Database jammed up on a lock overnight. Probably due to some kind of bot?
Needs a procedure to automatically clear locks/connections… Or I make the database ‘bigger’ with a higher cost *sigh*
I also need to look at better ways to reduce those damn bots. This morning there are a flood of requests from Facebook and Bing. Mostly looking at images right now rather than db.
This interview with Chris Laidlaw this morning could be interesting for forward looking people.
It includes someone telling what one ohu, community farm in Lange’s time, did to become more self-catering and self-sufficient.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday
(Audio rerun takes about 30 mins from finish to load. But try to get it fresh off the wife (whoops wire, left this it’s a funny typo), and don’t forget to get the latest from Down the List just after 11 a.m.)
10:06 Ideas: This week discusses the concept of Utopia
A map of the world that does not include Utopia,” Oscar Wilde once said, “is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. This morning Ideas talks to three explorers in the search for that mythical ideal. Produced by Jeremy Rose.
Very probably we will, or our children, will need to learn the art of collective living at even a small level. Creches for adults really. Groups in contact and combining strengths and supportive lives tend to fare better than individuals, if the whanau are all contributing, not with slackers or careless types who brrow tools and then break them and don’t repair them, don’t return them to the agreed holding family etc.
Great article on The Nation – Migrant Workers in Dairy Farming
Migrant Labour to South Island Dairy farms. The main reason that Kiwis dont work on these farms is because Farmers dont pay enough…the work on a >1000 cow dairy farm is incredibly tough, particularly during calving. People need to work around the clock, 16 hour plus days . If Farmers paid people a fair salary to reflect the hard work they will get more people applying, these farms are incredibly profitable…they can afford it.
The introduction of migrant workers is a distortion of the farmers belovered free market…
I know of farmers in the north island letting go of their kiwi farm workers and employing multiple filipino workers to do all of the work…share milking as a step up to farm ownership has disappeared.
@ Saarbo
I haven’t yet seen The Nation – not sure I will, but it’s a nice little rort all propped up by agencies of state – not just Dairy Farms either – orchards, vineyards operated by the unscrupulous (or companies they outsource to).
What pisses me off is that there is a nasty little “bloody immigrant taking all our jobs” thing going on in the background.
Often when one delves into it – one finds that the “immigrants’ are people (students) who’ve been promised the world by private education providers (including relevant ‘work expeirience employment’), who have under-delivered – some shutting up shop/going out of business. Those ripped-off immigrants have very little recourse, but are faced with having to repay the exorbitant amount of money they’ve (and often their family and friends) borrowed for fees.
It’s made all the worse when Immigration grants visas on the basis that they are tied to a specific employer – so they have to take what ever is dealt to them – OR go through another costly, long drawn out process to have it changed – often involving a catch-22 situation.
A rort probably doesn’t describe it all adequately!
Yes, I’m sure you are right Tim, so these immigrants can end up pretty vulnerable and become very exploitable.
What i am seeing is that National are using Immigrants to reduce wages at a worker level on Dairy farms. Lets suggest that we didnt allow immigrants in to work on Dairy farms, then the market would demand that farmers pay more for labour on their farms.
We have to keep an eye on this immigrant labour, as you have pointed out Tim, they are often exploited.
Feudalism is already happening in dairy farming nation wide, this policy is just speeding things up.
Part of the problem is that there are few good quality NZ farm staff available to employ (Especially the male variety)
Over the last 6 seasons we have employed around 14 farm staff on several different farms.
(From memory have been around 10 male & 4 female)
Of the males the following did not finish their employment contracts with us:
1 – Left two months shy of contract to be closer to family (Understandable but not helpful)
2 – Was dismissed after disciplinary proceedings for repeatedly failing to come to work and/or leaving work when he felt like it. (Turned out mostly when he had run out of $$ to fund his cannabis addiction) Oh I won’t mention the sexual harassment allegations against him.
3 – Young guy – during his first calving his grandma dies in Tasmania, he begs for time off to go to the funeral. When he is due back he never shows up. After several phone calls he tells me he has met a girlfriend over there (Already had two in NZ) and he won’t be coming home.
4 – What about the 23 year old that ended up having a temper so when he got tired he would punch and kick what ever was around (Including animals)
5 The old guy (with 30 years farming experience) who was bitter that he had never got a manager’s job and would repeatedly show up to work late and moan about everything. (Oh and threatened to kill the farm owner who had met only once)
In contrast the females have all worked out well – good work ethic, reliable, honest, and are happy to help contribute towards the efficient working of the farm.
I have not employed any immigrant labour but understand why some farmers do. They are keen for the work, they are reliable, they tend to be self disciplined (not likely to have the local bobby knocking on the door looking for them) and they don’t mind the dirty jobs.
What they can struggle with (Philippino immigrants especially) is learning how to make decisions and to take initiative on farm – always need a boss to do the thinking for them
This is why I have shied away from them – I would rather employ a kiwi and try to train them to be able to think and plan and to adapt to a changing situation. But it is hard to find suitable potential staff here.
I know a lot of dairy farmers, family, locals, and the one my son works for.
The ones, and there are many, who offer half way decent wages and conditions, and are known as reasonable employers, get more job applications than they can handle.
Some farmers, though, are shocking employers.
I remember all the moans from Kiwifruit growers about lack of labour a while back.
It turned out they, millionaire growers, were effectively paying $3 an hour. After charging the workers for sleeping on a patch of hay in the old cow shed and paying piece rates where you would have to be superman to make minimum wage. Not to mention the cost of workers getting themselves there. And the stand down with WINZ after the season which would swallow up all their remaining earnings.
Geez Draco T – you keep reminding me of the endless number of reasons why I can no longer support ABC Labour. It was never a habit, just at one time the best and most sensible option.
It waned in Helen’s 3rd term. It was almost becoming a contest between the least worst option. Thankfully there are now options if one is of a centre-left/left wing persuasion. (Hint: it ain’t Labour at the moment).
Btw …. msg to Hilary: Read above – they’re not the best option atm (that’s shorthand for “at the moment”) and sentimentality, loyalty, solidarity towards those that have shown themselves to be obvious pratts – only goes so far.
…and I did take your advice (“Give it a bit of time”). It’s been more than a frikken YEAR since then.
Any new advice?
This has been the case for several years now. And a lot of the surplus money produced is flowing straight to Oz banks in the form of high mortgage repayments.
Indeed C.V. I forgot to mention too that for some of them, whilst they try and figure out how to raise money to repay their families, all the while having to take on whatever ‘work’ they can, visas will expire – whereupon they’re simply deported (out of sight, out of mind ).
I know several farmers who do go out of their way to help their workers out with immigration processes, and quite successfully I might add. It’s part of why the migrant workers accept piss poor wages – they want their NZ residency.
Yep CV – I know of such people too. It’s the luck of the draw tho’ for the immigrant (i.e. whether they get a concerned and decent sort of employer, OR an asshole). Certainly the idea of visas tied to an employer is not a good one.
By the way – another deportation I’m aware of has just taken place a week or so ago.
The good thing about it is that it’s going up the political food chain (I mean in the immigrant/international students’ own countries).
We’ve already seen what can happen when the Chinese get pissed off.
They’ve also managed to piss off a couple of Sth Americans.
There are a number of nations across the world who regard the current government quite poorly, because of this and other issues. The fact that the NATs pissed off our entire diplomatic corps has not helped.
Impending ankle-biter duty back later BUT
I’d go so far as to say that it has been predominantly ‘immigrant’ labour and expertise, and one or two of those GOOD employers you and I know of that have gotten us over the whole PSA virus debacle – once again not helped by certain state agencies (Immigration, Bio-D, etc., and the short-sighted, cost-accounting attitudes of their Snr. Management and Munsters)
I don’t remember farmers ever loving the free market. As long as I can remember, they’ve demanded government assistance and never paid any of it back with anything except the willingness to ride into town and pretend to be Cossacks.
“The best way to give these negotiations a chance is to keep them private. We know that the challenges require some very tough choices in the days ahead. Today, however, I am hopeful.”
—U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking about the latest “peace talks” between Israel and the PA. He went on to praise the “courageous leadership” of Netanyahu and Abbas.
hogwash, n.1. Worthless, false, or ridiculous speech or writing; nonsense. 2. Garbage fed to hogs; swill. hypocrisy, n.1. the practice of professing standards, beliefs, etc., contrary to one’s real character or actual behaviour, esp. the pretence of virtue and piety 2. an act or instance of this
More exhibits in the Hall of Hogwash….
No. 2 DAVID CAMERON: “We never support, in countries, the intervention by the military.”
No. 1 BARACK OBAMA: “Madiba’s moral courage…people standing up for what’s right….aaaahhhh, the yearning for justice and dignity…”
Clayton Cosgrave was part of an attempt to set up a new Party funded/controlled by Michelle Boag’s National Party contacts.
Early in 1994 Michael Laws and Mike Moore appear on TVNZ’s current affairs programme Fraser together. Here they discuss the opportunities for a new centre party on air. The two reportedly decide afterwards that they should meet again to further discuss this opportunity. A meeting between Moore and Michelle Boag was organised in to discuss the potential of National Party donors financing a new Centre party . Involved in the discussions were;
Mike Moore – Former Prime Minister who had been replaced as Labour leader after the 1993 election.
Michael Laws, Geoff Braybrooke, Jack Elder, Peter McCardle, Clayton Cosgrove, Ron Mark and Tony Day,
The first week of the 1996 parliamentary session was discussed as an ideal launch date. However, in an interview with the Sunday Star-Times the following weekend Mike Moore states that he is committed to Labour.
clean them out
Very interesting. Something similar about the ideas and words of all those names! Some went on to Christian Coalition, Mark was NZ First wasn’t he – send them all off to Army training as an answer to everything, and MM and CC found Labour quite right-wing enough.
Check out the links above re Pastor Hannah Gargoyle-Tamaki and daughter.
No mention of the cost of the cosmetic work, or the botox, or the hairdo. How much change out of $350 for the monthly coiff’ ?
Paraphrased: “It’s rubbish to be poor when you’re in the ‘business’ of helping the poor – ‘them’ ensconcing me and the bishop in luxury is but a God fearing step on ‘their’ way up.”
Cargo-cult with God’s chosen nabbing all the cargo and being righteous about it !
Daughter, ponder this: overheard (by me) in the supermarket yesterday from the mouth of a young woman with three young kids in tow – “No no no, Weetbix are too expensive.”
Hey North – do you realise that they once demolished and entire building because of its ‘Gargoyles’ and in the name of ‘corporate prestige’.
Its pathetic substitute now stands on the corner of Willeston and Willis Sts, Wellington.
(no word on its structural integrity yet – If I were a structural engineer tho’ I’d be worried about those wrap-around bits that make the columns look more substantial than they actually are – and what they’re hiding)
—Macleans College principal Byron Bentley praises police inspector Richard Wilkie, who has admitted to assaulting two teenagers in an off-duty incident that left other officers at the scene disturbed. Wilkie has resigned from his position of Board of Trustees chairman at Macleans. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10900944
Humbug Corner is dedicated to gathering, and highlighting, the most striking examples of faux solicitude, insincere apologies, and particularly stupid recycling of official canards. It is produced by the Insincerity Project®, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
More humbugs….
No. 18 Rachel Smalley: “…heartbreak all over NSW as Queensland wins the deciding State of Origin!”
No. 17 Jay Carney: ““He is not a human rights activist, he is not a dissident.”
No. 16 Barack Obama: “I wish Muslims across America & around the world a month blessed with the joys of family, peace & understanding.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11072013/#comment-661330
No.15 John Key: “They know this is an issue of national security…”
No. 14 Charles Saatchi: “I abhor violence of any kind against women…”
No. 13 Toyota New Zealand: “The more Kiwis that lean, the more motivated our ETNZ crew will be to win.”
No. 12 Pem Bird: “We’re there to do the business of advancing our people.”
No.11 Whenua Patuwai: “They’re my brothers and to see one of them goes [sic]—it’s tough.”
No. 10 [REMOVED]
No. 9 [REMOVED]
No. 8 Barack Obama: “…people standing up for what’s right…yearning for justice and dignity…” No. 7 Barack Obama: “Nelson Mandela is my personal hero…”
No. 6 John Key: “Yeah well the Greens’ answer to everything is rail, isn’t it.”
No.5 Dr. Rodney Syme: “If you want good, open, honest practice, you have to make it transparent.”
No. 4 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton’s… integrity beyond reproach…such great character…”
No. 3 Dean Lonergan: “Y’ know what? The only people who will mock them are people who are dwarfists.”
No. 2 Peter Dunne: “What a load of drivel and sanctimonious humbug…”
No. 1 Dominic Bowden: “It’s okay to be speechless.”
Sorry folks – links seem to have disappeared from this morning’s Herald webpage. Articles re Pastor Hannah’s $90,000 Audi wagon and daughter’s “feed the whanau for $20 per meal”.
Let’s not forget this wretched incident where the church franchise holders closed ranks, the alleged offenders (yes, there were others involved) were sheltered, Capillesque justifications were floated and victims were blamed.
“I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man “(or woman..hat tip Monty Python) “to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. ”
Glad to see she’s living by the tenets of her faith then…….
To be blunt……..those bludgers the Tamakis don’t entertain the Kingdom of God except to the extent that the construct realises them the personal paradise they live in here on Earth.
And if his family are cold this winter because they can’t pay their bills as all their spare cash has been tithed to pay for the Tamaki’s bling, they can hug under a blanket, according to Pastor Hannah.
Spurred on by the exhortations of Hottie C-Rankin and Pastor Hannah Gargoyle-Tamaki on “The Vote” recently, I carefully tracked the cost of 14 individual evening meals – 8 adult meals 6 kids’ meals – consumed Friday night to Sunday night.
Good food it was too – Friday night beef and vegetable lasagne and salad – Saturday night roast chicken with roast vegetables gravy etc – Sunday night meat sauce and pasta with salad.
Total cost – just about everything seasonal or bought on special but excluding the cost of seasonings, energy, cooking oil, the $1.48 no-grain budget bread those pampered kids insist on – $42.
Felt quite chuffed I did. Nearly emailed the said Hottie C-Rankin and Pastor Hannah Gargoyle-Tamaki to thank them. Then I came back to reality and remembered that in this house there are fridges x 2 and deep freezers x 2. Heaps of room to safely store “clever” specials purchases. No worry about electricity to run them and power the water pump. As many as we choose daily trips to the supermarket in one of several cars available.
Makes you wanna tell Hottie and Gargoyle to fuck off really. “Neh neh neh – a serving of Weetbix costs 37 cents – smug smug smug”.
Marie-Antoinette molls both of them !
“Oh sorry kids…….no brekky or lunch Saturday or Sunday…….put that milk back ya little shit !”
In case anyone should feel morally bound to dob me in to CYPS I note that there was breakfast and lunch both days but boy, it sure fucked my budget !
Matt McCarten in His Herald column this morning points out the cold hard facts that that mainstay of Neo-Liberalism, ‘responsibility and accountability’ is and was always meaningless gibberish and when all is said and done the Pike River disaster delivers us all the lesson that there is no such thing,
Obviously there is needed in this country a criminal charge of ‘Corporate Manslaughter’ to enforce upon those who pay lip service to the notion of that ‘responsibility and accountability’ the cold hard reality of their actions and in-actions when it comes to the lives of their employees on the job,
The next Labour/Green Government i would hope would have this clearly pencilled in to the first year of it’s legislative program after election,
Matt raises a more difficult issue in the Herald column which discusses the fines imposed on the Pike River Mining Company as well as it’s break-up before-hand where all the ‘cash’ assets of Pike River including insurance payments said to be in the realm of a100 million dollars which where disbursed years befor Pike River could be convicted by any Court among the ‘secured creditors’, including Banks, Major Shareholders, and the liquidators themselves were said to have accrued millions of dollars in ‘fees’ for over-seeing such a disbursement,
Thus the families of the 29 miners entombed in the Pike River Mine will receive a mere sniff of justice for their fallen men, hollow words and a judgement that fines should be paid to the victims families that no law can or will enforce,
Pike River is the most glaring example of this ‘no responsibility, no accountability’ enshrined in our laws which not only lets ‘business’ get away with murder but also allows ‘business’ of many varieties to ignore the Courts on matters of compensation where the likes of Employment Tribunals make orders for payment to employees knowing that they will never be paid as the ‘business’ concerned has ceased trading under a particular name and assumed a different one,
We need a fundamental change in the attitude that when disaster strikes, firms go belly up, or orders of compensation are made by ANY court in favor of workers those workers are somehow denied payment by ‘business’ who have circumvented any ‘responsibility’ by a simple change of paperwork,
Employees in any disaster,insolvency, or, Court ordered payment should be made the FIRST SECURED CREDITOR and distribution of any ‘cash assets’ that any firm may have in any form must first take account of any present or future claim by employees and i would go as far as to say that the directors and shareholders in listed company’s should be made responsible for paying the employees as the first secured creditor any and all monies owed at the time of closure or at the point of any future court ordered payment,
Changing the name of a business to avoid an Employment tribunal ordered payment should result in criminal charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice and Employment Tribunal orders should not be made in the name of a particular ‘business’ but instead be attached to the name of the person who materially owns/operates that business,
The Labour and Green Party’s should be pushed to make such changes to our laws….
lprent
That took a while for me to check and I ran out of edit time. I started looking in peronal archives for –
Rosetinted 20/7 7.38p.m. re Morrissey – I couldn’t find on Morrissey’s list for 20/7.
And then checking on both Rosetinted and Morrissey I found –
But Rosetinted 20/7 11.37a.m. to mac1 – That is the last one on my listing for 20/7.
And Morrissey 20/7 – last listing for that date was at 10.20 a.m.
So where did the 7.38 pm one go. And I don’t know what others that might have been made but not showing.
Sometimes I click on an entry in the comments list, and get sent to a completely different page.
I don’t know whether that’s relevant to the above query.
(I found rosetinted 20/7 at 7.38p.m. by scrolling through the thread which was Open Mike 19/7.)
An article with some thoughtful comments concerning the on-going slow-motion train-wreck of civilization, with particular regard to the failure of the left to make any progress whatsoever for the last 40 years – and as apposite to New Zealand as to the US, in my view:
Someone who looks into Conspiracy Theories rather than just believing the official story. Study shows you are likely to have your head screwed on better than those just simply believeing the official version of events.
Indeed, Wood et al. (2012) demonstrated that even beliefs in directly contradictory conspiracy theories were positively correlated with one another, indicating that conspiracy beliefs may be held together not by direct agreement with one another, but by mutual agreement with higher-order beliefs about the world.
LOLZ, the most bought into Government line that is patently bullshit in this country is the anti-tobacco fanatics ‘tobacco is the only legal product that kills 50% of those who use it as directed’,
Health officials, the anti-tobacco fanatics, Government Ministers, and MP’s by a huge majority across the whole spectrum of the Parliament will put hand on heart and swear that this is true,
When pushed on the bad health out-comes which supposedly kills 50% of tobacco’s users they will all dutifully intone that Heart Disease and Cancers are the culprits swearing that this is a direct result of tobacco use,
What they remain TOTALLY silent upon, as if being part of the collective Nunnery of the nation having taken the vows of silence, is what kills 50% of the population that have never used tobacco products,
50% of the population who have never used tobacco WILL DIE of the same Heart Disease and Cancers which knock off 50% of the tobacco users, which would suggest strongly to anyone with half a brain who is neither brainwashed nor a fanatic that tobacco use does not seriously figure in such deaths,
Of course if the above is true then 100’s of millions of Health dollars are being wasted by the anti-tobacco fanatics which would far better be spent addressing why 50% of the population whether they have ever used tobacco products or not get bumped off of the mortal coil by that Heart Disease and those Cancers…
Speaking about cancers and stuff, here’s some sad news that’s gone largely unnoticed.
Yoshida was at the Fukushima nuclear complex when the tsunami engulfed the cooling system and saw three reactors go into meltdown. In an interview in November 2011, he said he thought several times that he would die.
Defying orders from his bosses, Yoshida made the decision to pump seawater into the No. 1 reactor in a move that may have averted a catastrophic nuclear explosion.
Masao Yoshida is someone to remember and respect. Thanks for drawing our attention to this joe 90.
He went against protocol and with the ‘Fukushima 50’ used seawater to cool reactors overheating. Now he is dead, and the other men in ‘the 50’ may also have shortened lives.
They should not be forgotten or overlooked. I think there was heroism after the Chernobul event also.
An important point in this linked article mentions the findings that there were deficiencies in the nuclear reactor oversight and control.
The authorities’ handling of the nuclear disaster was widely criticized, with an independent investigation calling it a “man-made disaster” that unfolded as a result of collusion between TEPCO, regulators and the government.
This occurs as a theme in other reports I’ve read after disasters. We must remember this when our pollies are prattling on about how much they care about controls and how well practices will be monitored and safety equipment…blah blah …and jobs will be created – note that. That’s what is said as a carrot for every dirty little deal the shysters want to get through the hole in the safety net.
The authors were surprised to discover that it is now more conventional to leave so-called conspiracist comments than conventionalist ones: “Of the 2174 comments collected, 1459 were coded as conspiracist and 715 as conventionalist.” In other words, among people who comment on news articles, those who disbelieve government accounts of such events as 9/11 and the JFK assassination outnumber believers by more than two to one. That means it is the pro-conspiracy commenters who are expressing what is now the conventional wisdom, while the anti-conspiracy commenters are becoming a small, beleaguered minority.
No, it means that if you choose 911 as a topic because the conspiracist community for that issue “is noted for its substantial online presence and focus on Internet proselytizing”, you can expect to see more conspiracy comments than comments from people who have not chosen to make the deaths of thousands of people their personal hobby.
The more I think of it the more convinced I am that the huge deterioration of workers wages and rights began with the abolition of compulsory Unionism’.
Its time to rethink the role of some form off compulsory union membership.Its not a vote winner but essential if we are to return to a society where a fair deal,foe all is the norm.
My problem with compulsory unionism is that it allowed the union bureaucrats to become a bit lazy in terms of convincing workers of the necessity of belonging. Once the legal compulsion went, so did many of the members. I think the strongest unions will always be voluntary. I also recognise that rebuilding membership isn’t easy.
I am a union member in a non-compulsory situation. I pay for the salary rises and conditions also extended to my non-union colleagues. I object to that, but can live with it. I couldn’t live with not being a member.
Yeah Risildo, that was a biggie, bigger than Friday’s and this morning’s one. It’s starting to get a bit much. I had just got a glass of wine to celebrate the planting of a hedge and my husband (a civil defence volunteer in training, so will have lots to discuss at this weeks class) was in the bath, recovering his sore muscles. Had a mini tsunami in the bath, windows rattling, crockery rattling, glassware tinkling, rumble rumble rumble, wine sloshing around in my glass as I found a safe place to stand. (Clearly I couldn’t put it down otherwise it would fall over!) …………
Hope all living in Marlborough and lower north island doing ok and not dealing with too much damage.
Now that was a SHAKE, the ones early this morning were minor affairs but that one had the house doing the boogy on it’s foundations,
So far out here east of the airport all these quakes have been felt less severely than elsewhere and if that was the case with that last one then there will be damage…
Getting bigger, Power and water are still all good over the parts of wellington i can see from here, lolz, i was braced in the front porch befor that one delivered it’s full force,
Having settled down again the mad scientists in my mind wants me to sit still in the chair for the next one,(whole house will probably come down round my ears),
Prime news is saying power is out in parts of Wellington…
Disturbed Sunday beers here in the cliff – lots of lateral motion in two waves – tickers going pitter patter and a couple of upset kids but no damage, arrived home and an upended sauce bottle draining remnants was still standing though so it wasn’t too bad.
Spoken to my SO who’s flying into Wellington later this PM so mildly reassured.
Kia ora Joe! Glad there wasn’t any damage. The ‘cliff rocks! Had some terrific nights in the pub there back during the punk wars, 3 nights of Toy Love and an audience of two men and a dog stands out. Good times.
And I know the footy club is also excellent, they do great work with the kids in the area. A real community club.
This is a serious and timely put question: what is the decent, honourable Kiwi to do about the renewed, indeed escalating War On The Poor ?
Reckon it’s time to tune up on the great philosophers with a view to neutralising our natural timidities. The advised violence directed at poor Kiwis by a portly lady wearing a wan, gracelessly over-lippied, patronising smile…….it’s utterly unconscionable !
J. K. Galbraith – “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a morally superior justification for selfishness.”
When will we resolve that injustice cannot be permitted to go on ?
Benny Tipene’s brother speaks an uncomfortable truth The X-Factor Grand Final, TV3, Sunday 21 July 2013
Shortly before contestant Benny Tipene is due to sing, we go to host Dominic Bowden, who is sitting in the crowd, poking his microphone in the direction of a young man on his right….
DOMINIC BOWDEN: I’m sitting here with Benny’s brother! What advice have you got for the voters? BENNY TIPENE’S BROTHER: Vote hard, vote often.
….[There ensues an extended awkward pause. A dark expression passes over Dominic Bowden’s normally cheery mien.]
DOMINIC BOWDEN: Ha ha. “Vote hard, vote often.” [raises eyebrows to express contempt and annoyance] Back to you, Ruby….
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TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
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Database jammed up on a lock overnight. Probably due to some kind of bot?
Needs a procedure to automatically clear locks/connections… Or I make the database ‘bigger’ with a higher cost *sigh*
I also need to look at better ways to reduce those damn bots. This morning there are a flood of requests from Facebook and Bing. Mostly looking at images right now rather than db.
I’m scheduling a database update now.
Done. Ok that (while more costly) should give more room to handle these oddball middle of the night peaks.
This interview with Chris Laidlaw this morning could be interesting for forward looking people.
It includes someone telling what one ohu, community farm in Lange’s time, did to become more self-catering and self-sufficient.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday
(Audio rerun takes about 30 mins from finish to load. But try to get it fresh off the wife (whoops wire, left this it’s a funny typo), and don’t forget to get the latest from Down the List just after 11 a.m.)
10:06 Ideas: This week discusses the concept of Utopia
A map of the world that does not include Utopia,” Oscar Wilde once said, “is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. This morning Ideas talks to three explorers in the search for that mythical ideal. Produced by Jeremy Rose.
Very probably we will, or our children, will need to learn the art of collective living at even a small level. Creches for adults really. Groups in contact and combining strengths and supportive lives tend to fare better than individuals, if the whanau are all contributing, not with slackers or careless types who brrow tools and then break them and don’t repair them, don’t return them to the agreed holding family etc.
Great article on The Nation – Migrant Workers in Dairy Farming
Migrant Labour to South Island Dairy farms. The main reason that Kiwis dont work on these farms is because Farmers dont pay enough…the work on a >1000 cow dairy farm is incredibly tough, particularly during calving. People need to work around the clock, 16 hour plus days . If Farmers paid people a fair salary to reflect the hard work they will get more people applying, these farms are incredibly profitable…they can afford it.
The introduction of migrant workers is a distortion of the farmers belovered free market…
I know of farmers in the north island letting go of their kiwi farm workers and employing multiple filipino workers to do all of the work…share milking as a step up to farm ownership has disappeared.
@ Saarbo
I haven’t yet seen The Nation – not sure I will, but it’s a nice little rort all propped up by agencies of state – not just Dairy Farms either – orchards, vineyards operated by the unscrupulous (or companies they outsource to).
What pisses me off is that there is a nasty little “bloody immigrant taking all our jobs” thing going on in the background.
Often when one delves into it – one finds that the “immigrants’ are people (students) who’ve been promised the world by private education providers (including relevant ‘work expeirience employment’), who have under-delivered – some shutting up shop/going out of business. Those ripped-off immigrants have very little recourse, but are faced with having to repay the exorbitant amount of money they’ve (and often their family and friends) borrowed for fees.
It’s made all the worse when Immigration grants visas on the basis that they are tied to a specific employer – so they have to take what ever is dealt to them – OR go through another costly, long drawn out process to have it changed – often involving a catch-22 situation.
A rort probably doesn’t describe it all adequately!
Yes, I’m sure you are right Tim, so these immigrants can end up pretty vulnerable and become very exploitable.
What i am seeing is that National are using Immigrants to reduce wages at a worker level on Dairy farms. Lets suggest that we didnt allow immigrants in to work on Dairy farms, then the market would demand that farmers pay more for labour on their farms.
We have to keep an eye on this immigrant labour, as you have pointed out Tim, they are often exploited.
Feudalism is already happening in dairy farming nation wide, this policy is just speeding things up.
Part of the problem is that there are few good quality NZ farm staff available to employ (Especially the male variety)
Over the last 6 seasons we have employed around 14 farm staff on several different farms.
(From memory have been around 10 male & 4 female)
Of the males the following did not finish their employment contracts with us:
1 – Left two months shy of contract to be closer to family (Understandable but not helpful)
2 – Was dismissed after disciplinary proceedings for repeatedly failing to come to work and/or leaving work when he felt like it. (Turned out mostly when he had run out of $$ to fund his cannabis addiction) Oh I won’t mention the sexual harassment allegations against him.
3 – Young guy – during his first calving his grandma dies in Tasmania, he begs for time off to go to the funeral. When he is due back he never shows up. After several phone calls he tells me he has met a girlfriend over there (Already had two in NZ) and he won’t be coming home.
4 – What about the 23 year old that ended up having a temper so when he got tired he would punch and kick what ever was around (Including animals)
5 The old guy (with 30 years farming experience) who was bitter that he had never got a manager’s job and would repeatedly show up to work late and moan about everything. (Oh and threatened to kill the farm owner who had met only once)
In contrast the females have all worked out well – good work ethic, reliable, honest, and are happy to help contribute towards the efficient working of the farm.
I have not employed any immigrant labour but understand why some farmers do. They are keen for the work, they are reliable, they tend to be self disciplined (not likely to have the local bobby knocking on the door looking for them) and they don’t mind the dirty jobs.
What they can struggle with (Philippino immigrants especially) is learning how to make decisions and to take initiative on farm – always need a boss to do the thinking for them
This is why I have shied away from them – I would rather employ a kiwi and try to train them to be able to think and plan and to adapt to a changing situation. But it is hard to find suitable potential staff here.
I wonder what you are paying?
I know a lot of dairy farmers, family, locals, and the one my son works for.
The ones, and there are many, who offer half way decent wages and conditions, and are known as reasonable employers, get more job applications than they can handle.
Some farmers, though, are shocking employers.
I remember all the moans from Kiwifruit growers about lack of labour a while back.
It turned out they, millionaire growers, were effectively paying $3 an hour. After charging the workers for sleeping on a patch of hay in the old cow shed and paying piece rates where you would have to be superman to make minimum wage. Not to mention the cost of workers getting themselves there. And the stand down with WINZ after the season which would swallow up all their remaining earnings.
Jeez Jimmie.
A high proportion of your workforce don’t want to be there, quit at the first chance they get, and when they do turn up they’re angry and violent.
That’s not normal. You need to look in the mirror son, you’re running a shit workplace.
You sound like a rotten employer. People like you are why we need to have strong unions.
Yet to declare the pay rate at his several farms…..
It was Labour that altered the legislation to allow more temporary workers.
Geez Draco T – you keep reminding me of the endless number of reasons why I can no longer support ABC Labour. It was never a habit, just at one time the best and most sensible option.
It waned in Helen’s 3rd term. It was almost becoming a contest between the least worst option. Thankfully there are now options if one is of a centre-left/left wing persuasion. (Hint: it ain’t Labour at the moment).
Btw …. msg to Hilary: Read above – they’re not the best option atm (that’s shorthand for “at the moment”) and sentimentality, loyalty, solidarity towards those that have shown themselves to be obvious pratts – only goes so far.
…and I did take your advice (“Give it a bit of time”). It’s been more than a frikken YEAR since then.
Any new advice?
This has been the case for several years now. And a lot of the surplus money produced is flowing straight to Oz banks in the form of high mortgage repayments.
Indeed C.V. I forgot to mention too that for some of them, whilst they try and figure out how to raise money to repay their families, all the while having to take on whatever ‘work’ they can, visas will expire – whereupon they’re simply deported (out of sight, out of mind ).
I know several farmers who do go out of their way to help their workers out with immigration processes, and quite successfully I might add. It’s part of why the migrant workers accept piss poor wages – they want their NZ residency.
Yep CV – I know of such people too. It’s the luck of the draw tho’ for the immigrant (i.e. whether they get a concerned and decent sort of employer, OR an asshole). Certainly the idea of visas tied to an employer is not a good one.
By the way – another deportation I’m aware of has just taken place a week or so ago.
The good thing about it is that it’s going up the political food chain (I mean in the immigrant/international students’ own countries).
We’ve already seen what can happen when the Chinese get pissed off.
They’ve also managed to piss off a couple of Sth Americans.
There are a number of nations across the world who regard the current government quite poorly, because of this and other issues. The fact that the NATs pissed off our entire diplomatic corps has not helped.
Impending ankle-biter duty back later BUT
I’d go so far as to say that it has been predominantly ‘immigrant’ labour and expertise, and one or two of those GOOD employers you and I know of that have gotten us over the whole PSA virus debacle – once again not helped by certain state agencies (Immigration, Bio-D, etc., and the short-sighted, cost-accounting attitudes of their Snr. Management and Munsters)
That was inevitable due to the simple lack of available land.
I don’t remember farmers ever loving the free market. As long as I can remember, they’ve demanded government assistance and never paid any of it back with anything except the willingness to ride into town and pretend to be Cossacks.
The Hall of Hogwash
Exhibit No. 3: JOHN KERRY
“The best way to give these negotiations a chance is to keep them private. We know that the challenges require some very tough choices in the days ahead. Today, however, I am hopeful.”
—U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking about the latest “peace talks” between Israel and the PA. He went on to praise the “courageous leadership” of Netanyahu and Abbas.
http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Kerry-prolongs-trip-set-to-meet-Abbas-in-Ramallah-320386
hogwash, n. 1. Worthless, false, or ridiculous speech or writing; nonsense. 2. Garbage fed to hogs; swill.
hypocrisy, n. 1. the practice of professing standards, beliefs, etc., contrary to one’s real character or actual behaviour, esp. the pretence of virtue and piety 2. an act or instance of this
More exhibits in the Hall of Hogwash….
No. 2 DAVID CAMERON: “We never support, in countries, the intervention by the military.”
No. 1 BARACK OBAMA: “Madiba’s moral courage…people standing up for what’s right….aaaahhhh, the yearning for justice and dignity…”
Clayton Cosgrave was part of an attempt to set up a new Party funded/controlled by Michelle Boag’s National Party contacts.
Early in 1994 Michael Laws and Mike Moore appear on TVNZ’s current affairs programme Fraser together. Here they discuss the opportunities for a new centre party on air. The two reportedly decide afterwards that they should meet again to further discuss this opportunity. A meeting between Moore and Michelle Boag was organised in to discuss the potential of National Party donors financing a new Centre party . Involved in the discussions were;
Mike Moore – Former Prime Minister who had been replaced as Labour leader after the 1993 election.
Michael Laws, Geoff Braybrooke, Jack Elder, Peter McCardle, Clayton Cosgrove, Ron Mark and Tony Day,
The first week of the 1996 parliamentary session was discussed as an ideal launch date. However, in an interview with the Sunday Star-Times the following weekend Mike Moore states that he is committed to Labour.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Democratic_Coalition
clean them out
Very interesting. Something similar about the ideas and words of all those names! Some went on to Christian Coalition, Mark was NZ First wasn’t he – send them all off to Army training as an answer to everything, and MM and CC found Labour quite right-wing enough.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10900914nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10900911
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10900914nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10900911
Check out the links above re Pastor Hannah Gargoyle-Tamaki and daughter.
No mention of the cost of the cosmetic work, or the botox, or the hairdo. How much change out of $350 for the monthly coiff’ ?
Paraphrased: “It’s rubbish to be poor when you’re in the ‘business’ of helping the poor – ‘them’ ensconcing me and the bishop in luxury is but a God fearing step on ‘their’ way up.”
Cargo-cult with God’s chosen nabbing all the cargo and being righteous about it !
Daughter, ponder this: overheard (by me) in the supermarket yesterday from the mouth of a young woman with three young kids in tow – “No no no, Weetbix are too expensive.”
Tamaki ready for expose
Online budgeting tipster keeps link to her wealthy dad a secret
You broke the links.
Hey North – do you realise that they once demolished and entire building because of its ‘Gargoyles’ and in the name of ‘corporate prestige’.
Its pathetic substitute now stands on the corner of Willeston and Willis Sts, Wellington.
(no word on its structural integrity yet – If I were a structural engineer tho’ I’d be worried about those wrap-around bits that make the columns look more substantial than they actually are – and what they’re hiding)
Humbug Corner
No. 19: BYRON BENTLEY
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“He is a great guy, a good man … very caring, very interested in the school, very involved.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—Macleans College principal Byron Bentley praises police inspector Richard Wilkie, who has admitted to assaulting two teenagers in an off-duty incident that left other officers at the scene disturbed. Wilkie has resigned from his position of Board of Trustees chairman at Macleans.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10900944
Humbug Corner is dedicated to gathering, and highlighting, the most striking examples of faux solicitude, insincere apologies, and particularly stupid recycling of official canards. It is produced by the Insincerity Project®, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
More humbugs….
No. 18 Rachel Smalley: “…heartbreak all over NSW as Queensland wins the deciding State of Origin!”
No. 17 Jay Carney: ““He is not a human rights activist, he is not a dissident.”
No. 16 Barack Obama: “I wish Muslims across America & around the world a month blessed with the joys of family, peace & understanding.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11072013/#comment-661330
No.15 John Key: “They know this is an issue of national security…”
No. 14 Charles Saatchi: “I abhor violence of any kind against women…”
No. 13 Toyota New Zealand: “The more Kiwis that lean, the more motivated our ETNZ crew will be to win.”
No. 12 Pem Bird: “We’re there to do the business of advancing our people.”
No.11 Whenua Patuwai: “They’re my brothers and to see one of them goes [sic]—it’s tough.”
No. 10 [REMOVED]
No. 9 [REMOVED]
No. 8 Barack Obama: “…people standing up for what’s right…yearning for justice and dignity…” No. 7 Barack Obama: “Nelson Mandela is my personal hero…”
No. 6 John Key: “Yeah well the Greens’ answer to everything is rail, isn’t it.”
No.5 Dr. Rodney Syme: “If you want good, open, honest practice, you have to make it transparent.”
No. 4 Mike Bush: “Bruce Hutton’s… integrity beyond reproach…such great character…”
No. 3 Dean Lonergan: “Y’ know what? The only people who will mock them are people who are dwarfists.”
No. 2 Peter Dunne: “What a load of drivel and sanctimonious humbug…”
No. 1 Dominic Bowden: “It’s okay to be speechless.”
Sorry folks – links seem to have disappeared from this morning’s Herald webpage. Articles re Pastor Hannah’s $90,000 Audi wagon and daughter’s “feed the whanau for $20 per meal”.
Try this link, North.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=10900914
I found it by searching for ‘Hannah Tamaki” in the Herald search box.
Tried but failed to be able to edit the above to include this link to the article re the Tamaki daughter feeding the whanau for $20.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10900911
Let’s not forget this wretched incident where the
churchfranchise holders closed ranks, the alleged offenders (yes, there were others involved) were sheltered, Capillesque justifications were floated and victims were blamed.http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/3519900/Pastors-son-facing-sex-charge
http://www.3news.co.nz/Destiny-Church-abuse-allegations/tabid/817/articleID/148676/Default.aspx
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3712232/Sex-charge-dropped-family-turns-on-media
“I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man “(or woman..hat tip Monty Python) “to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. ”
Glad to see she’s living by the tenets of her faith then…….
To be blunt……..those bludgers the Tamakis don’t entertain the Kingdom of God except to the extent that the construct realises them the personal paradise they live in here on Earth.
Well the bible encourages its followers to be sheep.
Mrs Tamaki is the wolf that gobbled them all down.
Maybe she’s figuring on getting some metal worker from her church to build her a huge needle.
And if his family are cold this winter because they can’t pay their bills as all their spare cash has been tithed to pay for the Tamaki’s bling, they can hug under a blanket, according to Pastor Hannah.
Bullshit, you don’t get that fat on $20 bucks a week.
Spurred on by the exhortations of Hottie C-Rankin and Pastor Hannah Gargoyle-Tamaki on “The Vote” recently, I carefully tracked the cost of 14 individual evening meals – 8 adult meals 6 kids’ meals – consumed Friday night to Sunday night.
Good food it was too – Friday night beef and vegetable lasagne and salad – Saturday night roast chicken with roast vegetables gravy etc – Sunday night meat sauce and pasta with salad.
Total cost – just about everything seasonal or bought on special but excluding the cost of seasonings, energy, cooking oil, the $1.48 no-grain budget bread those pampered kids insist on – $42.
Felt quite chuffed I did. Nearly emailed the said Hottie C-Rankin and Pastor Hannah Gargoyle-Tamaki to thank them. Then I came back to reality and remembered that in this house there are fridges x 2 and deep freezers x 2. Heaps of room to safely store “clever” specials purchases. No worry about electricity to run them and power the water pump. As many as we choose daily trips to the supermarket in one of several cars available.
Makes you wanna tell Hottie and Gargoyle to fuck off really. “Neh neh neh – a serving of Weetbix costs 37 cents – smug smug smug”.
Marie-Antoinette molls both of them !
“Oh sorry kids…….no brekky or lunch Saturday or Sunday…….put that milk back ya little shit !”
In case anyone should feel morally bound to dob me in to CYPS I note that there was breakfast and lunch both days but boy, it sure fucked my budget !
Now this is a crying shame. The death of, in my opinion, one of the funniest men in the last decade at least.
RIP Mel, you have made me laugh for years.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/8945393/Influential-British-comedian-Mel-Smith-dies
Query lprent?
Where did my comment as follows –
Rosetinted …
20 July 2013 at 7:38 pm
reMorrissey
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19072013/
Rosetinted: Comment:Weekend social 19/07/2013
Date published:
11:37 am, July 20th, 2013
mac1 Thanks lots for that.#comment-665584
go to as far as Morrissey’s records are concerned?
His records for that day in his archives finish as at –
Morrissey: Comment:Open mike 19/07/2013
Date published:
10:20 am, July 20th, 2013
Are things getting wiped or lost somewhere?
lprent
See further at 10.52 am below.
Matt McCarten in His Herald column this morning points out the cold hard facts that that mainstay of Neo-Liberalism, ‘responsibility and accountability’ is and was always meaningless gibberish and when all is said and done the Pike River disaster delivers us all the lesson that there is no such thing,
Obviously there is needed in this country a criminal charge of ‘Corporate Manslaughter’ to enforce upon those who pay lip service to the notion of that ‘responsibility and accountability’ the cold hard reality of their actions and in-actions when it comes to the lives of their employees on the job,
The next Labour/Green Government i would hope would have this clearly pencilled in to the first year of it’s legislative program after election,
Matt raises a more difficult issue in the Herald column which discusses the fines imposed on the Pike River Mining Company as well as it’s break-up before-hand where all the ‘cash’ assets of Pike River including insurance payments said to be in the realm of a100 million dollars which where disbursed years befor Pike River could be convicted by any Court among the ‘secured creditors’, including Banks, Major Shareholders, and the liquidators themselves were said to have accrued millions of dollars in ‘fees’ for over-seeing such a disbursement,
Thus the families of the 29 miners entombed in the Pike River Mine will receive a mere sniff of justice for their fallen men, hollow words and a judgement that fines should be paid to the victims families that no law can or will enforce,
Pike River is the most glaring example of this ‘no responsibility, no accountability’ enshrined in our laws which not only lets ‘business’ get away with murder but also allows ‘business’ of many varieties to ignore the Courts on matters of compensation where the likes of Employment Tribunals make orders for payment to employees knowing that they will never be paid as the ‘business’ concerned has ceased trading under a particular name and assumed a different one,
We need a fundamental change in the attitude that when disaster strikes, firms go belly up, or orders of compensation are made by ANY court in favor of workers those workers are somehow denied payment by ‘business’ who have circumvented any ‘responsibility’ by a simple change of paperwork,
Employees in any disaster,insolvency, or, Court ordered payment should be made the FIRST SECURED CREDITOR and distribution of any ‘cash assets’ that any firm may have in any form must first take account of any present or future claim by employees and i would go as far as to say that the directors and shareholders in listed company’s should be made responsible for paying the employees as the first secured creditor any and all monies owed at the time of closure or at the point of any future court ordered payment,
Changing the name of a business to avoid an Employment tribunal ordered payment should result in criminal charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice and Employment Tribunal orders should not be made in the name of a particular ‘business’ but instead be attached to the name of the person who materially owns/operates that business,
The Labour and Green Party’s should be pushed to make such changes to our laws….
lprent
That took a while for me to check and I ran out of edit time. I started looking in peronal archives for –
Rosetinted 20/7 7.38p.m. re Morrissey – I couldn’t find on Morrissey’s list for 20/7.
And then checking on both Rosetinted and Morrissey I found –
But Rosetinted 20/7 11.37a.m. to mac1 – That is the last one on my listing for 20/7.
And Morrissey 20/7 – last listing for that date was at 10.20 a.m.
So where did the 7.38 pm one go. And I don’t know what others that might have been made but not showing.
Sometimes I click on an entry in the comments list, and get sent to a completely different page.
I don’t know whether that’s relevant to the above query.
(I found rosetinted 20/7 at 7.38p.m. by scrolling through the thread which was Open Mike 19/7.)
An article with some thoughtful comments concerning the on-going slow-motion train-wreck of civilization, with particular regard to the failure of the left to make any progress whatsoever for the last 40 years – and as apposite to New Zealand as to the US, in my view:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/07/chris-hedges-america-is-a-tinderbox.html
Someone who looks into Conspiracy Theories rather than just believing the official story. Study shows you are likely to have your head screwed on better than those just simply believeing the official version of events.
http://intellihub.com/2013/07/15/new-studies-conspiracy-theorists-sane-government-dupes-crazy-hostile/
sigh…site that carries banners for banned reports and shit cites Iranian sourced conclusions….
http://www.frontiersin.org/Personality_Science_and_Individual_Differences/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00409/full
Indeed, Wood et al. (2012) demonstrated that even beliefs in directly contradictory conspiracy theories were positively correlated with one another, indicating that conspiracy beliefs may be held together not by direct agreement with one another, but by mutual agreement with higher-order beliefs about the world.
“sigh…site that carries banners for banned reports and shit cites Iranian sourced conclusions….”
provided the Authors credentials are good and the research was valid nothing you have sighed about should matter really now should it.
LOLZ, the most bought into Government line that is patently bullshit in this country is the anti-tobacco fanatics ‘tobacco is the only legal product that kills 50% of those who use it as directed’,
Health officials, the anti-tobacco fanatics, Government Ministers, and MP’s by a huge majority across the whole spectrum of the Parliament will put hand on heart and swear that this is true,
When pushed on the bad health out-comes which supposedly kills 50% of tobacco’s users they will all dutifully intone that Heart Disease and Cancers are the culprits swearing that this is a direct result of tobacco use,
What they remain TOTALLY silent upon, as if being part of the collective Nunnery of the nation having taken the vows of silence, is what kills 50% of the population that have never used tobacco products,
50% of the population who have never used tobacco WILL DIE of the same Heart Disease and Cancers which knock off 50% of the tobacco users, which would suggest strongly to anyone with half a brain who is neither brainwashed nor a fanatic that tobacco use does not seriously figure in such deaths,
Of course if the above is true then 100’s of millions of Health dollars are being wasted by the anti-tobacco fanatics which would far better be spent addressing why 50% of the population whether they have ever used tobacco products or not get bumped off of the mortal coil by that Heart Disease and those Cancers…
Speaking about cancers and stuff, here’s some sad news that’s gone largely unnoticed.
Yoshida was at the Fukushima nuclear complex when the tsunami engulfed the cooling system and saw three reactors go into meltdown. In an interview in November 2011, he said he thought several times that he would die.
Defying orders from his bosses, Yoshida made the decision to pump seawater into the No. 1 reactor in a move that may have averted a catastrophic nuclear explosion.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/10/world/asia/japan-yoshida-death/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
Masao Yoshida is someone to remember and respect. Thanks for drawing our attention to this joe 90.
He went against protocol and with the ‘Fukushima 50’ used seawater to cool reactors overheating. Now he is dead, and the other men in ‘the 50’ may also have shortened lives.
They should not be forgotten or overlooked. I think there was heroism after the Chernobul event also.
An important point in this linked article mentions the findings that there were deficiencies in the nuclear reactor oversight and control.
This occurs as a theme in other reports I’ve read after disasters. We must remember this when our pollies are prattling on about how much they care about controls and how well practices will be monitored and safety equipment…blah blah …and jobs will be created – note that. That’s what is said as a carrot for every dirty little deal the shysters want to get through the hole in the safety net.
No, it means that if you choose 911 as a topic because the conspiracist community for that issue “is noted for its substantial online presence and focus on Internet proselytizing”, you can expect to see more conspiracy comments than comments from people who have not chosen to make the deaths of thousands of people their personal hobby.
9/11 was the justification for changing the course of the world. That makes it very interesting indeed.
Well, I wouldn’t have thought that one would do a hobby that they find boring. But it’s still a fucking hobby.
And in memory of Mel Smith:
The more I think of it the more convinced I am that the huge deterioration of workers wages and rights began with the abolition of compulsory Unionism’.
Its time to rethink the role of some form off compulsory union membership.Its not a vote winner but essential if we are to return to a society where a fair deal,foe all is the norm.
i would happily see ‘compulsory unionism’ return, especially for those earning less than 40 thousand a year…
My problem with compulsory unionism is that it allowed the union bureaucrats to become a bit lazy in terms of convincing workers of the necessity of belonging. Once the legal compulsion went, so did many of the members. I think the strongest unions will always be voluntary. I also recognise that rebuilding membership isn’t easy.
I am a union member in a non-compulsory situation. I pay for the salary rises and conditions also extended to my non-union colleagues. I object to that, but can live with it. I couldn’t live with not being a member.
5.10 pm we just had a quite scarey ass EARTH shake in Levin…….
Yeah Risildo, that was a biggie, bigger than Friday’s and this morning’s one. It’s starting to get a bit much. I had just got a glass of wine to celebrate the planting of a hedge and my husband (a civil defence volunteer in training, so will have lots to discuss at this weeks class) was in the bath, recovering his sore muscles. Had a mini tsunami in the bath, windows rattling, crockery rattling, glassware tinkling, rumble rumble rumble, wine sloshing around in my glass as I found a safe place to stand. (Clearly I couldn’t put it down otherwise it would fall over!) …………
Hope all living in Marlborough and lower north island doing ok and not dealing with too much damage.
Now that was a SHAKE, the ones early this morning were minor affairs but that one had the house doing the boogy on it’s foundations,
So far out here east of the airport all these quakes have been felt less severely than elsewhere and if that was the case with that last one then there will be damage…
6.5
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8945358/Big-quake-shakes-central-New-Zealand
link here
http://www.geonet.org.nz/quakes/region/wellington/felt
Getting bigger, Power and water are still all good over the parts of wellington i can see from here, lolz, i was braced in the front porch befor that one delivered it’s full force,
Having settled down again the mad scientists in my mind wants me to sit still in the chair for the next one,(whole house will probably come down round my ears),
Prime news is saying power is out in parts of Wellington…
Disturbed Sunday beers here in the cliff – lots of lateral motion in two waves – tickers going pitter patter and a couple of upset kids but no damage, arrived home and an upended sauce bottle draining remnants was still standing though so it wasn’t too bad.
Spoken to my SO who’s flying into Wellington later this PM so mildly reassured.
Kia ora Joe! Glad there wasn’t any damage. The ‘cliff rocks! Had some terrific nights in the pub there back during the punk wars, 3 nights of Toy Love and an audience of two men and a dog stands out. Good times.
And I know the footy club is also excellent, they do great work with the kids in the area. A real community club.
The pub and across the road a boarded up clubrooms – depopulation has been tough.
Nice! The 4Square was the band bar. The clubrooms was the Seagulls league wasn’t it?
Yup, classic booze barn on the brewery circuit with a car park around the corner and yes, Seagulls – and that all came to an awful end.
Ahhhh crap. Keep us updated, and take care.
This is a serious and timely put question: what is the decent, honourable Kiwi to do about the renewed, indeed escalating War On The Poor ?
Reckon it’s time to tune up on the great philosophers with a view to neutralising our natural timidities. The advised violence directed at poor Kiwis by a portly lady wearing a wan, gracelessly over-lippied, patronising smile…….it’s utterly unconscionable !
J. K. Galbraith – “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a morally superior justification for selfishness.”
When will we resolve that injustice cannot be permitted to go on ?
The Wellington Benefit Rights Service, otherwise known as Beneficiary Education and Advisory Service, Inc
can be found here:
http://www.finda.co.nz/business/listing/4q5743/wellington-benefit-rights-service/
Benny Tipene’s brother speaks an uncomfortable truth
The X-Factor Grand Final, TV3, Sunday 21 July 2013
Shortly before contestant Benny Tipene is due to sing, we go to host Dominic Bowden, who is sitting in the crowd, poking his microphone in the direction of a young man on his right….
DOMINIC BOWDEN: I’m sitting here with Benny’s brother! What advice have you got for the voters?
BENNY TIPENE’S BROTHER: Vote hard, vote often.
….[There ensues an extended awkward pause. A dark expression passes over Dominic Bowden’s normally cheery mien.]
DOMINIC BOWDEN: Ha ha. “Vote hard, vote often.” [raises eyebrows to express contempt and annoyance] Back to you, Ruby….
How much money would that cost them?