The worst public service appointment since Christine (Spankin’) Rankin
Justice Minister praises Dame Susan’s “mature judgement”
Thursday 21 March 2013
Four years ago, Dame Susan Devoy was one of several prominent suckers to be played for a fool by Tony “Boot Boy” Veitch. Along with several other gulls, including the notoriously malleable All Black coach Graham Henry, she wrote Veitch a testimonial for “a passport application”; Veitch used their testimonials as evidence for the mitigation of his sentence for attacking and crippling a young woman.
For sensible people, such a gross lack of common-sense, such lamentably poor judgement, such absence of nous, would mean Dame Susan Devoy would be unsuitable for any position demanding a high degree of intelligence, astuteness and moral rectitude. Most people would suspect the competence of anyone who could be so easily conned into writing a character testimonial for a violent thug.
No problems for this government, however. Far from disqualifying herself from being taken seriously, Dame Susan has sleepwalked herself into a highly paid public position for which she admits she has no qualification whatsoever: Race Relations Conciliator. Devoy admits she knows nothing about race relations, but reckons that there’s nothing complicated about it.
Yesterday’s public announcement by the Minister of Justice was beyond satire. I’ve put the especially absurd bits in bold….
“Dame Susan is a proud New Zealander who is highly motivated to contribute positively to New Zealand society,” Justice Minister Judith Collins said today. “Her communication and relationship management skills, coupled with experience working with diverse groups, are key areas of strength. Dame Susan has sound governance experience and mature judgement. I am confident she will be a sensible and intelligent voice for race relations issues,” Collins said.
“Dame Susan is a proud New Zealander who is highly motivated to contribute positively to New Zealand society,”
Methinks Dame Susan is going to be way out of her depth and sooner or later there will be a stoush between her and some citizens who went to her for help and she did nothing. She’s a good girl though who votes National and is a whizz squash player. What more could you want for a Race Relations Conciliator.
“Pakeha can celebrate Waitangi Day without all the shame and division the day Maori aren’t the worst health stats.”
He should quit the guilt trip and just donate his wages to a local tribe until he’s comfortable with himself, or just keep paying his taxes and hope the dollar spend on improving outcomes will be better spent and/or matched by a concerted effort by whanau to change habits and assist end trending poor health.
Annette Sykes – “demanded that she stand down because she was not fit for the role.
In a statement, she said: “It’s so disturbing that someone with a clearly expressed, racist viewpoint can be appointed to a job that’s about providing independent leadership and advice on race relations, including public education on the Treaty of Waitangi,” Ms Sykes said.
She argued that Dame Susan failed to meet criteria for the job which included knowledge of the Treaty of Waitangi and understanding of the issues which affected indigenous people.”
judith collins – “The Far Left does not have a monopoly on caring about race relations and Dame Susan Devoy is a very sensible and balanced person.
“We’re allowed in this country to have views that have not been politically sanitised and what’s wrong with that?”
This is just NAct showing how much they hold the country and all peoples of goodwill in contempt. Hopefully there aren’t quite as many redneck bigots among us as they seem to be counting on, and this will become another nail in their coffin.
Murray, please don’t insult working people by associating them with bigotry. Most of the vilest racists wear white collars, and do no hard or useful work. Leighton Smith, Larry “Lackwit” Williams, Murray Deaker, ACT party members, Sensible Sentencing Trusters and Family Firsters and, yes, the new Race Relations Commissioner are all established bigots, but they are NOT rednecks.
Please don’t use this sniffy term of eastern elite contempt for working people.
Shearer’s Bank accounts, and Banks’ share accounts seem to have disappeared from the headlines now that a new day dawns. So for those who may have missed them during the night …
It turns out that Shearer had two bank accounts holding more than $50,000, and likely substantially more, and a mortgage.
As the epitome of the worst kind of ‘Papatoetoe-Boy-Makes-Good’ (again imo) It’s not plausible this could be bad money management. I don’t think Shearer is particulary smart, but money, like everyting associated with his giant ego, is important to him. He couldn’t be unaware that, (as this situation has been presented so far) this arrangement constitutes chucking money away – a considerable amount in interest over the term of the mortgage. His wife is no fool, and I’m sure his financial advisors would have mentioned it.
Nah there is a reason.
Maybe it’s something simple. Maybe Shearer likes to sit in his flash new home, daydreaming about being Prime-Minister-Shearer-on-the-world-stage, and for an extra thrill, dialling the telebank machine to check the petty cash, and hearing: ” You have five hun dred and sixty eight thousand dollars, and seven cents……..”
You may be right. I’m sure some bright researcher will let us know.
A US bank term-deposit of a very big sum might bring in more than a 5.5% NZ mortgage costs I guess.
Which would make you wonder why he had more than $50,000 in a NZ ANZ account, which wouldn’t bring in more than the mortgage costs
Na, people with billions in the bank are actually getting charged. What I meant for “smart investments” wasn’t leaving it in the bank but using it to play the stock market. If he was just leaving it in the bank then there would be no reason to leave it in the US.
Yep. And if a bank is providing deposits with a 2% pa rate of interest, it’s probably negative 2%real rate once inflation/deflation, fees etc are taken into account.
They effectively have taken over akl with the CCO’s answerable to no one effectively and stacked with Hide/Key stooges.
Blinky F’ing up the mayoralty with his racist yet predictable comments means they didn’t get the puppett they wanted.
Maybe it’ll be ECAN V2.0 but I can only see that if Brown wins again and the NACT get a third term. If that happens god help you jaffa’s but to do it pre 2014 would kill them in the general election.
Tensions escalate over supply of land for Auckland housing
There’s a growing concern within Auckland Council the Government intends to take direct action to free up land for new housing. (4′27″)
F**k them! We voted against Banksie to keep the vultures hands off our city! No respect for democracy!
The most interesting analysis will be on who owns the land just on the other side of the urban boundary and who profits if things change. Smith is not doing this because of his concern for the poor and homeless. There is a profit for a National Party supporter somewhere and Smith is being told about this loud and clear.
And I am really worried this is a done deal. National has this modus operandi where they create a “crisis” then “act decisively” to deal with the “crisis”. It has happened time and time again.
The simple solution is to allow the Unitary Plan to be operative from its release in September this year. The fact that National is not agreeing to this is a clear message that they intend to do something else.
It would be easier to back Len if he’d done something inspiring during the waterfront dispute, or at any other time. Once again we’re left with someone who has the warrior instincts of wet toilet paper as our great hope against another rapacious NAct power/land grab. We need better.
The simple solution is to allow the Unitary Plan to be operative from its release in September this year. The fact that National is not agreeing to this is a clear message that they intend to do something else.
/agreed
Just watch as they take away another regions democracy but this time it’s the democracy of an entire third of the country.
The housing issue is a red herring, and being used as a route in, although not quite sure the aim might be, other than a power grab.
As TC points out the CCOs do not answer to AKL Council, or any elected members they are stand alone operations, filled with corporate types.
Spend a little time looking into the backgrounds of the people involved, its not only the CCOs, but the Council Departments also, which have been run over by Deloitte, ex Deloitte mostly.
How to take over large public departments
1: Get a stooge into the top role – Ex Deloitte
2: Bring in another ( known affiliate) to run *transformation* – Ex Deloitte
3: Give known affiliate free reign to *shape* the department
4: Bring in more known affiliates to run large in flight programmes (regardless of experience levels) – All Ex Deloitte
5: Ensure Transformation #2 takes out the top layers of existing or structure , (hence council staff)
6: Have known affiliate #2/3 on the interview panel for top level positions in new org structure
7: Ensure that council staff do not get any of the top level positions in new org structure
8: Advertise directors roles externally – Have more corporate stooges conveniently standing by
9: Take over complete – Too easy, high fives, contract awards, services agreements and professional services agreements all wrapped up (more so than they already were)
10: Keep M.O from public, and let them think their rates go up due to lazy employees etc, as opposed to corporate shuffle
Corporate now has complete control over multiple largest departments of type in NZ
Esquire editor fesses up: “The women we feature in the magazine are ornamental,” he said, “I could lie to you if you want and say we are interested in their brains as well. We are not. They are objectified.”
The once steel tough fabric of the union man
Was sold and bartered away
Fed to money wolves in the Reagan years
Caught in a drift in greedy nineties days
So inside this song is our rally cry
Your dreams are in danger
And we must rise
Our time has come we are under the gun
It’s do or die
It’s not a rebel cry of some socialist scheme
To push for human rights
Just the facts and the obvious mention
On behalf of the working man
For his family and his livelihood
Your dreams are in danger
And we must rise
Our time has come we are under the gun
It’s do or die
The once steel tough fabric of the union man
Was sold and bartered away
Fed to money and wolves in the Reagan years
Caught adrift in greedy nineties days
Your dreams are in danger
And we must rise
Our time has come we are under the gun
It’s do or die
Will be interested to see next month how much ‘overlooked a fortune in a foreign accountgate’ dents the great polling, that still show national in government.
Trevett reckons that Labours increased support has come at the expense of the Greens and NZF. In true genius fashion LAB will probably take this to mean to do more of this.
Precisely. There is little point even watching the polls at this stage of the electoral cycle, and as has been proven time and time again, they are often inaccurate, overstating Tory support. In reality NACT support is at around 44%. Currently the Labour/Green coalition sits at around the same number. The Winston Peters roadshow can’t be underestimated, and his support still has to be over 5%. The real challenge for the left will be finding that extra 4% support so they can form a stable government and not have to deal with the profoundly conservative NZ First (either that or hope that his party just falls short of 5%). Hopefully the continued fallout from the Novapay debacle, the GCSB scandal, poor economic management and the theft and sale of our assets will continue to erode Tory support.
I’m not sure about that. The comments coming out of NZF lately are about as racist, homophobic and bigoted as what comes out of that ass-hat Colin Craig’s mouth. The latter just throws scripture, and other xtian wingnuttery into the mix too.
I blame NZF’s inept candidate selection process as being a big part of the problem. Because of their strong showing in 2011, I think they will manage to rustle up a far superior crowd for 2014.
This is the biggest issue facing the world and NZ right now.
It has implications and effects that are and will be far-reaching.
This should be seen for what it is – another well predicted part of the current world financial crisis which erupted onto the public conscience in 2008 and which will continue for years yet, with resultant massive meltdowns of wealth. People would do well to research the other well predicted future events that will roll out of this systemic end-game play…..
from the comments
“The onus here should be on employers to pay proper wages, and maybe on the government to lower taxes on small businesses who cannot afford to pay more (and of course, higher taxes on tax-evading mega-businesses who CAN afford to pay more).”
Surely this simple truth is the nub of the Global problem regarding employment. (that and the endless greed of Banking cabals )
Perhaps this is also a good time to remind you that New Zealand desperately needs the low income tax free earnings structure that the UK, Australia and the US all enjoy. As their economies and policies are consistently used to reflect our economy and policies, surely this glaring disparity in economic truths can finally become a real issue in the next NZ General Election .
LP: all the rolling comments in the opinions/comments box actually link to an old post (return of the king). This may be related to the issue Anne referred to yesterday.
Heh. Yes. And I was getting an odd version of open mike (maybe the mobile version?) on Chrome, FF, & IE, with none of the latest comments as indicated in the links top right. And while I was logged into the main site, I was not logged into open mike.
This book demonstrates that empty-world economic theory has failed on its own terms and that its application by policymakers has resulted in the failure of capitalism itself. Pursuing absolute advantage in cheap labor abroad, First World corporations have wrecked the prospects for First World labor, especially in the US, while concentrating income and wealth in a few hands.
Economist Herman Daly put it well when he wrote that the elites who make the decisions “have figured out how to keep the benefits for themselves while ‘sharing’ the cost with the poor, the future, and other species (Ecological Economics, vol. 72, p. 8).
Empty-world economics with its emphasis on spurring economic growth by the accumulation of man-made capital has run its course. Full-world economics is steady-state economics, and it is past time for economists to get to work on a new economics for a full world.
It seems that the book is based upon facts and thus comes to the only possible conclusion – the mainstream economics used by politicians is wrong, very, very wrong and we need to change it and go to a steady state economy.
Draco, there are major implications for empty world accumulation versus steady state economics. Once we are all fully cognisant that wealth requires work to be done and that it cannot be created out of thin air as credit (future debt) then we will all get a healthier respect for our toils. And anybody with vast accumulated sums must have got them from somebodies elses work. That could result in some very interesting social behavoir……..
Does anyone know how to completely delete a gravatar? After a long time mucking around at the site, I’m left with this horrible black square. I want to be back where I was before I ever had a gravatar. Is this no longer possible?
They tell my I can’t delete my account.
[lprent: Looks ok to me. Remember that your browser will be caching the image. So try shift+click refresh (common to most browsers) force a complete reload of the site. ]
“I have heard that if a persons’ historical account is incorrect, then death will follow that person”
-Kaumatua; Waka Huia
(Crown vs Tuhoe, historically, equated to “ethnic cleansing”-Paul Moon)
Susan Devoy? White must be right. “burqas are disconcerting” but hey, endorsed by that low-forehead paragon of virtue Judith Collins.
Based on experiences such as Katrina, with funds up to 30B coming into ChCh rebuild over the next 5 years, fraud in the order of 1-3B is not unexpected- KPMG commentator.
and now for some Dominion Post propaganda;
yesterday, “no excuses for neglectful Chinese” concerning the aged.
and then the Front Page “This is China” on imprisonment conditions, like, isolation, over-crowding, labour, drug trials and health challenges do not occur under other countries’ penal regimes.
WHAT A MOFO LOAD OF XENOPHOBIA AROUSING SH*T; some of the editorial staff will likely not even be out of nappies when the war is over…
followed by..”Israel talks peace” please, spare us the incredulity (see earlier diplomatic analysis of an “inevitable Intifada”)FFS
Massey University Head of Banking Studies : events in Cyprus were “very relevant” to New Zealand.;” bank deposit guarantee a much better solution”
QT : Parker on the governments’ gloat over the Dec Quarter economic figures; 23000 lost jobs and 33000 left the work force; Joyce concedes, “employment sector is challenging”
Current Account Deficit 10.5B (5% GDP) not helpful-Penny, Westpac economist
“part of the slippery 😉 slope the NZ economy is on” -Doug Steel, BNZ
but that’s OK, New Zealanders received “record returns from off-shore investments.”
NZLast hammering the issue of Chinese parents of skilled migrants again; good return serve from Woodhouse (a decent Tory it appears).
Brownlee’s opposition to Rail Loop appears to be fading slowly (Enright (sp?) report; Loop essential to improved productivity. Julie-Ann hit Brownlee back with his own premise of reduced travel times.
in ICT; job loss indications are up to 1500-C.C (maybe skilled migrants will fill the “advertised” ICT vacancies Joyce touts.)
Chris Tremain? that guy don’t seem right in the head ma.
Families Commission; throwing money away on contractors, gifts and hospitality.
Coleman on the NZDF : “culture, oversight of orders and failure to adhere to orders”
Goff on Crib 19 (sp?) “according to the WO, “only 60% of training effected.”
Torie aye, who’d vote for them! Baaa Humbug. freakin narrow-minded inbreds is what they generally appear to be.
Sacha, how many times I godda tell ya bud ? Enough of the false anonyms already !
Say, could we flog the vee-hickle off to that crazy dude John A. Banks way down there in Ocklind, Nooo Zeeerlind ? Word is he’s a doozie at concealin’ paper trails.
Hello North! Sorry to be so slow responding, but I just completely missed your original message. I had not heard of that incident.
And, no, I don’t think “God slapped them” or anything like that, but I think Obama’s conscience will slap him over the next few years as he slips deeper and deeper into perfidy. He looked very uncomfortable when speaking alongside Mr Abbas yesterday on his flying visit into the Occupied Territories.
Of course, he is a machine politician from Chicago, which means he is as cynical and impervious to morality as anyone in America, but he is human, and he knows that he has failed to do anything to stop Israel’s depredations in either the illegally occupied West Bank or the illegal giant prison in Gaza. In spite of his apparent arrogance, especially when he is being cheered by flag-waving Israeli crowds, he has a conscience like everyone else, and I have no doubt that it is wearing away at him. Soon Obama will be looking as gaunt and haunted as the troubled fellow standing in the middle of the second row in THIS PHOTO….
Sorry to harp on, but my burble in blue above does actually link to the article on the RMA.
It is a very clear account of what the Nacts are changing, and there is very little time for people to be informed (shouted from the rooftops) about what a disgrace this really is.
Where are the opposition, especially the Greens on this? Not more silence, please…
Indeed, well done Jacinda. Good to see her re-stating Labour’s commitment to a social security system, highlighting contradictions, timing of announcements and the political nastiness of this bill. All stuff that Labour has been seen as silent on (at best) by many people, including me. Now to get it heard in a wider public forum…
I know some people around here have it in for Chris Hipkins but this speech he gave to the Auckland Primary Principals Association yesterday gives me some hope that Labour’s education policies are on the right track. Shame the speech hasn’t been reported very widely if at all.
Thanks for the link. Some policy statements at last….
So let me be very clear about Labour’s position on charter schools. We see no need for them. We see no place for them. And any charter schools established under the current National government will have no future under Labour…
…One of the most destructive things this government could do to quality education in New Zealand is introduce so-called ‘performance pay’ based on a narrow range of student achievement measures.
If the alarm bells aren’t already ringing, they should be…
… Under Labour, we will work collaboratively with the education community to replace National Standards with something that is meaningful, broad, and that will work.
Only patronising bollocks to ignorant twits like yourself who apparently don’t keep themselves informed. Get off your backside and find out for yourself… or is that beyond your capabilities.
Up to 1500 jobs to go at Telecom in May, no wonder Bill from Dipton was saying on Q+A that the Welfare Budget is likely to get more money in His next budget…
Faraway NZ communities that they never visit bear the cost of the resulting unemployment. While they personally benefit from signficantly increased profits.
It’s a business no-brainer. If I could fire five thousand Indian workers to get an extra hundred grand in dividends in my pocket, why the hell not?
“Launched in September 1977, the probe was sent initially to study the outer planets, but then just kept on going.”
“Their plutonium power sources will stop generating electricity in about 10-15 years, at which point their instruments and transmitters will die. Voyager-1 is on course to approach a star called AC +793888, but it will only get to within two light-years of it and it will be tens of thousands of years before it does so.”
I feel sad for the little spaceship that could, but await the return of V’ger the Intruder.
Rather irritating to find… Turned out that there was a call to the admin area and it was trying to go through https. Now the question is how to secure that again.
Key Rudd supporter Fitzgibbon, has said he will step down as the government’s chief whip at the next Labor caucus meeting.
Two other government whips, Ed Husic and Janelle Saffin, resigned this evening.
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The Parliamentary Secretary for the Pacific Islands, Richard Mearles, also announced his resignation. “In the circumstances of today’s events I believed this to be the appropriate course,” he said.
“I’m surprised Kevin Rudd didn’t stand,” the former Minister for Arts and Regional Development, Simon Crean, told the ABC’s 7.30 Program. “He has only got one obligation now and that is to back off”.
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The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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The worst public service appointment since Christine (Spankin’) Rankin
Justice Minister praises Dame Susan’s “mature judgement”
Thursday 21 March 2013
Four years ago, Dame Susan Devoy was one of several prominent suckers to be played for a fool by Tony “Boot Boy” Veitch. Along with several other gulls, including the notoriously malleable All Black coach Graham Henry, she wrote Veitch a testimonial for “a passport application”; Veitch used their testimonials as evidence for the mitigation of his sentence for attacking and crippling a young woman.
For sensible people, such a gross lack of common-sense, such lamentably poor judgement, such absence of nous, would mean Dame Susan Devoy would be unsuitable for any position demanding a high degree of intelligence, astuteness and moral rectitude. Most people would suspect the competence of anyone who could be so easily conned into writing a character testimonial for a violent thug.
No problems for this government, however. Far from disqualifying herself from being taken seriously, Dame Susan has sleepwalked herself into a highly paid public position for which she admits she has no qualification whatsoever: Race Relations Conciliator. Devoy admits she knows nothing about race relations, but reckons that there’s nothing complicated about it.
Yesterday’s public announcement by the Minister of Justice was beyond satire. I’ve put the especially absurd bits in bold….
“Dame Susan is a proud New Zealander who is highly motivated to contribute positively to New Zealand society,” Justice Minister Judith Collins said today. “Her communication and relationship management skills, coupled with experience working with diverse groups, are key areas of strength. Dame Susan has sound governance experience and mature judgement. I am confident she will be a sensible and intelligent voice for race relations issues,” Collins said.
Click on the following link for an example of Dame Susan Devoy’s “mature judgement”….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10567112
Makes perfect sense to appoint her.
Apparently most of our current immigrants are English.
Who better than a dame to make sure they do not suffer the pains of discrimination?
And she thinks that Waitangi Day is full of too many protesters and everyone should settle down and be happy.
Arn’t you meant to have the slightest smidgeon of knowledge of history so that you can be appointed to important race relations positions?
Maybe the cunning plan is to appoint the most inappropriate candidate so that the mana of the office is trashed.
“Maybe the cunning plan is to appoint the most inappropriate candidate so that the mana of the office is trashed.”
Oh. Like the recent appointment to the Speaker of the House?
Like the recent appointment to the Speaker of the House?
Exactly, Alanz. Well spotted.
Methinks Dame Susan is going to be way out of her depth and sooner or later there will be a stoush between her and some citizens who went to her for help and she did nothing. She’s a good girl though who votes National and is a whizz squash player. What more could you want for a Race Relations Conciliator.
Stupid to accept a position like this and then think you can just wing it. She’ll be seriously tested within the year.
I watched the TVNZ News item – she’s already out of her depth. She hasn’t got a freaken clue what she’s talking about.
So she’s making it up as she goes along. The ego behind this must be massive.
Her appointment begins 1 April – this a very poor taste early April Fools joke and I’m not laughing
Bomber at The Daily Blog has really hit it out the park with this post – awesome and so, so true
Very brief quote but I recommend reading the whole post
“Pakeha can celebrate Waitangi Day without all the shame and division the day Maori aren’t the worst health stats.”
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/03/21/when-can-pakeha-celebrate-waitangi-day-a-response-to-dame-susan-devoy/#comment-5075
The Daily Blog is starting to get real traction – good effort to all concerned.
“Pakeha can celebrate Waitangi Day without all the shame and division the day Maori aren’t the worst health stats.”
He should quit the guilt trip and just donate his wages to a local tribe until he’s comfortable with himself, or just keep paying his taxes and hope the dollar spend on improving outcomes will be better spent and/or matched by a concerted effort by whanau to change habits and assist end trending poor health.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10872741
Notice the difference? Annette Sykes is factual and makes an argument. Collins just spins and distracts with bullshit.
Has labour said anything about this appointment for or against?
Lovely. Ol’ Jude should be defending the appointment of this lemon of a choice a lot more. Incompetence by association.
Give them a couple of days to come up with some wording which doesn’t offend Devoy squash fans.
“Annette Sykes – “demanded that she stand down because she was not fit for the role.”
Is that the same Annette Sykes who was defending the owner of a devil dog in Rotorua, that mauled youngsters?
This is just NAct showing how much they hold the country and all peoples of goodwill in contempt. Hopefully there aren’t quite as many redneck bigots among us as they seem to be counting on, and this will become another nail in their coffin.
Murray, please don’t insult working people by associating them with bigotry. Most of the vilest racists wear white collars, and do no hard or useful work. Leighton Smith, Larry “Lackwit” Williams, Murray Deaker, ACT party members, Sensible Sentencing Trusters and Family Firsters and, yes, the new Race Relations Commissioner are all established bigots, but they are NOT rednecks.
Please don’t use this sniffy term of eastern elite contempt for working people.
Shearer’s Bank accounts, and Banks’ share accounts seem to have disappeared from the headlines now that a new day dawns. So for those who may have missed them during the night …
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10872534
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10872232
Shearer and Labour are both dead men walking at this stage.
Time for a change.
There’s going to be more to come in this story, imo.
Reading the financial information from one of the links in Edwards’ latest column:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10872509
It turns out that Shearer had two bank accounts holding more than $50,000, and likely substantially more, and a mortgage.
As the epitome of the worst kind of ‘Papatoetoe-Boy-Makes-Good’ (again imo) It’s not plausible this could be bad money management. I don’t think Shearer is particulary smart, but money, like everyting associated with his giant ego, is important to him. He couldn’t be unaware that, (as this situation has been presented so far) this arrangement constitutes chucking money away – a considerable amount in interest over the term of the mortgage. His wife is no fool, and I’m sure his financial advisors would have mentioned it.
Nah there is a reason.
Maybe it’s something simple. Maybe Shearer likes to sit in his flash new home, daydreaming about being Prime-Minister-Shearer-on-the-world-stage, and for an extra thrill, dialling the telebank machine to check the petty cash, and hearing: ” You have five hun dred and sixty eight thousand dollars, and seven cents……..”
or something.
OMFG.
Well invested money can bring in more than the interest being paid on a mortgage.
You may be right. I’m sure some bright researcher will let us know.
A US bank term-deposit of a very big sum might bring in more than a 5.5% NZ mortgage costs I guess.
Which would make you wonder why he had more than $50,000 in a NZ ANZ account, which wouldn’t bring in more than the mortgage costs
“A US bank term-deposit of a very big sum might bring in more than a 5.5% NZ mortgage costs I guess.”
Hah, no. US interest rates are at 0-0.25%. Unless Shearer had literally billions in the bank, he wouldn’t be getting much more than 1-2% tops.
Na, people with billions in the bank are actually getting charged. What I meant for “smart investments” wasn’t leaving it in the bank but using it to play the stock market. If he was just leaving it in the bank then there would be no reason to leave it in the US.
Yep. And if a bank is providing deposits with a 2% pa rate of interest, it’s probably negative 2% real rate once inflation/deflation, fees etc are taken into account.
There was something on the 6AM RNZ news that the government was preparing a takeover
of the Auckland City Council. Stay tuned for developments ..
They effectively have taken over akl with the CCO’s answerable to no one effectively and stacked with Hide/Key stooges.
Blinky F’ing up the mayoralty with his racist yet predictable comments means they didn’t get the puppett they wanted.
Maybe it’ll be ECAN V2.0 but I can only see that if Brown wins again and the NACT get a third term. If that happens god help you jaffa’s but to do it pre 2014 would kill them in the general election.
Please keep us informed Raa – not everyone is close to a radio news announcement at the right time !
I have my clock radio alarm set for the 6AM news, but am often up earlier ..
Cheers,
This could be the underlying reason.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/130925/tensions-rise-over-auckland-housing-land-supply
Has anyone consulted the iwi ?
Has Banksy got a finger in this ? He used to be Mayor ..
The spare land is obviously not where the wealthy want to live.
There is a relevant report listed here:
F**k them! We voted against Banksie to keep the vultures hands off our city! No respect for democracy!
The most interesting analysis will be on who owns the land just on the other side of the urban boundary and who profits if things change. Smith is not doing this because of his concern for the poor and homeless. There is a profit for a National Party supporter somewhere and Smith is being told about this loud and clear.
And I am really worried this is a done deal. National has this modus operandi where they create a “crisis” then “act decisively” to deal with the “crisis”. It has happened time and time again.
The simple solution is to allow the Unitary Plan to be operative from its release in September this year. The fact that National is not agreeing to this is a clear message that they intend to do something else.
It’s going to be a real test of how much political and popular support Mayor Brown can rally.
Hear hear O Viperous One.
As lefties we must fully back Len, or become culpable for a National inspired theft and mess-up.
It would be easier to back Len if he’d done something inspiring during the waterfront dispute, or at any other time. Once again we’re left with someone who has the warrior instincts of wet toilet paper as our great hope against another rapacious NAct power/land grab. We need better.
/agreed
Just watch as they take away another regions democracy but this time it’s the democracy of an entire third of the country.
There seems to be some action across the Tasman ..
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/rudd-forces-gather-20130320-2gg32.html
The housing issue is a red herring, and being used as a route in, although not quite sure the aim might be, other than a power grab.
As TC points out the CCOs do not answer to AKL Council, or any elected members they are stand alone operations, filled with corporate types.
Spend a little time looking into the backgrounds of the people involved, its not only the CCOs, but the Council Departments also, which have been run over by Deloitte, ex Deloitte mostly.
How to take over large public departments
1: Get a stooge into the top role – Ex Deloitte
2: Bring in another ( known affiliate) to run *transformation* – Ex Deloitte
3: Give known affiliate free reign to *shape* the department
4: Bring in more known affiliates to run large in flight programmes (regardless of experience levels) – All Ex Deloitte
5: Ensure Transformation #2 takes out the top layers of existing or structure , (hence council staff)
6: Have known affiliate #2/3 on the interview panel for top level positions in new org structure
7: Ensure that council staff do not get any of the top level positions in new org structure
8: Advertise directors roles externally – Have more corporate stooges conveniently standing by
9: Take over complete – Too easy, high fives, contract awards, services agreements and professional services agreements all wrapped up (more so than they already were)
10: Keep M.O from public, and let them think their rates go up due to lazy employees etc, as opposed to corporate shuffle
Corporate now has complete control over multiple largest departments of type in NZ
A couple of oddities from the media world:
Esquire editor fesses up: “The women we feature in the magazine are ornamental,” he said, “I could lie to you if you want and say we are interested in their brains as well. We are not. They are objectified.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/mar/19/esquire-editor-show-women-like-cars
The Times gets conned:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/mar/18/times-duped-hoax-qatar-dream-football-story?INTCMP=SRCH
And bonus music featurette: Reasons to Love the Dropkick Murphys No 94:
http://gawker.com/5991403/dropkick-murphys-singer-kicks-the-crap-out-of-skinhead-doing-nazi-salute-on-stage-during-st-patricks-day-concert
Dropkick Murphys – Cadence to Arms / Do or Die
The once steel tough fabric of the union man
Was sold and bartered away
Fed to money wolves in the Reagan years
Caught in a drift in greedy nineties days
So inside this song is our rally cry
Your dreams are in danger
And we must rise
Our time has come we are under the gun
It’s do or die
It’s not a rebel cry of some socialist scheme
To push for human rights
Just the facts and the obvious mention
On behalf of the working man
For his family and his livelihood
Your dreams are in danger
And we must rise
Our time has come we are under the gun
It’s do or die
The once steel tough fabric of the union man
Was sold and bartered away
Fed to money and wolves in the Reagan years
Caught adrift in greedy nineties days
Your dreams are in danger
And we must rise
Our time has come we are under the gun
It’s do or die
Some great looking polls. Delighted to be wrong, for now.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10872574
Will be interested to see next month how much ‘overlooked a fortune in a foreign accountgate’ dents the great polling, that still show national in government.
A month is a long time in politics.
Shearer’s Labour does seem to do better in the Herald polls than in others.
First line in the piece: “National also up”
Trevett reckons that Labours increased support has come at the expense of the Greens and NZF. In true genius fashion LAB will probably take this to mean to do more of this.
Precisely. There is little point even watching the polls at this stage of the electoral cycle, and as has been proven time and time again, they are often inaccurate, overstating Tory support. In reality NACT support is at around 44%. Currently the Labour/Green coalition sits at around the same number. The Winston Peters roadshow can’t be underestimated, and his support still has to be over 5%. The real challenge for the left will be finding that extra 4% support so they can form a stable government and not have to deal with the profoundly conservative NZ First (either that or hope that his party just falls short of 5%). Hopefully the continued fallout from the Novapay debacle, the GCSB scandal, poor economic management and the theft and sale of our assets will continue to erode Tory support.
Nah, NZF aren’t “profoundly conservative”, just “somewhat conservative”.
If you want “profoundly conservative” you need to be pointing your finger at Colin Craig’s mob.
I’m not sure about that. The comments coming out of NZF lately are about as racist, homophobic and bigoted as what comes out of that ass-hat Colin Craig’s mouth. The latter just throws scripture, and other xtian wingnuttery into the mix too.
I blame NZF’s inept candidate selection process as being a big part of the problem. Because of their strong showing in 2011, I think they will manage to rustle up a far superior crowd for 2014.
Cyprus votes NO
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/cyprus-government-considers-capital-restrictions-if-banks-reopen-in-wake-of-no-vote-on-bailout-plan-8541257.html
NZ still on track to be first nation to facilitate bank account funds theft!
This is the biggest issue facing the world and NZ right now.
It has implications and effects that are and will be far-reaching.
This should be seen for what it is – another well predicted part of the current world financial crisis which erupted onto the public conscience in 2008 and which will continue for years yet, with resultant massive meltdowns of wealth. People would do well to research the other well predicted future events that will roll out of this systemic end-game play…..
do
not
trust
the
banking
system
Or their bought and paid for politicians.
Who is playing whom in Cyrus?
http://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/cyprus-what-a-mess/
7 reasons why Paula Bennett should stfu and piss off back to wherever she came from: http://sorrelish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/7-reasons-why-you-should-stop-bitching.html
Just brilliant.
from the comments
“The onus here should be on employers to pay proper wages, and maybe on the government to lower taxes on small businesses who cannot afford to pay more (and of course, higher taxes on tax-evading mega-businesses who CAN afford to pay more).”
Surely this simple truth is the nub of the Global problem regarding employment. (that and the endless greed of Banking cabals )
Perhaps this is also a good time to remind you that New Zealand desperately needs the low income tax free earnings structure that the UK, Australia and the US all enjoy. As their economies and policies are consistently used to reflect our economy and policies, surely this glaring disparity in economic truths can finally become a real issue in the next NZ General Election .
i know, dream on dream on
“and Sorrel was her name”
LP: all the rolling comments in the opinions/comments box actually link to an old post (return of the king). This may be related to the issue Anne referred to yesterday.
And now its back to normal. I blame the North Koreans.
Heh. Yes. And I was getting an odd version of open mike (maybe the mobile version?) on Chrome, FF, & IE, with none of the latest comments as indicated in the links top right. And while I was logged into the main site, I was not logged into open mike.
Now it seems to be back to normal.
Probably the secret squirrel’s smart phone playing up
It is the caching I turned on last night to cope with the flood from offshore. Just turned it off and cleared the cloudflare cache.
Thanks for reminding me.
Here’s a short book review:
The Surprising Conclusion to an Important New Book
It seems that the book is based upon facts and thus comes to the only possible conclusion – the mainstream economics used by politicians is wrong, very, very wrong and we need to change it and go to a steady state economy.
Draco, there are major implications for empty world accumulation versus steady state economics. Once we are all fully cognisant that wealth requires work to be done and that it cannot be created out of thin air as credit (future debt) then we will all get a healthier respect for our toils. And anybody with vast accumulated sums must have got them from somebodies elses work. That could result in some very interesting social behavoir……..
great link D.
The disunity is killing us. It must end Simon Crean on the Australian Labour parties problems.
Could the same be said of Labour NZ??
Meanwhile back at the race to extinction.
Guy McPherson interview
10 positive feedback loops of which one we can influence
http://c-realm.com/podcasts/crealm/354-rapid-unpredictable-non-linear-responses/
Yep, I know you guys hate the UK Daily Mail but you gotta love this. Truth as only the Right can do it.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2296064/If-scintilla-decency-Tony-Blair-Alastair-Campbell-John-Scarlett-faces-public-again.html
http://www.impeachbush.org/
Yeah Joe but it looks better if the Right kick them….
Oh, I think the penny has dropped grumpy.
https://medium.com/something-like-falling/f05a8010fac0
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2013/0317/Iraq-war-10-years-later-Was-it-worth-it
What did John key think about the war again? or Brash? can’t remember.
Pricks.
http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/the_last_letter_20130318/
Does anyone know how to completely delete a gravatar? After a long time mucking around at the site, I’m left with this horrible black square. I want to be back where I was before I ever had a gravatar. Is this no longer possible?
They tell my I can’t delete my account.
[lprent: Looks ok to me. Remember that your browser will be caching the image. So try shift+click refresh (common to most browsers) force a complete reload of the site. ]
Cheers LPrent
test
Struggling with the link, but this is the best article I’ve read on the RMA changes
Good work Jon Morgan
meetings happening… not long before it’s all sewn up
well I need more link lessons obviously, but it is on stuff today, RMA overhaul EXCELLENT reading
test
“I have heard that if a persons’ historical account is incorrect, then death will follow that person”
-Kaumatua; Waka Huia
(Crown vs Tuhoe, historically, equated to “ethnic cleansing”-Paul Moon)
Susan Devoy? White must be right. “burqas are disconcerting” but hey, endorsed by that low-forehead paragon of virtue Judith Collins.
Based on experiences such as Katrina, with funds up to 30B coming into ChCh rebuild over the next 5 years, fraud in the order of 1-3B is not unexpected- KPMG commentator.
Novopay Tech. review release; “platform unstable, 19000 pay-related problems backlog.”
and now for some Dominion Post propaganda;
yesterday, “no excuses for neglectful Chinese” concerning the aged.
and then the Front Page “This is China” on imprisonment conditions, like, isolation, over-crowding, labour, drug trials and health challenges do not occur under other countries’ penal regimes.
WHAT A MOFO LOAD OF XENOPHOBIA AROUSING SH*T; some of the editorial staff will likely not even be out of nappies when the war is over…
followed by..”Israel talks peace” please, spare us the incredulity (see earlier diplomatic analysis of an “inevitable Intifada”)FFS
Massey University Head of Banking Studies : events in Cyprus were “very relevant” to New Zealand.;” bank deposit guarantee a much better solution”
QT : Parker on the governments’ gloat over the Dec Quarter economic figures; 23000 lost jobs and 33000 left the work force; Joyce concedes, “employment sector is challenging”
Current Account Deficit 10.5B (5% GDP) not helpful-Penny, Westpac economist
“part of the slippery 😉 slope the NZ economy is on” -Doug Steel, BNZ
but that’s OK, New Zealanders received “record returns from off-shore investments.”
NZLast hammering the issue of Chinese parents of skilled migrants again; good return serve from Woodhouse (a decent Tory it appears).
Brownlee’s opposition to Rail Loop appears to be fading slowly (Enright (sp?) report; Loop essential to improved productivity. Julie-Ann hit Brownlee back with his own premise of reduced travel times.
in ICT; job loss indications are up to 1500-C.C (maybe skilled migrants will fill the “advertised” ICT vacancies Joyce touts.)
Chris Tremain? that guy don’t seem right in the head ma.
Families Commission; throwing money away on contractors, gifts and hospitality.
Coleman on the NZDF : “culture, oversight of orders and failure to adhere to orders”
Goff on Crib 19 (sp?) “according to the WO, “only 60% of training effected.”
Torie aye, who’d vote for them! Baaa Humbug. freakin narrow-minded inbreds is what they generally appear to be.
She Had
http://www.metal-archives.com/images/2/3/6/2/236249.jpg
The General Electric
ps. Is Resigning an option?
http://auckland.scoop.co.nz/2013/03/st-matthew-in-the-citys-easter-billboard/
meanwhile
Little Reason Indeed
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/columnists/rosemary-mcleod/8453067/Little-reason-for-man-of-cloth-to-preach-pure-rationalism
Hey Morrissey, Obama’s monster limo “The Beast” konks out in Jerusalem. Waddya reckon ? God slapped them ?
Presumably Obama didn’t laugh at a Sascha Baron-Cohen joke and the Ultra-Zionist comedian called in a favour from Mossad.
Sacha, how many times I godda tell ya bud ? Enough of the false anonyms already !
Say, could we flog the vee-hickle off to that crazy dude John A. Banks way down there in Ocklind, Nooo Zeeerlind ? Word is he’s a doozie at concealin’ paper trails.
Hello North! Sorry to be so slow responding, but I just completely missed your original message. I had not heard of that incident.
And, no, I don’t think “God slapped them” or anything like that, but I think Obama’s conscience will slap him over the next few years as he slips deeper and deeper into perfidy. He looked very uncomfortable when speaking alongside Mr Abbas yesterday on his flying visit into the Occupied Territories.
Of course, he is a machine politician from Chicago, which means he is as cynical and impervious to morality as anyone in America, but he is human, and he knows that he has failed to do anything to stop Israel’s depredations in either the illegally occupied West Bank or the illegal giant prison in Gaza. In spite of his apparent arrogance, especially when he is being cheered by flag-waving Israeli crowds, he has a conscience like everyone else, and I have no doubt that it is wearing away at him. Soon Obama will be looking as gaunt and haunted as the troubled fellow standing in the middle of the second row in THIS PHOTO….
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/03/18/article-2295067-0C11293D000005DC-68_634x402.jpg
Sorry to harp on, but my burble in blue above does actually link to the article on the RMA.
It is a very clear account of what the Nacts are changing, and there is very little time for people to be informed (shouted from the rooftops) about what a disgrace this really is.
Where are the opposition, especially the Greens on this? Not more silence, please…
Nice comment from Jacinda Ardern layning into Bennefits. – clip H/TBryan Bruce.
Very good speech by her. Probably the best I’ve heard from her.
Indeed, well done Jacinda. Good to see her re-stating Labour’s commitment to a social security system, highlighting contradictions, timing of announcements and the political nastiness of this bill. All stuff that Labour has been seen as silent on (at best) by many people, including me. Now to get it heard in a wider public forum…
I know some people around here have it in for Chris Hipkins but this speech he gave to the Auckland Primary Principals Association yesterday gives me some hope that Labour’s education policies are on the right track. Shame the speech hasn’t been reported very widely if at all.
http://www.networkonnet.co.nz/index.php?section=latest&id=229
Thanks for the link. Some policy statements at last….
I know some people around here have it in for Chris Hipkins…
He asked for it Tony P, but if he continues to perform at his present level then some of us may eventually be able to forgive him. Up to him.
What did he ask for exactly? This statement is extraordinary. You may eventually forgive him? What a load of patronizing bollocks.
Of course it’s patronizing bollocks, because these types aren’t accountable to us.
Only patronising bollocks to ignorant twits like yourself who apparently don’t keep themselves informed. Get off your backside and find out for yourself… or is that beyond your capabilities.
Up to 1500 jobs to go at Telecom in May, no wonder Bill from Dipton was saying on Q+A that the Welfare Budget is likely to get more money in His next budget…
Gotta maintain those multi-million dollar profit levels for the foreign share owners.
Yeah that sucks, damn national selling of telecom in the 80s was a bad idea
Faraway NZ communities that they never visit bear the cost of the resulting unemployment. While they personally benefit from signficantly increased profits.
It’s a business no-brainer. If I could fire five thousand Indian workers to get an extra hundred grand in dividends in my pocket, why the hell not?
Erm. How is the government doing with creating 170,000 jobs?
Any sign yet?
“The possibility that the Voyager-1 spacecraft may have left the Solar System is being hotly debated.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21866532
“Launched in September 1977, the probe was sent initially to study the outer planets, but then just kept on going.”
“Their plutonium power sources will stop generating electricity in about 10-15 years, at which point their instruments and transmitters will die. Voyager-1 is on course to approach a star called AC +793888, but it will only get to within two light-years of it and it will be tens of thousands of years before it does so.”
I feel sad for the little spaceship that could, but await the return of V’ger the Intruder.
Heh!!! 🙂
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/V'Ger 😉
Frank was so right when he reminded the world about the fish people.
http://www.vice.com/read/i-went-to-the-california-creationist-museum-and-it-was-really
“there are several smaller, shittier ones dotted around” 😆
Creationists – Made on a Saturday after the birds and fish.
Evolutionists – Still being tweaked to perfection.
Test
test 2
Test 3
Test 4
MIme artist sound check 🙂
Test 5 – text/javascript check.
“MIme artist sound check”
That’s john banks sound proofing his donation paper trail.
Test 6 – I thought he used a sockpuppet
Hah – found the damn thing. Have edit back folks…
Bringing up a comment to edit at last.
You had me at “Hah” :thumbz:
Rather irritating to find… Turned out that there was a call to the admin area and it was trying to go through https. Now the question is how to secure that again.
Kevin Rudd’s supporters sacrificed; but is the Leader’s problems actually his fault?
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/trouble-brewing-but-dont-blame-it-on-the-usual-bloke-20130318-2gb8m.html
Body count: Rudd supporters quit their posts
Cant say I care for either of them myself. The ALP is doomed no matter who leads it.
Ok tinyMCE back on…
Ummm – where has the opt-out box gone?
Link
Ok – that had the same problem.
Test WYIWYG comments
Ok – that appears to work
And the reply works as well.
Umm and admins get more.
Yeah I left that a bit unfinished for admins. Must have been when the work load escalated.
Everything is back to nearly full speed – hopefully without the cache problems that re-appeared yesterday. Just have
And above all the nightly backup to run so that I have a copy