Disgusting. And absurd. Head to Head, Al Jazeera, recorded on July 8, 2018
Right now, Israeli apologist Danny Ayalon is on, being interviewed by Mehdi Hasan. Ayalon is not only disgusting, he is ridiculous. He is so ridiculous that the crowd is laughing at him.
MEHDI HASAN: Does Israel control Gaza’s airspace, yes or no? DANNY AYALON: No. AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha!
….
DANNY AYALON: Israel is transparent. AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Shocking. Also do they really think state sanctioned murder of innocent medical staff is helping their cause, let alone breaking how many human rights conventions??? Can’t wait for the day when they are all bought to justice and put in jail.
Everyone of any faith, should pray for Israel. Having been taken to the edge of the pit of human degradation and contempt and thrown over during WW2, they have been left with a sadness and anger.
Now they are losing their souls that were almost destroyed before, Seemingly they are unable to get out from the retaliation phase. Fear of the past forces them to ensure they prevent a recurrence. That fear remains to cripple them from expanding their hearts and embracing the present and future in wary diplomatic civil compromise with Palestinians, and to carefully treat with others who may be mendacious.
A long and somewhat convoluted read in that weird does- your- head- in sliding screen format… but stick with it.
Ron Mark has ‘championed’ the brothers Nepata for many years and thinks this latest attempt for justice might be their last…
George and Damien think they may have a chance with this new administration, but as with the Family Carers case (been running for the same amount of time) the ‘floodgates’ argument is being touted as the reason to dismiss this, again.
Oh look! There’s Our Learned Friends from Crown Law…doing their very best to protect Government from being accountable for it’s failings.
Roll on Chris Hipkins’ review of what’s become of our public service! Let’s hope it doesn’t end up namby pamby wish washing.
NZDF, Houising NZ, MSD, MPI, MoBIE, Health, Education, DHBs…………..
There are huge structural problems but management culture has become toxic too with fuck all accountability
True that is Tim,
Publ;ic service is still being run by “advisors” that even labour are condoning, so if labour have no balls to actually change anything within the “public service” attitudes inside the NZDF, Houising NZ, MSD, MPI, MoBIE, Health, Education, DHBs………….. we are in for more of the shame crap as we endured for the last nine years.
Once was Tim
Even if the mass of National Party don’t give a f..k about the injustice or unfairness in the system (that oppresses other less fortunate citizens) they should be roused if the case is presented on the basis of waste of taxpayers money on falsified figures, and incorrect data, and signing off on important regulations with life-killing or disease potential, and far too high executive incomes based on profit-making private business levels.
I see people on low salary or grants or volunteering, working away trying to bridge the gaps in this vicious financial economic system and integrity-free government and welfare system. They are being loaded with Health and Safety Regulations and others, which are a load of bureaucratic sh.t, OTT and a barrier to ordinary effective good management and control. The managers should be drowned in wine barrels and people who have served at the grassrootes then put in their place. This is after they have got training in management implementation and structural control for the co-operative model.
And gradually replace all the Brits, 5-Eyes types, and assorted coming here and directing our water onto their farms, and our money into their pockets. When it comes to immigration look at all these people. Our immigrants are mostly great people from wherever they come, and I admire and like them. But we have too many stepping into the line of employment ahead of NZs. That’s not new information but it seems necessary to constantly reiterate it over the catch-cry of immigration being xenophobic. We citizens have a responsibility to care for our own country and other NZs to be trained as bureaucrats who work for our betterment. At present they too often sit in their spiderwebs and pounce on naive NZs who wander in all unknowing, and never understand why nothing ever goes right for them.
Seriously though, the dysfunction in our PS is now well known by those that care to know. The question is, now that there is the opportunity for reform, is anyone going to take on the challenge, or will it be a few weasel words and business as usual,
I see a few signs that there is a growing acceptance that things have radically gone tits up……but – probably like you and Rosemary: waiting waiting waiting.
“Initially, Sanson says he’s not seeing a clash between pro-corporate factions within DOC against pro-conservation people, but then he gives some ground. “It may be at one location in the country, yes, but not over the department.”
PS. (There was a follow up article to this the day after … that can’t put finger on just Now), that suggested some action was being taken in One location ……
‘One former DOC worker reckons it’s going to be hard for Minister Sage to change the department’s culture, given its focus on “corporate management processes and outcomes and reports and organisational change”.’
Figure with the added missing Link you are following/understand, and/or are perhaps affected …. ?
A past life for me … But Very sad to watch, and hear of a great organisation, (Public Service), get the stick from MSM, (albeit David Williams, Newsroom)
“Four years on, the DOC staffer says after the “Nick disaster”, they can’t see how DOC can reach its potential by the route it’s taking. “It’s just a bloody tragedy. It’s tragic what’s happening to DOC.”
Trust “that action”, And/or the necessary Change occurs with P S/ Ministerial impute, as necessary/required and does not become dependent on the 4th Estate “MSM” articles … Credit to Newsroom if things are Crook! And Need Fixing!
The government spends more on Lawyers fighting against fairness ‘to stop the floodgates’ than if they actually apologised, investigated properly and did the moral thing at the beginning.
Not only that, probably would save money on the massive legal fees to fat cats who seem to be beyond the law, and years of litigation which also stops people believing in government being honest and accountable, any more. (Because they use legal and power to fight against what is right against people who have been screwed over or had harm, by the system).
I seem to remember the victims of state care, got less for their abuse eventually, than the lawyers who represented them got in fees.
Ah, but now he’s wearing big boy pants Ron Mark appears to be struggling with those distinctions.
Without commenting at all on the specifics of the Nepata case, if I may, I think this is indicative of a more general issue that Ministers often find themselves confronted with. It is neatly portrayed in a very good ‘portrait’ of Eugenie Sage:
The human drama of power. Sage says what struck her was the abrupt switch from being on the outside looking in – stalled for six months by the sitting minister on every information request – to having a staff ready to jump on any question.
…
A warm fuzzy feeling as minister. Again, the very human drama of suddenly finding yourself the one on the inside, now looking out.
Back in 2013….the brothers Nepata discovered that the Defence Force had, during the time they had battling for compensation from the DF, handed out over 1/2 a million dollars in ex gratia payments.
” Dr Coleman earlier said he had enormous sympathy for the brothers and was approaching the matter with an open mind. The Defence Force would not comment on the case while the matter was under his consideration.
Earlier this year, Defence Force chief of personnel Brigadier Howard Duffy said the army was very sympathetic to the brothers, but an ex gratia payment was a matter for the Government.
However, under Defence Force orders, last updated in October 2011, the force is able to authorise ex gratia payments of up to $30,000 without ministerial sign-off.
Ex gratia payments of between $30,000 to $75,000 must be authorised by the minister, while payments of more than $75,000 need to be signed off by Cabinet.”
What a sad story and so unfair that this particular family had so much to deal with. The first thing that should be happening is that the army reforms it’s way’s and actually have psychologists and other support staff to help ex army staff to recover after injuries including apologising if it was a work place accident and giving them FULL support. It is unfathomable that after telling the army they are a family, to them suddenly abandon soldiers who get injured to face it all alone with out even a goodbye, especially when they are injured in the line of duty or during training!
Then there should be pay outs straight away (aka like airline accidents) and annuities available to those permanently injured to stop them falling into poverty after their accident. This should be in addition to ACC and other benefits as part of the act of being in the armed forces!
One of my family members served and they got a pension as well as the normal pension so maybe some sort of non means tested annuity payment for permanently injured soldiers as well as pensions should be made as well as a lump sum as soon as they are injured to help them adjust AND emotional support right through from the armed forces. Whether injured or not, the soldiers should still be counted as the armed forces and treated with dignity and support.
Also think the armed forces should be retrained to also do disaster work and be front line disaster workers for earthquakes, floods etc etc. Then Kiwis would be much more interested in supporting them because at present the armed forces seem like political pawns with defence just a junket to give money to other countries for armaments while not valuing the actual people who are in the armed forces who should be ready to help in a disaster when Kiwis might actually need them.
Funny thing is, I spoke with a couple of ex defence force personnel regarding particular disability issues (accessible housing building rules if I recall) and the issue the Nepata brothers were facing came up. (I had met George and his family briefly when Damien was in hospital).
Both these guys had been well looked after and supported by the DF…but then again they were Officers. And I assume that makes them Gentlemen. And worthy.
Close scrutiny of those ex gratia payments made by the DF would be handy…
Hard to see why someone who was slowly burnt alive for hours and another who was paralysed during training through no fault of their own, do not qualify for a moral payment?
When you watch how other countries behave aka Thai cave rescue it casts a shadow on government and private attitudes in NZ when they do nothing to rescue anybody citing too dangerous and fail to do the right thing post accident (shareholders vote against compensation for Pike River families for example)…
We have developed a toxic workplace/government mentality in NZ post rogernomics where people are just disposable units to be thrown away to save money or reduce a perceived monetary or corporation risk.
Not only is this morally wrong, it does not work to create a thriving environment – toxic ideas and behaviour kills everything around it.
Sad story really. Hope these guys get what they deserve. I don’t really think 30-75,000 is enough. It would barely pay for a modified vehicle for the tetarplegic chap. Seems that every accident like these ones in the military seems to be entirely avoidable and the victims get hung out to dry. Even by 1989 standards, getting 2 guys to carry a third on a stretcher on a piece of 4×2 is asking for trouble.
millsy…ACC will be taking care of the vehicle funding as well as home modifications, supplies and ongoing care and rehabilitation. George is most likely well supported by ACC (although,( again its wayback), there might have been a battle to secure ACC funding as accidents to Kiwis outside of NZ were not covered.)
I do recall George telling me about his accident, and also heard some of the details of Damien’s accident. Even back then it was obvious that the Army failed to provide a safe working environment. As you say…even by 1989 standards it was pretty bloody reckless. Those Scorpion tanks were being phased out because of known issues.
I know from personal experience…when one finds out that others have been financially compensated when you have fought and over the same issues its sticks in one’s craw.
Although ACC is involved, the workplace should still be a moral workplace, offering at the very least emotional support due to the vocation identity of ‘family’ under armed forces…
ACC is a great concept, but should not be used to sweep accidents and support both emotional and financial from the work place instead be a standard that also can be added to by the workforce to keep the person’s prospects the same as if they had not been injured and compensation which is no longer part of ACC.
Worksafe can award payments or prosecution, funny enough not for Pike River (prosecution) and not for these accidents either, maybe government ‘influence’ and neoliberal ideas of ‘opening the floodgates’ are stopping justice.
I was in the NZ Army (RNZAC) from the mid 93 to mid 98. I wasn’t in QA SQN or whatever it was called back then, or it may have been 1st Armoured Group? The guys were getting ready to deploy on Op Raidan for Bosnia at the time of the accident, also during this time we the NZDF had lost or were about to lose up to 25% of the Defence budget in cuts. Which was effecting operational preparedness across the broad, but it the Corp the hardest as we were quite expensive to run which saw a lot of Army cuts head our way which to cause issues down the track aka the LAV’s and the buying of those death traps the up armoured Pinz’s.
Before the Defence cuts under there was a plain to give the CVT Scorpions and M113’s etc a Mid Life Update and WMIK kits, Communications upgrades for NZ Scots SQN using cutdown V8’s quite successfully in Recon role within 3 Land Force Group (3LFG). With the Scorpions that meant replacing the V6 Jaguar engine with Perkins engine, fire control systems and new fume extractor for the 76mm. Only the M113’s got the upgrades mainly for Bosnia and everything else got kicked into touch and the Scorpions should’ve been retired, but due to government policies they had to be maintained in use even though we had SFA in spares or money to buy spares. As everything we poured into getting M113’s up to OLOC and getting 1st Battalion up to speed with 2nd/1st back filling the 1st, at the sametime stripping all of 3LFG units of useful equipment to support the deployment.
The effects of all this happening cause the in my opinion that led to Damien’s accident and what happened with the 2nd/1st pre- deployment training and it’s deployment to East Timor in 2000 in which my mate was KIA along with the th other problems that arose in the 2000’s stems back to the defence cuts in 90’s. When I pose this similar question last yr to Damien at Cambrai last yr and has reply was yes, we also believe that everyone is ass covering as a result of this accident and I know of at least 3-5 other accidents from the 90’s where if an ex-gratis payment was made to Damien the flood gates would open all because we were trying to a job with SFA equipment that more and more dangerous as the yrs went on trying to our mandate tasks as directed by the politicians in Wellington with less and less funding and equipment failing or being run into ground or in case of NZ Scots we were building our own gun mounts, repairing our V8’s in some cases with our money or buying stuff from surplus shops IOT get the job done as stated in our mandated tasks IOT achieve the Government of the Day Defence Polices.
And you wonder why this lefty is a bit more pro defence than most and very anti “No Mates Party”. When I look back at my photos in NZ Army i offen wonder how on earth I didn’t get myself killed especially when I show rockape mates from work as they think we were bloody mad at what we did!!!!
Hence the nickname “Mad Kiwi” and my attitude to life.
Thank you Exkiwiforces. I was hoping you’d pop up and shed some light into the darker corners. So let me get this clear….the Scorpions ran on petrol???
Not diesel? (Perkins are diesel engines, aren’t they?) Jesus….I’m told the Yanks used to call the Sherman tanks ‘Ronsons’.
The most significant thing I took away from my very brief encounter with George and his family after Damien’s accident was the deep sense of betrayal. A long family history of service (unto the current generation, despite this crap) and clearly the loyalty was entirely one sided.
The really ironic thing was that they treated all three brothers like shit. All three of them.
Re: funding for Defence. This lefty would prefer we needed no armed forces at all, but if we are going to have such a thing…fund it bloody properly or don’t bother.
Yes the Scorpion and its family of variants were powered by V6 4.2 lt Jag petrol engine with a semi automatic transmission which most countries that are still use Scorpion or any of its variants have now been replaced by the Perkins Diesel engine due to the risk of fire and also it cheaper to run than a petrol engine. There is a school of thought that we should brought more M41 Tanks and upgraded them instead of buying the Scorpions as even today the Danish and Norway Armies still use them as its main gun a long barrel 76mm is still quite useful.
The Germans called the all the Western Allies tanks in WW2 Tommy Cookers because of their petrol engines, but then again the Germans were engaging the Allies from over 1km where as Sherman had to within 800m to engage a Long Barrel Panzer 4’s and even closer for the Panther, Tiger, King Tiger Tanks and some of the Tank Destroyers as well before we even think about the German Anti Tank Guns.
Fighting the system for justice is bloody hard and I know that firsthand experience especially when the officer corps saying we well look after you, but in fact its the faceless civilian bureaucracy of MOD, Treasury, DVA, Government and their Advisors as they hold the purse strings.
There is an unwritten code of conduct/ convention between us and politicians due to the nature of our work and that we don’t have a right to form a union in that the politicians will look after us/ our families as well in peace, on operations and after we leave the services. But since the 90’s we have seen this code of conduct/ convention being kicked into touch with eroding of conditions of service from pay, super, housing/ rations and quarters for those who lived on base, allowances etc to using/ operating ageing equipment well pass their exprier date (rule of thumb for Military Equipment is 30yrs -/+ 10yrs) or new equipment being brought in service that is sub optimal for the at hand aka Project Protector the two OPV’s and Landing Support Ship, Up Armoured Piniz’s etc or the bare minimum of kit being brought aka doing more with less. If any other Government Dept had to put up with this shit there would be hell to pay as I don’t see many workers standing for this sort of shit as they have a union to go and bat for them and more likely to have the public on side as well.
Hence why I and many other like me have moved or still moving overseas because of this or were sacked by the Government as capabilities were chopped. A lot of these ex Kiwi officers have now reach Flag Rank, Air Rank or Staff Rank in Foreign Armed Forces with ex Kiwi NCO’s holding by senior positions within their of expertise or been commissioned. With me I’m now been pensioned off due to my PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder as a result of my Peacekeeping and Warlike active service.
The last comment sums up my attitude as well either you fund the NZDF probably or bloody well get rid of it. As my late Grandmother said Rosa Beaurepaire née Balderstone as she was pacifist said this at Nelson Labour LEC or some other Labour meeting many yrs ago “the Forces are a necessary evil we have to have as it’s rather like have house insurance as only a bloody idiot would go without it and not having a Defence Force could be a lot worse unless you like living under a jackboot or don’t like our way of life have fought for be it as workclass struggle against the bosses of this country or fighting overseas against Herr Hitler! The choice is yours and I know what I’ll and my future generations of family would rather have! “ and the debate stop dead on some Defence issues being discussed at the time.
The most significant thing I took away from my very brief encounter with George and his family after Damien’s accident was the deep sense of betrayal. A long family history of service (unto the current generation, despite this crap) and clearly the loyalty was entirely one sided.
That’s my total experience with capitalists. They demand loyalty but they never, ever give it.
This lefty would prefer we needed no armed forces at all, but if we are going to have such a thing…fund it bloody properly or don’t bother.
I would much prefer that we didn’t have to have the armed forces but history tells us that we do and so, like you, I think we need to fund it properly and care for our people who are willing to put their lives on the line for our safety.
…along with the th other problems that arose in the 2000’s stems back to the defence cuts in 90’s.
IMO, If you look back in history the governments that have cut defence spending the most will be National governments. This is despite their rhetoric that the defence forces need to be kept up to maximum capability. Such applies across the board of course – they promise to keep things up but cut funding so that they can give tax cuts to the rich. their usual BS to cover these funding cuts is to do more with less.< Such a philosophy is as bankrupt as it sounds. Throw in the fact that they’ll privatise things so that the rich can get a government guaranteed income for doing nothing at all and things do get really bad.
And you wonder why this lefty is a bit more pro defence than most and very anti “No Mates Party”.
Nope, history makes it clear as day. The biggest threat to our armed forces is the National Party.
This is despite their rhetoric that the defence forces need to be kept up to maximum capability. Such applies across the board of course – they promise to keep things up but cut funding so that they can give tax cuts to the rich. their usual BS to cover these funding cuts is to do more with less.
It has always been the same with the police and the justice system. I don’t think that it was quite as bad last set of terms for National as it was at the end of the 1990s, but they’d certainly been running down the police capabilities. But in 1999, they’d been both sucking money off the police in real terms AND the police hierarchy had been sucking funding away internally on to their computer systems in an attempt to make up for the operational shortfalls down the line.
The effect was devastating. Around here, there was virtually no investigation of “petty crime” like car theft from our parking garages or people kicking in doors looking for money. Those were treated as being insurance issues – as in you had to have a meaningless proforma complaint to police to get your insurance claim approved. No one would turn up to look for evidence. They’d just wait until they accidently nabbed the offender for something else and let them plead to as many other offenses as they could remember that fitted reports to the police – to provide clearance rates for statistics.
It was even more horrendous in the less affluent areas where there weren’t any kinds of the alarms and security systems that my apartment block put in communally. Some of my friends and relatives were getting burglarized several times during the year. And it seemed like the poorer they were, the more often it happened.
Labour and the Alliance got in, changed the policies along with the funding levels, and it cleared up over a couple of years. Police started to turn up at crime scenes with finger printing kits.
This time I think that they have been damaging the court systems more instead. Some parts of the optimisations worked, like electronic documents. Many parts appear to have simply slowed the court systems down. And the court systems are visibly straining to get through the process.
Yep they need enough to buy a house that is modified so they have home security and what they would have achieved had they been able to work, plus a modified car for the tetraplegic and enough income to lead a stress free life in relation to income.
Does not sound like ACC took care of it and personally feel the army should have done so much more, they were left without emotional or psychological support, moved back in with parents, and another sibling quit the army to look after them and now unemployed???
Does not look like a rosy outcome with all problems and issues dealt with and solved by ACC, let alone the army.
While over the pacific pond……….Donald Trump knows that the war-mongers EU/NATO/Washington swamp warhawk cartel want to break up Russia like they conspired to break up the Eastern Euopean & Baltic states like Ukraine/Yugoslavia/ect’ to plunder; — so he wants to stop the impending war about to envelop the planet again.
We need to save our people from another world war folks it is that simple.
This is the issue and the ‘elitists’ do not care about us; – and will use anything or person to stop Trump from saving us from war.
Today the Elitist corporate swamp has finally bought Tumps lawyer Michael Cohen who had taped Trump trying to pay to hush an affair he had 19 yrs ago.
So as affairs were always ‘indemic’ amongst all presidents going back till the year dot not one president then was placed under such scutity as this one is even when he was playing around before being president.
“It’s no surprise that Russians send spies to the US,” Noah said. “I mean, a spying Russian is as normal as a white person calling the cops on their shadow.”
I see the Alt Reich Speakers post is still running strong, but thought it may be better to post here on OM these links to ‘on the ground’ reports from Melbourne of the first of the Southern/Molyneux meetings held in Australia last night.
As expected there were protests and attempts to block people from getting to the venue; confrontations with police including mounted police and dogs, and with right wing demonstrators, resulting in the blocking of the Hume highway; and infiltrations and protests at the venue itself with one young woman getting up on the stage and others removed from the audience, and several arrests. IMHO this all played straight into the hands of Southern et al in terms of publicity etc and winding people up and creating dissent.
[Google links to reports and videos of Neil Ericson (Right Winger who videos for Southern) being hauled from videoing the protests by police don’t seem to load …. ]
The most interesting thing (to me anyway) from these reports is that they obviously tried to keep the actual venue secret as much as possible. Ticket holders were directed to meet at a particular railway station (Broadmeadows) with buses then transporting them to the actual venue – the La Mirage Reception and Convention Centre in Somerton.
I find this interesting because the Australian organiser (Mellowes?) has been saying that they are attempting to find a new venue here in NZ now that Southern and Molyneux have been granted limited work visas; and that they have had no success to date but are hopeful of finding one. Initially I took this at face value but now that they kept the Melbourne venue secret, I suspect that they will not be announcing any venue they secure (or have already) here in NZ – and will attempt the same tactics as used in Melbourne.
There are a number of other Australian bookings before they are supposed to be coming to NZ in early August, so there is some time to see what happens at these other Australian venues in the meantime. Schedule is; Perth Sun 22 July; Adelaide Tues 24 July; Sydney Sat, 28 July; Brisbane Sun 29 July.
Auckland is still showing on the Axiomatic events website as Auckland, Friday 3 August.
So no reports of any prosecutions? Aren’t they saying anything sufficiently hateful? Is it really just a cry-wolf story? Seems like total focus on venues & hoo-ha. You see zero evidence of law-breaking but don’t say so? I’m starting to get the impression this was all just a leftist beat-up. Maybe they’ll come & do their spiel here & everyone will say how remarkably inoffensive it all was, and what nice tourists they seem to be…
Pull you head in over this matter Dennis Frank. They are offensive people who say very offensive things. They play to the lowest common denominator and deliberately provoke people into taking action against them. They are, in short, arse-holes. It may not be a crime in itself to be an arse-hole but since we have plenty of our own, lets not encourage the imported variety to come here and stir up more trouble.
If you want to join them go ahead. That is your prerogative. But spare us the whining about ‘lack of prosecutions etc.” because they haven’t even arrived here yet and anyway, that is not the bone of contention.
Don’t be silly, Anne. I didn’t encourage them and I’m as likely to join them as you are. Just mentioning that the news from Oz seems to indicate less substance to the controversy. If they aren’t actually doing anything wrong, then your personal antipathy to them has no relevance to our public policy. The lack of evidence is now indicating that perception of hate speech is a minority view rather than a basis for corrective action by the state.
Thanks Anne. As I thought I had made clear in my first para in my comment, I was primarily just providing links to media reports on Southern and Molyneux’s first event in Australia (in other words what was happening in the real world) and leaving the high brow philosophical pros and cons discussions for the Alt Reich post and the earlier related ones.
Personally I decided to just ignore Dennis Frank’s snide cynical reply as it was typical of his comments over the years both here on TS and on other blogs such as Pundit and TDB. I tend to just pass over his comments because of his negativity and ‘I know best’ attitude. As for people who use the expression “Don’t be silly, (name)” – usually males to females in my experience … LOL.
in projection, thoughts, motivations, desires, and feelings that cannot be accepted as one’s own are dealt with by being placed in the outside world and attributed to someone else.
Seems that whales in our harbours – first Matariki in Wellington harbour and then Blue whales in Auckland – have now been joined by humpback whales etc close in off the coast of Queensland.
(He has been tweeting a bit again the last few days, but others relate to different subjects – eg the pros and cons of domed vs single/double zipper baby onsies at 4am.) LOL
I have been so impressed with the silence from the new parents apart from Twitter it seems lol. It seems like they are really getting some free air in the precious first few weeks after birth. Well done to them and everyone making that happen.
I see Duncan Garner has a piece in Stuff about being a solo parent for the last 6 months. Maybe that explains his understanding of Phil Twyford flying with his wife and three young ones.
Duncan appears to have gained some humility and humanity.
His comment about “some mates weren’t able to cope, others turned up with a meal and time to chat” rang a bell. The first lot obviously were not real mates. A hard way to find out, but some folk can’t be second for any reason.
China’s doing it! Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it.
Oh why, oh why can’t we. Or have I missed the news that we have started – not just still talking about it?
Once we had NZFS which led to Kaiangaroa and other plantation schemes. Which were sadly lost to ideology. Saihanba seems very similar to Kaiangaroa in style, intent and effects.
“Ms Tuwhare said the hapu had little faith in the idea of a centralised iwi governance body that would distribute largesse to the hapū.
“We already have one of those in the Ngāpuhi rūnanga, and it has not only failed to capitalise on its ($60m) Fisheries settlement – it returns only 11 percent of its annual profits to the people it’s supposed to be helping so about 90 percent goes on its internal costs. That’s a very poor performance compared with other iwi.”
Moana Tuwhare said a number of hapū in the north were making a better fist of running their affairs than the rūnanga was, and were well-equipped to deal with a settlement.
The rūnanga was now spending $200,000 on lawyers, in an effort to set up a post-governance entity, without reference to the hapū, she said.”
Does anyone remember the Selwyn River? It seems to be gone now. When will anything be done to bring it back?
Does anyone remember the Golden Bay scallops? They seem to have been decimated. Where is the plan to restore them? When does it start?
I’m sure there are many similar places, where bad policy decisions have destroyed public environmental assets. So when can we expect movement to recover them?
Or are they to be viewed as part of the attrition that goes with a civil service that has become captive to neoliberal rather than democratic norms? Let us have some sunlight on the dark recesses of failed policies made in dark rooms by corrupt far right ideologues under the Gnats.
Yes I remember swimming at Coes Ford, catching brown trout down from Coes ford and fishing down at the Selwyn Huts or going out in the Golden Bay with cousins from Mout to get a feed of Scallops or a catch of founder.
Yeah Pat, I’m told it pointless even trying to have a dip let alone a swim in the Selwyn and even forget about trying to have fish either. The Rabbit Arms Hotel and the local store at Springston don’t have much of a summer trade either as there is no campers at Coes Ford because of the state of the Selwyn River now.
Are you commenting about the multiple plans launched by the Labour-led government this week to redevelop and revive Westport and Greymouth perhaps? Support the rail line expansion across the coast per chance? Support the rebuild of Westport town centre? Maybe?
Or the launch this week of the new major tourism walk by DoC close the the Puankaike Rocks perchance?
If west coast coalminers want to keep digging coal, they should do what the rest of them do and head to Australia. We still haven’t been able to extract the bodies out of the last one, but hey go for it.
Use some kind of reference if you really want to comment on this government.
Those issues are not relative to the average person on the coast. Do you really think that the punakaiki walk will have any effect or bearing on the average persons life on the west coast. really?? No one cares , so what some tourist will buy another drink or something at the shop up the road.
One closed gold mine of recent adds up to far more than all that crap you just listed. Rail line !! whippy!!
Rebuild the Westport centre, Yay the hungry kids can look at the shiny new statue.
Its not just coal. Its the right to have access to our minerals. We are not the rest of the country so stop treating us like we are.
Obviously you cant see it because you dont live it.
If the average person on the west coast isn’t engaging with tourism they really need to find somewhere else to live. Yes that includes you.
Your reaction is typical of the quarry-enclave mentality that has poisoned and damaged many areas of this country. Go and check out Waihi now.
It is also typical that someone who comments with no links whatsoever and just has a slag at the government for no purpose, is also someone who cannot for the life of them engage with actual multiple concrete initiatives that are occurring now.
Instead all they want to do is go back to mining coal.
You are one of the ignorant fools who think that the world never changes, and as a result the west coast continues to shrink in every way possible.
Yeah not so surprising – perhaps this is why people should only be allowed to earn so much money – they get distorted. I’d close them down.
“Australia’s richest person, mining magnate Gina Rinehart, has been revealed as a key funder of the rightwing thinktank the Institute of Public Affairs – a consistent promoter of climate science scepticism.
Rinehart’s company, Hancock Prospecting, donated $2.3m to the IPA in 2016 and $2.2m in 2017, according to disclosures made to the New South Wales supreme court.”
Anyone picking this up? Assange due to be arrested? Sorry if someone has already posted, I didn’t read right through. Hard day and tired.
So what is the plan if he is handed over? Do we have a left in NZ and will it respond? We know the Labour Party won’t. Too shit scared to offend the five eyes people.
“Whether he wins in 2020 or not, we will not have seen the last of Trump’s type as long as the system remains unreconstructed. If the future ordains more economic dislocation and alienation – which automation and AI could so easily bring – the danger is that history looks back on Trump not as a nasty aberration, but as the one who opened the door for the real fascists to walk through.”
Good morning Q & A Corin with our waste the people who make this waste should be charged as well as the consumer If we make it so that its in the best interest for manufactures to reduce the waste I.E charge them for this waste and send the money to the recycles .Business switched from recycling glass bottles because it is cheaper for them to use plastics than glass with a little tweek this could change so it is cheaper to use glass bottles glass can be recycled many times.
Family violence = Waipiro in % 80 = business selling Waipoiro road deaths = Waipiro full jails = Waipiro all the bad stats flow out of OUR abuse of the use of this poison why is it so hard for these problems to be fixed business political lobbie groups limit the access te mokopunas have to this poision and the stats will change for the better .
My mokopunas are going to look back at us and laugh they could not do not want to fix waipoiro abuse a problem that causes so much harm to our society.
Ka kite ano P.S hate speech is not acceptable enough said
Marae I did not know Matua Black I put his picture on one of my post he looks like a Honorable man who united maori he gave them mana with the Gate Pa celebrations.
Now if that story had the substance that the media gave it and the way his ex put this story out there to the Papatuanuku surely more than one{ contracted lair ]would come forward . I trust this system as far as I can —— ana to kai te tangata you don’t no how corrupt this system is . In My EYEs this is a attack on Maori culture Mana .
The Maori will still be strong one has to have balance like the jin yang so I still back Maori Party. P.S I will put some links up to back my views on Matua Black .The tane can not even defend his mana
I know that my Tipuna sided with the Government this was to protect Ngati Porou mana whenua and tangata after the musket raids of other hapu on us .
The big picture is we were played and we are still being fooled by some Pakeha ana to kai . The tangata delivering Muta Blacks story that’s a smear in my eyes on Maori Mana are being played fooled to Ka kite ano
P.S you see tangata some Pakeha don;t want the good Kiwi people to know that the killed lied cheated Maori all out of greed for our whenua they just want us to go away hell NO
The problem I have with this DNA grab by this DNA company is that it is so easy for evil people to get a sample of DNA and then plant it on or in a crime orchestrated seen and wala the evil person has locked up a innocent person . I say this tool is going to be used to control Te Tangata just like these cameras going up all around Aotearoa and Papatuanuku a tool for the 00.1 % to keep us as there slaves .
Ka kite ano
Those Tribal Hulk links were not what I thought they were I thought they were links to the New Zealand wars of 1840 to 1900 ECO MAORI does not Tau toko GANGS full stop. Ka kite ano
So much for free speech a it’s free until one is a broke Maori educating te tangata about the system we live have imposed on KIWIs Ka kite ano they are trying to blocking my post lucky I have other strategies to get my words out to You all Ka kite ano
Some music ECO MAORI is listening to at the minute Ka kite ano
YouTube
Bob Marley – Redemption Song (from the legend album, with lyrics)
XxWolfqueenxX21,040,860 views
Published on 8 Sep 2009
Couldnt find this version on youtube so thought I’d upload it as it’s my all time favourite Bob Marley song….no copyright infringement intended, this is just a video i put together I own nothing on the video nor do I claim to own anything…..
Good evening Newshub Hope I did not break to many glass bubbles this morning. I don’t make my statements lightly on Mata Black one has to see things through my eyes see how many Maori proffets that have had there Mana destroyed by the – – – – – there you go the Rotorua Council is not trying to help it homeless tangata I bet if it was there whano on the street they would bend the the rules like they are for their Dairy farmer m8 Ka kite ano
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
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 methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
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 ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
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 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 ...
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Disgusting. And absurd.
Head to Head, Al Jazeera, recorded on July 8, 2018
Right now, Israeli apologist Danny Ayalon is on, being interviewed by Mehdi Hasan. Ayalon is not only disgusting, he is ridiculous. He is so ridiculous that the crowd is laughing at him.
MEHDI HASAN: Does Israel control Gaza’s airspace, yes or no?
DANNY AYALON: No.
AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha!
….
DANNY AYALON: Israel is transparent.
AUDIENCE: Ha ha ha ha ha!
ad nauseam….
+1
Here is a good short piece on Apartheid Israel
Shocking. Also do they really think state sanctioned murder of innocent medical staff is helping their cause, let alone breaking how many human rights conventions??? Can’t wait for the day when they are all bought to justice and put in jail.
4: Israeli forces ‘deliberately killed’ Palestinian paramedic Razan
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/07/19/tdb-top-5-international-stories-thursday-19th-july-2018/
Everyone of any faith, should pray for Israel. Having been taken to the edge of the pit of human degradation and contempt and thrown over during WW2, they have been left with a sadness and anger.
Now they are losing their souls that were almost destroyed before, Seemingly they are unable to get out from the retaliation phase. Fear of the past forces them to ensure they prevent a recurrence. That fear remains to cripple them from expanding their hearts and embracing the present and future in wary diplomatic civil compromise with Palestinians, and to carefully treat with others who may be mendacious.
Good morning Standardnistas, and what are we going to discuss/argue today?
How about we ponder the twenty year (plus) battle the Nepata brothers have had with the Defence Force…through numerous changes of government?
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2018/07/the-battle-of-nepata/
A long and somewhat convoluted read in that weird does- your- head- in sliding screen format… but stick with it.
Ron Mark has ‘championed’ the brothers Nepata for many years and thinks this latest attempt for justice might be their last…
George and Damien think they may have a chance with this new administration, but as with the Family Carers case (been running for the same amount of time) the ‘floodgates’ argument is being touted as the reason to dismiss this, again.
Oh look! There’s Our Learned Friends from Crown Law…doing their very best to protect Government from being accountable for it’s failings.
Agree, The format is crap!!!
Roll on Chris Hipkins’ review of what’s become of our public service! Let’s hope it doesn’t end up namby pamby wish washing.
NZDF, Houising NZ, MSD, MPI, MoBIE, Health, Education, DHBs…………..
There are huge structural problems but management culture has become toxic too with fuck all accountability
True that is Tim,
Publ;ic service is still being run by “advisors” that even labour are condoning, so if labour have no balls to actually change anything within the “public service” attitudes inside the NZDF, Houising NZ, MSD, MPI, MoBIE, Health, Education, DHBs………….. we are in for more of the shame crap as we endured for the last nine years.
“… we are in for more of the shame crap as we endured for the last nine years.”
Well, I for one voted to change that.
I gave this Current Mob a mandate, ffs.
Use it, or lose it.
Once was Tim
Even if the mass of National Party don’t give a f..k about the injustice or unfairness in the system (that oppresses other less fortunate citizens) they should be roused if the case is presented on the basis of waste of taxpayers money on falsified figures, and incorrect data, and signing off on important regulations with life-killing or disease potential, and far too high executive incomes based on profit-making private business levels.
I see people on low salary or grants or volunteering, working away trying to bridge the gaps in this vicious financial economic system and integrity-free government and welfare system. They are being loaded with Health and Safety Regulations and others, which are a load of bureaucratic sh.t, OTT and a barrier to ordinary effective good management and control. The managers should be drowned in wine barrels and people who have served at the grassrootes then put in their place. This is after they have got training in management implementation and structural control for the co-operative model.
And gradually replace all the Brits, 5-Eyes types, and assorted coming here and directing our water onto their farms, and our money into their pockets. When it comes to immigration look at all these people. Our immigrants are mostly great people from wherever they come, and I admire and like them. But we have too many stepping into the line of employment ahead of NZs. That’s not new information but it seems necessary to constantly reiterate it over the catch-cry of immigration being xenophobic. We citizens have a responsibility to care for our own country and other NZs to be trained as bureaucrats who work for our betterment. At present they too often sit in their spiderwebs and pounce on naive NZs who wander in all unknowing, and never understand why nothing ever goes right for them.
Christ @ Greywarshark! DO we know each other?
Seriously though, the dysfunction in our PS is now well known by those that care to know. The question is, now that there is the opportunity for reform, is anyone going to take on the challenge, or will it be a few weasel words and business as usual,
I see a few signs that there is a growing acceptance that things have radically gone tits up……but – probably like you and Rosemary: waiting waiting waiting.
Waiting Also …
In the event you missed this …
“Initially, Sanson says he’s not seeing a clash between pro-corporate factions within DOC against pro-conservation people, but then he gives some ground. “It may be at one location in the country, yes, but not over the department.”
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/07/12/151517/docs-culture-wars-revealed
PS. (There was a follow up article to this the day after … that can’t put finger on just Now), that suggested some action was being taken in One location ……
It might depend on what that ‘action’ is … this article?
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/07/16/155418/insiders-pan-docs-corporate-embrace#
‘One former DOC worker reckons it’s going to be hard for Minister Sage to change the department’s culture, given its focus on “corporate management processes and outcomes and reports and organisational change”.’
Not totally clear what you are saying JO… ?
Figure with the added missing Link you are following/understand, and/or are perhaps affected …. ?
A past life for me … But Very sad to watch, and hear of a great organisation, (Public Service), get the stick from MSM, (albeit David Williams, Newsroom)
“Four years on, the DOC staffer says after the “Nick disaster”, they can’t see how DOC can reach its potential by the route it’s taking. “It’s just a bloody tragedy. It’s tragic what’s happening to DOC.”
Trust “that action”, And/or the necessary Change occurs with P S/ Ministerial impute, as necessary/required and does not become dependent on the 4th Estate “MSM” articles … Credit to Newsroom if things are Crook! And Need Fixing!
The government spends more on Lawyers fighting against fairness ‘to stop the floodgates’ than if they actually apologised, investigated properly and did the moral thing at the beginning.
Not only that, probably would save money on the massive legal fees to fat cats who seem to be beyond the law, and years of litigation which also stops people believing in government being honest and accountable, any more. (Because they use legal and power to fight against what is right against people who have been screwed over or had harm, by the system).
I seem to remember the victims of state care, got less for their abuse eventually, than the lawyers who represented them got in fees.
Likewise the carer’s, etc etc.
Being just and fair, is not being wrong.
“Being just and fair, is not being wrong.”
Ah, but now he’s wearing big boy pants Ron Mark appears to be struggling with those distinctions.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/105626884/emotional-ron-mark-has-misgivings-about-defence-force-treatment-of-injured-nepata-brothers
Without commenting at all on the specifics of the Nepata case, if I may, I think this is indicative of a more general issue that Ministers often find themselves confronted with. It is neatly portrayed in a very good ‘portrait’ of Eugenie Sage:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/105577646/national-portrait-long-apprenticeship-of-the-minister-with-her-hand-on-doc
I get where you’re coming from…but two things…both Sage and Mark have been around the traps for a while, they surely knew the score? Were prepared?
And secondly…both are members of a very carefully and intensely negotiated coalition government who promised to do shit differently.
And thirdly….what is the term used to describe when the military goes against the orders of a democratically elected government?
Back in 2013….the brothers Nepata discovered that the Defence Force had, during the time they had battling for compensation from the DF, handed out over 1/2 a million dollars in ex gratia payments.
When confronted….bullshit ensued….https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11122334
” Dr Coleman earlier said he had enormous sympathy for the brothers and was approaching the matter with an open mind. The Defence Force would not comment on the case while the matter was under his consideration.
Earlier this year, Defence Force chief of personnel Brigadier Howard Duffy said the army was very sympathetic to the brothers, but an ex gratia payment was a matter for the Government.
However, under Defence Force orders, last updated in October 2011, the force is able to authorise ex gratia payments of up to $30,000 without ministerial sign-off.
Ex gratia payments of between $30,000 to $75,000 must be authorised by the minister, while payments of more than $75,000 need to be signed off by Cabinet.”
What a sad story and so unfair that this particular family had so much to deal with. The first thing that should be happening is that the army reforms it’s way’s and actually have psychologists and other support staff to help ex army staff to recover after injuries including apologising if it was a work place accident and giving them FULL support. It is unfathomable that after telling the army they are a family, to them suddenly abandon soldiers who get injured to face it all alone with out even a goodbye, especially when they are injured in the line of duty or during training!
Then there should be pay outs straight away (aka like airline accidents) and annuities available to those permanently injured to stop them falling into poverty after their accident. This should be in addition to ACC and other benefits as part of the act of being in the armed forces!
One of my family members served and they got a pension as well as the normal pension so maybe some sort of non means tested annuity payment for permanently injured soldiers as well as pensions should be made as well as a lump sum as soon as they are injured to help them adjust AND emotional support right through from the armed forces. Whether injured or not, the soldiers should still be counted as the armed forces and treated with dignity and support.
Also think the armed forces should be retrained to also do disaster work and be front line disaster workers for earthquakes, floods etc etc. Then Kiwis would be much more interested in supporting them because at present the armed forces seem like political pawns with defence just a junket to give money to other countries for armaments while not valuing the actual people who are in the armed forces who should be ready to help in a disaster when Kiwis might actually need them.
Funny thing is, I spoke with a couple of ex defence force personnel regarding particular disability issues (accessible housing building rules if I recall) and the issue the Nepata brothers were facing came up. (I had met George and his family briefly when Damien was in hospital).
Both these guys had been well looked after and supported by the DF…but then again they were Officers. And I assume that makes them Gentlemen. And worthy.
Close scrutiny of those ex gratia payments made by the DF would be handy…
Maybe also racially or class motivated?
Hard to see why someone who was slowly burnt alive for hours and another who was paralysed during training through no fault of their own, do not qualify for a moral payment?
When you watch how other countries behave aka Thai cave rescue it casts a shadow on government and private attitudes in NZ when they do nothing to rescue anybody citing too dangerous and fail to do the right thing post accident (shareholders vote against compensation for Pike River families for example)…
We have developed a toxic workplace/government mentality in NZ post rogernomics where people are just disposable units to be thrown away to save money or reduce a perceived monetary or corporation risk.
Not only is this morally wrong, it does not work to create a thriving environment – toxic ideas and behaviour kills everything around it.
Sad we see less of this…
Diver adrift for three days survives thirst and hallucinations
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/feb/09/samjones.mainsection
Sad story really. Hope these guys get what they deserve. I don’t really think 30-75,000 is enough. It would barely pay for a modified vehicle for the tetarplegic chap. Seems that every accident like these ones in the military seems to be entirely avoidable and the victims get hung out to dry. Even by 1989 standards, getting 2 guys to carry a third on a stretcher on a piece of 4×2 is asking for trouble.
millsy…ACC will be taking care of the vehicle funding as well as home modifications, supplies and ongoing care and rehabilitation. George is most likely well supported by ACC (although,( again its wayback), there might have been a battle to secure ACC funding as accidents to Kiwis outside of NZ were not covered.)
I do recall George telling me about his accident, and also heard some of the details of Damien’s accident. Even back then it was obvious that the Army failed to provide a safe working environment. As you say…even by 1989 standards it was pretty bloody reckless. Those Scorpion tanks were being phased out because of known issues.
I know from personal experience…when one finds out that others have been financially compensated when you have fought and over the same issues its sticks in one’s craw.
Its not fair. Plain and simple.
The NZDF is an accredited employer. So it would be hard to get any form of cover out of them.
The point is that NZDF did make ex gratia payments to other personnel…but refused to do the same for the Nepata brothers.
Why?
And why obfuscate when challenged?
Although ACC is involved, the workplace should still be a moral workplace, offering at the very least emotional support due to the vocation identity of ‘family’ under armed forces…
ACC is a great concept, but should not be used to sweep accidents and support both emotional and financial from the work place instead be a standard that also can be added to by the workforce to keep the person’s prospects the same as if they had not been injured and compensation which is no longer part of ACC.
Worksafe can award payments or prosecution, funny enough not for Pike River (prosecution) and not for these accidents either, maybe government ‘influence’ and neoliberal ideas of ‘opening the floodgates’ are stopping justice.
I was in the NZ Army (RNZAC) from the mid 93 to mid 98. I wasn’t in QA SQN or whatever it was called back then, or it may have been 1st Armoured Group? The guys were getting ready to deploy on Op Raidan for Bosnia at the time of the accident, also during this time we the NZDF had lost or were about to lose up to 25% of the Defence budget in cuts. Which was effecting operational preparedness across the broad, but it the Corp the hardest as we were quite expensive to run which saw a lot of Army cuts head our way which to cause issues down the track aka the LAV’s and the buying of those death traps the up armoured Pinz’s.
Before the Defence cuts under there was a plain to give the CVT Scorpions and M113’s etc a Mid Life Update and WMIK kits, Communications upgrades for NZ Scots SQN using cutdown V8’s quite successfully in Recon role within 3 Land Force Group (3LFG). With the Scorpions that meant replacing the V6 Jaguar engine with Perkins engine, fire control systems and new fume extractor for the 76mm. Only the M113’s got the upgrades mainly for Bosnia and everything else got kicked into touch and the Scorpions should’ve been retired, but due to government policies they had to be maintained in use even though we had SFA in spares or money to buy spares. As everything we poured into getting M113’s up to OLOC and getting 1st Battalion up to speed with 2nd/1st back filling the 1st, at the sametime stripping all of 3LFG units of useful equipment to support the deployment.
The effects of all this happening cause the in my opinion that led to Damien’s accident and what happened with the 2nd/1st pre- deployment training and it’s deployment to East Timor in 2000 in which my mate was KIA along with the th other problems that arose in the 2000’s stems back to the defence cuts in 90’s. When I pose this similar question last yr to Damien at Cambrai last yr and has reply was yes, we also believe that everyone is ass covering as a result of this accident and I know of at least 3-5 other accidents from the 90’s where if an ex-gratis payment was made to Damien the flood gates would open all because we were trying to a job with SFA equipment that more and more dangerous as the yrs went on trying to our mandate tasks as directed by the politicians in Wellington with less and less funding and equipment failing or being run into ground or in case of NZ Scots we were building our own gun mounts, repairing our V8’s in some cases with our money or buying stuff from surplus shops IOT get the job done as stated in our mandated tasks IOT achieve the Government of the Day Defence Polices.
And you wonder why this lefty is a bit more pro defence than most and very anti “No Mates Party”. When I look back at my photos in NZ Army i offen wonder how on earth I didn’t get myself killed especially when I show rockape mates from work as they think we were bloody mad at what we did!!!!
Hence the nickname “Mad Kiwi” and my attitude to life.
Thank you Exkiwiforces. I was hoping you’d pop up and shed some light into the darker corners. So let me get this clear….the Scorpions ran on petrol???
Not diesel? (Perkins are diesel engines, aren’t they?) Jesus….I’m told the Yanks used to call the Sherman tanks ‘Ronsons’.
The most significant thing I took away from my very brief encounter with George and his family after Damien’s accident was the deep sense of betrayal. A long family history of service (unto the current generation, despite this crap) and clearly the loyalty was entirely one sided.
The really ironic thing was that they treated all three brothers like shit. All three of them.
Re: funding for Defence. This lefty would prefer we needed no armed forces at all, but if we are going to have such a thing…fund it bloody properly or don’t bother.
Thanks again.
Yes the Scorpion and its family of variants were powered by V6 4.2 lt Jag petrol engine with a semi automatic transmission which most countries that are still use Scorpion or any of its variants have now been replaced by the Perkins Diesel engine due to the risk of fire and also it cheaper to run than a petrol engine. There is a school of thought that we should brought more M41 Tanks and upgraded them instead of buying the Scorpions as even today the Danish and Norway Armies still use them as its main gun a long barrel 76mm is still quite useful.
The Germans called the all the Western Allies tanks in WW2 Tommy Cookers because of their petrol engines, but then again the Germans were engaging the Allies from over 1km where as Sherman had to within 800m to engage a Long Barrel Panzer 4’s and even closer for the Panther, Tiger, King Tiger Tanks and some of the Tank Destroyers as well before we even think about the German Anti Tank Guns.
Fighting the system for justice is bloody hard and I know that firsthand experience especially when the officer corps saying we well look after you, but in fact its the faceless civilian bureaucracy of MOD, Treasury, DVA, Government and their Advisors as they hold the purse strings.
There is an unwritten code of conduct/ convention between us and politicians due to the nature of our work and that we don’t have a right to form a union in that the politicians will look after us/ our families as well in peace, on operations and after we leave the services. But since the 90’s we have seen this code of conduct/ convention being kicked into touch with eroding of conditions of service from pay, super, housing/ rations and quarters for those who lived on base, allowances etc to using/ operating ageing equipment well pass their exprier date (rule of thumb for Military Equipment is 30yrs -/+ 10yrs) or new equipment being brought in service that is sub optimal for the at hand aka Project Protector the two OPV’s and Landing Support Ship, Up Armoured Piniz’s etc or the bare minimum of kit being brought aka doing more with less. If any other Government Dept had to put up with this shit there would be hell to pay as I don’t see many workers standing for this sort of shit as they have a union to go and bat for them and more likely to have the public on side as well.
Hence why I and many other like me have moved or still moving overseas because of this or were sacked by the Government as capabilities were chopped. A lot of these ex Kiwi officers have now reach Flag Rank, Air Rank or Staff Rank in Foreign Armed Forces with ex Kiwi NCO’s holding by senior positions within their of expertise or been commissioned. With me I’m now been pensioned off due to my PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder as a result of my Peacekeeping and Warlike active service.
The last comment sums up my attitude as well either you fund the NZDF probably or bloody well get rid of it. As my late Grandmother said Rosa Beaurepaire née Balderstone as she was pacifist said this at Nelson Labour LEC or some other Labour meeting many yrs ago “the Forces are a necessary evil we have to have as it’s rather like have house insurance as only a bloody idiot would go without it and not having a Defence Force could be a lot worse unless you like living under a jackboot or don’t like our way of life have fought for be it as workclass struggle against the bosses of this country or fighting overseas against Herr Hitler! The choice is yours and I know what I’ll and my future generations of family would rather have! “ and the debate stop dead on some Defence issues being discussed at the time.
Thanks Ex Kiwiforces, and for your Grannies tale. Your experience is worth reading.
That’s my total experience with capitalists. They demand loyalty but they never, ever give it.
I would much prefer that we didn’t have to have the armed forces but history tells us that we do and so, like you, I think we need to fund it properly and care for our people who are willing to put their lives on the line for our safety.
IMO, If you look back in history the governments that have cut defence spending the most will be National governments. This is despite their rhetoric that the defence forces need to be kept up to maximum capability. Such applies across the board of course – they promise to keep things up but cut funding so that they can give tax cuts to the rich. their usual BS to cover these funding cuts is to do more with less.< Such a philosophy is as bankrupt as it sounds. Throw in the fact that they’ll privatise things so that the rich can get a government guaranteed income for doing nothing at all and things do get really bad.
Nope, history makes it clear as day. The biggest threat to our armed forces is the National Party.
It has always been the same with the police and the justice system. I don’t think that it was quite as bad last set of terms for National as it was at the end of the 1990s, but they’d certainly been running down the police capabilities. But in 1999, they’d been both sucking money off the police in real terms AND the police hierarchy had been sucking funding away internally on to their computer systems in an attempt to make up for the operational shortfalls down the line.
The effect was devastating. Around here, there was virtually no investigation of “petty crime” like car theft from our parking garages or people kicking in doors looking for money. Those were treated as being insurance issues – as in you had to have a meaningless proforma complaint to police to get your insurance claim approved. No one would turn up to look for evidence. They’d just wait until they accidently nabbed the offender for something else and let them plead to as many other offenses as they could remember that fitted reports to the police – to provide clearance rates for statistics.
It was even more horrendous in the less affluent areas where there weren’t any kinds of the alarms and security systems that my apartment block put in communally. Some of my friends and relatives were getting burglarized several times during the year. And it seemed like the poorer they were, the more often it happened.
Labour and the Alliance got in, changed the policies along with the funding levels, and it cleared up over a couple of years. Police started to turn up at crime scenes with finger printing kits.
This time I think that they have been damaging the court systems more instead. Some parts of the optimisations worked, like electronic documents. Many parts appear to have simply slowed the court systems down. And the court systems are visibly straining to get through the process.
Yep they need enough to buy a house that is modified so they have home security and what they would have achieved had they been able to work, plus a modified car for the tetraplegic and enough income to lead a stress free life in relation to income.
SaveNZ….they are covered by ACC…all those issues are taken care of.
Does not sound like ACC took care of it and personally feel the army should have done so much more, they were left without emotional or psychological support, moved back in with parents, and another sibling quit the army to look after them and now unemployed???
Does not look like a rosy outcome with all problems and issues dealt with and solved by ACC, let alone the army.
The Nepata’s beef is with the Defence Force. Not ACC.
While over the pacific pond……….Donald Trump knows that the war-mongers EU/NATO/Washington swamp warhawk cartel want to break up Russia like they conspired to break up the Eastern Euopean & Baltic states like Ukraine/Yugoslavia/ect’ to plunder; — so he wants to stop the impending war about to envelop the planet again.
We need to save our people from another world war folks it is that simple.
This is the issue and the ‘elitists’ do not care about us; – and will use anything or person to stop Trump from saving us from war.
Today the Elitist corporate swamp has finally bought Tumps lawyer Michael Cohen who had taped Trump trying to pay to hush an affair he had 19 yrs ago.
So as affairs were always ‘indemic’ amongst all presidents going back till the year dot not one president then was placed under such scutity as this one is even when he was playing around before being president.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2238223/FDRs-menagerie-alleged-mistresses-The-American-presidents-long-list-rumored-love-affairs-romanced-upstate-New-York-cottage.html
Even FDR Rosevelt was involved with a misteress.
http://listverse.com/2015/02/24/10-scandalous-presidential-affairs-weve-totally-forgotten-about/
You know now that the Washington swamp will do anything to stop him at any cost. Washington swamp has no morals entirely.
Trump must win jhis fight agianst this cancer called “the washington swamp”.
Good one Noah
“It’s no surprise that Russians send spies to the US,” Noah said. “I mean, a spying Russian is as normal as a white person calling the cops on their shadow.”
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/jul/20/stephen-colbert-marina-butina-trump-colbert-meyers-fallon
T.rump is certainly delivering for the comedians – he’s a goldmine
I see the Alt Reich Speakers post is still running strong, but thought it may be better to post here on OM these links to ‘on the ground’ reports from Melbourne of the first of the Southern/Molyneux meetings held in Australia last night.
As expected there were protests and attempts to block people from getting to the venue; confrontations with police including mounted police and dogs, and with right wing demonstrators, resulting in the blocking of the Hume highway; and infiltrations and protests at the venue itself with one young woman getting up on the stage and others removed from the audience, and several arrests. IMHO this all played straight into the hands of Southern et al in terms of publicity etc and winding people up and creating dissent.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/organisers-introduce-complicated-measures-to-keep-location-of-lauren-southern-talk-secret/news-story/3972f35d2c901af9f679906451dc1a72
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-21/protesters-clash-with-police-outside-event-for-lauren-southern/10019554
https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/07/20/20/33/lauren-southern-protesters-police-clash-road-closure
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/undercover-video-in-melbourne-backfires-for-rightwing-provocateur/news-story/2f9dc7d8c68360dd4f1aadef3d1f1054
[Google links to reports and videos of Neil Ericson (Right Winger who videos for Southern) being hauled from videoing the protests by police don’t seem to load …. ]
The most interesting thing (to me anyway) from these reports is that they obviously tried to keep the actual venue secret as much as possible. Ticket holders were directed to meet at a particular railway station (Broadmeadows) with buses then transporting them to the actual venue – the La Mirage Reception and Convention Centre in Somerton.
I find this interesting because the Australian organiser (Mellowes?) has been saying that they are attempting to find a new venue here in NZ now that Southern and Molyneux have been granted limited work visas; and that they have had no success to date but are hopeful of finding one. Initially I took this at face value but now that they kept the Melbourne venue secret, I suspect that they will not be announcing any venue they secure (or have already) here in NZ – and will attempt the same tactics as used in Melbourne.
There are a number of other Australian bookings before they are supposed to be coming to NZ in early August, so there is some time to see what happens at these other Australian venues in the meantime. Schedule is; Perth Sun 22 July; Adelaide Tues 24 July; Sydney Sat, 28 July; Brisbane Sun 29 July.
Auckland is still showing on the Axiomatic events website as Auckland, Friday 3 August.
UPDATE – Erikson video now working – https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/raw-neil-erikson-hauled-from-melbourne-protest/video/9f201ccb7f6db975ede7c1067980ca8a
So no reports of any prosecutions? Aren’t they saying anything sufficiently hateful? Is it really just a cry-wolf story? Seems like total focus on venues & hoo-ha. You see zero evidence of law-breaking but don’t say so? I’m starting to get the impression this was all just a leftist beat-up. Maybe they’ll come & do their spiel here & everyone will say how remarkably inoffensive it all was, and what nice tourists they seem to be…
Pull you head in over this matter Dennis Frank. They are offensive people who say very offensive things. They play to the lowest common denominator and deliberately provoke people into taking action against them. They are, in short, arse-holes. It may not be a crime in itself to be an arse-hole but since we have plenty of our own, lets not encourage the imported variety to come here and stir up more trouble.
If you want to join them go ahead. That is your prerogative. But spare us the whining about ‘lack of prosecutions etc.” because they haven’t even arrived here yet and anyway, that is not the bone of contention.
Don’t be silly, Anne. I didn’t encourage them and I’m as likely to join them as you are. Just mentioning that the news from Oz seems to indicate less substance to the controversy. If they aren’t actually doing anything wrong, then your personal antipathy to them has no relevance to our public policy. The lack of evidence is now indicating that perception of hate speech is a minority view rather than a basis for corrective action by the state.
Thanks Anne. As I thought I had made clear in my first para in my comment, I was primarily just providing links to media reports on Southern and Molyneux’s first event in Australia (in other words what was happening in the real world) and leaving the high brow philosophical pros and cons discussions for the Alt Reich post and the earlier related ones.
Personally I decided to just ignore Dennis Frank’s snide cynical reply as it was typical of his comments over the years both here on TS and on other blogs such as Pundit and TDB. I tend to just pass over his comments because of his negativity and ‘I know best’ attitude. As for people who use the expression “Don’t be silly, (name)” – usually males to females in my experience … LOL.
As for people who use the expression “Don’t be silly, (name)” – usually males to females in my experience … LOL.
Indeed.
Oh dear.
(adult themes NSFW or sensitive souls)
#Manafortleaks
The Freuds may have been on to something.
ffs does this shit these people do to other people ever end???
Whale Watching Report (and similar)
While finding the links for my comment at 5 above, I came across the following link
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/humpback-whales-dugong-and-dolphins-spotted-off-north-queensland-coast/news-story/cbfa67b898f91a8e6ec559051b40e7a0
Seems that whales in our harbours – first Matariki in Wellington harbour and then Blue whales in Auckland – have now been joined by humpback whales etc close in off the coast of Queensland.
Link to story re Blue Whales in Auckland – https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12091660
h/t to Clarke Gayford Twitter for that link from this tweet – https://twitter.com/NZClarke/status/1019733681341005824
Gayford also tweeted this before 8am this morning – superb Viceland video but really put me off breakfast!
https://twitter.com/NZClarke/status/1020395470328193025
(He has been tweeting a bit again the last few days, but others relate to different subjects – eg the pros and cons of domed vs single/double zipper baby onsies at 4am.) LOL
Nice.
I have been so impressed with the silence from the new parents apart from Twitter it seems lol. It seems like they are really getting some free air in the precious first few weeks after birth. Well done to them and everyone making that happen.
have now been joined by humpback whales etc close in off the coast of Queensland.
For reasons that are complicated to explain, I spent some time on Tuesday this week dodging the buggers off Fraser Island! Very impressive numbers.
Lucky, lucky you!!!!
Here’s one from the Oz ABC news website site.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-19/boaties-spark-concern-for-whales-on-gold-coast/10004884
I see Duncan Garner has a piece in Stuff about being a solo parent for the last 6 months. Maybe that explains his understanding of Phil Twyford flying with his wife and three young ones.
Duncan appears to have gained some humility and humanity.
His comment about “some mates weren’t able to cope, others turned up with a meal and time to chat” rang a bell. The first lot obviously were not real mates. A hard way to find out, but some folk can’t be second for any reason.
Um it was David Clark. Phil Twyford’s kids are all grown up.
Thanks. TheFairy Godmother.
China’s doing it! Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it.
Oh why, oh why can’t we. Or have I missed the news that we have started – not just still talking about it?
Once we had NZFS which led to Kaiangaroa and other plantation schemes. Which were sadly lost to ideology. Saihanba seems very similar to Kaiangaroa in style, intent and effects.
Government policy to rebuild this capability.
Lets get on with it.
Andrew Little needs to listen more imo – he’s got some idea that he know some stuff – very little little.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/362303/little-s-hapu-remarks-condescending-ngapuhi-lawyer
yep, need to avoid…
“Ms Tuwhare said the hapu had little faith in the idea of a centralised iwi governance body that would distribute largesse to the hapū.
“We already have one of those in the Ngāpuhi rūnanga, and it has not only failed to capitalise on its ($60m) Fisheries settlement – it returns only 11 percent of its annual profits to the people it’s supposed to be helping so about 90 percent goes on its internal costs. That’s a very poor performance compared with other iwi.”
Moana Tuwhare said a number of hapū in the north were making a better fist of running their affairs than the rūnanga was, and were well-equipped to deal with a settlement.
The rūnanga was now spending $200,000 on lawyers, in an effort to set up a post-governance entity, without reference to the hapū, she said.”
Does anyone remember the Selwyn River? It seems to be gone now. When will anything be done to bring it back?
Does anyone remember the Golden Bay scallops? They seem to have been decimated. Where is the plan to restore them? When does it start?
I’m sure there are many similar places, where bad policy decisions have destroyed public environmental assets. So when can we expect movement to recover them?
Or are they to be viewed as part of the attrition that goes with a civil service that has become captive to neoliberal rather than democratic norms? Let us have some sunlight on the dark recesses of failed policies made in dark rooms by corrupt far right ideologues under the Gnats.
https://www.ecan.govt.nz/get-involved/news-and-events/zone-news/selwyn-waihora/exciting-times-for-selwyn-river-waikirikiri/
http://www.wet.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/4.-Brett-Painter_TSA.pdf
Have seen surface flow at SH1 for the first time in years recently…whether that equates to improved condition, time will tell
Yes I remember swimming at Coes Ford, catching brown trout down from Coes ford and fishing down at the Selwyn Huts or going out in the Golden Bay with cousins from Mout to get a feed of Scallops or a catch of founder.
And I’m just shy of 45 yrs of age.
Lol..i remember almost drowning at Coes Ford …although apparently you wouldnt even swim there in recent years
Yeah Pat, I’m told it pointless even trying to have a dip let alone a swim in the Selwyn and even forget about trying to have fish either. The Rabbit Arms Hotel and the local store at Springston don’t have much of a summer trade either as there is no campers at Coes Ford because of the state of the Selwyn River now.
Something to generate a smile on a rainy day before I head to work.
a pun put me onto this classic – old one and funny.
https://youtu.be/OCbvCRkl_4U
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Candles
There was once a time that the people of the west coast were treated badly
The miners of the area stood tall and started a revolution. That revolution was called
THE LABOUR PARTY.
These people had character and stood for what was in the interests of the people. The middle class had a voice
Irony has taken its place along with the shallow souls who care only about their own selfish desires to keep their cushy seats of position.
The founders of a once great party are rolling in their graves in disgust at their legacies position.
National and Labour are now the same wolf in a different sheeps clothing. Shamefull cowards with no ethical or moral compass
See you at the bridge
Are you commenting about the multiple plans launched by the Labour-led government this week to redevelop and revive Westport and Greymouth perhaps? Support the rail line expansion across the coast per chance? Support the rebuild of Westport town centre? Maybe?
Or the launch this week of the new major tourism walk by DoC close the the Puankaike Rocks perchance?
If west coast coalminers want to keep digging coal, they should do what the rest of them do and head to Australia. We still haven’t been able to extract the bodies out of the last one, but hey go for it.
Use some kind of reference if you really want to comment on this government.
Those issues are not relative to the average person on the coast. Do you really think that the punakaiki walk will have any effect or bearing on the average persons life on the west coast. really?? No one cares , so what some tourist will buy another drink or something at the shop up the road.
One closed gold mine of recent adds up to far more than all that crap you just listed. Rail line !! whippy!!
Rebuild the Westport centre, Yay the hungry kids can look at the shiny new statue.
Its not just coal. Its the right to have access to our minerals. We are not the rest of the country so stop treating us like we are.
Obviously you cant see it because you dont live it.
If the average person on the west coast isn’t engaging with tourism they really need to find somewhere else to live. Yes that includes you.
Your reaction is typical of the quarry-enclave mentality that has poisoned and damaged many areas of this country. Go and check out Waihi now.
It is also typical that someone who comments with no links whatsoever and just has a slag at the government for no purpose, is also someone who cannot for the life of them engage with actual multiple concrete initiatives that are occurring now.
Instead all they want to do is go back to mining coal.
You are one of the ignorant fools who think that the world never changes, and as a result the west coast continues to shrink in every way possible.
Yeah not so surprising – perhaps this is why people should only be allowed to earn so much money – they get distorted. I’d close them down.
“Australia’s richest person, mining magnate Gina Rinehart, has been revealed as a key funder of the rightwing thinktank the Institute of Public Affairs – a consistent promoter of climate science scepticism.
Rinehart’s company, Hancock Prospecting, donated $2.3m to the IPA in 2016 and $2.2m in 2017, according to disclosures made to the New South Wales supreme court.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jul/21/gina-rinehart-company-revealed-as-45m-donor-to-climate-sceptic-thinktank
Anyone picking this up? Assange due to be arrested? Sorry if someone has already posted, I didn’t read right through. Hard day and tired.
So what is the plan if he is handed over? Do we have a left in NZ and will it respond? We know the Labour Party won’t. Too shit scared to offend the five eyes people.
This evening I found a satisfying, lazy way to support small business in Lebanon.
It’s a Shiraz called “Les Brechtes”, from Chateau Kefraya – in the Bekaa Valley.
If you want some of this lovely Shiraz mix, it’s in a little shop near the corner of Auckland’s Ponsonby and Great North Roads.
Coincidentally, Chateau Kefraya is a 20 minute drive from Lebanon’s disappearing Barouk cedar forests.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/07/18/climate/lebanon-climate-change-environment-cedars.html
heh
https://twitter.com/thebreaknetflix/status/1020376398110765056
“Whether he wins in 2020 or not, we will not have seen the last of Trump’s type as long as the system remains unreconstructed. If the future ordains more economic dislocation and alienation – which automation and AI could so easily bring – the danger is that history looks back on Trump not as a nasty aberration, but as the one who opened the door for the real fascists to walk through.”
https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/12997/meaning-trump
Although it makes little difference to the risk, my inclination is that the driver is more likely to be CC as opposed to AI or automation.
Good morning Q & A Corin with our waste the people who make this waste should be charged as well as the consumer If we make it so that its in the best interest for manufactures to reduce the waste I.E charge them for this waste and send the money to the recycles .Business switched from recycling glass bottles because it is cheaper for them to use plastics than glass with a little tweek this could change so it is cheaper to use glass bottles glass can be recycled many times.
Family violence = Waipiro in % 80 = business selling Waipoiro road deaths = Waipiro full jails = Waipiro all the bad stats flow out of OUR abuse of the use of this poison why is it so hard for these problems to be fixed business political lobbie groups limit the access te mokopunas have to this poision and the stats will change for the better .
My mokopunas are going to look back at us and laugh they could not do not want to fix waipoiro abuse a problem that causes so much harm to our society.
Ka kite ano P.S hate speech is not acceptable enough said
Marae I did not know Matua Black I put his picture on one of my post he looks like a Honorable man who united maori he gave them mana with the Gate Pa celebrations.
Now if that story had the substance that the media gave it and the way his ex put this story out there to the Papatuanuku surely more than one{ contracted lair ]would come forward . I trust this system as far as I can —— ana to kai te tangata you don’t no how corrupt this system is . In My EYEs this is a attack on Maori culture Mana .
The Maori will still be strong one has to have balance like the jin yang so I still back Maori Party. P.S I will put some links up to back my views on Matua Black .The tane can not even defend his mana
I know that my Tipuna sided with the Government this was to protect Ngati Porou mana whenua and tangata after the musket raids of other hapu on us .
The big picture is we were played and we are still being fooled by some Pakeha ana to kai . The tangata delivering Muta Blacks story that’s a smear in my eyes on Maori Mana are being played fooled to Ka kite ano
P.S you see tangata some Pakeha don;t want the good Kiwi people to know that the killed lied cheated Maori all out of greed for our whenua they just want us to go away hell NO
The problem I have with this DNA grab by this DNA company is that it is so easy for evil people to get a sample of DNA and then plant it on or in a crime orchestrated seen and wala the evil person has locked up a innocent person . I say this tool is going to be used to control Te Tangata just like these cameras going up all around Aotearoa and Papatuanuku a tool for the 00.1 % to keep us as there slaves .
Ka kite ano
Those Tribal Hulk links were not what I thought they were I thought they were links to the New Zealand wars of 1840 to 1900 ECO MAORI does not Tau toko GANGS full stop. Ka kite ano
I had to use a different device to correct my mistaken links they were already trying to block me from the standard website Ka kite ano
So much for free speech a it’s free until one is a broke Maori educating te tangata about the system we live have imposed on KIWIs Ka kite ano they are trying to blocking my post lucky I have other strategies to get my words out to You all Ka kite ano
Some music Eco Maori is listening to at the minute
Some music ECO MAORI is listening to at the minute Ka kite ano
YouTube
Bob Marley – Redemption Song (from the legend album, with lyrics)
XxWolfqueenxX21,040,860 views
Published on 8 Sep 2009
Couldnt find this version on youtube so thought I’d upload it as it’s my all time favourite Bob Marley song….no copyright infringement intended, this is just a video i put together I own nothing on the video nor do I claim to own anything…..
https://youtu.be/QrY9eHkXTa4
Some music Eco Maori is listening to at the minute
Mana Wahine The Black Ferns Rugby sevens team have won back to back Pupatuanuku Cup Rugby sevens in San francisco Ka pai ka kite ano
Good evening Newshub Hope I did not break to many glass bubbles this morning. I don’t make my statements lightly on Mata Black one has to see things through my eyes see how many Maori proffets that have had there Mana destroyed by the – – – – – there you go the Rotorua Council is not trying to help it homeless tangata I bet if it was there whano on the street they would bend the the rules like they are for their Dairy farmer m8 Ka kite ano
A lot of te tangata will know what this video means to Eco Maori