what about National and their – please split these 100.000 direct 'donation' into handy 14.000 dollar donations so as to make them legal? Oh of course, its nationals so it must be ok.
Please be fair and if you rage against one party rage against all the parties that pull equal shenanigans.
and establishing a target and nothing much more is not 'meaningful' nor is it a fight, but it is for sure a very serious attempt at being seen as proactive.
Thought this government was going to be different and transformational?
so how is it relevant to rage against National, when there ability to achieve meaningful change from opposition is nil, when the active members of this government are actively sabotaging important work through side shows and deceit
This government was never going to be different as soon as it needed NZF.
The only way to get transformational leadership is to vote Green, even then it requires that the Green vote is high enough to require significant input into the next government.
the thing is that they all do it and you rather then whinge about 'them will /should be better', they aren't.
they are in it for a paycheck, a perk or several for life and that is it. I think that soimon, jacinda and the whole heck of them would not be as successful in private business simply because they are not good, nor insipriational, nor hard workers. So politics it is. Sadly, you and i will only ever get some crooks to vote for.
I just need to vote for them once every three years and as always i will vote for what i consider the lesser evil. Which currently is Labour/Greens and to some extend even NZ First.
But what i do want from people who live of mine and your tax dollars is some guts, some conviction and some actual deeds. Currently we have none of that. We get a few band aids so that our elderlies don't freeze in their iceboxes, we get a few band aids so the environmentally inclinded shut up until the next decade and the next labour goverment ( if by hten we still have a government), and so on.
So' I will support you no matter what' does not work for me, never did never will.
And yes, in a better world we would have polititians rather then empty suits that would be pulling a shift in a back office taking calls.
Also ‘i need a hero’ is not a cheesy song, its literally a women crying out for a one night stand. It was considered a feminist song in the late seventies, you know…rather then the bullshit ….’soon you be a women soon’…:)
That's not an answer. You've simply put words in my mouth.
I wouldn't expect you (or anyone) to say "I will support you no matter what". That's absurd. Nor do I need you to like them as people (again, not what I asked).
But if the candidates available are not acceptable to you, it's reasonable to ask who is. If nobody, then what?
All you've offered is general slogans and rants. Unfortunately, governments have to be people instead. There really is no way of getting around that fact.
Sabine’s problem is that James was corporate, went politic to fight for what he believes in, but didn’t hang the suit up, throw the soap away and grow dreads.
want business, soft national and non wellington professional voters to vote left? Keep James Shaw. He’s achieving across the board
"please split these 100.000 direct 'donation' into handy 14.000 dollar donations so as to make them legal".
You seem so sure that your fantasy represents reality Sabine. Just like a number of other commentators on this blog. What evidence do you have? Surely you are not like that odious little creep Ross. He claimed he had recordings of phone conversations that would prove his deranged claims but when he finally produced some nobody but little Jamie could find anything at all that showed that he was anything other than delusional.
Now, surely you aren't like him? What is your evidence?
You are telling me that it is only under investigation?
Gosh from some of the comments on this site I had thought that they must have come to a conclusion, held a trial and that the hanging would be at dawn tomorrow.
I mean from lprent we had
"Bearing in mind that we have had the National party revealed as doing something even more dodgy (and probably illegal) last year with an allegation from their ex-party whip saying that the National party leader was involved in advising the break up of a $100k donation into $14k chunks to avoid declarations." That sounds rather more than just an investigation taking place.
Then from Mickysavage we have
"It is funny that the leader of the party being investigated by the SFO for rorting the election system should be demanding that the leader of the party who is not accused of anything should take action against the leader of a third party that appears to have been really cute with the law but has not necessarily done anything illegal." That sounds as if it is all over doesn't it?
But hey, Winston has to be protected because when he goes the CoL goes.
Now what is the actual evidence again? All that JLR released was that Bridges wanted to ensure that the donations were correctly reported.
I wouldn't care to speculate on any "splitting donations" evidence that the SFO investigation has uncovered. Likewise, the nature of NZF's very recent alleged funding indiscretions is, at this early stage, a matter of speculation only.
Some here are predisposed to rushing to judgement when it serves their (political) purpose, wouldn't you agree Alwyn?
i pointed out the company he kept well before the election, and what can one say………maybe it ain't you, but the company you keep lets us to believe that it is you.
She forgets that the aid was only 'unblocked' as it became public knowledge and there was an outcry.
The Ukraine President had actually agreed to an announcement about 'investigation into the Bidens' and said announcement was about to be made… the outcry came about a day before .
That Congresswoman, from upper NY state , once she started spouting the Trump lines, apparently her democratic opponent suddenly had a massive surge in donations made online
Ukraine got the aid because tRump had no legal authority to block it, and it was delivered without his consent.
President Donald Trump says he lifted his freeze on aid to Ukraine on Sept. 11, but the State Department had quietly authorized releasing $141 million of the money several days earlier, according to five people familiar with the matter.
The State Department decision, which hasn’t been reported previously, stemmed from a legal finding made earlier in the year, and conveyed in a classified memorandum to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. State Department lawyers found the White House Office of Management and Budget, and thus the president, had no legal standing to block spending of the Ukraine aid.
all the money/debt in the world and not one bit of class, intelligence, gut feel, instincts, forsight, hindsight, any sight. Seriously Team Trump are the biggest fucking losers on the planet.
“He then confirmed the president had sought an investigation in exchange for a White House visit for Mr Zelensky – a quid pro quo (a favour in return for a favour).”
"I know that members of this committee have frequently framed these complicated issues in the form of a simple question: Was there a quid pro quo? As I testified previously, with regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes."
“The word “bombshell” gets thrown around a lot these days, but Mr Sondland’s testimony, which represents a shift from his earlier closed-door statements, is a watershed moment in these impeachment investigations.”
Of course, your go to is partisan xtian extremist Mark "home to Kenya" Meadows, who represents one of the two most wildly gerrymandered congressional districts in the nation.
You really do have to wonder what sort of person continues to back Trump on a left wing website like this, especially when faced with steady corroborative stream of evidence and informed opinion.
I mean what’s the end game to that twisted agenda?
That quote you make is taken completely out of context. Sondland was quietly trying to cover his ass at that point, because he, and all the others in the loop, are just as deep in the shit as Trump. Sondland doesn't want to go to jail so he is spilling the beans, in an effort to curry favour. Fact is there was a criminal conspiracy Orchestrated by Trump and Giuliani to bribe the Ukraine Government to carry out a spoof "investigation", so Trump could run deflection in the forthcoming 2020 elections.
Sondland – The U.S. ambassador to the European Union testified that he and senior administration officials “followed the president’s orders” to work with Rudy Giuliani to pressure Ukraine into announcing investigations into Joe Biden and the discredited conspiracy theory that the country helped Democrats in the 2016 election. Gordon Sondland testified that he, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and special envoy Kurt Volker coordinated with Giuliani at the “at the express direction of the president of the United States” to pressure Ukraine into launching investigations. Sondland said he directly communicated the “quid pro quo” arrangement to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Sondland also provided House impeachment investigators with emails and texts showing that acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Perry, and others were all aware that Trump conditioned a White House meeting for Zelensky on his willingness to launch investigations. “They knew what we were doing and why,” Sondland said. “Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret.”
That is essentially a bribe. And that is an impeachable offence.
“We followed the president’s orders,” Sondland said, in a statement full of these blunt statements that fit beautifully in headlines.
“Everyone was in the loop,” Sondland said of the scheme to extort Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky into making public statements to back Trump’s conspiracy theories.
“A lot of senior officials,” he noted, naming names: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and their respective staffs — and he brought emails to back these accusations up. Pompeo, in particular, is implicated in discussions about the specific language they wished Zelensky to use in order to stoke lies about Biden.
\
“We followed the president’s orders,” Sondland said, in a statement full of these blunt statements that fit beautifully in headlines.
No mention of Chinese Communist Party donations to NZ1 Foundations I notice.
Sounds like the main complainer is a Nat supporter who wants his poxy 5 grand back so he can add it to the hundreds of thousands of Beijing Government money. Good on ya mate ! Hypocrit and arsehole.
He may have figured that a win or place bet on the New Zealand First (NZF) horse would have been very much an outside bet, but combined with the influence that NZF would have had over other horses in the race if one or other of the other two came in neck to neck, the return was likely to be enormous.
So NAT and LAB, combined in that post election combination, might have actually provided for a very large collect by him by way of an extra bet, but I cannot suggest this to have been his position.
The old days of first and place bets are finished, and more sophisticated punt arrangements seem to now be preferred.
But it is possible that he may have collected big on some other bet placed, or that others might have in a similar way.
It was the Swedes who were avoiding due process. There was no need to question Assange in Sweden, when he'd declared his willingness to be questioned in the Embassy.Also he was under house arrest for 18 months before being granted political asylum in the Embassy There was absolutely zero reason why the Swedes could not have questioned him then.For the umpteenth time, Swedish prosecutors were able to question Assange in the UK.There's nothing unusual about it.
All this has already been pointed out by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer
"● Disregard for the Mutual Legal Assistance agreement: Melzer again pointed to the refusal of Swedish prosecutors to interview Assange, noting that this “raises serious doubts as to the good faith motivation of the Swedish prosecution"
Of course it's the right of the suspect to determine the whereabouts investigator interviews take place, especially when they've gone to court to avoid extradition, then fled like a coward to a foreign embassy, but yeah, the "fear the Swedes would turn him in to the US if he landed up in Sweden", how did that work out as a plan? Don't answer, I don't care for your spin.
Whether he should be sent to the states for the wikileaks dumps is one thing, after all he did sanction the leaks, and they have a lawful right to go after him for that, but in many people's eyes he'll always be tainted more for failing to front the rape allegations.
All this torture talk is wank. His reality has come home to roost, and like most times when it catches up, it hits hardest on the weak. It's like now he knows what it's like to be f*cked without consent and it's a bust. Karma?
Because they could at least get to the stage of deciding whether charges should be laid , or the case thrown out.
And of course, McFlock, in the end they did question him at the Embassy, in 2016, which they could have done all along, so clearly they felt it was worthwhile
Except that the interview changed nothing, so obviously it was pointless to do it in a protected area.
As for "deciding whether charges should be laid", again, if it were as clear cut as that then the British Supreme Court would have denied extradition. And Assange's legal team did a better job of making that argument than you ever have.
"Except that the interview changed nothing, so obviously it was pointless to do it in a protected area."
Could you expand on your reasoning, i.e. that the 2016 interview was pointless? Do you think that the interview would have been less pointless if it had been conducted in an 'unprotected area' (?), and if so, why?
The prosecutors had already informed Assange's lawyer they had enough evidence to arrest unless a second interview dramatically changed the picture.
If the interview had left the prosecutors no evidence to discontinue those proceedings extant at the time, in an unprotected area (i.e. Sweden) he would have been arrested and quickly brought before a court (as per Swedish procedure).
If the interview had made it clear the allegations were all bunk, protected area or not the proceedings would have been discontinued then and there.
The proceedings continued but did not lead to an immediate arrest and court appearance. The interview changed nothing. From a criminal procedure point of view, the interview served no purpose.
If the Swedish prosecutors believed that they had enough evidence to arrest Assange prior to the 2016 interview, and the interview changed nothing, then why didn’t the prosecutors subsequently arrest/indict Assange? After all, they've had plenty of time to prepare, and Assange hasn't been in a 'protected area' for some time.
Seems extraordinary to me that Swedish prosecutors would choose to drop their investigation into the more serious allegation (of rape) prior to the statute of limitations expiring in 2020.
"In 2013, Sweden tried to drop Assange extradition but the English Crown Prosecution Service dissuaded them from doing so."
Cliff notes from the UK court judgements:
UK procedure = complaint, investigate, charge on prima facie evidence, throughly investigate, court.
Swedish procdure: complaint, investigate prima facie (intial interview), thoroughly investigate (second interview), charge, straight to court. In both jurisdictions, going to court before you've thoroughly investigated = shafting your own case.
As for choosing to drop proceedings before the statute of limitations expires, the official comment was that so much time has passed that evidence will be less reliable. I suspect "Assange will drag out the process in the UK until the clock ticks out" was also a factor.
Oh, and if someone had lumped me with an Assange-level headache for several years and then wanted to drop it, I'd be pissed, too.
Swedish prosecutors have declined to investigate further, and the U.K. judiciary has had its pound of flesh:
“His assertion that he has not had a fair hearing is laughable. And his behaviour is that of a narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interests.” – Judge Snow
Time for the U.S. 'courts' to have a go.
Wonder if there'll be anything left when they're finished. Still, not our worry, eh.
2008, The Economist New Media Award
2009, Amnesty International UK Media Awards
2010, Time Person of the Year, Reader’s Choice
2010, Sam Adams Award
2010, Le Monde Readers’ Choice Award for Person of the Year
2011, Free Dacia Award
2011, Sydney Peace Foundation Gold Medal
2011, Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism
2011, Voltaire Award for Free Speech
2012, Big Brother Award Italy 2012 “Hero of Privacy”
2013, Global Exchange Human Rights Award, People’s Choice
2013, Yoko Ono Lennon Courage Award for the Arts
2013, New York Festivals World’s Best TV & Films Silver World Medal
2014, Union of Journalists in Kazakhstan Top Prize
2019, GUE/NGL Galizia prize
2019, Gavin MacFadyen award
The Swedish prosecutors are faced the fact that the dude ran out the clock on any chance of a successful prosecution. Don't go pretending it's a fickle decision.
As for the yanks, they suck. But so does Assange, so I'm a bit ambivalent about the entire thing. I hope the UK kicks out the extradiction request, but I'm not inclined to put much effort into condemning it.
edit: how many awards should be good for discontinuing a sexual assault investigation? Are they like supermarket purchase stickers, where you have to collect a couple of dozen before you can trade them in for a couple of crystal tumblers?
Curious – why do you "hope the UK kicks out the extradition request"? Do you think the US request is unwarranted, are you concerned about what might happen to Assange when he is extradited, or is it something else?
Reckon Sweden will have picked up a few more ‘reward stickers’ for the timely dropping of their investigation – or maybe these things just happen.
I think the US charges are generally over-inflated. Espionage Act, weren't some of them? ISTR that was pretty thin, based on supposed "encouragement" and "assistance" for Manning.
Now, if some of the charges involved allegationsd of electoral interference for 2016, I'd definitely be suspecting that maybe the yanks had a point for those.
As for the Swedes' choices, frankly I'd trust them over Assange, the yanks, or even the brits. Just my perception, though.
"You have got a lot of ugly anger but no argument , same as the Swedes" yep Francesca you are right on the mark there, I couldn't have put it better. Some seriously twisted world views get unleashed here, Al1en usually commenting gleefully somewhere near the top of that stinking pile….McFlock a close second.
And if he was so keen to clear his name he wouldn't have run away and hid for all those years, but at least with him being legally banged up in Belmarsh for his skipping bail, we can't blame the prosecutors for not doing their jobs properly this time.
I believe the skipping bail penalty is finished, so now he's banged up in Belmarsh because he has form for skipping bail and therefore they won't give him bail to skip again.
Love the way you conspiracy peddlers have to constantly turn logic inside out, contort it this way and that to make these nutty stories that are feed to you make some kind of vague sense…which of course they don't.
which goes back to the biggest oddity of all – if he was genuinely afraid of a covert US-invented case against him in Sweden, why did he flee to the protection of the USA's closest ally…
On the expulsion of US ambassador Heather Hodges in April 2011 by President Correa of Ecuador he said: “Mrs. Hodges has never treated our government well. Though our relations with the US are quite stable now, unfortunately, some US officials are spying on our police, trying to accuse me of corruption”.
You've clearly misunderstood the comment "why did he flee to the protection of the USA's closest ally…" which refers to running away to the UK – The u.s' closest ally.
On RNZ this morning it was impressive to hear the President of the NZ Deerstalkers Association complaining that 1080 should not be dropped by DoC at this time of the year because it might be inhumane to young deer.
Even Corin Dann had to ask the obvious question about why they are complaining about harm to deer when their whole purpose is to shoot them dead in the first place.
Minister Sage brought the discussion back to the reality of a massive mast year and actually protecting highly threatened native species.
Thats a good point. Many people die in hospital too, doesnt mean we shouldnt have them as you have to think of the actual intent rather than a minor side effect
If any govt is serious about protecting " highly threatened native species " one of the first things they would have to do is start an eradication programme of those invasive apex predators the Rainbow and Brown Trouts from our water ways and seriously look at curtailing whitebaiting in some way.
As I have said on here before I interviewed Bod McDowall about ten years ago about NZ fresh water fishes, and he said off the record that most of the large native species where headed toward extinction though environmental degradation of one form or another (mainly farming of course) introduced predators and whitebaiting.
Thanks for that, I will have to track down a copy of that book. I actually quite like Trout as a fish species, I have kept them and grown them from fry in aquariums, just as a matter of interest, and found them to have quite a bit of character, but are hyper aggressive, so not too good with other fish, and they grow extremely fast, are very territorial, all the things you wouldn't want to introduce into a foreign environment you would think.
It was like the Queen had died. It was as if the most alarming constitutional situation since 1506 had arisen.
A snowball was rolling down the hill getting bigger and bigger and was certain to engulf those in its path.
Yes, the grave tones of Matthew Hooton on RNZ talking about the New Zealand First funding episode. Sorry, talking about Jacinda Ardern's responsibility around the New Zealand First funding episode.
No shrill shrieks to attract others to push the ball down the hill, just solemn mode. And gravitas furthered with, "What I’m about say I checked with a professor of constitutional law and a senior partner of a very major law firm…"
My start to genuflect interrupted by a massive involuntary chunder.
There is a situation for her to deal with. You get that in the job. Is it the biggest constitutional crisis we've ever had? Or could have?
I recognise it has political importance. That's why Hooton is trying to portray it as a game of tennis between master players on a packed centre Wimbledon Court, watched by zillions on electronica all round the world with the result seeing the extermination of all the citizens of the country of the loser.
It's another game of knockabout tennis on a suburban or country court on a Thursday morning.
You can always tell when Hooton goes into super-hyper mode. The tone of his voice drops a decibel or two and the words come out of his mouth slow and measured. It's the brief moment when us listeners sit up and wonder what earth shattering event has just occurred… followed by a slump back into normal mode and a sigh of general deflation.
It's a tale often dispersed with faint giggles in the background emanating from Mike Williams signifying that normal discourse has temporarily halted but will shortly resume.
What is the point of Mike Williams? Seriously. You could replace him with one of those nodding dogs that sit in the rear window of your car and I doubt anyone would notice.
Hooten dangerously good at his job and Kathryn Ryan a big fan girl who gives him too much leeway to practise his art….this a full court press to push support parties below threshold and no expense is being spared…..guess all that Chinese donated money to the National Party had to find a home somewhere
"The likely benefit of hiding in an embassy for years to avoid due process."
It was the Swedes who were avoiding due process. There was no need to question Assange in Sweden, when he'd declared his willingness to be questioned in the Embassy.Also he was under house arrest for 18 months before being granted political asylum in the Embassy There was absolutely zero reason why the Swedes could not have questioned him then.For the umpteenth time, Swedish prosecutors were able to question Assange in the UK.There's nothing unusual about it.
All this has already been pointed out by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer
"● Disregard for the Mutual Legal Assistance agreement: Melzer again pointed to the refusal of Swedish prosecutors to interview Assange, noting that this “raises serious doubts as to the good faith motivation of the Swedish prosecution"
And facing an effective death sentence … 175 yrs imprisonment. I suppose all those who so vociferously called him a 'rapist' here for so many years must be very pleased with themselves now.
How is Chelsea Manning doing? She still in prison?
Oh, yeah, that is exactly where she is.
North Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning, December 17, 1987) is an American activist and whistleblower. … Manning is currently in jail for her continued refusal to testify before a grand jury against Julian Assange.
Right from the outset it was obvious the Swedish 'prosecution' was politically motivated and his fears of being extradited to the USA were justified. These claims, that many lefties sneered at for so long, are now proven beyond all doubt.
But now you seem to be implying that because Manning is in prison for telling the truth, therefore Assange should be as well? And because a man is a 'bit of a dick' … this now rates an effective death sentence in some concrete hell hole?
Still it's highly likely the UK is going to hand him over to the Americans , so you should be very pleased with yourself. You win; enjoy it.
We judge women who have children without husbands, who have sex without being married and there you have a responsible partner who wants the sex but no babies and he fucks it up for no reason other then himslef. Maybe really that actually needs to be seen as what it is and spoken of as is. A dumb stupid penis driven action that got himself into the biggest shitpile of the world.
As for him being handed to Trump? No i don't enjoy that, i would not enjoy that for anyone. Trump now needs someone he can offer to the altar of his base – lest they abandon him – and Assange would be good for that.
But that too is Assanges fault for literally reading the Trumpster wrong and hoping that the guy who is a sadistic fuck will give him clemency or something. So in all of your hand wringing about the fault of others, all i ask is that Assanges fuck ups should be equally be considered a reason for his current predicament.
And meanwhile Chelsea Manning is still in prison for upholding her convictions. And i see no hot tears from the Assange is hard done by crowd.
And i see no hot tears from the Assange is hard done by crowd.
Maybe because you haven't looked. Manning may get less overt attention, but she has certainly not been ignored. Her plight as a whistleblower is equally appalling and significant.
But that's the point … you seem to have a great deal of sympathy for Manning that I share with you. But for some reason you characterise Assange as a 'dick' who is still somehow to blame for what is happening to him.
i have a great deal of Chelsea Manning as she not only did what she believed is right, but she also accepted the punishment for it. – This does not mean i think she should have gotten accused/prosecuted/judged, far from it.
As for Assange, i had a great deal of time for him until he started behaving like a dick. When one sits in a glass house one should not start throwing stones. Firstly and secondly if it is ok for Chelsea Manning to go to prison, if it is Ok for Snowden to hide in Russia then it would equally behoove Assange to use his brains every now and then rather then just demand to be treated differnently then all the others.
And yes, with his sexual partner he behaved like a dick (unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are often kept abay by using condoms or so we are told), and then subsequently ever since. For a supposedly smart man he behaved like an idiot. And he should have known that he is wanted, he should have known that the Yankees will not be kind, he should have known that he needs to treat lightly and he gave no shits about nothing. And that is part of the narrative no matter how unpleasant you may find that.
Idiocy, Stupidity, Arrogance do not protect one from harm. Personally i believe that him betting on Trump was his biggest idiotic action since fucking without that darn condom.
In all things that happen to us we are always a bit to blame. And so is he.
Ah no … it's not OK for Manning to be in prison for the rest of her life, nor for Snowden to be stuck in Russia indefinitely. But Assange is different because … sex.
By this logic all whistleblowers and journalists are required to live blameless, sex free lives in order that they remain above all possible reproach on their characters. In the meantime the actual war crimes they tell the truth about just aren't important any more.
Oh no its not ok for all of them to be in prison for the rest of their lifes as what they did was the right thing to do. Firstly.
Secondly., Snowden is in russia in exile- and he most likely knows that it will be for the rest of his life, and Chelsea was in prison – and without clemency from Obama would be there for the rest of her life, and currently is prison for refusing to testify about Assange. Personal responsability, they do it!
By my logic, all whistle blowers and journalists have enough brains, and should have enough brains to know that if it goes all wrong life as it was is pretty much over. And frankly, most of them do, and they don't end up holed up in a room in an embassy somewhere because they fear being arrested after fucking up a consensual booty call. He would have done much better demanding political asylum anywhere on this planet and demand his day in court, under the cameras of the world yadda yadda yadda….instead he was hoping for a US government that is more favorable to him, bet on Trump, and loses as everyone who works with that shitface does. Cause Trump only has clemency at heart for one person, himself. All others are simply there to advance his agenda and once that is done they have no more uses for them, And that is Assanges dilemma atm. He has outlived his usefulness.
And maybe that's just what a rapist/sexual assailant wants you to believe.
But my point was that me wanting Assange to have faced a court wasn't about "sex". It was to face up to sexual assault allegations.
And one thing that really makes me think some people would be happy for him to actually get away with rape because wikileaks is when they imply the investigation and grounds for extradition related to consensual sex rather than sexual assault.
No need to be cute, McFlock – when you write "a rapist/sexual assailant“, you mean Assange, right?
And are you suggesting that dropping the investigation now plays into Assange's hands because it creates the impression that Sweden is making way for US extradition proceedings? What a manipulative monster he is!
Could the Swedish prosecutors have sustained their investigation until the statute of limitations ran out in August 2020, maybe out of respect for the (alleged) victims? We'll never know.
IMHO it's pretty scurrilous to suggest that anyone "would be happy for him [Assange] to actually get away with rape" – inflammatory even.
"Maybe" it's all a big con on behalf of the US (that's what you meant by "served its purpose", right – that the charges were fabricated for the yanks?)
"Maybe" a sexual offender kept running any lying and running and ended up turning himself into a bargaining chip.
We'll never know because the guy who skipped on the Swedes in August 2010 dragged the extradition hearings out until May 2012, and now there's only a year for the most serious charges to run out the statute of limitations.
And I can't see any other relevance a list of awards has in relation to sexual assault allegations against the recipient of those awards other than to try to somehow minimise or deflect from those allegations. Feel free to come up with a decent excuse, something other than "he's such a great guy let's talk about that rather than the allegations against him". Please. Because one thing has not a damned thing to do with the other.
The thread in which I listed Assange's modest collection of awards and honours began with Adrian's comment (@5) on "Julian Assange's Extradition Case is the MOST IMPORTANT Press Freedom Case of our Lives", and "Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation".
I appended that list of awards/honours to my comment @9:17 pm partly because of its relevance to “Press Freedom” and partly because I thought it might annoy you, but you are unflappable – no-one could think that suggesting 'some people' "would be happy for him [Assange] to actually get away with rape" was a sign of irritation. Nevertheless, that’s a mighty fine pearl you're working on
Of course he should have used a condom. Perhaps he is a bit of a dick. Who hasn't behaved like a dick sometime? But you seem to choose to ignore the fact that even if he'd behaved with decorum of the highest order, he still would have ended up in jail on some trumped up charge.
Does it not bother you that he is being charged while all the media outlets that published the wikileaks files remain untouched.
Doesn't it bother you that he was spied on while in the Ecuadorian embassy, that Moreno allowed the British into the embassy to remove him and incarcerate him.
If your sympathies actually lie with the women Assange was involved with they may be misplaced as they have declared they had no desire to have him charged.
Or is it simply a calvinist desire to punish, because we all must be punished.
But AFAIK nobody's ever been to the cops to accuse me of rape.
Assange chose to not use a condom when penetrating sleeping women, chose to skip bail, chose to make himself a diplomatic bargaining chip. Yes, the US case against Assange seems to me to be an overinflated pile of shit. Yes, the yanks shouldn't be holding Manning on contempt charges. Yes, a good case can be made that Snowden should receive absolution for leaking classified documents because it was in the public interest to do so.
But Assange shouldn't get a pass on the things he, and only he, chose to do. It's not "calvinist", it goes to the entire idea of how we treat sexual assaulters who are in positions of power. Do we give them a pass because we like their work or they are rich? Or do we treat them like we'd treat a poor person facing similar accusations?
Except he hasn't been charged with sexual assault. You can keep saying it forever, but saying it doesn't make it true.
To describe in such detail what is supposed to have happened, between two consenting adults, according to you, I find just a wee bit revolting. And actually that unnecessary description defines you more than it does Assange.
The British Supreme Court said it was true enough to make the EAW valid. If you were correct, Assange would have won the UK extradition proceedings. He did not, so chose to skip bail.
between two consenting adults,
No, between one adult and another adult who had explicitly withheld consent to condom removal.
The UK Supreme Court didnt rule on the charges validity, they just said it was procedurally valid
as they also said
"A domestic detention order was made by the Stockholm District Court in Mr Assange’s absence, and was upheld by the Svea Court of Appeal.
"A prosecutor in Sweden thereafter issued a European Arrest Warrant (‘EAW’) on 2 December 2010 pursuant to the arrangements put in place by the Council of the European Union in the Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on the EAW and the surrender procedures between Member States (2002/584/JHA)(‘the Framework Decision’), which were given effect in the United Kingdom in Part 1 of the Extradition Act 2003 (‘the 2003 Act’)."
It seems Brigid is closer to the truth. Dont know what a domestic detention warrant is , but doesnt 'sound like' a charge of sexual assualt.
Swedish criminal procedure is different from our or UK system.
My rough interpretation is the warrant was for the förundersökning or preliminary investigation phase, which is followed by åtals väckande or indictment which they goes to rättegång or trial
Sometime there can be förutredning or prelimininary enquiry before preliminary investigation
I gather from the current context there was no åtals väckande.
The credit goes to regulars like francesca and Bridget who have been firm and clear on this story all along. My respect goes to them.
And to be fair to everyone else … I would love nothing more than for the divisiveness and bruising this whole affair has caused to be ended and healed.
Further to the discussion yesterday about the term "indigenous".
There seems to be a broad agreement that the definition of the term seems to be related to the point at which Europeans first came across a group of people (although there may be exceptions to this).
This is the a run down on the current view as far as I am aware. Maori are indigenous to NZ but the Celtic people are not indigenous to England. Possible exceptions may include the Japanese who may or may not be regarded as indigenous to the Japanese given the existence of the Ainu people. Han Chinese may be indigenous to parts of China but not the entire country. Malays are treated as being indigenous to Malaysia (at least according to their own laws) yet are actually not the original people in the area. Shona people in Zimbabwe are indigenous but the Ndebele who live there are not possibly despite nither of them actually being the original inhabitants of the land (which are likely the San people). All First nation /American Indian people are indigeous to the entire American continent regardless of where they live. Arabs are indigenous to Arabia but not to most of the Arab World.
The native peoples under Roman rule became Romanised and keen to adopt Roman ways.
That excerpt from Wikipedia is simply used to show that the word "native" isn't restricted to people encountered by modern Europeans. Another example (this time using the term "indigenous") is the wikipedia entry "Taiwanese indigenous peoples".
Basically, the term seems to encompass the people who were first into an area compared to other ethnic groups. Eurocentrism is your spin, for whatever reason.
There are 28 pages detailing the periods, pregnancies and reason for the pregnancy (whether by rape or not) of teen girls in custody, some of whom are as young as 12. There may well be reasons for the government to track whether or not a woman is pregnant, and how far along in her pregnancy she is, but there’s no reason to track the cause of her pregnancy. It’s pretty fair to assume that they’re not doing this because they want to ensure women know all the options regarding their pregnancy. It’s almost certainly an attempt to bar them from getting abortions.
Tuesday's resolution was opposed by Israel, the United States and three Pacific island nations that depend heavily on U.S. aid and tend to vote with Washington at the UN: the Marshall Islands, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Speaking on background, an official at Global Affairs Canada said the vote sends a message that Canada does not agree with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's assertion on Monday that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories are "not, per se, inconsistent with international law."
Crimea occupation by Russia is illegal , but not the Nato occupation of Kososvo
Turkeys support for the puppet state of Northern Cyprus is OK , while Russias support of puppet state of South Ossetia in Georgia isnt.
The US occupation and control of Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia ( still UK territories)in the South Indian Ocean is OK despite it being illegal under UN rules about splitting of territories and evicting its resident people when Mauritius became independent. ICJ has also ruled the split was illegal.
a wiki leaks dislosure UK wanted to declare a marine reserve – the worlds largest-to prevent the Chagossians from returning , while allowing US to remain at Diego Garcia. This has now occurred
The expulsion of the Chagossians was one of the many disgusting acts of the UK government. To avoid using the phrase "permanent inhabitants" they declared them 'belongers' of Mauritius and the Seychelles and only temporary residents of BIOT
"This devise, although rather transparent, would at least give us a defensible position to take up at the UN."
Yes Nick Smith must be pissed off! A barrage of questions re the National Electoral spending tricks of the Electoral Act was the response to Nick Smith trying to trap the Minister of Justice. Brownlee tried to block the Government response. Brilliant.
And the multi-million dollar warning that should Smith or Bridges repeat outside what they said in House, they will be sued for defamation.
According to Howard, a “then-president of a studio sublabel” praised the script and then suggested Roberts play Tubman. “Fortunately, there was a single black person in that studio meeting 25 years ago who told him that Harriet Tubman was a black woman,” Howard wrote in the Times piece. “The president replied, ‘That was so long ago. No one will know that.'”
Diversity in the boardroom heads off stupid plan at the start.
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Wonder when he is going to bring out the NO sign again.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/117577119/who-are-the-donors-behind-the-nz-first-foundation
How much damage to the environment has NZFirst caused? First the Kermadecs, now the first government to commit to meaningful climate change is sunk
what about National and their – please split these 100.000 direct 'donation' into handy 14.000 dollar donations so as to make them legal? Oh of course, its nationals so it must be ok.
Please be fair and if you rage against one party rage against all the parties that pull equal shenanigans.
and establishing a target and nothing much more is not 'meaningful' nor is it a fight, but it is for sure a very serious attempt at being seen as proactive.
Thought this government was going to be different and transformational?
so how is it relevant to rage against National, when there ability to achieve meaningful change from opposition is nil, when the active members of this government are actively sabotaging important work through side shows and deceit
This government was never going to be different as soon as it needed NZF.
The only way to get transformational leadership is to vote Green, even then it requires that the Green vote is high enough to require significant input into the next government.
the thing is that they all do it and you rather then whinge about 'them will /should be better', they aren't.
they are in it for a paycheck, a perk or several for life and that is it. I think that soimon, jacinda and the whole heck of them would not be as successful in private business simply because they are not good, nor insipriational, nor hard workers. So politics it is. Sadly, you and i will only ever get some crooks to vote for.
Except James Shaw. His selfless work on the environment can not be said to be all about the pay check.
i suspect your right about the rest though. Two second rate provincial lawyers. a fry cook and whatever the hell rimmer did.
I have no more use for him then i have for Cloe Swarbrik.
Nice suits, empty tho.
OK, so you have no time for Shaw, Swarbrick, Ardern … are there any actual human beings in NZ you would like to see on a party's list?
"I'm holding out for a hero" is a cheesy song, not a smart political strategy.
you still don't get it?
I don't need to like any of these people.
I just need to vote for them once every three years and as always i will vote for what i consider the lesser evil. Which currently is Labour/Greens and to some extend even NZ First.
But what i do want from people who live of mine and your tax dollars is some guts, some conviction and some actual deeds. Currently we have none of that. We get a few band aids so that our elderlies don't freeze in their iceboxes, we get a few band aids so the environmentally inclinded shut up until the next decade and the next labour goverment ( if by hten we still have a government), and so on.
So' I will support you no matter what' does not work for me, never did never will.
And yes, in a better world we would have polititians rather then empty suits that would be pulling a shift in a back office taking calls.
Also ‘i need a hero’ is not a cheesy song, its literally a women crying out for a one night stand. It was considered a feminist song in the late seventies, you know…rather then the bullshit ….’soon you be a women soon’…:)
That's not an answer. You've simply put words in my mouth.
I wouldn't expect you (or anyone) to say "I will support you no matter what". That's absurd. Nor do I need you to like them as people (again, not what I asked).
But if the candidates available are not acceptable to you, it's reasonable to ask who is. If nobody, then what?
All you've offered is general slogans and rants. Unfortunately, governments have to be people instead. There really is no way of getting around that fact.
Sabine’s problem is that James was corporate, went politic to fight for what he believes in, but didn’t hang the suit up, throw the soap away and grow dreads.
want business, soft national and non wellington professional voters to vote left? Keep James Shaw. He’s achieving across the board
OK boomer.
"please split these 100.000 direct 'donation' into handy 14.000 dollar donations so as to make them legal".
You seem so sure that your fantasy represents reality Sabine. Just like a number of other commentators on this blog. What evidence do you have? Surely you are not like that odious little creep Ross. He claimed he had recordings of phone conversations that would prove his deranged claims but when he finally produced some nobody but little Jamie could find anything at all that showed that he was anything other than delusional.
Now, surely you aren't like him? What is your evidence?
This 'matter' of splitting donations is the subject of a current SFO investigation.
The rush to judge NZF in the court of public opinion is a puzzle, but truth will out.
You are telling me that it is only under investigation?
Gosh from some of the comments on this site I had thought that they must have come to a conclusion, held a trial and that the hanging would be at dawn tomorrow.
I mean from lprent we had
"Bearing in mind that we have had the National party revealed as doing something even more dodgy (and probably illegal) last year with an allegation from their ex-party whip saying that the National party leader was involved in advising the break up of a $100k donation into $14k chunks to avoid declarations." That sounds rather more than just an investigation taking place.
Then from Mickysavage we have
"It is funny that the leader of the party being investigated by the SFO for rorting the election system should be demanding that the leader of the party who is not accused of anything should take action against the leader of a third party that appears to have been really cute with the law but has not necessarily done anything illegal." That sounds as if it is all over doesn't it?
But hey, Winston has to be protected because when he goes the CoL goes.
Now what is the actual evidence again? All that JLR released was that Bridges wanted to ensure that the donations were correctly reported.
I wouldn't care to speculate on any "splitting donations" evidence that the SFO investigation has uncovered. Likewise, the nature of NZF's very recent alleged funding indiscretions is, at this early stage, a matter of speculation only.
Some here are predisposed to rushing to judgement when it serves their (political) purpose, wouldn't you agree Alwyn?
Mod note for you here alwyn,
https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-22-11-2019/#comment-1668341
I see Mr Trump is in even deeper trouble!
i pointed out the company he kept well before the election, and what can one say………maybe it ain't you, but the company you keep lets us to believe that it is you.
Oh most definitely… 😆
https://twitter.com/RepStefanik/status/1197249054754967552
Ken Starr reckons it might be time for Republican Senators to visit the White House and let tRump know that it's all over.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ken-starr-suggests-on-fox-that-gop-senators-may-need-to-make-a-trip-to-white-house-after-sondland-testimony
She forgets that the aid was only 'unblocked' as it became public knowledge and there was an outcry.
The Ukraine President had actually agreed to an announcement about 'investigation into the Bidens' and said announcement was about to be made… the outcry came about a day before .
That Congresswoman, from upper NY state , once she started spouting the Trump lines, apparently her democratic opponent suddenly had a massive surge in donations made online
Ukraine got the aid because tRump had no legal authority to block it, and it was delivered without his consent.
President Donald Trump says he lifted his freeze on aid to Ukraine on Sept. 11, but the State Department had quietly authorized releasing $141 million of the money several days earlier, according to five people familiar with the matter.
The State Department decision, which hasn’t been reported previously, stemmed from a legal finding made earlier in the year, and conveyed in a classified memorandum to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. State Department lawyers found the White House Office of Management and Budget, and thus the president, had no legal standing to block spending of the Ukraine aid.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-09/state-department-freed-ukraine-money-before-trump-says-he-did
She did a really good job in raising a million dollar for her opponent NY21.
https://twitter.com/EliseStefanik/status/1197262755537010688
just read the comments, and yes she did raise over a million dollar for Tedra Cobb. Well done Elise.
Nunes is so far doing a good job in raising a few hundred thousands of dollars for his opponent in California22.
https://twitter.com/PhilArballo2020/status/1197211650836725760
ah man. one can't make this shit up.
all the money/debt in the world and not one bit of class, intelligence, gut feel, instincts, forsight, hindsight, any sight. Seriously Team Trump are the biggest fucking losers on the planet.
Oh most definitely…
EU ambassador Gordon Sondland testifies that Trump's personal lawyer "requests were a quid pro quo"
The BBC must have accidently left out the very un-quid pro quo thing he would go on to say later in the testimony.
"That was the problem, Mr. Goldman. No one told me directly that the aid was tied to anything. I was presuming it was."
Perhaps you should read the article.
“He then confirmed the president had sought an investigation in exchange for a White House visit for Mr Zelensky – a quid pro quo (a favour in return for a favour).”
"I know that members of this committee have frequently framed these complicated issues in the form of a simple question: Was there a quid pro quo? As I testified previously, with regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes."
“The word “bombshell” gets thrown around a lot these days, but Mr Sondland’s testimony, which represents a shift from his earlier closed-door statements, is a watershed moment in these impeachment investigations.”
Oh no, no, no, no….
No amount of reading a BBC article is going to show where he walks back on his quid pro quo.
https://twitter.com/RepMarkMeadows/status/1197231629279924225
Of course, your go to is partisan xtian extremist Mark "home to Kenya" Meadows, who represents one of the two most wildly gerrymandered congressional districts in the nation.
You really do have to wonder what sort of person continues to back Trump on a left wing website like this, especially when faced with steady corroborative stream of evidence and informed opinion.
I mean what’s the end game to that twisted agenda?
Or you could actually look at the content of what's being said rather than continually shooting the messenger…
That's a deliciously cute irony. lol
You really have to stop watching Faux News.
That quote you make is taken completely out of context. Sondland was quietly trying to cover his ass at that point, because he, and all the others in the loop, are just as deep in the shit as Trump. Sondland doesn't want to go to jail so he is spilling the beans, in an effort to curry favour. Fact is there was a criminal conspiracy Orchestrated by Trump and Giuliani to bribe the Ukraine Government to carry out a spoof "investigation", so Trump could run deflection in the forthcoming 2020 elections.
Sondland – The U.S. ambassador to the European Union testified that he and senior administration officials “followed the president’s orders” to work with Rudy Giuliani to pressure Ukraine into announcing investigations into Joe Biden and the discredited conspiracy theory that the country helped Democrats in the 2016 election. Gordon Sondland testified that he, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and special envoy Kurt Volker coordinated with Giuliani at the “at the express direction of the president of the United States” to pressure Ukraine into launching investigations. Sondland said he directly communicated the “quid pro quo” arrangement to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Sondland also provided House impeachment investigators with emails and texts showing that acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Perry, and others were all aware that Trump conditioned a White House meeting for Zelensky on his willingness to launch investigations. “They knew what we were doing and why,” Sondland said. “Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret.”
That is essentially a bribe. And that is an impeachable offence.
Be best, or be better.
Next, bye.
So many crimes.
https://twitter.com/mschmitt9/status/1196996685706203136
No mention of Chinese Communist Party donations to NZ1 Foundations I notice.
Sounds like the main complainer is a Nat supporter who wants his poxy 5 grand back so he can add it to the hundreds of thousands of Beijing Government money. Good on ya mate ! Hypocrit and arsehole.
He may have figured that a win or place bet on the New Zealand First (NZF) horse would have been very much an outside bet, but combined with the influence that NZF would have had over other horses in the race if one or other of the other two came in neck to neck, the return was likely to be enormous.
So NAT and LAB, combined in that post election combination, might have actually provided for a very large collect by him by way of an extra bet, but I cannot suggest this to have been his position.
The old days of first and place bets are finished, and more sophisticated punt arrangements seem to now be preferred.
But it is possible that he may have collected big on some other bet placed, or that others might have in a similar way.
Julian Assange's Extradition Case is the MOST IMPORTANT Press Freedom Case of our Lives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9assL6mKi0
Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation
“The evidence is not strong enough to form the basis of an indictment,” says deputy director of public prosecutors
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/julian-assange-rape-investigation-sweden-dropped-914405/
Your excitement is obvious enough without the bold capitals.
Thank you Adrian. As Corré says, it's shameful and a stain on the British justice system
The likely benefit of hiding in an embassy for years to avoid due process.
"The reason for this decision is that the evidence has weakened considerably due to the long period of time that has elapsed since the events in question,"
It was the Swedes who were avoiding due process. There was no need to question Assange in Sweden, when he'd declared his willingness to be questioned in the Embassy.Also he was under house arrest for 18 months before being granted political asylum in the Embassy There was absolutely zero reason why the Swedes could not have questioned him then.For the umpteenth time, Swedish prosecutors were able to question Assange in the UK.There's nothing unusual about it.
All this has already been pointed out by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/18/assa-n18.html
"● Disregard for the Mutual Legal Assistance agreement: Melzer again pointed to the refusal of Swedish prosecutors to interview Assange, noting that this “raises serious doubts as to the good faith motivation of the Swedish prosecution"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_legal_assistance_treaty
As it turns out Assange had every reason to fear the Swedes would turn him in to the US if he landed up in Sweden
Of course it's the right of the suspect to determine the whereabouts investigator interviews take place, especially when they've gone to court to avoid extradition, then fled like a coward to a foreign embassy, but yeah, the "fear the Swedes would turn him in to the US if he landed up in Sweden", how did that work out as a plan? Don't answer, I don't care for your spin.
Whether he should be sent to the states for the wikileaks dumps is one thing, after all he did sanction the leaks, and they have a lawful right to go after him for that, but in many people's eyes he'll always be tainted more for failing to front the rape allegations.
All this torture talk is wank. His reality has come home to roost, and like most times when it catches up, it hits hardest on the weak. It's like now he knows what it's like to be f*cked without consent and it's a bust. Karma?
Come on
If the Swedes had been interested in bringing Assange to "justice" They would have pursued all avenues
They didn't, and let the whole thing go dormant for 9 years
You have got a lot of
ugly anger but no argument , same as the Swedes
"pursued all avenues".
Why "pursue" if there's no chance of arrest and trial?
Because they could at least get to the stage of deciding whether charges should be laid , or the case thrown out.
And of course, McFlock, in the end they did question him at the Embassy, in 2016, which they could have done all along, so clearly they felt it was worthwhile
Except that the interview changed nothing, so obviously it was pointless to do it in a protected area.
As for "deciding whether charges should be laid", again, if it were as clear cut as that then the British Supreme Court would have denied extradition. And Assange's legal team did a better job of making that argument than you ever have.
"Except that the interview changed nothing, so obviously it was pointless to do it in a protected area."
Could you expand on your reasoning, i.e. that the 2016 interview was pointless? Do you think that the interview would have been less pointless if it had been conducted in an 'unprotected area' (?), and if so, why?
The prosecutors had already informed Assange's lawyer they had enough evidence to arrest unless a second interview dramatically changed the picture.
If the interview had left the prosecutors no evidence to discontinue those proceedings extant at the time, in an unprotected area (i.e. Sweden) he would have been arrested and quickly brought before a court (as per Swedish procedure).
If the interview had made it clear the allegations were all bunk, protected area or not the proceedings would have been discontinued then and there.
The proceedings continued but did not lead to an immediate arrest and court appearance. The interview changed nothing. From a criminal procedure point of view, the interview served no purpose.
If the Swedish prosecutors believed that they had enough evidence to arrest Assange prior to the 2016 interview, and the interview changed nothing, then why didn’t the prosecutors subsequently arrest/indict Assange? After all, they've had plenty of time to prepare, and Assange hasn't been in a 'protected area' for some time.
Seems extraordinary to me that Swedish prosecutors would choose to drop their investigation into the more serious allegation (of rape) prior to the statute of limitations expiring in 2020.
Cliff notes from the UK court judgements:
UK procedure = complaint, investigate, charge on prima facie evidence, throughly investigate, court.
Swedish procdure: complaint, investigate prima facie (intial interview), thoroughly investigate (second interview), charge, straight to court. In both jurisdictions, going to court before you've thoroughly investigated = shafting your own case.
As for choosing to drop proceedings before the statute of limitations expires, the official comment was that so much time has passed that evidence will be less reliable. I suspect "Assange will drag out the process in the UK until the clock ticks out" was also a factor.
Oh, and if someone had lumped me with an Assange-level headache for several years and then wanted to drop it, I'd be pissed, too.
Spare a thought for the alleged rape victim(s), denied their day in court. Ah well, the Swedish and U.K. justice systems did their best.
🙄 you were talking about the CPS.
Swedish prosecutors have declined to investigate further, and the U.K. judiciary has had its pound of flesh:
Time for the U.S. 'courts' to have a go.
Wonder if there'll be anything left when they're finished. Still, not our worry, eh.
The Swedish prosecutors are faced the fact that the dude ran out the clock on any chance of a successful prosecution. Don't go pretending it's a fickle decision.
As for the yanks, they suck. But so does Assange, so I'm a bit ambivalent about the entire thing. I hope the UK kicks out the extradiction request, but I'm not inclined to put much effort into condemning it.
edit: how many awards should be good for discontinuing a sexual assault investigation? Are they like supermarket purchase stickers, where you have to collect a couple of dozen before you can trade them in for a couple of crystal tumblers?
Curious – why do you "hope the UK kicks out the extradition request"? Do you think the US request is unwarranted, are you concerned about what might happen to Assange when he is extradited, or is it something else?
Reckon Sweden will have picked up a few more ‘reward stickers’ for the timely dropping of their investigation – or maybe these things just happen.
Assange faces US extradition hearing as Sweden drops rape probe
https://www.ft.com/content/90853d64-0acf-11ea-b2d6-9bf4d1957a67
I think the US charges are generally over-inflated. Espionage Act, weren't some of them? ISTR that was pretty thin, based on supposed "encouragement" and "assistance" for Manning.
Now, if some of the charges involved allegationsd of electoral interference for 2016, I'd definitely be suspecting that maybe the yanks had a point for those.
As for the Swedes' choices, frankly I'd trust them over Assange, the yanks, or even the brits. Just my perception, though.
"You have got a lot of ugly anger but no argument , same as the Swedes" yep Francesca you are right on the mark there, I couldn't have put it better. Some seriously twisted world views get unleashed here, Al1en usually commenting gleefully somewhere near the top of that stinking pile….McFlock a close second.
And Adrian, clinging on to the rear 'til the very end.
“Come on”
And if he was so keen to clear his name he wouldn't have run away and hid for all those years, but at least with him being legally banged up in Belmarsh for his skipping bail, we can't blame the prosecutors for not doing their jobs properly this time.
I believe the skipping bail penalty is finished, so now he's banged up in Belmarsh because he has form for skipping bail and therefore they won't give him bail to skip again.
Well you wouldn't trust him not to run away again, would you? Not even if he took large amounts of other people's money to use as a bail bond.
And to repeat what I’ve stated on here before, he shouldn’t be extradited to the u.s.a, but deported back to Australia.
Yep, the the good old sycophantic UK doing the bidding of the Trump administration .
Who benefited from his Clinton emails dump. Strange old world, eh?
Love the way you conspiracy peddlers have to constantly turn logic inside out, contort it this way and that to make these nutty stories that are feed to you make some kind of vague sense…which of course they don't.
It would be quite funny if it wasn't so sad.
lol
which goes back to the biggest oddity of all – if he was genuinely afraid of a covert US-invented case against him in Sweden, why did he flee to the protection of the USA's closest ally…
You know very well that Ecuador, at the time that Assange sought refuge in their embassy, was not USA's 'closest ally'.
You really are grasping at the finest scrap of straw now.
On the expulsion of US ambassador Heather Hodges in April 2011 by President Correa of Ecuador he said: “Mrs. Hodges has never treated our government well. Though our relations with the US are quite stable now, unfortunately, some US officials are spying on our police, trying to accuse me of corruption”.
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2011/10/13/ecuador-us-intelligence-against-rafael-correa/
You've clearly misunderstood the comment "why did he flee to the protection of the USA's closest ally…" which refers to running away to the UK – The u.s' closest ally.
no, the country he went to after his lawyer was told that formal charges were likely after the second interview.
Going to ground in an embassy was just stupid.
On RNZ this morning it was impressive to hear the President of the NZ Deerstalkers Association complaining that 1080 should not be dropped by DoC at this time of the year because it might be inhumane to young deer.
Even Corin Dann had to ask the obvious question about why they are complaining about harm to deer when their whole purpose is to shoot them dead in the first place.
Minister Sage brought the discussion back to the reality of a massive mast year and actually protecting highly threatened native species.
OMG
Thats a good point. Many people die in hospital too, doesnt mean we shouldnt have them as you have to think of the actual intent rather than a minor side effect
And no complaints from him about it being inhumane for target species.
If any govt is serious about protecting " highly threatened native species " one of the first things they would have to do is start an eradication programme of those invasive apex predators the Rainbow and Brown Trouts from our water ways and seriously look at curtailing whitebaiting in some way.
As I have said on here before I interviewed Bod McDowall about ten years ago about NZ fresh water fishes, and he said off the record that most of the large native species where headed toward extinction though environmental degradation of one form or another (mainly farming of course) introduced predators and whitebaiting.
Bob McDowall
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_McDowall
Giant Kōkopu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi3FfJEusaQ
An ecological bully.
Thanks for that, I will have to track down a copy of that book. I actually quite like Trout as a fish species, I have kept them and grown them from fry in aquariums, just as a matter of interest, and found them to have quite a bit of character, but are hyper aggressive, so not too good with other fish, and they grow extremely fast, are very territorial, all the things you wouldn't want to introduce into a foreign environment you would think.
Quite a large difference between a quick death from a bullet and writhing in pain kicking you guts for hours!!
Not anti 1080 but just thought I'd give you the hunters probable perspective.
open it for hunting. Deer is good eating. 1080 aint'.
It was like the Queen had died. It was as if the most alarming constitutional situation since 1506 had arisen.
A snowball was rolling down the hill getting bigger and bigger and was certain to engulf those in its path.
Yes, the grave tones of Matthew Hooton on RNZ talking about the New Zealand First funding episode. Sorry, talking about Jacinda Ardern's responsibility around the New Zealand First funding episode.
No shrill shrieks to attract others to push the ball down the hill, just solemn mode. And gravitas furthered with, "What I’m about say I checked with a professor of constitutional law and a senior partner of a very major law firm…"
My start to genuflect interrupted by a massive involuntary chunder.
Even NoRightTurn thinks its her problem, you wouldnt call him a right wing shrill would you?..
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2019/11/winston-is-pms-problem.html?m=1
There is a situation for her to deal with. You get that in the job. Is it the biggest constitutional crisis we've ever had? Or could have?
I recognise it has political importance. That's why Hooton is trying to portray it as a game of tennis between master players on a packed centre Wimbledon Court, watched by zillions on electronica all round the world with the result seeing the extermination of all the citizens of the country of the loser.
It's another game of knockabout tennis on a suburban or country court on a Thursday morning.
You can always tell when Hooton goes into super-hyper mode. The tone of his voice drops a decibel or two and the words come out of his mouth slow and measured. It's the brief moment when us listeners sit up and wonder what earth shattering event has just occurred… followed by a slump back into normal mode and a sigh of general deflation.
It's a tale often dispersed with faint giggles in the background emanating from Mike Williams signifying that normal discourse has temporarily halted but will shortly resume.
What is the point of Mike Williams? Seriously. You could replace him with one of those nodding dogs that sit in the rear window of your car and I doubt anyone would notice.
lol wensleydale
Hooten dangerously good at his job and Kathryn Ryan a big fan girl who gives him too much leeway to practise his art….this a full court press to push support parties below threshold and no expense is being spared…..guess all that Chinese donated money to the National Party had to find a home somewhere
"The likely benefit of hiding in an embassy for years to avoid due process."
It was the Swedes who were avoiding due process. There was no need to question Assange in Sweden, when he'd declared his willingness to be questioned in the Embassy.Also he was under house arrest for 18 months before being granted political asylum in the Embassy There was absolutely zero reason why the Swedes could not have questioned him then.For the umpteenth time, Swedish prosecutors were able to question Assange in the UK.There's nothing unusual about it.
All this has already been pointed out by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/11/18/assa-n18.html
"● Disregard for the Mutual Legal Assistance agreement: Melzer again pointed to the refusal of Swedish prosecutors to interview Assange, noting that this “raises serious doubts as to the good faith motivation of the Swedish prosecution"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_legal_assistance_treaty
As it turns out Assange had every reason to fear the Swedes would turn him in to the US if he landed up in Sweden
Read for godsake
And facing an effective death sentence … 175 yrs imprisonment. I suppose all those who so vociferously called him a 'rapist' here for so many years must be very pleased with themselves now.
How is Chelsea Manning doing? She still in prison?
Oh, yeah, that is exactly where she is.
North Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning, December 17, 1987) is an American activist and whistleblower. … Manning is currently in jail for her continued refusal to testify before a grand jury against Julian Assange.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Manning
No people simply point out that the man is a bit of dick, and may even be a little bit at fault for getting himself into that position.
Right from the outset it was obvious the Swedish 'prosecution' was politically motivated and his fears of being extradited to the USA were justified. These claims, that many lefties sneered at for so long, are now proven beyond all doubt.
But now you seem to be implying that because Manning is in prison for telling the truth, therefore Assange should be as well? And because a man is a 'bit of a dick' … this now rates an effective death sentence in some concrete hell hole?
Still it's highly likely the UK is going to hand him over to the Americans , so you should be very pleased with yourself. You win; enjoy it.
We judge women who have children without husbands, who have sex without being married and there you have a responsible partner who wants the sex but no babies and he fucks it up for no reason other then himslef. Maybe really that actually needs to be seen as what it is and spoken of as is. A dumb stupid penis driven action that got himself into the biggest shitpile of the world.
As for him being handed to Trump? No i don't enjoy that, i would not enjoy that for anyone. Trump now needs someone he can offer to the altar of his base – lest they abandon him – and Assange would be good for that.
But that too is Assanges fault for literally reading the Trumpster wrong and hoping that the guy who is a sadistic fuck will give him clemency or something. So in all of your hand wringing about the fault of others, all i ask is that Assanges fuck ups should be equally be considered a reason for his current predicament.
And meanwhile Chelsea Manning is still in prison for upholding her convictions. And i see no hot tears from the Assange is hard done by crowd.
And i see no hot tears from the Assange is hard done by crowd.
Maybe because you haven't looked. Manning may get less overt attention, but she has certainly not been ignored. Her plight as a whistleblower is equally appalling and significant.
But that's the point … you seem to have a great deal of sympathy for Manning that I share with you. But for some reason you characterise Assange as a 'dick' who is still somehow to blame for what is happening to him.
i have a great deal of Chelsea Manning as she not only did what she believed is right, but she also accepted the punishment for it. – This does not mean i think she should have gotten accused/prosecuted/judged, far from it.
As for Assange, i had a great deal of time for him until he started behaving like a dick. When one sits in a glass house one should not start throwing stones. Firstly and secondly if it is ok for Chelsea Manning to go to prison, if it is Ok for Snowden to hide in Russia then it would equally behoove Assange to use his brains every now and then rather then just demand to be treated differnently then all the others.
And yes, with his sexual partner he behaved like a dick (unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are often kept abay by using condoms or so we are told), and then subsequently ever since. For a supposedly smart man he behaved like an idiot. And he should have known that he is wanted, he should have known that the Yankees will not be kind, he should have known that he needs to treat lightly and he gave no shits about nothing. And that is part of the narrative no matter how unpleasant you may find that.
Idiocy, Stupidity, Arrogance do not protect one from harm. Personally i believe that him betting on Trump was his biggest idiotic action since fucking without that darn condom.
In all things that happen to us we are always a bit to blame. And so is he.
Ah no … it's not OK for Manning to be in prison for the rest of her life, nor for Snowden to be stuck in Russia indefinitely. But Assange is different because … sex.
By this logic all whistleblowers and journalists are required to live blameless, sex free lives in order that they remain above all possible reproach on their characters. In the meantime the actual war crimes they tell the truth about just aren't important any more.
oh boy!
Oh no its not ok for all of them to be in prison for the rest of their lifes as what they did was the right thing to do. Firstly.
Secondly., Snowden is in russia in exile- and he most likely knows that it will be for the rest of his life, and Chelsea was in prison – and without clemency from Obama would be there for the rest of her life, and currently is prison for refusing to testify about Assange. Personal responsability, they do it!
By my logic, all whistle blowers and journalists have enough brains, and should have enough brains to know that if it goes all wrong life as it was is pretty much over. And frankly, most of them do, and they don't end up holed up in a room in an embassy somewhere because they fear being arrested after fucking up a consensual booty call. He would have done much better demanding political asylum anywhere on this planet and demand his day in court, under the cameras of the world yadda yadda yadda….instead he was hoping for a US government that is more favorable to him, bet on Trump, and loses as everyone who works with that shitface does. Cause Trump only has clemency at heart for one person, himself. All others are simply there to advance his agenda and once that is done they have no more uses for them, And that is Assanges dilemma atm. He has outlived his usefulness.
..ual assault.
The Swedish investigation into the alleged rape / sexual assault by Assange has been dropped – maybe it has served its purpose.
And maybe that's just what a rapist/sexual assailant wants you to believe.
But my point was that me wanting Assange to have faced a court wasn't about "sex". It was to face up to sexual assault allegations.
And one thing that really makes me think some people would be happy for him to actually get away with rape because wikileaks is when they imply the investigation and grounds for extradition related to consensual sex rather than sexual assault.
No need to be cute, McFlock – when you write "a rapist/sexual assailant“, you mean Assange, right?
And are you suggesting that dropping the investigation now plays into Assange's hands because it creates the impression that Sweden is making way for US extradition proceedings? What a manipulative monster he is!
Could the Swedish prosecutors have sustained their investigation until the statute of limitations ran out in August 2020, maybe out of respect for the (alleged) victims? We'll never know.
IMHO it's pretty scurrilous to suggest that anyone "would be happy for him [Assange] to actually get away with rape" – inflammatory even.
I mean maybe Assange.
"Maybe" it's all a big con on behalf of the US (that's what you meant by "served its purpose", right – that the charges were fabricated for the yanks?)
"Maybe" a sexual offender kept running any lying and running and ended up turning himself into a bargaining chip.
We'll never know because the guy who skipped on the Swedes in August 2010 dragged the extradition hearings out until May 2012, and now there's only a year for the most serious charges to run out the statute of limitations.
And I can't see any other relevance a list of awards has in relation to sexual assault allegations against the recipient of those awards other than to try to somehow minimise or deflect from those allegations. Feel free to come up with a decent excuse, something other than "he's such a great guy let's talk about that rather than the allegations against him". Please. Because one thing has not a damned thing to do with the other.
The thread in which I listed Assange's modest collection of awards and honours began with Adrian's comment (@5) on "Julian Assange's Extradition Case is the MOST IMPORTANT Press Freedom Case of our Lives", and "Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Investigation".
I appended that list of awards/honours to my comment @9:17 pm partly because of its relevance to “Press Freedom” and partly because I thought it might annoy you, but you are unflappable – no-one could think that suggesting 'some people' "would be happy for him [Assange] to actually get away with rape" was a sign of irritation. Nevertheless, that’s a mighty fine pearl you're working on
Started.
Nested ten deep, the subthread subject matter had moved into very different territory.
Of course he should have used a condom. Perhaps he is a bit of a dick. Who hasn't behaved like a dick sometime? But you seem to choose to ignore the fact that even if he'd behaved with decorum of the highest order, he still would have ended up in jail on some trumped up charge.
Does it not bother you that he is being charged while all the media outlets that published the wikileaks files remain untouched.
Doesn't it bother you that he was spied on while in the Ecuadorian embassy, that Moreno allowed the British into the embassy to remove him and incarcerate him.
If your sympathies actually lie with the women Assange was involved with they may be misplaced as they have declared they had no desire to have him charged.
Or is it simply a calvinist desire to punish, because we all must be punished.
I'm frequently a bit of a dick.
But AFAIK nobody's ever been to the cops to accuse me of rape.
Assange chose to not use a condom when penetrating sleeping women, chose to skip bail, chose to make himself a diplomatic bargaining chip. Yes, the US case against Assange seems to me to be an overinflated pile of shit. Yes, the yanks shouldn't be holding Manning on contempt charges. Yes, a good case can be made that Snowden should receive absolution for leaking classified documents because it was in the public interest to do so.
But Assange shouldn't get a pass on the things he, and only he, chose to do. It's not "calvinist", it goes to the entire idea of how we treat sexual assaulters who are in positions of power. Do we give them a pass because we like their work or they are rich? Or do we treat them like we'd treat a poor person facing similar accusations?
Except he hasn't been charged with sexual assault. You can keep saying it forever, but saying it doesn't make it true.
To describe in such detail what is supposed to have happened, between two consenting adults, according to you, I find just a wee bit revolting. And actually that unnecessary description defines you more than it does Assange.
Francesca put it perfectly.
"ugly anger but no argument"
The British Supreme Court said it was true enough to make the EAW valid. If you were correct, Assange would have won the UK extradition proceedings. He did not, so chose to skip bail.
No, between one adult and another adult who had explicitly withheld consent to condom removal.
The UK Supreme Court didnt rule on the charges validity, they just said it was procedurally valid
as they also said
"A domestic detention order was made by the Stockholm District Court in Mr Assange’s absence, and was upheld by the Svea Court of Appeal.
"A prosecutor in Sweden thereafter issued a European Arrest Warrant (‘EAW’) on 2 December 2010 pursuant to the arrangements put in place by the Council of the European Union in the Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 on the EAW and the surrender procedures between Member States (2002/584/JHA)(‘the Framework Decision’), which were given effect in the United Kingdom in Part 1 of the Extradition Act 2003 (‘the 2003 Act’)."
https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2011-0264-press-summary.pdf
It seems Brigid is closer to the truth. Dont know what a domestic detention warrant is , but doesnt 'sound like' a charge of sexual assualt.
Swedish criminal procedure is different from our or UK system.
My rough interpretation is the warrant was for the förundersökning or preliminary investigation phase, which is followed by åtals väckande or indictment which they goes to rättegång or trial
Sometime there can be förutredning or prelimininary enquiry before preliminary investigation
I gather from the current context there was no åtals väckande.
Apologies, UK High court. He had a lot of (ultimately futile) hearings.
153:
Yeah, welcome back. Its same same here and that kind of comment passes for a notion of justice for some.
Good to hear some sense about Assange's situation Red Logix.
The credit goes to regulars like francesca and Bridget who have been firm and clear on this story all along. My respect goes to them.
And to be fair to everyone else … I would love nothing more than for the divisiveness and bruising this whole affair has caused to be ended and healed.
the swedes hid in an embassy for years to avoid due process?
oh my.
Further to the discussion yesterday about the term "indigenous".
There seems to be a broad agreement that the definition of the term seems to be related to the point at which Europeans first came across a group of people (although there may be exceptions to this).
This is the a run down on the current view as far as I am aware. Maori are indigenous to NZ but the Celtic people are not indigenous to England. Possible exceptions may include the Japanese who may or may not be regarded as indigenous to the Japanese given the existence of the Ainu people. Han Chinese may be indigenous to parts of China but not the entire country. Malays are treated as being indigenous to Malaysia (at least according to their own laws) yet are actually not the original people in the area. Shona people in Zimbabwe are indigenous but the Ndebele who live there are not possibly despite nither of them actually being the original inhabitants of the land (which are likely the San people). All First nation /American Indian people are indigeous to the entire American continent regardless of where they live. Arabs are indigenous to Arabia but not to most of the Arab World.
Is that view correct?
So your main point is … to cut through to the chase …why cant 1948 be counted as the cutoff date for being indigenous .
You are not really interested in the Ndebele are you?
Do the "Celtic people" still exist as a cultural group in England?
But when the Romans went in, the Celts could be regarded as "indigenous" or "native" in the common use of the term, e.g.:
That excerpt from Wikipedia is simply used to show that the word "native" isn't restricted to people encountered by modern Europeans. Another example (this time using the term "indigenous") is the wikipedia entry "Taiwanese indigenous peoples".
Basically, the term seems to encompass the people who were first into an area compared to other ethnic groups. Eurocentrism is your spin, for whatever reason.
lastly: Wictionary:
And then they steal the children.
https://twitter.com/Rewire_News/status/1195441343662825474
There are 28 pages detailing the periods, pregnancies and reason for the pregnancy (whether by rape or not) of teen girls in custody, some of whom are as young as 12. There may well be reasons for the government to track whether or not a woman is pregnant, and how far along in her pregnancy she is, but there’s no reason to track the cause of her pregnancy. It’s pretty fair to assume that they’re not doing this because they want to ensure women know all the options regarding their pregnancy. It’s almost certainly an attempt to bar them from getting abortions.
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a26985261/trump-administration-abortion-period-tracking-migrant-women/
they have stolen over 5000 children and nary a noise.
I guess its ok, these are the children and babies of undesirables, and 'her fucking emails' .
Interesting news.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/un-palestinian-vote-canada-israel-us-1.5365637
World oddities .
Crimea occupation by Russia is illegal , but not the Nato occupation of Kososvo
Turkeys support for the puppet state of Northern Cyprus is OK , while Russias support of puppet state of South Ossetia in Georgia isnt.
The US occupation and control of Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia ( still UK territories)in the South Indian Ocean is OK despite it being illegal under UN rules about splitting of territories and evicting its resident people when Mauritius became independent. ICJ has also ruled the split was illegal.
a wiki leaks dislosure UK wanted to declare a marine reserve – the worlds largest-to prevent the Chagossians from returning , while allowing US to remain at Diego Garcia. This has now occurred
The expulsion of the Chagossians was one of the many disgusting acts of the UK government. To avoid using the phrase "permanent inhabitants" they declared them 'belongers' of Mauritius and the Seychelles and only temporary residents of BIOT
"This devise, although rather transparent, would at least give us a defensible position to take up at the UN."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_the_Chagossians
Thanks Peter. Question Time today:
Yes Nick Smith must be pissed off! A barrage of questions re the National Electoral spending tricks of the Electoral Act was the response to Nick Smith trying to trap the Minister of Justice. Brownlee tried to block the Government response. Brilliant.
And the multi-million dollar warning that should Smith or Bridges repeat outside what they said in House, they will be sued for defamation.
Question 9 https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=210160
And https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12287240
Great "seemed like a good idea at the time" moments from history #5739: Julia Roberts was suggested to play Harriet Tubman when the project first floated 25 years ago.
Diversity in the boardroom heads off stupid plan at the start.
https://youtu.be/qQfetkoGrpU
Kia Ora 1 News.
I new a couple who had a daughter on that flight it stuffed them up.
And they try and brand me A troll.
Its great to see people cleaning up the rubbish in Tangaroa.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
I think it's great that people in jail for less than 3 years get back the right to vote. 59 % them are Maori that was suppressing Maori in my view.
One must take care of there drinking Wai take care of all Wai a cheap testing kit is cool.
I can see how much Mana Tangata Whenua O Aotearoa Culture has been blessed with .
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora breakfast show.
Edd TV.
Are there no positive Tangata Whenua stories.????????????.
I think every City should have a company that has a Charter to provide employment for people who are discriminated against in mainstream business .
Data is the new gold it needs to be controlled to protect the many from the greedy
Ka kite Ano