkey in their failed attempt to depose the government of Syria in “Kurdish” areas on their border.
The withdrawal otherwise means the US has no leverage in the future of Syria, but Turkey’s hand will be stronger.
I think its probably also an acknowledgement that the Astana process for a peace settlement and a new constitution in Syria is the only game in town, and the US is not part of it. When you’ve lost the war and are not part of the peace(and the spoils)why waste any more cash
I predict a fresh “outrage” chemical or otherwise,clearly perpetrated by the Syrian govt, to pull the US back in .
Trump attempted this withdrawal once before, Khan Sheikhoun was the result.
I guess Assad just doesn’t want the Yanks to leave (eye- rolling -tongue -in- cheek)
Surely the Kurds knew the US would betray them in the end?
Maybe now they’ll consider the offers of increased autonomy from the Syrian govt
Probably a little late, but there’s surely no chance now of a purely Kurdish state at this point
Sure the smart move for the Kurds would be to do a deal with Damascus and get Syrian government troops in before the Turks can act.
The complication might be the presence of some of the Syrian Arabs who fought IS alongside them, some of whom left the battle against the Syrian government once Islamists began to dominate rebel held areas – they might well now be in the refugee category.
Next comprehensive Kurd massacre coming up.
That does seem to be the case.
True about the US but I’m sure that Turkey won’t have any say either. This is going to fall to Syria, Russia and Iran to fix. Assad would do bloody well stepping up to support the Kurds.
Since Trump and Erdogan talked last Friday the US has cleared the sale of Patriot missiles to Turkey, ordered State Department personnel in Syria to be evacuated from the country within 24 hours, declared victory over ISIS, and Turkey’s request to extradite Fethullah Gülen is to be looked at.
That’s one helluva phone call.
/
ummm vlad I think you mean no one ELSE has them
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12179868
Okay now I see a problem – facing a humanity wide crisis of climate change you toolboxes decide to build more deadly weapons – I curse you all.
“Putin has said about a dozen countries were producing missiles of the type banned by the INF treaty.” Well okay, but if Russian intelligence agencies have indeed discovered this and reported it to him, why doesn’t he identify them? If those countries have signed the INF treaty, wouldn’t it expose them to ridicule and condemnation?
Not to mention discrediting the entire notion of arms reduction treaties. And their usage in international law. And, consequently, the viability of international law as a method of peace-keeping. So now we await deployment by those countries, and the reassurance that such proliferation will provide its own deterrent effect on usage.
“Which countries are developing hypersonic weapons? “The U.S., Russia and China are ahead of other nations in developing hypersonic weapons,” Richard Speier, adjunct staff with Rand, told CNBC. Speier, who worked to initiate the Pentagon’s Office of Counter-Proliferation Policy, added that France, India, and Australia are also developing military uses of hypersonic technology.” https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/21/hypersonic-weapons-what-they-are-and-why-us-cant-defend-against-them.html
Mutually assured destruction, I remark cheerfully! What an oxymoron.
I think you will find Russia’s missiles are more of a defensive mechanism than an offensive weapon. Useful against western propaganda at least. For instance without the Russian S-400 we would have seen much more destruction in the Middle East.
Yeah nah.
We agree, great.
It’s most likely a bad translation.
Climate change is going to cause mass migration and resource wars. Given this fact responsible governments are gearing up to repel the invaders.
https://www.vox.com/world/2017/11/14/16589878/global-climate-change-conflict-environment
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/once-again-climate-change-cited-as-trigger-for-war/
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/377634/defence-force-sets-its-sights-on-climate-change
People in danger of dying tend to act in ways to protect their life.
Responsible governments wasting billions on stuff that won’t work while the things they could do go undone. That is irresponsible imo.
You do understand that there’s nothing that they can do right?
Climate change is happening. This will result in mass migration. The target countries for that mass migration can’t support the migrants. This means that those target countries have to stop those migrants. Some of those migrants are going to be bloody well armed and so the target countries will also need to be well armed. There will be some well armed other countries trying to force the target countries to take the migrants despite knowing that they can’t afford them.
Countries have the right and the responsibility to defend themselves.
Yeah you’re a real gunfight on the titanic type of guy – I’m not.
Just accepting reality an the simple fact that, when climate change truly bites, it’s going to leave a lot of people (measured in the billions) either facing death or looking to migrate an that the places that they can migrate to can’t afford them.
The UN really should have looked at curbing population growth back in the 1970s. They didn’t and most governments of the world still think that increasing population is the Bees Knees and so still won’t do it and so out younger generations are still fucked.
NZfirsts facebook page makes for interesting reading today
https://www.facebook.com/NZFirst/?ref=br_rs
They’re a pretty selfish vindictive bunch aren’t they puckers. Forget pulling up the ladder, just set that sucker on fire.
I agree, I’ve never voted for NZFirst and I never will
Yep. I especially liked one comment:
“Stuart Ward BREAKING NEWS !!!
The ‘national’ party has welcomed the news that they no longer have to worry about what their M.Ps and SUPPORTERS will use for brains if KFC needs the cabbages for coleslaw.
A new product on the hair care market, Control GX “the shampoo with brains” will provide a satisfactory alternative.
Consideration is being given to replacing Simon Bridges with either a “complimentary hotel bottle” of the shampoo, or his nearest contender, an adolescent tiger slug by the name of Slimey Norman”
Well you won’t have to worry about Simon Bridges because it”ll be JC sorting NZ out when shes elected PM 🙂
Thanks, PR, for the peek into the abyss.
I probably should have added a warning to the comment 🙂
Do I sense another ode coming on.
There is something I’ve been working on but its not quite the right time yet 🙂
I do enjoy your odes.
“Shaken but not Stirred” An ode to the Collins
I took a look in th’ abyss,
Just a look, a little peek,
And what I saw will never miss
Down in the pits where she doth tryst-
Worse than the seven levels of Hades,
Where Tantalus strove in the Greek,
The Ban Sí in Eire’s green glades
Or the fell dwellings of the Shades-
The horror of her Gorgon gaze,
Too close e’en from the peaks
Of Darian- ‘mid the Centaur’s maze-
Where Judith eyes her prizéd preys.
Appropriate 🙂
Conservatives proving, yet again, just how bloody ignorant and stupid they are.
Add wilfully to the word ignorant.
And add selfish and greedy.
/agreed
Meanwhile here in NZ, trying to find out some information through an 0800 number about CourierPost’s processes, I have been taken through 4 options that don’t apply and left with 5 which seemed mostly related to NZPost, where shops are etc and tried that in the absence of other options. I got a repeat of the options from 1-5 again.
So NZPost apparently doesn’t know what it is doing, and proposes to keep customers on a loop running after their tails, while they decide.
Really a small example of the route the country has gone.
Try Spark.
They take the biscuit in this.
I find that true of many businesses and not just in NZ. Their attempt to get the customer to the right person via an automated system almost invariably ends up confusing the customer.
If you keep button mashing they machine gets fed up and you’l get a person. That’s what I have always found with the IRD at least. And ANZ
Some have called for New Zealand to be more involved in peace-making and arbitration, as per Norway and Sweden.
Neither of them (Norway is in NATO and Sweden is in the EU) have been involved in the matter of Ukraine. And we have our stalled FTA with Russia to consider. So this is one which we might well take up.
The issues are well known, Russia does not like former territories of the USSR joining NATO or the EU. It uses the presence of ethnic Russians in these territories as an excuse and economic dependence on gas as a means to intefere in their nations affairs politically.
The central issue is the tension that occurs when loyalty to nation state and ethnic identity patriotism (over the future of the Ukraine in the EU and NATO) is divided.
There are obvious paths to resolution, but the question is whether NATO and Russia would prefer the impasse to continue rather than realise one. So the first question that we would have to ask each party (before offering to mediate), do they want the matter resolved?
Does the EU actually want Ukraine?
Particularly now that Its economy has dive bombed. And its adherence to European “values”is seriously in question with the current Poroshenko govt at least
Tymoshenko won’t be much better
Of course Russia doesn’t want NATO on its doorstep, any more than the US would have accepted the Warsaw pact in Mexico
Ukraine can’t be in NATO while there is the war in Eastern Ukraine
Russia would need very strong assurances from NATO (and would they be worth the paper they’re written on) to withdraw their support for Donetsk and Lugansk
And what about the wishes of the people who live in those areas?
Very early on in Putin’s rule , he wanted to join NATO
Maybe this should be looked at again
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/853851/Putin-wants-NATO-to-let-Russia-join.html
I think he had a point
I would love NZ to be involved in mediation etc, but it would not be possible without serious “arm twisting” from our “special friend”over the ocean
Sure back in mid 2001 there was the option of a European security co-operation on the one hand and a united defence force for world peace-keeping at UN direction. Russia in NATO. But the later military intervention in the ME (choice of response to 9/11 soon ended the trust required for that).
At the moment the momentum is towards a EU defence force (ironically made possible by the US request for 2% GDP defence spending in the region), with independent relationships with both Russia and (possibly via a continuing NATO) the USA (and maybe UK depending on where that is headed).
The medium term issues – the nature of the EU and Russian gas supply agreements while sanctions continue and whether Russian pressure on Ukraine has any impact on its domestic politics.
Germany’s economic and industrial well being depends on Nord Stream2 ;any alternatives are too expensive. US imposed sanctions are only going to reshape how Europe does business, to the detriment of US control.
US gas, reliant on fracking, is never going to be cost effective against Russian gas, which doesn’t involve fracking, let alone the difficulties of transport.
Germany and Russia together…the horror!
After all NATO was to keep Russia out, to keep America in, and to keep Germany down
Probably not any more. The Ukraine’s economy wasn’t all that good to start with which is why the USSR’s leadership gave it Crimea. Now that Crimean has left it’s back to being a basket case.
According to the US’s overturning of democratic governments – they can be ignored.
I’m baa-a-a-a-a-aaackkk!
Eight days suspended, and I’m back.
Hopefully.
Testing….
Welcome back, cobber. I trust your loins are fully girded and you have a weeks worth of pent up commentary with which to handsomely entertain us.
PS, good on your former professor for staying away in solidarity 😉
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r235gwc_dxk
The Professor is on “garden leave” at the moment, Te Reo.
Good Lord! Has he been accused of some impropriety?
Afraid so. This could be even worse than the circumstances that led to the termination of his contract at that Swiss finishing school. More details when they become available.
Great news.
Earth to Morrissey, are you reading?
Nice to have you back old bean. Squadron Leader and I were seriously, seriously concerned about your time in the brig.
Pip pip. Chin up, let bygones be bygones and we’ll all move forward what?
The country’s first crime and victims survey suggests almost two million crimes were committed last year, about seven times the number reported to police.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/378680/survey-reveals-volume-and-nature-of-crimes-committed-in-new-zealand-last-year
I don’t think they got everyone. S.S. trust wrongly exposed a criminal, and so frustrated the he’ll out of everyone who wants to know who these peolle are, it’s a crime surely to distract and misinfirm. Geez how can I be sure that anything the Sen.Sen.Tru. say!
Washington DC is sueing Facebook over Cambridge Analytica.
I’m hoping 2019 is the year all open societies legislate and regulate Facebook et al, as radio was in the 1920s and tv was in the 1950s.
Its corroding global democracy and must be controlled.
For those who want to join the stampede; a couple of tutorials on grabbing your data and deleting your account.
#DeleteFacebook
https://deletefacebook.com/
https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/how-to-delete-your-facebook-account-really-update/
I ‘ve thought it easier to just keep posting pics of nipples and tits till they delete it , seems easier.
Sorry FCC formed 1930s.
Hopefully if Trump gets angry enough with tv news he’ll reform the Act.
Perhaps the Coalition of Losers will try and take New Zealand back to the situation in the late 1930’s.
Radio news broadcasts were written in the Prime Minister’s office and had to be read out on New Zealand radio stations exactly as they were written.
I’m sure that Tsar Winnie and his off-sider [Jacinda] would love to bring that back.
Then we wouldn’t get stories on the TV news about how they are going to halve the number of children in poverty, but not for at least a decade, book-ended by a story about the number of people needing food parcels from the City Mission having doubled during their first year in office and another story about how the number of homeless people and of drug users on Queen St having also risen greatly in the last year and how people working in shops are routinely assaulted these days.
I’m afraid that this current Government is offering only the promises that were described so well in the Union rallying song of 1911.
As the International Workers of the World put it.
“Work and pray, live on hay, you’ll get pie in the sky when you die.”
[Don’t use belittling language, ta. TRP]
Radio and tv and advertising are already regulated.
Alwyn do you do Facebook on a Remington?
“do Facebook”?
Wash your mouth out. I looked at the way Facebook was designed to operate when it started. I decided that I would never, ever go on that crazy system.
Never have and never will.
Obviously I looked at how it would work with a great deal more care than those of you who rushed into it like lemmings running over a cliff and are now regretting it.
I’ve never been on Facebook and never will.
I can see from your clear comments you agree to the necessity of regulating Facebook and similar companies.
“I’ve never been on Facebook”.
I have obviously misjudged you in my assumption.
You are very sensible. I think their business case is a terrible one, particularly as it has become almost compulsory for teenagers to use it if they don’t want to be isolated from everything their friends are up to.
On the other hand I don’t really see how it can be safely “regulated” as you put it. That just puts someone else in a position of power over what people are allowed to see. I think I still prefer the glorious anarchy that was the original internet. The only regulation I would accept is that people should legally own their own data and they, and they alone, should have the ability to allow, or disallow, companies like Facebook from using it.
No other part of our information or broadcasting is unregulated.
The Washington v Facebook re Cambridge Analytica case I pointed to is exactly the kind of regulation you are seeking.
I think their business case is a terrible one, particularly as it has become almost compulsory for teenagers to use it if they don’t want to be isolated from everything their friends are up to.
Not quite, Facebook is now for Mums and Grandmothers.
All the younger people have bolted to Instagram , snap chat, twitter, what’s app etc.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/250172/social-network-usage-of-us-teens-and-young-adults/
Which is hardly surprising, you don’t want your mother/grandmother reading about all the bad shit you’ve been up to.
I had heard that was happening but I didn’t realise that the decline started so long ago.
Those numbers are for the US I suppose. I wonder when it dived here?
Context.
Long-haired preachers come out every night
To tell you what’s wrong and what’s right
But when asked how about something to eat
They will answer in voices so sweet:
You will eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land above the sky
Work and pray, live on hay
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die.
That’s a lie
And the starvation army they play
They sing and they clap and they pray
‘Till they get all your coin on the drum
Then they’ll tell you when you’re on the bum:
You’re gonna eat, bye and bye, poor boy
In that glorious land above the sky, way up high
Work and pray, live on hay
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die
Dirty lie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIQpuKHHI-E
What the PM told us has been achieved so far by this coalition government when she spoke yesterday in the adjournment debate.
“…… I could just say this about the last 12 months: 3.9 percent unemployment, a Budget surplus, 73,000 more jobs, 2.7 percent GDP growth including 1 percent in the June 2018 quarter alone, 111 Provincial Growth Fund projects, 60 million trees planted, $917 million contributed to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund after almost a decade of nothing, 384,000 families better of with the Families Package, 774,000 New Zealanders now receiving a winter energy payment, 4,000 KiwiBuild homes under contract, 1,200 new public housing places, more than 200 new or rebuilt classrooms, 1,500 new teachers, 600 new learning support coordinators, 600,000 New Zealanders with access to cheaper GP visits, and hundreds of new police officers already.”
Good eating, that. Gourmet. Tasty. Healthy.
“including 1 percent in the June 2018 quarter alone”.
Well that didn’t last very long did it?
Latest quarter was 0.3%, the lowest number for 5 years.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz//business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12180129&ref=clavis
” $917 million contributed to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund”.
That is a bit like saying that you contributed $100 to the TAB.
In October the return on the fund was -4.84%. That’s right it dropped in value by a couple of billion dollars. I suspect the same thing happened in November and will probably also happen this month.
https://www.nzsuperfund.co.nz/sites/default/files/documents-sys/October%202018%20Monthly%20Report.pdf
“4,000 KiwiBuild homes under contract,”.
Really. It is rather more significant that they can’t even get offers on the houses that Twyford is buying, and that the sort of place that they are calling “homes” are studio apartments. Subsidies are now being made available to anyone who will buy a place.
Those places were meant to be for families who were locked out of the market. Instead they have sold to people like the Doctor/Marketing Manager couple we were told about.
Other stories tell us that the lottery winners who are offered the property refuse to buy them and that they are then sold on the open market for whatever they can get for them.
Try this one.
“Yes, I’m extremely proud of the actions we have taken this year as the Government, some of which include extending paid parental leave, stopping foreign purchasing of Kiwi homes, making the first year of tertiary study free, stopping the State house sell-off, building that first KiwiBuild home, restarting super fund contributions, increasing the minimum wage, passing the Child Poverty Reduction Bill in my name, implementing the Families Package, making GP visits cheaper for many New Zealanders, investing in fixing hospitals and schools, funding more teachers, beginning to plant one billion trees, investing in the regions through the Provincial Growth Fund, beginning to recruit 1,800 more police—”
PM Ardern Q 1 18 December 2018 to Simon Bridges
I am trying to suppress the smugness, about 6 or 7 years ago a colleague made the observation that ‘ with Facebook, you are not the customer, you are the product’.
Seems to be spot on.
I wish I had thought of that wording. It very accurately, and succinctly, sums up what I thought when I first looked at the scheme.
I suppose I should also follow your example and try and suppress the smugness about never having gone near it.
A variation of if it’s free, you’re the product.
I finally managed to get out of Facebook (it was like the bloody Hotel California …you can check in but never leave) but still had concerns about my profile being up , so thats a great piece of info there. Thanks for that Joe
Jim Mora apparently believes substandard content is acceptable as long
as he occasionally “balances” it with “the NYT, the Guardian, the Atlantic.”
On Friday 30 November this writer, and no doubt many other people, listened with disbelief and horror as Jim Mora abandoned all pretence to be running any sort of intelligent or reasoned discussion on his RNZ light chat show. The first two guests seemed designed to insult and provoke anyone who cared about anything. At 4:28 p.m. I sent the following email….
What is it with these husband and wife media “duos” you would expect they would have common interests but some impartiality surely goes with the job?
In a double dose today his wife, somebody Lambie, was “doing” the afternoon show on a “competing” station and doing her best to absolve the “Sensible Sentencing ‘Trust'” for their appalling and derelict behaviour. The result was her interviewing the (?) McVicar who immediately somehow to turn it round inextricably to the “trust” being the victim in all this.
Why are these tag teams insulting the people of NZ – that pair, Hosking etc, Soper etc it’s getting beyond tedious they’re everywhere like pack of “Stepford” wives”.
Mora introduced an ex-S.S. trooper this afternoon as “victims’ advocate Ruth Money.”
Another horrible media husband and wife team, by the way, is Bill Ralston and Janet Wilson. It’s not always plain sailing between them, obviously….
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22032013/#comment-607420
It’s as they say “all about the business” and by the look of it cases of not “what you know” but “who”, do they get two for the price of one?
I find it quite off-putting being harangued, I like something a bit topical or “newsy” while driving but this level of “opinion” will see me turn to the music stations. I’m still trying to work out how Lambie framed McVicar as the “victim” but she did with very little mention of what they had posted and how serious that was – it was found out about last March so that was kept quiet for a long time while donations were still being sought publicly.
She presented McSticker as a victim as smoothly and casually as she and her husband call him and his cronies “victims’ advocates.”
The dishonesty has its limits, however. In 2011 Noelle McCarthy was forced to interview McSticker. She could not hide her revulsion….
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/noelle-mccarthy-swallowed-vomit-for-15.html
Makes my head spin sometimes, but I can believe it – I live in Tauranga and while in lots of ways it is great, the divide in the way we think between me and some family members/aquaintances is sometimes surprising and I am hard pressed to understand how we can see things so differently.
Then I read this https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12180474 and conclude that there are some people in the world who are going quite mad.
Who is this “we” being referred to very often? I believe in the “village” much of the time but not one rigid mindset.
Is he one of these increasingly crazy people who think the public needs saving from itself and only he/we/they “peddle” the truth? It’s becoming quite bizzare.
That fool was nominally “in charge” of the NZRFU in 1999; most infamously, he allowed advertising lout Kevin Roberts to have an Air New Zealand jet “decorated” with a hideous distorted picture of the All Black front row on it. The players were mortified and embarrassed, and pleaded for them not to do it, but Moffett and Roberts didn’t care and the monstrosity was forced through.
Jacinda Ardern is not the first person to be dismissed rancorously by David Moffett. His harebrained “traitors” remark is just the latest in a long line of stupid insults. When he was NZRFU head creep, he angered Rugby League supporters by (accurately) scoffing at the sport as “five tackles and kick”. Later, the hypocrite took a job as CEO of the National Rugby League.
Another Australian whacko, Peter Scutts, was the CEO of the Auckland Blues while Moffett was running his ignorant mouth. Scutts, to show how “professional” the Auckland Rugby Union was, took it on himself to ban the Wellington Supporters Club from running onto the hallowed turf of Eden Park with their Leo the Lion mascot, something that they’d done for about a hundred years. Even worse than that little piece of meanness, in 1997 Scutts refused to change the playing strip of the Blues for the Super 12 final against the ACT Brumbies; both teams had almost identical strips. Scutts cited “the heritage of the Auckland Blues”—-the team was less than two years old. In the event, the final was a shambles, with two almost identically dressed teams on the field, and the game of rugby football reduced to a laughing stock.
Morrissey,
David Farrar, who writes all the primary items on Kiwiblog (it is his blog), is not extreme right. You have confused him with Cam Slater.
I would agree that some of the commenters on Kiwiblog are extreme right. But not David.
Just as I would say that The Standard is not extreme left, though I certainly think a number of the commenters are.
I like Mr Farrar, and I appreciate the light hand he wields on his site. However, to pretend that anyone with his stridently anti-union and wildly pro-Israel views—he came back from a (guided) tour of the Occupied Territories a few years back and solemnly informed Jim Mora that he had seen nothing going on there—is not extremely right wing would be less than honest.
He’s certainly more civilized and personable than Cameron Slater, but there’s not a great deal of difference in their politics.
There are many Jewish (and wider related group of relatives) centrists blinded by nationalism and or religion into a pro Zionist position, this does not make them right wing, let alone extreme right wing. DPF would be in the former cateogry (though he is right wing all the same).
There are many Christian Adventists (Slater is one) whose support for Zionism is religious and part of some concept of a Judeo-Christian nationalism where Israel is a western Christendom colonial pet project.
This is right wing in that this Christian dominionism (American) uses the idea of end time Advent ending human self government/democracy to justify lack of human action on social justice (and climate change) in the USA or the wider world. It serves to enable the GOP to serve 1% mammon with their votes.
Tempting to file him in the `useful idiot’ category of rightists, but probably a tad unfair and I was inclining toward your more generous view when I realised a reality-check is probably a good idea. So I googled his political alignment and found this on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Farrar_(blogger)
“Farrar professes a classical liberal approach to politics, that is often compromised by his party affiliation with the liberal conservative National Party (for instance over state security powers vs individual rights) and identifies as a moderate of the center-right on the political spectrum. He was a co-chair of National’s Classical Liberal Policy Advisory Group at its formation in 2004. He supported the legalisation of prostitution and of civil unions in New Zealand. Farrar supports a New Zealand republic, and is on the National Council of the New Zealand Republican Movement. Economically his views are more in keeping with those of parties to the right of the National Party, such as the market fundamentalism of the minority ACT party.”
So socially liberal, economically dry, but the quote implies he self-identifies “as a moderate of the center-right on the political spectrum.” As a Republican, he seems progressive rather than conservative to us (but the contrary to Americans due to their early departure from monarchy).
He uses being liberal/progressive to assist with mainstreaming his right wing cause. The rich get richer, the state doing less …
Extreme right and extreme left is quite rare, so I would agree.
He is a liberal, but a right wing one, certainly no centrist.
The debate point is between centre right or simply right. I’d go with the latter – some confuse his being liberal with being centre right. No so for mine. Sure there is common cause between right wing and centrist and centre-left liberals from time to time but his vehemently anti-Green posts do not come from a centrist position, but a right wing one. The same with his involvment with the Taxpayers Union.
Like most of the right wing of the National Party they tend to hide in plain sight and manouvre to achieve the right wing change by both stealth and by increment.
I challenge anyone to condemn me for promoting a plant based diet.
After watching this 45 minute documentary from the UK.
It is not for the faint-hearted.
https://www.kinderworld.org/videos/animal-rights-documentaries/land-of-hope-and-glory/
Challenge accepted:
http://time.com/4252373/meat-eating-veganism-evolution/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131124231817.htm
https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/03/30/why-humans-started-eating-meat-critical-diet/
I condemn thee for the sin of hubris, nay even the of crime against all humanity in seeking us to forsake our own Judith-given right to the flesh, the delicious flesh, of farmed animals, to give up out culture, our beliefs, there is only one sentence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_EuNmQOpbw
Please don’t have a video duel. ffs
I recon a Naked and Afraid video of a starving urban vegetarian when a normal omnivore person catches a rat, priceless.
Did you watch the video?
Nope. I’ve already stated that the best path for NZ would be to make all sheep, beef, pork and chicken (and any other type of animal I’ve missed) farming free range
That would be a massive step forward.
Of course free range must mean free range.
Outdoors.
Veganism causes mental retardation:
https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/www.newshub.co.nz/home/lifestyle/2018/12/veganism-causes-mental-retardation-in-kids-top-danish-doctor-claims.amp.html
You did not watch the film about the animal farming industry.
Until you have the courage to look at it – your opinion is simply shrill and desperate.
Did you read the study about veganism causing mental retardation?
Unless you do you are a biased uninformed leaf eating shrill.
Stalking me again.
Creepy.
This is a discussion forum, Ed. Replying to comments is not stalking and if you don’t want to engage with other commenters, you do not have to.
Equally, you have no right to try to stop them commenting whenever they feel fit. If you post a comment, then folk have the right to reply.
Has all the fat in your arteries cut off the oxygen from your brain jimby?
The film Forks over Knives explains the health benefits of a plant based diet.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/sick-toddlers-parents-charged-for-her-strict-vegan-diet/news-story/65e2d8943184e1f3e798c848ce4d1edf
Whilst I have no issues with people choosing to follow a vegan lifestyle (usually this is done when a person has had a chance to challenge all the information put before them), I’m against people trying to force others to follow it as if there is no other dietary choice. The reality is that this world does not need overlords – especially vegan ones.
I’m not trying to force you to follow a plant based diet.
However I am asking that you actually look at what 21st century industrial farming looks like.
But all of you critics are too scared to confront the reality of what factory farming looks like.
Why lead with this then? “I challenge anyone to condemn me for promoting a plant based diet.” Should you have lead with, “I challenge anyone to support factory farming, after watching this.”
“I challenge anyone to condemn me for promoting a plant based diet.
After watching this 45 minute documentary from the UK.”
Just because he is pro Israel does not make him extreme right.
I would agree he is right rather than centre right. But if you think David is extreme right, then so is Simon Bridges. But maybe that is what you think.
you finally typed something that is correct
“if you think David is extreme right, then so is Simon Bridges.”
Simon Bridges is far right, so is the current lot of all National MP’s, and i would include Bill English, the double dipper from Dipton in that lot too.
There is not one current man or women in the National Party that would not put themselves and Party above Country, Duty and Honor. A bit like the republican lot in the US.
/agreed
The National Party is extreme right-wing.
Bullshit Draco. Extreme right is what we see in the US republicans.
Extreme right are starting to build in Europe also. National is NOT extreme right.
They only seem extreme to you because you are so far left that you’re not even left anymore. Just some weird authoritarian collectivist.
The National party are extreme because their beliefs do no match up with reality.
Me, I’m all for living within the physical limits of the world. Which means to say that I’m not extreme in anyway, shape or form.
The problem that you, like many, is that you think that trying to live within those limits is extreme. And yet, the whole point of the market was actually to bring about living within those limits.
The market is there to restrict use of resources.
I don’t actually think how you think I do and we have more in common that you might realise. Particularly around how finite our resources are and how they need to be utilised.
But you can’t just say “National are extreme right” based upon your own metrics because it doesn’t work that way. They aren’t extreme right by any real political, economic or social methodology that is in common parlance or study. It’s no different to someone on Kiwiblog saying labour are extreme left because they are so far right themselves.
When you or the kiwi blogger say “extreme right/left” what I hear is “I don’t know what words mean”
I have, occasionally, considered that we may be talking past each other.
Reality isn’t my metric – it just is. It has physical constraints that we need to live within and we’re not doing that.
And compared to reality Labour is also extreme right-wing as they’re still following the same failed economics that National follow.
That’s what that article you posted is about. It’s a good article and shows up some of the failings of the economists.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DucIFuBU8AAAsIn.jpg
On a totally different topic but replying here to get your attention…
This might be of interest to you:
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/12/why-do-econ-classes-barely-mention-behavioral-economics/578092/
The question I have is: Why do so many econ students (or anyone else for that matter) not learn about the physical resources that the economy is based upon?
This is most telling point about modern economics that needs to said and repeated:
Modern economics is simply not connected to reality.
This article misses a bit though that may even be far more important than the fact that economics ignores actual human motivations. Modern economics misses the fact that economics is about the availability and distribution of scarce resources.
How much land do we have?
How much of that land can be used to support humanity?
How much is needed to maintain a healthy environment?
These are questions (and others of a similar bent) that modern economics not only doesn’t answer – it doesn’t ask. And so we have nations converting every square in of land to farms and the extinction rate increasing tilting the environment further to outright collapse. We’ve fished up so much fish that the ocean ecology is also close to collapse.
We do this for profit because its supposed to bring about the best outcome and yet all the evidence shows that the profit motive is bringing about the worst possible outcomes. Climate change and ecological collapse has been brought about by the drive for profit and the need to have a growing economy to feed that profit. A growing economy can only come about with a growing population.
All the evidence is that the carrying capacity of the Earth as far as humans go is about two billion. We’re presently at seven and climbing.
Economics, the stuff that the economists and politicians ignore, tells us that we need to live within physical constraints but we’ve gone way past those constraints chasing profit.
hear hear…well expressed
excellent article…well spotted
Somehow that got posted in the wrong place. It was about David Farrar, though I assume most people know that.
As for the comments, well if you think National is extreme far right, then I guess that makes Labour centre right or right.
Labour are Centre right.
National is right wing.
Labour is centrist, and the Green Party’s agreement with them to spend no more than 30% GDP declared their coalition government would be centrist. This is why they could and did include NZ First. They had to in any case to get a majority and that need gives them an excuse for their moderation – which is given again and again to their party members and all those in society who wanted more.
It’s not getting worse under them, it’s going to get better … slowly.
Or they will not go further right, but they will not cross any centre lines moving back to the left at such a slow pace.
How long have I been saying that the Labour Party is right-wing?
Parliamentary expenses and receipts.
Dang !!! That’s a lot of expensive bureaucratic paperwork.
Has been suggested to give out credit cards, which would absolutely cut back processing costs for expenses.
I thought they would already have ministerial credit cards, then I remembered paula bennet, her staff member misused the office credit card.
Can someone clear up my confusion please, as it appears ministerial credit cards are not a new thing, were they scrapped at some stage? Or did they never exist?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/12/66-50-for-coffee-and-eggs-the-huge-cost-of-processing-mps-receipts-revealed.html
Think Shane Jones choice of movies
Government Ministers still have credit cards, Cinny. They have not been scraped.
I don’t have time to go into detail as due out, but here are a couple of links re these Ministerial credit cards. All expenses etc relating to Ministers of the Crown are handled by Ministerial Services, part of the Dept of Internal Affairs.
https://www.dia.govt.nz/Ministers-expense-releases
Actual monthly reports are here –
https://www.dia.govt.nz/pubforms.nsf/wpg_MCCE!OpenView
I actually found that Newshub article confusing and questionable, but don’t have time etc at present to go into detail but MPs who are not Ministers also can claim expenses etc but this is done through Parliamentary Service – not Ministerial Services in DIA.
Parliamentary Service is part of Parliament –
https://www.parliament.nz/en/footer/jobs/parliamentary-service/
https://www.parliament.nz/en/footer/about-us/parliamentary-service/about/who-we-are/
I know there is lots more on how MPs claim expenses etc through Parliamentary Services but must race out. Will try to get back to this later today.
Thanks so very much VV for the links, will have a good read and get my head around it. Much appreciated 🙂
Up north the land of stupid people end their year will all the class one would expect of them.
May the great prevaricator, who takes procrastination to another level, has apparently reduced Corbyn, the great communicator, to whispering to himself “stupid woman” (no recording of this exists, he claims he said “stupid people”).
After recent attempts to pose a vote of no confidence in the PM, but not yet her government, this does not seem credible (the argument that either stupid woman and stupid people were statements of fact is a strong one, and one leads to the other, as these were the people that kept her on as leader of their party).
Apparently because May is a woman, noting that she is stupid while being a woman is seen as a sexist attack, or misogny. This is taking identity politics micro aggression to the next level, and given this is the Tory Party, it is obviously an attempt trying to divert attention from their own reality – May has chosen to delay the vote on her Brexit plan and leave it to the media to run a Brexit with no deal scare campaign over the holiday break to soften up the MP’s before the vote.
All ones eggs in one basket (she has said their will be not be another referendum to over-ride a parliamentary impasse).
So should the deal not get parliamentary approval, Corbyn will propose a vote of no confidence in the government over it facing a no deal Brexit (the media scare campaign will help him in this).
So will posing Corbyn as an anti-semite, and now as a misogynist, save the Tory Party from their own Brexit divisions. May needs the so called “Blairites” (while moderates and the May deal is the middle course between a no deal Brexit and staying in the EU, they mostly prefer going back to a referendum) to vote for the deal for fear of a no deal Brexit if they vote no. Thus the hard-line refusal to go to a referendum is to influence them.
Stupid people are playing chicken on the highway called Brexit in the UK parliament because they claim giving the people another say, is not respecting what they decided last time they were asked. This is a brain dead parliament that reigns as a tyrant for 5 years and treats it subjects for this period of incarceration as fools. Stupid people.
I hope he did it in a cod French accent.
On the face to it, Corbyn has shown himself completely incompetent during the Brexit debates. His standing will have gone down (including among his moderate MP’s), though perhaps not enough to stop him becoming PM at the next election.
However, nothing he has done has either bought an election forward, or will result in a second referendum. He should have been able to achieve one of those.
Instead he has made it more likely May’s deal will get through. Maybe that is what he wants, hence his tactics to date. So an election, whenever it happens, can be fought in clear air.
His policy is to have the May deal fail in parliament.
A sort of alliance between the hard Brexit Tories and those who want a referendum facilitated by having a position based standards for a deal they would support not being met (maybe not possible).
If he is successful, May might resign rather than preside over a no deal Brexit – after all parliament could easily deny consent to a no deal Brexit government being in office.
Corbyn could however choose to play white knight – entice Tories against a no deal Brexit into supporting a parliamentary move to suspend Brexit and call for a new referendum, rather than a new election.
With a May deal, the government takes responsibility – most now favour remain in polls – and the Tory Party divisions (there are as many for a hard Brexit and remain as in favour in their caucus and party membership) are going nowhere. Nor is the Northern Ireland, Scotland and the LD (where will the pro remain Tories and anti Corbyn Blairites go?).
There is no way the Tories can win this game, whatever happens, Corbyn’s Labour has the advantage/all the cards.
While no expert on UK politics, I can’t help think that there is little to gain by acting too forthrightly currently.
Akin to being leader of the opposition.
101 stuff that UK labour or Corbyn haven’t found an answer to. The distraction that sticks
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/dec/19/jeremy-corbyn-accused-of-calling-theresa-may-a-stupid-woman
It may have been better to say yep I said it and here’s why…
I liked this bit: “While May was still in the house, the former Tory chair Patrick McLoughlin asked Bercow to censure Corbyn. “He muttered words which were quite clearly visible, accusing the prime minister of being a ‘stupid woman’,” he said, as MPs shouted “Shame!” and “Disgrace!””
Since the former Tory chair confirms that the words were clearly visible, they will show up on any video recording of Corbyn uttering them, so their inaudibility is no real problem. Sceptics just need to watch the recording to see those words hanging there in the air just after emerging from his mouth…
Guilty of being seen as having a thought crime – which is apparently calling a stupid person, a woman.
Stupid old white man would’ve been fine.
Everyone in the Commons would have looked at each other – the comment could have applied to themselves or the first other man they looked at.
Bercow’s a silly moo.
What he should have said was “I realise honourable members are looking for ways to take offence, and I now wonder whether they’d have preferred it if I’d said – Silly Lady boy, and “I’m offended you are offended just as you will be offended I am offended by you’re being offended”
A concerned school teacher provides a critical take on the issue of transgender children and medical intervention: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2018/12/20/death-by-puberty/
Thanks Philip, an interesting and informative read.
Surprised no one has brought up the Haumaha report.
Would be interesting to hear justification for Ardern not sacking him.
To piss off Chris Basher Bishop christy.
She doesn’t consider the report serious to the point of using it to annoy someone?
Interesting
Well it looks like Hummer’s an arsehole but not a workplace bully christy, and being an arsehole is pretty much de rigueur for high placed smootharse bureaucrats.
A new report (on the Funded Family Care system) commissioned by the Government points to a host of failings, but makes no recommendation for change.
A disability advocate says the report is a waste of time and the Government should simply get on with changes everyone knows are overdue.
There is concern the report will allow the Government to procrastinate.
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter said she expected the government would announce its plans to overhaul the Funded Family Care system in less than a year, but she wouldn’t commit to a specific time-frame nor give away any details. However, she acknowledged affected families have been waiting a long time for justice.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/378613/report-highlights-discriminatory-disabled-care-system
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018676219/disability-advocate-says-new-report-treats-people-as-fools
Lets hope the Government gets their A into G on this one and comes up with a balanced overhaul that will appease concerns.
@Anne and Denis, and probably a few others:
You might be interested in this (as in when the PS started to go tits up with corporatisation):
https://www.bbc.com/news/education-46608818
For those of you with hair and wanting a new image, to present a new younger you what about this:
https://www.dufp.co.nz/headlines
Manus Island – too small and vulnerable to cope as a dumping ground for problems too big for Australia to cope with.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/378215/manus-island-s-social-fabric-broken
Kia ora Newshub One has to expect more accidents with all the exra cars and people in Aotearoa of late and not much investment in the road network in the last few years.
Those are huge hailstones in Australia hope not to many people have been hurt what a mess we have to get use to weather like that.
We need to pay a return on waste to save our wild life and enviroment that poor seal nearly lost its life paying a return on all waste is way cheaper than have to try and pull plastic waste out of the sea the size of the Pacific waste .
Ka pai Mark with your song we built this city on sausagerolls hitting number one in Britain lol
One must be real carefull when working in construction I have heard of some shocking accidents
Rob that’s the way Wellington showing you the aroha for being Maori santa . People in Aotearoa have expect maori are going to show there pride of being a tangata whenua.
Kate Wreck it Ralph will keep the mokopunas happy for a while.
ka kite ano P.S I have to use a new search ap and it has not got spell check loaded yet some one crashed the old one
Eco Maori video for the minute
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAB6aXOfUmU