After four long years of vigorous media activity, inquiries, panels, investigations – Trump-Russia collusion turned out to be a hoax. So, if this epic conspiracy and national security crisis never actually happened, then why is Roger Stone going to prison for supposedly trying to conceal it?
Call to means test our unsustainable pension. I think it will happen eventually but probably when it is far too late to do any good.
FYI we have disabled in this country desperate to reach retirement age because they cannot afford to pay basic costs, even if some of them can work part time. The core benefit is being linked to wages but there is a substantial difference between Super vs Supported Living Payment.
Pensions are 100% financially sustainable. There would be an issue if we lacked the means to feed, house, clothe etc… the retired on the backs of the remaining productive peoples efforts but the country is nowhere near this state rather obviously. Actually trying to cut back on social expenditure has a tendency to exacerbate that.
Shamubeel Eaqub has been banging this drum for years. Yet despite the fact that we're halfway into the Boomer retirement bulge, the NZ economy is in the best shape since forever.
Besides the reality is that NZ gets very good value from it's retired people, most contribute back to the community in all manner of ways. The other relevant fact is that people are living healthy lives for longer. Often people are now quite active well into their 80's, yet the modern workplace starts to discriminate against them when they reach 50.
Nah … means testing is a shitty, simplistic idea that has known perverse outcomes.
Whatever Shamubeel Eaqub says I would take with a grain of salt. (in fact the opposite is probably true). Remember he told us how much better off you were renting a house in Auckland than buying one!
Giving too much money to people who don't need it is an inefficiency, and economists hate that shit – but frequently ignore how much it costs to remove that inefficiency.
Means testsing 700k or 1.8mil people, signing on and signing off according to changing needs… cost that before making a recommendation, I say.
There was a public meeting in Tauranga last night about their gang problem…. where was simon?
This is his electorate, he is talking it up on twitter and in the media, but doesn't even respect his local voters enough to attend a meeting to hear their concerns.
Gangs have been a carbunkle on NZ society for decades, but everything I've read says two things have changed recently, the '501's' being dumped on NZ by Australia, and the flooding of the Western world by meth precursors and product out of China.
With National now largely a front for laundering CCP money I doubt very much if Bridges would want to be put in a compromising position over this.
You'll be going along to the Tauranga Yacht Club next Thursday will you Sacha?
Simon will apparently be holding a Public meeting there and will no doubt open it to questions from the audience. If you are so interested you will of course attend. Or not as the case may be.
Totally hypocritical in view of the fact that Bridges has been screaming about gangs for months, including on Twitter and Facebook just a week ago re the gang problems in Tauranga.
Back in Oct 2019 he was very vocal about opposing any talking with gangs, and proposing that they be denied benefits and other forms of assistance and civil rights.
He then fronted a major law and order policy paper presented to the 83rd Annual National Party Conference in late November 2019 which proposed a raft of measures to crack down on crime with a special focus on gangs including establishing a special/elite police unit similar to the Australian Strike Force Raptor Unit. This was covered widely across all media at the time.
Just in the last week or so he has been vocal in the local Tauranga paper and other media and on Twitter and Facebook on the gang problems in his own electorate, eg
“If you don’t do that, then like a cancer, they will continue to grow.”
Simon will be holding a public meeting in Tauranga to talk about gangs and the recent criminal activity that has been happening in the community.
“On February 27, we are holding a public meeting at the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club at 6.30pm on gangs and what we should do.”
Then he doesn't even show at the meeting – and as just reported last night, a "blissfully unaware Simon Bridges" apparently signed a "nang" – a nitrous oxide cannister!
In view of the above, IMO Bridges' non-appearance at the meeting would not really seem to be a case of Bridges not wanting to be put in a compromising position as suggested in @3.1.
On reflection having reread the Herald report of last night’s meeting, I can now see why Bridges probably did not attend, or was perhaps not actually welcome to attend (?).
According to the link in Cinny's post @ 3, last night's meeting seems to have been organised or at least facilitated by Tauranga Mayor Terry Powell and Western Bay of Plenty Mayor Gary Webber – and the tone and objectives of the meeting appear to be somewhat at odds with the ‘no tolerance’ type approach that Bridges advocated last Oct and November in his law and order policy document:, ie:
[NOTE – in my extracts below I have focused on the ‘’tone’’ of the comments reported from the meeting rather than on the big issue (meth) and how that needs to be dealt with. The article provides plenty on these aspects.]
"This is about understanding, this is about empathy and this is fundamentally about your safety."
Those of [sic] the words of Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell spoken at a public meeting called after a spike in gang violence in the Western Bay of Plenty.
Roughly 250 people have gathered at a public meeting which is being facilitated by Powell and the Western Bay of Plenty mayor Garry Webber.
Police Area Commander Inspector Clifford Paxton and the Bay of Plenty District Health Board's chief inspector of the health sector Simon Everett are also present.
After opening with a prayer, Paxton said he "needed to walk a fine line" tonight.
"We need to keep our focus wide and to the future, not just to the past," he said.
Paxton also said the public needed to remember gang members were individuals, just as police officers were. …
Powell said the big question was how to deal with it. [ie the meth issue ] "The point of a hui is that we are the community who live among all this and I think we also need to acknowledge that gangs come from our community. They are members of our community too.
"This is about understanding, this is about empathy and this is fundamentally about your safety."
… Paxton said gangs were fulfilling a "social need" and other ways to fill that need had to be found. "Tikanga needs to play a big part of that," he said.
"They [gangs] are here for a reason."
Paxton said police needed to create a relationship with gangs and to show respect in order to move forward.
I suspect the above examples are rather far from what Bridges will advocate at next weeks meeting. It will be interesting to see what happens at that one!
'But, for a mere 60c more per head per day, prisoners are treated to a full roast dinner on Christmas Day complete with piping hot gravy, followed by apple pie with custard for dessert.'
'Come December 25, inmates feast on a lunch made by fellow prisoners at on-site kitchens.'
Yeah the journalist is just ever so slightly exaggerating the description of the meal, I mean the portions are for each prisoner so you only get seconds if theres food left over (which basically means the veges and potatoes, I've personally never seen any meat left over)
Don't get me wrong its certainly better then what a lot of our elderly or most vulnerable get (and no prisoners are not our most vulnerable, they're not even close) but in terms of quality its lesser quality than what I got in the army back in the 2000s (and so it should be) and probably on a par with what the larger shelters provide today
But hey prisoners are feasting and our children aren't I guess is the take home message
IIRC (not from personal exerience behind bars!) the Christmas dinner is a bit of an exception to the usual menu . Is it still a weekly menu right across the prison system where "it is Wednesday, so its sausages tonight" – or whatever is the set meal for all Wednesdays?
Most have fairly state of the art big (stainless steel) commercial kitchens – after all they feed (often) hundreds of people three plus meals a day, 7 days a week.
I am not suggesting that prison meals are likely to be 'piping hot' as the Herald suggested re the Christmas gravy, but the kitchen faciities at larger prisons like Rimutaka are pretty good including in relation to food storage at different temperatures etc – including the equipment used to transport food from the kitchens to the cell blocks etc. Has to be to avoid health issues – just image the logistics of dealing with a major outbreak of campylobacter at a large prison!
Yep. The Herald has reproduced two very unflattering photos of the school lunch rolled out at Flaxmere School under the headings "Would your kids eat this?" and "Would crims eat this?" The article quoting Simon Gault is more balanced. Just shows you how much the Farro Fresh crowd (core Herald readership) hate and despise the working class and won't tolerate any attempt to make their lives better. The Herald is going to go into full-on loony territory this year.
The Herald is going to go into full-on loony territory this year.
Its already started. John Armstrong is in full sack em mode. Remember the hysterical piece about Cunliffe over a letter he signed some 12 years earlier (one of those proforma types from memory) and he screamed for Cunliffe to be sacked from parliament? Well he's started down that road already – this time with Winston of course.
Mr Armstrong ended up apologising to David Cunliffe, but, that may have been self pity over his health issues–who knows–but he has consistently been an NZ National hatchet man, that at least is demonstrable.
"A full stomach makes all the difference to a child's learning, Jacinda Ardern said." So why place all the efforts into lunches Would not breakfast achieve greater results as these pupils will have a full stomach during a FULL school day not just the last 2 hours.
A note to our PM you have not maximised the opportunity here with the opportunity cost being paid by these children.
The post by Pat last night is very important I think. He links to an article on Pundit by Simon Connell. Every strategist in Government should read it and figure out how to disarm the negative effects of the Opposition's double dog whistle. Was Simon's call re 33cents in the dollar an error? No. We got it wrong.
Ok, so Putin's favourite (former) Congressman Rohrabacher has confirmed he did indeed offer to get Assange a pardon if Assange coughed up something to prove the russians didn't hack the DNC emails. Surely there have to be some criminal and electoral law violations in there – offering to procure an official act in exchange for a purely personal political benefit.
The World Health Organisation on Thursday chided the international community for not stepping up enough to finance the battle to contain the novel coronavirus that has shut down many parts of China and killed more than 2,000 people.
The United Nations health agency issued a call earlier this month for US$675 million “to implement priority public health measures in support of countries to prepare for and respond to” the spread of the new coronavirus that causes the potentially deadly respiratory illness known as Covid-19.
“Considering the urgency and considering that we’re fighting a very dangerous enemy, we’re surprised that the response is not really something that we would expect,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a press briefing on Thursday from Geneva.
Why nobody should be giving W.H.O. any money – basically they could have nipped this in the bud early on, but didn’t want to disobey China’s orders. NZ needs to spend it’s money on protecting our own (+ little island nations we protect anyway) NOT giving money to a bunch of toadies.
Didn't happen the last time they were in and it won't happen the next time they're in but look at the bright side, you've got until September to get used the idea!
Fuck I was going to put the boot into Millsy for his bullshit unsubstantiated dribble but you have answered so eloquently that I have calmed down. Well said PR
Grabbed a beer at the airport. A lady’s pouring herself a wine, I wait cause the bottle opener’s front of her.
Mid-pour, without even looking, she hands me the opener.
I say thanks, crack my beer, look up.
Turns out that lady was our whole ass Prime Minister.
What a fuckin G
The trouble is that the power of this story, it’s connection with our culture, has nothing to do with bottle openers. In one of the few times in the duration of the universe I’d agree with him, Eric Crampton tweeted:
There is nothing special about handing someone a bottle opener.
There is something very very special about living in a place where you don’t even notice that it’s the PM sitting across from you until she hands you the bottle opener.
That’s definitely part of it. Just as USians like to say of a newborn that “the kid can grow up to be president some day”, part of New zealand’s national myth is that our leaders are one of us, that we have the same daily lives. There are many stories around the country of chance encounters with senior politicians: a mate from the West Coast has a story about realising the short-wearing guy in front of him at the TAB queue was the then-PM Bill Rowling. Someone met a cabniet minister on the train. Bumped into someone else in the supermarket. Even our last emperor Robert Muldoon would mow his bach’s lawn (and drink-drive, because that was the style at the time). I know student politicians who drank with Winston Peters on a protest to Wellington (his rule was “no politics at the bar”). People would bump into Helen Clark on the Milford Track.
This is a sense I think we’ve lost in recent years – I reckon some of it is due to the tories and their heated seats, but HC’s motorcade speeding episode also helped hurt it. But one reason the bottle-opener hit a chord was because it brings back this national myth.
But there’s something else, too. Empathy is a big part of some styles of leadership. Especially the little touches that inspire trust and show caring. Not platitudes in a speech or inspiring words, the style of leadership where people think you genuinely care and know what their experiences are. Giving someone a hug, helping them out when they’re caught short in the supermarket, the extra nudge of a door as you go through so that it doesn’t slap the next person in the shoulder, recognising the desperate and yearning need of the person beside you to get their beer bottle open as soon as possible – these are all signs of a recognition of the other person’s humanity. One story handed down to me from the WW2 generation was of Montgomery (a well-known jerk to his colleagues) stopping a squaddie and straightening his pack for him – a small move that made that kid’s life a bit better. When Churchill went to the trenches after Gallipoli he instituted a “war on lice” in his unit – it helped them pass the time and also made life a tiny bit better in a way not obvious to an imperious leader.
That’s what the nats can’t understand or copy. That’s why they wave bottle-openers like cargo-cult leaders, hoping that the power of the opener will make people love them as leaders. The power of the move was that it was uncalculated, just instinctive consideration for the person next to you. Judith Collins can wear a necklace of bottle openers, but her brand is built on toughness, crushing, and prison abuse jokes. A demonstration of empathy is not a force multiplier for her. Until they get their own leader with the “Nelson Touch”, national will never be the caring party.
That doesn’t mean they are doomed (there are many leadership styles), it just means that the more they wave around their beer talismans, the more stupid they look.
Which is definitely one perspective, but I also have a certain amount of time for the idea that "news" includes moments deemed to be of public interest by the populace. In which case it's not much different to reporting 2,000 people welcoming sporting heroes home, or that sort of thing.
It's not a nuclear weapons summit, but there is a certain amount of balancing between importance and local interest.
I dunno, that sort of sensitivity is timeless – and it's not even the only instance. When the likely repercussions of doubler-bunking were put to her when the policy was announced, she said something like that it might make criminals think twice before offending. Can't be bothered digging out the clip again. The 2011 one was just the first direct example.
Given that the linked comment it was a direct quote, any misquote of that nature should have been complained about and retracted. It's pretty brutal.
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Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 7, 2024 thru Sat, April 13, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week is about adults in the room setting terms and conditions of ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When ASIO boss Mike Burgess delivered his annual threat assessment earlier this year, he stressed the rising danger posed by espionage and foreign interference. “In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed ...
The Tribunal had called on Minister for Children Karen Chhour to provide evidence at an urgent inquiry into the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Midjourney image by T.J. Thomson As more than half of Australian office workers report using generative artificial intelligence (AI) for work, we’re starting to see this technology affect every ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Nicole Sharwood, Injury epidemiologist | Expert Witness, UNSW Sydney Sergey Novikov/Shutterstock Injuries are the leading cause of disability and death among Australian children and adolescents. At least a quarter of all emergency department presentations during childhood are injury-related. Injuries can ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Di Winkler, Adjunct Associate Professor, Living with Disability Research Centre, La Trobe University Shutterstock/Ground PictureMany Australians with disability feel on the edge of a precipice right now. Recommendations from the disability royal commission and the NDIS review were released late ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Salman Shooshtarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University Salman Shooshtarian Asbestos has been found in mulch used for playgrounds, schools, parks and gardens across Sydney and Melbourne. Local communities naturally fear for the health of their ...
Family First says that the latest abortion statistics make grim and upsetting reading, with a 25% increase in abortions since the decriminalisation of abortion in March 2020. According to an Official Information Act request received by Right to Life ...
Ipsos New Zealand's inaugural participation in a global study on populism reveals a pervasive sense of societal and economic decline among New Zealanders. MORE DETAILS AND FULL REPORT HERE Ipsos New Zealand's inaugural participation in a global study ...
Great to see Roger Stone go down for 3.5 years.
All that protested innocence, all those hit jobs from Nixon onwards.
Should have been taken out by blunter means long ago.
How soon do you see Trump pardoning him?
The more I looked the less I liked:
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/481212-roger-stone-russiagate-trump/
Thanks for the link red
having completely failed to make any case for russiagate how do they jail for related acts
Call to means test our unsustainable pension. I think it will happen eventually but probably when it is far too late to do any good.
FYI we have disabled in this country desperate to reach retirement age because they cannot afford to pay basic costs, even if some of them can work part time. The core benefit is being linked to wages but there is a substantial difference between Super vs Supported Living Payment.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/119693594/pension-were-giving-too-much-to-people-who-dont-need-it-one-economist-says
Where would you draw the line?
I think it should remain universal but that people who don't need it should be encouraged not to take apply for it.
Pensions are 100% financially sustainable. There would be an issue if we lacked the means to feed, house, clothe etc… the retired on the backs of the remaining productive peoples efforts but the country is nowhere near this state rather obviously. Actually trying to cut back on social expenditure has a tendency to exacerbate that.
Shamubeel Eaqub has been banging this drum for years. Yet despite the fact that we're halfway into the Boomer retirement bulge, the NZ economy is in the best shape since forever.
Besides the reality is that NZ gets very good value from it's retired people, most contribute back to the community in all manner of ways. The other relevant fact is that people are living healthy lives for longer. Often people are now quite active well into their 80's, yet the modern workplace starts to discriminate against them when they reach 50.
Nah … means testing is a shitty, simplistic idea that has known perverse outcomes.
Simplest? way is via tax action I Change the top rate so it claws back the risen
Ah. You are a Roger Douglas fan I see. That is what he did. Bloody unpopular it was too.
Whatever Shamubeel Eaqub says I would take with a grain of salt. (in fact the opposite is probably true). Remember he told us how much better off you were renting a house in Auckland than buying one!
…but we don't have the means to feed, clothe, house everybody!!
Yeah, we do. We just lack the will to tax the parasites more.
Keep it universal, tax wealth properly. Do same for all other groups too, not just seniors. UBI, etc.
Giving too much money to people who don't need it is an inefficiency, and economists hate that shit – but frequently ignore how much it costs to remove that inefficiency.
Means testsing 700k or 1.8mil people, signing on and signing off according to changing needs… cost that before making a recommendation, I say.
There was a public meeting in Tauranga last night about their gang problem…. where was simon?
This is his electorate, he is talking it up on twitter and in the media, but doesn't even respect his local voters enough to attend a meeting to hear their concerns.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503343&objectid=12310309
Gangs have been a carbunkle on NZ society for decades, but everything I've read says two things have changed recently, the '501's' being dumped on NZ by Australia, and the flooding of the Western world by meth precursors and product out of China.
With National now largely a front for laundering CCP money I doubt very much if Bridges would want to be put in a compromising position over this.
Can't control the message in a real public meeting. Best stick to carefully staged party conferences and photo ops.
You'll be going along to the Tauranga Yacht Club next Thursday will you Sacha?
Simon will apparently be holding a Public meeting there and will no doubt open it to questions from the audience. If you are so interested you will of course attend. Or not as the case may be.
That is at 6.30 pm on February 27th.
Not my neck of the woods but do report back if you make it. Who is hosting and what’s the agenda about?
Nailed it Sacha.
Totally hypocritical in view of the fact that Bridges has been screaming about gangs for months, including on Twitter and Facebook just a week ago re the gang problems in Tauranga.
Back in Oct 2019 he was very vocal about opposing any talking with gangs, and proposing that they be denied benefits and other forms of assistance and civil rights.
https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-national/national-plans-block-gang-members-benefits
He then fronted a major law and order policy paper presented to the 83rd Annual National Party Conference in late November 2019 which proposed a raft of measures to crack down on crime with a special focus on gangs including establishing a special/elite police unit similar to the Australian Strike Force Raptor Unit. This was covered widely across all media at the time.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018724267/simon-bridges-defends-gang-proposals
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/11/29/925940/yesterdaze-tough-on-grease-strong-on-gangs
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12288967
Just in the last week or so he has been vocal in the local Tauranga paper and other media and on Twitter and Facebook on the gang problems in his own electorate, eg
https://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/234472-gang-warfare-cancer-says-simon-bridges.html
https://twitter.com/simonjbridges/status/1228494702942420992
Then he doesn't even show at the meeting – and as just reported last night, a "blissfully unaware Simon Bridges" apparently signed a "nang" – a nitrous oxide cannister!
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/02/nitrous-oxide-canister-signed-by-blissfully-unaware-simon-bridges-appears-online.html
In view of the above, IMO Bridges' non-appearance at the meeting would not really seem to be a case of Bridges not wanting to be put in a compromising position as suggested in @3.1.
Wait and see how stage managed his boat club session is as it could be like their TPPA roadshow.
They have to be careful as Soimon's a bit of a train wreck off the cuff.
It might depend who was organising the meeting and how close the agenda is to where his party are prepared to allow him to speak about it.
On reflection having reread the Herald report of last night’s meeting, I can now see why Bridges probably did not attend, or was perhaps not actually welcome to attend (?).
According to the link in Cinny's post @ 3, last night's meeting seems to have been organised or at least facilitated by Tauranga Mayor Terry Powell and Western Bay of Plenty Mayor Gary Webber – and the tone and objectives of the meeting appear to be somewhat at odds with the ‘no tolerance’ type approach that Bridges advocated last Oct and November in his law and order policy document:, ie:
[NOTE – in my extracts below I have focused on the ‘’tone’’ of the comments reported from the meeting rather than on the big issue (meth) and how that needs to be dealt with. The article provides plenty on these aspects.]
I suspect the above examples are rather far from what Bridges will advocate at next weeks meeting. It will be interesting to see what happens at that one!
Hi VV 🙂
That makes sense, if those hosting the meeting are talking about empathy, then simon wouldn't be involved as it's something he lacks.
Did you miss last nights meeting when he took on the Mob?
The government introduces free school lunches.
Middle class recoils in horror.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12310400
Actually I don't get the 'recoil in horror' bit.
'But, for a mere 60c more per head per day, prisoners are treated to a full roast dinner on Christmas Day complete with piping hot gravy, followed by apple pie with custard for dessert.'
'Come December 25, inmates feast on a lunch made by fellow prisoners at on-site kitchens.'
Yeah the journalist is just ever so slightly exaggerating the description of the meal, I mean the portions are for each prisoner so you only get seconds if theres food left over (which basically means the veges and potatoes, I've personally never seen any meat left over)
Don't get me wrong its certainly better then what a lot of our elderly or most vulnerable get (and no prisoners are not our most vulnerable, they're not even close) but in terms of quality its lesser quality than what I got in the army back in the 2000s (and so it should be) and probably on a par with what the larger shelters provide today
But hey prisoners are feasting and our children aren't I guess is the take home message
IIRC (not from personal exerience behind bars!) the Christmas dinner is a bit of an exception to the usual menu . Is it still a weekly menu right across the prison system where "it is Wednesday, so its sausages tonight" – or whatever is the set meal for all Wednesdays?
Seriously doubt that a prison would serve 'piping hot' anything.
Most have fairly state of the art big (stainless steel) commercial kitchens – after all they feed (often) hundreds of people three plus meals a day, 7 days a week.
Piping hot is hot enough to scald.
At best, it's lukewarm.
I am not suggesting that prison meals are likely to be 'piping hot' as the Herald suggested re the Christmas gravy, but the kitchen faciities at larger prisons like Rimutaka are pretty good including in relation to food storage at different temperatures etc – including the equipment used to transport food from the kitchens to the cell blocks etc. Has to be to avoid health issues – just image the logistics of dealing with a major outbreak of campylobacter at a large prison!
Oh I'm sure they do a great job, but the notion of prisons handing inmates an obvious weapon like that struck me as ridiculous.
LOLOL – that aspect did not even occur to me. Well spotted!
Just as well I am well out of the days when I worked in the Justice sector!
Yep. The Herald has reproduced two very unflattering photos of the school lunch rolled out at Flaxmere School under the headings "Would your kids eat this?" and "Would crims eat this?" The article quoting Simon Gault is more balanced. Just shows you how much the Farro Fresh crowd (core Herald readership) hate and despise the working class and won't tolerate any attempt to make their lives better. The Herald is going to go into full-on loony territory this year.
as expected, it is national's herald after all.
The Herald is going to go into full-on loony territory this year.
Its already started. John Armstrong is in full sack em mode. Remember the hysterical piece about Cunliffe over a letter he signed some 12 years earlier (one of those proforma types from memory) and he screamed for Cunliffe to be sacked from parliament? Well he's started down that road already – this time with Winston of course.
Mr Armstrong ended up apologising to David Cunliffe, but, that may have been self pity over his health issues–who knows–but he has consistently been an NZ National hatchet man, that at least is demonstrable.
Just another hack. Sad end to a career.
"A full stomach makes all the difference to a child's learning, Jacinda Ardern said." So why place all the efforts into lunches Would not breakfast achieve greater results as these pupils will have a full stomach during a FULL school day not just the last 2 hours.
A note to our PM you have not maximised the opportunity here with the opportunity cost being paid by these children.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/409952/pm-jacinda-ardern-serves-up-first-of-many-free-school-lunches-in-hawke-s-bay
Am thrilled to bits about the free school lunches.
Healthy food, healthy brains, those kids will do so much better in school and as a result it will lift them up tremendously.
Those school lunches are a far cry from no lunches, or a bag of chips to last the whole day. Neither of which are the fault of those children.
The post by Pat last night is very important I think. He links to an article on Pundit by Simon Connell. Every strategist in Government should read it and figure out how to disarm the negative effects of the Opposition's double dog whistle. Was Simon's call re 33cents in the dollar an error? No. We got it wrong.
Apologies to Pat but:
https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/seriously-but-not-literally-kiwi-edition-or-the-dark-art-of-the-double-secret-dog-whistle
Ta. Worthy of a whole post of its own – with tight moderation to weed out whataboutism, etc.
Officials seem to be accusing the PM of lying or at least misleading about sewage leaking down walls at Middlemore hospital.
Does Mickey have info about this? He made a request for info about this very issue a couple of years ago. Can he shed light on the matter?
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-democracy-reporting/119656710/middlemore-hospital-denies-prime-minister-jacinda-arderns-sewage-down-walls-claim
Some background/answers for you Ross, posted a couple of days ago on The Standard. https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-19-02-2020/#comment-1686258
“There was no sewage leaking down walls, just through the ceiling. Therefore the PM is lying. [headdesk]” – McFlock
Ok, so Putin's favourite (former) Congressman Rohrabacher has confirmed he did indeed offer to get Assange a pardon if Assange coughed up something to prove the russians didn't hack the DNC emails. Surely there have to be some criminal and electoral law violations in there – offering to procure an official act in exchange for a purely personal political benefit.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rohrabacher-assange-trump-pardon_n_5e4eb326c5b615cb7bdc0bf8
It must be noted, though, that so far there is no allegation that Nixon-but-stupider-and-uglier was in on or even aware of this particular sideshow.
https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1230228988238401536?s=20
But never let the facts spoil a
patheticstoryhttps://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1230221005924294663?s=20
Oh ho. W.H.O is bitching about funding to contain COVID-19
Why nobody should be giving W.H.O. any money – basically they could have nipped this in the bud early on, but didn’t want to disobey China’s orders. NZ needs to spend it’s money on protecting our own (+ little island nations we protect anyway) NOT giving money to a bunch of toadies.
https://www.colmarbrunton.co.nz/what-we-do/1-news-poll/
Its not looking good for Winnie or the Greens either for that matter
that poll is crap Act 2 never ever
I know, I predict Act to get three, possibly four MPs so they'd be disappointed with two
4 ACT MP's will lead to the biggest ever cut in living standards as wages, benefits and social services are cut to the bone.
Targets and measures will be brought back so we'll be able to see things get better, not worse like they are now
#democracy #labournofriends
National will cut wages
National will cut benefits
National was privatise health and education
National will allow our rivers to be open sewers
Didn't happen the last time they were in and it won't happen the next time they're in but look at the bright side, you've got until September to get used the idea!
I guess on the bright side, you will be able to torture your clients.
Clients? Don't be so reactionary millsy, they're called 'Paihere' meaning people in our care
You wouldn't fit in our work place with that kind of cultural insensitivity…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/117628824/corrections-to-call-prisoners-men-in-our-care-and-refer-to-them-by-their-first-names-sources-say
Fuck I was going to put the boot into Millsy for his bullshit unsubstantiated dribble but you have answered so eloquently that I have calmed down. Well said PR
It’s not about the bottle openers
So this tweet got traction recently:
https://twitter.com/PastTenseOfJav/status/1230018296302325760
It then followed the standard social media cycle for political tweets. After it hit thousands upon thousands of likes, shares, and smooches, the media reported it, tweeters complained the news reported it, and politicians on the other side started grabbing bottle openers like they were infinity stones.
The trouble is that the power of this story, it’s connection with our culture, has nothing to do with bottle openers. In one of the few times in the duration of the universe I’d agree with him, Eric Crampton tweeted:
That’s definitely part of it. Just as USians like to say of a newborn that “the kid can grow up to be president some day”, part of New zealand’s national myth is that our leaders are one of us, that we have the same daily lives. There are many stories around the country of chance encounters with senior politicians: a mate from the West Coast has a story about realising the short-wearing guy in front of him at the TAB queue was the then-PM Bill Rowling. Someone met a cabniet minister on the train. Bumped into someone else in the supermarket. Even our last emperor Robert Muldoon would mow his bach’s lawn (and drink-drive, because that was the style at the time). I know student politicians who drank with Winston Peters on a protest to Wellington (his rule was “no politics at the bar”). People would bump into Helen Clark on the Milford Track.
This is a sense I think we’ve lost in recent years – I reckon some of it is due to the tories and their heated seats, but HC’s motorcade speeding episode also helped hurt it. But one reason the bottle-opener hit a chord was because it brings back this national myth.
But there’s something else, too. Empathy is a big part of some styles of leadership. Especially the little touches that inspire trust and show caring. Not platitudes in a speech or inspiring words, the style of leadership where people think you genuinely care and know what their experiences are. Giving someone a hug, helping them out when they’re caught short in the supermarket, the extra nudge of a door as you go through so that it doesn’t slap the next person in the shoulder, recognising the desperate and yearning need of the person beside you to get their beer bottle open as soon as possible – these are all signs of a recognition of the other person’s humanity. One story handed down to me from the WW2 generation was of Montgomery (a well-known jerk to his colleagues) stopping a squaddie and straightening his pack for him – a small move that made that kid’s life a bit better. When Churchill went to the trenches after Gallipoli he instituted a “war on lice” in his unit – it helped them pass the time and also made life a tiny bit better in a way not obvious to an imperious leader.
That’s what the nats can’t understand or copy. That’s why they wave bottle-openers like cargo-cult leaders, hoping that the power of the opener will make people love them as leaders. The power of the move was that it was uncalculated, just instinctive consideration for the person next to you. Judith Collins can wear a necklace of bottle openers, but her brand is built on toughness, crushing, and prison abuse jokes. A demonstration of empathy is not a force multiplier for her. Until they get their own leader with the “Nelson Touch”, national will never be the caring party.
That doesn’t mean they are doomed (there are many leadership styles), it just means that the more they wave around their beer talismans, the more stupid they look.
Wow. That should be a post McFlock.
I was considering formally submitting it, but work happened and I figured I might as well just flip it up as is before I forget about it.
Think it says more about how shit our media have turned actually.
Which is definitely one perspective, but I also have a certain amount of time for the idea that "news" includes moments deemed to be of public interest by the populace. In which case it's not much different to reporting 2,000 people welcoming sporting heroes home, or that sort of thing.
It's not a nuclear weapons summit, but there is a certain amount of balancing between importance and local interest.
"Judith Collins can wear a necklace of bottle openers, but her brand is built on toughness, crushing, and prison abuse jokes. "
Calling Puckish Rogue!
As a kid visiting my nan I used to see PM Muldoon swimming at Hatfields beach, them were the days huh?
That was from 2011 so I think we can now let it go (I'm still not convinced she wasn't misquoted) and all move on
I dunno, that sort of sensitivity is timeless – and it's not even the only instance. When the likely repercussions of doubler-bunking were put to her when the policy was announced, she said something like that it might make criminals think twice before offending. Can't be bothered digging out the clip again. The 2011 one was just the first direct example.
Given that the linked comment it was a direct quote, any misquote of that nature should have been complained about and retracted. It's pretty brutal.
Covfefe
When your best response is dolt45's most amazing word, you're on the wrong side of history.