Top chief executives are being paid up to 50 times as much as their average employees – and the gulf between boss and worker is widening.
The first annual survey by BusinessDay of pay rates at NZX-listed companies also found that the best-paid boss was receiving more than $4.7 million.
[..]
Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly called on well-paid bosses whose workers earned low wages to “reconsider their values”.
Employees needed access to better collective bargaining to bring about improved employment conditions, she said, and a law change should be introduced to allow collective contracts to be adopted across an industry as the standard.
[…]
“The pay gap is the moral question of our time. Not just the gap but the level of pay means many, many workers … are living in poverty.”
And I wonder how long it will take for this story to slip from the top of Stuff’s home page and out of view to the majority?
Orcusman, a good righty like yourself should know what I and every other employer knows…that the wages dont get disclosed unless they are over $100K on the company report. And we dont tell people. So on this issue you will either have to do the research or speculate.
By the way dont you just love it when a Telecom or power bill comes, from an organisation with 1000s of employees and wonderful systems and it si huge…you say where is their economy of scale, their added value, and most pertinently why am I paying huge wages to the rentier class runnning the enterprise? Wheres my discount. As a good righty you should be questioning the bill.
NEAL BOORTZ (7/6/2011): It is all-out war on the productive class in our society for the benefit of the moocher class.
JOHN STOSSEL (10/12/2010): The makers, and the takers.
BILL O’REILLY (10/12/2010): They want to take it from somebody else.
LAURA INGRAHAM (6/29/2011): Everyone’s jumping in the wagon, no one wants to pull.
NEAL BOORTZ (6/22/2011): … parasites we have out there depending on government …
NEBRASKA ATTY. GEN. JON BRUNING (8/18/2011): The raccoons, they’re not stupid, they’re going to do the easy way if we make it easy for them, just like welfare recipients all across America.
ANN COULTER (8/15/2011): Welfare will create generations of utterly irresponsible animals.
Yeah! Fuck those people… the poor. We’ll be right back.
In case you can’t stream on that link, here’s another link to Jon Stewart’s brilliant show about class warfare. Watch both parts to hear the foul beliefs about people on welfare. The US MSM give ever more air time to such aggressive, denigrating and poisonous views. We MUST do everything we can to counter this divisive trend in NZ.
Interesting -could lead the way to a completely different way of doing things democratically at all levels. And we sure need that. Catch this interview on Radnz this morning with Kim Hill. Remember the term ‘dynamic governance’ it has vitality and promise just in the reading of it and is being used successfully, still in its early days.
8:35 John Buck
John Buck is the chief executive of Governance Alive, part of an international consulting organisation headquartered in the Netherlands, and the coauthor of We the People: Consenting to a Deeper Democracy (Sociocracy.Info Press, ISBN: 978-0979282706). He is visiting New Zealand to run workshops about dynamic governance (known in The Netherlands as sociocracy), a sustainable system for organising and running organisations.
Architects and Engineers for 911 truth just released this video presenting their case to a wider public. I challenge anybody to watch this and give me one good reason as to why I should call all of these Scientists,Fire fighters, Demolition experts, Architects and Engineers “conspiracy nutters”.
One good reason based on real world science. Give it your best shot!!!
Autism and compulsive behavior. If it rains you don’t get angry, you don’t try to stop it
raining, you don’t create a trap for yourself and waste your own time. You expect the rain
and build a roof, or buy an umbrella. It is too be expected that all manner of brain
injuries lead to oddity. A pommy accept sudden appears on a true blue southlander women
after a heart attack. She can’t do anything about it. Criminalizing someone with a fascination
for light bulbs seems like trying to stop the rain falling, its like creating a trap that will
always snap close and criminalize a group of people. Police should have known better.
But Police are not the only ones who can made the mistake, just they have a duty not
to criminalize those who can’t help themselves (or can in ordinary circumstances but
when the light bulbs are so easy to get at and nobody else wants them…).
If we can learn anything, its to tolerate oddity and not get trapped in a self-manufactured
angsted.
@aerobubble – The police have a responsibility not to get spooked in emergencies and turn a trivial offence into a jail holding offence, they have ability to divert and don’t have only one option. Where are there brains, efficiency, and humanity in that part of Christchurch. The whole thing was a major fail for them. Then there is the understanding that there are far more vulnerable mentally challenged people out there in the community, now that the government has decided it doesn’t want to try and have high quality residential and support care.
After yesterday’s huffing, puffing, bluffing and posturing, the truth is starting to be revealed. Here’s some classic white anting from Phil’s backers:
…He furiously denied reports in political newsletter Trans-Tasman that he asked his frontbench MPs whether he should quit.
Several frontbench MPs backed Mr Goff, either describing the report as “bollocks” or insisting the discussion never took place. Others refused to comment.
But one senior Labour MP said the conversation did happen. “[Phil] did consult the front bench over whether he should go.”
Damned shame really. Phil’s the gift that keeps on giving for National…
Oh for goodness sake. I’d be surprised if the conversation had NOT taken place. Of course the Labour caucas would have talked about their options.
At the same time I believe Goff when he states that he never offered his resignation…. that seems deeply implausible as well for the obvious reason that no-one else wants the job at this point in time. Goff is the kind of man who if he could clearly see another contender who he believed would do a better job than him, he would quite possibly step aside. But that has not happened.
Nah … this is just Tracy Watkins being a tory toe-rag as usual.
The way I’m reading it Goff says he never offered to resign. That is a significantly different thing to exploring the options in which resigning and passing the leadership to someone else could have been an raised as an option. Given the circumstances I’d be surprised if they had not talked that possibility over.
But that is still very different to going the next step and formally offering to resign.
We need a new lefty party very quick I wreakon. Someone needs to do an Epsom in a poor electorate. I dont know about Hone. His appeal may be limited largley to maori.
I have some great policy ideas that Labour and National would not be interested in but a lot of people Ive talked to about them really like em.
Costs $300 to rregister a new party and applications close at the end of september. I’d do it but am in a dire financial mire right now. Unless anyone wants to back me to the tune of atleast the minimum wage plus expenses. I may not be the ideal candidate by way of appeal so would welcome anyone else using my ideas and doing this. I don’t really want ot waste those good ideas on a party that might not gain much support such as Mana. I hope they do well but we’ll have to see. It’l also be interesting to see how their policy direction and focus develops.
Please excuse if I disapear soon as I’ve got a big personal disaster going on right now.
In The House finally has video up from the day Key ran away like a chicken during Question Time.
The camera angles aren’t great, but you can see Key in the seat to the left of English when Peseta Sam Lotu-liga’s question begins, then he leans over to talk to someone, who obviously tells him that Phil is going to ask the scary question about youth unemployment, and he gets up and leaves.
You might be aware that National has failed to uphold many of their campaign promises. They’ve failed to close the wage gap with Australia for one, mainly because they had no intention of affecting business profits. This policy failure alone has been very detrimental to New Zealand. Under a National government, inequality has markedly increased because they’ve ensured inflation is high and wages are kept low. This means those lucky enough to be employed often still need welfare… effectively gifting billions of dollars in wage subsidies to private businesses…
It amazed me that Kiwi’s fell for Nationals promises/lies before the last electtion. National have always tried very hard to keep wages down as you say which only helps exporters. Businessess not involved in the export sector struggle when workers cannot afford to buy.
Compulsory unionism is a remedy to low wages. i.e. In hard times employment contracts force wages down as busnesses cannot afford to pay employees more than the competition to remain competitive. However with a nationwide based system all employers have to pay the same rate for certain skills thus keeping wages level rather than a corporate competition to get the lowest labour costs. The problem that flows from that is that lower wages means workers don’t spend and companies close due to that lack of spending. The tax take sinks lower and lower. This may be adding to Nationals deficit problems.
Free trade ofcourse undermines any wage increases as much of that money goes off shore. As long as we have free trade with slave labour economies wage increases here will be boosting China’s jobs and the chinese government’s tax take, instead of NZ’s local economy.
Unless this is addressed the New Zealand economy will continue to be swallowed up by vulture corporations who are behind the free trade scam being pushed on us by international bankers.
From http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1108/S00224/employing-young-people.htm
“Yet older people are surrounded by messages that age 65 is too young to retire. If a Labour-led government is elected in November, we even face the possibility that the age of qualification for New Zealand Superannuation will be raised, adding to the demographic logjam that is contributing to the problem of youth unemployment today. Indeed many Generation Xers, disadvantaged throughout their working lives, are already assuming that they will not qualify for a pension until they are aged maybe 70.
National are no better than Labour. They, with their program of welfare reform, are prioritising getting sole parents and disabled people into employment. This, in a low-spending environment, inevitably comes at the expense of young people. Indeed some sole parents and disabled people have advantages over new labour force entrants, because they have substantial work experience.”
I know that there has been debate about the possible need to increase the eligibility age of NZ Superannuation, but I had seen this as being led by National for cost cutting reasons (they also floated changes to the indexation basis, and make it partially or fully means assessed, and I think Peter Dunne proposed options for retiring later and getting higher NZ Super payments), but I had not heard of proposals to raise the eligibility age from Labour. Have I missed something?
Yup. Labour support it, alongside a fairly broad slice of the left. But what you missed was that it’s a con. There is no demographic time bomb. None.
The people retiring now were financially supported through their first 18? years of life. So if they could be supported then, they can be supported now. Some of those people have died. So there are fewer of them to support than when they were below 18. The average life expectancy is not beyond 83 (65 + 18)
And while they were being supported for those first 18 years, woment weren’t generally accepted into the workforce to the degree they are now. So 45 years ago, there was ‘half’ the working age population being supported as well as under 18s being supported plus retired workers being supported.
In other words, it would seem that in times gone by there was a far greater proportion of the population being supported than is ever likely going forward.
Nowadays, fewer people are being born = less support needed for those under 18.
Women are now expected to be in the workforce = not being financially supported as in the past.
Retirees don’t (on average) live beyond 83 years of age (about 78.4 for men and 82.4 for women)
And how often do we hear that current parents and /or grandparents are going to outlive their children because of all types of maladies? So the number of retirees in the future will drop off sharply. (More people will die during their working life if health predictions are to be believed.)
Predictably, John Key’s extraordinary about-face at his afternoon press conference of July 20 – where he offered a series of blank denials, contradicting not only his own earlier assertions but also, unbelievably, those of the Israeli ambassador himself – all but killed the latest Mossad scandal.
Much of the media and blogosphere reacted in the same way: Key’s morning press conference was characterised as some sort of ‘gross misjudgement’, with some speculating he was ill-prepared and ill-informed, while his afternoon performance was widely touted as a welcome improvement, with the PM supposedly finally taking a full and frank approach to the matter.
For Danyl at The Dim Post, Key’s afternoon denials were “pretty comprehensive”. Indeed, “given the choice between believing the PM or an unnamed SIS source”, Danyl proudly asserted “I’m gonna believe Key every time.” Similarly, Pundit’s Andrew Geddis was almost giddy with excitement that his own doubts about the case had apparently been proven entirely justified by Key’s denials: “I’d like to say ‘I told you so’. But that would be immature and graceless. So I won’t say ‘I told you so’, even though I did. Tell you that is. That it was so.” Apparently, Key’s denial is supposed to be the end of the matter, in one stroke tying up all the loose ends and suggesting a round of grovelling apologies to the poor hard-done-by Israelis is called for.
Well, like John Roughan and others, I see all this as extremely naive. Certainly, Key’s morning performance could be considered ill-advised from a crisis-management perspective. But one would have hoped that the main interest of journalists, here, was not in how adept Key was at closing the story down, but rather in the actual veracity of the story itself.
Far from ill-informed and ill-thought-out, Key’s morning press conference of July 20 actually appeared quite honest, nuanced and revealing. He accepted some very specific points put to him by various journalists, while very carefully demurring over certain other facets, sometimes citing ‘the national interest’, sometimes asserting ‘I can’t confirm all of the details you presented are correct.’ I’d suggest all this revealed a good deal more than some journalists and bloggers apparently realised.
Then, in the afternoon, we suddenly get this extraordinary series of blank denials where he contradicts both himself and Israeli ambassador, Shemi Tzur.
So, what on earth was the motivation behind Key’s blank denials ? (see next two comments, below).
New Zealand’s latest Mossad Affair – Wider Context
Over the last few weeks, I’ve spent a bit of spare time reading about recent overseas Mossad scandals. Four basic themes keep reappearing:
(1) Mossad activity in western countires is normal/on-going/business-as-usual rather than some sort of bizarre “abberation” or unfortunate, one-off “mistake”,
(2) Following detection of Mossad activity, Israel frequently gives categorical assurances that it will never happen again, before rapidly resuming Mossad operations in the very same Country,
(3) More often than not – to avoid open conflict with both Israel and Washington – western governments in general (and Centre-Right administrations in particular) decide to handle Mossad espionage by sweeping it under the carpet – resolving things quietly, diplomatically, often with little more than symbolic gestures and, if possible, away from the public eye,
(4) Some degree of tension appears to exist within the intelligence services of various western countries between those who prioritise maintaining close links with Mossad and the western alliance (and are thus compliant to resolving things quietly and symbolically) and those who believe the priority should be to overtly defend their Country’s sovereignty and diplomatic integrity.
“I have a message to the people who attacked us, and those behind them. This is a message from all of Norway:
You will not destroy us.
You will not destroy our democracy nor our quest for a better world. We are a small nation, but we are a proud nation.
No one shall bomb us into silence or shoot us into silence. Nothing will frighten us out of being Norway.
This night we will comfort each other, talk with each other, and stand together. Tomorrow we will show the world that Norway’s democracy grows stronger when it is challenged. We shall find the guilty and hold them responsible. “
I still dont understand what Mossad objectives might be accomplished by operating out of ‘friendly’ countries. Whats more worrying is that Israel has roughly 300 nuclear warheads. About the same as China, and likely more than France and the UK.
Maybe Israel’s Mossad like America’s CIA are under the control of the International Bankers who are trying to establish a world order. Many of these bankers are Zionist Jews or just plain filthy rich. They want complete control and western democracy is a threat to that. At any stage democrcies can elect to not use their banking services and they could loose their corrupt little golden goose so those democracies must be curtailed. People must be impoverished or they might rise up. They seek austerity for us all so that they are not threatened by the massive throng of incredible talent that surrounds them, and might swallow them up.
It surprises me because globalisation is an inevitable failure. A hundred years from now, travelling from Auckland to London is going to again take three to four months, for the vast majority of people. Only a very few elite will be flying.
Youv’e read about Obama’s John Holdren and the radical environmentalist agenda then? And deindustrialisation which we are now in the throws of.
Anyone interested can search youtube with the search term “webster tarply, Ecoscience”
The talk is about Obamas apointment of John Holdren to a top post. Mr Holdren wrote a book called ecoscience which has some radical ideas which seem to be materialising in th form of policy coming from the National Party and to a differing and lesser degree labour.
Hmmmm after a quick Google it seems that Holdren is (was) a bit of an extremist wild card. I’d like to know who in the background it is who *nominates* these people to Obama.
Actually I didn’t pick my ideas up from Holdren; more like John Michael Greer’s Archdruid Report (which I highly recommend)
But there’s a further dimension to the dynamics of—well, let’s just call them cultural narratives, shall we?—unfolding in America today. When the shared narratives from the past break apart, and all you’ve got is popular culture spinning feedback loops in the void, what happens then?
What happens is the incoherence that’s become a massive political fact in America today. That incoherence takes at least three forms. The first is the rise of subcultures that can’t communicate with one another at all. We had a display of that not long ago in the clash over raising the deficit limit. To judge by the more thoughtful comments in the blogosphere, I was far from the only person who noticed that the two sides were talking straight past each other. It wasn’t simply that the two sides had differing ideas about government finance, though of course that’s also true; it’s that there’s no longer any shared narrative about government that’s held in common between the two sides. The common context is gone; it’s hard to think of a single political concept that has the same connotations and meanings to a New England liberal that it has to an Oklahoma conservative.
It’s crucial to recognize, though, that these subcultures are themselves riddled with the same sort of incoherence that pervades society as a whole; this is the second form of incoherence I want to address. I wonder how many of the devout Christians who back the Republican Party, for example, realize that the current GOP approach to social welfare issues is identical to the one presented by Anton Szandor LaVey in The Satanic Bible. (Check it out sometime; the parallels are remarkable.) It may seem odd that believers in a faith whose founder told his followers to give all they had to the poor now by and large support a party that’s telling America to give all it has to the rich, but that’s what you get when a culture’s central narratives dissolve; of course it’s also been my experience that most people who claim they believe in the Bible have never actually read more than a verse here and there.
John Michael Greer is on my bookmark toolbar right next to The Standard. And I know I’m not the only one here who regards him as required reading. No two thinking adults are going to agree 100% with each other, there’s something wrong if they do. But Greer always appeals to me, both rationally and emotionally… he’s got a great compass.
Good ideas and good prose. This statement, a few posts down, shows the pointlessness of Key’s stats fiddling:
“Politicians and ordinary people alike have taken to insisting, along these lines, that the solution to joblessness is to send people to college to get job training, on the assumption that this will somehow make jobs appear for them.”
Yep, I’ve been thinking lately that the solution to joblessness isn’t to create more jobs but to have a better distribution of the work and wealth available. Increasing productivity, which we have, should result in less work needing to be done to maintain present living standards. Instead we have decreasing living standards for the majority and an increasing transfer of the communities wealth to the already rich.
good article this morning in dompost on the idiocy of the ACT party and their wonky legislation.
See the thing is they dont really care what happens just as long as people are confused.
Pretty crummy I know but that is their schtick.
They know that they can afford to pay for no mistakes and supposedly the best quality but the rest can just wallow in the crap that they create.
Basically this is very nasty stuff wrapped up in a sugar coated pill of smarmy words they learned in America from other nutters.
New Zealand’s latest Mossad Affair – An example from Canada
Here I provide a summary/synthesis of some recent Mossad activity in Canada (the main points from a whole range of Canadian media reports).
When considering the motivation behind Key’s afternoon press conference (and his series of blank denials), it may be especially useful to look at the Canadian response to (2) the Leslie Lewis affair and (3) the Shehadeh Assassination (particularly given (a) the contradictions inherent in Key’s afternoon press conference performance and (b) the inconsistencies between Key and Tullet’s intelligence informants regarding whether or not SIS investigations had been fully completed or were still on-going).
(1) Botched Khaled Mashaal Assassination
Date: September 1997
Mossad Activity: Israeli agents, posing as Canadian tourists, are caught using fraudulent Canadian passports in the botched assassination attempt on Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Jordan.
Canadian Response: On this occassion, the Canadian Federal Government refuses to resolve things quietly, fearing the Mossad operation might prompt vigilante attacks against ordinary Canadians living in the Middle East. Canada expels the Israeli ambassador from Ottawa and recalls its own ambassador from Tel Aviv until receiving a promise that Mossad would stop using canadian passports for covert operations. Israeli PM Netanyahu subsequently apologises and gives “iron-clad assurances” that the spy agency will cease using Canadian passports in the future.
(2) Leslie Lewis Affair
Date: Late 1997
Mossad Activity: Yet only a few weeks later in late 1997, Israel allegedly broke this promise when a Canadian living in Israel was approached for his passport by a Mossad front organisation – The Bureau of Immigration Affairs.
Leslie Lewis, a Canadian Hasidic Jew who had lived in Israel for several years, said Israeli agents approached him to hand over his passport just weeks after Netanyahu’s promise to Ottawa. They also asked for permission to fly his daughter to Canada where she would obtain a Canadian passport and then hand it over to Mossad on return to Israel.
Lewis refused and alerted the Canadian embassy in Tel Aviv.
Canadian Response: In stark contrast to its attitude a few weeks earlier, Ottawa now displayed a marked reluctance to investigate, eventually ordering a probe into the allegations more than a year later in November 1998 (presumably after coming under sustained pressure to do so).
However, by August 1999, Canadian intelligence sources were telling the media that the investigation had been stopped prematurely because Ottawa wanted to avoid upsetting Israel. The Canadian Foreign Affairs Ministry had quietly closed the file on the investigation with Minister Lloyd Axworthy announcing it had ended with the conclusion there was “insufficient evidence” to prove that Israel had broken its pledge. A Ministry spokeswoman said that Israel had given assurances that Mossad agents were not involved in such an operation and the Canadian Government had decided to accept these assurances.
The media, however, quoted a number of intelligence sources denouncing the investigation as “half-hearted”, “shoddy” and “incomplete”. The sources argued that Canadian officials, fearful of upsetting Israel and Washington, “got the answers they wanted from the Israelis and ended it right there”, failing to thoroughly check-out the explanations offered. “Some investigation !”, one intelligence official is quoted as saying. Or, as another put it, “It’s a farce”.
Mossad Activity: And then, 2 years later, explosive new allegations suggested Mossad agents had been posing as Canadians (using false Canadian identities) during a “false flag” operation that ultimately resulted in the July 2002 assassination of Hamas leader Sheik Salah Shehadeh (an Israeli F-16 fired a one-tonne missile at the Gaza apartment building, killing not only the Sheik but also 14 bystanders, including 9 children. Israel was widely criticised for the attack).
Knowing Canada was heavily involved in aid work in Gaza at the time, Mossad agents had posed as Canadians to lure a young Palestinian man into informing on the movements of both Shehadeh and other Intifada leaders in return for (false) promises of ressettlement in Canada. Once they’d revealed their true Mossad connections, the agents reportedly used sexual blackmail against the man (using fake photographs) to ensure his continued compliance.
Canadian Response: Once again, Ottawa seemed more than eager to accept Israeli denials, telling Toronto’s National Post they were satisfied the claims were false. Canada’s ambassador to Tel Aviv had asked Israel for an explanation of the incident and was told it did not happen.
Asked by journalists whether the Israelis could be hiding something in order to avoid another diplomatic firestorm, a Canadian Foreign Affairs spokesman replied: “They gave us their word and we take it as it is.” Indeed, journalists were assured that Ottawa had been convinced all along that the claims were false.
However, what Canadian government officials said in public and private were clearly two very different things. In December 2002, the Canadian media obtained newly-released official government documents showing that in the weeks following Ottawa’s September announcement of the end of the investigation, the matter had in fact continued to cause a good deal of official concern, resulting in on-going, behind-the-scenes diplomacy with Israel.
In a confidential report, officials expressed concerns that Israel was indeed “misusing Canada’s identity” and thus endangering Canadian travellers and undermining the integrity of the nation’s passports. This resulted in a Senior Canadian Cabinet official questioning the head of Israel’s Security Service as well as discussions between the Assistant Deputy Minister for Africa and the Mideast and Israel’s ambassador to Canada, Haim Divon.
Kate Wilkinson is now increasing the mining inspectorate despite repeatedly denying there was a problem. National has up until now been adamant that one mine inspector for the entire country was enough and they wouldn’t make changes until the royal commission reported…
There were rumors this week that the prime minister might be fake. Experts say his IQ was affected during the cloning process and that he’s no longer able to count how many youth unemployed there are or shares he holds with Transrail or the Bank of America. Unfortunately nobody knows where the real John Key is, although reports say that he’s all over the place…
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Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
It may have been a short week but there’s been no shortage of things that caught our attention. Here is some of the most interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at public transport ridership in 2024 On Thursday Connor asked some questions ...
The East Is Red: Journalists and commentators are referring to the sudden and disruptive arrival of DeepSeek as a second “Sputnik moment”. (Sputnik being the name given by the godless communists of the Soviet Union to the world’s first artificial satellite which, to the consternation and dismay of the Americans, ...
Hi,Back on inauguration day we launched a ridiculous RFK Jr. “brain worms” tee on the Webworm store, and I told you I’d be throwing my profits over to Mutual Aid LA and Rainbow Youth New Zealand. Just to show I am not full of shit, here are the receipts. I ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump over Gaza and Ukraine.Health expert and author David Galler ...
In an uncompromising paper Treasury has basically told the Government that its plan for a third medical school at Waikato University is a waste of money. Furthermore, the country cannot afford it. That advice was released this week by the Treasury under the Official Information Act. And it comes as ...
Back in November, He Pou a Rangi provided the government with formal advice on the domestic contribution to our next Paris target. Not what the target should be, but what we could realistically achieve, by domestic action alone, without resorting to offshore mitigation. Their answer was startling: depending on exactly ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest David Patman and ...
I don't like to spend all my time complaining about our government, so let me complain about the media first.Senior journalistic Herald person Thomas Coughlan reported that Treasury replied yeah nah, wrong bro to Luxon's claim that our benighted little country has been in recession for three years.His excitement rose ...
Back in 2022, when the government was consulting internally about proactive release of cabinet papers, the SIS opposed it. The basis of their opposition was the "mosaic effect" - people being able to piece together individual pieces of innocuous public information in a way which supposedly harms "national security" (effectively: ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Coates, Program Director, Housing and Economic Security, Grattan Institute Marlinde/Shutterstock Most Australians can look forward to a comfortable retirement. More than three in four retirees own their own home, most report feeling comfortable financially, and few suffer financial stress. But ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The weekend byelection in the outer suburban seat of Werribee saw the widely-anticipated slap-in-the-face to Victorian Labor, which is absolutely on the nose. The question is: to what degree were electors venting against federal Labor ...
Mediawatch -Trump's alarmed the world with trade tariffs, turning off aid and proposing to take over Gaza. But New Zealand's had diplomatic drama in the news too - with the media in the middle of it. ...
By Rachel Helyer Donaldson, RNZ News journalist New Zealand should be robust in its response to the “unacceptable” situation in Gaza but it must also back its allies against threats by the US President, says an international relations academic. Otago University professor of international relations Robert Patman said the rest ...
A Christchurch man who lost 55 relatives in three Israeli airstrikes on Gaza says his remaining family will never leave, despite a US proposal to remove them. ...
Asia Pacific Report A national Palestine advocacy group has hit back at critics of its “genocide hotline” campaign against soldiers involved in Israel’s war against Gaza, saying New Zealand should be actively following international law. The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) dismissed a “predictable lineup of apologists for Israel” for ...
ACT Party leader David Seymour said he wrote to police about the treatment of Philip Polkinghorne because it's an electorate MP's job to pass on the concerns of their constituents. ...
MEDIAWATCH:By Colin Peacock, RNZ Mediawatch presenter By the time US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on China and Canada last Monday which could kickstart a trade war, New Zealand’s diplomats in Washington, DC, had already been deployed on another diplomatic drama. Republican Senator Ted Cruz had said on social ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says New Zealand is asking for too much oversight over its deal with China, which is expected to be penned in Beijing next week. Brown told RNZ Pacific the Cook Islands-New Zealand relationship was reciprocal. “They certainly did ...
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 Byelections occurred on Saturday in the Victorian state seats of Prahran and Werribee. The Liberals gained Prahran from the Greens by a ...
A long time ago, Brian Turner wrote a poem in which, among the mountains, as he slept on a river flat … My speechless ancestors played like mice among my dreamsand he woke to the river running over my bed of stone. I have come to know that where a ...
Pacific Media Watch President Donald Trump has frozen billions of dollars around the world in aid projects, including more than $268 million allocated by Congress to support independent media and the free flow of information. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has denounced this decision, which has plunged NGOs, media outlets, and ...
Otago University professor of international relations Robert Patman says New Zealand should provide a robust response to Donald Trump's Gaza plan, and also "should stop tip-toeing" around Trump. ...
The new minister of transport has opened the door for public consultation on at least some of the speed limit changes the government said would be automatic. ...
Officially, they’re called ‘memecoins,’ but Kōura Wealth founder Rupert Carlyon says the crypto world has another name for them: ‘shitcoins’.In digital finance, that phrase is used for tokens that have no true value – in essence, a money-grab.A few days before his inauguration, US President Donald Trump launched his own ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. Guy Williams has made a whole show off the joke that he is a “volunteer” journalist. So getting publicly owned by David Seymour while trying to act as a journalist is a good and timely reminder not to underestimate the nuance and ...
Many of Sāmoa’s beloved dishes are the result of cultural collaboration, writes Madeleine Chapman. All photos by Jin FelletIf you ever find yourself at a barbecue in a Sāmoan home, there’s 99% chance that sapasui (chop suey) will be on the table. For the past century, sapasui has ...
The funnyman takes us through his life in television, including Jono and Ben mayhem, live Telethon flubs, and funnelling all those experiences into his new comedy Vince. There’s an inciting incident in Three’s new comedy Vince where morning television presenter Vince Walters (Jono Pryor) is visiting sick kids in hospital ...
People often claim they just want Waitangi Day to be a celebration. At Waitangi, away from the headlined political acrimony and the marae ātea, celebrating is what most people are doing. The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous ...
Is there anything more fashionable than a Māori get together? One of the best things about Northland is that nobody cares what they look like — probably because they’re all naturally more stylish than the rest of us, famously. Māori from the Far North, especially. In 27 degree heat, wearing ...
I’ve been in love with him since last July, but it’s only now in this tepid hotel room that I find myself wondering why. The first thing he does when we arrive is smoke a cone in the bathroom – he emerges, hacking up a lung, fists thrust into his ...
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Books of Mana: 180 Māori-Authored Books of Significance, edited by Jacinta Ruru, Angela Wanhalla and Jeanette Wikaira has just been released by Otago University Press. In this essay, Books are Taonga, Jeanette Wikaira explores her personal relationship to books and their value.For me, books are taonga. The knowledge ...
Get to know Tara, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Tara’s human for their support! Dog name: Tara Age: Two Breed: Mostly Border Collie and a little bit Catahoula Leopard dog If dog ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amani Kasherwa, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland In late January, a rebel group that has long caused mayhem in the sprawling African nation of Democratic Republic of Congo took control of Goma, a major city of ...
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Everything you missed from the third day of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard four hours of oral submission. Read our recaps of day one of the hearings here, and day two here. Parliament was quiet on Friday for the third day of hearings on the ...
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As Helen Kelly says the pay gap between many CEOs and the average pay of their employees is the moral issue of our time.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/5477450/Pay-gap-between-bosses-and-workers-widens
And I wonder how long it will take for this story to slip from the top of Stuff’s home page and out of view to the majority?
Just curious but what does she get paid?
NZ dollars, Chris. Any other pointless questions?
I was just curious as to her pay vs that of cleaners or something
But then I suppose no one would actually know that
Orcusman, a good righty like yourself should know what I and every other employer knows…that the wages dont get disclosed unless they are over $100K on the company report. And we dont tell people. So on this issue you will either have to do the research or speculate.
By the way dont you just love it when a Telecom or power bill comes, from an organisation with 1000s of employees and wonderful systems and it si huge…you say where is their economy of scale, their added value, and most pertinently why am I paying huge wages to the rentier class runnning the enterprise? Wheres my discount. As a good righty you should be questioning the bill.
Jon Stewart on right-wing class warfare.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-18-2011/world-of-class-warfare—warren-buffett-vs–wealthy-conservatives
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-18-2011/world-of-class-warfare—the-poor-s-free-ride-is-over
Kos has the transcript.
NEAL BOORTZ (7/6/2011): It is all-out war on the productive class in our society for the benefit of the moocher class.
JOHN STOSSEL (10/12/2010): The makers, and the takers.
BILL O’REILLY (10/12/2010): They want to take it from somebody else.
LAURA INGRAHAM (6/29/2011): Everyone’s jumping in the wagon, no one wants to pull.
NEAL BOORTZ (6/22/2011): … parasites we have out there depending on government …
NEBRASKA ATTY. GEN. JON BRUNING (8/18/2011): The raccoons, they’re not stupid, they’re going to do the easy way if we make it easy for them, just like welfare recipients all across America.
ANN COULTER (8/15/2011): Welfare will create generations of utterly irresponsible animals.
Yeah! Fuck those people… the poor. We’ll be right back.
As the good book says “To those that have will be given”….
In case you can’t stream on that link, here’s another link to Jon Stewart’s brilliant show about class warfare. Watch both parts to hear the foul beliefs about people on welfare. The US MSM give ever more air time to such aggressive, denigrating and poisonous views. We MUST do everything we can to counter this divisive trend in NZ.
Interesting -could lead the way to a completely different way of doing things democratically at all levels. And we sure need that. Catch this interview on Radnz this morning with Kim Hill. Remember the term ‘dynamic governance’ it has vitality and promise just in the reading of it and is being used successfully, still in its early days.
Twitterers – @RNZ_SatMorning on Twitter
It won’t be downloaded to audio yet but no doubt later http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday – I’m not sure how to give a direct audio link.
8:35 John Buck
John Buck is the chief executive of Governance Alive, part of an international consulting organisation headquartered in the Netherlands, and the coauthor of We the People: Consenting to a Deeper Democracy (Sociocracy.Info Press, ISBN: 978-0979282706). He is visiting New Zealand to run workshops about dynamic governance (known in The Netherlands as sociocracy), a sustainable system for organising and running organisations.
RNZ dynamic governance mp3: http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/sat/sat-20110820-0835-john_buck_dynamic_governance-048.mp3
@RobM – Thanks for link.
Well, here’s a surprise. Not what’s written but where and by whom.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100100708/the-moral-decay-of-our-society-is-as-bad-at-the-top-as-the-bottom/
Not for nothing is the Telegraph known widely in the UK as the Torygraph
Architects and Engineers for 911 truth just released this video presenting their case to a wider public. I challenge anybody to watch this and give me one good reason as to why I should call all of these Scientists,Fire fighters, Demolition experts, Architects and Engineers “conspiracy nutters”.
One good reason based on real world science. Give it your best shot!!!
Autism and compulsive behavior. If it rains you don’t get angry, you don’t try to stop it
raining, you don’t create a trap for yourself and waste your own time. You expect the rain
and build a roof, or buy an umbrella. It is too be expected that all manner of brain
injuries lead to oddity. A pommy accept sudden appears on a true blue southlander women
after a heart attack. She can’t do anything about it. Criminalizing someone with a fascination
for light bulbs seems like trying to stop the rain falling, its like creating a trap that will
always snap close and criminalize a group of people. Police should have known better.
But Police are not the only ones who can made the mistake, just they have a duty not
to criminalize those who can’t help themselves (or can in ordinary circumstances but
when the light bulbs are so easy to get at and nobody else wants them…).
If we can learn anything, its to tolerate oddity and not get trapped in a self-manufactured
angsted.
@aerobubble – The police have a responsibility not to get spooked in emergencies and turn a trivial offence into a jail holding offence, they have ability to divert and don’t have only one option. Where are there brains, efficiency, and humanity in that part of Christchurch. The whole thing was a major fail for them. Then there is the understanding that there are far more vulnerable mentally challenged people out there in the community, now that the government has decided it doesn’t want to try and have high quality residential and support care.
After yesterday’s huffing, puffing, bluffing and posturing, the truth is starting to be revealed. Here’s some classic white anting from Phil’s backers:
…He furiously denied reports in political newsletter Trans-Tasman that he asked his frontbench MPs whether he should quit.
Several frontbench MPs backed Mr Goff, either describing the report as “bollocks” or insisting the discussion never took place. Others refused to comment.
But one senior Labour MP said the conversation did happen. “[Phil] did consult the front bench over whether he should go.”
Damned shame really. Phil’s the gift that keeps on giving for National…
Oh for goodness sake. I’d be surprised if the conversation had NOT taken place. Of course the Labour caucas would have talked about their options.
At the same time I believe Goff when he states that he never offered his resignation…. that seems deeply implausible as well for the obvious reason that no-one else wants the job at this point in time. Goff is the kind of man who if he could clearly see another contender who he believed would do a better job than him, he would quite possibly step aside. But that has not happened.
Nah … this is just Tracy Watkins being a tory toe-rag as usual.
So you’d also be surprised then that Phil is furiously denying any such conversation might have taken place…
Nah… it’s a report of Phil Goff saying one thing and a senior Labour MP saying something completely different…
About par for the Goff course.
The way I’m reading it Goff says he never offered to resign. That is a significantly different thing to exploring the options in which resigning and passing the leadership to someone else could have been an raised as an option. Given the circumstances I’d be surprised if they had not talked that possibility over.
But that is still very different to going the next step and formally offering to resign.
Psychopaths and big money – it all adds up
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10746219
For some of us this isn’t news. Plenty of refs on Google Scholar. Glad the Herald has caught up
A Green friend shared it on Facebook, and I sent it to my son.. Good article!
Hi All
We need a new lefty party very quick I wreakon. Someone needs to do an Epsom in a poor electorate. I dont know about Hone. His appeal may be limited largley to maori.
I have some great policy ideas that Labour and National would not be interested in but a lot of people Ive talked to about them really like em.
Costs $300 to rregister a new party and applications close at the end of september. I’d do it but am in a dire financial mire right now. Unless anyone wants to back me to the tune of atleast the minimum wage plus expenses. I may not be the ideal candidate by way of appeal so would welcome anyone else using my ideas and doing this. I don’t really want ot waste those good ideas on a party that might not gain much support such as Mana. I hope they do well but we’ll have to see. It’l also be interesting to see how their policy direction and focus develops.
Please excuse if I disapear soon as I’ve got a big personal disaster going on right now.
I’d post these idea’s here but don’t want those crafty Nats to farm them out to their corporate and banker mates.
Someone else here might be interested in doing this so even if I can’t maybe some of you here would like to discuss the possiblity of doing this.
Political parties need 500 members before they can be registered. Alternatively you can stand as an independent.
In The House finally has video up from the day Key ran away like a chicken during Question Time.
The camera angles aren’t great, but you can see Key in the seat to the left of English when Peseta Sam Lotu-liga’s question begins, then he leans over to talk to someone, who obviously tells him that Phil is going to ask the scary question about youth unemployment, and he gets up and leaves.
“Political parties need 500 members before they can be registered. Alternatively you can stand as an independent.”
Thanks Lanthanide. 10 days to get 500 members maybe a tall ask but possible.
On Your Bike John Key
You might be aware that National has failed to uphold many of their campaign promises. They’ve failed to close the wage gap with Australia for one, mainly because they had no intention of affecting business profits. This policy failure alone has been very detrimental to New Zealand. Under a National government, inequality has markedly increased because they’ve ensured inflation is high and wages are kept low. This means those lucky enough to be employed often still need welfare… effectively gifting billions of dollars in wage subsidies to private businesses…
It amazed me that Kiwi’s fell for Nationals promises/lies before the last electtion. National have always tried very hard to keep wages down as you say which only helps exporters. Businessess not involved in the export sector struggle when workers cannot afford to buy.
Compulsory unionism is a remedy to low wages. i.e. In hard times employment contracts force wages down as busnesses cannot afford to pay employees more than the competition to remain competitive. However with a nationwide based system all employers have to pay the same rate for certain skills thus keeping wages level rather than a corporate competition to get the lowest labour costs. The problem that flows from that is that lower wages means workers don’t spend and companies close due to that lack of spending. The tax take sinks lower and lower. This may be adding to Nationals deficit problems.
Free trade ofcourse undermines any wage increases as much of that money goes off shore. As long as we have free trade with slave labour economies wage increases here will be boosting China’s jobs and the chinese government’s tax take, instead of NZ’s local economy.
Unless this is addressed the New Zealand economy will continue to be swallowed up by vulture corporations who are behind the free trade scam being pushed on us by international bankers.
From
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1108/S00224/employing-young-people.htm
“Yet older people are surrounded by messages that age 65 is too young to retire. If a Labour-led government is elected in November, we even face the possibility that the age of qualification for New Zealand Superannuation will be raised, adding to the demographic logjam that is contributing to the problem of youth unemployment today. Indeed many Generation Xers, disadvantaged throughout their working lives, are already assuming that they will not qualify for a pension until they are aged maybe 70.
National are no better than Labour. They, with their program of welfare reform, are prioritising getting sole parents and disabled people into employment. This, in a low-spending environment, inevitably comes at the expense of young people. Indeed some sole parents and disabled people have advantages over new labour force entrants, because they have substantial work experience.”
I know that there has been debate about the possible need to increase the eligibility age of NZ Superannuation, but I had seen this as being led by National for cost cutting reasons (they also floated changes to the indexation basis, and make it partially or fully means assessed, and I think Peter Dunne proposed options for retiring later and getting higher NZ Super payments), but I had not heard of proposals to raise the eligibility age from Labour. Have I missed something?
Yup. Labour support it, alongside a fairly broad slice of the left. But what you missed was that it’s a con. There is no demographic time bomb. None.
The people retiring now were financially supported through their first 18? years of life. So if they could be supported then, they can be supported now. Some of those people have died. So there are fewer of them to support than when they were below 18. The average life expectancy is not beyond 83 (65 + 18)
And while they were being supported for those first 18 years, woment weren’t generally accepted into the workforce to the degree they are now. So 45 years ago, there was ‘half’ the working age population being supported as well as under 18s being supported plus retired workers being supported.
In other words, it would seem that in times gone by there was a far greater proportion of the population being supported than is ever likely going forward.
Nowadays, fewer people are being born = less support needed for those under 18.
Women are now expected to be in the workforce = not being financially supported as in the past.
Retirees don’t (on average) live beyond 83 years of age (about 78.4 for men and 82.4 for women)
And how often do we hear that current parents and /or grandparents are going to outlive their children because of all types of maladies? So the number of retirees in the future will drop off sharply. (More people will die during their working life if health predictions are to be believed.)
Like I say. Demographic time bomb, my arse!
New Zealand’s latest Mossad Affair – Some Context
Predictably, John Key’s extraordinary about-face at his afternoon press conference of July 20 – where he offered a series of blank denials, contradicting not only his own earlier assertions but also, unbelievably, those of the Israeli ambassador himself – all but killed the latest Mossad scandal.
Much of the media and blogosphere reacted in the same way: Key’s morning press conference was characterised as some sort of ‘gross misjudgement’, with some speculating he was ill-prepared and ill-informed, while his afternoon performance was widely touted as a welcome improvement, with the PM supposedly finally taking a full and frank approach to the matter.
For Danyl at The Dim Post, Key’s afternoon denials were “pretty comprehensive”. Indeed, “given the choice between believing the PM or an unnamed SIS source”, Danyl proudly asserted “I’m gonna believe Key every time.” Similarly, Pundit’s Andrew Geddis was almost giddy with excitement that his own doubts about the case had apparently been proven entirely justified by Key’s denials: “I’d like to say ‘I told you so’. But that would be immature and graceless. So I won’t say ‘I told you so’, even though I did. Tell you that is. That it was so.” Apparently, Key’s denial is supposed to be the end of the matter, in one stroke tying up all the loose ends and suggesting a round of grovelling apologies to the poor hard-done-by Israelis is called for.
Well, like John Roughan and others, I see all this as extremely naive. Certainly, Key’s morning performance could be considered ill-advised from a crisis-management perspective. But one would have hoped that the main interest of journalists, here, was not in how adept Key was at closing the story down, but rather in the actual veracity of the story itself.
Far from ill-informed and ill-thought-out, Key’s morning press conference of July 20 actually appeared quite honest, nuanced and revealing. He accepted some very specific points put to him by various journalists, while very carefully demurring over certain other facets, sometimes citing ‘the national interest’, sometimes asserting ‘I can’t confirm all of the details you presented are correct.’ I’d suggest all this revealed a good deal more than some journalists and bloggers apparently realised.
Then, in the afternoon, we suddenly get this extraordinary series of blank denials where he contradicts both himself and Israeli ambassador, Shemi Tzur.
So, what on earth was the motivation behind Key’s blank denials ? (see next two comments, below).
New Zealand’s latest Mossad Affair – Wider Context
Over the last few weeks, I’ve spent a bit of spare time reading about recent overseas Mossad scandals. Four basic themes keep reappearing:
(1) Mossad activity in western countires is normal/on-going/business-as-usual rather than some sort of bizarre “abberation” or unfortunate, one-off “mistake”,
(2) Following detection of Mossad activity, Israel frequently gives categorical assurances that it will never happen again, before rapidly resuming Mossad operations in the very same Country,
(3) More often than not – to avoid open conflict with both Israel and Washington – western governments in general (and Centre-Right administrations in particular) decide to handle Mossad espionage by sweeping it under the carpet – resolving things quietly, diplomatically, often with little more than symbolic gestures and, if possible, away from the public eye,
(4) Some degree of tension appears to exist within the intelligence services of various western countries between those who prioritise maintaining close links with Mossad and the western alliance (and are thus compliant to resolving things quietly and symbolically) and those who believe the priority should be to overtly defend their Country’s sovereignty and diplomatic integrity.
Here’s an excerpt from a speech by Norways Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.
I found it in an article by blogger Winter Patriot which you might be linterested in reading at
http://winterpatriot.blogspot.com/2011/08/norways-911-horror-is-in-message.html
“I have a message to the people who attacked us, and those behind them. This is a message from all of Norway:
You will not destroy us.
You will not destroy our democracy nor our quest for a better world. We are a small nation, but we are a proud nation.
No one shall bomb us into silence or shoot us into silence. Nothing will frighten us out of being Norway.
This night we will comfort each other, talk with each other, and stand together. Tomorrow we will show the world that Norway’s democracy grows stronger when it is challenged. We shall find the guilty and hold them responsible. “
I still dont understand what Mossad objectives might be accomplished by operating out of ‘friendly’ countries. Whats more worrying is that Israel has roughly 300 nuclear warheads. About the same as China, and likely more than France and the UK.
Hello Viper
Theory
Maybe Israel’s Mossad like America’s CIA are under the control of the International Bankers who are trying to establish a world order. Many of these bankers are Zionist Jews or just plain filthy rich. They want complete control and western democracy is a threat to that. At any stage democrcies can elect to not use their banking services and they could loose their corrupt little golden goose so those democracies must be curtailed. People must be impoverished or they might rise up. They seek austerity for us all so that they are not threatened by the massive throng of incredible talent that surrounds them, and might swallow them up.
It surprises me because globalisation is an inevitable failure. A hundred years from now, travelling from Auckland to London is going to again take three to four months, for the vast majority of people. Only a very few elite will be flying.
Youv’e read about Obama’s John Holdren and the radical environmentalist agenda then? And deindustrialisation which we are now in the throws of.
Anyone interested can search youtube with the search term “webster tarply, Ecoscience”
The talk is about Obamas apointment of John Holdren to a top post. Mr Holdren wrote a book called ecoscience which has some radical ideas which seem to be materialising in th form of policy coming from the National Party and to a differing and lesser degree labour.
Hmmmm after a quick Google it seems that Holdren is (was) a bit of an extremist wild card. I’d like to know who in the background it is who *nominates* these people to Obama.
Actually I didn’t pick my ideas up from Holdren; more like John Michael Greer’s Archdruid Report (which I highly recommend)
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/
Great link, this piece is a classic:
The Twilight of Meaning
That’s two great links today…thanks.
John Michael Greer is on my bookmark toolbar right next to The Standard. And I know I’m not the only one here who regards him as required reading. No two thinking adults are going to agree 100% with each other, there’s something wrong if they do. But Greer always appeals to me, both rationally and emotionally… he’s got a great compass.
Good ideas and good prose. This statement, a few posts down, shows the pointlessness of Key’s stats fiddling:
“Politicians and ordinary people alike have taken to insisting, along these lines, that the solution to joblessness is to send people to college to get job training, on the assumption that this will somehow make jobs appear for them.”
Yep, I’ve been thinking lately that the solution to joblessness isn’t to create more jobs but to have a better distribution of the work and wealth available. Increasing productivity, which we have, should result in less work needing to be done to maintain present living standards. Instead we have decreasing living standards for the majority and an increasing transfer of the communities wealth to the already rich.
good article this morning in dompost on the idiocy of the ACT party and their wonky legislation.
See the thing is they dont really care what happens just as long as people are confused.
Pretty crummy I know but that is their schtick.
They know that they can afford to pay for no mistakes and supposedly the best quality but the rest can just wallow in the crap that they create.
Basically this is very nasty stuff wrapped up in a sugar coated pill of smarmy words they learned in America from other nutters.
New Zealand’s latest Mossad Affair – An example from Canada
Here I provide a summary/synthesis of some recent Mossad activity in Canada (the main points from a whole range of Canadian media reports).
When considering the motivation behind Key’s afternoon press conference (and his series of blank denials), it may be especially useful to look at the Canadian response to (2) the Leslie Lewis affair and (3) the Shehadeh Assassination (particularly given (a) the contradictions inherent in Key’s afternoon press conference performance and (b) the inconsistencies between Key and Tullet’s intelligence informants regarding whether or not SIS investigations had been fully completed or were still on-going).
(1) Botched Khaled Mashaal Assassination
Date: September 1997
Mossad Activity: Israeli agents, posing as Canadian tourists, are caught using fraudulent Canadian passports in the botched assassination attempt on Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Jordan.
Canadian Response: On this occassion, the Canadian Federal Government refuses to resolve things quietly, fearing the Mossad operation might prompt vigilante attacks against ordinary Canadians living in the Middle East. Canada expels the Israeli ambassador from Ottawa and recalls its own ambassador from Tel Aviv until receiving a promise that Mossad would stop using canadian passports for covert operations. Israeli PM Netanyahu subsequently apologises and gives “iron-clad assurances” that the spy agency will cease using Canadian passports in the future.
(2) Leslie Lewis Affair
Date: Late 1997
Mossad Activity: Yet only a few weeks later in late 1997, Israel allegedly broke this promise when a Canadian living in Israel was approached for his passport by a Mossad front organisation – The Bureau of Immigration Affairs.
Leslie Lewis, a Canadian Hasidic Jew who had lived in Israel for several years, said Israeli agents approached him to hand over his passport just weeks after Netanyahu’s promise to Ottawa. They also asked for permission to fly his daughter to Canada where she would obtain a Canadian passport and then hand it over to Mossad on return to Israel.
Lewis refused and alerted the Canadian embassy in Tel Aviv.
Canadian Response: In stark contrast to its attitude a few weeks earlier, Ottawa now displayed a marked reluctance to investigate, eventually ordering a probe into the allegations more than a year later in November 1998 (presumably after coming under sustained pressure to do so).
However, by August 1999, Canadian intelligence sources were telling the media that the investigation had been stopped prematurely because Ottawa wanted to avoid upsetting Israel. The Canadian Foreign Affairs Ministry had quietly closed the file on the investigation with Minister Lloyd Axworthy announcing it had ended with the conclusion there was “insufficient evidence” to prove that Israel had broken its pledge. A Ministry spokeswoman said that Israel had given assurances that Mossad agents were not involved in such an operation and the Canadian Government had decided to accept these assurances.
The media, however, quoted a number of intelligence sources denouncing the investigation as “half-hearted”, “shoddy” and “incomplete”. The sources argued that Canadian officials, fearful of upsetting Israel and Washington, “got the answers they wanted from the Israelis and ended it right there”, failing to thoroughly check-out the explanations offered. “Some investigation !”, one intelligence official is quoted as saying. Or, as another put it, “It’s a farce”.
(3) Shehadeh Assassination
Date: 2001-2002
Mossad Activity: And then, 2 years later, explosive new allegations suggested Mossad agents had been posing as Canadians (using false Canadian identities) during a “false flag” operation that ultimately resulted in the July 2002 assassination of Hamas leader Sheik Salah Shehadeh (an Israeli F-16 fired a one-tonne missile at the Gaza apartment building, killing not only the Sheik but also 14 bystanders, including 9 children. Israel was widely criticised for the attack).
Knowing Canada was heavily involved in aid work in Gaza at the time, Mossad agents had posed as Canadians to lure a young Palestinian man into informing on the movements of both Shehadeh and other Intifada leaders in return for (false) promises of ressettlement in Canada. Once they’d revealed their true Mossad connections, the agents reportedly used sexual blackmail against the man (using fake photographs) to ensure his continued compliance.
Canadian Response: Once again, Ottawa seemed more than eager to accept Israeli denials, telling Toronto’s National Post they were satisfied the claims were false. Canada’s ambassador to Tel Aviv had asked Israel for an explanation of the incident and was told it did not happen.
Asked by journalists whether the Israelis could be hiding something in order to avoid another diplomatic firestorm, a Canadian Foreign Affairs spokesman replied: “They gave us their word and we take it as it is.” Indeed, journalists were assured that Ottawa had been convinced all along that the claims were false.
However, what Canadian government officials said in public and private were clearly two very different things. In December 2002, the Canadian media obtained newly-released official government documents showing that in the weeks following Ottawa’s September announcement of the end of the investigation, the matter had in fact continued to cause a good deal of official concern, resulting in on-going, behind-the-scenes diplomacy with Israel.
In a confidential report, officials expressed concerns that Israel was indeed “misusing Canada’s identity” and thus endangering Canadian travellers and undermining the integrity of the nation’s passports. This resulted in a Senior Canadian Cabinet official questioning the head of Israel’s Security Service as well as discussions between the Assistant Deputy Minister for Africa and the Mideast and Israel’s ambassador to Canada, Haim Divon.
Voting simulator for the proposed electoral systems in this years referendum. Clearly shows the benefits of MMP
Another Flip Flop
Kate Wilkinson is now increasing the mining inspectorate despite repeatedly denying there was a problem. National has up until now been adamant that one mine inspector for the entire country was enough and they wouldn’t make changes until the royal commission reported…
For everyone on Facebook – a group you should join – https://www.facebook.com/groups/252700100808/
I am delighted to say I’ve already joined, Ian! It’s a good group…
The Fake World Cup Tour
There were rumors this week that the prime minister might be fake. Experts say his IQ was affected during the cloning process and that he’s no longer able to count how many youth unemployed there are or shares he holds with Transrail or the Bank of America. Unfortunately nobody knows where the real John Key is, although reports say that he’s all over the place…
Ben Pleasewankme loses it in bar:
http://mobile.theonion.com/articles/drunken-ben-bernanke-tells-everyone-at-neighborhoo,21059/?source=patrick.net&mobile=trueong
Time for the hot bath and razor baldes Ben?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/expd/6028214757/
Yep.
Nice one.