“..How 3D printing and land reform could help to solve the housing crisis..” (ed:..why are there no discussions of this ilk here in nz..?..why is tearing up the environmental-protections contained in the resource management act the only ‘solution’ this brain-dead/imagination-free government can come up with..?..)
:..and the small-house movement..?..
..they apparently have not heard of that either..
..now..3d-printing ‘small’ houses in well-planned clusters..?..)
Phil, went to a couple of affordable housing meetings, and realised that they were all still talking about more of the same, and just affordable to build.
If you are interested in the tiny house movement and other alternatives have a look at these links.
We had a look at the 3D printing a while ago, but remain attached to the use of good design for site, and the use of local materials. As part of our home ed curriculum we are accumulating materials to build a small cob building for a project.
So, a sensible property developer sees all the things we might see as valuable about housing – quality, affordability sustainability, community leadership – not as investments, but as costs. No matter how much land we may release to housebuilders, no sensible executive will ever release so many new properties onto the market that they cause prices to fall. Their shareholders would (rightly) sack them if they did.
In other words, traditional property developers cannot solve the housing crisis, because they are almost perfectly designed not to.
Bingo!!!
There is only one group with a direct reason to build homes with – for example – better energy performance, and that is the people who are going to pay the heating bills: us.
Actually, that both right and wrong but mostly wrong. When it comes down to it we have an energy budget that equates to the present sustainable rate of generation. We need to know this information so that we can then choose where that budget is spent. The pricing model is supposed to do this but it’s actually terrible at it as it drives a significant minority into not having access to that resource. We see this in people not being able to pay their power bills and/or having enough food to eat despite there being enough of food and power for them to have both.
But we also need to reform the land market, to make it dramatically easier for those without much capital to buy a plot of land and commission their own homes – either individually or as a group.
And back to the failed must make land available demand.
I’m all for people building their own homes but we need to encourage them to build high density in already built up areas while we work to return land back to its natural state.
Agree with your final statement. That’s why I’m so keen on cohousing. The residents are not necessarily the builders but they are the developers and as such they get to create their own design. The majority of designs will cluster the homes and design for one big carpark on the edge.
The lack of ‘dead space’ between houses, and area gain through no driveways or separate parking release land to be utilised for shared spaces including regeneration of natural habitats if that is what is decided upon.
That option is not available to lower-middle income owners of standard homes on small sections, whether they build or not.
Mr Little on tv3 this morning asked about whether a drought should be declared got caught completely flat footed and decided to take the just flap his lips and hope something good flies out of his mouth approach. 3/10
Oh for goodness sake, b waghorn. Andrew Little doesn’t have to know everything and dairying in the south – Canterbury – or wherever is a stupid thing to be doing in such a well known dry place.
to people in rural centres everywhere it is a signal as to whether Labour keeps track of and cares about the very basics of what is happening to the farming sector. The answer unfortunately, remains “No”
People farming in the Waikato or Bay of Plenty will be very aware of what farmers are facing further down south currently and will note that Little does not.
Labour has Damien O’Connor who is well regarded in farming circles maybe they should have him at the front of all things rural . I know he upset a few with his gaggle of gays comments but onwards and upwards
Yes it is rather astounding what we humans will do at times – fly completely in the face of nature and history… only to get swatted down like a fly some time later and then act all surprised …..
… good example in exactly this region was the windstorms about a year ago which upturned and wrecked countless irrigators etc across Canterbury. When dairy turned up in Canterbury and all the hedgerows were being taken out to allow the irrigator machines to meander across vast flat paddocks many old-timers said “oh woe, you watch you silly people, the winds will return and you will rue the day you laid waste to these hedgerows..”
and lo, the winds returned, screaming down the Rakaia and the Rangitata, and instead of screaming over their heads at the height of hedgerows itr screamed at grass height level, destroying all in its path ….
manwomankind eh? Never learns. Plain silly. Same with investing into reliance on water being pumped and drained and spread onto land by electric and mechanical means – the risk of failure is high …
Watched a good water documentary that outlined the creation of the dustbowl in the US.
Good old Little House on the Prairie approach to farming, saw acres of natural grasslands burnt off so that they could access the fertile soil beneath. Of course the grasslands held the moisture and nutrients and a natural balance of growth, decay and regeneration was occurring. After a few decades of cropping, with more topsoil lost every year, they reached a point where there was nothing left.
Hi Molly. I watched a doco about the dust bowl of the 1930’s. They interviewed some families of the Oklahoma Pan handle who grew up in that time. Most of the family members interviewed, now well into in their senior years, were forced off their land due to their impoverished state and made the long journey to California, where they were referred to as “Okies”
I can’t remember what the doco was called but I wonder if it was the same one.
Lessons from that era:
Trust the wisdom of the indigenous people of the plains – the land was unsuitable for cropping. They knew the food yields from that land were low, so that land was never permanently settled.
If you’re promised a quick easy buck but it looks too good to be true it probably is.
Don’t fight nature, she will always win. Prevent an economic and environmental catastrophe by only using the most appropriate resources in the most respectful and sustainable ways.
Rosie, like you I can’t remember the name but it was an eight part series on either Prime or TVNZ7 a few years back. If anyone else remembers it and knows the name I’d appreciate it.
It also reasoned that one of the most credible reasons for some of the abandoned cities of antiquity was the loss of renewal water systems , and showed how some were trying to re-establish the underground quanats of Iran and Persia, when the NGO well-systems and pumps were failing due to the depletion of fossilised water and lack of parts and service for pumping mechanisms.
I did a super quick google but couldn’t find it. It was a doco we downloaded maybe two (?) years ago. It didn’t discuss the underground aquifers of ancient Persia however, (although we did watch a BBC doco about that) so it can’t be the same one.
And even if you had trillions of dollars, they would not be able to restore water to depleted fossil water sources, or refreeze the glaciers, or even grow a full grown kauri in ten years.
There is a complete lack of reciprocity in thinking that you can continue to take without replenishment… and sheer arrogance to believe that you should.
There is a complete lack of reciprocity in thinking that you can continue to take without replenishment… and sheer arrogance to believe that you should.
QFT
As I say, our economic system is uneconomic. It merely takes without even considering how long that taking can last never mind renewing what’s been taken.
It is crazy to put dairy farms in known drought-prone areas.
Dairy farms need huge amounts of water and most of Canterbury is unsuitable. Not only that, but droughts in Canterbury are predicted to become more frequent in coming years thanks to climate change.
This has been known for some time, yet farmers were encouraged to convert to dairy and put in irrigation. It cost a fortune, and with all the interest on the loans going to Australian banks, there is is no benefit to the NZ economy.
+100 Karen….and people dont seem to realise, or ignore the fact that aquifers are finite and that water taken out of the ground or from rivers at one point …always affects those farmers further down stream…whether by the rivers drying up or the underground aquifers being depleted
…drinking water nitrate poisoning is also a result for local populations (eg. ‘blue baby syndrome’ warnings to South Island mothers)
….not only this , the the cost to tourism by environmental degradation and trashing of our rivers for fishing and recreation and aesthetics is enormous..overseas visitors are NOT impressed
France designates what crops/farming/ vineyards are suitable for the local natural terroir/environments …and legislates accordingly….New Zealand under John Key Nact has a slash and burn approach to natural resources…..and the environment is being trashed …this is New Zealand’s greatest economic resource
Now that bounty is threatened by a crisis of geological proportions: The land is sinking – crippling the region’s irrigation and flood control infrastructure and damaging aquifers that are buffers against climate change.
Nature, though, is not to blame. This problem is self-inflicted, driven by the frontier-style exploitation of the last unregulated resource in California: groundwater.
How much is the land in Southland sinking as the farmers pump out more and more water?
“But unlike other Western states, California has no state standards for groundwater management. Instead, responsibility rests with a patchwork of local and regional entities where oversight varies from careful monitoring and allocation in some places to little or no control elsewhere.”
And in NZ we have this right wing government foisting the same on rural regions of NZ, moving control of our resources from central to local authority. Local authority in NZ regions where this happens is controlled by farmers who simply get distracted by the lure of money.
I’ve been wondering whether the canterbury climate would be ok for olives.
One of the best decisions NZers made was looking at what grew in similar climates to their locality in the northern hemisphere, and applying kiwi ingenuity to the production – now our wine industry is a bulwark for rural areas.
Canterbury was traditionally sheep and wheat. Olives could work in some areas, I guess, but may need a longer summer.
The main thing is you need crops that are deep rooting if you get regular droughts. The surface soil gets dried up very quickly without regular rain. Cutting down the shelter belts has made the problem worse as the wind dries up the topsoil, and eventually will blow it away.
I have know problem with him not being across every topic but he could of said something like’ I haven’t been breifed on that get back to me tomorrow ‘
Honesty is a good policy I believe
+1
I would much rather hear that than an attempt to disguise a lack of knowledge. That’s the first thing I teach students to stop doing, but in this world of consultants and spin merchants, it’s not easy.
“Mr Little on tv3 this morning asked about whether a drought should be declared got caught completely flat footed and decided to take the just flap his lips and hope something good flies out of his mouth approach. 3/10”
And for those of us that didn’t see it, what exactly did he do or say?
“Mr Little on tv3 this morning asked about whether a drought should be declared got caught completely flat footed and decided to take the just flap his lips and hope something good flies out of his mouth approach. 3/10”
Mr Waghorn had not had his morning coffee and was completely flatfooted when the Labour Leader talked competently about the effect of the extended hot weather on farms. 3/10
Yes, I did. I linked to it and specified when his interview started! The question is, have you? Y’know, with your eyes open. Little does fine, there isn’t a damn thing wrong with his response. What are you on?
@ te reo putake I just watched that clip now I don’t have very hot short term momery but I’m sure that clip was very kindly edited as he didn’t start his reply with the wairarapa comments.
If you can prove that was the start of his interview on the clip you posted I’ll humbly apologize.
Watch the whole clip. It’s the entire segment, including the first five minutes with the bloke from fed farms. Then the interviewer introduces Little and says “Good morning and happy new year to you” then directly moves to asking about the drought. No cut, no edit. Straight to the question about the drought.
mr waghorn, as a farmer I was wondering if you could answer a question related to the issue of inappropriate farming of land in places like Canterbury discussed above
why don’t farmers stay within the boundaries of their land and farm with the resources that exist there?
Why do they bring water from elsewhere? Why do they dump their waste elsewhere? Why do they bring fertiliser from elsewhere?
Why don’t they farm sustainably on the land they have? In other words, use the soil they have, the rain that falls on their land and the sun that shines on their land? Plant and raise what will grow and raise within the conditions on their land?
Why do they go elsewhere and upset the balance of nature? Why do they not live within the means of the particular land?
Because in not doing so the environment is being thrown all out of kilter and having a great vomit over all of us in return. Serious question – why do farmers not farm within the bounds of the land they occupy?
edit: aware that some do, reference is to those that don’t (being the vast majority)
That’s a lot to lay on a lowly Shepherd but I’ll have a crack.
Humans buy there nature are mostly greedy and self serving and given free riegn seem to be ‘future eaters’ I believe the term is, be it do’dos Moas or the earths resources.
My understanding of fertilizer is that at the end of ww2 they had great big munitions factories that were turned to a new use then the marketing came with it. I personally have no problem fertilizer use or irrigation done right ,
As for cantubury it sounds like a recipe for failure gambling on being able to store enough water to sustain dairy I milked cows 20 years ago and man those girls go through the water. I heard a story 4 or so years ago about a farmer not needing all his water allocation so he sold it to his neighbour for a healthy profit it makes my guts burn to think about that still.
NZ farming was made strong buy our low input farming, sheep and beef farming is still mainly that way.
Thanks, good stuff. I think you’re second sentence is the one – it is a large part of human nature to want more and more and those resources external to the particular farm have simply been available for the taking. Particularly in colonised countries and particularly following widespread mechanisation, both of which have made that taking even easier.
Those external resources have been there for the taking so they have been taken. It has been simple to do so and the upside has been enormous, so why wouldn’t a person take them?
As per exchange last night – it is in our nature to do so, with little regard for the future. Just hope we wake up and learn before it is too late because, as we are rapidly learning, the reaction of the earth to all of that taking has been and continues to be one huge vomit …. all over us
shame this national party government and its supporters continue this practice of simple unsustainable greedy taking. shame shame shame
Nah, fair enough, pal. As you suspect, I’m running cover and the techies at TV3 have edited the clip just to make you look like a tosser. Still great discussion about fertilser with VTO. It’s clearly an area you’re familiar with 🙂
Don’t want to go on about this, but as someone who has considerable experience in editing for TV I can assure you there was no edit in the clip of Andrew Little going from Happy New Year to talking about the Wairarapa. Memory is a strange thing – my guess was you were a bit frustrated that he didn’t deal with this subject particularly well (I would agree with this to some extent) and this was reflected in how you remembered the interview.
No reflection on you at all. I think we all do this at times.
@ b waghorn.
Actually, Andrew Little spoke well regarding the drought as well as about the Oxfam inequality report AND the RMA and the housing issue AND the coming Ratana celebrations.
This is what he said about the drought problem that the government is reluctant to acknowledge:
“Certainly from what I’ve seen, and I was in the Wairarapa in the weekend, it is intensely dry,” he said on Firstline this morning.
“I think what has happened this season, although there was a fair amount of moisture in the period just before Christmas, it has dried out very quickly. It looks to me like it is going to continue.
“I don’t know what the tests are that the ministry applies, but when you hear news of farmers now rapidly destocking and the land’s as dry as it is, I would have thought there was a case there to look closely at it, and to provide whatever assistance is available to farmers.”
“Without assistance, farmers run the risk of not being able to pay their staff and prepare adequately for the winter”, says Mr Little.
“We’ve been through periods like this before, so you know that it’s going to come to an end at some point but you want to assist the farmers through a very difficult time, make sure that they can continue to pay their staff and keep their outgoings going until the moisture comes back, the grass and crops can return and they can get their livestock going again and start generating an income.”
b waghorn, watch that interview here again. You were wrong in your post!
Not sure what you mean by ‘clip is edited’. Edited by who? Labour party or TV3?….Unless, the first report you saw was incomplete or faulty and TV3 rectified it later. I don’t know. What time was the interview? Did you watch it live on TV or on demand on their website later? or are you implying that TV3 re-did a freah interview all over again?
I watched just after 7 am the interview started with happy new year then when asked whether a drought should be declared Little looked a bit lost mumbled a few things the wairarapa comment wasn’t the 1 st thing out of his mouth.
I lost interest a bit after that because I despise poly s pissing in my ear. All I want is a straight shooter and looking at Murray Raw sharks comment in this thread that makes at least 2 of us.
Ok. I am not doubting what you say or what you thought you saw, but you did not address all the questions I put. [Not sure what you mean by ‘clip is edited’. Edited by who? Labour party or TV3?….Unless, the first report you saw was incomplete or faulty and TV3 rectified it later. I don’t know or are you implying that TV3 re-did a freah interview all over again?]
I have no problem you taking any politician to task, including little, as long as it is accurate and fair.
What you claim is puzzling, based on the following link!
Take a look again to see if it jogs your memory because you say you ‘lost interest a bit’.
Often on three news in the am you get a live interview with some one and then that interview gets tidied up and used later in the show .
If 3 wants to be kind to Little that’s awesome in my books hopefully it means the end of the liar key is on its way.
I’d be gobsmacked if tv3 started even editing interviews in a neutral manner.
A year or two back I was gobsmacked when comparing the edited reports with the raw footage of the lobby questions: key and the Labour leader had about the same level of placeholders, hesitations, and equivocations/corrections in the raw footage. Of course, when it came to the edited version on polly was all ums and ahs and hesitant 4sec sound bites, and the other polly got longer to expand on an idea at 10sec a time. Guess which way around it went 🙂
I didn’t see this since I have better things to do in the morning than watch breakfast TV but one thing I do know is that if Mr Little was caught out this morning he won’t be tomorrow morning.
Talk of a by election in the Northland seat grows stronger. Looks like Nationals Mike Sabin is heading out the backdoor, which has me thinking.
I would like to see a different approach taken by the main opposition party’s. A primary contest amongst themselves with the wining candidate becoming the sole electorate candidate running off against the National puppet. The losers are party vote only and endorse the candidate who won the primary. It wouldn’t cost much and not too hard to work a voting structure, proportionate to members plus a cross party voting panel. A couple of hustings and then the major husting with pre and on the day voting. Certainly gain new members for the party’s and a good deal of public interest, local and natiional. Be a great shakedown for future contests.
@Skinny:
Better would be for the Greens not to stand a candidate and suggest their supporters vote Labour. (I voted Green in September).
This is because if Sabin loses to Labour and Dunne refuses to back the RMA reforms then they are stymied again with only 59 Nats and 1 Act equals 60 votes versus 61 against. This is important and the Greens really should try to throw the seat to Labour for this reason alone.
Well explained Beaded Git,
About time we had straight talk about how the opposition MUST work together to defeat this evil empire we have wrecking our future.
After all it is in the collective interests of all opposition to reduce the majority of the wrecking ball operators, to reduce their devastation.
No best candidate wins the chance to topple the National patsy. Wouldn’t it be great if Peters stood against his sworn enermy Sabin, under my proposed scenario Peters would almost certainly get the nod and a much better tally of the overall vote free of vote splitting.
Not sure about the logistics of it. I didn’t clearly understand what you meant ‘It wouldn’t cost much and not too hard to work a voting structure, proportionate to members plus a cross party voting panel. A couple of hustings and then the major husting with pre and on the day voting.”
Personally, it would be great if Labour, Greens, NZF agree to endorse Hone Harawira as the joint electorate candidate under the mana banner.
Mana is never going to get back into parliament. Hone blew it and frankly couldn’t pull enough votes from Maori outside of his own Rohe. Too much of a loose cannon is the general view of Maori I know.
Yes I tend to agree Phil. His attack on pot was stupid when you consider the poor he represents, the simple pleasure is one of the few treats they enjoy. And for those living on a substance income a little cash crop tops up their income. I once held a high leadership position when Mana first formed, spurred on by my Leftie mates. I found Hone too alpha male and it annoyed me that he frowned on my smoking. Helped signal my moving on.
I’ve read your case but it seems to me to be drawing a pretty long bow.
As you state your impassioned advocacy at the meeting ‘turned’ it – that shows open minds not closed ones. Sure we all know Hone doesn’t rate cannabis, he never has and whilst it is easy to say, “hey mate get with the program” it is also valid to have different views, even strongly different views.
We are all coloured by our experiences – you, me, skinny, Hone and although we may have had nothing but positive, uplifting contact with weed – many haven’t – and that could be due to the illegality of the activity and the heaviness of the state – doesn’t matter, it is there. And we know that some who smoke just really struggle with it, should keep away from it, not really for them – for all sorts of reasons. And those that do get caught and sentenced end up in that unforgiving environment with all of the ‘ruboff’ that occurs and they come out – some good, some bad and some ugly.
I don’t see the election loss as coming down to this issue – mistakes were made, big ones and made by Hone and others. The PTB wanted Mana (and Hone) gone especially after the hook up with the Internet party and they used all their dirty tools in their dirty toolbox to achieve that. Whether nicekelvin was active or passive doesn’t matter – he imo isn’t some wide-eyed innocent – crafty that one is, learned at the knee of a master he did.
I do think your analysis is valuable because all of these issues need to be aired and discussed and debated and sorted – and then we can get on with the jobby of getting Mana back into that uninviting house.
I agree, mm. Anyone who claims Hone lost because of his position on cannabis needs to cut down on their own consumption. I think it was a combination of going with Dotcom and the dirty getting together of the other parties behind Kelvin Davis. The campaign against Dotcom was run at full steam for quite a while, and that didn’t help either.
Mana does have its own problems as well, but that’s up to them to recognise and sort out.
Hey Jenny with respect let’s cut Kelvin and his team of Kay & Rudy, Tracey and others some credit for the hard campaigning they done in the region. They really gained mana for the sterling effort helping those who were suffering as a result of the flooding, while Hone was swaning off around the country with the Dotcom circus.
When Mana’s campaign manager rang me the night before polling day calling out an SOS in West Auckland, I took it instantly Hone was weak there, I asked are you calling me because your light on the ground there? Answer yes, I told Davis election day when he came thanked the local team, to relax I think you have done enough and as it transpired he did.
They didn’t gain mana imo – but working with enemies to get rid of someone you don’t like is not uncommon within Māoridom so I suppose they are tika.
Scoring points off someone who asks for help is low and weak imo – the name dropping doesn’t add credibility it is another expression of that weakness too imo.
Marty you can make all the excuses under the sun, however the facts are indeed the facts. Mana was doomed with the Dotcom association the big man himself was man enough to admit it.
One other thing Marty, Kelvin and his team didn’t need prompting during the flooding they rolled their sleeves up and got on with the mahi, no fanfare or media hype. And the good people of the North rewarded the effort. So you pipe down little man and be a gracious loser.
No I won’t pipe down, thanks anyway – and I’m not a ‘little man’ although I’m prepared to give him a fair go for the folks middling along that need a leader of the folks who like a bit of a fair go for the folks in the middle.
“One other thing Marty, Kelvin and his team didn’t need prompting during the flooding they rolled their sleeves up and got on with the mahi, no fanfare or media hype.”
True that, I could tell from the interview I watched (I think, maybe read) with him, where he said he was helping with the flood victims rather than swanning of around the country complaining. Maybe it was a video on Facebook, but that’s how I knew there was no fanfare and no politicking involved. He just got stuck into the mahi. He said so himself.
Thanks Penny. I wish I just didn’t feel/think that the Davos Forum is just another big waste of money and a talk-fest for the very rich (ShonKey included) – Like the final comment says above, “a radical shift is needed ” to get anywhere for the 99% who are not ultra-rich . What will it take to get this “radical shift” started ?
sure the plan didn’t work doesn’t mean we or he gives up
“Too much of a loose cannon”
I know Māori that think like that too – I wonder if it is genuine, an acquiescence to the predominate MSM propaganda, or part of the head above the parapet syndrome.
Fair enough mate, I attended a TTT meet the candidate meeting and I will say Hone cleaned the others ( including Kelvin )out in the Q & A part. And I was highly annoyed when Key then Peters sprayed Hone and endorsed voting Davis. So much so I put out a late press release in support of HH. Labour should never have put Davis that far out on the party list ‘again’ so he had to win the electorate seat, it could easily have cost them a win if they had their shit together.
I know an old guy from Ngati Wai very well. He’s a Mormon farmer and has been quite conservative all his life, but last time I saw him he was speaking well of Mana. He has realised that being quiet and leaving the talking to the professionals just results in big bills. Others in his whanau were militant in Mana. I got a real feeling that change is in the air.
When you consider the alliance with National was hurting Maori in general, and the Maori/Tory party were losing their main players, Mana and Labour would have benefited with the party vote as a natural result. I felt for the grafters, Sykes especially who I feel would have been a shoe in to come in on the party list. Hone’s dismissive approach to Sue Bradford was both disrespectful and arrogant considering her flagging Dotcom ideology was poles apart from that of a party representing the underclass.
Depends on which Maori you’ve talked to Skinny, and when. I talk to many Maori to whom the MSM’s traditional “loose cannon” narrative always was and remains unintelligible. And to many to whom once accepting it now reject it. What I did notice for many months leading up to the election was a much greater readiness to see Harawira as NOT a loose cannon.
Just as ‘winning’ can falsely define – look at Key – so can ‘losing’.
This from the diary of Count Galeazzo Ciano (Italian Foreign Minister 1936-43) – “As always, victory finds a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan”. You’d expect him to know !
The reasons for Harawira’s loss are manifold. Some of them sheet home to Harawira’s strategy. Some do not. We know them without trotting them out. In the outcome it’s seductive to default to the dismissive and essentially racist MSM narrative of old. It is also facile.
That said what concerns me most in the here and now is that Maori north of Whangarei have one Maori parliamentary representative rather than two. That is hardly cause for rejoicing.
If only, in the event of Sabin’s arse being kicked out of here, Harawira could be multi-party endorsed. I know……a pipe dream.
“Mana is never going to get back into parliament. Hone blew it and frankly couldn’t pull enough votes from Maori outside of his own Rohe. Too much of a loose cannon is the general view of Maori I know.”
You are of course entitled to your opinion, but let’s just lay some facts out,
if a by-election is held and Hone won it, why wouldn’t that be more than a person for person swap? Surely the winner is part of the MMP system, and the election night party votes could be used in any re-jigging?
Rather than stating the obvious Gosman how about you crunch my concept of a primary. Let’s use Auckland Central as an example based on last election, with Adern wining the opposition primary contest. Or shall I call on the wisdom of Pete G and Hooton?
It would fly in the face of the purpose of our political system (which is party based). I am not sure it would even be legal as holding an inter-party primary would require some sort of organisation that might not be permitted unless formal agreements are entered in to between parties. It is also likely many people would see through this and be turned off by it. You would then likely get a number of independents standing which would have the same effect that you are clumsily trying to resolve i.e. splitting the opposition vote between multiple candidates.
Have to disagree about a formal arrangement and the legality of what I propose. Hope Hooton shows up to enlighten on process. I would keep it informal ‘gentlemen agreement’ winner takes all. I think the gains would out way the losses. The status quo of ‘throat slitting’ is just gifting seats to National. Even see it working in Epsom where the ACT incumbent is heads and shoulders a superior candidate to Goldsmith, well from what I observed at the main meet the candidates gig last year in Mt Eden I attended.
Any primary would have to have formal rules not some informal arrangement. For example who qualifies to vote in any such primary. Would it be party members of the relevant parties? If so, then how would this be validated by each party? Also, if it was restricted to party members only, that would mean the larger parties would automatically have the advantage over the smaller parties. It means NZ First or Mana (if they were involved) would be very unlikely to ever get someone selected via such a method.
No bit players the 3 main party’s L/G/NZF if they agreed. Party members of the 3, a time available to recruit new voting members. 1 vote value divided and equal so all 3 party’s are level regardless of actual membership numbers. Say 70 % party members vote of the ballot and 30% of the panel made up from 1 from each party. Cream rises to the top, so expect an open contest relatively free of party lines, within reason and they are looking to work together remember.
How would each party validate the party members in each electorate? You would have to either expect each to trust the numbers each party puts forward (unlikely to happen I would suggest) or you would have to allow each party to know the membership details of the others in the electorate in question.
Also how is the primary election carried out? Are voting papers sent out to members or do each party get to bloc vote? Your proposal wasn’t clear and seems an odd mix of both options.
These are questions that need answering before you can even select a joint candidate. Then the problems really begin.
As I pointed out already. However the plan is unworkable in my mind even if they were close. It is likely to alienate potential voters rather than energise them.
Suppurating hypocrite Gooseman – stuff all the conventions and proprieties when it suits the Right. “Democracy Under Attack” otherwise. Epsom ? Last not the playground of political chicanery when Rodney Hide won it – early 2000’s wasn’t it ?
Thanks Bearded Git for the math! Gosman and his sparring partners well know what I’m getting at. This is as safer a blue ribbon seat as you get, a combined strategy bring the margins a lot closer. Now line up a number of seats with not such a high winning majority and Gosman is wearing thermals in hell.
That IS close. Winnable if a single opposition candidate is put forward with support from Labour, Greens, NZF and Mana.
2014 PARTY VOTES:
Green Party 3,855
ACT New Zealand 162
Labour Party 5,913
Focus New Zealand 216
National Party 17,412
Conservative 2,243
Democrats for Social Credit 64
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party 193
Ban1080 51
Internet MANA 601
Māori Party 210
New Zealand First Party 4,546
NZ Independent Coalition 9
The Civilian Party 7
United Future 71
————
————
Party Informals…..154
Party Informals…..154
TOTAL…………..35,707
Candidate Informals—-419
TOTAL—————–35,056
————-
Looks like a Labour candidate will have best chance of beating a National candidate here if other parties, (other than National, ACT, The Cons and Maori), especially The Greens, NZF and Mana do not field a candidate, but instead endorse and work to help the Lab candidate to win, especially if Sabin has to leave under disgrace. This will boost Labour, Andrew Little and the Opposition and will put the Nats at a back foot, even if the Lab candidate loses narrowly.
If such an arrangement is made here, then it could be a precursor for future smart electoral adjustments at the next election between these four parties.
I am trying to find the expansion of the conservative party initials, CNSP. Tried google and the Cons website with no luck! Do any of you know or guess what those four letters stand for? TIA.
What? No views on this from anyone on a hot political topic?!
I think the joint opposition candidate will have a very good chance of unseating National here in a by election , considering that (a) Key and National have been shown to be dodgy/incompetent in various ways (b) are straight faced lying bull-shitters and untrustworthy, (c) the incumbent is being kicked out in disgrace, AND (d) there is bound to be ‘voter’s remorse’ setting in by now against NATS and ACT and this debt ridden pro rich government.
What a tremendous boost it will be for the opposition and morale booster for the nation if their joint opposition candidate wins! Worth doing it, I think.
The problem in the North is that the electorate is divided into two parts. The Maori electorate where National doesn’t seem to bother standing because they lose so badly and the consequently rather National leaning general electorate.
3K is a hell of a step even in a general election. In a by-election with something like a 30% turnout at best, you are looking at the Everest.
Also the idea of political parties cooperating to that extent electorally is laudable and rather naive. They don’t. They are there to promote their own party and the best way to do that is to put up a candidate.
The point is to show the voters that the four opposition parties can get united on certain important issues such as trying to wrest the seat from national and increase the opposition number by one while depriving the government of one MP.
Of course, Nats may still win, but it is worth a try for the opposition to unleash an united and exciting fight together and energise the pro opposition voters, especially because it is a by election and has no party votes counted.
Of course, nothing can be more likely than Nats winning if the opposition do not TRY to win this by a combined effort rather than simply be pessimistic, selfish, stupid and split the opposition votes between them.
Anyway, all this is a little premature and academic for now because the Nats may try to protect Sabin and keep him on just like they did to Judith Collins, Nick Smith, Bill English, Gerry Brownlee and Maurice Williamson in spite of shocking disgraceful behaviour from each of those!
I don’t think there is a party vote in a by election, just the electorate vote. I agree that the opposition should put a single candidate up against NAct, but I don’t expect a win. Pakeha up there are pretty bloody ugly in their addiction to Tory members.
Yes quite correct a by election doesn’t include the party vote, that suits a pilot contest even better and saves on resources and costs for the non winning party’s, basically cutting their cost early.
Does the tolerance of the “je suis Charlie” Parisians and their grand ability not to be offended by others free expression also extend to people who wish to express themselves by getting around the streets of Paris in the nude?
The French give out prison time and fines to anyone who mocks the WWII Holocaust. Charlie Hebdo fired a cartoonist in 2009 for mocking Israel. But I guess that’s different, it wasn’t Muslims being mocked…
This is directly related to yesterdays discussion on debt levels, the state of the economy, and whether or not the politicians have anything to do with it as “good economic managers.”
The initial problem I have with it (Still watching it) is that it simply blames ‘central banks’ rather than central banks that are out of government control and are thus actually in the control of the private sector. This is important as we actually need a central bank that creates the money and keeps track of how much money is in the economy and we need that bank to be answerable to the populace through democratic methods.
I would not say that the film reveals that the central banks are “in the control of the private sector”. The central banks appear to be under the direction of a small number of trans-national elites who span both private and public sectors and who in fact do not see the two sectors as separate. Just as they do not recognise the sovereignty of individual nations.
Create a bubble and then collapse it. Isn’t this the type of thing that we’ve been seeing for centuries? Where there are always a few winners while everyone else gets to pay the bill?
It’s only since the 1980s they’ve been doing it to break apart nation states in order to progress the aims and ownership of a trans-national elite class who have loyalty to no country.
Thanks to Paul, I have it on my list. Will probably do so this weekend.
I have a relative that works in luxury retail, and tells similar stories of people ordering boxes of solid gold pens at $100,000 each. They are used to subtly indicate their net worth as they sign documents, then casually give them away or leave them behind.
The admiring relating of this story, was jarred when I expressed my disgust. Made for an interesting few minutes at a family Christmas. 🙂
Yes. They’re an incredible waste of resources but that’s entirely how our economic system works. The more waste, the higher the profit. This is why we have personal cars despite the fact that they’re a massive waste of resources.
I thought we could ring Putin, tell him we will hold the owner til the Russian police have time to come and get him, and in return we will impound and sell the boat. $450m goes a long way. If the USA doesn’t want us to do it, they know our price 😉
I think Stuart Nash has gone off the reservation with his calls for an amnesty on tax penalties. For one thing, he’s not on the finance team – it muddies the waters and this matter really falls into Clayton Cosgrove’s revenue portfolio. It’s being reported as Labour calls for amnesty, not “Labour MP calls for amnesty”
For another, people should pay their taxes and there should be sanctions against those who don’t. The average Joe Blow pays his PAYE and GST. People should not be dipping into the money that belongs to the public.
I had thought this might have been an offhand comment that he may have just doubled-down on this morning, but it’s an issue he’s been pushing for at least a week
Yes, most of the tax dodgers I presume would be rich crooked right wing crooks and rogues. Why Stuart Nash wants to bat for them is a mystery! In any case, amnesty would send a wrong message and also be unfair for those that have paid their taxes.
I think a lot of them are small business people or contractors who can’t afford tricky accountants. Many of them will be struggling as bigger businesses don’t pay them for work done, or the general public pay up late. They’re not evaders. They’re just late. They’re probably people who have voted for NAct’s aspirations recently, and Nash may think this is a way of attracting them to Labour.
But the tax is incurred on profit after expenses and liabilities. So will exclude unpaid bills/debts, won’t it? And the max tax is not all the profit, but only about 1/3 rd of it. Forgiving tax with an amnesty is not an option. Sure, suspending ‘some’ of the penalty may be, but not all the penalty as it will send a bad message and precedent and unfair to the ones that manage their business well and do the right thing in the first place.
In any case, the party leader should be the one to make such announcements, unless the issue was discussed by the caucus and Nash was authorised to do so.
Education, including tertiary, and health should be free and universal. Otherwise the wealthy are advantaged over the rest. Make it universal, but raise taxes.
I favour Transaction tax, capital tax and capital gains tax, living wage and universal basic living allowance for all.
The inequality should reduce and the society should be fairer and ethical.
Nash has got it in his head that he is the rising star. A candidate on his way to future party leader and strong potential Prime Ministerial material. The Labour Party is a useful vehicle to his career and ambition.
Straw poll: Should Andrew Little promote him further up?
Oh, great. A Labour MP wants it to be OK for people not to bother paying their taxes, and leaves himself wide open for a National cabinet minister to state the obvious in response:
McClay says a debt amnesty wouldn’t be fair to those who pay tax on time.
No wonder Nat bloggers are talking Nash up – he’s a free gift to the government.
“The insensitivity level of the phrase seems to rank somewhere between, e.g., “management has sold us down the river” said to an African-American, and “the traffic authorities need to come up with a Final Solution to the Jaywalker Question” said to a Jew.
None of those phrases is actually meant to insult the ethnic group whose history inspired it. But turning a historical tragedy into a jesting metaphor can be in rather poor taste even without being intentionally insulting.”
I’m not trying to have a go at you Ovid – but ‘going rogue’ is my preferred term.
And the penalties IS the big problem. IRD are a completely inflexible, bloody-minded organisation with no understanding that everyones circumstances are different.
For example, Child Support payments MUST be paid by or on the 20th of the month, period, despite the fact that not everyone has been paid by this date. So, as a result you get penalised 10%.
So someone who is happy to pay their share is constantly penalised for the crime of not being paid themselves before the 20th of the month.
I can a only comment on my own case I was self employed for 7 years and some of them very lean years with the GFC coming in the middle ( no body can stop spending as well as a farmer with a big mortgage if things get tight).
I managed to pay my PAYE and gst on time ,I did have a very helpful and not to expensive accountant who was part of tax link which buys you a bit of time.
seems odd that they didnt accommodate you getting that into line around your pay… so only a penalty on the first payment, thereafter you could adjust … did you call them and tell them that you got paid on the 10th and would struggle with the first payment on time?
I used to work for IRD in the contact centre – the issue I found was that people were unaware that setting up payment arrangements before the due date for the tax saved substantial penalties, and that IRD can remit penalties or write off debts given good reason e.g. hardship.
IRD’s inflexibility is often not administrative, it’s legislative – the tax laws don’t always leave room for flexibility…
exactly. I think this is Little coming through his promise to be supportive of SME’s… but when does the amnesty for everyone who has committed a burglary but not been nabbed begin? As long as they identify which burglary and the police can cross it off the unsolved list.
Why are we burdening some of the poorest mothers in the country with lifetime debts while writing off the tax debts of some of our richest citizens?
Inland Revenue has wiped $5 billion in tax debt since 2008. This includes money owed by property developers who continue to live ostentatious lifestyles, despite failing to pay money owed to the Government, as well as 720,000 companies with unpaid taxes. On top of that, more than one million New Zealanders have had their tax debts written off in the past six years. In the past year alone, the Government has cancelled $930 million in tax debt owed by individuals.
That can be contrasted with the punitive way in which mothers who owe benefit debt are pursued for the rest of their lives – even if it is plain that they will never be able to repay the sum.
And Labour’s talking about forgiving the tax fraudsters. You know, the people who steal billions of dollars off of us each and every year compared to the few measly million that benefit fraud, most of which is actually done by employees at WINZ, cost us.
“And Labour’s talking about forgiving the tax fraudsters. You know, the people who steal billions of dollars off of us each and every year …”
Nope. Complete bollocks, Draco. Nash was very specifically talking about small to medium business, particularlarly in the provinces, which as we know have been abandoned by the Tory government.
“Nash said this was debt held by small-to-medium business owners, not “large corporates or high-net-worth individuals who have engaged expensive lawyers”.”
Have a read, it’s actually reasonably sound politics that will be attractive to both the owners of these businesses and the 5-9 workers that the average Kiwi small business employs.
Outstanding taxes have increased in Nelson by $67.9 million (119 per cent), Timaru $15.6m (76 per cent) and Greymouth $5.6m (51 per cent) in the last six years.
Palmerston North ($139m), Napier ($496m), Whangarei ($86m) also have significant levels of unpaid taxes.
That’s still significantly more than benefit fraud. Especially where Nash happens to be the MP which has unpaid taxes of about 40 times the national total of benefit fraud.
Now, chances are that that outstanding amount is due to the old, dysfunctional, Provisional Tax which itself needs reform but there’s no reason to make that reform retrospective.
And yet he’s still got more credibility than you, Phil. Funny old world, eh?
PS, Nash had the briefest of tenures with Shearer, wasn’t there for the ‘roof’ anecdote, and in quitting, showed more political nous in 5 minutes than you’ve showed in your entire life.
You’re not walking around at all, Phil, if your prolific posting is any guide to your lifestyle. Maybe the occasional excursion to the garden for, ahem, organic supplies, but no exertion that might risk a bead of sweat breaking out. How’s your roof, btw? Need a lick of paint? (See what I did there?).
As Sinatra sez, doobie doobie doo, Phil. Keep taking the money, keep spliffing up, and keeping telling the rest of us where we’re going wrong. You’re doing fine work.
@Ovid:
What I can’t understand is how we got into a situation where people owe $6.8 BILLION.
This will be treated as an asset (debtor) in the governments books. Larf!
It must be mostly Nats mates owing the money and so they are not chasing them. On Nat Rad this morning they said the tax department spends $90 million a year on chasing bad debts-this is a pittance when nearly $7 billion is owed.
I would like to see a list of the people who owe the tax-this should be publicly available as it is owed to the Crown, that is US.
Davos delegates don’t care about inequality or your debt
Elite retreat. World Economic Forum, CC BY-SA
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The world’s rich and powerful are gathering for the World Economic Forum at the Swiss ski resort of Davos to discuss, and hopefully find solutions to, the world’s economic and social problems. The 45th meeting will be attended by kings, princes, presidents, prime ministers, leading politicians and controllers of large corporations. Amidst mutual back-slapping they will deliver set-piece speeches and soothing words at various seminars and workshops to support solutions to the world’s ecological, economic, security and social problems.
It is right that such events should exist – no nation can solve the problems on its own. In the aftermath of the banking crash and weak economic recovery in Europe, the agenda of the Davos summit is to restore trust in capitalist system and build global institutions for a better future. But this is easier said than done, especially as Davos is often far removed from the concerns of ordinary people.
The grand narrative of previous summits has been that we must not do anything to upset the rich because a nation’s salvation depends not on having a good system of education, healthcare, pensions and transport, but on keeping people happy even though their wealth is built on the sweat and blood of ordinary folk. Economic policies are increasingly formed to appease financial markets where vast amounts are gambled everyday though they produce little tangible economic activity.
In this narrative there is no space for workers, trade unions, industrial democracy, or people who want to live fulfilling lives. Markets are supposed to serve society but people are increasingly forced to dance to their short-term financial tunes. How are governments going to develop long-term economic and social policies? There is little sign that the latest summit will signal a much needed change of direction.
Previous Davos summits have carved out policies for the rich to advance their own interests and done little to check inequalities. Past failures are evident from Oxfam’s latest report which states that very soon 1% of the world’s adult population will own more than the rest. In the UK, the richest 1,000 people have doubled their wealth over the past five years to £519 billion. At the same time, millions of people have seen a real decrease in their income and lack the resources to stimulate the economy. Indeed, rising income inequality in developed economies are forcing even people in paid employment to rely on food banks.
Food banks are booming. Danny Lawson/PA
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Political leaders at Davos will deliver their ritual affirmation for greater economic competition. Yes, competition gives people choices, but its present state is a cause for concern as corporations are frequently able to hold governments to ransom: “give us what we want or we are off” has become a familiar call from companies to discipline governments.
The top 500 transnational corporations control 70% of the worldwide trade, 80% of the foreign investments, one-third of all manufacturing exports, 75% of all commodities trade and 80% of the trade in management and technical services. Only four companies account for between 75% and 90% of the global grain trade. Breaking up these global behemoths and making them accountable to the public is not on the Davos agenda.
Political leaders will talk about tackling public debt, a cue for more austerity, reduction in public expenditure and further privatisation of state-owned enterprises, often at knock-down prices resulting in huge wealth transfers. Even in the western world, the neoliberal experiment for the last 35 years has failed to deliver full employment economic stability or equitable distribution of wealth. Still, politicians won’t rock the boat, though some of the NGOs attending the summit will raise uncomfortable questions.
Despite the financial crisis, western nations remain addicted to light-touch regulation and supremacy of markets. Despite the biggest banking crash, there has been little effective reform of the financial system as governments seem unwilling to upset the financial wheeler and dealers.
Low-interest policy has been used to persuade ordinary people to borrow money and stimulate the economy. Personal debt in the UK alone is around £1.432 trillion, just short of one year’s gross domestic product. What if people can’t repay this? It would be good if Davos leaders could on reflect on the consequences of huge personal debts.
International forums are increasingly essential to solve global problems, but they can’t be addressed by pursuing the interests of the 1%. A radical shift is needed to develop policies that place the interests of the 99% at the heart of the debate.
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Norman Finkelstein : Charlie Hebdo n’est pas satirique, il est sadique
by Mustafa Caglayan, NEW YORK, 19 January 2015
In Nazi Germany, there was an anti-Semitic weekly newspaper called Der Stürmer. Run by Julius Streicher, it was notorious for being one of the most virulent advocates of the persecution of Jews during the 1930s. What everybody remembers about Der Stürmer was its morbid caricatures of Jews, the people who were facing widespread discrimination and persecution during the era. Its depictions endorsed all of the common stereotypes about Jews – a hook nose, lustful, greedy.
“Let’s say, … amidst all of this death and destruction, two young Jews barged into the headquarters of the editorial offices of Der Stürmer, and they killed the staff for having humiliated them, degraded them, demeaned them, insulted them,” queried Norman Finkelstein, a professor of political science and author of numerous books including The Holocaust Industry and Method and Madness.
“How would I react to that?,” said Finkelstein, who is the son of Holocaust survivors. Finkelstein was drawing an analogy between a hypothetical attack on the German newspaper and the deadly Jan. 7 attack at the Paris headquarters of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, that left 12 people dead, including its editor and prominent cartoonists. The weekly is known for printing controversial material, including derogatory cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad in 2006 and 2012.
The attack sparked a global massive outcry, with millions in France and across the world taking to the streets to support freedom of the press behind the rallying cry of “Je suis Charlie,” or “I am Charlie.”
What the Charlie Hebdo caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad achieved was “not satire,” and what they provoked was not “ideas,” Finkelstein said. Satire is when one directs it either at oneself, causes his or her people to think twice about what they are doing and saying, or directs it at people who have power and privilege, he said.
“But when somebody is down and out, desperate, destitute, when you mock them, when you mock a homeless person, that is not satire,” Finkelstein said. “That is, I give you the word, sadism. There’s a very big difference between satire and sadism. Charlie Hebdo is sadism. It’s not satire.”
The “desperate and despised people” of today are Muslims, he said, considering the number of Muslim countries racked by death and destruction as in the case of Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen. “So, two despairing and desperate young men act out their despair and desperation against this political pornography no different than Der Stürmer, who in the midst of all of this death and destruction decide its somehow noble to degrade, demean, humiliate and insult the people. I’m sorry, maybe it is very politically incorrect. I have no sympathy for [the staff of Charlie Hebdo]. Should they have been killed? Of course not. But of course, Streicher shouldn’t have been hung. I don’t hear that from many people,” said Finkelstein.
Streicher was among those who stood trial on charges at Nürnberg, following World War II. He was hung for those cartoons.
Finkelstein said some might argue that they have the right to mock even desperate and destitute people, and they probably have this right, he said, “But you also have the right to say ‘I don’t want to put it in my magazine … When you put it in, you are taking responsibility for it.”
Finkelstein compared the controversial Charlie Hebdo caricatures to the “fighting words,” doctrine, a category of speech penalized under American jurisprudence. The doctrine refers to certain words that would likely cause the person to whom they are directed, to commit an act of violence. They are a category of speech unprotected by the First Amendment.
“You are not allowed to utter fighting words, because they are equivalent of a smack to the face and it is asking for trouble,” Finkelstein said.
“So, are the Charlie Hebdo caricatures the equivalent of fighting words? They call it satire. That is not satire. It is just epithets, there is nothing funny about it. If you find it funny, depicting Jews in big lips and (a) hook nose is also funny.”
Finkelstein pointed to the contradictions in the Western world’s perception of the freedom of the press by giving the example of the pornographic magazine Hustler, whose publisher, Larry Flynt, was shot and left paralyzed in 1978 by a white supremacist serial killer for printing a cartoon depicting interracial sex.
“I don’t remember everyone celebrating ‘We are Larry Flynt’ or ‘We are Hustler,’” he said. “Should he have been attacked?”…..
Look carefully and you’ll see I’ve only posted a taster of the article, and provided a link for people—obviously not including you—who are interested in reading something written by one of the most outstanding scholars in the United States.
I see others have taken you to task on your vacuous quibbles. Instead of upbraiding me, wouldn’t you have used your time more intelligently by clicking on the link and doing some reading?
who, for example, was the white haired man sitting with the public who summoned Marshall mid meeting into a whispered private conference from which he emerged even more defensive and inflexible?
Very good question. Who was this person who obviously wields a great amount of power over our lives?
Don’t think so. I’m pretty sure that if that was the case he would have been recognised. Possibly with AT but if so why was he sitting with the public? Also, most of the top dogs at AT would also have been recognised.
As I said yesterday Davos is another leg of The Infamous Bilderberg Group.
This Bilderberg Group is the most elitist global power club of industrialists, & corporations along with an array of greedy bought politicians.
So expect Key will again go see his Bilderberg mates at Davos also.
Key has previously attended Bilderberg’s unpublished meetings secretly.
Key with held ths fact, without telling us, so if the shoe fits wear it corrupt Keyster.
Key has demonstrated he loves secretive dark ops organisations such as his own liaison with his Ede/Slater combo so same Bilderberg black Ops group activities fits perfectly for key’s activities to act in secret.
The Bilderberg Group must be the most publicised secret organisation in the world. For a group that is meant to be trying to manipulate world events behind the scenes it isn’t very successful at keeping itself secret. I even remember a documentary showing people turning up to one of their meetings. You would have thought they could have dealt to pesky journalists to stop that happening.
Yes, you are right everyone knows about these meetings.
But most also know, that in the age of technology – the best place to hide is out in the open – and then lie, obfuscate, redirect using external methods.
Such as MSM, fanatical supporters or blogging comments on a political blog…
The fact that Gossie identifies with them as “we” is a bit pathetic given that the invitees to the Bilderberg meetings would consider the likes of Gossie common low life, like the rest of the 99.9%.
It’s never tried to be secret but we also don’t get transcripts of what’s said at the meetings nor the agreements that they come to. Considering that it is a meeting between business and governments these are things that we’re entitled to as they’re obviously having an effect on our societies – a non-democratic one.
These days Labour is very much the party of social liberalism (indeed, National too is fairly socially liberal these days).
However, that wasn’t always the case. Labour was a strong supporter of the White New Zealand policy in the years after World War 1; the second Labour government went along with keeping Maori out of an All Blacks team to South Africa; and the third Labour government, especially Kirk, were anti-gay rights and anti women’s right to abortion. The first homosexual law reform bill was actually put forward by a National MP, Venn Young.
Big Norm’s government came down hard on bikers, coming out with slogans about taking the bikes off the gangs and such like. Several police districts went well outside the law in attacks on biker meetings, seemingly to official approval. I also heard from a journalist friend that he wasn’t all that hot on freedom of the press.
In New Zealand, the women’s liberation movement largely emerged on the campuses, albeit by women active in the anti-Vietnam War movement and left groups like the Socialist Action League.
In Britain three struggles by working class women in 1968 were pivotal. Two of them – a fight by fishermen’s wives for better safety conditions on trawlers and by London bus conductresses – are very little known about these days. The other struggle – by women at Ford’s massive Dagenham car plant – had passed into the mists as well, except a couple of years ago a ‘feel-good movie’ was made on their struggle, ‘Made in Dagenham’.
Although there were certain distortions in the movie – the makers even admitting they downplayed the class politics and up-played a feminist take in order to make the movie more commercial – it’s still a very interesting movie.
I used to teach the British sixties, so I was really interested to see the film when it first came out. It’s also been on TV here – I think it was on Xmas/New Year 2013/14. The ‘feelgood factor’ makes it fit in as Xmas/New Year fare (it was made by the same folks that made ‘Calendar Girls’). Anyway, I have a review of it, which also contextualises the actual struggle that occurred in 1968. It’s here: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/class-gender-the-1960s-and-made-in-dagenham/
Looks like another Socialist ‘Paradise’ is heading rapidly for economic collapse. Amazing how it seems to be the Socialist nations that tend to fall over when Socialist theory suggests it is Capitalism that is inherently unstable and destined for destruction.
A 9% increase in family homelessness in the USA between 2007 & 2009 says that Gosman won’t recognise an economic collapse until the pitchforks come out.
We are talking unattainable not unaffordable. Noone is able to access sufficent supplies of toilet paper in Venezuela (except I suspect those closely connected with the government). This just doesn’t impact on the poorer sections of society.
I like how you can brush off shortages of toilet paper as if it is merely the middle and upper classes experiencing what the poor suffer daily. Not many people at the lower end of the income scale in NZ go without toilet paper I would suggest.
As I pointed out to Hariet the other day – Venezuela is still capitalist. As CV said it’s also being attacked financially by the US and other Western nations.
“Juan Pablo Fuentes, economist at Moody’s Analytics, explained,”The decrees that President Nicolás Maduro recently announced will do little to lift the economy or slow inflation. The focus of Maduro’s announcements was a series of fiscal measures aimed at increasing tax revenues, including a new luxury tax, an increase in the sales tax for alcoholic beverages and the elimination of some tax exemptions.””
Should be interesting to see how the Venezuelan economy recovers as a result of these measures or if gets worse. I know what I have my money on.
On Earth, the NZ Left is far more interested in lessons that can be learned from the Scandinavian model. Plus what McFlock said about your honesty and integrity.
I’d suggest some maybe. Some dislike any form of Free market Welfare state. Scandinavian countries tend to have very open markets which is not something an awful lot of hard left leaning people like very much.
oh, fuck off.
OAB made a clear statement that there is more interest in lessons from Scandinavia than Venezuela, not that nobody is interested in learning from Venezuela or that noboy in NZ is “hard left”.
Saying that some in NZ are “hard left” when someone else has said that most are comparatively moderate is a pretty half-arsed effort, even for you.
Venezuela is under active economic attack by the financial markets and the capitalist class.
They have lifted a million people out of poverty and given them access to free healthcare and education. And the free market cheerleaders can’t have that kind of nonsense going on.
Ummm… I stated tend. Sweden, Denmark and Finland are much more open than Norway I believe. Of course Norway relies heavily on Oil. Would you like our welfare state to be funded by Oil?
You introduced the Scandinavian theme into the discussion OAB. How does it become a ‘false narrative’ when I follow up on your lead?
Yes, Finnish education is excellent, and the emphasis on high level qualifications for teachers is something I would love to see adopted here.
But on the other hand, if you talk about ‘GINI’ then you should also understand that Finland has one of the fastest rates of increasing inequality in Europe.
And if you talk about ‘getting to Denmark’, you should be warned that the Danes have the highest rate of personal indebtedness in the World, pay the highest tax rates, have a crap education system, the worlds highest cancer rates, and the Danish Govt. is currently warning that their pattern of very low growth in productivity / unrealistic wage increases are causing a slide in competitiveness that seriously threatens Denmark’s ongoing prosperity.
Norway is a model in lots of things, but we would have to double our NZ GDP levels to match the wealth that supplies the Norwegian Social welfare state. Lucky they have that oil.
Sweden is fueled by intense corporate industrialization….
Nonsense OAB.
And I’ve been here long enough by now to know your angle pretty well.
You’re a sniper at heart. Get off a shot or two, but always have a plan for retreat close at hand.
One of your classic exit strategies is the one you are attempting here – laying down a smoke screen of semantics and hoping you’ll confuse the enemies view of the battlefield.
Bollocks!
The narrative here is very clear.
Gosman brought up Venezuela as evidence that the policies many Leftists here wish to see do not work, and you jumped in and countered with the view that learning lessons from Scandinavia was of far more interest to the Left.
Now if ‘learning’ isn’t ‘instructive’, then what is?
And if ‘instructive’ doesn’t have the potential to lead to ‘applicable’, whats the bloody point of it?
Just a barren indulgence in intellectual masturbation?
So my points were completely applicable to the instructive nature of the narrative.
And nonsense again that the World Bank were using ‘Denmark’ as a ‘metaphor’.
They used the word Denmark, because Denmark was exactly the literal country they see as the ideal starting point for the discussion on future models of economic and political development.
Funny, that was the other link I considered citing.
Learning certainly begets application; your ability to articulate a tautology is testament to that.
Whether the applications one learns from are universally applicable is another matter. I’ve suggested income equality and education as places where applications abound.
Speaking of education, your support for a government that destroyed the right to collective bargaining, signalled well before the election, makes you a very special creature to be pretending concern about this country’s future, especially after the way you cited your Dad’s policics, eh.
Despite your sanctimonious observation yesterday that the Left was superior in the way they “understood the value of diversity”, you are actually extremely intolerant when it comes to diversity of political thought aren’t you OAB?
There are only 2 modes you can comprehend, you only value one of them, and you are as intolerant and dismissive of the other as any RW Bible belt gay hating red neck.
I am exactly what I say I am, a lifetime Left wing voter currently so pissed off with the lack of unity, vision, practicality, intelligence, and leadership of the NZ political Left that I am unable to bring myself to vote for them.
I might just stick around and keep reminding you of that. Anything that helps break down the smug ill founded sense of superiority of people like you has to be good for our country.
Glad we agree on the value of the Economist article. Will post a little further on that tomorrow.
you are actually extremely intolerant when it comes to diversity of political thought aren’t you OAB?
There’s no need to be tolerant of political thought which aims to harm most people to extract even more privilege for the few who are already the most well off and powerful.
Gosman also has an M.O. And venezuela is one of his to show how “socialism” fails people. he then spins like a top about why the GFC etc is not a failure of capitalism.
So perhaps OAB and Gosman are just different sides of the same coin cos when you wrote
“… Anything that helps break down the smug ill founded sense of superiority of people like you has to be good for our country.”
The social democrats still show a limited understanding of the low carbon future that we are rapidly descending into. (But then again so do all political parties).
What would really help parties like the Democrats for Social Credit (and NZ politics in general) is halving our MMP threshold to 2.5%. That means a party would would get into Parliament if they won enough votes to get at least 3 MPs.
I think the image associated with this story is a bad mistake. Bomber has blown the shark with this one. I haven’t seen this type of image before and I am a bit shocked that he has done it. This will end very badly imo.
A well chosen image by Bomber. Key the sociopath doesn’t care about spilling the blood of NZ troops, as long as he can rub shoulders with the billionaires club.
images like that are used to create all sorts of horrible outcomes for the left and the people all around the world and this country is no different and that is because of the first part of your second sentence.
@ marty mars
I agree. It’s ‘overkill’. I won’t put into words what his response reminds me of, but I do think more restraint is needed on his part. And would result in more respect for him.
Text of the State of the Union, which President Obama is delivering right now. Interesting policy platform he’s pushing – paid sick leave, help with childcare and free education in community colleges (kinda like our polytechs, but course credits can be transferred to universities).
Doubtful if any of this will make it through a Republican majority Congress, but he talks a good game.
Obama should do what Vladimir Putin does every year – a 3hr press conference in front of the world media, no teleprompters, no scripts, no questions barred.
Fantastic piece from Monbiot. Should be front page of every goddamn news outlet, but that ain’t gonna happen! Nuggets:
Our ‘impartial’ broadcasters have become mouthpieces of the elite
If you think the news is balanced, think again. Journalists who should challenge power are doing its dirty work. Until I came across the scandal currently erupting in Canada, I hadn’t understood just how quickly standards are falling. [Saga of conflict of interest and attempted cover up by a bank and a senior reporter, and threats to other journos]
A study by the Cardiff School of Journalism examined the BBC’s reporting of the bank bailouts in 2008. It discovered that the contributors it chose were “almost completely dominated by stockbrokers, investment bankers, hedge fund managers and other City voices. Civil society voices or commentators who questioned the benefits of having such a large finance sector were almost completely absent from coverage.” The financiers who had caused the crisis were asked to interpret it.
The BBC’s business reporting breaks its editorial guidelines every day by failing to provide alternative viewpoints. Every weekday morning, the Today programme grovels to business leaders for 10 minutes. On BBC News at Six, business representatives outnumbered trade union representatives by 19 to one.
Those entrusted to challenge power are the loyalists of power. [Hence the rise of social media and people such as Russell Brand…]
As Chris Hedges, former New York Times Middle East bureau chief and pullitzer prize winner, says: our news media have simply become courtiers to the power elite, amplifying their narrative, not examining and challenging it.
The following comment was submitted to The Daily Blog at 4pm for publication on an item published yesterday & headlined “Scoop’s latest attempt to rebrand itself”.
In the post by Martyn Bradbury it was asserted that Scoop’s essay on Friday, “Reinventing News As A Public Right – A Public Conversation”, which launched Scoop’s, “State of NZ News Media – A Public Conversation” editorial series, was a “desperate attempt” at rebranding.
In his post after first agreeing that NZ News Media is in a parlous state, Bradbury concluded, “I don’t think Scoop, with its looming internal problems will be around long enough to be part of the solution”.
Scoop is a valuable resource but its huge volume of in-depth research is simply indigestible for the casual reader. I think it needs a redesign and better curation of stories.
The Daily Blog is in sore need of a rethink as well, it just doesn’t look professional at all. I admire Bomber’s passion and hard work but he’s a bit OTT, spraying friendly fire and crushing dissent
I agree that Scoop could be more accessible, but they are reviewing stuff with the Chrysalis Project. I really don’t bother with the Daily Blog any more, although John Minto and Keith Locke write some good stuff now and then.
Yeah, I don’t bother with TDB as it’s got a horrible interface and most of it’s just whinging. Get some good stuff from Minto, Locke, Rankin and Genter but they don’t post often enough to make TDB a daily read.
#bringbackourgirls is probably as impotent as #jesuischarlie
There are currently 59 groups designated by the US State Department as foreign terrorist organisations, Boko Haram was designated as such in November 2013.
French Algerians who said they were from Al Qaeda Yemen shot up people in Paris so that means NZ should send soldiers to fight the few thousand ISIS gunmen in Iraq, because the US (nor the Iraqi security forces they spent billions to train) somehow can’t handle it themselves.
Geddit? Because that’s all the sense western leadership is making right now.
We are a crucial lynchpin in the defense of western civilisation against the hordes of maniacs with guns. (Not counting the 8000 annual homicides in the US)
Farmers held a hate-march on Parliament today, complete with MAGA hats, gun-nut signs, and gendered insults. While supposedly about a grab-bag of issues - including, weirdly, mental health - it was clear that the protest was about one thing, and one thing only: climate change. And specifically, forestry "destroying" rural ...
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security released their annual report today, and I've been busy reading through it. In amongst the usual review of what they've been doing all year, there's a few interesting bits. For example, a discussion on "agency retention and disposal of information", which points out that ...
Recently more than 150 post-graduate students and young scientists presented an open letter to the Green Party via The Spinoff, encouraging them to reconsider their position on genetic modification. Their target is tackling climate change issues.[1] Can any party continue to be dismissive about genetic modification (GM) contributing to ...
by Deirdre O’Neill Under Thatcher and then Blair and continuing up until our contemporary moment, the working class has seen its culture slowly and progressively destroyed. The change from an industrial society to a service society produced a marked shift in focus from the working class as the backbone of ...
Since 2013, the Australian government has detained refugees without trial in Pacific gulags, where they are abused, tortured, and driven to suicide. The policy is not just an abuse of human rights and possible crime against humanity; it has also had a corrosive effect on the states Australia uses as ...
It seems fair to say that we currently live in a problematic political moment in world history. Democracies are in decline and dictatorships are on the rise. Primordial, sectarian and post-modern divisions have re-emerged, are on the rise or have been accentuated by political evolutions of the moment such as ...
Last month, Greenpeace head Russel Norman surrendered his speaking slot at an EPA conference to student climate activist Sorcha Carr, who told the EPA exactly what she thought of them. It was a bold move, which confronted both regulators and polluters (or, as the EPA calls them, "stakeholders") with the ...
The core principle supposedly underlying New Zealand's electoral finance regime is transparency: parties can accept large donations from rich people wanting to buy policy, but only if they tell the public they've been bought. Most parties abide by this, so we know that TOP was wholly-owned by Gareth Morgan, and ...
Today is a Member's Day, probably the second-to-last one of the year, and its a big one, with the Third Reading of David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill. last Member's Day it was reported back from committee, after MPs voted narrowly to make it subject to a (rules TBA) ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzThe growth of the human population over the last 70 ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women In her excellent oral submission to the Abortion reform select committee on 31st October on behalf of Otago University’s Department of Public Health, historian and public health researcher Hera Cook stated: “We would ask that the committee not use the term ‘pregnant persons’ and ...
by Don Franks In 1957, E M Forster wrote, of his greatest work: “The India described in ‘A Passage to India’ no longer exists either politically or socially. Change had begun even at the time the book was published ( 1924) and during the following quarter of a century it ...
The Referendums Framework Bill was due back from select committee today. But there's no report on it. Instead, the bill has been bounced back to the House under Standing order 29593) because the Committee didn't bother to produce one. They probably tried. But given the membership of the committee (which ...
Two years into New Zealand’s Labour-led government, the long-delayed Zero Carbon Bill became law on 7 November. Passed essentially unanimously, the lengthy public debates and political manoeuvring faded away until the final passage was even anticlimactic: Flipping through the @nzstuff@DomPost I was starting to wonder if I’d dreamt ...
Now the Zero Carbon Bill is law, what's next? Obviously, the ETS changes currently before select committee are going to be the next battleground. But we're also going to get a good idea of where we're going, and if the progress the Zero Carbon Act promises is good enough, during ...
Grant PearceThe effects of the current Australian bushfires in New South Wales and Queensland (and also again in California) are devastating and far-reaching. To date, the fires have resulted in several lives being lost and many homes and properties destroyed. Here in New Zealand, the impacts have been only ...
A passing comment in a post the other day about the labour force participation rates of older people prompted me to pull down the fuller data and see what we could see about various participation rates over the decades since the HLFS began in 1986. As it happens, the ...
Distract And Divert: The rise of what we have come to call “Identity Politics” represents the ideological manifestation of the ruling class’s objective need to destroy class politics, and of the middle-class’s subjective need to justify their participation in the process.THE RELIEF of the ruling class can only be imagined. ...
"I saw a newspaper picture,From the political campaignA woman was kissing a child,Who was obviously in pain.She spills with compassion,As that young child'sFace in her hands she gripsCan you imagine all that greed and avariceComing down on that child's lips?" ...
Dr Matt Boyd, Prof Michael Baker, Prof Nick WilsonThe Global Health Security Index which considers pandemic threats has just been published. Unfortunately, NZ scores approximately half marks (54/100), coming in 35th in the world rankings – far behind Australia. This poor result suggests that the NZ Government needs to ...
The Zero Carbon Act is inadequate, with a weak methane target designed to give farmers a free ride. But it turns out it could have been worse: Climate Change Minister James Shaw was so desperate to get National on board, he wanted to gut that target, and leave it in ...
The Herald reprints an Australian story on a couple of tragic deaths in Bali from drinking cocktails that had methanol in them. The story argues that methanol is likely the result of home distillation. But what the young tourists were experiencing was far from a hangover. They’d consumed a toxic cocktail ...
Last month, the police announced a trial of specialist roaming armed units, which would drive round (poor, brown) areas in armoured SUVs, armed to the teeth. When they announced the trial, they told us it was about having armed police "ready to attend major incidents at any time if needed". ...
Spain went to the polls today in the second elections this year, after the Socialists (who had come to power in a confidence vote, then gone to the polls in April) rejected the offer of a coalition with the left-wing PoDemos, and instead decided to gamble n a better outcome ...
A couple of days ago I attended (and spoke at) the University of Waikato’s “LearnFest” event. There were lots of talks and sessions on very diverse aspects of teaching, mostly at tertiary level. One was by Myra Williamson from Te Piringa Faculty of Law here at Waikato, on Contract Cheating ...
There will be a transit of Mercury – the planet Mercury will pass across the face of the Sun – taking place at sunrise in New Zealand on Tuesday, 12th November. It was by observing such an event 250 years ago that James Cook and his scientist colleagues were able ...
Since becoming the world’s first openly transexual mayor and member of parliament, Georgina Beyer has been recognised as a trailblazer for trans rights. Daphna Whitmore talks with her about where she sees the current trans movement We start out talking about legislation the government put on hold that would have ...
If FFNZ really put their faith in “Top Medical Journals” they would now be amending their billboards to recognise new research results. Image from FFNZ but updated to agree with the latest research. ...
National Messiah? Chris Luxon identifies himself as an evangelical Christian. If he is genuine in this self-characterisation, then he will take every opportunity his public office provides to proselytise on behalf of his faith. He will also feel obliged to bear witness against beliefs and practices he believes to be ...
I'm going to make a Reckless Prediction™ that the Tories have 'topped out' in the 'poll of polls' / Britain Elects multipoll tracker at about 38%, and in the next week we will start to see Labour creep up on them.In fact, we might just be seeing the start of ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Lizzie Marvelly: “I may have missed this… has @afterellen gone all terf-y? Or am I reading something incorrectly? “ https://twitter.com/LizzieMarvelly/status/1191840059105742849 After Ellen is a lesbian website that is unashamedly pro-lesbian, as you’d expect. So why is Ms Marvelly so bothered about lesbians having their ...
Did you know there once was a time when it was illegal to be a gypsy (aka Romani) in Britain?That was between 1530, when the Egyptians Act was passed, and 1856, when it was repealed.Amongst other things, the act forbade the entry of 'Egyptians' into England, ordered those already there ...
Some days I sit and think, “what will I write…?” What do you say when you get to 1000 posts? Maybe you just start where you are, diverge to where this all began, then offer a collection of reader’s favourite posts, and a few of your own? (And throw in ...
Counter-Puncher: The “activists” and “radicals” (his own words) from the Indian community who took such strong exception to Shane Jones’ remarks about Immigration NZ’s treatment of arranged marriages, may end up bitterly regretting their intervention. Jones is not the sort of person who turns the other cheek to his critics.SHANE ...
In the spirit of Remember, remember the fifth of November, let's keep this in mind FOREVER.
Oh dear. Extraordinary interview on PM with Andrew Bridgen and @EvanHD just now. Bridgen was defending Jacob Rees Mogg’s Grenfell comments. Evan asked him if JRM had meant to say he would have left ...
Collision Course? In conditions of ideological white-out, the international bankers’ “Woop-Woop! Pull Up!” warning may have come too late to save global capitalism.WHAT DOES IT MEAN when international bankers are more willing to embrace radical solutions than our politicians and their electors? At both the International Monetary Fund and the ...
Pertussis (whooping cough) is a conundrum. It is a disease that was described hundreds of years ago and the bacteria that causes it (Bordetella pertussis) isolated in 1906. We have had vaccines for about 80 years but this disease is defiant in the face of human immunity. I wanted to ...
The Zero Carbon Bill has just passed its third reading, uanimously. In the end, National supported it - but we all know they'll turn around and gut it the moment they regain power. Meanwhile, I guess ACT's David Seymour didn't even bother to show up. I am on record as ...
Dr Lindsay Robertson, Dr Jerram Bateman, Professor Janet HoekMembers of the public health community hold divergent views on how access to vaping products or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) products should be arranged. Some believe ENDS should be as widely available as smoked tobacco and argue for liberal ...
When the Police were trying to cover up for the National Party over Dirty Politics, they went all-in with their abuses of power. They illegally search Nicky Hager's house, violating his journalistic privilege and invading his privacy. They unlawfully acquired Hager's bank records. They did the same to left-wing blogger ...
Last month, in response to a wave of protests by Extinction Rebellion, the British government purported to ban their protests from the whole of London. It was a significant interference with the freedoms of expression and assembly, and another sign of the country's decline into tyranny. But now, a court ...
Last year, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security reported on significant problems with the intelligence warrant system. While they were unwilling to declare any warrant "irregular" (meaning unlawful) due to the recent law change, they were also not willing to give the system a clean bill of health. Now, they've ...
The National Party has come out in support of encouraging greater vaccination uptake. But it sure isn’t the way I’d do it. National’s suggested docking the benefits of those on benefit whose kids aren’t keeping up with their vaccinations. Some in National have suggested extending that to payments under Working ...
Feeding The Flames: It is simply not enough to demand an end to “corruption”, or “inequality”, or the overbearing influence of the authorities in Beijing. These are just “lowest common denominator” demands: the sort of slogans that pull people onto the streets. They are not a plan.WHERE’S THE PLAN? Across ...
The labour market statistics have been released, and unemployment has risen to 4.2%. There are 115,000 unemployed - 11,000 fewer than when Labour took office. In that time the minimum wage has gone up by $2 an hour, which shows that the right's fears about increases causing unemployment are simply ...
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has called for submissions on Andrew Little's tyrannicalTerrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill. Normally I encourage participation in the democratic process. I am not doing so in this case. Instead, I encourage all of you to boycott this submissions process, and to post ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzIf tiny concentrations of carbon dioxide can hold enough heat ...
Aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and within it, one of the fastest sources is elite travel: billionaires flitting around the world in their private jets, spewing excessive pollution into the atmosphere just so they can avoid mixing with us dirty peasants. But in ...
That's what we face if we don't stop climate change, according to a warning from 11,000 scientists:The world’s people face “untold suffering due to the climate crisis” unless there are major transformations to global society, according to a stark warning from more than 11,000 scientists. “We declare clearly and unequivocally ...
by Phil Duncan Here’s just a few of the kind of threats issued day in and day out against gender-critical women – feminists, marxists, etc – overwhelmingly by MEN (albeit men identifying as women). “Kill all Terfs”. “Shoot a Terf today”. “All terfs deserve to be shot in the head”. ...
This is the third of the synopses of parts of the opening chapter of John Smith’s Imperialism in the 21st Century (New York, Monthly Review Press, 2016). The synopsis and commentary below is written by Phil Duncan. Unlike the humble cup of coffee and t-shirt that we looked at in ...
Tom MooreTraditionally a food source and cutting tool, freshwater mussels/kākahi are now widely valued as water filters that help clean our waterbodies and maintain ecosystem health throughout Aotearoa. The improvement they provide in water quality can make it easier for other animals to live in streams and rivers, as ...
And to think he gave all the potential goodwill away with that moronic, cult-like statement (repeated ad nauseam by many National hardliners) that Key is quite simply “the greatest PM we ever had”…Installation complete: this was nothing ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is back in the House today for its second reading. While this isn't the final stage, its still effectively D-Day for the bill. Because today, at around 5pm, is when we're going to find out if it has a majority, whether National will support it or ...
Winston Peters is in court today, suing a bunch of former Minister and civil servants over their pre-election leak of his superannuation repayment. He's characterised the leak as malicious, and said that it is repugnant that his information was passed on to Ministers to use for political advantage. And he's ...
Murray CoxDo I have to finish my favourite genome? That’s an often-asked question. Geneticists generally strive to produce high-quality genomes that sequence every last gene, making full use of the state-of-the-art technologies coming on stream. Sequencing DNA means determining the order of the four chemical building blocks – called ...
Transformative Politics: The idea is to turn each recipient into an unwitting accomplice in their own transformation. From interested observer to hyped-up activist, sharing our messages promiscuously with ‘friends’. You’ll be part of an ever-expanding circulatory system, Jennifer, for the ideas that will win us the election.”JENNIFER SKITTERED her chair ...
The boycott is a fundamental tool of protest. By choosing who we buy from, we can send a message, and hopefully change corporate behaviour. Historically, boycotts have been effective, for example over apartheid in South Africa and Israel, in forcing divestment from Myanmar, and in ending bus segregation in the ...
Jan Rivers spoke at the Abortion Legislation Select Committee in favour of the bill, but in opposition to calls from other submitters to exchange the word ‘woman’ for ‘person’ throughout the bill. Jan is a supporter of the feminist group Speak Up For Women and has recently written an excellent ...
I checked my traffic stats:I was intrigued by 'monica29' - who was this very dedicated individual? I clicked on the link, to be greeted with ...Ho, hum.Spreadin' the word, spreadin' the word. Doesn't matter who hears it, as long as it gets out there. ...
There have been three polls since the election was announced, and I will shamelessly steal YouGov / UK Polling Report's Anthony Wells' summary of them:Survation – CON 34%, LAB 26%, LDEM 19%, BREX 12%, GRN 1% Ipsos MORI – CON 41%, LAB 24%, LDEM 20%, BREX 7%, GRN 3% YouGov ...
The following article is translated from Lutte Ouvrière, the weekly newspaper of the organisation usually known by the same name in France. When, for the second time this year, Chilean President Piñera announced an increase in the price of Metro tickets from 800 to 830 pesos, students in the high ...
Today, a worker contacted me asking if she could go to the police over her employer stealing thousands of dollars from her in unpaid wages. The employer also did not pay this worker’s taxes or student loan which amounts to tax fraud. As a workers rights activist, who founded the ...
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, They're Yours: Is there any person more vulnerable than a jilted lover on the rebound? Or, anything more certain than that the charmer, the predator, the glib spinner of lies and promises will seek such broken people out? Yes, of course, he will love every one of ...
Though Jonathan Romain is a fairly high profile Rabbi, writing in several papers and popping up on TV and the radio, this story doesn't seem to have made it to the Guardian yet, so I'll take the unusual step of linking the Stephen Pollard edited Jewish Chronicle:Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain ...
There's an election afoot, and that is when noted opinion formers such as myself get to make wild fools of ourselves by pretending we have the faintest idea what will happen.So, here is my absurdly optimistic prediction:Labour - 285Conservative - 262SNP - 53Lib Dems - 20PC - 5Ireland - 18 ...
Image Credit:Increase Social Media Traffic & Website Traffic I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your ...
Belinda CridgeI was reading my son a story last night. A great tale of derring-do of five mountaineers scaling the Matterhorn for the first time. One in the party had tried six times previously and failed, this was the last attempt before winter closed another season. They tried a ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First backs the public to decide on the End of Life Choice Bill via a referendum at the 2020 General Election. The Bill, with New Zealand First’s referendum provision incorporated, passed its final reading in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Justice New Zealand First is proud that a key Coalition Agreement commitment which will provide for a more transparent and effective criminal justice system has been realised. Legislation to establish the Criminal Cases Review Commission, an independent body focused on identifying and responding to possible miscarriages of ...
"Today we have made a choice that will leave a legacy... I hope that means that future generations will see that we, in New Zealand, were on the right side of history." - Jacinda Ardern, Third Reading of the Zero Carbon Bill ...
Darroch Ball, New Zealand First List MP A Member’s bill has been proposed that would provide income tax exemptions for all New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel while on operational deployment overseas. The Income Tax (Exemption for Salary or Wages of NZDF Members on Active Deployment) Amendment Bill proposed by New Zealand First ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have brought common sense to the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, which passed its final reading in Parliament today. Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters says months of hard work went into negotiating a balanced ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First has listened to calls to recognise paramedics as registered health professionals under the Health Practitioners’ Competence Assurance Act (the Act).Today, the Coalition Government announced plans for paramedics to be registered as health practitioners under the Act, and the establishment of a ...
We began the week by commemorating the New Zealand Wars and celebrating a major increase in the number of teachers. Then, we were busy supporting offenders into work and getting our rail back on track after years of underinvestment. And that's just the start! ...
In October I was sworn in as the Mayor of Lower Hutt.It’s the privilege of my life to serve Hutt people as their Mayor. There is something really special to be able to serve the community where I was raised, and where I live. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters met with Korea Racing Authority Chairperson Nak Soon Kim in Seoul today to discuss closer cooperation between the New Zealand and Korean horse racing industries. As part of the visit to the Seoul Racecourse, Mr Peters witnessed ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $10 million to establish Otago as the centre of New Zealand’s creative digital industry over the next ten years, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “The initiative will bring us closer to the vision of ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)’s skills and employment programme will help young Otago people into long-term forestry careers, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. Te Ara Mahi will invest $63,000 in the 2020 school year to support eight 17 and 18 ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will support local plans to revitalise and stimulate economic development opportunities in Otago, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The four Regional Economic Development Ministers have approved an in-principle investment of $19.9 million towards the region’s ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is pleased to have received the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) report on the Coalition Government’s Mycoplasma bovis eradication efforts, which shows significant progress in the fight against the disease. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, says the report’s findings ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Hon David Parker, Minister for Trade and Export Growth The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing to support economic growth opportunities for Otago’s engineering and manufacturing sectors, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Trade and Export Minister David Parker announced today. Almost $20 million ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters and his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, discussed in Seoul today opportunities to work more closely in the Pacific and the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Mr Peters and Minister Kang confirmed New Zealand and the ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Minister for Māori Development The three marae in the historic Parihaka Pa complex in Taranaki have been upgraded to high speed broadband with the support of the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Connecting the ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence Minister of Defence Ron Mark will today launch the Advancing Pacific Partnerships 2019 Defence Assessment during a speech at Te Papa. The Assessment outlines how Defence will partner with our Pacific Island neighbours and invest in Pacific regional security architecture. The Plan aligns with the Coalition ...
A new Provincial Growth Fund investment could create about 80 new jobs in Gisborne over the next two years, turning a local small business into a “beacon of employment” in the process. Regional Economic Development Parliamentary Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau said the PGF’s Te Ara Mahi funding stream would provide $1.6m ...
“The new Disability Action Plan 2019–2023 moves us towards the inclusive and accessible New Zealand that this government has committed to,” Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni announced today. “The Action Plan was designed by disabled people, their family and supporters, the disability sector and government agencies. It will ensure ...
Third Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting 14 November 2019 Joint Statement 1. Defence Ministers Ron Mark and Dr Ng Eng Hen today conducted their third annual Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore. 2. Building on the Enhanced Partnership signed between both countries in May this year, this annual meeting ...
A Bill to improve the court system’s response to sexual violence has passed its first reading in Parliament today. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Sexual Violence Legislation Bill will reduce the trauma sexual violence complainants experience in court, while maintaining defendants’ fundamental rights and making sure the trial process ...
Streamlined payment practices are a step closer for Kiwi businesses with the formal launch of New Zealand’s e-Invoicing framework. Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says the government has now established the structure to enable automated and direct data exchange between the accounting systems of buyers and sellers. “The move to ...
Another 51 quarantine officers and four new biosecurity detector dog teams will help protect New Zealand from invasive pests and diseases this summer, says Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor. “The Government is delivering on its commitment to strengthen New Zealand’s biosecurity system and support our valuable primary sector “New Zealand’s flora, fauna ...
A new report has found New Zealand’s space sector contributed $1.69 billion to the economy in the last financial year and employs 12,000 people, Minister for Economic Development Phil Twyford announced today. The report by Deloitte was commissioned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and shows New Zealand ...
Judge Coral Shaw has been appointed as the new Chair of the Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions, Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin announced today. "Judge Shaw, who is currently one of the inquiry commissioners, is extremely well qualified for the ...
The Government has confirmed its third major mental health facility upgrade since the Budget, this time at Palmerston North Hospital. The Prime Minister and Health Minister today visited MidCentral DHB to announce that $30 million has been allocated to upgrade its acute mental health facility. It follows earlier announcements in ...
The roll out of the National Bowel Screening Programme has reached the halfway mark, with 10 out of 20 District Health Boards now part of the programme. MidCentral DHB, which covers Palmerston North, Manawatu and surrounding districts, this week became the latest to DHB to offer free bowel screening to ...
The Government welcomes PHARMAC’s decision to fund a vaccine to protect young people from meningococcal disease from 1 December this year. “Meningococcal disease is a serious threat which people at higher risk should be protected from,” says Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter. “The combined pharmaceutical budget was increased by ...
Groups involved with innovative fisheries research projects are encouraged to apply for government support in the latest funding round from the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures programme. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash says the SFF Futures funding is designed to be flexible enough to support small or large projects across a ...
The Government has fixed an issue affecting how Immigration New Zealand has processed visa applications for culturally arranged marriages, which will now see a consistent process applied which ensures people with legitimate arranged marriages can visit New Zealand while also preventing any rorting of the system. Earlier this year Immigration ...
The Royal Commission into the Attacks on Christchurch Mosques will report back on 30 April 2020 to give it more time to hear submissions and consider information, Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The Royal Commission was originally scheduled to report back to Government by 10 December 2019. “There has ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Washington DC today to attend a ministerial meeting focused on defeating ISIS, and to continue pursuing New Zealand’s trade opportunities. Mr Peters will participate in a meeting of Foreign and Defence Ministers from key countries contributing to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. ...
The recently crowned Bird of the Year, the hoiho/yellow eyed penguin, is getting a much needed helping hand alongside more than 168 other community conservation projects announced Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage today. 168 community conservation projects throughout New Zealand are benefiting from $8 million in government grants, including $500,000 ...
Controls on assault rifles and semi-automatic firearms are to be broadened to include some types of pistols, under changes to a bill currently making its way through Parliament. Police Minister Stuart Nash has tabled a Supplementary Order Paper to the Arms Legislation Bill, which is currently before a Select Committee ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark will travel to Singapore today to conduct a counterpart visit and to co-chair the third annual Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting with his counterpart, Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen. “Singapore is one of our most important defence partners in the region, and our ...
Nelson’s Salisbury School is to be rebuilt, creating a modern and suitable learning environment for students at the residential special school, Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The school for girls aged 8-15, in Richmond, was earmarked for closure by National until the process ...
The panel undertaking a comprehensive review of the Resource Management Act has identified the main issues to be addressed and options for reform and is calling for feedback to inform its final report. In July the Government announced the comprehensive review of the resource management system, including the RMA - ...
An important safety valve has been added to New Zealand’s criminal justice system with the third reading of the Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill today. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) will investigate claimed miscarriages of justice. “We’ve seen how our justice system can very occasionally get things spectacularly wrong, ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters welcomes the tabling of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) 2019 Annual Report in Parliament today. He says the 2019 Annual Report marks the point when New Zealand’s racing industry’s decline was arrested and a turnaround started. RITA’s 2019 Annual Report recorded an industry net profit ...
The New Zealand Government is today sending 21 firefighters to help fight the ongoing catastrophic Australian bushfires. “The fires in Australia are in some of the toughest, most challenging conditions ever,” says Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin. “As of yesterday morning, there were 100 active bushfire-related incidents across Queensland and ...
More frontline support for schools through a new education agency, as part of a redesigned Ministry of Education More support for principals and school boards including through a new centre of leadership and local leadership advisor roles New independent disputes panels for parents and students Management of school property ...
The Government’s reform of the Tomorrow’s Schools system is a watershed moment in education and an opportunity to create meaningful change for ākonga Māori and their whānau, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis said today. “Last year through Kōrero Mātauranga | Education Conversation, Māori teachers, parents, ākonga, whānau, hapū and iwi ...
Infrastructure Minister is welcoming the first of many updated project pipelines from the newly established New Zealand Infrastructure Commission today. The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga, has released an expanded pipeline of major capital projects – another crucial step towards delivering better infrastructure outcomes. “The first iteration of the ...
Tougher gun laws designed to improve public safety through firearms prohibition orders are proposed in a new document released for public input. Police Minister Stuart Nash says firearms prohibition orders (FPOs) would give new powers to Police to ensure high-risk individuals come nowhere near firearms. “We have already prohibited the ...
Andy Coupe has been confirmed as TVNZ’s new Board Chair. “Mr Coupe has strong commercial and capital markets experience and TVNZ has benefited from his technical knowledge of business and finance, as well as his extensive governance experience,” the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Kris Faafoi said. Andy ...
Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter today officially opened a separated pathway, following the completion of the Kaiwharawhara Stream bridge, which will improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians along Hutt Road. The $6.8m Hutt Road project provides a separated path for cycling and pedestrians, the replacement of informal parking ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced the appointment of career diplomat Si’alei van Toor as New Zealand’s next Ambassador to Russia. “I’m pleased to appoint Ms van Toor to this position. She brings a wealth of experience to the role having previously served as Senior Trade Adviser to the ...
The Treasury’s 2019 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) will be released on Wednesday December 11, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Coalition Government will publish the 2020 Budget Policy Statement at the same time, outlining the priorities for Budget 2020. Further details on arrangements for the release will ...
A new initiative to better support small businesses through hands-on mentoring and advice has been launched by the Minister for Small Business. The first event in the Kiwi Business Boost series of regional workshops and online tools has been launched in Wairoa by Stuart Nash. “The Business Boost initiative combines ...
The latest Quarterly Connectivity Report shows that more and more New Zealanders are moving to Ultra-fast Broadband (UFB), with Rolleston having the highest uptake at 74 per cent, as at the end of September. “This means that nearly three quarters of Rolleston’s households and businesses have moved to ultra-fast services. ...
The passing of the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill will help ensure a safe planet for our kids and grandkids, the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw said today. The landmark legislation which provides a framework to support New Zealanders to prepare for, and adapt to, the effects ...
The review of Oranga Tamariki practice around the planned uplift of a Hastings baby in May shows significant failings by the Ministry and that the planned and funded changes to shift from a child crisis service to a proper care and protection service need to be accelerated, Children’s Minister Tracey ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins has wished students the best of luck for this year’s NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship exams which start tomorrow. Around 140,000 students will have participated in 119 NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship exams by the end of the exam period on 3 December. “I want to ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced the appointment of Bede Corry as New Zealand’s next High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. “The appointment of a senior diplomat to this important role underlines the significance New Zealand places on our relationship with the United Kingdom,” said Mr Peters. “The United ...
An innovative approach to boosting the number of frontline Police has seen 20 new officers graduate from one of the uncommon training wings in Auckland. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation of 20 constables today means that 1,765 new Police officers have been deployed since the coalition government took ...
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says the 1.2 million hours of community work completed by offenders in the last financial year has helped local communities right across the country. “Community work sentences are a great way for people to pay something positive back to society. There is a massive benefit to ...
"A pathway for Police in leadership with Iwi Māori, to achieve the aspirations of Māori whānau." Police launch of Te Huringa o Te Tai, Pipitea Marae, Thorndon Quay, Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou. Hello everyone, warm greetings to you all. ...
Working New Zealanders are getting more in their back pockets under the Coalition Government’s economic plan. Stats NZ data today shows average weekly ordinary time earnings are up by $83 since the Government took office. This shows that working New Zealanders are getting higher take-home pay, and that employers are ...
The Period Poverty Solution Petition: The Health and Wellbeing Implications was presented by the Positive Periods campaign team, of which The Period Place is a part of, at a cross-party breakfast, thanks to Louisa Wall MP and Joanne Hayes MP in Parliament ...
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s.This week on the Great Kiwi Bake Off, it’s all about weird biscuits. Savoury biscuits. Mushroomy biscuits. Biscuits about cross fit. Who had the best biscuit art of them all? Why is Trev ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tuffley, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & CyberSecurity, Griffith University Australia continues to experience unprecedented destruction from bushfires. Now is the time to harness our technological tools, and find innovative ways to help alleviate the problem, and also prevent future disaster. ...
The KickStart Breakfast programme will tomorrow celebrate 10-years as the only national breakfast programme of its kind in Aotearoa, serving more than 30 million breakfasts since 2009. ...
This is a rare public edition of The Bulletin World Weekly, an exclusive newsletter for The Spinoff Members that gets delivered every Thursday afternoon. Today’s edition focuses on the aftermath of Bolivian president Evo Morales being forced from office. Earlier in the week, the Bolivian president, Evo Morales, was forced out ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Tregear, Honorary Principal Fellow, University of Melbourne Review: Platform Papers 61: Criticism, Performance and the Need for Conversation, by Alison Croggon (Currency Press) “Pay no attention to what the critics say”, quipped the composer Jean Sibelius in 1937, because “there has ...
The recent decision to allow massive amounts of Otago’s Lindis River to be extracted for irrigation and intensive farming has been labelled environmental vandalism by a national angling organization. ...
Alex Casey goes on a journey to find out all there is to know about what a “normal” vulva looks like. Spoiler alert: there are many, many versions of normal. The funniest and most embarrassing thing anyone has ever said to me in my whole life happened during my very first ...
A political communications analyst says voters may be overwhelmed by the prospect of two referendums and a general election at the same time next year. ...
Auckland's booming industrial market is paying off for Goodman Property Trust (GMT), with a more than 10-fold increase in gains on the value its portfolio. ...
A review into Corrections' mail system identified multiple "deficiencies" and has recommended the department be given more powers to read, copy, and store letters coming in and out of prison. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Bushfires continue to burn across NSW and Queensland, the death toll has risen, and the damage to properties, wildlife and the environment is devastating. With conditions predicted to worsen over the summer, climate change has ...
New Chief Executive Dawn Baxendale says Christchurch City Council has moved swiftly to address concerns raised by the Chief Ombudsman about the organisation’s official information practices. ...
The Mental Health Foundation strongly opposes the introduction of armed police to Aotearoa New Zealand due to well-founded concerns that guns will disproportionately be used against individuals experiencing mental health crises. ...
The Chief Ombudsman says his latest report into official information practice at local authorities is a wakeup call for all council leaders about the importance of an open and transparent workplace culture-and their accountability for achieving ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Jade Tang-Taylor and Anna Guenther from Cheese Cartel.Cheese Cartel was the outcome of ...
An untimely leak to RNZ brought some clarity to the government’s plans for its media assets – yet left many questions unanswered. Duncan Greive analyses the latest revelations.RNZ’s flagship Morning Report programme today led its prime 7.10am slot with a bombshell about Radio New Zealand itself. Political editor Jane Patterson ...
The 2019 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards are just a few hours away and, believe it, we have reckons. Who will win? Who should win? Sam Brooks is ready for some prognosticating.It’s the biggest night in New Zealand music – the one that’s televised, the one that got (fake) Paula ...
The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry welcomes Judge Coral Shaw as its new Chairperson to lead it through the delivery phase of the Inquiry. Inquiry Executive Director Mervin Singham said Judge Shaw brings significant experience to her new ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jill Newby, Associate Professor and MRFF/NHMRC Career Development Fellow, UNSW It’s a busy day at the office and your left eye has been twitching uncontrollably. So, out of curiosity and irritation you Google it. Various benign causes — stress, exhaustion, too much ...
As whitebait season ends, Forest & Bird is calling for action to protect endangered native fish before it’s too late. Four of the fish species in the whitebait catch are in trouble. They are īnanga (at risk - declining), kōaro (at risk - declining), ...
The Prime Minister says doing nothing to address the challenges facing public broadcasting in New Zealand is not an option, after news of a proposal to replace RNZ and TVNZ. ...
A single public broadcaster would be "too powerful" and "bad for democracy", National leader Simon Bridges says, after news of a proposal to replace RNZ and TVNZ; ...
Thursday 14 November 2019 Independent review of prisoner mail management released The independent review into the prisoner mail system has today been released, with Corrections accepting all 13 recommendations and making a number of changes to strengthen ...
TVNZ boss Kevin Kenrick has moved quickly to reassure advertisers after this morning’s leak that the Government is considering setting up a new public service media organisation. ...
In the second part of our parenting series “What They Don’t Tell You”, Catherine Woulfe welcomes the daughter she fought for.The extremely strange thing about a planned c-section is that you get a text from the hospital booking in the birth, like it’s a dentist appointment. Text YES to confirm. Then ...
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that former Inspector Hurimoana Dennis unlawfully detained an Auckland teenager in 2015, and improperly influenced the outcome of a criminal investigation into his own son in 2014. Inspector Dennis ...
Police acknowledge the two reports released today by the Independent Police Conduct Authority in relation to misconduct by a now former Police officer and the unlawful detention of a young person. ...
A “best of luck” message should be extended to the good people of Tāneatua, who have waited patiently for a new police station. Our experience suggests that if or when they get their new police station, they should check the fine print regarding hours of operation. We make this suggestions ...
After Massey University in Wellington cancelled Feminism 2020 last month, the controversial event has found a new home in the parliament banquet hall. The controversial Feminism 2020 event cancelled last month by Massey University is scheduled to be held instead in the parliamentary banquet hall this Friday night. Billed as “the ...
The Migrant Workers Association says it is wrong to ask immigration officials to treat couples in culturally arranged marriages differently from other partnership cases. ...
A single public broadcaster would be too powerful and bad for democracy, National leader Simon Bridges says, after news of a proposal to replace RNZ and TVNZ. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ward, PhD candidate, University of Sydney The ABC has announced it will not provide live radio coverage of the Olympics for the first time in 67 years for budgetary reasons, and because Australians now have the “increased ability to access Olympics ...
For Amy Russell, ceasing deforestation of her lower limbs was a declaration of independence.When I wrote on The Spinoff recently about going barefoot everywhere, and then about being a fat runner, I got a lot more positive feedback than I expected, and a lot less criticism. So I thought clearly ...
Lecretia Seales would have been "incredibly proud" of last night's End of Life Choice vote, her husband says, while doctors continue to voice their opposition. ...
Dr Susan Wardell, a His Dark Materials fan who grew up to be a social anthropologist, reviews the much-anticipated sort-of sequel, The Secret Commonwealth.Is the world fundamentally dead, or alive? Philip Pullman asks in this new book, a thinly-veiled philosophical interrogation of “progressive thinking”. The book is rich in both human ...
The newly launched Sustainable New Zealand Party’s first and biggest challenge is to prove that it is in fact sustainable, and not just another flash in the new party pan. ...
The fate of RNZ and TVNZ may soon be in the hands of Cabinet ministers; and the chair of the Medical Association says it will be difficult to put safeguards in place to prevent people from being subtlety coerced into euthanasia. ...
New Zealanders now have the casting vote on whether to make euthanasia legal, after Parliament voted 69 votes to 51 in favour of the End of Life Choice Bill. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Euthanasia Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Euthanasia bill proves there’s power in a party-of-one Sam Sachdeva ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sally Wasef, Postdoctoral research fellow, Griffith University These days, not many Aussies consider the ibis a particularly admirable creature. But these birds, now colloquially referred to as “bin chickens” due to their notorious scavenging antics, have a grandiose and important place in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ward, PhD candidate, University of Sydney The ABC has announced it will not provide live radio coverage of the Olympics for the first time in 67 years for budgetary reasons, and because Australians now have the “increased ability to access Olympics ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip Mosley, Research Fellow, Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting one in 350 Australians. It’s caused by the loss of cells deep within the brain that produce a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Degeneration ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael James Walsh, Assistant Professor Social Science, University of Canberra The concept of “home” refers to more than bricks and mortar. Just as cities are more than buildings and infrastructure, our homes carry all manner of emotional, aesthetic and socio-cultural significance. Our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lin Crase, Professor of Economics and Head of School, University of South Australia The deal to crank up Adelaide’s desalination plant to make more water available to farmers in the drought-stricken Murray-Darling Basin makes no sense. It involves the federal government paying ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona Andreallo, Lecturer in digital culture, University of Sydney When thinking of sexbots, companionship might not be the first word that comes to mind. But sexbot advertising promises more than sex toys. It is also selling emotional intimacy: robots marketed as if ...
Ahead of the 50 Shades of Green march on parliament today, Jon Pemberton – chairman of the Ag Proud NZ Trust – urges members of the rural community to avoid confrontation and focus on rebuilding the relationship with our urban friends. “Ag Proud NZ understands ...
Paula Bennett and Anne Tolley are financially off the hook after Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters accepted they did not leak his private information. ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Another unexpected OCR move, NZ First Foundation donations under scrutiny, and End of Life Choice bill passes pending referendum.Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr seems intent on giving as many surprises as possible with the OCR. After slashing it in August when it was ...
The fate of RNZ and TVNZ may soon be in the hands of Cabinet ministers, with a proposal to disestablish both broadcasters and create an entirely new public media entity. ...
Electricity retailing is about to be changed by artificial intelligence and the move away from fossil fuels. Watch a video interview with Simply Energy's Murray Dyer. ...
Open mike 21/01/2015 
Open mike is your post.
Farmers held a hate-march on Parliament today, complete with MAGA hats, gun-nut signs, and gendered insults. While supposedly about a grab-bag of issues - including, weirdly, mental health - it was clear that the protest was about one thing, and one thing only: climate change. And specifically, forestry "destroying" rural ...12 hours ago
Recently more than 150 post-graduate students and young scientists presented an open letter to the Green Party via The Spinoff, encouraging them to reconsider their position on genetic modification. Their target is tackling climate change issues.[1] Can any party continue to be dismissive about genetic modification (GM) contributing to ...21 hours ago
by Deirdre O’Neill Under Thatcher and then Blair and continuing up until our contemporary moment, the working class has seen its culture slowly and progressively destroyed. The change from an industrial society to a service society produced a marked shift in focus from the working class as the backbone of ...1 day ago
It seems fair to say that we currently live in a problematic political moment in world history. Democracies are in decline and dictatorships are on the rise. Primordial, sectarian and post-modern divisions have re-emerged, are on the rise or have been accentuated by political evolutions of the moment such as ...2 days ago
by The Council of Disobedient Women In her excellent oral submission to the Abortion reform select committee on 31st October on behalf of Otago University’s Department of Public Health, historian and public health researcher Hera Cook stated: “We would ask that the committee not use the term ‘pregnant persons’ and ...2 days ago
Distract And Divert: The rise of what we have come to call “Identity Politics” represents the ideological manifestation of the ruling class’s objective need to destroy class politics, and of the middle-class’s subjective need to justify their participation in the process.THE RELIEF of the ruling class can only be imagined. ...3 days ago
3 days ago
If FFNZ really put their faith in “Top Medical Journals” they would now be amending their billboards to recognise new research results. Image from FFNZ but updated to agree with the latest research. ... 5 days ago
And to think he gave all the potential goodwill away with that moronic, cult-like statement (repeated ad nauseam by many National hardliners) that Key is quite simply “the greatest PM we ever had”…
Installation complete: this was nothing ... 1 week ago
Today, a worker contacted me asking if she could go to the police over her employer stealing thousands of dollars from her in unpaid wages. The employer also did not pay this worker’s taxes or student loan which amounts to tax fraud. As a workers rights activist, who founded the ...2 weeks ago
Image Credit: Increase Social Media Traffic & Website Traffic I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your ... 2 weeks ago
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First backs the public to decide on the End of Life Choice Bill via a referendum at the 2020 General Election. The Bill, with New Zealand First’s referendum provision incorporated, passed its final reading in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for ...19 hours ago
"Today we have made a choice that will leave a legacy... I hope that means that future generations will see that we, in New Zealand, were on the right side of history." - Jacinda Ardern, Third Reading of the Zero Carbon Bill ...6 days ago
“The new Disability Action Plan 2019–2023 moves us towards the inclusive and accessible New Zealand that this government has committed to,” Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni announced today. “The Action Plan was designed by disabled people, their family and supporters, the disability sector and government agencies. It will ensure ...9 hours ago
The dairy farmers who celebrated an historic court victory against the ANZ Bank earlier this year, have learned the fight isn’t over yet. ...25 seconds ago
Chloe Swarbrick's 'OK Boomer' aside in Parliament has a serious message behind it ...25 seconds ago
Legislation aimed at making it easier for sexual violence victims to testify in court has passed its first reading today in Parliament. ...9 hours ago
National has proved it can’t be trusted on our climate or other environmental challenges. ...10 hours ago
In an over-stretched funding environment an more DHB-affiliated charities are plugging the holes. ...11 hours ago
The Period Poverty Solution Petition: The Health and Wellbeing Implications was presented by the Positive Periods campaign team, of which The Period Place is a part of, at a cross-party breakfast, thanks to Louisa Wall MP and Joanne Hayes MP in Parliament ...11 hours ago
It is economic necessity, not moral imperative, driving the Asian superpower's climate action - but others will benefit nonetheless. ...12 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tuffley, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & CyberSecurity, Griffith University Australia continues to experience unprecedented destruction from bushfires. Now is the time to harness our technological tools, and find innovative ways to help alleviate the problem, and also prevent future disaster. ...12 hours ago
The space sector has contributed almost $1.7 billion to New Zealand's economy in the past financial year. ...12 hours ago
This is a rare public edition of The Bulletin World Weekly, an exclusive newsletter for The Spinoff Members that gets delivered every Thursday afternoon. Today’s edition focuses on the aftermath of Bolivian president Evo Morales being forced from office. Earlier in the week, the Bolivian president, Evo Morales, was forced out ...12 hours ago
The race is on as synthetics suppliers and manufacturers move to undetectable chemical compounds. ...14 hours ago
Auckland's booming industrial market is paying off for Goodman Property Trust (GMT), with a more than 10-fold increase in gains on the value its portfolio. ...14 hours ago
A highly paid Transport Agency senior manager's team has tripled in size in a year, with most of the spots taken by contractors, documents show. ...14 hours ago
A single public broadcaster would be "too powerful" and "bad for democracy", National leader Simon Bridges says, after news of a proposal to replace RNZ and TVNZ; ...16 hours ago
TVNZ boss Kevin Kenrick has moved quickly to reassure advertisers after this morning’s leak that the Government is considering setting up a new public service media organisation. ...17 hours ago
A “best of luck” message should be extended to the good people of Tāneatua, who have waited patiently for a new police station. Our experience suggests that if or when they get their new police station, they should check the fine print regarding hours of operation. We make this suggestions ...17 hours ago
Sanford's full year profit has failed to meet expectations as the company says climate change is the biggest risk it faces to its business. ...17 hours ago
The housing market's revival continues with the national median house price ticking over $600,000 for the first time. ...18 hours ago
Mysterious foundation loaning New Zealand First money; and Auckland ports' move to Whangarei: explained ...20 hours ago
New Zealand’s MPs yesterday stepped towards history as they debated the bill, which would hand the final decision on assisted dying to the public. ...20 hours ago
The fate of RNZ and TVNZ may soon be in the hands of Cabinet ministers; and the chair of the Medical Association says it will be difficult to put safeguards in place to prevent people from being subtlety coerced into euthanasia. ...20 hours ago
New Zealand baggage handling equipment maker Glidepath has been sold to a French company. ...21 hours ago
Philip Matthews celebrates two remarkble - and remarkably different - portraits of the great Colin McCahon. ...22 hours ago
Electricity retailing is about to be changed by artificial intelligence and the move away from fossil fuels. Watch a video interview with Simply Energy's Murray Dyer. ...23 hours ago
Arranged marriages where partners had the freedom to say no may not be included under a new partnership visa fix. Dileepa Fonseka explains. ...23 hours ago
“..Can Medical Marijuana Curb Heroin Addiction?..” (ed:..i can confirm the answer to that is ‘yes’..)
“..New research shows that medical marijuana states have lower opiate overdose rates.
Maybe it’s time to consider pot as a substitute for smack..”
(ed:..i was addicted to heroin for approx. 15 yrs..
..and cannabis was of great assistance in helping me kick/shed that addiction..(i have not used heroin for longer than i was addicted to it..)
..and i think medical-cannabis should be offered to anyone trying to kick anything..
..and no..i went nowhere near that vile muck..methadone..)
(cont..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2015/can-medical-marijuana-curb-heroin-addiction-ed-i-can-confirm-the-answer-to-that-is-yes/
“..A year after marijuana legalisation in Colorado – ‘everything’s fine’ – confirm police..
..Not only has the legalisation of cannabis not come with a rise in crime –
– it has also created thousands of jobs –
– as tourists flock to the city’s 60+ marijuana outlets.
A local newspaper even appointed its first cannabis critic in April.
‘So the sky isn’t falling?’ a CBC reporter asked the officer.
“The sky isn’t falling” he replied.
Impaired driving – property crime – and violent crime were all dropping in Denver prior to legalisation –
– and the trend has only continued.
Even drug use among young people is down – the report claims..”
(cont..)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/a-year-after-marijuana-legalisation-in-colorado-everythings-fine-confirm-police-9989723.html
now..’cannabis-critic’..
..that is a job i wd feel qualified to do..
“..How 3D printing and land reform could help to solve the housing crisis..” (ed:..why are there no discussions of this ilk here in nz..?..why is tearing up the environmental-protections contained in the resource management act the only ‘solution’ this brain-dead/imagination-free government can come up with..?..)
:..and the small-house movement..?..
..they apparently have not heard of that either..
..now..3d-printing ‘small’ houses in well-planned clusters..?..)
(cont..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2015/how-3d-printing-and-land-reform-could-help-to-solve-the-housing-crisis-ed-why-are-there-no-discussions-of-this-ilk-here-in-nz-why-is-tearing-up-the-environmental-protections-contained-i/
Phil, went to a couple of affordable housing meetings, and realised that they were all still talking about more of the same, and just affordable to build.
If you are interested in the tiny house movement and other alternatives have a look at these links.
We The Tiny House People – film by Kirsten Diksen (who has a Youtube channel)
Jay Schaffer from theTumbleweed Tiny House Company: speaks on The Politics of Tiny Houses
Dan Phillips (Ted Talk) from the for-profit business of Phoenix Commotion that uses recycled materials and unskilled labour to build and teach at the same time. His workforce then have the ability to work for others or to build their own low-cost dwelling.
Texas Tiny Houses – works of art that you can easily transport and live in.
Japanese design of small houses
There are many looking at alternatives but at personal decision levels, not official ones. In Auckland, a young couple have blogged their projects.
We had a look at the 3D printing a while ago, but remain attached to the use of good design for site, and the use of local materials. As part of our home ed curriculum we are accumulating materials to build a small cob building for a project.
If we ever finish it will post link.
@ molly..chrs 4 that..
..if u go to this link..
http://tinyhouselistings.com/?utm_source=New+Properties&utm_campaign=978d83a785-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN+%28New+Tiny+House+Listings%29&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_548c403727-978d83a785-291537637
you can sign up for a cool newsletter..
Thanks, phil.
Bingo!!!
Actually, that both right and wrong but mostly wrong. When it comes down to it we have an energy budget that equates to the present sustainable rate of generation. We need to know this information so that we can then choose where that budget is spent. The pricing model is supposed to do this but it’s actually terrible at it as it drives a significant minority into not having access to that resource. We see this in people not being able to pay their power bills and/or having enough food to eat despite there being enough of food and power for them to have both.
And back to the failed must make land available demand.
I’m all for people building their own homes but we need to encourage them to build high density in already built up areas while we work to return land back to its natural state.
Thanks Draco.
Agree with your final statement. That’s why I’m so keen on cohousing. The residents are not necessarily the builders but they are the developers and as such they get to create their own design. The majority of designs will cluster the homes and design for one big carpark on the edge.
The lack of ‘dead space’ between houses, and area gain through no driveways or separate parking release land to be utilised for shared spaces including regeneration of natural habitats if that is what is decided upon.
That option is not available to lower-middle income owners of standard homes on small sections, whether they build or not.
Mr Little on tv3 this morning asked about whether a drought should be declared got caught completely flat footed and decided to take the just flap his lips and hope something good flies out of his mouth approach. 3/10
Oh for goodness sake, b waghorn. Andrew Little doesn’t have to know everything and dairying in the south – Canterbury – or wherever is a stupid thing to be doing in such a well known dry place.
to people in rural centres everywhere it is a signal as to whether Labour keeps track of and cares about the very basics of what is happening to the farming sector. The answer unfortunately, remains “No”
People farming in the Waikato or Bay of Plenty will be very aware of what farmers are facing further down south currently and will note that Little does not.
Good to hear Andrew Little is out and about, although the general sense or impression I have had is that ‘Labour’ is on summer holiday.
Am I right? Do please correct me, otherwise.
Labour has Damien O’Connor who is well regarded in farming circles maybe they should have him at the front of all things rural . I know he upset a few with his gaggle of gays comments but onwards and upwards
Yes it is rather astounding what we humans will do at times – fly completely in the face of nature and history… only to get swatted down like a fly some time later and then act all surprised …..
… good example in exactly this region was the windstorms about a year ago which upturned and wrecked countless irrigators etc across Canterbury. When dairy turned up in Canterbury and all the hedgerows were being taken out to allow the irrigator machines to meander across vast flat paddocks many old-timers said “oh woe, you watch you silly people, the winds will return and you will rue the day you laid waste to these hedgerows..”
and lo, the winds returned, screaming down the Rakaia and the Rangitata, and instead of screaming over their heads at the height of hedgerows itr screamed at grass height level, destroying all in its path ….
manwomankind eh? Never learns. Plain silly. Same with investing into reliance on water being pumped and drained and spread onto land by electric and mechanical means – the risk of failure is high …
1000% VTO good analogy.
Watched a good water documentary that outlined the creation of the dustbowl in the US.
Good old Little House on the Prairie approach to farming, saw acres of natural grasslands burnt off so that they could access the fertile soil beneath. Of course the grasslands held the moisture and nutrients and a natural balance of growth, decay and regeneration was occurring. After a few decades of cropping, with more topsoil lost every year, they reached a point where there was nothing left.
Just dry dust, and high winds.
Hi Molly. I watched a doco about the dust bowl of the 1930’s. They interviewed some families of the Oklahoma Pan handle who grew up in that time. Most of the family members interviewed, now well into in their senior years, were forced off their land due to their impoverished state and made the long journey to California, where they were referred to as “Okies”
I can’t remember what the doco was called but I wonder if it was the same one.
Lessons from that era:
Trust the wisdom of the indigenous people of the plains – the land was unsuitable for cropping. They knew the food yields from that land were low, so that land was never permanently settled.
If you’re promised a quick easy buck but it looks too good to be true it probably is.
Don’t fight nature, she will always win. Prevent an economic and environmental catastrophe by only using the most appropriate resources in the most respectful and sustainable ways.
Did we learn? No.
Rosie, like you I can’t remember the name but it was an eight part series on either Prime or TVNZ7 a few years back. If anyone else remembers it and knows the name I’d appreciate it.
It also reasoned that one of the most credible reasons for some of the abandoned cities of antiquity was the loss of renewal water systems , and showed how some were trying to re-establish the underground quanats of Iran and Persia, when the NGO well-systems and pumps were failing due to the depletion of fossilised water and lack of parts and service for pumping mechanisms.
I did a super quick google but couldn’t find it. It was a doco we downloaded maybe two (?) years ago. It didn’t discuss the underground aquifers of ancient Persia however, (although we did watch a BBC doco about that) so it can’t be the same one.
Qanats. Those were pretty damn freaky as an engineering feat
One of the best is The Dustbowl by Ken Burns.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dust_Bowl_(film)
Yep Molly, the lesson was right there in front of us – the dust bowl of the 1930’s mid-west ……
why was it not heeded? human lust for money and capacity for blinker-wearing is what I put it down to ….
gotta be one of mankind’s most consistent traits… worth betting a dollar on, are those traits.
vto, true.
And even if you had trillions of dollars, they would not be able to restore water to depleted fossil water sources, or refreeze the glaciers, or even grow a full grown kauri in ten years.
There is a complete lack of reciprocity in thinking that you can continue to take without replenishment… and sheer arrogance to believe that you should.
QFT
As I say, our economic system is uneconomic. It merely takes without even considering how long that taking can last never mind renewing what’s been taken.
Yep. Easter Island here we come ………
+100%
Very sad but too true.
It is crazy to put dairy farms in known drought-prone areas.
Dairy farms need huge amounts of water and most of Canterbury is unsuitable. Not only that, but droughts in Canterbury are predicted to become more frequent in coming years thanks to climate change.
This has been known for some time, yet farmers were encouraged to convert to dairy and put in irrigation. It cost a fortune, and with all the interest on the loans going to Australian banks, there is is no benefit to the NZ economy.
+100 Karen….and people dont seem to realise, or ignore the fact that aquifers are finite and that water taken out of the ground or from rivers at one point …always affects those farmers further down stream…whether by the rivers drying up or the underground aquifers being depleted
…drinking water nitrate poisoning is also a result for local populations (eg. ‘blue baby syndrome’ warnings to South Island mothers)
….not only this , the the cost to tourism by environmental degradation and trashing of our rivers for fishing and recreation and aesthetics is enormous..overseas visitors are NOT impressed
France designates what crops/farming/ vineyards are suitable for the local natural terroir/environments …and legislates accordingly….New Zealand under John Key Nact has a slash and burn approach to natural resources…..and the environment is being trashed …this is New Zealand’s greatest economic resource
San Joaquin Valley sinking as groundwater stores are depleted
How much is the land in Southland sinking as the farmers pump out more and more water?
And note this, from that article;
“But unlike other Western states, California has no state standards for groundwater management. Instead, responsibility rests with a patchwork of local and regional entities where oversight varies from careful monitoring and allocation in some places to little or no control elsewhere.”
And in NZ we have this right wing government foisting the same on rural regions of NZ, moving control of our resources from central to local authority. Local authority in NZ regions where this happens is controlled by farmers who simply get distracted by the lure of money.
We have the exact same thing
I’ve been wondering whether the canterbury climate would be ok for olives.
One of the best decisions NZers made was looking at what grew in similar climates to their locality in the northern hemisphere, and applying kiwi ingenuity to the production – now our wine industry is a bulwark for rural areas.
Canterbury was traditionally sheep and wheat. Olives could work in some areas, I guess, but may need a longer summer.
The main thing is you need crops that are deep rooting if you get regular droughts. The surface soil gets dried up very quickly without regular rain. Cutting down the shelter belts has made the problem worse as the wind dries up the topsoil, and eventually will blow it away.
Just looked at Olives NZ website and it seems olives are already being grown in Canterbury by a few farmers.
http://www.olivesnz.org.nz
cheers for that
I have know problem with him not being across every topic but he could of said something like’ I haven’t been breifed on that get back to me tomorrow ‘
Honesty is a good policy I believe
+1
I would much rather hear that than an attempt to disguise a lack of knowledge. That’s the first thing I teach students to stop doing, but in this world of consultants and spin merchants, it’s not easy.
“Mr Little on tv3 this morning asked about whether a drought should be declared got caught completely flat footed and decided to take the just flap his lips and hope something good flies out of his mouth approach. 3/10”
And for those of us that didn’t see it, what exactly did he do or say?
Bumbled around a bit and said something about the wairarapa being dry .
“Mr Little on tv3 this morning asked about whether a drought should be declared got caught completely flat footed and decided to take the just flap his lips and hope something good flies out of his mouth approach. 3/10”
Mr Waghorn had not had his morning coffee and was completely flatfooted when the Labour Leader talked competently about the effect of the extended hot weather on farms. 3/10
Actual interview here:
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/fed-farmers-drought-an-overused-word-2015012111#axzz3PQF4Qp4v
Little starts speaking (perfectly well) from about the 5 minute mark.
Did you see the actual interview? He’s lucky old what’s his name that was asking the questions is not one of those go for the throat reporters .
Yes, I did. I linked to it and specified when his interview started! The question is, have you? Y’know, with your eyes open. Little does fine, there isn’t a damn thing wrong with his response. What are you on?
I’ve watched it and have no idea what you are talking about. Seemed okay to me. Not dynamic, but perfectly adequate..
@ te reo putake I just watched that clip now I don’t have very hot short term momery but I’m sure that clip was very kindly edited as he didn’t start his reply with the wairarapa comments.
If you can prove that was the start of his interview on the clip you posted I’ll humbly apologize.
Watch the whole clip. It’s the entire segment, including the first five minutes with the bloke from fed farms. Then the interviewer introduces Little and says “Good morning and happy new year to you” then directly moves to asking about the drought. No cut, no edit. Straight to the question about the drought.
Your word is not proof they are very good at there job these tech people.
Could it be you’re running a cover defence.
mr waghorn, as a farmer I was wondering if you could answer a question related to the issue of inappropriate farming of land in places like Canterbury discussed above
why don’t farmers stay within the boundaries of their land and farm with the resources that exist there?
Why do they bring water from elsewhere? Why do they dump their waste elsewhere? Why do they bring fertiliser from elsewhere?
Why don’t they farm sustainably on the land they have? In other words, use the soil they have, the rain that falls on their land and the sun that shines on their land? Plant and raise what will grow and raise within the conditions on their land?
Why do they go elsewhere and upset the balance of nature? Why do they not live within the means of the particular land?
Because in not doing so the environment is being thrown all out of kilter and having a great vomit over all of us in return. Serious question – why do farmers not farm within the bounds of the land they occupy?
edit: aware that some do, reference is to those that don’t (being the vast majority)
That’s a lot to lay on a lowly Shepherd but I’ll have a crack.
Humans buy there nature are mostly greedy and self serving and given free riegn seem to be ‘future eaters’ I believe the term is, be it do’dos Moas or the earths resources.
My understanding of fertilizer is that at the end of ww2 they had great big munitions factories that were turned to a new use then the marketing came with it. I personally have no problem fertilizer use or irrigation done right ,
As for cantubury it sounds like a recipe for failure gambling on being able to store enough water to sustain dairy I milked cows 20 years ago and man those girls go through the water. I heard a story 4 or so years ago about a farmer not needing all his water allocation so he sold it to his neighbour for a healthy profit it makes my guts burn to think about that still.
NZ farming was made strong buy our low input farming, sheep and beef farming is still mainly that way.
Thanks, good stuff. I think you’re second sentence is the one – it is a large part of human nature to want more and more and those resources external to the particular farm have simply been available for the taking. Particularly in colonised countries and particularly following widespread mechanisation, both of which have made that taking even easier.
Those external resources have been there for the taking so they have been taken. It has been simple to do so and the upside has been enormous, so why wouldn’t a person take them?
As per exchange last night – it is in our nature to do so, with little regard for the future. Just hope we wake up and learn before it is too late because, as we are rapidly learning, the reaction of the earth to all of that taking has been and continues to be one huge vomit …. all over us
shame this national party government and its supporters continue this practice of simple unsustainable greedy taking. shame shame shame
Nah, fair enough, pal. As you suspect, I’m running cover and the techies at TV3 have edited the clip just to make you look like a tosser. Still great discussion about fertilser with VTO. It’s clearly an area you’re familiar with 🙂
Don’t want to go on about this, but as someone who has considerable experience in editing for TV I can assure you there was no edit in the clip of Andrew Little going from Happy New Year to talking about the Wairarapa. Memory is a strange thing – my guess was you were a bit frustrated that he didn’t deal with this subject particularly well (I would agree with this to some extent) and this was reflected in how you remembered the interview.
No reflection on you at all. I think we all do this at times.
@ b waghorn.
Actually, Andrew Little spoke well regarding the drought as well as about the Oxfam inequality report AND the RMA and the housing issue AND the coming Ratana celebrations.
This is what he said about the drought problem that the government is reluctant to acknowledge:
“Certainly from what I’ve seen, and I was in the Wairarapa in the weekend, it is intensely dry,” he said on Firstline this morning.
“I think what has happened this season, although there was a fair amount of moisture in the period just before Christmas, it has dried out very quickly. It looks to me like it is going to continue.
“I don’t know what the tests are that the ministry applies, but when you hear news of farmers now rapidly destocking and the land’s as dry as it is, I would have thought there was a case there to look closely at it, and to provide whatever assistance is available to farmers.”
“Without assistance, farmers run the risk of not being able to pay their staff and prepare adequately for the winter”, says Mr Little.
“We’ve been through periods like this before, so you know that it’s going to come to an end at some point but you want to assist the farmers through a very difficult time, make sure that they can continue to pay their staff and keep their outgoings going until the moisture comes back, the grass and crops can return and they can get their livestock going again and start generating an income.”
b waghorn, watch that interview here again. You were wrong in your post!
Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/fed-farmers-drought-an-overused-word-2015012111#ixzz3PR3Ko9f5
Been through this with TRP above as I said if you can prove that your clip is not edited I will eat all the humble pie you wish to serve.
Not sure what you mean by ‘clip is edited’. Edited by who? Labour party or TV3?….Unless, the first report you saw was incomplete or faulty and TV3 rectified it later. I don’t know. What time was the interview? Did you watch it live on TV or on demand on their website later? or are you implying that TV3 re-did a freah interview all over again?
I watched just after 7 am the interview started with happy new year then when asked whether a drought should be declared Little looked a bit lost mumbled a few things the wairarapa comment wasn’t the 1 st thing out of his mouth.
I lost interest a bit after that because I despise poly s pissing in my ear. All I want is a straight shooter and looking at Murray Raw sharks comment in this thread that makes at least 2 of us.
Ok. I am not doubting what you say or what you thought you saw, but you did not address all the questions I put. [Not sure what you mean by ‘clip is edited’. Edited by who? Labour party or TV3?….Unless, the first report you saw was incomplete or faulty and TV3 rectified it later. I don’t know or are you implying that TV3 re-did a freah interview all over again?]
I have no problem you taking any politician to task, including little, as long as it is accurate and fair.
What you claim is puzzling, based on the following link!
Take a look again to see if it jogs your memory because you say you ‘lost interest a bit’.
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/fed-farmers-drought-an-overused-word-2015012111#ixzz3PR3Ko9f5
Often on three news in the am you get a live interview with some one and then that interview gets tidied up and used later in the show .
If 3 wants to be kind to Little that’s awesome in my books hopefully it means the end of the liar key is on its way.
I’d be gobsmacked if tv3 started even editing interviews in a neutral manner.
A year or two back I was gobsmacked when comparing the edited reports with the raw footage of the lobby questions: key and the Labour leader had about the same level of placeholders, hesitations, and equivocations/corrections in the raw footage. Of course, when it came to the edited version on polly was all ums and ahs and hesitant 4sec sound bites, and the other polly got longer to expand on an idea at 10sec a time. Guess which way around it went 🙂
To be fair, bw, I have seen a lot worse than what Little did in that interview. I would have given him 5/10. Mediocre performance.
I didn’t see this since I have better things to do in the morning than watch breakfast TV but one thing I do know is that if Mr Little was caught out this morning he won’t be tomorrow morning.
(this is an interesting development..
..and something the labour party should grasp with both hands..)
“..Democrats Take on Wall Street – With Financial Transactions Tax..”
..The House Democratic Party leadership made a remarkable step forward last week –
– in putting out a proposal for a financial transactions tax (FTT)..”
(cont..)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dean-baker/democrats-take-on-wall-st_b_6503730.html
“Roger, Rafa and Novak would play anywhere for money. No wonder each man is sponsored by a bank”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/opinion/65231157/reason-tennis-stars-like-federer-nadal-and-djokovic-only-care-about-cash-not-fans
Talk of a by election in the Northland seat grows stronger. Looks like Nationals Mike Sabin is heading out the backdoor, which has me thinking.
I would like to see a different approach taken by the main opposition party’s. A primary contest amongst themselves with the wining candidate becoming the sole electorate candidate running off against the National puppet. The losers are party vote only and endorse the candidate who won the primary. It wouldn’t cost much and not too hard to work a voting structure, proportionate to members plus a cross party voting panel. A couple of hustings and then the major husting with pre and on the day voting. Certainly gain new members for the party’s and a good deal of public interest, local and natiional. Be a great shakedown for future contests.
that’s a good idea..
@Skinny:
Better would be for the Greens not to stand a candidate and suggest their supporters vote Labour. (I voted Green in September).
This is because if Sabin loses to Labour and Dunne refuses to back the RMA reforms then they are stymied again with only 59 Nats and 1 Act equals 60 votes versus 61 against. This is important and the Greens really should try to throw the seat to Labour for this reason alone.
Well explained Beaded Git,
About time we had straight talk about how the opposition MUST work together to defeat this evil empire we have wrecking our future.
After all it is in the collective interests of all opposition to reduce the majority of the wrecking ball operators, to reduce their devastation.
No best candidate wins the chance to topple the National patsy. Wouldn’t it be great if Peters stood against his sworn enermy Sabin, under my proposed scenario Peters would almost certainly get the nod and a much better tally of the overall vote free of vote splitting.
That is another option Skinny. Lab and Gr would have to hold their noses but…61-60 on some issues sounds good to me.
A novel idea!
Not sure about the logistics of it. I didn’t clearly understand what you meant ‘It wouldn’t cost much and not too hard to work a voting structure, proportionate to members plus a cross party voting panel. A couple of hustings and then the major husting with pre and on the day voting.”
Personally, it would be great if Labour, Greens, NZF agree to endorse Hone Harawira as the joint electorate candidate under the mana banner.
Mana is never going to get back into parliament. Hone blew it and frankly couldn’t pull enough votes from Maori outside of his own Rohe. Too much of a loose cannon is the general view of Maori I know.
@ skinny..i think harawira in part ‘blew it’..with/by his reactionary attitudes towards cannabis..
here i make that case..
comment@whoar:..did wrong-footing it on cannabis cost harawira the election..?..and will he/mana make the same mistakes again in 2017..?
ed:..the more i have been thinking about it..
..the more i think harawiras’ reactionary attitudes to cannabis..
..and the tantrum he threw to kill the internet party campaign to drive support for ending prohibition..
..and the attendant publicity around that..
..would have gone a long way towards causing him to lose his seat..
..and i wd submit could be cited as a main reason for that unfortunate outcome..
..(cont..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/commentwhoar-did-wrong-footing-it-on-cannabis-cost-harawira-the-election-and-will-hemana-make-the-same-mistakes-again-in-2017/
Yes I tend to agree Phil. His attack on pot was stupid when you consider the poor he represents, the simple pleasure is one of the few treats they enjoy. And for those living on a substance income a little cash crop tops up their income. I once held a high leadership position when Mana first formed, spurred on by my Leftie mates. I found Hone too alpha male and it annoyed me that he frowned on my smoking. Helped signal my moving on.
I thought of all people, Hone would appreciate the illogic of youg Maori being dragged though the court for having an ounce of pot in them…
I’ve read your case but it seems to me to be drawing a pretty long bow.
As you state your impassioned advocacy at the meeting ‘turned’ it – that shows open minds not closed ones. Sure we all know Hone doesn’t rate cannabis, he never has and whilst it is easy to say, “hey mate get with the program” it is also valid to have different views, even strongly different views.
We are all coloured by our experiences – you, me, skinny, Hone and although we may have had nothing but positive, uplifting contact with weed – many haven’t – and that could be due to the illegality of the activity and the heaviness of the state – doesn’t matter, it is there. And we know that some who smoke just really struggle with it, should keep away from it, not really for them – for all sorts of reasons. And those that do get caught and sentenced end up in that unforgiving environment with all of the ‘ruboff’ that occurs and they come out – some good, some bad and some ugly.
I don’t see the election loss as coming down to this issue – mistakes were made, big ones and made by Hone and others. The PTB wanted Mana (and Hone) gone especially after the hook up with the Internet party and they used all their dirty tools in their dirty toolbox to achieve that. Whether nicekelvin was active or passive doesn’t matter – he imo isn’t some wide-eyed innocent – crafty that one is, learned at the knee of a master he did.
I do think your analysis is valuable because all of these issues need to be aired and discussed and debated and sorted – and then we can get on with the jobby of getting Mana back into that uninviting house.
I agree, mm. Anyone who claims Hone lost because of his position on cannabis needs to cut down on their own consumption. I think it was a combination of going with Dotcom and the dirty getting together of the other parties behind Kelvin Davis. The campaign against Dotcom was run at full steam for quite a while, and that didn’t help either.
Mana does have its own problems as well, but that’s up to them to recognise and sort out.
oh ? and Winston Peters telling NZ First voters to support Kel Davis didn’t have anything to do with it ?
Hey Jenny with respect let’s cut Kelvin and his team of Kay & Rudy, Tracey and others some credit for the hard campaigning they done in the region. They really gained mana for the sterling effort helping those who were suffering as a result of the flooding, while Hone was swaning off around the country with the Dotcom circus.
When Mana’s campaign manager rang me the night before polling day calling out an SOS in West Auckland, I took it instantly Hone was weak there, I asked are you calling me because your light on the ground there? Answer yes, I told Davis election day when he came thanked the local team, to relax I think you have done enough and as it transpired he did.
They didn’t gain mana imo – but working with enemies to get rid of someone you don’t like is not uncommon within Māoridom so I suppose they are tika.
Scoring points off someone who asks for help is low and weak imo – the name dropping doesn’t add credibility it is another expression of that weakness too imo.
Marty you can make all the excuses under the sun, however the facts are indeed the facts. Mana was doomed with the Dotcom association the big man himself was man enough to admit it.
One other thing Marty, Kelvin and his team didn’t need prompting during the flooding they rolled their sleeves up and got on with the mahi, no fanfare or media hype. And the good people of the North rewarded the effort. So you pipe down little man and be a gracious loser.
No I won’t pipe down, thanks anyway – and I’m not a ‘little man’ although I’m prepared to give him a fair go for the folks middling along that need a leader of the folks who like a bit of a fair go for the folks in the middle.
“One other thing Marty, Kelvin and his team didn’t need prompting during the flooding they rolled their sleeves up and got on with the mahi, no fanfare or media hype.”
True that, I could tell from the interview I watched (I think, maybe read) with him, where he said he was helping with the flood victims rather than swanning of around the country complaining. Maybe it was a video on Facebook, but that’s how I knew there was no fanfare and no politicking involved. He just got stuck into the mahi. He said so himself.
@ jenny kirk..
..of course that was a final tipping-point factor..
..but if u read the case i make..i think what i say re the role cannabis/harawira had to play..hangs together mathematically etc..
Thanks Penny. I wish I just didn’t feel/think that the Davos Forum is just another big waste of money and a talk-fest for the very rich (ShonKey included) – Like the final comment says above, “a radical shift is needed ” to get anywhere for the 99% who are not ultra-rich . What will it take to get this “radical shift” started ?
“Mana is never going to get back into parliament”
wrong skinny
“Hone blew it”
sure the plan didn’t work doesn’t mean we or he gives up
“Too much of a loose cannon”
I know Māori that think like that too – I wonder if it is genuine, an acquiescence to the predominate MSM propaganda, or part of the head above the parapet syndrome.
Fair enough mate, I attended a TTT meet the candidate meeting and I will say Hone cleaned the others ( including Kelvin )out in the Q & A part. And I was highly annoyed when Key then Peters sprayed Hone and endorsed voting Davis. So much so I put out a late press release in support of HH. Labour should never have put Davis that far out on the party list ‘again’ so he had to win the electorate seat, it could easily have cost them a win if they had their shit together.
I know an old guy from Ngati Wai very well. He’s a Mormon farmer and has been quite conservative all his life, but last time I saw him he was speaking well of Mana. He has realised that being quiet and leaving the talking to the professionals just results in big bills. Others in his whanau were militant in Mana. I got a real feeling that change is in the air.
This was before joining with Dotcom.
When you consider the alliance with National was hurting Maori in general, and the Maori/Tory party were losing their main players, Mana and Labour would have benefited with the party vote as a natural result. I felt for the grafters, Sykes especially who I feel would have been a shoe in to come in on the party list. Hone’s dismissive approach to Sue Bradford was both disrespectful and arrogant considering her flagging Dotcom ideology was poles apart from that of a party representing the underclass.
@ murray..
..my barometer was my sons’ friends..(educated early 20 somethings..the usual multi-cultural mix of these days..)
..he reported to me that at the best of times in the campaign..most of them were going to vote internet man..
(it was indicators such as this that made me optimistic..at that time..)
..then..just before the election..after everything went pear-shape..he told me none of them were now going to vote internet-mana..
..and yes..the reasons for that loss are multi-fold..
..and more than a few weren’t external..
..and what concerns me..is that many of those internals will just be repeated..in 2017..
Depends on which Maori you’ve talked to Skinny, and when. I talk to many Maori to whom the MSM’s traditional “loose cannon” narrative always was and remains unintelligible. And to many to whom once accepting it now reject it. What I did notice for many months leading up to the election was a much greater readiness to see Harawira as NOT a loose cannon.
Just as ‘winning’ can falsely define – look at Key – so can ‘losing’.
This from the diary of Count Galeazzo Ciano (Italian Foreign Minister 1936-43) – “As always, victory finds a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan”. You’d expect him to know !
The reasons for Harawira’s loss are manifold. Some of them sheet home to Harawira’s strategy. Some do not. We know them without trotting them out. In the outcome it’s seductive to default to the dismissive and essentially racist MSM narrative of old. It is also facile.
That said what concerns me most in the here and now is that Maori north of Whangarei have one Maori parliamentary representative rather than two. That is hardly cause for rejoicing.
If only, in the event of Sabin’s arse being kicked out of here, Harawira could be multi-party endorsed. I know……a pipe dream.
“Mana is never going to get back into parliament. Hone blew it and frankly couldn’t pull enough votes from Maori outside of his own Rohe. Too much of a loose cannon is the general view of Maori I know.”
You are of course entitled to your opinion, but let’s just lay some facts out,
if a by-election is held and Hone won it, why wouldn’t that be more than a person for person swap? Surely the winner is part of the MMP system, and the election night party votes could be used in any re-jigging?
Hone would get about 17 votes in the general Northland seat. These are the farmers and business people who supported Titford, and probably still do.
A snowball has more of a chance of surviving in Hell than the Opposition has of wrestling Northland from the National Party’s grasp.
Rather than stating the obvious Gosman how about you crunch my concept of a primary. Let’s use Auckland Central as an example based on last election, with Adern wining the opposition primary contest. Or shall I call on the wisdom of Pete G and Hooton?
It would fly in the face of the purpose of our political system (which is party based). I am not sure it would even be legal as holding an inter-party primary would require some sort of organisation that might not be permitted unless formal agreements are entered in to between parties. It is also likely many people would see through this and be turned off by it. You would then likely get a number of independents standing which would have the same effect that you are clumsily trying to resolve i.e. splitting the opposition vote between multiple candidates.
Have to disagree about a formal arrangement and the legality of what I propose. Hope Hooton shows up to enlighten on process. I would keep it informal ‘gentlemen agreement’ winner takes all. I think the gains would out way the losses. The status quo of ‘throat slitting’ is just gifting seats to National. Even see it working in Epsom where the ACT incumbent is heads and shoulders a superior candidate to Goldsmith, well from what I observed at the main meet the candidates gig last year in Mt Eden I attended.
Any primary would have to have formal rules not some informal arrangement. For example who qualifies to vote in any such primary. Would it be party members of the relevant parties? If so, then how would this be validated by each party? Also, if it was restricted to party members only, that would mean the larger parties would automatically have the advantage over the smaller parties. It means NZ First or Mana (if they were involved) would be very unlikely to ever get someone selected via such a method.
No bit players the 3 main party’s L/G/NZF if they agreed. Party members of the 3, a time available to recruit new voting members. 1 vote value divided and equal so all 3 party’s are level regardless of actual membership numbers. Say 70 % party members vote of the ballot and 30% of the panel made up from 1 from each party. Cream rises to the top, so expect an open contest relatively free of party lines, within reason and they are looking to work together remember.
How would each party validate the party members in each electorate? You would have to either expect each to trust the numbers each party puts forward (unlikely to happen I would suggest) or you would have to allow each party to know the membership details of the others in the electorate in question.
Also how is the primary election carried out? Are voting papers sent out to members or do each party get to bloc vote? Your proposal wasn’t clear and seems an odd mix of both options.
These are questions that need answering before you can even select a joint candidate. Then the problems really begin.
Your plan only has a point if the combined left votes exceed those of the right. In the Northland electorate, you’re dreaming. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northland_%28New_Zealand_electorate%29#2014_election
As I pointed out already. However the plan is unworkable in my mind even if they were close. It is likely to alienate potential voters rather than energise them.
Trying something different is better than doing the same old same old.
Suppurating hypocrite Gooseman – stuff all the conventions and proprieties when it suits the Right. “Democracy Under Attack” otherwise. Epsom ? Last not the playground of political chicanery when Rodney Hide won it – early 2000’s wasn’t it ?
Party Vote in Northland in 2014; Nats 17412 Lab/Gr/NZF 14314.
Hell must be cooling down Gosman.
Thanks Bearded Git for the math! Gosman and his sparring partners well know what I’m getting at. This is as safer a blue ribbon seat as you get, a combined strategy bring the margins a lot closer. Now line up a number of seats with not such a high winning majority and Gosman is wearing thermals in hell.
That IS close. Winnable if a single opposition candidate is put forward with support from Labour, Greens, NZF and Mana.
2014 PARTY VOTES:
Green Party 3,855
ACT New Zealand 162
Labour Party 5,913
Focus New Zealand 216
National Party 17,412
Conservative 2,243
Democrats for Social Credit 64
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party 193
Ban1080 51
Internet MANA 601
Māori Party 210
New Zealand First Party 4,546
NZ Independent Coalition 9
The Civilian Party 7
United Future 71
————
CANDIDATE VOTES:
CLENDON, David—–GP 3,639
NELSON, Craig——-ACT 200
PRIME, Willow-Jean—LAB 8,969
RINTOUL, Ken—–FNZ 1,661
ROBERTSON, Murray–IND 96
SABIN, Mike——–NAT 18,269
TAYLOR, Mel——CNSP 1,555
TIMMS, Glen——-MFP 75
WILSON, David Angus—NZDSC 173
————
Party Informals…..154
Party Informals…..154
TOTAL…………..35,707
Candidate Informals—-419
TOTAL—————–35,056
————-
Looks like a Labour candidate will have best chance of beating a National candidate here if other parties, (other than National, ACT, The Cons and Maori), especially The Greens, NZF and Mana do not field a candidate, but instead endorse and work to help the Lab candidate to win, especially if Sabin has to leave under disgrace. This will boost Labour, Andrew Little and the Opposition and will put the Nats at a back foot, even if the Lab candidate loses narrowly.
If such an arrangement is made here, then it could be a precursor for future smart electoral adjustments at the next election between these four parties.
I am trying to find the expansion of the conservative party initials, CNSP. Tried google and the Cons website with no luck! Do any of you know or guess what those four letters stand for? TIA.
What? No views on this from anyone on a hot political topic?!
I think the joint opposition candidate will have a very good chance of unseating National here in a by election , considering that (a) Key and National have been shown to be dodgy/incompetent in various ways (b) are straight faced lying bull-shitters and untrustworthy, (c) the incumbent is being kicked out in disgrace, AND (d) there is bound to be ‘voter’s remorse’ setting in by now against NATS and ACT and this debt ridden pro rich government.
What a tremendous boost it will be for the opposition and morale booster for the nation if their joint opposition candidate wins! Worth doing it, I think.
What do you think?
The problem in the North is that the electorate is divided into two parts. The Maori electorate where National doesn’t seem to bother standing because they lose so badly and the consequently rather National leaning general electorate.
3K is a hell of a step even in a general election. In a by-election with something like a 30% turnout at best, you are looking at the Everest.
Also the idea of political parties cooperating to that extent electorally is laudable and rather naive. They don’t. They are there to promote their own party and the best way to do that is to put up a candidate.
The point is to show the voters that the four opposition parties can get united on certain important issues such as trying to wrest the seat from national and increase the opposition number by one while depriving the government of one MP.
Of course, Nats may still win, but it is worth a try for the opposition to unleash an united and exciting fight together and energise the pro opposition voters, especially because it is a by election and has no party votes counted.
Of course, nothing can be more likely than Nats winning if the opposition do not TRY to win this by a combined effort rather than simply be pessimistic, selfish, stupid and split the opposition votes between them.
Anyway, all this is a little premature and academic for now because the Nats may try to protect Sabin and keep him on just like they did to Judith Collins, Nick Smith, Bill English, Gerry Brownlee and Maurice Williamson in spite of shocking disgraceful behaviour from each of those!
I don’t think there is a party vote in a by election, just the electorate vote. I agree that the opposition should put a single candidate up against NAct, but I don’t expect a win. Pakeha up there are pretty bloody ugly in their addiction to Tory members.
Yes quite correct a by election doesn’t include the party vote, that suits a pilot contest even better and saves on resources and costs for the non winning party’s, basically cutting their cost early.
would there be a prid quo pro for the Greens in 2017?
Does the tolerance of the “je suis Charlie” Parisians and their grand ability not to be offended by others free expression also extend to people who wish to express themselves by getting around the streets of Paris in the nude?
If not, why not?
(prepare for some mighty fine hair-splitting…)
The French give out prison time and fines to anyone who mocks the WWII Holocaust. Charlie Hebdo fired a cartoonist in 2009 for mocking Israel. But I guess that’s different, it wasn’t Muslims being mocked…
Exactly. And it is this very hypocrisy that sees the “je suis Charlie” lot smell so disgusting
It’s also rather poetic that the hypocrites’ solemn slogan of choice is so easily applied to highlight the fevered hypocrisy.
“Je Suis Gaza……100 Fold.”
Do you want to understand how powerful central banking is over a country’s economy and politics?
Princes of the Yen
How long term crisis was engineered to forcefully “open up” the Japanese economy to “structural reforms” enabling firesale to big foreign investors.
This is directly related to yesterdays discussion on debt levels, the state of the economy, and whether or not the politicians have anything to do with it as “good economic managers.”
The initial problem I have with it (Still watching it) is that it simply blames ‘central banks’ rather than central banks that are out of government control and are thus actually in the control of the private sector. This is important as we actually need a central bank that creates the money and keeps track of how much money is in the economy and we need that bank to be answerable to the populace through democratic methods.
I would not say that the film reveals that the central banks are “in the control of the private sector”. The central banks appear to be under the direction of a small number of trans-national elites who span both private and public sectors and who in fact do not see the two sectors as separate. Just as they do not recognise the sovereignty of individual nations.
Create a bubble and then collapse it. Isn’t this the type of thing that we’ve been seeing for centuries? Where there are always a few winners while everyone else gets to pay the bill?
It’s only since the 1980s they’ve been doing it to break apart nation states in order to progress the aims and ownership of a trans-national elite class who have loyalty to no country.
Does anyone else view these floating ostentatious palaces as a waste of resources and a horror of intent?
I also cringe at the breathless real estate reporting style of the article.
The links to the BBC’s programme on the “Super-Rich” is worth watching, in this regard.
Thanks to Paul, I have it on my list. Will probably do so this weekend.
I have a relative that works in luxury retail, and tells similar stories of people ordering boxes of solid gold pens at $100,000 each. They are used to subtly indicate their net worth as they sign documents, then casually give them away or leave them behind.
The admiring relating of this story, was jarred when I expressed my disgust. Made for an interesting few minutes at a family Christmas. 🙂
Ha! It’s a shock when worshippers of extreme wealth realise that you don’t bow down at the same temple.
+ 100%
Yes. They’re an incredible waste of resources but that’s entirely how our economic system works. The more waste, the higher the profit. This is why we have personal cars despite the fact that they’re a massive waste of resources.
I thought we could ring Putin, tell him we will hold the owner til the Russian police have time to come and get him, and in return we will impound and sell the boat. $450m goes a long way. If the USA doesn’t want us to do it, they know our price 😉
This is what a currency dealer would do.
I think Stuart Nash has gone off the reservation with his calls for an amnesty on tax penalties. For one thing, he’s not on the finance team – it muddies the waters and this matter really falls into Clayton Cosgrove’s revenue portfolio. It’s being reported as Labour calls for amnesty, not “Labour MP calls for amnesty”
For another, people should pay their taxes and there should be sanctions against those who don’t. The average Joe Blow pays his PAYE and GST. People should not be dipping into the money that belongs to the public.
I had thought this might have been an offhand comment that he may have just doubled-down on this morning, but it’s an issue he’s been pushing for at least a week
“..I think Stuart Nash has gone off the reservation..”
..he has never been ‘on the reservation’..
..he is/always has been..a rightwing outlier…
..he is a rightwing trojan-horse inside labour..
..(i mean..he was shearers’ chief-adviser..(!)
..’benificiary on a hot tin roof’..?..anyone..?..)
Googled for a picture of Stuart Nash, and found this gem from TV3: Labour MP Nash wanted own party.
Surprisingly informative from Patrick Gower I thought, and indicative of Nash’s loyalty, and the company he keeps.
I agree Ovid. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Why the hell should there be an amnesty for people who don’t pay their taxes?
Yes, most of the tax dodgers I presume would be rich crooked right wing crooks and rogues. Why Stuart Nash wants to bat for them is a mystery! In any case, amnesty would send a wrong message and also be unfair for those that have paid their taxes.
+1
Perhaps he’s one of them and realises that he’s fucked if Labour get in and actually start prosecuting these thieves.
I think a lot of them are small business people or contractors who can’t afford tricky accountants. Many of them will be struggling as bigger businesses don’t pay them for work done, or the general public pay up late. They’re not evaders. They’re just late. They’re probably people who have voted for NAct’s aspirations recently, and Nash may think this is a way of attracting them to Labour.
But the tax is incurred on profit after expenses and liabilities. So will exclude unpaid bills/debts, won’t it? And the max tax is not all the profit, but only about 1/3 rd of it. Forgiving tax with an amnesty is not an option. Sure, suspending ‘some’ of the penalty may be, but not all the penalty as it will send a bad message and precedent and unfair to the ones that manage their business well and do the right thing in the first place.
In any case, the party leader should be the one to make such announcements, unless the issue was discussed by the caucus and Nash was authorised to do so.
Yeah, I don’t particularly like Nash or his idea. If he extended it to student loans, which they class as a tax debt, I might change my mind 🙂
I agree.
Education, including tertiary, and health should be free and universal. Otherwise the wealthy are advantaged over the rest. Make it universal, but raise taxes.
I favour Transaction tax, capital tax and capital gains tax, living wage and universal basic living allowance for all.
The inequality should reduce and the society should be fairer and ethical.
I imagine the amnesty would apply only to those who “come clean”, and who otherwise would not have been detected.
Another right wing driven, Nash fronted initiative. God how I love Labour.
Nash has got it in his head that he is the rising star. A candidate on his way to future party leader and strong potential Prime Ministerial material. The Labour Party is a useful vehicle to his career and ambition.
Straw poll: Should Andrew Little promote him further up?
Little should show things have changed by promptly demoting Nash and anyone else who flaps their gums to media.
+ 1
on his way to future party leader… Will Seymour resign before 2017?
Oh, great. A Labour MP wants it to be OK for people not to bother paying their taxes, and leaves himself wide open for a National cabinet minister to state the obvious in response:
McClay says a debt amnesty wouldn’t be fair to those who pay tax on time.
No wonder Nat bloggers are talking Nash up – he’s a free gift to the government.
BUT neither robertson or Little has contradicted him, have they? It’s been a few days…
For those interested in understanding the where and how of the term “off the reservation”.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/06/29/326690947/should-saying-someone-is-off-the-reservation-be-off-limits
http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/off-the-reservation
http://blog.nrcprograms.org/off-the-reservation/
I think this person sums up well
I’m not trying to have a go at you Ovid – but ‘going rogue’ is my preferred term.
Thanks Marty, I shall expunge that particular idiom from my vocabulary.
Little said similar on tv3 this morning about waiving penalties as long as the tax owed was played.
And the penalties IS the big problem. IRD are a completely inflexible, bloody-minded organisation with no understanding that everyones circumstances are different.
For example, Child Support payments MUST be paid by or on the 20th of the month, period, despite the fact that not everyone has been paid by this date. So, as a result you get penalised 10%.
So someone who is happy to pay their share is constantly penalised for the crime of not being paid themselves before the 20th of the month.
I can a only comment on my own case I was self employed for 7 years and some of them very lean years with the GFC coming in the middle ( no body can stop spending as well as a farmer with a big mortgage if things get tight).
I managed to pay my PAYE and gst on time ,I did have a very helpful and not to expensive accountant who was part of tax link which buys you a bit of time.
seems odd that they didnt accommodate you getting that into line around your pay… so only a penalty on the first payment, thereafter you could adjust … did you call them and tell them that you got paid on the 10th and would struggle with the first payment on time?
I used to work for IRD in the contact centre – the issue I found was that people were unaware that setting up payment arrangements before the due date for the tax saved substantial penalties, and that IRD can remit penalties or write off debts given good reason e.g. hardship.
IRD’s inflexibility is often not administrative, it’s legislative – the tax laws don’t always leave room for flexibility…
exactly. I think this is Little coming through his promise to be supportive of SME’s… but when does the amnesty for everyone who has committed a burglary but not been nabbed begin? As long as they identify which burglary and the police can cross it off the unsolved list.
Catriona MacLennan: Benefit debt punishment out of all proportion to ‘crime’
And Labour’s talking about forgiving the tax fraudsters. You know, the people who steal billions of dollars off of us each and every year compared to the few measly million that benefit fraud, most of which is actually done by employees at WINZ, cost us.
Labour’s new motto: Double Standards R us
“And Labour’s talking about forgiving the tax fraudsters. You know, the people who steal billions of dollars off of us each and every year …”
Nope. Complete bollocks, Draco. Nash was very specifically talking about small to medium business, particularlarly in the provinces, which as we know have been abandoned by the Tory government.
“Nash said this was debt held by small-to-medium business owners, not “large corporates or high-net-worth individuals who have engaged expensive lawyers”.”
Have a read, it’s actually reasonably sound politics that will be attractive to both the owners of these businesses and the 5-9 workers that the average Kiwi small business employs.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/65227271/tax-debt-rockets-labour-calls-for-amnesty
That’s still significantly more than benefit fraud. Especially where Nash happens to be the MP which has unpaid taxes of about 40 times the national total of benefit fraud.
Now, chances are that that outstanding amount is due to the old, dysfunctional, Provisional Tax which itself needs reform but there’s no reason to make that reform retrospective.
given everything out of nashs’ mouth is in the cause of neo-liberalism/the rightwing..
..and that he wd prefer to see bneficiaries have even more support ripped away from them..
..a man who wd do nothing about poverty/inequality..(he’s got his rightwing mates/backers/financiers to think of eh..?
..and an mp who is only there because that rightwing-tool garth mcvicar split the rightwing vote for him..
..if that had not happened..he wd not be there..
..a man who was the cheif of staff/adviser to that brief/disasterous shearer-period..(benny-on-a-hot-tin-roof..?..anyone..?..)
..why should we listen to anything this man says..?..ever..?
..if the vote isn’t split again for him..he’ll be gone in 2017..
And yet he’s still got more credibility than you, Phil. Funny old world, eh?
PS, Nash had the briefest of tenures with Shearer, wasn’t there for the ‘roof’ anecdote, and in quitting, showed more political nous in 5 minutes than you’ve showed in your entire life.
i thought he was fired..(my mistake.)
..and i’m not walking around proclaiming myself as the future leader of labour/p.m..am i..?
..and nash was there for enough of that wretched rightwing-shearer-exercise..to know what he is about..
.wasn’t he..?
You’re not walking around at all, Phil, if your prolific posting is any guide to your lifestyle. Maybe the occasional excursion to the garden for, ahem, organic supplies, but no exertion that might risk a bead of sweat breaking out. How’s your roof, btw? Need a lick of paint? (See what I did there?).
strengthened yr benny-bashing credentials..yep..!
..i see that..
..so..nothing to come back on what i said about nash..
..and taking the ad-hom route to rout..i see..
..the fact of the matter is..that nash and the other rightwingers/poor-bashers in labour..
..are labours’ ‘big-problem’.
As Sinatra sez, doobie doobie doo, Phil. Keep taking the money, keep spliffing up, and keeping telling the rest of us where we’re going wrong. You’re doing fine work.
q.e.d..
@Ovid:
What I can’t understand is how we got into a situation where people owe $6.8 BILLION.
This will be treated as an asset (debtor) in the governments books. Larf!
It must be mostly Nats mates owing the money and so they are not chasing them. On Nat Rad this morning they said the tax department spends $90 million a year on chasing bad debts-this is a pittance when nearly $7 billion is owed.
I would like to see a list of the people who owe the tax-this should be publicly available as it is owed to the Crown, that is US.
$89 million of that is probably spent chasing up student loans. They don’t seem to write them off like they do corporate taxes.
Hi folks – seen this?
https://theconversation.com/davos-delegates-dont-care-about-inequality-or-your-debt-36511
Davos delegates don’t care about inequality or your debt
Elite retreat. World Economic Forum, CC BY-SA
.
The world’s rich and powerful are gathering for the World Economic Forum at the Swiss ski resort of Davos to discuss, and hopefully find solutions to, the world’s economic and social problems. The 45th meeting will be attended by kings, princes, presidents, prime ministers, leading politicians and controllers of large corporations. Amidst mutual back-slapping they will deliver set-piece speeches and soothing words at various seminars and workshops to support solutions to the world’s ecological, economic, security and social problems.
It is right that such events should exist – no nation can solve the problems on its own. In the aftermath of the banking crash and weak economic recovery in Europe, the agenda of the Davos summit is to restore trust in capitalist system and build global institutions for a better future. But this is easier said than done, especially as Davos is often far removed from the concerns of ordinary people.
The grand narrative of previous summits has been that we must not do anything to upset the rich because a nation’s salvation depends not on having a good system of education, healthcare, pensions and transport, but on keeping people happy even though their wealth is built on the sweat and blood of ordinary folk. Economic policies are increasingly formed to appease financial markets where vast amounts are gambled everyday though they produce little tangible economic activity.
In this narrative there is no space for workers, trade unions, industrial democracy, or people who want to live fulfilling lives. Markets are supposed to serve society but people are increasingly forced to dance to their short-term financial tunes. How are governments going to develop long-term economic and social policies? There is little sign that the latest summit will signal a much needed change of direction.
Previous Davos summits have carved out policies for the rich to advance their own interests and done little to check inequalities. Past failures are evident from Oxfam’s latest report which states that very soon 1% of the world’s adult population will own more than the rest. In the UK, the richest 1,000 people have doubled their wealth over the past five years to £519 billion. At the same time, millions of people have seen a real decrease in their income and lack the resources to stimulate the economy. Indeed, rising income inequality in developed economies are forcing even people in paid employment to rely on food banks.
Food banks are booming. Danny Lawson/PA
.
Political leaders at Davos will deliver their ritual affirmation for greater economic competition. Yes, competition gives people choices, but its present state is a cause for concern as corporations are frequently able to hold governments to ransom: “give us what we want or we are off” has become a familiar call from companies to discipline governments.
The top 500 transnational corporations control 70% of the worldwide trade, 80% of the foreign investments, one-third of all manufacturing exports, 75% of all commodities trade and 80% of the trade in management and technical services. Only four companies account for between 75% and 90% of the global grain trade. Breaking up these global behemoths and making them accountable to the public is not on the Davos agenda.
Political leaders will talk about tackling public debt, a cue for more austerity, reduction in public expenditure and further privatisation of state-owned enterprises, often at knock-down prices resulting in huge wealth transfers. Even in the western world, the neoliberal experiment for the last 35 years has failed to deliver full employment economic stability or equitable distribution of wealth. Still, politicians won’t rock the boat, though some of the NGOs attending the summit will raise uncomfortable questions.
Despite the financial crisis, western nations remain addicted to light-touch regulation and supremacy of markets. Despite the biggest banking crash, there has been little effective reform of the financial system as governments seem unwilling to upset the financial wheeler and dealers.
Low-interest policy has been used to persuade ordinary people to borrow money and stimulate the economy. Personal debt in the UK alone is around £1.432 trillion, just short of one year’s gross domestic product. What if people can’t repay this? It would be good if Davos leaders could on reflect on the consequences of huge personal debts.
International forums are increasingly essential to solve global problems, but they can’t be addressed by pursuing the interests of the 1%. A radical shift is needed to develop policies that place the interests of the 99% at the heart of the debate.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Kind regards
Penny Bright
We can all click on a link Penny. No need to paste the whole article here. Get with the times.
Q. Is that the sum total of your contribution ?
It’s a pattern.
Q. What does it matter to you ?
Get tired of scrolling for hours when it’s unnecessary. Nice problem to have, right. 🙂
Norman Finkelstein : Charlie Hebdo n’est pas satirique, il est sadique
by Mustafa Caglayan, NEW YORK, 19 January 2015
In Nazi Germany, there was an anti-Semitic weekly newspaper called Der Stürmer. Run by Julius Streicher, it was notorious for being one of the most virulent advocates of the persecution of Jews during the 1930s. What everybody remembers about Der Stürmer was its morbid caricatures of Jews, the people who were facing widespread discrimination and persecution during the era. Its depictions endorsed all of the common stereotypes about Jews – a hook nose, lustful, greedy.
“Let’s say, … amidst all of this death and destruction, two young Jews barged into the headquarters of the editorial offices of Der Stürmer, and they killed the staff for having humiliated them, degraded them, demeaned them, insulted them,” queried Norman Finkelstein, a professor of political science and author of numerous books including The Holocaust Industry and Method and Madness.
“How would I react to that?,” said Finkelstein, who is the son of Holocaust survivors. Finkelstein was drawing an analogy between a hypothetical attack on the German newspaper and the deadly Jan. 7 attack at the Paris headquarters of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, that left 12 people dead, including its editor and prominent cartoonists. The weekly is known for printing controversial material, including derogatory cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad in 2006 and 2012.
The attack sparked a global massive outcry, with millions in France and across the world taking to the streets to support freedom of the press behind the rallying cry of “Je suis Charlie,” or “I am Charlie.”
What the Charlie Hebdo caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad achieved was “not satire,” and what they provoked was not “ideas,” Finkelstein said. Satire is when one directs it either at oneself, causes his or her people to think twice about what they are doing and saying, or directs it at people who have power and privilege, he said.
“But when somebody is down and out, desperate, destitute, when you mock them, when you mock a homeless person, that is not satire,” Finkelstein said. “That is, I give you the word, sadism. There’s a very big difference between satire and sadism. Charlie Hebdo is sadism. It’s not satire.”
The “desperate and despised people” of today are Muslims, he said, considering the number of Muslim countries racked by death and destruction as in the case of Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen. “So, two despairing and desperate young men act out their despair and desperation against this political pornography no different than Der Stürmer, who in the midst of all of this death and destruction decide its somehow noble to degrade, demean, humiliate and insult the people. I’m sorry, maybe it is very politically incorrect. I have no sympathy for [the staff of Charlie Hebdo]. Should they have been killed? Of course not. But of course, Streicher shouldn’t have been hung. I don’t hear that from many people,” said Finkelstein.
Streicher was among those who stood trial on charges at Nürnberg, following World War II. He was hung for those cartoons.
Finkelstein said some might argue that they have the right to mock even desperate and destitute people, and they probably have this right, he said, “But you also have the right to say ‘I don’t want to put it in my magazine … When you put it in, you are taking responsibility for it.”
Finkelstein compared the controversial Charlie Hebdo caricatures to the “fighting words,” doctrine, a category of speech penalized under American jurisprudence. The doctrine refers to certain words that would likely cause the person to whom they are directed, to commit an act of violence. They are a category of speech unprotected by the First Amendment.
“You are not allowed to utter fighting words, because they are equivalent of a smack to the face and it is asking for trouble,” Finkelstein said.
“So, are the Charlie Hebdo caricatures the equivalent of fighting words? They call it satire. That is not satire. It is just epithets, there is nothing funny about it. If you find it funny, depicting Jews in big lips and (a) hook nose is also funny.”
Finkelstein pointed to the contradictions in the Western world’s perception of the freedom of the press by giving the example of the pornographic magazine Hustler, whose publisher, Larry Flynt, was shot and left paralyzed in 1978 by a white supremacist serial killer for printing a cartoon depicting interracial sex.
“I don’t remember everyone celebrating ‘We are Larry Flynt’ or ‘We are Hustler,’” he said. “Should he have been attacked?”…..
Read more……
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/headline/452396–norman-finkelstein-charlie-hebdo-is-sadism-not-satire
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2015/01/19/norman-finkelstein-charlie-hebdo-is-sadism-not-satire/
see comment above.
Look carefully and you’ll see I’ve only posted a taster of the article, and provided a link for people—obviously not including you—who are interested in reading something written by one of the most outstanding scholars in the United States.
I see others have taken you to task on your vacuous quibbles. Instead of upbraiding me, wouldn’t you have used your time more intelligently by clicking on the link and doing some reading?
Thanks Morrissey – the hypocrisy screams out loud as shown here when Finkelstein gives it to them right between the eyes – Oh the weeping…….
Of Experts, Damned Lies, and Pohutukawa
Very good question. Who was this person who obviously wields a great amount of power over our lives?
One of our (democratically elected?) SuperCity public servants, here to make Auckland great. (by covering it with asphalt)
Don’t think so. I’m pretty sure that if that was the case he would have been recognised. Possibly with AT but if so why was he sitting with the public? Also, most of the top dogs at AT would also have been recognised.
The best post on TransportBlog so far in 2015… passionate and articulate. Hope TS picks it up.
Will do and I agree.
Good stuff Penny Wright,
Well spotted,
As I said yesterday Davos is another leg of The Infamous Bilderberg Group.
This Bilderberg Group is the most elitist global power club of industrialists, & corporations along with an array of greedy bought politicians.
So expect Key will again go see his Bilderberg mates at Davos also.
Key has previously attended Bilderberg’s unpublished meetings secretly.
Key with held ths fact, without telling us, so if the shoe fits wear it corrupt Keyster.
Key has demonstrated he loves secretive dark ops organisations such as his own liaison with his Ede/Slater combo so same Bilderberg black Ops group activities fits perfectly for key’s activities to act in secret.
The Bilderberg Group must be the most publicised secret organisation in the world. For a group that is meant to be trying to manipulate world events behind the scenes it isn’t very successful at keeping itself secret. I even remember a documentary showing people turning up to one of their meetings. You would have thought they could have dealt to pesky journalists to stop that happening.
Yes, you are right everyone knows about these meetings.
But most also know, that in the age of technology – the best place to hide is out in the open – and then lie, obfuscate, redirect using external methods.
Such as MSM, fanatical supporters or blogging comments on a political blog…
Oh yes I forgot how perfidious and ingenious we are on the right…
I assumed that the only way to classify people as perfidious and ingenious, is to label those who practice it as such.
Thanks for the clarification that it is: we… “on the right”.
+ 1 Molly – sadly for gossie he isn’t even at footsoldier level yet – his ‘we’ is really a wee we.
The fact that Gossie identifies with them as “we” is a bit pathetic given that the invitees to the Bilderberg meetings would consider the likes of Gossie common low life, like the rest of the 99.9%.
It’s never tried to be secret but we also don’t get transcripts of what’s said at the meetings nor the agreements that they come to. Considering that it is a meeting between business and governments these are things that we’re entitled to as they’re obviously having an effect on our societies – a non-democratic one.
These days Labour is very much the party of social liberalism (indeed, National too is fairly socially liberal these days).
However, that wasn’t always the case. Labour was a strong supporter of the White New Zealand policy in the years after World War 1; the second Labour government went along with keeping Maori out of an All Blacks team to South Africa; and the third Labour government, especially Kirk, were anti-gay rights and anti women’s right to abortion. The first homosexual law reform bill was actually put forward by a National MP, Venn Young.
An interesting piece on Labour’s socially illiberal past here: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/labour-always-in-the-rearguard-never-the-vanguard/
Phil
Big Norm’s government came down hard on bikers, coming out with slogans about taking the bikes off the gangs and such like. Several police districts went well outside the law in attacks on biker meetings, seemingly to official approval. I also heard from a journalist friend that he wasn’t all that hot on freedom of the press.
In New Zealand, the women’s liberation movement largely emerged on the campuses, albeit by women active in the anti-Vietnam War movement and left groups like the Socialist Action League.
In Britain three struggles by working class women in 1968 were pivotal. Two of them – a fight by fishermen’s wives for better safety conditions on trawlers and by London bus conductresses – are very little known about these days. The other struggle – by women at Ford’s massive Dagenham car plant – had passed into the mists as well, except a couple of years ago a ‘feel-good movie’ was made on their struggle, ‘Made in Dagenham’.
Although there were certain distortions in the movie – the makers even admitting they downplayed the class politics and up-played a feminist take in order to make the movie more commercial – it’s still a very interesting movie.
I used to teach the British sixties, so I was really interested to see the film when it first came out. It’s also been on TV here – I think it was on Xmas/New Year 2013/14. The ‘feelgood factor’ makes it fit in as Xmas/New Year fare (it was made by the same folks that made ‘Calendar Girls’). Anyway, I have a review of it, which also contextualises the actual struggle that occurred in 1968. It’s here:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/class-gender-the-1960s-and-made-in-dagenham/
Phil
Looks like another Socialist ‘Paradise’ is heading rapidly for economic collapse. Amazing how it seems to be the Socialist nations that tend to fall over when Socialist theory suggests it is Capitalism that is inherently unstable and destined for destruction.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6f6436a2-a0ae-11e4-8ad8-00144feab7de.html#axzz3PPQ1gZsr
Sleep through the GFC, did you?
I’m not sure the GFC led to major shortages of toilet paper and other key items in places like the US.
A 9% increase in family homelessness in the USA between 2007 & 2009 says that Gosman won’t recognise an economic collapse until the pitchforks come out.
I’d suggest not having enough toilet paper in the shops would qualify as an economic collapse. Wouldn’t you agree?
When you’ve decided whether to suggest it or not I’ll still think homelessness is a more useful measure.
There may have been toilet paper in the shops – doesn’t mean that the people without homes could afford to buy it.
unaffordable is unaffordable, whether it’s on the shelves or not.
We are talking unattainable not unaffordable. Noone is able to access sufficent supplies of toilet paper in Venezuela (except I suspect those closely connected with the government). This just doesn’t impact on the poorer sections of society.
“Let them use the hebdomadaire.”
Marie Antoinette, when asked whether the French peasants had enough toilet paper.
A rise in homelessness leads to an oversupply of toilet paper. The Gosman index tells us all is well.
god forbid the middle class or wealthy experience hardship alongside the poor
I like how you can brush off shortages of toilet paper as if it is merely the middle and upper classes experiencing what the poor suffer daily. Not many people at the lower end of the income scale in NZ go without toilet paper I would suggest.
Would you? That’s super.
Now go to google maps. Look up Venezuela, look up New Zealand. Notice that their borders do not overlap.
Gossie forgets that western governments and central banks put in over US$20 trillion to bail out those malfeasant banks.
Of course those same elite are happy to let the people of Spain, Greece or Venzuela go under and drown.
As I pointed out to Hariet the other day – Venezuela is still capitalist. As CV said it’s also being attacked financially by the US and other Western nations.
Looks like Venezuela is actually implementing policies that many leftists here wish to see put in place in NZ
http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanielparishflannery/2014/12/09/how-serious-are-venezuelas-economic-problems/
“Juan Pablo Fuentes, economist at Moody’s Analytics, explained,”The decrees that President Nicolás Maduro recently announced will do little to lift the economy or slow inflation. The focus of Maduro’s announcements was a series of fiscal measures aimed at increasing tax revenues, including a new luxury tax, an increase in the sales tax for alcoholic beverages and the elimination of some tax exemptions.””
Should be interesting to see how the Venezuelan economy recovers as a result of these measures or if gets worse. I know what I have my money on.
On Earth, the NZ Left is far more interested in lessons that can be learned from the Scandinavian model. Plus what McFlock said about your honesty and integrity.
I’d suggest some maybe. Some dislike any form of Free market Welfare state. Scandinavian countries tend to have very open markets which is not something an awful lot of hard left leaning people like very much.
oh, fuck off.
OAB made a clear statement that there is more interest in lessons from Scandinavia than Venezuela, not that nobody is interested in learning from Venezuela or that noboy in NZ is “hard left”.
Saying that some in NZ are “hard left” when someone else has said that most are comparatively moderate is a pretty half-arsed effort, even for you.
Venezuela is under active economic attack by the financial markets and the capitalist class.
They have lifted a million people out of poverty and given them access to free healthcare and education. And the free market cheerleaders can’t have that kind of nonsense going on.
So not as the result of any wrong headed policy decisions from the Venezuelan government then?
zzzzzz
Venezuela is being caned by collapsing oil prices, just like Russia.
Also, for some reason Bolivians keep voting for that scary socialist Evo Morales. It’s rather annoying for the Washington elite.
He has picked up Wayne’s meme…
The Norwegian tariff profile.
http://stat.wto.org/TariffProfiles/NO_e.htm
Ummm… I stated tend. Sweden, Denmark and Finland are much more open than Norway I believe. Of course Norway relies heavily on Oil. Would you like our welfare state to be funded by Oil?
Sweden, Denmark and Finland are EU single market members, you know, where NZ agriculture is routinely blocked and Iceland is a closed shop.
http://stat.wto.org/TariffProfiles/IS_e.htm
Scandinavia is in deep do do,
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/04/22/scandinavia-is-looking-scary/
The conclusion to the article is Maybe the Scandinavian economies will muddle through. But there are reasons to stay alert to the region’s problems.
As I said: lessons to be learned.
What specific lessons from Scandinavia do you think are applicable to the NZ situation OAB?
A lesson can be instructive without being applicable. Is there a chance we can discuss this without you attempting a false narrative?
Finnish education is a case in point. So is the GINI. There’s a reason the World Bank talks about “Getting to Denmark”.
You introduced the Scandinavian theme into the discussion OAB. How does it become a ‘false narrative’ when I follow up on your lead?
Yes, Finnish education is excellent, and the emphasis on high level qualifications for teachers is something I would love to see adopted here.
But on the other hand, if you talk about ‘GINI’ then you should also understand that Finland has one of the fastest rates of increasing inequality in Europe.
And if you talk about ‘getting to Denmark’, you should be warned that the Danes have the highest rate of personal indebtedness in the World, pay the highest tax rates, have a crap education system, the worlds highest cancer rates, and the Danish Govt. is currently warning that their pattern of very low growth in productivity / unrealistic wage increases are causing a slide in competitiveness that seriously threatens Denmark’s ongoing prosperity.
Norway is a model in lots of things, but we would have to double our NZ GDP levels to match the wealth that supplies the Norwegian Social welfare state. Lucky they have that oil.
Sweden is fueled by intense corporate industrialization….
Lessons yes. But not simple or easy ones.
Clearly, the World Bank’s talk of “Denmark” uses “Denmark” as a metaphor, rather than the more literal interpretation you’ve chosen.
It’s a false narrative by virtue of your decision to frame lessons as “applicable” rather than instructive.
Did I say the lessons were simple and easy? No. in fact, I used them as a contrast to Gosman’s feverish assertions about the Left.
And you knew that.
Nonsense OAB.
And I’ve been here long enough by now to know your angle pretty well.
You’re a sniper at heart. Get off a shot or two, but always have a plan for retreat close at hand.
One of your classic exit strategies is the one you are attempting here – laying down a smoke screen of semantics and hoping you’ll confuse the enemies view of the battlefield.
Bollocks!
The narrative here is very clear.
Gosman brought up Venezuela as evidence that the policies many Leftists here wish to see do not work, and you jumped in and countered with the view that learning lessons from Scandinavia was of far more interest to the Left.
Now if ‘learning’ isn’t ‘instructive’, then what is?
And if ‘instructive’ doesn’t have the potential to lead to ‘applicable’, whats the bloody point of it?
Just a barren indulgence in intellectual masturbation?
So my points were completely applicable to the instructive nature of the narrative.
And nonsense again that the World Bank were using ‘Denmark’ as a ‘metaphor’.
They used the word Denmark, because Denmark was exactly the literal country they see as the ideal starting point for the discussion on future models of economic and political development.
Link below is very instructive, essential reading for anyone on the Left interested in Scandinavian lessons.
http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21570840-nordic-countries-are-reinventing-their-model-capitalism-says-adrian
Funny, that was the other link I considered citing.
Learning certainly begets application; your ability to articulate a tautology is testament to that.
Whether the applications one learns from are universally applicable is another matter. I’ve suggested income equality and education as places where applications abound.
Speaking of education, your support for a government that destroyed the right to collective bargaining, signalled well before the election, makes you a very special creature to be pretending concern about this country’s future, especially after the way you cited your Dad’s policics, eh.
“makes you a very special creature to be pretending concern about this country’s future”
Despite your sanctimonious observation yesterday that the Left was superior in the way they “understood the value of diversity”, you are actually extremely intolerant when it comes to diversity of political thought aren’t you OAB?
There are only 2 modes you can comprehend, you only value one of them, and you are as intolerant and dismissive of the other as any RW Bible belt gay hating red neck.
I am exactly what I say I am, a lifetime Left wing voter currently so pissed off with the lack of unity, vision, practicality, intelligence, and leadership of the NZ political Left that I am unable to bring myself to vote for them.
I might just stick around and keep reminding you of that. Anything that helps break down the smug ill founded sense of superiority of people like you has to be good for our country.
Glad we agree on the value of the Economist article. Will post a little further on that tomorrow.
There’s no need to be tolerant of political thought which aims to harm most people to extract even more privilege for the few who are already the most well off and powerful.
What CR said: I respect political thought when it qualifies as thought.
the lost sheep
Gosman also has an M.O. And venezuela is one of his to show how “socialism” fails people. he then spins like a top about why the GFC etc is not a failure of capitalism.
So perhaps OAB and Gosman are just different sides of the same coin cos when you wrote
“… Anything that helps break down the smug ill founded sense of superiority of people like you has to be good for our country.”
I thought of Gosman
“As I said: lessons to be learned.”
The first would be voting the Social Democrats back in now the economic liberals have done the damage.
The social democrats still show a limited understanding of the low carbon future that we are rapidly descending into. (But then again so do all political parties).
What would really help parties like the Democrats for Social Credit (and NZ politics in general) is halving our MMP threshold to 2.5%. That means a party would would get into Parliament if they won enough votes to get at least 3 MPs.
How many votes did the Social democrays get last election!
Not even worth counting, although the good folk at the Electoral Commission did.
I think the image associated with this story is a bad mistake. Bomber has blown the shark with this one. I haven’t seen this type of image before and I am a bit shocked that he has done it. This will end very badly imo.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/01/21/first-rule-of-isis-fight-club-is-that-you-dont-mention-5-eyes/
Agree not good at all, and political commentary in NZ does not want to go down this road.
+1 +1
use a tinyurl so as not to give him the clicking numbers.
that photoshoppping is appalling.
A well chosen image by Bomber. Key the sociopath doesn’t care about spilling the blood of NZ troops, as long as he can rub shoulders with the billionaires club.
images like that are used to create all sorts of horrible outcomes for the left and the people all around the world and this country is no different and that is because of the first part of your second sentence.
OK, on second thoughts I don’t want to see horrific images become the norm in NZ media. But Key is still a crapstain on the reputation of NZ.
@ marty mars
I agree. It’s ‘overkill’. I won’t put into words what his response reminds me of, but I do think more restraint is needed on his part. And would result in more respect for him.
Text of the State of the Union, which President Obama is delivering right now. Interesting policy platform he’s pushing – paid sick leave, help with childcare and free education in community colleges (kinda like our polytechs, but course credits can be transferred to universities).
Doubtful if any of this will make it through a Republican majority Congress, but he talks a good game.
Soldiers of the Donetsk Peoples Republic proudly show that they have taken control of “Donetsk International Airport” from Ukranian/Kiev forces.
Sadly, what was a modern international airport is nothing but a shit pile of rubble. Who knows how many lives was lost for this insanity.
Pres. Obama’s state of the union address was very impressing.
I found it depressing, relentlessly compressing PR fluff, and ultimately distressing in its focus on the infallible greatness of the US empire.
Obama should do what Vladimir Putin does every year – a 3hr press conference in front of the world media, no teleprompters, no scripts, no questions barred.
it’s like Boko Haram doesn’t even exist
(how does this guy..sitting in england..know so much about the new zealand mainstream-media..?..
..those putting the whore in journalism..)
“..George Monbiot:..Our ‘impartial’ broadcasters have become mouthpieces of the elite..
..If you think the news is balanced – think again.
Journalists who should challenge power –
– are doing its dirty work..”
(cont..)
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/20/broadcasters-mouthpieces-of-elite-balanced-news-journalists
Fantastic piece from Monbiot. Should be front page of every goddamn news outlet, but that ain’t gonna happen! Nuggets:
As Chris Hedges, former New York Times Middle East bureau chief and pullitzer prize winner, says: our news media have simply become courtiers to the power elite, amplifying their narrative, not examining and challenging it.
Watch RT’s
Amy PondAbby Martin talk to Tyrell Ventura (son of Jesse) about the CIA placing agents in state legislatures and no doubt in the MSM.Right of Reply – Scoop Responds To The Daily Blog
Bomber doesn’t seem to do the left very many favours at all. I’d rather lose his blog than Scoop, if we had to lose one.
Scoop is a valuable resource but its huge volume of in-depth research is simply indigestible for the casual reader. I think it needs a redesign and better curation of stories.
The Daily Blog is in sore need of a rethink as well, it just doesn’t look professional at all. I admire Bomber’s passion and hard work but he’s a bit OTT, spraying friendly fire and crushing dissent
I agree that Scoop could be more accessible, but they are reviewing stuff with the Chrysalis Project. I really don’t bother with the Daily Blog any more, although John Minto and Keith Locke write some good stuff now and then.
Yeah, I don’t bother with TDB as it’s got a horrible interface and most of it’s just whinging. Get some good stuff from Minto, Locke, Rankin and Genter but they don’t post often enough to make TDB a daily read.
So where is the thunderous condemnation of Boko Haram? More thunderous is the silence emanating from just about everywhere, including New Zealand.
We present ourselves as a caring compassionate nation. So where is the horror and the outrage?
Too many things to be outraged about these days.
#bringbackourgirls is probably as impotent as #jesuischarlie
There are currently 59 groups designated by the US State Department as foreign terrorist organisations, Boko Haram was designated as such in November 2013.
Kim DotCom is the real threat to NZ, stop raising inconvenient facts.
French Algerians who said they were from Al Qaeda Yemen shot up people in Paris so that means NZ should send soldiers to fight the few thousand ISIS gunmen in Iraq, because the US (nor the Iraqi security forces they spent billions to train) somehow can’t handle it themselves.
Geddit? Because that’s all the sense western leadership is making right now.
We are a crucial lynchpin in the defense of western civilisation against the hordes of maniacs with guns. (Not counting the 8000 annual homicides in the US)