The poll shows Labour continues to wallow in the doldrums on just 31.6 per cent, a five-point slide from the start of the year. In contrast, National has emerged all but unscathed from a difficult few months to poll at 48.3 per cent – down about one point from May, but up more than four on the start of the year.
[lprent: The post was about the Roy Morgan poll. As far as I’m aware Labour haven’t mentioned the Roy Morgan poll. So I presume from your first paragraph that you’re equating us with being the Labour party.
As you’re well aware, we are not – but reread the policy if your memory has gone.
However because of your previous history of doing this type of lame-arse stupidity, this is your only warning. If I see you try this type of crap again, I will ban you from commenting here until after the next election.
You know the rules of this site. We don’t appreciate being tarred with being anything apart from who we say we are – read the about. And I personally don’t like idiotic creeps like yourself who try to insinuate that we are.
It doesn’t add to debate. It just becomes a flame where useless creeps like yourself can wank yourself in pornographic troll fantasy. Now you can either debate politics without playing kiddie games, or you can wind up with going back to whatever enclave of stupidity you usually mastubate in (whaleoil?) and count coup. Either way is fine by me.
Moved to OpenMike as your first paragraph had nothing to do with the post you put it in. ]
Does anyone else find it strange that the master of “I can’t quite remember…” was able to recall in parliament yesterday, during an exchange with Shearer, “He said quote, unquote blah blah…”.
Wonderful. The problem is now fixed, no longer having brain-fades. Perhaps journalists will now ask him direct questions and he will not resort to “I can’t quite remember”.
Perhaps he can now recall what he was doing in 1981 with a little more certainty, and how many shares he had, and which Tory Party Lords visited him.
However the problem with the Labour caucus continues : the fumbling Shearer. How utterly incompetent of him to have a meeting with his opponent which he asked to be kept secret. And then to bring it out into the open himself – giving Key a wonderful opportunity – yet again – to put him down. It’s become embarrassing to be a known Labour supporter – having to watch and listen to his “performances” in the House.
You only have keys version of how this meeting happened. Which was a little bit Famous Five, which I am sure is his preferred bed time reading.
Shearer said he asked for the meeting. I believe him. Everybody knows by now that once key has put his spin on a situation you only ever have a small smidgen of the truth.. He certainly turned it into a cloak and dagger situation. He just needs to open his mouth now and I start laughing. I personally feel that Shearer is doing better every day and am not seeing much of this mumbling crap you keep harping on about.
Did you even read JK’s comment above? That an experienced political operator would never put himself in a vulnerable ‘my word against his word’ position with Key.
Yeah! Because John Key is known for his honesty eh CV. The reason David Shearer asked the question is because National had claimed that they had consulted with a number of party’s concerning the GCSB legislation. It turns out that National, once Peter Dunne’s vote was gained, didn’t want to consult at all. Whether Shearer asked for the meeting to be kept secret is beside the point (Key is likely to be lying again, all meetings between GCSB committee members are confidential), National did not attempt to seek cross-party support for the GCSB amendment bill.
Did He take up the offer of a free full frontal lobotomy to improve His performance, the Alfred E. Nuemann of television Jonolism Patrick Gower on TV3 news last night called the latest National Government share offer ”An election bribe”
When as few as 2% of the population will take part in this little process of parting the population with the profitable assets it already owns ”An election bribe” is hardly a useful descriptive,
”A gross act of theft” would be more fitting, perpetrated by this National Government on the majority of it’s citizens…
one big bold opinion for tossing into the opinion pot……
Labour must get rid of Shearer.
I switched past his speech at the Ak town hall such was its drabness. He fumbles and bumbles. He does not land any hits. He does not have charisma. He does not have chutzpa. He has had time and it has not worked. He certainly has talents and skills and is a very useful human bean, but get real you Labour eggs – he is not a leader of the type required. You all know it and are sticking yoru heads in the sand. Or rather, you are letting it happen to be more certain about your own personal places in the 2017 election, and that is political scum action. You are declaring on the 2014 election. Arseholes.
Dump Shearer.
Get rid of Shearer.
(but don’t think you can have cunliffe because I offered him a place in the VTO Party and it seems he may well take it up…)
” Or rather, you are letting it happen to be more certain about your own personal places in the 2017 election, and that is political scum action. You are declaring on the 2014 election. Arseholes.”
I reckon you’re spot on, vto. The majority of the Labour caucus are in it for themselves.
Like Roger Douglas in the 1980s, they hoodwinked the Party members into believing their rhetoric and now we (Party members) are lumped with these people who’ve got themselves a cosy job for life, public status, wealth and perks. Sickening. I can’t believe its happening again.
What a load of rubbish! First vto says that Shearer isn’t suitable, then basically says there is nobody to replace him. What you are therefore advocating for is the undermining of Labour.
Personally I thought Shearer’s speech at the GCSB meeting got the message across. He certainly didn’t fumble or bumble. Sure, he didn’t get the response of Russel Norman, but what he said was easy to understand and well received.
What many commentators have clearly missed from that speech is David Shearer saying that Labour would replace the GCSB legislation after an in-depth review of all surveillance agencies. That’s probably the biggest revelation of the night.
Could you link to one instance before that Auckland town hall meeting where David Shearer has previously said the GCSB legislation will be REPLACED under a Labour led government Tracey?
However, he said the law would not be rolled back until an independent inquiry into New Zealand’s intelligence services was carried out.”
and farther down:
“We would have an independent review and legislation would come out of the review. The current legislation would need to be repealed, modified or whatever.”
The inquiry would begin “immediately” after the election, if Labour formed a government. “That would be one of the first things we got off the ground.”
“What you are therefore advocating for is the undermining of Labour.”
Jackal : that’s what is already happening via the ABCs and others in the Labour Caucus. Whatever anyone thinks of Shearer’s speech at the GCSB meeting, his actual leadership is the pits ! and the Labour caucus knows this, but still keeps him on – to the detriment of Labour gaining any upward traction into the 2014 election. It is they (the Labour caucus) who is undermining any chance of Labour winning the next election, not vto or other commentors on this blog.
So your solution is to get rid of Shearer at a time Labour is gaining support and replace him with David Cunliffe, an MP who barely registers on preferred PM stakes and has already ruled himself out?
As for your claim that Key will monster Shearer in any debates…I totally disagree. Shearer can easily hold his ground against the deceitful snake as this video and many others like it show. The propaganda claiming that Shearer isn’t a suitable leader is highly exaggerated.
I get that you don’t like him, but don’t be buying into all this right wing rubbish saying that Shearer doesn’t have the support of Labours caucus etc. Don’t be trying to give Labour advice similar to the likes of Slater and Farrar that would clearly be detrimental to the Labour party and the left wing if obeyed.
um..!..jackal..!..the right want shearer in there..
..for two reasons..
1)..easiest for key to beat..
2)..and should circumstances get out of control..and national lose..
..shearer is seen as malleable..
..and no real threat to the current power-paradigm..
..surely you can see that..?
..and you must also be aware that the person the right least want in that job..is cunnliffe..
..for two reasons..
1)..hardest for key to debate against/to beat..(there are none in labour with a better grasp of their portfolios..you have to admit that..)
2)..and while i don’t see cunnliffe as a tolstoy..should a centre-left coalition win power…cunnliffe is the bigger threat than shearer to the right/that elite-power-paradigm..
..and while opinions are opinions..and most with a few braincells have them..
..it could be argued that having done commentaries on questiontime for so long..
..i have had a great deal of exposure to all of them..(more than is probably healthy..)
..and it is from these observations that i make that cunliffe vs. shearer-call..
..(not from the howls/spins of farrar and w/oil..as you claim..
..farrar who i have looked at a handful of times in the last six months..
..and w/oil who i haven’t looked at since he posted the severed head of a recently slain deer (by him)..as a bonnet-ornament on his s.u.v..(which was about 18 months 2 yrs ago..i guess..)..
..and i’m afraid i don’t buy the argument that the voting public don’t yet know of the skills of cunnliffe..
..a year + the fire and brimstone of an election campaign is plenty of time for that voting public to see what cunnliffe has to offer..
..and i repeat that call..cunnliffe..at this point in time/circumstances is the only one in labour able to see off key..
..it’s as simple as that..really..
..and seriously..!..what have you seen in shearer to date to make you believe he has what is needed to lead a reforming government of the ilk both you and i would support..?
..’cos..i’m sorry..i can’t see that happening..under shearer..
In my opinion, Shearer vs Cunliffe is no longer a story phillip ure. You’re harping on about a dead issue. Likewise, Shearer vs Norman isn’t worth even discussing while the Greens have around 14% of the vote.
What is of far more interest at the moment is the committee inquiry into the Vance/Dunne emails and how the Henry inquiry was (mis)conducted. Judith Collins is sitting on that committee and some of her questions today indicate that she doesn’t accept the explanation that the DPMC weren’t complicit in breaching process and consequently people’s privacy. That indicates to me that she’s smelling blood in the water and will start gunning for Keys job.
The Collins vs Key story is of far more import than buying into the right wing’s 90 day notice or any other similar rubbish you seem to enjoy repeating. Clearly, not all right wing propagandists support Shearer as you claim. In fact I can only think of two.
As for Shearer’s qualifications and skills, let’s take the most recent example…Key says Shearer would “run for the hills” in the event of a terrorist attack, when history shows that this claim is entirely false. Shearer in fact did the exact opposite when a real terrorist attack occurred…he went to help those injured. That’s the type of courage we need in a Prime Minister. Shearer thankfully also displays some humility about such things, which is more than can be said for Key. Is it perhaps his arrogance that you respect and the fact that Shearer doesn’t display a similar ability to bullshit his way out of any situation? Shearer vs Key is what we should be talking about.
In that Shearer is a moderate centre/left leader I have to agree. However I think you will be surprised at just how much the next Labour government will enact to progressively change the status quo. Their capital gains tax and other housing policy for instance is clearly not beneficial for the elite property investors who are pricing average Kiwi families out of the market. A number of other policies that bear a striking resemblance to what the Greens propose have also been announced. So your claim that Labour under Shearer’s stewardship will just be Nat lite is clearly wrong!
This may be a dead issue for you, Jackal, however it may be that others, such as myself, feel that, considering the shambles that the Nat govt are consistently making of governing, Labour/Left should be polling through the roof.
It may be that Cunliffe no longer considers himself for the job, I don’t know whether this is true or not, however, it would be very good to see someone with a great deal more conviction leading the Labour party than what is currently the case.
Is this current state of affairs really the best that the NZ left has to offer for leadership of its biggest ‘left-wing’ party? Its pretty sad if this is so. In fact, its laughable.
Jackel, while i agree with most of your comment i totally disagree with your view on Labour’s flagship housing policy,
Here’s why, a Capital Gains Tax will do little to slow the appetite for the middle class to have investment property(s), where these property’s are used as a rental investment over the medium to long term which will be the intent of most Capital Gains Tax will have no effect, so there will be just as much demand for rental investments as there are now even should Labour build it’s KiwiBuild,
KiwiBuild, 10,000 houses for sale to those who can afford a mortgage, in Auckland and Christchurch the price of land will prohibit all but those earning at least 50,000 dollars a year in household income from being able to buy such a property,
This then becomes a direct taxpayer subsidy to the children of that middle class who have helped create the ‘affordability crisis’ in the first place by piling into rental investment property en masse,(100,000 homes have transited in the past 20 years from private dwellings to rental investment housing),
The children of the middle class will go on in five years to have gained enough equity in their Kiwibuild property to enable them to seek to mortgage a second property as a rental investment thus continuing the ‘goldrush’ on the supply side,
In discussions here at the Standard with 2 successive Labour Housing spokespeople there has not been even an open admission that we as a country need tens of thousands more State Houses than are currently available let alone a promise to increase the number of state houses we have now,
”Still working on the numbers” doesn’t cut it in my world, Labour have had 5 years to work ”on the numbers” and what Labour’s total housing policy looks like for anyone who cares to seriously look at the numbers is simply Houses for the middle class and everyone else who cannot ever afford to buy can be trapped as a tenant of that middle class by Labour as rent paying slaves with 40-50+% of their incomes paying for that middle classes investment and retirement choices…
1)i wd submit that the shearer leadership is most certainly not the ‘dead issue’ you claim..
2)..i neither like nor dislike shearer..i neither like nor dislike cunnliffe..i know neither of them well enough to bother with that..
..i am judging them on political-performance/politics only..
3)..once again..you accuse me of parrotting/channeling farrar/w/oil..i repeat..i read neither..and am able to think for myself..eh..?..i find i don’t really need that much direction..in forming my political views/opinions..eh..?
4)..and as for shearer as ‘humble-action-man’..?..a bit of a groin-stretcher there..? ..?..doncha think..?
5)..you suggest i ‘respect’ key..?..really..?..please show me any evidence of that..
(unless you are conflating my noting how he will monster shearer..into ‘respect’ for the man..?..is that it..?..)
6)..labours’ housing policy..(as others have already ably noted..)..falls well short of what is called for/needed..
..(and let’s not forget robertsons’ abject-pander to the right/elites..his promise that reforming power is all an incoming labour govt would do..(a lapse/flashing neon-sight seen/debated by many here..
..and..didn’t that alarm you..?..at the time..?)
..and finally..perhaps you could point me to links to actual policies/promises from shearer/labour..
1)i wd submit that the shearer leadership is most certainly not the ‘dead issue’ you claim..
That’s because it suits the right wing and a few on the left who want to gain Labour’s vote. To Labour and the majority of voters out there, this is a dead issue. It’s also now a dead story to any journalist with a modicum of integrity.
2)..i neither like nor dislike shearer..i neither like nor dislike cunnliffe..i know neither of them well enough to bother with that..
..i am judging them on political-performance/politics only..
Then you should acknowledge that Cunliffe hardly even registers on the preferred Prime Minister stakes. You should be aware that there are just as many negative stories (if not more) about Cunliffe as there are for Shearer.
3)..once again..you accuse me of parrotting/channeling farrar/w/oil..i repeat..i read neither..and am able to think for myself..eh..?..i find i don’t really need that much direction..in forming my political views/opinions..eh..?
You don’t need to read their rubbish to be on the same page phillip ure. At the moment their accusations against Shearer actually have more merit than your current argument as it stands. In fact apart from saying mumble and bumble, what was your argument again?
4)..and as for shearer as ‘humble-action-man’..?..a bit of a groin-stretcher there..? ..?..doncha think..?
Not at all. Look at the example provided. Are you saying that it’s somehow inaccurate?
5)..you suggest i ‘respect’ key..?..really..?..please show me any evidence of that..
(unless you are conflating my noting how he will monster shearer..into ‘respect’ for the man..?..is that it..?..)
Yes! You are saying that Key is a better debater than Shearer, which effectively equates to praising Key. Are you saying that Key shouldn’t be respected for his (according to you) ability to best his opponents? That seems illogical!
6)..labours’ housing policy..(as others have already ably noted..)..falls well short of what is called for/needed..
However, it is what’s currently available to Labour to help more Kiwis (including poor families) into home ownership. Unfortunately there is no magic wand to fix over forty years of dysfunctional economic and social policy that has adversely affected housing. Labour’s policies will go some way to rectify the dysfunction, which with our huge debt levels is all that really can be hoped for. If what they propose isn’t good enough, what do you suggest?
As for your claims that Grant Robertson has pandered to the right wing elitists by apparently promising that reforming power is the only thing an incoming Labour government would do, got a link for that?
I’m sure you’re capable of searching for Labour’s legislation that I have previously referred to phillip ure. Whether it’s advantageous or not is a matter of opinion. Currently approximately 34% of voters think it is.
Let’s say I own a restaurant/cafe and that it only gets a quarter full on the busiest days. I really need it to be at least half full on these days.
However this is a dead issue because:
1) It suits my competition to criticize my business and that this means the criticism isn’t true
2)My competition hardly even registers on the top ten list of restaurants, therefore it isn’t like I’m doing that bad.
3)People write rubbish about my restaurant and even people who don’t read this rubbish are saying the same thing.
4)People don’t seem to be receptive to when I tell them I have delicious food in my restaurant. They must be suspicious and deluded types for being that way about what I say.
5)My friends often pop in on a quiet night and tell me that the restaurant down the road has a full house. This is not helpful to me because it is flattering to them.
6) Some people have told me the food I sell is stale, however there is no magic wand to fixing this problem because I have a lot of stock, and it has been building up for so long.
I just wish people would stop complaining and praise my restaurant and stop giving me constructive criticism because that my restaurant only gets quarter full on the busiest days is a dead issue because of the above and because noone is talking about it anymore and anyone who is, simply lacks credibility
Yes! People who are saying there’s currently another option to David Shearer as Leader of the Labour party lack credibility. Not sure why you’re talking about restaurants blue leopard?
lolz Jackal, you appear to be suffering from a particularly severe case of denial. Eyes tight shut. That must be awful.
However you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it open its eyes. (same goes for dogs I suppose) I will stop trying; I think you understood the point.
I said you lack credibility because you promote somebody who currently doesn’t have a chance to take over from David Shearer. Although undermining the Leader of the opposition ultimately only helps the right wing, I never said you were an agent for John Key. Stop creating straw men to try and win a debate you’ve quite clearly lost phillip ure.
The poll shows Labour continues to wallow in the doldrums on just 31.6 per cent, a five-point slide from the start of the year. In contrast, National has emerged all but unscathed from a difficult few months to poll at 48.3 per cent – down about one point from May, but up more than four on the start of the year.
Personally I don’t rely on polls. I see a bumbling inept Shearer, failing to capitalise on Key and his government’s mis-steps and unpopular moves.
If a National Election were held now the latest NZ Roy Morgan Poll shows that a Labour/ Greens alliance would win.
If you truly don’t rely on polling to form your opinion, then link to something that shows Shearer being . Please note, Kiwibog or Whale Oil will not suffice.
Huh! I used the other poll to compare with the more positive one you linked to, to show the unreliability of polls. It was not an endorsement on the reliability of polls – just the opposite!
Generally I hold back from criticising Shearer too much (especially in posts).
I have referred to in comments and posts of late – mostly comments – to the weakness of Shearer – at the GCSB Akl town hall meeting I went to on Monday night. And in the House yesterday in Question Time.
I started the post with a focus on the excellent questioning by Russel Norman over whether the NSA/US government contribute funds to the GCSB & other GCSB issues. The subsequent inept attempts by Shearer – over Question 3, and the whole fish incident, insured Norman’s exposure of the potential NSA funding & Key’s contradictory statements did not make the evening TV news, but Shearer’s antics did. The guy needs to go as leader.
I have a post queued for publishing in the next half hour that shows some better performances in the House by other Labour MPs – one is not usually an MP I support a lot, but the post shows there are far better operators in the Labour caucus than Shearer. It’s frustrating that we are still being subjected to Shearer’s ineptness.
I agree with you Karol, on Shearer. I have tried and tried to not be too critical but yesterday’s performance in the House was probably the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. He deserved everything he got back on his question to Key.
As I have just commented at 11 below, Shearer has no questions in QT today.
Robertson is doing the daily “does the PM stand by all his statements” I did not see all the GCSB Bill debate last night, but Shearer was nowhere in sight – and Mallard seemed to be holding the fort for the entire front bench for most of what I saw. Meetings behind closed doors going on perhaps?
i am amused at the number of commenters here who while quite legitimately criticizing Labour’s David Shearer on speeches such as the ‘roof painting Bene bashing’ effort and other aspects of His abilities then go on to demand of Labour that they get rid of Him,
Most of those who demand such are not members of the Labour Party and it ‘seems’ that most will not vote for that Party,
Can you imagine the ‘flame war’ that would ensue here on the Standards pages if those who are Labour members and supporters of Shearer began a tirade of comments dissing the Green Party’s Russell Norman and demanding He stand aside as Leader,
What i will say about Shearer is that He is the Leader of a middle of the road Party full of middle class people determined to fight elections with National for a small slice of the middle class electorate,
i am amused at the number of commenters here who while quite legitimately criticizing Labour’s David Shearer on speeches such as the ‘roof painting Bene bashing’ effort and other aspects of His abilities then go on to demand of Labour that they get rid of Him,
Most of those who demand such are not members of the Labour Party and it ‘seems’ that most will not vote for that Party,
Is why I tend to refrain from criticising Shearer a lot – especially in posts. But some of Shearer’s actions are damaging the left and/or wider government opposition. This is especially so on things like the GCSB Bill where the opposition has attempted to work somewhat together.
Right now, a Green party vote is a vote for a Labour-led government. So it is of concern for non-Labour voters of the left.
Karol, aha, and as the saying goes a rising tide and all that, allows the likes of me to while the Green Party appears to be gathering support, shift my vote further left to the Mana Party,
Perhaps further left is a bit of a misnomer and would best be termed ‘to a party of the left seriously concerned with the bread and butter issues of those who are forced to rely upon the least income’,
Yes of course we have to consider as you say that a vote for the Green Party is a vote for Labour who i am sure will behave despicably throughout the term of such a coalition but it then behoves the Green Party to be well prepared with a comprehensive coalition agreement which sets out the 3 year Parliamentary term and the specific policy gains the Green Party expect along with the budget required,
The Green Party success or failure in such a coalition will rely on having first pinned Labour down on all the details and budgets befor the Cabinet seat carve up with the Green party’s minds firmly fixed upon what has happened to all the smaller of the Party’s in coalition with either Labour or National under the MMP electoral system…
Not sure how and why you can make the assertion, bad12, that “most of those who demand (Shearer’s head) are not members of the Labour Party …….”
I most certainly am a paidup member of Labour, and am exceedingly frustrated by Shearer’s inability to grab the moment and act like a real leader, and I’m also not impressed with a number of old-time caucus members who have had their day, and should be put out to pasture. None of them are doing Labour members a service by continuing to sit in their cushy seats.
forgot to mention, bad12. as a longtime Labour activist and paidup member, I am now seriously questioning whether I’ll be voting Labour while Shearer is the leader.
Bad12, just for the record, much as I was a swinging voter in my earlier years, I have voted mainly Labour for many years – Annette King in Rongatai. I was a bit uncertain as to whether to continue to do so in the 2011 election, but stuck with Labour – and joined the Party in 2012.
As such, I believe I have the right to state my opinion on the party. But, quite frankly, Shearer may be a nice guy, but I despair at his lack of politicial experience/instinct and communication skills – and commitment to Labour values.
I just watched Goff speaking in the 3rd reading of the GCSB Bill with knowledge and passion – and in some ways wish the party had stuck with him for these skills. OTT, he carries baggage from the past, and understand the decision to go with a fresh face etc. Unfortunately, I believe the choice made was the wrong one.
My thoughts are pretty much the same as Karol’s on this issue. If I’m around to vote next time, Mana will get my party vote. Electorate will depend on where I am and who’s standing, but possibly Labour. None of the parties not of the extreme right can rule on their own, so those of us on the left depend on a moderate right party, Labour, to lead any coalition. To that extent, the more votes Labour gets from their supporters and the more pink tinged their policies, the more we can expect some real progress. I can’t see Shearer leading Labour to win a really significant proportion of the vote, and I can’t see him breaking the paradigm that sees beneficiaries on roofs as part of the problem. For these reasons, I think Aotearoa needs Cunliffe as leader of the Labour Party.
I’ve been doing stuff in the party off and on since rousting people out in the Eden electorate for Richard Northey in 1984.
I’ve been a party member with a few lapses of a year or so (I’m notorious for never having cash) since about 1986 (my partner signed me up when she was active in Dunedin North).
I have been active in the party since 1989, when I looked first at Prebble in Auckland Central and decided that Clark (while a radical feminist leftie) wasn’t a nearly as much of stupid nutter as Prebble was, was pretty competent, and started working in Mt Albert. Over the years I have literally put in years doing campaigning and organising through to writing code for Labour along with many thousands of dollars in donations. But I have done it because they have been largely competent.
I think and have stated that the caucus were completely nuts to put in someone so inexperienced as a leader. It wasn’t good for either the party nor for what looked like a promising MP. Regretfully I still think the same.
David Cunliffe or indeed a number of other MP’s would have been better, but still flawed, candidates for the job. But the culture in caucus really appears to be far too toxic to expect much cooperative or even coordinated activity like electing a competent leader, developing a competent caucus, and starting to agree on coherent and coordinated policies.
But I really can’t abide incompetence or timewasting. So I’m looking around for a party that is looking to improve their performance rather than having their caucus sitting on it’s hands waiting for ‘their turn’ like any other pack of time servers. That could be Labour if it reforms and actually starts developing its own party (rather than quietly hoping it will wither away). But I don’t think that the MP’s have the imagination to figure out what will happen if they don’t, and will instead actively participate in it’s demise..
I’m probably still a member as my VFL goes out each month. I help people out when I have the time. But at present much of my activity goes on this site as being a more useful and productive use of the time I can give politics.
i am amused at the number of commenters here who while quite legitimately criticizing Labour’s David Shearer on speeches such as the ‘roof painting Bene bashing’ effort and other aspects of His abilities then go on to demand of Labour that they get rid of Him,
Most of those who demand such are not members of the Labour Party and it ‘seems’ that most will not vote for that Party,
There is a big long list of Labour party members and voters in the debates on tw around the time of the LP conference last year and since. Go look it up.
Can you imagine the ‘flame war’ that would ensue here on the Standards pages if those who are Labour members and supporters of Shearer began a tirade of comments dissing the Green Party’s Russell Norman and demanding He stand aside as Leader,
As a GP member I can say that if the GP had a leader like Shearer for the kinds of reasons that Shearer is leader, and the GP was being criticised from the outside, I’d be agreeing with them. Plus what others have said, this is MMP. Labour caucus are at the point of fucking the country, again. All people on the left should be concerned about this.
What i will say about Shearer is that He is the Leader of a middle of the road Party full of middle class people determined to fight elections with National for a small slice of the middle class electorate,
As such He seems to fit…
Yeah, my middle class dad, a swing voter between Labour and NZF I think, seems impressed by him. I’ve not asked, but I suspect that Shearer’s mumbling isn’t considered a fatal flaw like it is here amongst the politicos. Dad also hates Key, and can’t vote GP or Mana, so that leaves Shearer or Peters. But you are missing the point. My personal objection to Shearer isn’t that he represents the middle class (although I think Labour party members’ criticism of Labour’s loss of its roots is valid). It’s that he’s just bad at his job and may well cost the left the next election. In other words, if he was competent, then let Labour hold that place in the political spectrum, and the GP and Mana will take up the slack. At this point in time the issue isn’t so much about the make up of a left wing govt, I think the imperative is to just have one so Key and co can’t have another 3 years.
Only Cunliffe can bring the fire and brimstone to knock out the teflon. He is speedy in his mind and deftly powerful with his language, and skilled in politics.
I like David Shearer and honestly believe he is a decent Kiwi with good things to bring … but not now, as leader at a time like this. He is drab and without charisma on tv ( which matters very much whether we like it or not), and yesterday was a debacle which was made more of today by various govt members in the house. Shearer scored a huge own goal at the worst time possible.
The Labour Greens and NZF together should be showing a total of 65% in the polls with what is going on, imho. This is the most corrupt govt we have ever had .. never before has greed been so open and the arrogance so derogatory and derisive to the last remaining pillars of our society.
Please do it soon; listen to Labour members and make it possible for this govt to be banished in 2014.
Groklaw, the award-winning website covering legal news of interest to the free and open source software community is closing down as a result of the NSA revelations:
The owner of Lavabit tells us that he’s stopped using email and if we knew what he knew, we’d stop too.
There is no way to do Groklaw without email. Therein lies the conundrum.
What to do?
What to do? I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to figure it out. And the conclusion I’ve reached is that there is no way to continue doing Groklaw, not long term, which is incredibly sad. But it’s good to be realistic. And the simple truth is, no matter how good the motives might be for collecting and screening everything we say to one another, and no matter how “clean” we all are ourselves from the standpoint of the screeners, I don’t know how to function in such an atmosphere. I don’t know how to do Groklaw like this.
Shearer got a solid round of applause at the start of the rally. Unfortunately his speech lacked real passion. His reluctance to clap some of the other speakers comments was noticeable, like jealousy of Norman was disturbing! Under Shearer the Greens are going to get treated like shit ‘again.’
Yes, Skinny. I noticed Shearer sat unmoved and not clapping for most of Norman’s speech – and in contrast the audience was giving Norman loads of positive applause to Norman. Shearer didn’t clap any other politician very much, but I though he gave Peters more applause than he gave Norman.
Bomber’s welcoming of Norman as; ” New Zealand’s next minister of finance” really seemed to put Shearer’s teeth on edge for his whole speech. But then, Shearer’s mumbling drabness did help Norman get his standing ovation for best speech of the night by comparison.
Still Shearer’s “didn’t last time” come back to Key’s “run for the hills” slur yesterday was pretty good.
Oh look just what we all need, an idiot/expert (Fletcher Building chief executive Mark Adamson) from Britain telling us that we (in this case Australia) got it all wrong for all those years .
Recently appointed Fletcher Building CEO riding high on the efforts of his predecessor lambasts Australia for having unions ( boo) and saying what it needs is a Margret Thatcher (who?)
What a joke. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=1111…
Australia has old-fashioned union arrangements and needs “a dose of Margaret Thatcher,” says Mark Adamson, the British chief executive of Fletcher Building.
Next he is I off to Germany to explain how they got it so very wrong as well.
Take any year you want since Thatcher came to power and look at AUSvs UK and you would have to be made to think that the UK has gotten anything right at all. This man has to go.
Please Mr Adamson go back to Britain if you like it so much.
I am really getting sick of UK ‘fly-ins’ telling us in this part of the world how to do things- from Government Dpts to Public companies.
Unless they undertake an intensive re-education process to rid themselves of outdated/ insane UK thinking – they should not be considered for any senior appointments.
This shows the complexities and confusions that more energy trapped and circulating in the land, sea, air system can lead to.
As previously stable systems break down, look toward more bizarre side effects. From snow falls that dwarf all others. To Icebergs floating past the North Island. To droughts and hurricanes in places that have never experienced them before.
I have just finished watching 3rd Degree which has exposed a festering oozing sore in how a serial rapist could have been stopped after he first attacked as the brave woman gave the police his name. An inquiry is required without delay as 24 more women were terrorised over an eight year period. The response from Collins was to complain to the IPCA and the IPCA have declined to investigate. This is out of order and shows a callousness toward such serious offending and the pathetic investigation that was carried out from the time that the first complaint was made to the police.
I am so pissed off as the government expect the public to trust the police and the police (at this point in time) are not being held to account. Just like how the GCSB Bill does not have to explain how they are going to ruin lives.
I wonder if going through ACC for exemplary damages is an option as 25 rapes occurred and I would not be wrong in thinking that the total is higher. Some sort of severe penalty is required.
Tomorrow afternoon, if things go really really badly, I may find myself down to one eye. People who used to sneer at me on Twitter will no doubt say So what's changed? Nothing, that's what, you one-eyed lefty.I don’t mean to be dramatic, it’s just a routine bit of cataract ...
A few weeks ago an invitation dropped into my email inbox to attend a joint Treasury/Motu seminar on recent, rather major, changes that had apparently been made to the discount rates used by The Treasury to evaluate proposals from government agencies. It was all news to me, but when ...
All your life is Time magazineI read it tooWhat does it mean?PressureI'm sure you'll have some cosmic rationaleBut here you are with your faithAnd your Peter Pan adviceYou have no scars on your faceAnd you cannot handle pressureSongwriter: Billy Joel.Christopher Luxon is under pressure from all sides. The reviews are ...
After seeing yet-more-months of political debate and policy decisions to ‘go for growth’ by pulling the same old cheap migration and cheap tourism levers without nearly-enough infrastructure, or any attempt to address the same old lack of globally conventional tax incentives for investment, I thought it would be worth issuing ...
The plans for the buildings that will replace the downtown carpark have been publicly notified giving us the first detailed glance at what is proposed for one of the biggest and best development sites in the city centre. The council agreed to sell the site to Precinct Properties for $122 ...
With the Reserve Bank expected today to return the Official Cash Rate to where it was in mid-2022 comes a measure of how much of a psychological impact the rate has. Federated Farmers has published its latest six-monthly farm confidence survey, which shows that profit expectations have fallen and risen ...
Kiwis Disallowed From Waiting Lists Based on Arbitrary MeasuresWellington hospital are now rejecting patients from specialist waiting lists due to BMI (body mass index).This article from Rachel Thomas for The Post says it all (emphasis mine):A group of Porirua GPs are sounding alarm bells after patients with body mass indexes ...
The Prime Minister says he's really comfortable with us not knowing the reoffending rate for his boot camp programme.They asked him for it at yesterday’s press conference, and he said, nah, not telling, have to respect people's privacy.Okay I'll bite. Let's say they release this information to us:The rate of ...
Warning 1: There is a Nazi theme at the end of this article related to the disabled community. Warning 2: This article could be boring!One day, last year, I excitedly opened up a Substack post that was about how to fight back, and the answer at the end was disappointing ...
This may be rhetorical but here goes: did any of you invest in the $Libra memecoin endorsed and backed by Argentine president and darling of the global Right Javier Milei (who admitted to being paid a fee for his promotion of the token)? You know, the one that soared above ...
Last week various of the great and good of New Zealand economics and public policy trooped off to Hamilton (of all places) for the annual Waikato Economics Forum, one of the successful marketing drives of university’s Vice-Chancellor. My interest was in the speeches delivered by the Minister of Finance and ...
The Prime Minister says the Government would be open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached. The government has announced a $30 million spend on tourism infrastructure and biodiversity projects, including $11m spent to improve popular visitor sites and further $19m towards biodiversity efforts. A New Zealand-born ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler “But what about when the sun doesn't shine?!” Ah yes, the energy debate’s equivalent of “The Earth is flat!” Every time someone mentions solar or wind power, some self-proclaimed energy expert emerges from the woodwork to drop this supposedly devastating truth bomb: ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
Now that the US has ripped up the Atlantic alliance, Europe is more vulnerable now than at any time since the mid-1930s. Apparently, Europe and Ukraine itself will not have a seat at the table in the talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin that will ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University Gumbariya/Shutterstock The Reserve Bank’s decision to cut interest rates for the first time in four years has triggered a round of celebration. Mortgage holders are cheering the fact their monthly repayments are now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Housing supply in Australia will be a key battleground in the election campaign. With home ownership more and more out of reach for young and not so young Australians, red tape and low productivity are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Korolev, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, UNSW Sydney The United States and Russia agreed to work on a plan to end the war in Ukraine at high-level talks in Saudi Arabia this week. Ukrainian and European representatives were pointedly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University BaLL LunLa/Shutterstock Sleep is the holy grail for new parents. So no wonder many tired parents are looking for something to help their babies sleep. A TikTok trend claims ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ranjana Gupta, Senior Lecturer, Accounting Department, Auckland University of Technology Jirsak/Shutterstock The profit made on every breakfast bowl of weet-bix is tax exempt, giving Sanitarium Health Food Company, owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, an advantage over other breakfast food companies. ...
A closer look at some of the homegrown talent currently commanding television screens around the globe. The new season of The White Lotus hit our screens this week, and with it a familiar face in New Zealand actor Morgana O’Reilly. To secure a role in one of the world’s most ...
"This is a crisis of the Government’s own making and the unit is another sign of desperation," said PSA acting national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francesca Perugia, Senior Lecturer, School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University Australia’s housing crisis has created a push for fast-tracked construction. Federal, state and territory governments have set a target of 1.2 million new homes over five years. Increasing housing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ash Watson, Scientia Fellow and Senior Lecturer, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock When we’re uncomfortable we say the “vibe is off”. When we’re having a good time we’re “vibing”. To assess the mood we do a “vibe check”. And when the atmosphere in ...
What’s up with the man from Epsom? The leader of the Act Party has been in plenty of headlines in the last two weeks, ranging from a controversial letter to police on behalf of constituent Philip Polkinghorne (written before David Seymour was a minister) to an attempt to drive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Stephenson, Deputy Director, Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Australian National University Newly published research has found clear evidence that openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer+ (LGBTIQ+) Australian politicians were disproportionately targeted with personal abuse on social media at the ...
Gilmore Girls, Schitt’s Creek, even The Vampire Diaries – they’re all set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. So what is it like to actually know your neighbours? My favourite television shows are set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. Characters attend town meetings where they debate local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yanyan Hong, PhD Candidate in Communication and Media Studies, University of Adelaide IMDB On the surface, Ne Zha 2: The Sea’s Fury (2025), the sequel to the 2019 Chinese blockbuster Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, is a high-octane, action-packed and ...
Wellington travellers say their buses are so hot they’re often forced to get off early and walk. Shanti Mathias explores the impact of non-functioning air conditioning on public transport. When Bella, a young professional living in Wellington, thinks about taking the bus, her first thought is “Ugh”. The bus might ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Annette Kroen, Research Fellow Planning and Transport, RMIT University The cleanup is underway in northern Queensland following the latest flooding catastrophe to hit the state. More than 7,000 insurance claims have already been lodged, most of them for inundated homes and other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Subha Parida, Lecturer in Property, University of South Australia Carl Oberg/Shutterstock Houses and fire do not mix. The firestorm which hit Los Angeles in January destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings and forced 130,000 people to evacuate. The 2019–20 Australian megafires destroyed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania Tasmania has been burning for more than two weeks, with no end in sight. Almost 100,000 hectares of bushland in the northwest has burned to date. This includes the Tarkine rainforest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Loosemore, Professor of Construction Management, University of Technology Sydney This week, the Productivity Commission released its much-awaited report into productivity growth in Australia’s housing construction sector. It wasn’t a glowing appraisal. The commission found physical productivity – the total number ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pascale Lubbe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology, University of Otago Royal spoonbills are among several new species that have crossed the Tasman and naturalised in New Zealand. JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA When people arrived on the shores of Aotearoa ...
Stats NZ’s head is stepping down over the agency’s failure to safeguard census data, and more officials may soon be in the firing line, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. An ‘absolutely unacceptable’ failure Stats NZ chief ...
Health NZ is under greater government scrutiny, with the new health minister setting up a unit he says will "drive greater accountability and performance". ...
Manurewa Marae acknowledges should have done better at handling completed census forms, following an inquiry into steps government agencies took to protect data. ...
Police failed to protect people from protesters at a high-profile rally and made unlawful arrests at another, the Independent Police Conduct Authority says. ...
Comment: Crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are making it easier for people to invest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum without having to handle digital wallets or private keys. These allow investors to buy and sell cryptocurrency through their regular brokerage accounts.This has opened the door for billions of dollars ...
Two long-awaited reports into alleged personal data misuse, centred on census collection and Covid-19 vaccination efforts at Manurewa Marae, were released yesterday. Here’s what you need to know.“Very sobering reading” was how public service commissioner Sir Brian Roche described his organisation’s long-awaited report into the alleged misuse of census ...
Backbench MPs reached new levels of patsy questions in an extraordinarily dull question time on Tuesday. Echo Chamber is The Spinoff’s dispatch from the press gallery, recapping sessions in the House. Columns are written by politics reporter Lyric Waiwiri-Smith and Wellington editor Joel MacManus. “MPs ask questions to explore key issues ...
Labour like to justify their position with old polls this is the latest poll not looking good for Labour.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9066577/Bold-policy-fails-to-grab-new-support-for-Labour
The poll shows Labour continues to wallow in the doldrums on just 31.6 per cent, a five-point slide from the start of the year. In contrast, National has emerged all but unscathed from a difficult few months to poll at 48.3 per cent – down about one point from May, but up more than four on the start of the year.
[lprent: The post was about the Roy Morgan poll. As far as I’m aware Labour haven’t mentioned the Roy Morgan poll. So I presume from your first paragraph that you’re equating us with being the Labour party.
As you’re well aware, we are not – but reread the policy if your memory has gone.
However because of your previous history of doing this type of lame-arse stupidity, this is your only warning. If I see you try this type of crap again, I will ban you from commenting here until after the next election.
You know the rules of this site. We don’t appreciate being tarred with being anything apart from who we say we are – read the about. And I personally don’t like idiotic creeps like yourself who try to insinuate that we are.
It doesn’t add to debate. It just becomes a flame where useless creeps like yourself can wank yourself in pornographic troll fantasy. Now you can either debate politics without playing kiddie games, or you can wind up with going back to whatever enclave of stupidity you usually mastubate in (whaleoil?) and count coup. Either way is fine by me.
Moved to OpenMike as your first paragraph had nothing to do with the post you put it in. ]
Does anyone else find it strange that the master of “I can’t quite remember…” was able to recall in parliament yesterday, during an exchange with Shearer, “He said quote, unquote blah blah…”.
Wonderful. The problem is now fixed, no longer having brain-fades. Perhaps journalists will now ask him direct questions and he will not resort to “I can’t quite remember”.
Perhaps he can now recall what he was doing in 1981 with a little more certainty, and how many shares he had, and which Tory Party Lords visited him.
However the problem with the Labour caucus continues : the fumbling Shearer. How utterly incompetent of him to have a meeting with his opponent which he asked to be kept secret. And then to bring it out into the open himself – giving Key a wonderful opportunity – yet again – to put him down. It’s become embarrassing to be a known Labour supporter – having to watch and listen to his “performances” in the House.
Absolutely spot on JK.
Got it in one.
You only have keys version of how this meeting happened. Which was a little bit Famous Five, which I am sure is his preferred bed time reading.
Shearer said he asked for the meeting. I believe him. Everybody knows by now that once key has put his spin on a situation you only ever have a small smidgen of the truth.. He certainly turned it into a cloak and dagger situation. He just needs to open his mouth now and I start laughing. I personally feel that Shearer is doing better every day and am not seeing much of this mumbling crap you keep harping on about.
Did you even read JK’s comment above? That an experienced political operator would never put himself in a vulnerable ‘my word against his word’ position with Key.
Yeah! Because John Key is known for his honesty eh CV. The reason David Shearer asked the question is because National had claimed that they had consulted with a number of party’s concerning the GCSB legislation. It turns out that National, once Peter Dunne’s vote was gained, didn’t want to consult at all. Whether Shearer asked for the meeting to be kept secret is beside the point (Key is likely to be lying again, all meetings between GCSB committee members are confidential), National did not attempt to seek cross-party support for the GCSB amendment bill.
That’s exactly the point I was making. Key is known for his dishonesty, so why even put yourself in that vulnerable position.
Because his word is more believable than key’s.
After all, key is “known for his dishonesty”.
I really don’t get what he was trying to do apart from let Key kick him in the balls repeatedly.
Dave has no idea, get rid of him, he’s a complete numpty.
YES, thought exactly the same thing. His memory is back! His memory is back! Now, ask him lots of questions.
Worried about new GCSB powers being expanded and the lack of democracy in NZ. : (
oh dear
so going by john key, roughly 75% of NZ are lefties?
Which is why he needs the GCSB stuff to save us from ourselves.
Did He take up the offer of a free full frontal lobotomy to improve His performance, the Alfred E. Nuemann of television Jonolism Patrick Gower on TV3 news last night called the latest National Government share offer ”An election bribe”
When as few as 2% of the population will take part in this little process of parting the population with the profitable assets it already owns ”An election bribe” is hardly a useful descriptive,
”A gross act of theft” would be more fitting, perpetrated by this National Government on the majority of it’s citizens…
Snowden: NSA targeted journalists critical of government after 9/11
one big bold opinion for tossing into the opinion pot……
Labour must get rid of Shearer.
I switched past his speech at the Ak town hall such was its drabness. He fumbles and bumbles. He does not land any hits. He does not have charisma. He does not have chutzpa. He has had time and it has not worked. He certainly has talents and skills and is a very useful human bean, but get real you Labour eggs – he is not a leader of the type required. You all know it and are sticking yoru heads in the sand. Or rather, you are letting it happen to be more certain about your own personal places in the 2017 election, and that is political scum action. You are declaring on the 2014 election. Arseholes.
Dump Shearer.
Get rid of Shearer.
(but don’t think you can have cunliffe because I offered him a place in the VTO Party and it seems he may well take it up…)
” Or rather, you are letting it happen to be more certain about your own personal places in the 2017 election, and that is political scum action. You are declaring on the 2014 election. Arseholes.”
I reckon you’re spot on, vto. The majority of the Labour caucus are in it for themselves.
Like Roger Douglas in the 1980s, they hoodwinked the Party members into believing their rhetoric and now we (Party members) are lumped with these people who’ve got themselves a cosy job for life, public status, wealth and perks. Sickening. I can’t believe its happening again.
What a load of rubbish! First vto says that Shearer isn’t suitable, then basically says there is nobody to replace him. What you are therefore advocating for is the undermining of Labour.
Personally I thought Shearer’s speech at the GCSB meeting got the message across. He certainly didn’t fumble or bumble. Sure, he didn’t get the response of Russel Norman, but what he said was easy to understand and well received.
What many commentators have clearly missed from that speech is David Shearer saying that Labour would replace the GCSB legislation after an in-depth review of all surveillance agencies. That’s probably the biggest revelation of the night.
No it’s not. He has said it over and over, every time he has been asked on radio and tv what he would do.
Better would be, repeal it and then review…
Keep GCSB in limbo while it happens, doing no spying at all… I am sure they would all enjoy the break.
Could you link to one instance before that Auckland town hall meeting where David Shearer has previously said the GCSB legislation will be REPLACED under a Labour led government Tracey?
I will give you a link, Jackal.
This from the Herald on 26 July the day after the first public meeting in Auckland on 25 July opposing the GCSB Bill.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10903651
I posted the link here at that time and again on 18 August on Open Mike at 1.1.1.2.
Second paragraph in your link:
and farther down:
“What you are therefore advocating for is the undermining of Labour.”
Jackal : that’s what is already happening via the ABCs and others in the Labour Caucus. Whatever anyone thinks of Shearer’s speech at the GCSB meeting, his actual leadership is the pits ! and the Labour caucus knows this, but still keeps him on – to the detriment of Labour gaining any upward traction into the 2014 election. It is they (the Labour caucus) who is undermining any chance of Labour winning the next election, not vto or other commentors on this blog.
“…undermining any chance of Labour winning the next election”? You deluded fool! On recent polling Labour and the Greens will win the next election.
jackal..you must realise that unless key leaves before the next election..(proven to have willfully lied to parliament/the nz people..?..)
..and is replaced by one of the dead-eyed-twins..collins or joyce..
..you must know that key will monster shearer in any elecion-debates etc..
..and yes..the trends do seem to be heading the centre-lefts’ way..
..but to cling to the wreckage that is shearer..for just those incremental-poll-gains (read:..stagnation) reasons..
..would be a group-delusion of gargantuan proportions for labour..
..surely you can see that..?
phillip ure..
So your solution is to get rid of Shearer at a time Labour is gaining support and replace him with David Cunliffe, an MP who barely registers on preferred PM stakes and has already ruled himself out?
As for your claim that Key will monster Shearer in any debates…I totally disagree. Shearer can easily hold his ground against the deceitful snake as this video and many others like it show. The propaganda claiming that Shearer isn’t a suitable leader is highly exaggerated.
I get that you don’t like him, but don’t be buying into all this right wing rubbish saying that Shearer doesn’t have the support of Labours caucus etc. Don’t be trying to give Labour advice similar to the likes of Slater and Farrar that would clearly be detrimental to the Labour party and the left wing if obeyed.
um..!..jackal..!..the right want shearer in there..
..for two reasons..
1)..easiest for key to beat..
2)..and should circumstances get out of control..and national lose..
..shearer is seen as malleable..
..and no real threat to the current power-paradigm..
..surely you can see that..?
..and you must also be aware that the person the right least want in that job..is cunnliffe..
..for two reasons..
1)..hardest for key to debate against/to beat..(there are none in labour with a better grasp of their portfolios..you have to admit that..)
2)..and while i don’t see cunnliffe as a tolstoy..should a centre-left coalition win power…cunnliffe is the bigger threat than shearer to the right/that elite-power-paradigm..
..and while opinions are opinions..and most with a few braincells have them..
..it could be argued that having done commentaries on questiontime for so long..
..i have had a great deal of exposure to all of them..(more than is probably healthy..)
..and it is from these observations that i make that cunliffe vs. shearer-call..
..(not from the howls/spins of farrar and w/oil..as you claim..
..farrar who i have looked at a handful of times in the last six months..
..and w/oil who i haven’t looked at since he posted the severed head of a recently slain deer (by him)..as a bonnet-ornament on his s.u.v..(which was about 18 months 2 yrs ago..i guess..)..
..and i’m afraid i don’t buy the argument that the voting public don’t yet know of the skills of cunnliffe..
..a year + the fire and brimstone of an election campaign is plenty of time for that voting public to see what cunnliffe has to offer..
..and i repeat that call..cunnliffe..at this point in time/circumstances is the only one in labour able to see off key..
..it’s as simple as that..really..
..and seriously..!..what have you seen in shearer to date to make you believe he has what is needed to lead a reforming government of the ilk both you and i would support..?
..’cos..i’m sorry..i can’t see that happening..under shearer..
..phillip ure..
In my opinion, Shearer vs Cunliffe is no longer a story phillip ure. You’re harping on about a dead issue. Likewise, Shearer vs Norman isn’t worth even discussing while the Greens have around 14% of the vote.
What is of far more interest at the moment is the committee inquiry into the Vance/Dunne emails and how the Henry inquiry was (mis)conducted. Judith Collins is sitting on that committee and some of her questions today indicate that she doesn’t accept the explanation that the DPMC weren’t complicit in breaching process and consequently people’s privacy. That indicates to me that she’s smelling blood in the water and will start gunning for Keys job.
The Collins vs Key story is of far more import than buying into the right wing’s 90 day notice or any other similar rubbish you seem to enjoy repeating. Clearly, not all right wing propagandists support Shearer as you claim. In fact I can only think of two.
As for Shearer’s qualifications and skills, let’s take the most recent example…Key says Shearer would “run for the hills” in the event of a terrorist attack, when history shows that this claim is entirely false. Shearer in fact did the exact opposite when a real terrorist attack occurred…he went to help those injured. That’s the type of courage we need in a Prime Minister. Shearer thankfully also displays some humility about such things, which is more than can be said for Key. Is it perhaps his arrogance that you respect and the fact that Shearer doesn’t display a similar ability to bullshit his way out of any situation? Shearer vs Key is what we should be talking about.
In that Shearer is a moderate centre/left leader I have to agree. However I think you will be surprised at just how much the next Labour government will enact to progressively change the status quo. Their capital gains tax and other housing policy for instance is clearly not beneficial for the elite property investors who are pricing average Kiwi families out of the market. A number of other policies that bear a striking resemblance to what the Greens propose have also been announced. So your claim that Labour under Shearer’s stewardship will just be Nat lite is clearly wrong!
I think Phillip Ure makes a good point here.
This may be a dead issue for you, Jackal, however it may be that others, such as myself, feel that, considering the shambles that the Nat govt are consistently making of governing, Labour/Left should be polling through the roof.
It may be that Cunliffe no longer considers himself for the job, I don’t know whether this is true or not, however, it would be very good to see someone with a great deal more conviction leading the Labour party than what is currently the case.
Is this current state of affairs really the best that the NZ left has to offer for leadership of its biggest ‘left-wing’ party? Its pretty sad if this is so. In fact, its laughable.
Jackel, while i agree with most of your comment i totally disagree with your view on Labour’s flagship housing policy,
Here’s why, a Capital Gains Tax will do little to slow the appetite for the middle class to have investment property(s), where these property’s are used as a rental investment over the medium to long term which will be the intent of most Capital Gains Tax will have no effect, so there will be just as much demand for rental investments as there are now even should Labour build it’s KiwiBuild,
KiwiBuild, 10,000 houses for sale to those who can afford a mortgage, in Auckland and Christchurch the price of land will prohibit all but those earning at least 50,000 dollars a year in household income from being able to buy such a property,
This then becomes a direct taxpayer subsidy to the children of that middle class who have helped create the ‘affordability crisis’ in the first place by piling into rental investment property en masse,(100,000 homes have transited in the past 20 years from private dwellings to rental investment housing),
The children of the middle class will go on in five years to have gained enough equity in their Kiwibuild property to enable them to seek to mortgage a second property as a rental investment thus continuing the ‘goldrush’ on the supply side,
In discussions here at the Standard with 2 successive Labour Housing spokespeople there has not been even an open admission that we as a country need tens of thousands more State Houses than are currently available let alone a promise to increase the number of state houses we have now,
”Still working on the numbers” doesn’t cut it in my world, Labour have had 5 years to work ”on the numbers” and what Labour’s total housing policy looks like for anyone who cares to seriously look at the numbers is simply Houses for the middle class and everyone else who cannot ever afford to buy can be trapped as a tenant of that middle class by Labour as rent paying slaves with 40-50+% of their incomes paying for that middle classes investment and retirement choices…
(some quick corrections for jackal..)
1)i wd submit that the shearer leadership is most certainly not the ‘dead issue’ you claim..
2)..i neither like nor dislike shearer..i neither like nor dislike cunnliffe..i know neither of them well enough to bother with that..
..i am judging them on political-performance/politics only..
3)..once again..you accuse me of parrotting/channeling farrar/w/oil..i repeat..i read neither..and am able to think for myself..eh..?..i find i don’t really need that much direction..in forming my political views/opinions..eh..?
4)..and as for shearer as ‘humble-action-man’..?..a bit of a groin-stretcher there..? ..?..doncha think..?
5)..you suggest i ‘respect’ key..?..really..?..please show me any evidence of that..
(unless you are conflating my noting how he will monster shearer..into ‘respect’ for the man..?..is that it..?..)
6)..labours’ housing policy..(as others have already ably noted..)..falls well short of what is called for/needed..
..(and let’s not forget robertsons’ abject-pander to the right/elites..his promise that reforming power is all an incoming labour govt would do..(a lapse/flashing neon-sight seen/debated by many here..
..and..didn’t that alarm you..?..at the time..?)
..and finally..perhaps you could point me to links to actual policies/promises from shearer/labour..
..that currently seem to so reassure you..?
..phillip ure..
phillip ure
That’s because it suits the right wing and a few on the left who want to gain Labour’s vote. To Labour and the majority of voters out there, this is a dead issue. It’s also now a dead story to any journalist with a modicum of integrity.
Then you should acknowledge that Cunliffe hardly even registers on the preferred Prime Minister stakes. You should be aware that there are just as many negative stories (if not more) about Cunliffe as there are for Shearer.
You don’t need to read their rubbish to be on the same page phillip ure. At the moment their accusations against Shearer actually have more merit than your current argument as it stands. In fact apart from saying mumble and bumble, what was your argument again?
Not at all. Look at the example provided. Are you saying that it’s somehow inaccurate?
Yes! You are saying that Key is a better debater than Shearer, which effectively equates to praising Key. Are you saying that Key shouldn’t be respected for his (according to you) ability to best his opponents? That seems illogical!
However, it is what’s currently available to Labour to help more Kiwis (including poor families) into home ownership. Unfortunately there is no magic wand to fix over forty years of dysfunctional economic and social policy that has adversely affected housing. Labour’s policies will go some way to rectify the dysfunction, which with our huge debt levels is all that really can be hoped for. If what they propose isn’t good enough, what do you suggest?
As for your claims that Grant Robertson has pandered to the right wing elitists by apparently promising that reforming power is the only thing an incoming Labour government would do, got a link for that?
I’m sure you’re capable of searching for Labour’s legislation that I have previously referred to phillip ure. Whether it’s advantageous or not is a matter of opinion. Currently approximately 34% of voters think it is.
@ Jackal
Let’s say I own a restaurant/cafe and that it only gets a quarter full on the busiest days. I really need it to be at least half full on these days.
However this is a dead issue because:
1) It suits my competition to criticize my business and that this means the criticism isn’t true
2)My competition hardly even registers on the top ten list of restaurants, therefore it isn’t like I’m doing that bad.
3)People write rubbish about my restaurant and even people who don’t read this rubbish are saying the same thing.
4)People don’t seem to be receptive to when I tell them I have delicious food in my restaurant. They must be suspicious and deluded types for being that way about what I say.
5)My friends often pop in on a quiet night and tell me that the restaurant down the road has a full house. This is not helpful to me because it is flattering to them.
6) Some people have told me the food I sell is stale, however there is no magic wand to fixing this problem because I have a lot of stock, and it has been building up for so long.
I just wish people would stop complaining and praise my restaurant and stop giving me constructive criticism because that my restaurant only gets quarter full on the busiest days is a dead issue because of the above and because noone is talking about it anymore and anyone who is, simply lacks credibility
Yes! People who are saying there’s currently another option to David Shearer as Leader of the Labour party lack credibility. Not sure why you’re talking about restaurants blue leopard?
lolz Jackal, you appear to be suffering from a particularly severe case of denial. Eyes tight shut. That must be awful.
However you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it open its eyes. (same goes for dogs I suppose) I will stop trying; I think you understood the point.
Happy cherry-picking.
so..in summary..jackal..i am actually some sort of double-agent for key/the right..?
..and all that vegan/animal-rights/workers-co-op/reversing inequality/partial-nationalisation/leftie/ stuff that i spout/advocate…
..is just a deep-cover..?
..whoar..!..you’ve rumbled me..!
..the game is up..!
..my cover is blown..!
..what tipped you off..?
..was it my closet ‘respect’ for key..?..that eagle-eye you spotted..?
..was it my refusal to see shearer as a re-born lange..?
..and saviour of the nation..?
..what blew my gaff..?..guv..?
(..and anyway..that’ll be the end of this conversation..eh..?
..i think we have both stated our differing positions/reasons..
..and any more would just be repitition/boring/descending to me rejoinding to personal-insults in like..eh..?
..and..i can’t be bothered..eh..?
..phillip ure..
I said you lack credibility because you promote somebody who currently doesn’t have a chance to take over from David Shearer. Although undermining the Leader of the opposition ultimately only helps the right wing, I never said you were an agent for John Key. Stop creating straw men to try and win a debate you’ve quite clearly lost phillip ure.
cock
I agree Jackal. National are out next year, the issue is will Key go early in calling a election? If he doesn’t Nationals loss will be even bigger.
Which polls are you looking at – this today on Stuff?
Personally I don’t rely on polls. I see a bumbling inept Shearer, failing to capitalise on Key and his government’s mis-steps and unpopular moves.
Enough! Shearer must go!
You don’t rely on polls but quote a poll as your argument?
I’m basing my opinion on the latest Roy Morgan polling of course, which states:
If you truly don’t rely on polling to form your opinion, then link to something that shows Shearer being . Please note, Kiwibog or Whale Oil will not suffice.
Huh! I used the other poll to compare with the more positive one you linked to, to show the unreliability of polls. It was not an endorsement on the reliability of polls – just the opposite!
Generally I hold back from criticising Shearer too much (especially in posts).
I have referred to in comments and posts of late – mostly comments – to the weakness of Shearer – at the GCSB Akl town hall meeting I went to on Monday night. And in the House yesterday in Question Time.
I started the post with a focus on the excellent questioning by Russel Norman over whether the NSA/US government contribute funds to the GCSB & other GCSB issues. The subsequent inept attempts by Shearer – over Question 3, and the whole fish incident, insured Norman’s exposure of the potential NSA funding & Key’s contradictory statements did not make the evening TV news, but Shearer’s antics did. The guy needs to go as leader.
I have a post queued for publishing in the next half hour that shows some better performances in the House by other Labour MPs – one is not usually an MP I support a lot, but the post shows there are far better operators in the Labour caucus than Shearer. It’s frustrating that we are still being subjected to Shearer’s ineptness.
I agree with you Karol, on Shearer. I have tried and tried to not be too critical but yesterday’s performance in the House was probably the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. He deserved everything he got back on his question to Key.
As I have just commented at 11 below, Shearer has no questions in QT today.
Robertson is doing the daily “does the PM stand by all his statements” I did not see all the GCSB Bill debate last night, but Shearer was nowhere in sight – and Mallard seemed to be holding the fort for the entire front bench for most of what I saw. Meetings behind closed doors going on perhaps?
i am amused at the number of commenters here who while quite legitimately criticizing Labour’s David Shearer on speeches such as the ‘roof painting Bene bashing’ effort and other aspects of His abilities then go on to demand of Labour that they get rid of Him,
Most of those who demand such are not members of the Labour Party and it ‘seems’ that most will not vote for that Party,
Can you imagine the ‘flame war’ that would ensue here on the Standards pages if those who are Labour members and supporters of Shearer began a tirade of comments dissing the Green Party’s Russell Norman and demanding He stand aside as Leader,
What i will say about Shearer is that He is the Leader of a middle of the road Party full of middle class people determined to fight elections with National for a small slice of the middle class electorate,
As such He seems to fit…
i am amused at the number of commenters here who while quite legitimately criticizing Labour’s David Shearer on speeches such as the ‘roof painting Bene bashing’ effort and other aspects of His abilities then go on to demand of Labour that they get rid of Him,
Most of those who demand such are not members of the Labour Party and it ‘seems’ that most will not vote for that Party,
Is why I tend to refrain from criticising Shearer a lot – especially in posts. But some of Shearer’s actions are damaging the left and/or wider government opposition. This is especially so on things like the GCSB Bill where the opposition has attempted to work somewhat together.
Right now, a Green party vote is a vote for a Labour-led government. So it is of concern for non-Labour voters of the left.
Karol, aha, and as the saying goes a rising tide and all that, allows the likes of me to while the Green Party appears to be gathering support, shift my vote further left to the Mana Party,
Perhaps further left is a bit of a misnomer and would best be termed ‘to a party of the left seriously concerned with the bread and butter issues of those who are forced to rely upon the least income’,
Yes of course we have to consider as you say that a vote for the Green Party is a vote for Labour who i am sure will behave despicably throughout the term of such a coalition but it then behoves the Green Party to be well prepared with a comprehensive coalition agreement which sets out the 3 year Parliamentary term and the specific policy gains the Green Party expect along with the budget required,
The Green Party success or failure in such a coalition will rely on having first pinned Labour down on all the details and budgets befor the Cabinet seat carve up with the Green party’s minds firmly fixed upon what has happened to all the smaller of the Party’s in coalition with either Labour or National under the MMP electoral system…
Not sure how and why you can make the assertion, bad12, that “most of those who demand (Shearer’s head) are not members of the Labour Party …….”
I most certainly am a paidup member of Labour, and am exceedingly frustrated by Shearer’s inability to grab the moment and act like a real leader, and I’m also not impressed with a number of old-time caucus members who have had their day, and should be put out to pasture. None of them are doing Labour members a service by continuing to sit in their cushy seats.
forgot to mention, bad12. as a longtime Labour activist and paidup member, I am now seriously questioning whether I’ll be voting Labour while Shearer is the leader.
Bad12, just for the record, much as I was a swinging voter in my earlier years, I have voted mainly Labour for many years – Annette King in Rongatai. I was a bit uncertain as to whether to continue to do so in the 2011 election, but stuck with Labour – and joined the Party in 2012.
As such, I believe I have the right to state my opinion on the party. But, quite frankly, Shearer may be a nice guy, but I despair at his lack of politicial experience/instinct and communication skills – and commitment to Labour values.
I just watched Goff speaking in the 3rd reading of the GCSB Bill with knowledge and passion – and in some ways wish the party had stuck with him for these skills. OTT, he carries baggage from the past, and understand the decision to go with a fresh face etc. Unfortunately, I believe the choice made was the wrong one.
My thoughts are pretty much the same as Karol’s on this issue. If I’m around to vote next time, Mana will get my party vote. Electorate will depend on where I am and who’s standing, but possibly Labour. None of the parties not of the extreme right can rule on their own, so those of us on the left depend on a moderate right party, Labour, to lead any coalition. To that extent, the more votes Labour gets from their supporters and the more pink tinged their policies, the more we can expect some real progress. I can’t see Shearer leading Labour to win a really significant proportion of the vote, and I can’t see him breaking the paradigm that sees beneficiaries on roofs as part of the problem. For these reasons, I think Aotearoa needs Cunliffe as leader of the Labour Party.
I’ve been doing stuff in the party off and on since rousting people out in the Eden electorate for Richard Northey in 1984.
I’ve been a party member with a few lapses of a year or so (I’m notorious for never having cash) since about 1986 (my partner signed me up when she was active in Dunedin North).
I have been active in the party since 1989, when I looked first at Prebble in Auckland Central and decided that Clark (while a radical feminist leftie) wasn’t a nearly as much of stupid nutter as Prebble was, was pretty competent, and started working in Mt Albert. Over the years I have literally put in years doing campaigning and organising through to writing code for Labour along with many thousands of dollars in donations. But I have done it because they have been largely competent.
I think and have stated that the caucus were completely nuts to put in someone so inexperienced as a leader. It wasn’t good for either the party nor for what looked like a promising MP. Regretfully I still think the same.
David Cunliffe or indeed a number of other MP’s would have been better, but still flawed, candidates for the job. But the culture in caucus really appears to be far too toxic to expect much cooperative or even coordinated activity like electing a competent leader, developing a competent caucus, and starting to agree on coherent and coordinated policies.
But I really can’t abide incompetence or timewasting. So I’m looking around for a party that is looking to improve their performance rather than having their caucus sitting on it’s hands waiting for ‘their turn’ like any other pack of time servers. That could be Labour if it reforms and actually starts developing its own party (rather than quietly hoping it will wither away). But I don’t think that the MP’s have the imagination to figure out what will happen if they don’t, and will instead actively participate in it’s demise..
I’m probably still a member as my VFL goes out each month. I help people out when I have the time. But at present much of my activity goes on this site as being a more useful and productive use of the time I can give politics.
So no. You’re wrong…
i am amused at the number of commenters here who while quite legitimately criticizing Labour’s David Shearer on speeches such as the ‘roof painting Bene bashing’ effort and other aspects of His abilities then go on to demand of Labour that they get rid of Him,
Most of those who demand such are not members of the Labour Party and it ‘seems’ that most will not vote for that Party,
There is a big long list of Labour party members and voters in the debates on tw around the time of the LP conference last year and since. Go look it up.
Can you imagine the ‘flame war’ that would ensue here on the Standards pages if those who are Labour members and supporters of Shearer began a tirade of comments dissing the Green Party’s Russell Norman and demanding He stand aside as Leader,
As a GP member I can say that if the GP had a leader like Shearer for the kinds of reasons that Shearer is leader, and the GP was being criticised from the outside, I’d be agreeing with them. Plus what others have said, this is MMP. Labour caucus are at the point of fucking the country, again. All people on the left should be concerned about this.
What i will say about Shearer is that He is the Leader of a middle of the road Party full of middle class people determined to fight elections with National for a small slice of the middle class electorate,
As such He seems to fit…
Yeah, my middle class dad, a swing voter between Labour and NZF I think, seems impressed by him. I’ve not asked, but I suspect that Shearer’s mumbling isn’t considered a fatal flaw like it is here amongst the politicos. Dad also hates Key, and can’t vote GP or Mana, so that leaves Shearer or Peters. But you are missing the point. My personal objection to Shearer isn’t that he represents the middle class (although I think Labour party members’ criticism of Labour’s loss of its roots is valid). It’s that he’s just bad at his job and may well cost the left the next election. In other words, if he was competent, then let Labour hold that place in the political spectrum, and the GP and Mana will take up the slack. At this point in time the issue isn’t so much about the make up of a left wing govt, I think the imperative is to just have one so Key and co can’t have another 3 years.
re shearer:..i must admit his seeming equivocations on tv3 breakfast this morn did not reassure..
..as a promise of any heft:..’a review’ doesn’t really add up to much -is diddly-squat..eh..?..
..and as a replacement for shearer..?..one able to better/best key..face-to-face..?
..of the current labour crew..
..only cunnliffe could cut that rug..
..phillip ure..
Only Cunliffe can bring the fire and brimstone to knock out the teflon. He is speedy in his mind and deftly powerful with his language, and skilled in politics.
I like David Shearer and honestly believe he is a decent Kiwi with good things to bring … but not now, as leader at a time like this. He is drab and without charisma on tv ( which matters very much whether we like it or not), and yesterday was a debacle which was made more of today by various govt members in the house. Shearer scored a huge own goal at the worst time possible.
The Labour Greens and NZF together should be showing a total of 65% in the polls with what is going on, imho. This is the most corrupt govt we have ever had .. never before has greed been so open and the arrogance so derogatory and derisive to the last remaining pillars of our society.
Please do it soon; listen to Labour members and make it possible for this govt to be banished in 2014.
Cunliffe.
Cunliffe.
Cunliffe.
CODE RED: Publication of counter-poll grade ONE, all outlets and operatives full attack and distraction. IMMEDIATE EFFECT
“Mr Guy accused Mr Cunliffe of scaremongering and talking rubbish.
“I’m disappointed that he is trying to exaggerate and scare people. “”
he must HATE being in Government with Key then and accordingly will vote against the GCSB Bill…
Groklaw, the award-winning website covering legal news of interest to the free and open source software community is closing down as a result of the NSA revelations:
The owner of Lavabit tells us that he’s stopped using email and if we knew what he knew, we’d stop too.
There is no way to do Groklaw without email. Therein lies the conundrum.
What to do?
What to do? I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to figure it out. And the conclusion I’ve reached is that there is no way to continue doing Groklaw, not long term, which is incredibly sad. But it’s good to be realistic. And the simple truth is, no matter how good the motives might be for collecting and screening everything we say to one another, and no matter how “clean” we all are ourselves from the standpoint of the screeners, I don’t know how to function in such an atmosphere. I don’t know how to do Groklaw like this.
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20130818120421175
No questions from Shearer in Question Time today?
Robertson is down for the daily “Does the PM stand by all his statements” routine instead.
Quite bluntly I am not surprised after Shearer’s performance yesterday, walking straight into the fire.
Jackal reckons it’s all good mate, so no worries.
LOL – somehow I don’t think I will take that as read!
Shearer got a solid round of applause at the start of the rally. Unfortunately his speech lacked real passion. His reluctance to clap some of the other speakers comments was noticeable, like jealousy of Norman was disturbing! Under Shearer the Greens are going to get treated like shit ‘again.’
Don’t be a prat CV.
Yes, Skinny. I noticed Shearer sat unmoved and not clapping for most of Norman’s speech – and in contrast the audience was giving Norman loads of positive applause to Norman. Shearer didn’t clap any other politician very much, but I though he gave Peters more applause than he gave Norman.
Bomber’s welcoming of Norman as; ” New Zealand’s next minister of finance” really seemed to put Shearer’s teeth on edge for his whole speech. But then, Shearer’s mumbling drabness did help Norman get his standing ovation for best speech of the night by comparison.
Still Shearer’s “didn’t last time” come back to Key’s “run for the hills” slur yesterday was pretty good.
sound familiar?
arent cameron and key best buds?
In the big picture, they may as well be the same person.
Oh look just what we all need, an idiot/expert (Fletcher Building chief executive Mark Adamson) from Britain telling us that we (in this case Australia) got it all wrong for all those years .
Recently appointed Fletcher Building CEO riding high on the efforts of his predecessor lambasts Australia for having unions ( boo) and saying what it needs is a Margret Thatcher (who?)
What a joke.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=1111…
Australia has old-fashioned union arrangements and needs “a dose of Margaret Thatcher,” says Mark Adamson, the British chief executive of Fletcher Building.
Next he is I off to Germany to explain how they got it so very wrong as well.
Take any year you want since Thatcher came to power and look at AUSvs UK and you would have to be made to think that the UK has gotten anything right at all. This man has to go.
Please Mr Adamson go back to Britain if you like it so much.
I am really getting sick of UK ‘fly-ins’ telling us in this part of the world how to do things- from Government Dpts to Public companies.
Unless they undertake an intensive re-education process to rid themselves of outdated/ insane UK thinking – they should not be considered for any senior appointments.
Mark Adamson should be sent to the fucking pit to work for a few months.
Merrill Lynch works graduate intern to death
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/aug/21/bank-intern-death-working-hours
Climate Change causes rising sea levels, right?
Wrong. At least in one bizarre and short lived instance.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24080-how-an-ocean-went-into-hiding-in-australia.html#.UhR3ZipXv6l
This shows the complexities and confusions that more energy trapped and circulating in the land, sea, air system can lead to.
As previously stable systems break down, look toward more bizarre side effects. From snow falls that dwarf all others. To Icebergs floating past the North Island. To droughts and hurricanes in places that have never experienced them before.
How’s the Arab Spring going for Egyptians nowadays?
I have just finished watching 3rd Degree which has exposed a festering oozing sore in how a serial rapist could have been stopped after he first attacked as the brave woman gave the police his name. An inquiry is required without delay as 24 more women were terrorised over an eight year period. The response from Collins was to complain to the IPCA and the IPCA have declined to investigate. This is out of order and shows a callousness toward such serious offending and the pathetic investigation that was carried out from the time that the first complaint was made to the police.
I am so pissed off as the government expect the public to trust the police and the police (at this point in time) are not being held to account. Just like how the GCSB Bill does not have to explain how they are going to ruin lives.
I wonder if going through ACC for exemplary damages is an option as 25 rapes occurred and I would not be wrong in thinking that the total is higher. Some sort of severe penalty is required.
Is there some reason the mobile version of the standard keeps loading on my pc?
edit: Forget that, of course there’s a reason. What I mean is can you make it stop??
edit: Forget that too, of course you can.
Glad I’m not the only one suffering that problem. Whatever it was, it reset my username cookie and made me nervous.
Been a few glitches in the matrix tonight. Missing cookies for a few sites. Couple of very odd redirects from google. Things that make you go hmmm.