In terms of holding him accountable for his misdeeds, it means nothing. Because the chances of the senate voting to convict him, or imposing some other sanction short of conviction such as censure, are quite a lot less than your chances of winning Powerball.
In terms of his behaviour, unlike you or I that would find it quite a chastening experience, he will no doubt find it invigorating. You think it's been a shitshow so far? Hold on to your buttocks, you ain't seen nuthin yet.
Is there anyone left in the Republican Party who isn't either self-serving, corrupt or cowardly? Or an exciting blend of all three? Because they seem utterly vile almost to a man. Justin Amash at least had the moral fortitude to leave the GOP and stand as an independent. He must be feeling very lonely these days. Mitch McConnell and friends seem to have quite brazenly indicated they don't give a toss about the Constitution or the wishes of the American people. Their Orange Messiah has manufactured his own reality with its own rules, and those are the rules by which they're determined to play.
There are no absolutes anymore. Reality is the perpetually morphing domain of those who can lie most frequently and most shamelessly.
The dayglo swampzilla has spent the last five years thrashing around like a bull in a china shop with a taser lodged up its ass, and now Pelosi makes a mild attempt to rein him in. But you're suggesting the coming eruptions are Pelosi's fault?
I recently read "And the War came: The North and the Secession Crisis, 1860-61" by Kenneth R. Stamp (formerly Professor of History at Berkeley) about events leading up to the US Civil War and evolution of northern public opinion. Trump could have walked out of its pages.
I'm still interested in your answer to the question below. I've asked you at least four times before, you evaded it the first time and ghosted the rest.
Do you think it's OK for the president to withhold Congress approved and taxpayer funded aid to try to extort a foreign country into smearing a political opponent of the president?
If I can push in here..I think there are people who would say its not an egregious enough accusation to warrant the risk of leaving Trump even more electable.
I would also question why, if the accusations are true, not to mention 'Russiagate' Pelosi etc are so willing to tick off Trumps latest military spending requests.
Let alone his laws around increased surveillance.
I guess Trump and Pelosi etc have some common ground..
<blockquote>
If Republicans are supposed to worry about the United States bankrupting itself with social-welfare spending, aren’t Democrats supposed to worry about the United States bankrupting itself with military spending? Not anymore. In the run-up to the deal, Nancy Pelosi’s office fired off an email to House Democrats proclaiming that, “In our negotiations, Congressional Democrats have been fighting for increases in funding for defense.” Chuck Schumer’s office announced that, “We fully support President Trump’s Defense Department’s request.” Not all congressional Democrats voted for the budget agreement: <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/115-2018/h69" rel="nofollow ugc">Thirty-eight percent of Democrats</a> backed it in the House and <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/115-2018/s31" rel="nofollow ugc">76 percent</a> did in the Senate. But even those who voted no mostly did so because they were upset about its lack of protection for immigrant “dreamers”—not because they oppose a higher defense budget. Last year, in fact, when Democrats were offered a standalone vote on big increases in military spending—in the form of <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/14/house-passes-defense-policy-bill-240561" rel="nofollow ugc">House</a> and <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2017/09/18/us-senate-passes-budget-busting-700-billion-ndaa/" rel="nofollow ugc">Senate</a> defense authorization bills—large majorities in both bodies voted yes.
</blockquote>
Russian interference came from Russia. Members of the dolt45 campaign tried to collude in that, but failed because they were incompetent. And it all happened before he was president, and nobody other than the Russians were using state resources or authority.
While the Ukraine thing is a clear case of an elected official using their public powers in order to obtain private political favours from a foreign power. No grey area, no complexity about servers or analytics: dolt45 withheld state aid to the Ukraine and requested a sham investigation against his political opponent before he released the funds. By his own admission, and the admission of multiple administration officials with direct or documentary knowledge of the conversation.
The Mueller report couldn't establish a conspiracy between Trump-Russia. There are no ifs or buts about it.
The Ukraine thing is even more tenuous as one of the star witnesses himself agreed with the Trump transcript and the other one admitted it was his own assumption there was a quid pro quo without evidence of one.
Do you think it's OK for the president to withhold Congress approved and taxpayer funded aid to try to extort a foreign country into smearing a political opponent of the president?
The Mueller report couldn't establish a conspiracy between Trump-Russia. There are no ifs or buts about it.
How does that contradict what I wrote?
The Ukraine thing is even more tenuous as one of the star witnesses himself agreed with the Trump transcript and the other one admitted it was his own assumption there was a quid pro quo without evidence of one.
Have you read the transcript of the July call? The one where Zelensky asks about getting Javelins for defense, and the orange piece of shit says "I would like you to do us a favor though" and starts requesting the Ukrainians open an investigation ranging across a number of issues, including that Guiliani will be his representative to the Ukrainians and "There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great."
And that's the whitehouse's own transcript. But you still regurgitate no evidence of quid pro quo.
It sounds like you're saying there was attempted collusion, and I'm just letting you know the investigation into it couldn't find any.
The bulk of the Ukraine transcript is centred on the goings on and the investigating of Ukraine. The javelins are mentioned once and I think the Bidens are too. To make a case that it is actually about doing a deal on either of those things when they are mentioned in passing is quite frankly stupid.
It's the tRump White House version of a phone call they rushed to bury in highly classified storage usually reserved for information about covert operations and other sensitive intelligence actions, not a transcript.
re: attempted collusion: yeah, nah. These guys said it better at the time. There were multiple attempts by the orange oaf's campaign to get electoral assistance from the Russians.
And if I say "do what I say or I kill your dog", even once, that's still a crime. The dude was literally asked about the congress-assigned military aid and answered with a request for a personal "favour". Even if he only did it once (lol) it's still a crime.
The A to Z framing is cheesy and limiting it to 26 means a lot has been left out. But it's still a useful reminder of how much the Mango Mugabe has gotten away with and almost certainly won't be held accountable for.
Are you coming to or travelling through Motueka these holidays? Us locals have a couple of unwritten rules…..
Don't turn right into High Street – You'll be waiting for ages.
If you see someone struggling to cross the road or exit a drive way, please stop for them and let them pass. You'll be rewarded with friendly waves and smiles and you'll still arrive at your destination on time. Thanks 🙂
Someone intoning about safety on the roads on radio this morning (in a foreign accent – Canadian I think one less job for a born NZer). Realistic xenophobia!
The message is that proposals and actions to bring the 'road toll' down must take a holistic approach, not just acting on one aspect. Cinny brings up the courtesy approach, the realisation that there are other people out there trying to do things too. Taking a community of the road approach would be very helpful in reducing stress when getting around. Pedestrians understand that they need to do what we used to teach toddlers to do, look right, left, then right again, and perhaps give a wave to drivers who stop. Drivers could slow more often when they observe others near the road, could toot to alert people who aren't paying attention. They could slow when approaching a narrow piece of road, to ensure safe transit in each lane, and give a wave as acknowledgment to other thoughtful and careful drivers.
We all tend to feel like 'King of the Road' and busy with our own duties, ignoring other drivers. So we could act graciously like the Kings and Queens we’ve observed, smiling and waving when appropriate. And find it appropriate on a regular basis.
We are having to slow to 80 km with the roads are jammed with traffic, which is also the same speed that the behemoth trucks can travel at so driving may involve staring at the rear of a truck for the whole journey. Or at another passenger vehicle with windows at a higher level, so they too will block out most of the view ahead. So we had better keep safe distances behind because you lose your opportunity to 'read' conditions ahead and so be forced to brake hard and fast in reaction to the moving wall ahead of you.
No worries though deaths and injuries will go down as soon we will have so many people on the roads we'll be in an eternal queue lucky to move forward at 20 kmh.
"Someone intoning about safety on the roads on radio this morning (in a foreign accent – Canadian I think one less job for a born NZer). Realistic xenophobia!"
Really, Grey? You think we should sack our Associate Minister of Transport, Julie Anne Genter, because she is American-born and replace her with someone NZ born?
Really? Who do you think should replace her? Yourself?
I am 99% sure you are referring to JAG's interview with Kathryn Ryan on RNZ Nine to Noon at 0908 this morning on the Government's new multi-billion dollar road safety plan aimed at cutting road deaths by 40 per cent by 2030. Genter announced the plan, called Road to Zero, yesterday. Earlier in the week she announced roadside drug testing would be rolled out from 2021.
Regardless of where she was born, I would rate Genter's past experience and qualifications light miles ahead of yours – or most other people's including other MPs of whatever hue, birthplace, or political party – for the job of Minister or Associate Minister for transportation generally, and in particular economically sustainable and environmental friendly roading and road safety.
Genter would be our most qualified Transport minister in decades. They train em well in that US of A. Glad to have one of their citizens contributing here rather than just buying up land.
Funny thing is on the Kapiti main road they sometimes closed down the passing lanes when traffic was heavy. Surprisingly the traffic flowed more evenly and accidents were fewer. I accept that motorways built for heavier traffic can flow at say 120kph safely. The 3 lane highway from Dubai to El Ain has a fast lane without interruption where locals travel at speeds greater than 150kph. (Limit supposed to be 120kph.)
Looks like the Spanish are flying under the radar, having become the world's leading practitioners of postmodern politics without getting the credit for it. I read what No Right Turn reported on the EU contradicting Spain's govt, did a hunt through likely websites to discover what that govt actually is, and found that the actual existence of that govt seems to depend on which source of info you read. Another Schrodinger's Cat situation.
Anyway, the baddies are the social democrats (or, socialist workers) who have been preventing an elected Catalan from taking his seat in the European parliament. Why would anyone expect a bunch of leftists to respect the will of the people? Postmodern thinking rules, and state compulsion is very addictive.
Re. "Why would anyone expect a bunch of leftists to respect the will of the people ?"
Having hitched around Spain the year before Franco died and seen the Gardia Civil in full riot gear marching away from an overwhelming crowd of Basque men and women in San Sebastian I am confident that "a bunch of leftists" would probably respect the will of the people. Catalonia has its own troubled past with forensic archaeologists now re-examining old sites.
A new generation should be left to resolve their own problems in peace rather than succumb to a patronizing antipodean analysis.
The formation of a government in Spain is almost complete.
PSOE and Podemos have already agreed a deal and a government with a majority in parliament is likely to be agreed before xmas, though it is possible this might be delayed until January.
Power tends to corrupt etc. I noticed that Ms Dalziel was revealed as being prepared to get more than a 'little help from my friends'. John Minto keeps an eye out for this sort of thing. He stood for Mayor himself didn’t he?
Her husband was in question about some matter a few months back. Being a lawyer, or being close to one of the right sort, seems to be important to modern politics. The age of people fired with dreams of a better country and better living conditions and opportunities for the people saw action men and women step up and look to the country. Now pollies sit in a circle and play Pass the Parcel and watch each other for cheating, and sneaking goodies, on the sly, out of the Parcel while passing.
I met a lawyer I know and asked him how he was, told him not to work too hard (he takes on difficult criminal cases), and said don't be like Greg King. He admitted he had a bad spell after one case. That's not the sort of lawyer I referred to above. Rumpole of the Bailey dealing with the hoi polloi isn't generally where the money and power is.
"Now pollies sit in a circle and play Pass the Parcel and watch each other for cheating, and sneaking goodies, on the sly, out of the Parcel while passing."
Up to 100 litres of wastewater and raw sewage a second is pouring into the Wellington harbour after a wastewater pipe collapsed in the CBD.
Listening to Australia's sudden jump into Climate Change horror, it would pay us to taihoa somewhat and perhaps sack our politicians, and set up an emergency government of scientists and leaders with lists of needs which then would be prioritised and costed, and amortised over ten years, and reviewed and done. Treasury could be asked for how our position in the world financial system could be held stable and our currency gradually deflated by a constant stream of carefully picked negative news. Economic advice would come from BERL and another. We might also set up a visa system for entry to this country, and ensure that all tourists should at least be a positive return to the country if not a profit. Dairy farmers would be taxed on each animal, that money to go towards remediation of waterways. Obviously the heavily stocked would have to pay more. Etc. We might get somewhere on our plan for survival under 'best practice' instead of having this political theatre of the absurd we have paraded every day.
Seems sensible and wise by the NZ authority. But wait, there’s more. Too much wisdom isn’t allowed any more, in our society with an unregulated zeitgeist.
After much declaration of the reliability and safety of the practice established in NZ of babies lying flat this is the final sentence:
‘The Unsafe Goods Notice will remain in force for the next 18 months.’
"With this slavish commitment to the automobile, the country’s political class has demonstrated its near-total moral incapacity. New Zealand’s claim to be taking Climate Change seriously stands exposed as utter bullshit."
"The thing is, we were expecting her commitment to amount to something more than the well-meaning but toothless Zero Carbon Act. Something like announcing a completely new, wider-gauge, electrified, national rail network. An infrastructure programme that would allow New Zealand to replicate the ultra-fast trains that move people around Europe, China and Japan. Something to put the greenhouse-gas pumping road transport industry out to pasture. Something more than a plan to build roads, roads and more roads.
Something to make young and old alike exclaim, at least one more time: “Let’s do this!”
We don't need to convert the current Cape gauge/ 3ft 6" to a wider gauge aka Standard gauge.
What needs to happen to NZ Railways is to fix up the loading gauge (and something else which I've forgotten atm), which will increase the speed and weight of fully loaded trains and for example the old Standard Railcars which operated throughout the Nth Island of which there are about 2-3 left for mainline operations now days can only be used on about 20% to 30% of Nth Island rail network compere to the 1930's until there replacements later on.
Most of the rail network alignment is still built when Steam Loco's were King of the Rails and again fixing up the alignment to for the more modern Loco's would allow for faster and heavily trains on the network.
We only need to look at Qld which is the same gauge as NZ's network at what could be done to NZ's network IRT to freight and High Speed Passenger Tilt Trains for both Regional/ Inter City and Urban networks.
There is so much potential in KiwiRail, even though a lot of land was sold off by Government prior to privatisation and under privatisation which restricted growth in some areas of the network which has hampered further investment.
A lot of people have forgotten there was a petrol ration during WW2 which lasted until the early to mid 50's and just imaging a 15% cut or greater to POL products if a major conflict broke out in the Middle East or in the South China Sea? The only reason that NZ kept producing goods was the Railways and the MN aka Coastal Shipping with the Trucking Firms restricted to the Ports or the various Rail depots to places that weren't serviced by ships or by the railways.
I wasnt overly concerned with the specifics of CTs piece (i.e. wider gauge or high speed) but rather the thrust of the fact we have rhetoric around CC and having just announced a relaxation of BR we are wasting (imo) that infrastructure spend on locking in high carbon infrastructure for the long term,,,as CT bemoans there is a huge gap between the rhetoric and the capability and its only being filled by the PMs personal appeal.
A review of practical coalition politics in respect of aspirations & achievements. No revelations but reassuring inasmuch as they seem sure of themselves and confident looking ahead…
An important moment: Christianity Today, the key evangelical magazine founded by Billy Graham, calls for Trump's impeachment, describing him as "a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused."https://t.co/qdnzUu9Wc1
The great social anthropologist Noah Way, at the end of a long and tireless search has found in the USA the remnants of a sect of the ancient Christian religion which has continued to exist in as near to the fount of its beliefs as was possible.
This has emerged from its recent announcement about the depravity of the secular head of the country who, with his cohorts, often espouses religious beliefs in an attempt to hide his false worship of The Golden Calf and Mammon.
Mammon /ˈmæmən/ in the New Testament of the Bible is commonly thought to mean money, material wealth, or any entity that promises wealth, and is associated with the greedy pursuit of gain. … Mammon in Hebrew (ממון) means "money". https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Mammon
The Golden Calf – The story of the golden calf is widely regarded as one of the most disgraceful moments in Jewish history. In Exodus, chapters 31-32, the Torah tells how three months after leaving Egypt, and a mere 40 days after receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, the Jewish people created an idol and worshipped it.
Sorry the Image is too large – but it is Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard who is currently a candidate for President. She cravenly was the only Representative to vote "Present" on one of the votes for Impeachment in the House.
Scomo apologises and returns to Oz while confessing his fundamental uselessness by saying "I don't hold a hose". Expect plenty of bluff and hearty but sentimental outpourings from him in coming days. Nothing will be done. That benighted country will have to cook for another decade or two – or at least until there are mass deaths, before the grip of the Scomotypes is loosened.
(A ‘Scomotype’ is the opposite of a prototype – instead of being something you hope will work, it’s something you already know will fail)
What did his hose comment indicate? I thought he would be making jocular statements about all the male politicians rushing out to do their bit on the fires, and sending up women as useless as usual in fire emergencies!
We were discussing this the other day…the past is a foreign country.
We had 2 weeks annual leave, often taken over xmas new year because the business shut down for xmas…we had home ownership savings accounts you needed to be contributing to for years before you could even apply for a mortgage,,credit was difficult and expensive to obtain…mortgages at 20%… old/second hand was typical and expected when young…
Having said that the maximum term of a mortgage was 20 years (except HNZ which did 24 years) and I cringe when I see the size of the mortgages my children are signing up to (for 30 years)..and theres a good chance the house they bought is a going to fall down around their ears or be worthless because its leaky…and the environment wasnt collapsing (well it was but we didnt know)
the past was indeed a different country, where a house was only 3 times the median income and prices were stable. before property investment/ speculation/ hoarding/ rent-seeking became a national religion
yep…not disputing any of that…but am acknowledging I think I can view it from both perspectives…the fact is there are pluses and minuses to both regimes…and its easy to see what makes the whole neo-liberal project so seductive
You must remember I grew up in a world where half the people in my neighbourhood were where white collar and half were blue…the difference was negligible…not so now
That gives time to write into the Honourable Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi and give him some bullet points about your opinions. Enlarge on them below, but then he might not have time to read lots after the hols. k.faafoi@ministers. govt.nz
For groaning under the weight of being force-fed taxpayer subsidy, only the arts and sport get as good a subsidy as broadcasting does here. In terms of nutritious content though it's up there with Frosties.
If they're so intent on handing out public subsidies for non-MSM media, they should start with The Standard and Scoop. The public would then get a better shot at public policy debate than TVNZ and TV3 and MTV put together.
talking to a onetime MP today. They said they never rated the journos. After the nonsensical dead heat between Jacinda Ardern and Bridjizz it seems the right time to do so. How a liteweight like katy bradfod can get away with that defies the imagination. time to get to work on these pin heads who think their own shit doesn't stink.
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Stand Clear! Winston Peters is encouraging voters to think of RNZ as belonging to “The Media Party”. He wants them to see it as a politically partisan institution with its own, vicious attack-dogs in the electoral fight. If he succeeds, it will be, and probably should be, the end of ...
"You're going to need a longer runway" Gratton et al explore the ongoing effects of upward-creeping temperatures on aviation in Greece in the period since 1955 at a range of airports in that country. For longer runways impacts are measurable but with little impact on operations. For airports with shorter runways, ...
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...
Former National Party chief whip Jami-Lee Ross is one of the four people charged over National's multiple fraudulent donations. How unsurprising. Meanwhile, just days ago National leader Simon Bridges was trying to pretend the charges were nothing to do with his party. Yeah, right. When your chief whip effectively publicly ...
If you've been watching FYI for a while, you'll have noticed that the police have a bad habit of demanding ID from requesters. They have apparently been repeatedly told to stop doing this by the Ombudsman, but we all know what law enforcement thinks of the law, so thye keep ...
Collateral Damage: For the Green Phoenix to be reborn, the funeral pyre so patiently assembled by its identity politicians over the course of many fractious years – but with growing intensity over the past three – first has to be ignited. The terrible probability, of course, is that, in setting ...
If you follow politics in New Zealand you've likely noticed that the right wing have been going on and on about the Coalition Government failing to reduce poverty. In fact they’ve been incessantly claiming, in the absence of any conclusive data, that poverty has been getting worse.Yesterday, NewstalkZB reported:Mike Hosking: ...
The Herald reported over the weekend that an Auckland business owner is being targeted with asset forfeiture laws over a workplace death:A workplace fatality has seen police use a law usually associated with drugs and organised crime to seize millions of dollars in assets from a business owner because of ...
Just days after talking about how people feel "squeezed" and promising tax and service cuts as a "solution", National is talking about cancelling a rise in the minimum wage if elected: National is considering scrapping the Government's planned minimum wage increase if it wins this year's election, the party's finance ...
Nobody thinks about the next century anymore. That at least is Sci-Fi writer William Gibson’s observation (in this BBC 4 short interview, starting at 1:43:50 ). He calls it “Futures Fatigue”, but isn’t judgemental about it. Gibson notes that in the 20th century speculation about the 21st (and beyond) was common. Now ...
A Labour government desperate for the numbers crawls into bed with Winston Peters. Winston ignores the law and secretly takes money under the table from someone. When it is exposed just months out from an election, he is investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. That's what happened back in 2008. ...
So the Serious Fraud Office has another secret $100,050 National Party donation before the Courts in a major scandal that looks set to quash any chances Simon Bridges had of winning the 2020 election.Yesterday, Newsroom reported:The Serious Fraud Office prosecution of four people over donations to the National Party involves ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Iceberg twice the size of Washington, D.C., breaks off Pine Island glacier in Antarctica Story Highlights: The Pine Island ...
Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanHousing policy is building up to be the key election issue again. In this blog I reflect on the importance of the role of the New Zealand Government in improving access to affordable housing. I look at what the Government has been doing to increase quality public housing ...
Writing on The Spinoff, Danyl Mclauchlan argues that we have a vacuum in our political system, in that there is no longer an anti-establishment party anymore:I think there’s a vacuum in our political system. There are obvious problems with the status quo but no real critics offering reform. It’s a ...
Stuff today has a piece about the government discovering it has been oversubsidising polluters for a decade under the Emissions Trading scheme:The Government is pledging to urgently fix an issue within the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), after it emerged some polluters are likely being over-compensated with taxpayer-funded carbon credits. [...] ...
The Marlborough District Council, tired of public scrutiny, wants to increase the amount it charges for LGOIMA requests:The cost of requesting official information from Marlborough's government agency could almost double after a jump in "fishing expeditions". Charges could be raised from $60 to $100 an hour for information supplied by ...
When Winston Peters was caught money laundering donations and stalking journalists, the Greens were conspicuous by their silence. It was another example of how getting along with their government partners was eroding their values and their own reputation. It was obviously unsustainable, and so now James Shaw has finally spoken ...
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...
With over 69,000 confirmed cases and 1,600 deaths, here’s your round-up of the latest coronavirus news. New disease and virus have now officially been named On the 11th February, the WHO Director General announced a new name for the disease: COVID-19 which is short for coronavirus disease 2019. The naming ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 9, 2020 through Sat, Feb 15, 2020 Editor's Pick ANALYSIS-Climate change opens up 'frontier' farmland, but at what cost to the planet?Climate change could expand farmland globally by ...
After cross-examination Jones knew he would lose the defamation case he took against film maker Renae Maihi. That’s why he threw in the towel. The weight of evidence was clearly against the old tycoon with the defense presenting fifty articles to confirm Jones’ racist views.Being unable to harass somebody into ...
Sprung! Former NZ First president, Lester Gray, chats with RNZ's Guyon Espiner in the carpark of a Tauranga shopping centre.(Photo supplied anonymously to NZ First and The BFD.)IT’S CLEAR THAT an important aspect of Jacinda Ardern’s political success is her willingness to seek – and take – advice. This ...
Ruth Cunningham, Charlotte Paul, Andrew MoorePublic health responses to infectious diseases such as COVID-19 require us to draw on our common humanity and be explicit about our values. Recognising this will help us make good decisions in difficult situations so that, for example, the need to impose restrictive measures ...
The Helen Clark Foundation has released its report on the housing crisis, and found that house-hoarders are to blame for it:Property investors are to blame for New Zealand's high house prices, a new research paper published by the Helen Clark Foundation says. [...] McArthur said previous attempts to address housing ...
The Abortion Legislation Committee has reported back on the Abortion Legislation Bill and recommended that it be passed with some amendments. Unfortunately, the latter include even more hoops to jump through for those seeking abortions after 20 weeks, including a time-wasting requirement to consult a second doctor. No-one casually seeks ...
Brexit is likely to be a disaster for the UK (how sad, never mind). But now that they're out of the EU, the latter has finaly taken the opportunity to blacklist one of their key tax havens:The Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, is to be put on an EU ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, New Zealand First Deputy Leader A total delivery of 2,000 new Police Officers has been achieved. New Zealand First Deputy Leader, Fletcher Tabuteau attended the latest police graduation of Recruit Wing 335 in Porirua today. Mr Tabuteau said, “Increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one of ...
Taupō District mayor David Trewavas has welcomed today’s announcement from regional economic development minister Shane Jones outlining $5.87m of funding for the re-development of the Taupō Airport. The bulk of the investment ($5 million) will come from the Provincial Growth Fund, while the rest will be from the New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has defended multi-million dollar provincial growth fund money for Northland water storage. The New Zealand First leader, along with Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones, were recently in Dargaville to announce up to $12.745 million PGF funding top-up for water storage initiatives in the ...
One of our most immediate priorities upon forming Government was to get people out of sleeping in cars, garages, or on the street and into safe and warm housing. Since then, we've made major progress towards breaking the cycle of homelessness, including expanding Housing First, building more state houses, and ...
Kids learn better with a full stomach. That's why we launched our Lunches in Schools programme, which is already providing free and healthy school lunches to thousands of children so they can focus on what's important - learning. ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland This afternoon to a crowd of over 100 people in Mataura -- Mark Patterson, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland launched a parliamentary petition regarding the aluminium dross issue in Mataura, Southland. The petition asks that the ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Finance, Fletcher Tabuteau has welcomed Statistics New Zealand’s latest report as a timely reminder of the value that this Coalition Government brings to every day New Zealanders: “This Coalition Government has meant a ...
Today New Zealand First made a pledge to campaign at the election to fund St John Ambulance the 90 per cent it has asked for. Government funding would allow St. John’s to achieve fully funded status. Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters publicly declared his determination to deliver ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order Newly released Police data shows once again the number of fleeing drivers have continued to skyrocket with a record 512 incidents occurring in December – almost tripling the number of incidents occurring just ten years ago, says New Zealand First Law and ...
While the Provincial Growth Fund has provided $2 million to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia, Regional Economic Minister Shane Jones said he is greatly concerned that there are “issues” in implementing the projects. The Minister said the immediate solution was to pipe water from a bore ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland NZ First is calling on Rio Tinto to accept its responsibilities to the Southland community and enable the immediate removal of the toxic Aluminium Dross from the Mataura Paper Mill site. New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland, Mark Patterson ...
The Coalition Government has announced that a further $500,000 will be given to help residents in Southland and Otago to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. It follows prior government assistance of $200,000 earlier this month where the Southland Mayoral Relief Fund received $100,000 to support communities impacted by ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones was on RNZ’s Morning Report talking about the recent droughts in the Northland region and what the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is doing to alleviate its impact. The PGF recently announced a funding of $2 million for temporary water supplies to Kaikohe and Kaitaia, ...
Speaking to The Country’s Jamie Mackay, New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Shane Jones talks water storage, plant-based meat imitation, and superstar Hollywood director James Cameron. While water storage may have its critics, Minister Jones defended the scheme by saying: “unless we invest and continue to invest” in this ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones is accusing northern iwi leaders of selling out Māori by voting for ideologically-driven court cases rather than practical steps to increase water supply. “I just think that iwi leaders who think that water issues are going to be solved by perpetually fighting in the ...
A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...
Customs says it stopped more than three tonnes of illegal drugs coming into New Zealand last year. This includes 1,180kg of methamphetamine, 329kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine precursors, which could have been converted into 246kg of methamphetamine, 739kg and 6469 pills of MDMA or Ecstasy and 60kg of cocaine. Offshore, ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Up to $2 million will be allocated from the Provincial Growth Fund to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia where drought is biting hard, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Drought conditions in Northland have led to ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
A milestone has been reached with the graduation of more than 2,000 new Police officers since the Coalition Government took office in October 2017. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation today of Wing 335 marks a surge of 2,023 new officers, and coincides with some significant breakthroughs against organised ...
Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister, Kris Faafoi, and the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins, have welcomed a new cyber security qualification as a step towards countering cyber threats and keeping New Zealanders safe. Attending the launch of the new Level 6 Diploma of Cyber Security at Auckland’s Unitec Institute ...
Government Ministers today celebrated 20 years of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park/ Ko te Pataka kai o Tikapa Moana/ Te Moananui a Toi, and recognise there is much to celebrate and so much more to do to give nature a helping hand. Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said “New Zealanders care deeply about nature.I want to ...
Prepared remarks on coronavirus by Finance Minister Grant Robertson to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and Massey University. Good morning ladies and gentlemen, The topic of this speech is the Budget 2020 priorities. But, given the considerable interest that I imagine is in the room about COVID-19 coronavirus, I do ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira ma. Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Ni sa bula vinaka. Namaste Thank you Shamima, Hon. Minister Vuniwaqa, community leaders and Women’s Crisis Centre staff for your warm welcome. It’s an honour and privilege to officially ...
The Government has released a comprehensive response to ensuring New Zealanders get a fairer deal at the petrol pump. This follows the Commerce Commission fuel market study which found motorists were paying more than they should for petrol and includes: Fuel Market Bill drafting, to pass mid-year Industry consultation in ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira ma Tēnā koutou katoa Ni sa bula vinaka As-salaam alaikum It is a privilege to be here today. Thank you for welcoming us to your house of prayer. Thank you for your warmth. Thank you for greeting ...
Taupō Airport is to be upgraded and expanded through a $5.9 million Government funding boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. “Taupō Airport is the gateway to the Central North Island. It is essential for both keeping local people and businesses connected, but also to bring more people ...
The Minister of Housing Megan Woods has confirmed the Government is working with Rotorua Lakes District Council and Te Arawa for the second place-based assessment to better understand the housing and urban issues affecting the city. “Every New Zealander has a right to a warm, safe and secure place to ...
19 new community homes (in addition to 14 opened in December) delivered in Takanini, Auckland 500 people housed by CORT Housing Trust by end of March 2,290 new public housing homes delivered in Auckland (November 2017 – December 2019). Another nineteen new public housing homes are being delivered in Auckland, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker met today with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to discuss ways to strengthen ties between New Zealand and India. “India is a priority relationship for New Zealand. We share common democratic traditions, growing two-way trade, extensive people-to-people links, ...
Speech to the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) Delhi, India Wednesday 26 February 2020 [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] The Indo-Pacific: from principles to partnerships Distinguished guests, good afternoon and thank you for your invitation. It is good to be here at a time where New Zealand needs less of an introduction than ...
Tihei mauri ora Te Whare e tu nei Te Papa e takoto Tēnā korua No reira tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa Ni sa bula Vinaka It is a real pleasure to be here today, and to have the honour of addressing you all. If you’ll indulge me I’m ...
Improved air quality to support better health and environmental wellbeing is the focus of proposed amendments to air quality regulations, says the Associate Minister for the Environment, Hon Nanaia Mahuta. “Although our air quality is good in most places, during winter certain places have spikes in air pollution, mainly from ...
The remote eastern Bay of Plenty community of Raukokere will receive a Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment of $10.6 million for a water storage facility, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “This is great news for the rural community. The landowner, Te Whānau a Maruhaeremuri Hapū Trust, will use ...
The Lake Ōkaro lakebed has transferred to Te Arawa Lakes Trust, Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis joined Te Arawa at Te Papaiōuru Marae in Rotorua to celebrate the reinstatement of Te Arawa Lakes Trust as a key decision maker over the bed ...
New legislation is being proposed which aims to reduce the stress and financial hardship caused by late payments to small businesses. The Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash is considering stricter rules around payment practices between businesses. “Late payments from large organisations to smaller suppliers can be crippling for these ...
A new partnership programme between the New Zealand Police and Fiji Police will focus on combatting transnational organised crime and enhancing investigative skills, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on the first day of her visit to Fiji. The programme will see: · New Zealand Institute of Environmental Science and Research ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama met today in Suva, and renewed their commitment to continue to strengthen Fiji-New Zealand relations on a foundation of shared values and equal partnership. The Prime Ministers acknowledged the kinship between Fijians and New Zealanders, one that has endured over ...
A $19.9 million investment from the Provincial Growth Fund will help develop essential infrastructure for an industrial hub in the Bay of Plenty town of Kawerau, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “The funding will go to three projects to further develop the Putauaki Trust Industrial Hub, an industrial ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing $8.3 million on a roading package for Mahia that will lead to greater and wider economic benefits for the region and beyond, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced at an event in Mahia today. The $8.3 million announced consists of: $7 ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed new reporting showing the Coalition Government is on track to meet its child poverty targets, with 18,400 children lifted out of poverty as a result of the Families Package. Stats NZ has released the first set of comprehensive child poverty statistics since the Government ...
Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter today announced that Bikes in Schools facilities have been rolled out to 20,000 more kiwi kids under this Government. She made the announcement at the opening of a new bike track at Henderson North School in Auckland. “Bikes in Schools facilities give kids ...
Benefit settings rise in line with wages as of 1 April Main benefits will increase by over 3 percent, instead of 1.66 percent, on 1 April with the Government’s decision to annually adjust benefit rates to increases in the average wage. The Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni, said ...
Strengthening New Zealand’s political and business ties with India will be the focus of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters’ and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker’s visit to India this week. The Ministers are co-leading a high level business delegation to India to support increased people and economic engagement ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio continues to champion for greater Pacific participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers with the announcement of the Toloa Awards, with 8 recipients of the Toloa Community Fund and 13 Toloa Tertiary Scholarships. “The Toloa Programme encourages more Pacific peoples ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has extended the date for people to have their say on proposed changes to improve management of whitebait across New Zealand. Submissions were due to close on 2 March 2020 but will now remain open until 9am on Monday 16 March 2020. “I have ...
The endangered toroa/Antipodean albatross has new international protection for its 100,000km annual migration, thanks to collaborative efforts led by New Zealand, Australia and Chile. Today, 130 countries agreed to strictly protect Antipodean albatross at the Conference of Parties on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild ...
No sales to under-18-year-olds No advertising and sponsorship of vaping products and e-cigarettes No vaping or smokeless tobacco in smokefree areas Regulates vaping product safety comprehensively, - including devices, flavours and ingredients Ensure vaping products are available for those who want to quit smoking Vaping regulation that balances ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little will travel to Berlin tomorrow to represent New Zealand at a high-level summit on nuclear disarmament. This year, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) celebrates 50 years since it entered into force. “New Zealand’s proud record and leadership on nuclear disarmament is unwavering, so it’s important we are present ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will visit two of New Zealand’s most important Pacific partners, Fiji and Australia, next week. The visit to Fiji will be the first by a New Zealand Prime Minister in four years and comes during the 50th anniversary of Fijian independence and diplomatic relations between our ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little and New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball, have today announced the appointment of the Chief Commissioner of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the location, and the membership of the Establishment Advisory Group. Colin Carruthers QC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of the CCRC for an ...
Māori Development Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Agriculture Minister Hon Damien O’Connor co-announced the first horticultural finalists for the Ahuwhenua Trophy celebrating excellence in the Māori agricultural sector. The three finalists are Ngai Tukairangi Trust from Mt Maunganui, Otama Marere Trust from Tauranga, and Hineora Orchard Te Kaha 15B Ahuwhenua ...
A new kete of resources to strengthen support for students with dyslexia will provide extra tools for the new Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs) as they start in schools, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The Minister launched the kete in Wellington this morning, at the first of three induction ...
The Government continues to make progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the First Reading of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill and its referral to the Social Services and Community Select Committee. “Now is the opportunity for landlords, tenants and others who want ...
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Hon James Marape will visit New Zealand from 21-25 February, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “New Zealand and Papua New Guinea have a warm and friendly relationship. I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Marape here and strengthening the relationship between our two countries,” ...
Thousands of children have begun receiving a free lunch on every day of the school week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. The Government’s free and healthy school lunch programme is under way for 7,000 students at 31 schools in Hawke’s Bay / Tairāwhiti and Bay of Plenty / Waiariki, extending ...
The Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni today announced a new approach that continues to broaden the Government’s social sector focus from a narrow, investment approach to one centred on people and wellbeing. Minister Sepuloni said redefining the previous approach to social investment by combining science, data and lived experience ...
The Government is strengthening the Protected Disclosures Act to provide better protection for whistle blowers, Minister of State Services Chris Hipkins said today. “The Protected Disclosures Act is meant to encourage people to speak up about serious wrongdoing in the workplace and protect them from losing their jobs or being ...
Nǐn hǎo (Hello in Mandarin). Xīn Nián Kuài Lè (Happy New Year in Mandarin) Néi Hóu (Hello in Cantonese). Sun Nin Fai Lok (Happy New Year in Cantonese) Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Thank you for your invitation to attend this celebration today. I would like to acknowledge ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve Braunias.Fiction 1 The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox (Victoria University Press, $35) ReadingRoom broke the storydetailing how Knox’s novel was fought over by US publishers in a ...
Sky Sport News presenters Kate King and Goran Paladin deliver the latest news of Kiwi sporting women at home and around the globe. *WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE* Hurdler Portia Bing has reinvented herself in a bid to make the Tokyo Olympics and take another step towards putting last year's disqualification at ...
Embarrassingly for the Department of Conservation, a scheduled ministerial announcement last year was postponed. David Williams reports A much-delayed project to better protect the Mackenzie Basin’s stunning landscapes and bolster biodiversity has a new boss. In the 2018 Budget, Conservation and Lands Minister Eugenie Sage announced $2.6 million to find ...
Trying to reduce drownings - and bring on a new generation of surfers - the Wave Warriors teach kids from low-decile schools water safety wrapped in a surf lesson. Eight-year-old Athena Talavai is less than half the height of the surfboard she’s expected to stand on, and probably only a quarter of the weight. She ...
The decision to give Ihumātao the highest heritage listing available sends a strong signal to the Government and Auckland Council, write Dr Frances Hancock and Nicola Short Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (HNZPT) has upgraded the heritage listing of the Ōtuataua Stonefields Reserve and included adjacent and long-contested land at ...
If Simon Bridges manages to pull off an election victory, his next headache will be choosing his Cabinet from a somewhat uninspiring line-up, writes Peter Dunne Every election year there is a call to use the election as a chance to refresh Parliament and get rid of at least some ...
An anonymous Department of Conservation staff member, who wishes to be known only as the Carefree Vigilante, provides a handy guide to dealing with menstruation, and menstrual products, in the wild.This post was first published on the Department of Conservation blog.I’ve got six or seven rational fears and about 900 ...
There is a surge of cases of the virus outside China. Australia says it expects Covid-19 to turn into a global pandemic. We cannot afford to panic in New Zealand. But we must prepare, writes Dr Siouxsie Wiles.It’s now clear to me that the new coronavirus responsible for Covid-19 is ...
The Serious Fraud Office is once again investigating a headline-generating case. But is it prosecuting the right crimes - or just the winnable ones? Compared with previous famous finance company collapses involving hundreds of millions of dollars the numbers are small; sitting MP Jami-Lee Ross and three Auckland businessmen face SFO charges ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The government would be looking for the private sector to put in four or five times as much as it invests in research and development of particular technologies to reduce emissions, Energy Minister Angus Taylor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Two issues are currently presenting the Morrison government with fast-moving targets. One is the fallout from the coronavirus, where the picture has been altering on a near-daily basis. The other is very different – the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The federal government has activated its emergency response plan to deal with a spread of the coronavirus locally, in anticipation of it becoming a “pandemic”. It is also considering limited assistance for those hardest hit ...
In an apparent change of tune, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expects to raise the topic of climate change with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison tomorrow. ...
The Government says it wants to protect small businesses from getting shafted by big companies who don’t or won’t pay their bills on time. The move can’t come too soon. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Muecke, Clinical senior lecturer in Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Adelaide Humans are physiologically hardwired to love and seek out sweet things. It’s an ancient survival mechanism that evolved to prepare our bodies for periods of fasting when food supplies ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marilyn McMahon, Deputy Dean, School of Law, Deakin University The NSW government has just introduced a bill that will, among other significant reforms, make it easier for a jury to be informed about the prior convictions of a person on trial for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marilyn McMahon, Deputy Dean, School of Law, Deakin University The NSW government has just introduced a bill that will, among other significant reforms, make it easier for a jury to be informed about the prior convictions of a person on trial for ...
By RNZ Pacific Jacinda Ardern has paid tribute to the three Fijians who died in last year’s Christchurch mosque shootings. Ardern spoke today at Lautoka Mosque as part of her trip to Fiji to remember Imam Hafiz Musa Patel, Ashraf Ali Razak and Ashraf Ali, who died almost a ...
The Real Pod reassembles to dissect the cultured fourth week of The Bachelorette NZ with special thanks to Nando’s.This week on The Bachelorette NZ, a burrito bust-up ends in anaphylaxis, Steve chows down on some one-ply, and the Buenos Aires hostel goes full Lord of the Flies. It’s become abundantly ...
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, the Catholic Bishops' agency for justice, peace and development, is concerned that the latestchild poverty numbers show that there has been anincrease in material hardship,with 4100 more children living in ...
Dr Bryce Edwards.Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni described this year’s annual benefit increases of 3 per cent as “significant”, and “a way of sharing the wealth”. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also heralded them as the biggest increase to benefits in nine years, if National’s 2015 one-off adjustments are excluded. ...
Is it the kind of headline that will win votes at the general election? “Rock-star reception in Fijian village” followed by a sub-head “Rapturous greeting for Ardern during visit to launch $3m sanitation project”. The reporter (veteran Barry Soper, Newstalk ZB’s political editor) poses the rhetorical question: “Is there any ...
The New Zealand First Foundation received $100,000 in just one week from two rich-listers, whose donations remained secret because the individual payments fell below the disclosure threshold. ...
BusinessNZ says legislation requiring more transparent petrol pricing will probably be well-received, but there are concerns about the market study that prompted it. The Government has announced it is drafting a Fuel Market Bill to introduce requirements ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Andrea Watson, Sparrows CEO and founder, and Simon Yarrow, who leads Callaghan Innovation’s ...
LGNZ say a new report from the Deep South National Science Challenge is a reminder for central government policy makers to step up the pace on progressing a national strategy on climate change adaption. LGNZ is the peak body representing New Zealand’s ...
Art schools are seen by many as beacons of liberalism. But is this the reality? Former Māori student Anna McAllister recounts her fraught journey through an Auckland art school.In high school, the only subjects I was remotely good at were the practical arts. I stayed in the art block during ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Madeline Taylor, Academic Fellow, University of Sydney This week’s decision by Norwegian company Equinor to abandon a A$200 million plan to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight surprised both its critics and backers. Equinor says it abandoned the project off ...
Finance Minister sees serious, short-term impact on economy from Covid-19. He says the Government is able to deliver more general fiscal stimulus and sector-specific help if the economic hit is longer and harder. Finance Minister Grant Robertson has given his first comprehensive update on the economic effects expected from the ...
In response to reports that 30,000 New Zealanders earning over $100,000 are taking superannuation, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Casey Russell says: “It’s clear that many wealthy New Zealanders are collecting superannuation they don’t ...
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Open mike 20/12/2019 
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Happy New Year, and please drive safely during the silly season.
What are the implications of Trumps impeachment ?
Seasons greetings for the coming solstice ☀️
☀️
Good article with everything you need to know
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/trump-impeachment-191217154733957.html
Electorally it's yet to be seen.
In terms of holding him accountable for his misdeeds, it means nothing. Because the chances of the senate voting to convict him, or imposing some other sanction short of conviction such as censure, are quite a lot less than your chances of winning Powerball.
In terms of his behaviour, unlike you or I that would find it quite a chastening experience, he will no doubt find it invigorating. You think it's been a shitshow so far? Hold on to your buttocks, you ain't seen nuthin yet.
Is there anyone left in the Republican Party who isn't either self-serving, corrupt or cowardly? Or an exciting blend of all three? Because they seem utterly vile almost to a man. Justin Amash at least had the moral fortitude to leave the GOP and stand as an independent. He must be feeling very lonely these days. Mitch McConnell and friends seem to have quite brazenly indicated they don't give a toss about the Constitution or the wishes of the American people. Their Orange Messiah has manufactured his own reality with its own rules, and those are the rules by which they're determined to play.
There are no absolutes anymore. Reality is the perpetually morphing domain of those who can lie most frequently and most shamelessly.
"What are the implications of Trumps impeachment ?"
Historians will pinpoint this as the event that led to the Second US Civil War. Pelosi has no idea of the forces she has unleashed.
The dayglo swampzilla has spent the last five years thrashing around like a bull in a china shop with a taser lodged up its ass, and now Pelosi makes a mild attempt to rein him in. But you're suggesting the coming eruptions are Pelosi's fault?
Blaming the woman administering a mild enema for the pent-up shitshow. Jackson Pollock all over the oval office. Cheeseburger art.
I recently read "And the War came: The North and the Secession Crisis, 1860-61" by Kenneth R. Stamp (formerly Professor of History at Berkeley) about events leading up to the US Civil War and evolution of northern public opinion. Trump could have walked out of its pages.
Is that you Brett O'Keefe?
Regrettably no ..
Nothing, it's a partisan Democrat wankfest if you've been following the commentary on this blog.
If anything it's made Trump much more re-electable.
I'm still interested in your answer to the question below. I've asked you at least four times before, you evaded it the first time and ghosted the rest.
Do you think it's OK for the president to withhold Congress approved and taxpayer funded aid to try to extort a foreign country into smearing a political opponent of the president?
If I can push in here..I think there are people who would say its not an egregious enough accusation to warrant the risk of leaving Trump even more electable.
I would also question why, if the accusations are true, not to mention 'Russiagate' Pelosi etc are so willing to tick off Trumps latest military spending requests.
Let alone his laws around increased surveillance.
I guess Trump and Pelosi etc have some common ground..
<blockquote>
If Republicans are supposed to worry about the United States bankrupting itself with social-welfare spending, aren’t Democrats supposed to worry about the United States bankrupting itself with military spending? Not anymore. In the run-up to the deal, Nancy Pelosi’s office fired off an email to House Democrats proclaiming that, “In our negotiations, Congressional Democrats have been fighting for increases in funding for defense.” Chuck Schumer’s office announced that, “We fully support President Trump’s Defense Department’s request.” Not all congressional Democrats voted for the budget agreement: <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/115-2018/h69" rel="nofollow ugc">Thirty-eight percent of Democrats</a> backed it in the House and <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/115-2018/s31" rel="nofollow ugc">76 percent</a> did in the Senate. But even those who voted no mostly did so because they were upset about its lack of protection for immigrant “dreamers”—not because they oppose a higher defense budget. Last year, in fact, when Democrats were offered a standalone vote on big increases in military spending—in the form of <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/14/house-passes-defense-policy-bill-240561" rel="nofollow ugc">House</a> and <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2017/09/18/us-senate-passes-budget-busting-700-billion-ndaa/" rel="nofollow ugc">Senate</a> defense authorization bills—large majorities in both bodies voted yes.
</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/02/democrats-defense-spending/553670/" rel="nofollow ugc">https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/02/democrats-defense-spending/553670/</a>
what the heck just ignore all that gobbledygook..
Russian interference came from Russia. Members of the dolt45 campaign tried to collude in that, but failed because they were incompetent. And it all happened before he was president, and nobody other than the Russians were using state resources or authority.
While the Ukraine thing is a clear case of an elected official using their public powers in order to obtain private political favours from a foreign power. No grey area, no complexity about servers or analytics: dolt45 withheld state aid to the Ukraine and requested a sham investigation against his political opponent before he released the funds. By his own admission, and the admission of multiple administration officials with direct or documentary knowledge of the conversation.
The Mueller report couldn't establish a conspiracy between Trump-Russia. There are no ifs or buts about it.
The Ukraine thing is even more tenuous as one of the star witnesses himself agreed with the Trump transcript and the other one admitted it was his own assumption there was a quid pro quo without evidence of one.
Do you think it's OK for the president to withhold Congress approved and taxpayer funded aid to try to extort a foreign country into smearing a political opponent of the president?
How does that contradict what I wrote?
Have you read the transcript of the July call? The one where Zelensky asks about getting Javelins for defense, and the orange piece of shit says "I would like you to do us a favor though" and starts requesting the Ukrainians open an investigation ranging across a number of issues, including that Guiliani will be his representative to the Ukrainians and "There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great."
And that's the whitehouse's own transcript. But you still regurgitate no evidence of quid pro quo.
edit: also, what andre asked.
It sounds like you're saying there was attempted collusion, and I'm just letting you know the investigation into it couldn't find any.
The bulk of the Ukraine transcript is centred on the goings on and the investigating of Ukraine. The javelins are mentioned once and I think the Bidens are too. To make a case that it is actually about doing a deal on either of those things when they are mentioned in passing is quite frankly stupid.
It's the tRump White House version of a phone call they rushed to bury in highly classified storage usually reserved for information about covert operations and other sensitive intelligence actions, not a transcript.
http://archive.li/0KTnn
re: attempted collusion: yeah, nah. These guys said it better at the time. There were multiple attempts by the orange oaf's campaign to get electoral assistance from the Russians.
And if I say "do what I say or I kill your dog", even once, that's still a crime. The dude was literally asked about the congress-assigned military aid and answered with a request for a personal "favour". Even if he only did it once (lol) it's still a crime.
The A to Z framing is cheesy and limiting it to 26 means a lot has been left out. But it's still a useful reminder of how much the Mango Mugabe has gotten away with and almost certainly won't be held accountable for.
https://theintercept.com/2019/12/19/a-z-trump-impeachment/
Are you coming to or travelling through Motueka these holidays? Us locals have a couple of unwritten rules…..
Someone intoning about safety on the roads on radio this morning (in a foreign accent – Canadian I think one less job for a born NZer). Realistic xenophobia!
The message is that proposals and actions to bring the 'road toll' down must take a holistic approach, not just acting on one aspect. Cinny brings up the courtesy approach, the realisation that there are other people out there trying to do things too. Taking a community of the road approach would be very helpful in reducing stress when getting around. Pedestrians understand that they need to do what we used to teach toddlers to do, look right, left, then right again, and perhaps give a wave to drivers who stop. Drivers could slow more often when they observe others near the road, could toot to alert people who aren't paying attention. They could slow when approaching a narrow piece of road, to ensure safe transit in each lane, and give a wave as acknowledgment to other thoughtful and careful drivers.
We all tend to feel like 'King of the Road' and busy with our own duties, ignoring other drivers. So we could act graciously like the Kings and Queens we’ve observed, smiling and waving when appropriate. And find it appropriate on a regular basis.
We are having to slow to 80 km with the roads are jammed with traffic, which is also the same speed that the behemoth trucks can travel at so driving may involve staring at the rear of a truck for the whole journey. Or at another passenger vehicle with windows at a higher level, so they too will block out most of the view ahead. So we had better keep safe distances behind because you lose your opportunity to 'read' conditions ahead and so be forced to brake hard and fast in reaction to the moving wall ahead of you.
No worries though deaths and injuries will go down as soon we will have so many people on the roads we'll be in an eternal queue lucky to move forward at 20 kmh.
"Someone intoning about safety on the roads on radio this morning (in a foreign accent – Canadian I think one less job for a born NZer). Realistic xenophobia!"
Really, Grey? You think we should sack our Associate Minister of Transport, Julie Anne Genter, because she is American-born and replace her with someone NZ born?
Really? Who do you think should replace her? Yourself?
I am 99% sure you are referring to JAG's interview with Kathryn Ryan on RNZ Nine to Noon at 0908 this morning on the Government's new multi-billion dollar road safety plan aimed at cutting road deaths by 40 per cent by 2030. Genter announced the plan, called Road to Zero, yesterday. Earlier in the week she announced roadside drug testing would be rolled out from 2021.
Regardless of where she was born, I would rate Genter's past experience and qualifications light miles ahead of yours – or most other people's including other MPs of whatever hue, birthplace, or political party – for the job of Minister or Associate Minister for transportation generally, and in particular economically sustainable and environmental friendly roading and road safety.
ttps://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018727818/new-road-safety-plan-aims-to-cut-road-deaths-by-40-per-cent
Genter would be our most qualified Transport minister in decades. They train em well in that US of A. Glad to have one of their citizens contributing here rather than just buying up land.
The truck speed limit is 90kph I think.
Funny thing is on the Kapiti main road they sometimes closed down the passing lanes when traffic was heavy. Surprisingly the traffic flowed more evenly and accidents were fewer. I accept that motorways built for heavier traffic can flow at say 120kph safely. The 3 lane highway from Dubai to El Ain has a fast lane without interruption where locals travel at speeds greater than 150kph. (Limit supposed to be 120kph.)
As long time residents from the UK, we joke to each other 'must be from UK' whenever a driver shows common courtesy on the road
it's a city thing. Normal to be courteous in the country (can pick the city drivers in the country).
There *are* no rules in Auckland…
https://twitter.com/tina_plunkett/status/1207436620439289856
Looks like the Spanish are flying under the radar, having become the world's leading practitioners of postmodern politics without getting the credit for it. I read what No Right Turn reported on the EU contradicting Spain's govt, did a hunt through likely websites to discover what that govt actually is, and found that the actual existence of that govt seems to depend on which source of info you read. Another Schrodinger's Cat situation.
According to this one, despite two elections this year Spain still doesn't have a govt: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/spain-suffers-235th-day-with-no-government-/1678451
They could do tourism promotion on that basis eh? People would flock to experience the anarchist's nirvana.
Wikipedia says "The current prime minister is Pedro Sánchez, who took office on 2 June 2018. He is the leader of the Socialist Workers' Party." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Spain
The Guardian says he is merely acting: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/12/spain-ruling-socialists-strike-coalition-deal-with-podemos-sanchez
Leftist populists are currently beating rightist populists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_2019_Spanish_general_election
Anyway, the baddies are the social democrats (or, socialist workers) who have been preventing an elected Catalan from taking his seat in the European parliament. Why would anyone expect a bunch of leftists to respect the will of the people? Postmodern thinking rules, and state compulsion is very addictive.
Re. "Why would anyone expect a bunch of leftists to respect the will of the people ?"
Having hitched around Spain the year before Franco died and seen the Gardia Civil in full riot gear marching away from an overwhelming crowd of Basque men and women in San Sebastian I am confident that "a bunch of leftists" would probably respect the will of the people. Catalonia has its own troubled past with forensic archaeologists now re-examining old sites.
A new generation should be left to resolve their own problems in peace rather than succumb to a patronizing antipodean analysis.
The formation of a government in Spain is almost complete.
PSOE and Podemos have already agreed a deal and a government with a majority in parliament is likely to be agreed before xmas, though it is possible this might be delayed until January.
This is why Boris, Trump et al can lie with impunity
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/405888/john-minto-calls-for-investigation-over-christchurch-mayor-lianne-dalziel-political-donations
Power tends to corrupt etc. I noticed that Ms Dalziel was revealed as being prepared to get more than a 'little help from my friends'. John Minto keeps an eye out for this sort of thing. He stood for Mayor himself didn’t he?
Her husband was in question about some matter a few months back. Being a lawyer, or being close to one of the right sort, seems to be important to modern politics. The age of people fired with dreams of a better country and better living conditions and opportunities for the people saw action men and women step up and look to the country. Now pollies sit in a circle and play Pass the Parcel and watch each other for cheating, and sneaking goodies, on the sly, out of the Parcel while passing.
I met a lawyer I know and asked him how he was, told him not to work too hard (he takes on difficult criminal cases), and said don't be like Greg King. He admitted he had a bad spell after one case. That's not the sort of lawyer I referred to above. Rumpole of the Bailey dealing with the hoi polloi isn't generally where the money and power is.
"Now pollies sit in a circle and play Pass the Parcel and watch each other for cheating, and sneaking goodies, on the sly, out of the Parcel while passing."
Sadly that is a very apt description
Edit
There has been a suggestion that reducing cruise ship visits would be helpful for NZ to reduce its pollution and environmental footprint.
Our facilities are already under stress. This from Wellington is shocking.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/405909/sewage-going-into-wellingon-harbour-after-pipe-collapse
Up to 100 litres of wastewater and raw sewage a second is pouring into the Wellington harbour after a wastewater pipe collapsed in the CBD.
Listening to Australia's sudden jump into Climate Change horror, it would pay us to taihoa somewhat and perhaps sack our politicians, and set up an emergency government of scientists and leaders with lists of needs which then would be prioritised and costed, and amortised over ten years, and reviewed and done. Treasury could be asked for how our position in the world financial system could be held stable and our currency gradually deflated by a constant stream of carefully picked negative news. Economic advice would come from BERL and another. We might also set up a visa system for entry to this country, and ensure that all tourists should at least be a positive return to the country if not a profit. Dairy farmers would be taxed on each animal, that money to go towards remediation of waterways. Obviously the heavily stocked would have to pay more. Etc. We might get somewhere on our plan for survival under 'best practice' instead of having this political theatre of the absurd we have paraded every day.
Further to the above – there has been a proactive move to ban inclined sleepers for babies because they are likely to be bad for them, unsafe, and they have caused deaths which were preventable, in the USA.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1912/S00057/ban-on-inclined-infant-sleep-products.htm
Seems sensible and wise by the NZ authority. But wait, there’s more. Too much wisdom isn’t allowed any more, in our society with an unregulated zeitgeist.
After much declaration of the reliability and safety of the practice established in NZ of babies lying flat this is the final sentence:
‘The Unsafe Goods Notice will remain in force for the next 18 months.’
"With this slavish commitment to the automobile, the country’s political class has demonstrated its near-total moral incapacity. New Zealand’s claim to be taking Climate Change seriously stands exposed as utter bullshit."
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/12/20/reconnecting-jacinda-with-her-inner-swashbuckler/
"The thing is, we were expecting her commitment to amount to something more than the well-meaning but toothless Zero Carbon Act. Something like announcing a completely new, wider-gauge, electrified, national rail network. An infrastructure programme that would allow New Zealand to replicate the ultra-fast trains that move people around Europe, China and Japan. Something to put the greenhouse-gas pumping road transport industry out to pasture. Something more than a plan to build roads, roads and more roads.
Something to make young and old alike exclaim, at least one more time: “Let’s do this!”
We don't need to convert the current Cape gauge/ 3ft 6" to a wider gauge aka Standard gauge.
What needs to happen to NZ Railways is to fix up the loading gauge (and something else which I've forgotten atm), which will increase the speed and weight of fully loaded trains and for example the old Standard Railcars which operated throughout the Nth Island of which there are about 2-3 left for mainline operations now days can only be used on about 20% to 30% of Nth Island rail network compere to the 1930's until there replacements later on.
Most of the rail network alignment is still built when Steam Loco's were King of the Rails and again fixing up the alignment to for the more modern Loco's would allow for faster and heavily trains on the network.
We only need to look at Qld which is the same gauge as NZ's network at what could be done to NZ's network IRT to freight and High Speed Passenger Tilt Trains for both Regional/ Inter City and Urban networks.
There is so much potential in KiwiRail, even though a lot of land was sold off by Government prior to privatisation and under privatisation which restricted growth in some areas of the network which has hampered further investment.
A lot of people have forgotten there was a petrol ration during WW2 which lasted until the early to mid 50's and just imaging a 15% cut or greater to POL products if a major conflict broke out in the Middle East or in the South China Sea? The only reason that NZ kept producing goods was the Railways and the MN aka Coastal Shipping with the Trucking Firms restricted to the Ports or the various Rail depots to places that weren't serviced by ships or by the railways.
I wasnt overly concerned with the specifics of CTs piece (i.e. wider gauge or high speed) but rather the thrust of the fact we have rhetoric around CC and having just announced a relaxation of BR we are wasting (imo) that infrastructure spend on locking in high carbon infrastructure for the long term,,,as CT bemoans there is a huge gap between the rhetoric and the capability and its only being filled by the PMs personal appeal.
in addition
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2019/12/climate-change-planning-for-failure.html
Greens co-leaders sit down for an interview with Herald political reporter Jason Walls: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/video.cfm?c_id=280&gal_cid=280&gallery_id=215281
A review of practical coalition politics in respect of aspirations & achievements. No revelations but reassuring inasmuch as they seem sure of themselves and confident looking ahead…
oh
The great social anthropologist Noah Way, at the end of a long and tireless search has found in the USA the remnants of a sect of the ancient Christian religion which has continued to exist in as near to the fount of its beliefs as was possible.
This has emerged from its recent announcement about the depravity of the secular head of the country who, with his cohorts, often espouses religious beliefs in an attempt to hide his false worship of The Golden Calf and Mammon.
Mammon /ˈmæmən/ in the New Testament of the Bible is commonly thought to mean money, material wealth, or any entity that promises wealth, and is associated with the greedy pursuit of gain. … Mammon in Hebrew (ממון) means "money". https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Mammon
The Golden Calf – The story of the golden calf is widely regarded as one of the most disgraceful moments in Jewish history. In Exodus, chapters 31-32, the Torah tells how three months after leaving Egypt, and a mere 40 days after receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, the Jewish people created an idol and worshipped it.
Having miscalculated the date of Moses’ promised return from the mountain, the Jewish people thought their leader had died. They decided to replace him, and with the help of Aaron, formed a golden calf and worshipped it. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3613047/jewish/What-Was-the-Golden-Calf.htm
There is animated discussion amongst the cognoscenti though as to whether Donald Trump worships the Golden Calf or thinks he embodies it.
/sarc
A beautiful woman. Who is she, I can't keep up?
Sorry the Image is too large – but it is Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard who is currently a candidate for President. She cravenly was the only Representative to vote "Present" on one of the votes for Impeachment in the House.
The Image reads:
Scomo apologises and returns to Oz while confessing his fundamental uselessness by saying "I don't hold a hose". Expect plenty of bluff and hearty but sentimental outpourings from him in coming days. Nothing will be done. That benighted country will have to cook for another decade or two – or at least until there are mass deaths, before the grip of the Scomotypes is loosened.
(A ‘Scomotype’ is the opposite of a prototype – instead of being something you hope will work, it’s something you already know will fail)
What did his hose comment indicate? I thought he would be making jocular statements about all the male politicians rushing out to do their bit on the fires, and sending up women as useless as usual in fire emergencies!
he is a fucking hose.
Fantastic letter to Chloe Swarbrick the other day
We were discussing this the other day…the past is a foreign country.
We had 2 weeks annual leave, often taken over xmas new year because the business shut down for xmas…we had home ownership savings accounts you needed to be contributing to for years before you could even apply for a mortgage,,credit was difficult and expensive to obtain…mortgages at 20%… old/second hand was typical and expected when young…
Having said that the maximum term of a mortgage was 20 years (except HNZ which did 24 years) and I cringe when I see the size of the mortgages my children are signing up to (for 30 years)..and theres a good chance the house they bought is a going to fall down around their ears or be worthless because its leaky…and the environment wasnt collapsing (well it was but we didnt know)
the past was indeed a different country, where a house was only 3 times the median income and prices were stable. before property investment/ speculation/ hoarding/ rent-seeking became a national religion
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EMCDdlZUEAMVKxI.jpg
yep…not disputing any of that…but am acknowledging I think I can view it from both perspectives…the fact is there are pluses and minuses to both regimes…and its easy to see what makes the whole neo-liberal project so seductive
You must remember I grew up in a world where half the people in my neighbourhood were where white collar and half were blue…the difference was negligible…not so now
Broadcasting – decisions touted for new year. Take your time is my hope. I can't believe that National has issued a statement I agree with.
National has already expressed its opposition, saying one super entity would be too dominant a force in the market, including editorially.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12294855 National lays into Govt's broadcasting decision delays
That gives time to write into the Honourable Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi and give him some bullet points about your opinions. Enlarge on them below, but then he might not have time to read lots after the hols. k.faafoi@ministers. govt.nz
For groaning under the weight of being force-fed taxpayer subsidy, only the arts and sport get as good a subsidy as broadcasting does here. In terms of nutritious content though it's up there with Frosties.
If they're so intent on handing out public subsidies for non-MSM media, they should start with The Standard and Scoop. The public would then get a better shot at public policy debate than TVNZ and TV3 and MTV put together.
This from the " peoples government "
Boris Johnson to ‘stop tens of thousands voting’ by making photo ID mandatory at polling stations
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-queens-speech-voter-id-polling-station-a9253386.html
talking to a onetime MP today. They said they never rated the journos. After the nonsensical dead heat between Jacinda Ardern and Bridjizz it seems the right time to do so. How a liteweight like katy bradfod can get away with that defies the imagination. time to get to work on these pin heads who think their own shit doesn't stink.
My initial reaction is that you sound like one yourself.