“..could you please detail/specify for us what you would do in your first one hundred days as prime minister..
..to address the open sores of poverty and inequality…
..what will you do for the poorest..?
Reply
David Parker 2.1
19 October 2014 at 2:44 pm
Issues that I believe we urgently need to address include affordable housing. We’d kick off with building more homes, and enforcing a healthy homes warrant of fitness.
We need to lift incomes. By the time of the next election, I want people when they hear “Labour” to think higher wages. Wages lifted immediately for the lower paid via minimum wage. Wage increases for others via better labour laws and a strongr economy investing in productive jobs rather than speculation.
Incomes for the poorest families need the likes of the Best Start package. Shamefully, the Nats equivalent deliberately excludes kids in beneficiary’s homes..”
you will note that the question is only addressed in the final couple of lines..
..where the best start for newborns is mentioned..but that is it..eh..?
..but it is the final line that has been doing my head in..
..seeing as parker was part of the labour govt that ‘excluded’ the poorest families from ‘working for (some) families’…him accusing national of ‘exclusion’ is beyond fucken black-irony..
..but wait..there’s more..!..parker is on record as attempting to blame the 2011 policy of including the poorest families in ‘w.f.(s).f.by 2018..(!)..(seven yrs/two elections after 2011)..
..as a major reason for labour losing that election..
..(and therefor reason to ditch that ‘future’-promise..)
..so 2014 didn’t even have that..all parker/labour 2014 offered to do for the poorest families was s.f.a…
..(which left us with once again..the beyond black-irony situation of the far-right conservative party..with their first 20 grand tax free policy..
..actually offering more to those most in need..than the labour party..
..which i repeat…was offering s.f.a…
..it is clear from parkers’ non-answer to my straightforward question..that his answer to my question should have been short and sharp:..
“..’we will do s.f.a for the poorest families’….because that is what his answer actually said..”
No he didn’t, he wrote
Address include affordable housing.
Build more homes.
Healthy homes warrant of fitness.
Wages lifted immediately for the lower paid via minimum wage.
Wage increases for others via better labour laws and a stronger economy investing in productive jobs rather than speculation.
Best Start package.
Thanks for spending the time to decipher phil’s dribble. I looked at it, thought he might possibly be saying something interesting this time, but couldn’t be bothered trying to read his mess.
Turns out it was the usual mis-representation of reality (and English) that phil specialises in.
personally, I routinely skip anything by pu unless subsequent comments catch my eye in the scroll-down.
And even then I still skip his intial unintelligible diatribes and simply flip through the tit-for-tats afterwards. Sometimes The Al1en can be quite funny, and pu is often Cartman-esque in his indestructible ego 🙂
I’ve found that once it gets over a couple of hundred comments, I have to skip much of a thread. Filtering out the whackos and known tory-lying-swine (unless I feel like a joust) tends to reduce the larger threads’ content into a couple of interesting discussions between about a dozen commenters.
see, that sort of shit is too garbled to bother reading. The first sentence was at least in context, but the change bit was just random. So I stopeed reading.
Much of it is the visual composition, but there’s also a strong indication that what actually gets written is only a portion of the content that he reads off the backs of his eyelids. There might be a well-developed link between not bothering to read his deliberately uncommunicative scrawl (A) and a general aversion to change (Z), but he never bothered to link A to Z. The result feels a bit like trying to read heiroglyphs that have been eroded and fractured over time.
And it’s not like sitting down and focusing intently on the content has revealed any great insight to be cherished, so I tend to think “why bother?”. I put as much effort into understanding his comments as he puts into making them understandable.
I had already suspected that your desire for obscurity from other’s eyes is merely a dramatic overcompensation for (what you believe to be) your brilliance.
I don’t reply half as much as I could, which considering the amount of rubbish posted already is probably a good thing. The fact that Philip’s opinions rants and musings are mostly ignored and not debated is telling, proving just because you shout the loudest doesn’t mean you’re being heard.
And believing the quality over quantity rule I self moderate. I don’t always get it right, but sometimes seeing the worst has merit, like so you know the good stuff when/if it comes.
So never say never and write pu off, ’cause just like living in nat NZ, there’s always hope even in the darkest places.
Maybe I should have written the comments ‘don’t find wide acceptance and consensus’ instead of ignored seeing it’s what I meant.
And Sir Spamalot (Can’t strikethrough the text) Sir Quornalot doesn’t really debate, it’s more smear and resist alternative views at all cost, and yes, there’s plenty of that.
Looks like a classic case of saving a town by wiping big chunks of it out.
Anyways, the War Nerd says that the USA was not serious about stopping ISIS until a couple of weeks ago. Before that the USA was simply waiting for Kobani to fall. But the YPG fighters proved very effective.
That looks like the Kurds got rid of ISIL and only after that did O’Bomber decide to unleash the bombs. What we see in those pictures are the Kurdish defenders being bombed. The whole intervention there is just sick. The bombings and strafings in open desert are largely ineffective, but bombing the only force that has stood up to ISIL will do some real damage. Sucks to be socialists and progressive on women’s issues when the US and A is intent on imposing freedom for women, doesn’t it?
Medical Officer of Health Canterbury on Nat Rad this morning. New upper levels for nitrates in ground water in Selwyn District are too close to maximum safe levels for drinking water. Nitrates, from intensification of dairying, take a long time to accumulate and to reduce. Intensification has been rapid and will continue to be rapid.
It is our tragedy as a society that those he seeks to warn understand only money.
Just had my nitrate levels back from the first aquifer monitoring bore. They were so low that ECAN did a second test – which confirmed the very low reading.
@ grumpy 10.06 am
Are your nitrate levels relevant to the previous comment? If so it’s nice to hear.
What is your situation, have you been doing riparian planting? What is your situation, high up river or down the bottom? If you aren’t in the area of the comment where are you, and why is it good to hear for you?
News this morning that a submarine has been spotted in Swedish waters.A hazy image of a sub and speculation it is Soviet and a rerun of the Cold War is imminent.The Dutch have confirmed they have a sub operating in the area.The Mainstream media have become so tedious that its an ordeal to listen or read it these days.
I was playing around with a different system for providing graphics system last night. It is probably just the image caching ‘refilling’ after I switched it back.
Looks like they are there for me now. Try Ctrl + Refresh or Ctrl + F5 on that page to force a reload of everything.
The solution for Labour?
“The country is in desperate need of a counter narrative that shifts the terms of debate. A government budget should be understood not just in terms of bookkeeping but also of demand management, national cohesion and productivity growth. Jobs and wages should not be seen simply as a matter of people being “worth” (or not) what they get, but of better utilising human potential and of providing decent and dignified livelihoods. Ways have to be found to generate economic growth based on rising productivity rather than the continuous blowing of asset bubbles.”
Linked nearby to that Guardian article is another closely related one:
As Andy Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England, noted in a speech last week, real wages (wages adjusted for inflation) have fallen by around 10% from their pre-recession peak. This represents a fall in living standards that is unprecedented since the middle of the 19th century.
Or maybe it’s not the oligarchies fault as such. Maybe there is not so much a big conspiracy to cut living standards – as much as the simple reality that regardless of how many dollars they print, there are not the resources to redeem them. So maybe the rich are doing us all a favour by hoarding useless money that would only cause more harm if all of us ordinary people tried to spend it.
That maybe the work most ordinary people do simply isn’t worth that much anymore, that either automation does it better or the total marginal utility of what we are doing is either zero or negative.
That maybe falling living standards are simply a symptom of the fact that we have exceeded the capacity of the planet to carry us.
I see the sense in what you are saying and there is an element of truth to it: the deliberate rationing of scarce resources where the 0.1% have no effective limits but the bottom 80% are highly constrained.
Having said that however, a power elite acting to keep the class of commoners just slightly above the point of subsistence/starvation is not a new or novel tactic of social control.
That maybe the work most ordinary people do simply isn’t worth that much anymore, that either automation does it better or the total marginal utility of what we are doing is either zero or negative.
so automation does a job better and faster than workers can do, fine. However, that economic value is still be created – and instead of it going to help run society as a whole, it is being concentrated in the hands of a very few owners.
But what it does highlight is that there is no possibility of asking the 80% to live within the means of the planet – while the other 20% consume far more.
And I think we are on much the same wavelength with automation and tech. I see enormous potential for low-energy, bio-mimicry tech to completely re-shape the economic world.
For instance the PC I’m typing this on is an Intel i5 Quad Core NUC that has heaps of processing power – yet only draws about 2-3W most of the time. (Yeah the screen is the biggest power hog at about 20W). Technology does not always have to be a problem; it takes the shapes we want it to have.
The old energy-hungry industrial systems will soon die out – and either humans rapidly transform their energy and resource consumption along with the social systems that distribute their capital , or we will start heading even more steeply down Greer’s Long Descent.
It’s an enormous challenge. Greer thinks it’s unlikely we will meet it and it’s hard to argue with him. It’s a pattern we’ve repeated unthinkingly so many times in our past.
Yet this time might be different; if only because so many of us can see it coming. That’s the crucial link in the chain – we have to stop discounting our future against our present consumption.
Sometimes I think it would be a good idea to compel anyone who thinks of standing for public office, public service, or even C-level corporate jobs to go on a very long tramp. Six months of facing reality in the wilderness (or as near as we get it these days) might just trigger a change in values.
Inequality has not been good for the planet’s resources, it has involved greater depletion.
Characterising inequality as effectively rationing the world’s resources (as CV does) is false, because goods and services are not priced to reflect their true cost because of the economic system of exploitation.
If labour was priced properly, widgets would be made to last longer. Notice how planned obsolescence really picked up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, just as jobs and capital moved to cheaper locations offshore?
And there’s more tangential links; if people had more time, energy and money, they would eat less processed food. Processed food strains the environment, and increases demand on the health system.
Another example could be the extremely cheap air travel around Europe.
The Spirit Level had something to say about greater equality engendering more care for the environment, and less focus on status and consumption.
Characterising inequality as effectively rationing the world’s resources (as CV does) is false, because goods and services are not priced to reflect their true cost because of the economic system of exploitation.
Do you mean exploitation of labour – or resources? In the next para you talk about labour, but the problem is that in planet of 7.5b people and automation – labour has become almost worthless.
While resources are finite and increasingly scarce, money is really nothing more than a claim on future resources. Paying people more really does not solve that problem at all.
The Spirit Level had something to say about greater equality engendering more care for the environment, and less focus on status and consumption.
Which is an excellent point – but how many people have considered that equality may means all of us much more constrained lives than we in the rich countries are accustomed to?
You overstate automation. Labour is not ‘almost worthless’. If it was, why would Western manufacturers set up factories offshore? Wouldn’t it be easier to produce good at home, without the geopolitical risk of offshoring?
A bigger factor than automation (so far, anyway) in wages and wealth concentration was the huge expansion in the worker pool caused by globalisation and lack of labour protection.
As an automation engineer I’m probably more conscious of the impact of technology than most. Since 1980 technology has more than tripled labour productivity in most industries. When was the last time you saw a typing pool?
So far most of the jobs we have automated out of existence have been the repetitive or low-skilled tasks. But that is all about to change. The next wave will replace more than 98% of all jobs as we currently know them. Within a generation.
And yes the vast expansion of the exploitable labour pool globally has been important too. But we ain’t seen nothing yet.
An economy which does not need workers, where vast profits and surplus are available only to a few. (For a little while).
Of course this model is already failing now, with Wal Mart and McDonalds in the US complaining that people are becoming too poor to buy their products.
Will it be an economy predicated on making and selling Maseratis and diamond encrusted iPhone cases?
Corporates are by their nature able to operate at a global scope, while democratic accountability (limited as it is) remains constrained to the nation state.
The NZLP could elect a cross between Karl Marx and Jesus Christ for a leader – and it would make no difference to the real challenges facing ordinary New Zealanders because all the big problems of the world are global in nature.
Yet ironically enough John Key’s govt. can slide along happily looking after the interests of the globalised corporates, and probably gets more done for that reason.
So why are there no equivalent networks on the left? Where are our intellectual and social connections outside of this very small country?
Or did we somehow allow the Tories to define the boundaries of left-wing politics to be confined to the nation-state? While they themselves covertly took full advantage of the wealth, prestige and influence of a globalised, corporatised world?
Maybe living outside of NZ for a short while has changed my perspective somewhat.
There needs to be an honest discussion about the future of work, and the impact of automation on many jobs (although I don’t think it will wipe out more than 98% of all jobs as we currently know them).
But it’s your claim that wealth inequality (of which automation is one driver) may be beneficial because it helps to save the world’s resources that I find highly dubious.
@Red Logix Formes 8.52pm
Actually if people can have a different mindset on acquiring things, they would have an easier life, with more satisfaction, and a feeling of more freedom. Buying less would leave more to pay off their house, still have quality appliances, and not work so hard.
Work constrains people and their are many working for a psychopathic managerial type. If you don’t need money desperately because you have over-reached yourself, you know that you can maintain yourself if you finally have to confront someone who is riding you in an unreasonable way.
It would be good if people could realise how to cut their aspirations a little. And then they could support some project, organisation that puts back into society some of what has gone missing.
And you can spend time with your children, who are riches to their family as are gold and precious stones from mining. People haven’t had to slave in a physical sense to have their children to form their family, yet the children are much more complex and wonderful than any wealth from the ground. Time, thought and loving words given and received at the appropriate time can result in happy children with the parental role modelling giving their own mind strength to handle the uncertain futures of the human being. This is bigger by far to achieve, than most outcomes from formal work.
‘While resources are finite and increasingly scarce, money is really nothing more than a claim on future resources. Paying people more really does not solve that problem at all.’
This is an over simplification, and perhaps I haven’t explained my point clearly. The example I used in my first comment involved the link between planned obsolescence, inequality, and globalisation.
It’s not about simply paying people more.
With greater labour protection, higher wages, less wealth concentration/inequality, we would use resources more sparingly. For one thing, planned obsolescence would make less sense financially.
Resulting health and social benefits would allow people to be a little more creative and resourceful, and find ways to enjoy their lives while consuming less.
I think we are saying much the same thing – but I suspect few people have truly grasped the magnitude of the changes in resource consumption that are coming down the track at us.
We really have only two choices – a dramatic adaptation of our entire social and economic structure to harness science and technology to optimise and adapt the best we can to a very different world; or the usual descent into another Dark Age.
The former is within our knowledge and ability to achieve. But our delusions and vanities make the latter a far more likely outcome.
CBS NewsOctober 20, 2014, 7:00 AM
U.S. veteran joins ground war against ISIS
The Kurds are out-gunned and out-manned, but Williams discovered that one of the fighters who has joined their ranks is an American volunteer.
“I figured if I came over here more Americans and other people from other countries would come here,” Jeremy Woodard, a security guard from Meridian, Mississippi, told Williams.
Woodard served with the U.S. military until 2012, having seen tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
A month ago, after he was angered by news reports about atrocities committed by ISIS, he paid his own way to Turkey and was smuggled into the war zone.
“I can’t really understand them, but sign language is everything,” he said of working with his new comrades. Woodard told CBS News he’s been involved in several battles against ISIS, including one close to Syria’s border with Iraq that he said raged for 24 hours.
“I’ve killed two, in my first battle in Jezaa, and that’s it so far,” he told Williams. “Hopefully my numbers will go up. I never thought I’d be over in Syria killing people, but they’ve killed innocent people.”………………Woodard told us he’s not the only American fighting with the Kurdish militia members against ISIS in Syria. He said he knows of two others, and has heard there may be several more.
Hamilton
Thursday 30 October, Midday
Garden Place
Funeral : Death of the Common Good: Pensioner Housing
The number of pensioner houses in Hamilton is significantly lower than the majority of regional councils. At a time when the number of pensioners are expected to rapidly rise for the next thirty years, we might have expected local government to be investing in a significant increase in pensioner housing.
This is NOT the case in Hamilton.
Hamilton is governed by one of the most right wing councils in New Zealand. So far right that it would make Whyte and Seymour seem like communists. Hamilton can show the rest of New Zealand where local government can end up if the right’s “hidden agenda” is allowed to progress. Why Hamilton should be blessed with such an obnoxious bunch on Council is a mystery.
Two years ago the sale of pensioner houses began. About 50 were sold in a firesale, raising about 3.5 million dollars. The majority on the open market, but the council likes to refer to their sale of a dozen of these houses (also sold at firesale rates) to Habitat for Humanity/Crosslight trust. The justification was that maintenance was urgently required on all the housing stock, and the proceeds would be used to upgrade the rest of the housing stock.
This was a lie.
The money has been left idle in a bank account, now tagged as the base for the mayor’s (Julie Hardaker) “legacy fund” so that she can be remembered for beautifying the Waikato River as it meanders through Hamilton.
None of this money has been spent on maintenance on pensioner housing.
But wait. There’s MORE. The current council plans are much worse
Hamilton City Council are planning to sell their entire stock of pensioner housing 🙁
The City Council say this is a Government responsibility. Government say that pensioner housing is a regional responsibility. Pensioners requiring housing are in the middle, with an increasing number of them facing the prospect of living in the backs of cars and under canvas presumably.
The City Council will say that this is not true. They will be selling them to wonderful social service organisations who will be able to do a better job. (They will say little about the whole purpose of this is to fund Julie Hardaker’s legacy fund of beautifying the Waikato River)
But let us analyse the sale. The sale of Hamilton’s 344 pensioner houses will be another firesale
The exact amount that these will be sold for is unknown. The units have a book value of about $70000 each (on average) (Seems to me that this figure is substantially lower than current real estate market values, and is little more, or possibly less than land value)
Council discussion papers refer to an approximate “discounted” rate of $43000 each. (on average) But rumours are that a deal has already been worked out between closed doors (presumably while PR spin is being worked out) and the 344 units will be sold for a as a gift at $30000 each (on average)
These proposals are outrageous. And absolute fiscal irresponsibility
How many New Zealanders are aware that a major City in out country could be so heartless?
And who will be the recipients of this gift? The recipients should be named and shamed. The Catholic organisation St Vincent de Paul; Habitat for Humanity
Of course they are interested. It’s a gift. But if these organisations had any sort of heart they would use their money to build additional required pensioner houses. If they use their money to purchase this stock, the chances of anybody extending pensioner housing schemes in Hamilton are almost zero. The Council will not do it. Who will?
These proposals are outrageous. A moral outrage
And a few questions:
Question 1
Is there any connection between Hamilton Councillor O’Leary working with St Vincent de Paul, and back room deals being worked out with St Vincent de Paul? Is this a conflict of interest?
Question 2
How does Councillor King get off going off overseas being a nice guy building a house for Habitat for Humanity, while at home he willingly gets rid of 344 homes for the humanity of Waikato citizens?
Question 3
If the majority of these pensioner houses were actually gifted to Council, have the Council studied all the trust deeds of these gifts?
Question 4
How can Hamilton City Council claim that the St Vincent de Paul Society and Habitat for Humanity are all about those organisations being a “better landlord”? They are in this game solely because they have been gifted a major investment opportunity.
Question 5
How can the Hamilton City Council consider improvements to the city design and landscaping of the Waikato River (Julie Hardaker’s legacy project) be of greater value than the ownership of 344 pensioner units for Hamilton?
Question 6
Why are surrounding councils such as Waipa, gearing up to provide more pensioner housing, while Hamilton is going out of such a responsibility for it’s citizens?
Question 7
Have the Hamilton City Council studied all the proposals that other councils have considered in their areas, to maintain Pensioner housing? I understand that Christchurch is studying alternatives, that do not involve simply getting rid of them all.
Question 8
How are Hamilton City Council going to PR this sale to the public? The left are against the sale because it is a moral outrage. Many on the right are against the sale because it is fiscally irresponsible. Who will be the winners? Julie Hardaker will be able to finance her “legacy” Waikato River landscape propsals. The far far right will be happy, simply because they are loons.
Question 9
For Hamilton ratepayers. Submissions on this topic are required by Council by the end of the month. It’s important that these are received. Even though the sale has already been unofficially been approved behind closed doors, and will be announced before Christmas. Will you please make a submission?
Question 10
For Waikato residents. WIll you be able to attend the Funeral : Death of the Common Good: Pensioner Housing at Hamilton Garden Place on Thursday 30 October?
Silly question boldsirbrian, you do understand when people go down a certain economic path they limit their options? Especially, within the realms of liberalism. Liberalism, has many faults, but the worst in my perspective – is when it is the dominant ideology – it can’t but act in an ideological manner. Orwell when he wrote 1984, was not just criticizing communism – he wrote it as a warning of liberalism as well.
In an attempt to understand what is good or bad in your perspective, (and regardless of academic discussions concerning liberalism and communism), what do you think about proposals of any New Zealand regional government to sell off all their pensioner housing stock?
““The Internet Party failed to deliver meaningful change in New Zealand at the last election because of the media spin by our opponents,” Dotcom says.
“They have successfully turned me into a villain, a German Nazi, a horrible employer, a political hacker, a practitioner of prohibited digital voodoo magic and nothing short of a monster. I would hate that guy too if I didn’t know that it wasn’t true.”…
“When you have the US Government, the NZ Government, all Hollywood studios and all major record labels fighting against you, you don’t have a lot of friends, especially in the media,” Dotcom says.
“They either own the media (like in the US) or control the media with their significant advertising spending. Their passion to destroy me and everything I do, because of a copyright disagreement, is almost as fanatical as some of the religious extremism I see on TV.”
imo…Monopoly Corporate Capitalism from USA in action….expect more of this if the TPPA is signed
I suggest Mr Dotcom didn’t help his own cause and reputation:
1 Villian. Has criminal convictions relating to money laundering and fraud.
2 [deleted] Is of German heritage, admits to owning a copy of Mein Kamf (Also apparently owns a fair amount of Nazi memorabilia.)
3 Bad Employer. Plenty of ex employees who testified to him making them working long hours and not paying wages as promised. Not many ex employees stating how wonderful he was. (maybe Liala Haree??)
4 Political hacker. Admits to hacking credit record of ex German PM whom he didn’t like.
5 Prohibited Digital Voodoo Magic. not sure about the voodoo magic but operating a file sharing website where copyrighted software was being distributed left/right & centre probably counts as prohibited digital….
6 Nothing short of a monster. Probably ok with this one however with his ex wife having to sneak away from in the middle of a night on a golf cart does have similarities to Jack (of bean stalk fame) fleeing the giant…..so maybe if the shoe fits…..
[lprent: Bye Jimmie. You are banned permanently for making a unsubstantiated defamatory assertion of fact. I really can’t be bothered educating fools who make this site liable.
If you hadn’t then you would have been getting a long ban anyway because you didn’t link to anything to back your other assertions of fact. Try Whaleoil. He appears to like spending time in the dock.
I don’t, especially for a pissant dickhead like you. ]
he owns stuff by churchill too does that make him a pompous englishman?
17% of the Act party mps have criminal convictions for deceit and fraud… so they are the most criminally inhabited party we have. national gifted them a seat.
he didnt breach copyright, users of his website did
@Tracey 1.09
Good to bring that forward and remind us about ACT. A busy little Party screwing everybody else and yet treading water itself under the NACT party.
+100 anker…..agreed David Cunliffe was a ” hit job” as well!…infact like Dotcom DC should reply , now that he is out of it all….David Cunliffe should detail and itemise all the hits on him! ( maybe with some research and journalist help)..it must have been very bruising, even although he was very strong!….and like others who have been through trauma it is cathartic to write it all down
…it would be good to see it published also ….such “hit jobs” should be made accountable and sheeted back home to the perpetrators for all to see
(…I can think of a book titled ‘Hit Jobs’…in fact if written by a research journalist i can think of several chapters…Dotcom, Cunliffe, Hagar, and going back a bit …Helen Clark …..etc etc
Kim Dot Com could be in serious trouble. The next few months will determine if he remains in New Zealand or is deported to the United States. The justice system will have the final say.
It’s good to read his own admission of the Internet-Mana failure, although he not always offers the correct reasons. He could and should have invested his money more wisely. The choice of Miss Harre turned out to be a serious mistake.
Western countries are increasingly ignoring Israel and demanding justice for the Palestinians and recognising the State of Palestine…Two eminent Jews discuss why the need for justice now
“Why have Western countries only now decided to vote to recognize the state of Palestine? What will be the outcome? Will a legitimate Palestinian state bring peace to the region? Is an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan a dead end?”
CrossTalking with Norman Finkelstein and Amir Oren.
The seppos are basically under Zionist control on these issues. It’s great to see other countries standing up to Zionist atrocities, but support from Washington allows Israel to carry on.
Don’t you love when you’re on your morning read, and someone writes something which not only runs alongside what you have been thinking, but expands and develops that idea brilliantly.
I’ve been thinking about music, and the woeful state it is in for ages. All the best music is underground, and hard to find – whilst Mainstream music is quite shallow and lacks any message.
You too can take part in the Labour’s independent review if you like:
JUST RECEIVED BY EMAIL:
Dear Clem
Today we are pleased to announce the names of the four reviewers who will lead Labour’s independent review.
Bryan Gould is Convenor of the review. He is joined by Hon Margaret Wilson, Stacey Morrison and Brian Corban. You can find out more about them by clicking HERE
Hon Pete Hodgson and Gaylene Nepia are working as lead consultants in the production of the first report on the 2014 campaign, with similar arrangements for the other reports.
The work of the whole initiative will be supported by a team of expert advisers. This will include successful senior campaigners from progressive parties overseas and specialists in qualitative and quantitative analysis.
The review is an opportunity for Labour to take a long hard look at ourselves. We need to learn and apply lessons from the election and ensure that we can be an effective opposition and prepare for government in 2017.
The review allows us to set a course to reconnect with the majority who want to see a fairer society and a more productive, sustainable economy. We need to be the alternative government ready to take office in 2017.
The review team will be responsible for the production of three reports. The first one is on the 2014 general election campaign (completed by December 7), the second on the longer-term perspective, and the final one on the governance and operations implications for the Party (both completed by the end of February 2015).
Submissions are open from today. Members, non-members and groups are all welcome to submit. The Terms of Reference can be found HERE
There will also be the opportunity for Labour members to submit in person to the review at face-to-face meetings in each hub. Details of these meetings will be provided as soon as they are available from the review team.
Thank you to so many people who have already offered to participate in this important review.
Clem…10.23 am..you posted this..I am so pleased you did…however you’d think that by 7.30 pm some would show a bit of interest..by posting a couple of comments.Yesterday in open mic I mentioned that I had heard Bryan Gould on the talk back radio talking of this and asked if anyone else had too?
Not a dicky bird.
I am beginning to wonder if the people in here are quite happy to tell everyone what’s wrong with Labour but none too many are prepared to to put their money where their mouth is and get involved. Perhaps some people have got too cosy in opposition and their twitter accounts & latte labour.
@ Ecosse Maidy…all they need to do is get a researcher/student to trawl through the all comments on this blog and other blogs eg Daily Blog
….and they will have a very good random selection as to why many different people thought Labour failed !!! …and was failing even six months before the Election!
….i think people are very tired of repeating themselves!
…and btw …this Review is a bit late isnt it?!…in the meantime David Cunliffe (the popular membership choice) has been forced to take the blame and not only resign but also promise never to seek re-election ( smells!)
…no wonder people are cynical about the Labour Party!…i wouldnt mind betting they are also cynical about the review!
Actually I did listen to the brilliant Brian Gould. I am sure many others from here would have too, but may not necessarily write a reply.
In my opinion, the Neo liberal minded destructive caucus members are a drain on the Labour party as they seem to be the disloyal dodgy secret leakers that have sullied this great social justice party. It is time for the membership to seek greater powers and kick these bastards out. They are free to join ACT, NZF, National, the Cons or just go away and live quietly and happily somewhere on their very fat political pensions and baubles.
My efforts will be going towards Mana. What Labour comes up with in a review is of little direct interest. I don’t have a twitter account and I don’t drink lattés. I have been in opposition all my life. It’s not cosy.
He was asked: “When you die, what will you say to God?”
He apparently replied: “Well you can be certain of one thing. I will treat him as an equal.”
Possibly apocryphal, but quite a line.
– Brought in the first national health insurance.
– Recognised China (during the Vietnam War no less!)
– Let the arts flourish
– Abolished university fees
(Among other things)
To me, this guy deserves a post of his own – with a comparison to Norman Kirk.
Sure as heck one of those guys for whom it was better to flame out after making massive positive change, than to hang around after defeat.
That certainly counts as a great statement.
It comes into the same category as Churchill’s view on the same subject really.
“I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.”
They would both have been polite to God. What they would have said to each other doesn’t really bear thinking about.
Important part of the narrative 40 years ago–Gough Whitlam and Queenie’s rep John ‘Cur’.
Along with Big Norm in NZ, Allende in Chile, French nuclear testing, etc. All set against the wiretapping, assassinating, election fixing CIA backdrop.
Murdoch’s interference in politics is so very wrong, so blatantly unfair and shows such contempt for democracy just because he is rich and owns news media. He should be hauled into courts in Australia, ( possibly UK and other countries around the world) for his corrupt ways and put into jail for the rest of his remaining few years. What a scum.
this is remarkable .. how Nigeria has defeated Ebola using proper hydration and very basic electrolytes, nothing more … common sense with intelligence … panic can cease.
And I think I am quite amazed it was even published !
rawshark yeshe 2.20
And the heros of Nigeria now dead – from ebola. http://www.channel4.com/news/ebola-nigeria-world-health-organisation-patrick-sawyer Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh is the doctor credited with helping prevent the disease spreading much more widely at the early stages.
She and her colleagues quickly identified a victim who came to Nigeria as having Ebola and placed him in quarantine…..
Dr Adadevoh, whose great-grandfather was a founder of the modern Nigeria, died on 19 August, having herself contracted the disease.
From the bbc more detail. And the other health workers who died are recognised – so that is nice – it is easy to be fixated on one hero,
The sick man demanded to be allowed to leave and tore out the drips and splashed health workers with him.
Dr Adadevoh and four other health workers died from the virus. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29682325
I opened the Bob Jones piece from NZHerald today hours ago then left it because I couldn’t be bothered reading his dribble. When I returned to my laptop I noticed the poll about Labour leader preference. It had 50-150 responses and had Al on 30% and GR leading on 34%. I thought I would refresh to see what the results were now, and it came back with 0-50 responses and a completely different response (DP equal lead with AL).
What’s going on with the Herald polls? Is someone gaming them? That is very dodgy.
Colonial Rawshark
A good interview, you come across well Colonial, with sensible discussion casting some light and the interviewer was sharp but interested in getting info.
Thanks for your support Standardistas. I’ve learnt much from each of you over time and hope to synthesise more of your ideas and put them out there in public forums as opportunities come up. The interviewers were pretty sharp and challenging, it was good times.
I was reading about Leonard Bernstein. His story is great but his death and burial had some points to note. Construction workers commemorating a musician in NZ – would that happen?
On the day of his funeral procession through the streets of Manhattan, construction workers removed their hats and waved, yelling “Goodbye, Lenny.”[41]
Bernstein is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, next to his wife and with a copy of Mahler’s Fifth lying across his heart.[42]
The draft of his memoir, Blue Ink, having only existed in electronic form in a password-protected document that still remains unopened to this day, has become a poster-child in the probate community for the need of increased awareness of digital assets during the estate planning process. [43] Wikipedia
Could be that techies here should think about this matter of death and digital records assets etc.
Mention has been made of Redline blog. I’m surprised some folks haven’t heard of it because, although we’re very small fish compared to the major right-wing and left-wing blogs, we have been getting about 8,000 hits a month in recent months.
Whether we are ‘old’ – or what that even means – folks can judge for themselves. But here’s some recent stuff:
another very busy week at the blog as we’ve been sticking up pieces about workers’ struggles here and abroad.
Actually, one more lastly, which is some stuff to do with Labour. People here might be interested in our analysis of the Labour Party as part of the problem rather than part of the solution. Our major feature on Labour is here (it’s pamphlet-length long): http://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/the-truth-about-labour-a-bosses-party/
Thanks for popping by Phil, good to hear a bit more about Redline. That factory takeover story looks very interesting indeed. Democratic socialism in action…
As for Labour being a capitalist party…well its been that way well before Rogernomics.
Yes, indeed, Labour was a capitalist party well before Rogernomics, a point made in the examination of its history by Daphna Whitmore and myself.
Indeed, by 1935, the radicalism of the early Labour leaders was well gone. The biggest capitalist in the country, Ernest Davis supported them – and Labur had him knighted.
Semple has become a boss.
Also, I think quite a few people would be shocked to see how racist (anti-Chinese) a lot of these early Labour heroes were.
i see the defence force is happy to lie or look duplicitous for the PM
” Tim Keating says “We dropped the ball” not informing PM about Obama meeting….”
He has announced his resignation, right? Key will sack him, right?
its clever, it contains distraction, cos according to us press reports, even without obamas attendance it was to discuss ISIS, but keating makes it all about protocol stopping them knowing in advance about obamas attendance. see what they did there, smoke and mirrors.
and so it goes. sigh. Crosby Textor takes us to war while Jason Ede is rewarded and Simon Lizard Lusk sees his candidates offer their maiden speeches. omfg. how wrong this is.
I won’t make a habit of advertising our stuff here, but here’s some basic stuff on capitalism on Redline and also on Key’s economic policy, and a couple of pieces on the end of the idea of ‘the leisure society’ (thanks capitalism) and pensions/retirement age stuff.
National Party leader - Judith CollinsElections often bring out the best and worst in politicians. Some rise to the occasion and provide us with a clear vision for the future. While others wallow in resentment and controversy, over-relying on attack politics to try to attain the interest of voters.That’s been ...
The attempts to sabotage Corbyn's leadership seems likely to do more damage than Corbyn supposedly ever could have done, even if all the stories about him were true:I was reluctant to say anything but this is too important, the full story needs to be told.Don’t let anyone ever tell ...
Good day to everyone. I’ve been asked by Mr Thinks to come here and talk to you all about my concerns regarding the government response to Covid-19. We’ve been living through this pandemic for, what seems like, years. Years and years and years. Why else would the National Party have ...
‘Good Economics for Hard Times’ should be on your reading list. New Zealand does not have a Minister of Labour. It has Ministers of Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety but there is no minister with responsibility for the labour market. That responsibility was abolished in 2012 when ...
Back in the Kyoto era, the international climate change regime included a Clean Development Mechanism to fund emissions reduction projects in developing nations. Essentially someone would certify that a project - e.g. building a windfarm, or installing energy-efficient lightbulbs - would reduce emissions over and above "business-as-usual". The project would ...
As the classic MMP cartoon goes, just look at who is against it. Yesterday, the Hamilton City Council voted to use STV for its next two local body elections. The move was initially opposed by deputy mayor Geoff Taylor. The reason? Because a voting system which provided accurate representation and ...
On Wednesday evening (which in Parliament’s weird world technically was still Tuesday because urgency had been taken and so time stood still), MPs united to remove a pretty terrible piece of law from our statute books. No real fanfare or fireworks accompanied this action. Indeed, I didn’t even know about it ...
By Geoffrey Miller Prominent refugee advocate Murdoch Stephens says he is disappointed by Judith Collins’ reaction to Immigration New Zealand’s decision to grant refugee status to Kurdish-Iranian writer Behrouz Boochani. Judith Collins told media last month that “there’s a lot of concern in New Zealand about what they see as ...
Hello all. Judith here to talk about how National are going to take the election in September. The National Party prides itself its unity and cohesion. We are working together to deliver for New Zealanders. First of all, ee are a strong team. We are a very strong team. Our ...
Parliament has just begun the adjournment debate, signalling the effective end of this Parliament. So it seems like an appropriate time to assess Labour's term in office. Unfortunately, its a pretty dismal assessment. Labour campaigned on one thing: change. Not just a change in who got the top jobs and ...
Our climate change policies are insufficient to achieve our goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, according to independent assessor Climate Action Tracker: New Zealand won’t be carbon neutral by 2050 without much stronger policies, says an independent analysis by Climate Action Tracker. The non-profit highlighted a lack of active ...
That was clearly a huge explosion. Just after the explosion, we see a cloud of ‘fog’ moving outwards at high speed. This is a shockwave, rather similar to that which causes a sonic boom. The ‘fog’ is caused by water condensing from the atmosphere in areas of intense low pressure ...
Can we postpone this year’s election? Quite frankly, the political parties don’t seem ready for it, and aren’t about to offer voters the necessary policy choices for the unprecedented times we’re in. We’ve ended up with a campaign focused on scandal, personality and leadership, with a policy void that’s worse ...
It is the last sitting day of Parliament, and the last question time before the House is dissolved. So, are there any questions about the damning findings of the Hit and Run inquiry, and how the government plans to bring the military back under democratic control? Of course not. ...
Property speculator - John KeyThe National Party must be in dire straits to have to rely on John Key to campaign on their behalf. Not only has the former PM been in the news claiming the recently released unemployment figures aren’t accurate, the fool has also been promoting the opening ...
Nothing Too Drastic: Few would dispute that the Left, today, are few in number. Is their failure to make the public aware of and act upon the manifest failures of the present system attributable to their lack of active energy and intelligence? Or, is it simply because the Left’s ideas ...
by Don Franks This talk was given to the Wellington Anti Capitalist Alliance, fifteen years ago. The ultimate weapons of mass destruction so far seen on this planet have been used just twice, 60 years ago this month. August 6 and August 9 1945 witnessed the US atomic bombing ...
After I noticed that my name had been taken yet again in vain by my friendly antagonist Tom Hunter over at No Minister, I went over to see what the fuss was about. Nothing much, but then I discovered a post about the Operation Burnham Inquiry by Psycho Milt. I ...
The COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 was extended today, until December 1st or the tenth sitting day following the resumption of Parliament after the election. It seems like a necessary extension. While we currently have eradicated the virus in New Zealand, it is still banging at the door, and ...
One of the government's key policies - extracted by NZ First as part of its coalition agreement - is the "Provincial Growth Fund": $1 billion a year spent on creating jobs in rural New Zealand. Yesterday the Auditor-General issued a report on the fund, finding that it lacks transparency, and ...
The Warehouse, one of New Zealand's biggest retailers, has decided to stop selling coal. Good. Coal is a dirty, polluting fossil fuel, and the less of it we have out there, the better. Retailers choosing not to sell it sends a clear message that this is not a fuel we ...
The labour market statistics have been released, and they show that unemployment actually dropped last quarter. All told, there are 111,000 unemployed - 15,000 fewer than when the government took office. But before anyone thinks that the pandemic hasn't put people out of work, remember that this is for ...
Judy KavanaghI’m OK with wearing a CovidCard. But are you? There’s no point me doing it alone.The author modelling a (fake) CovidCard. I didn’t know much about the CovidCard proposal until I read Dave’s latest blog post. You would wear the card visibly on your person. It ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy can’t I use the battery from my electric car ...
As many good things come in threes (as the saying goes), we are happy to announce a third partnership between Skeptical Science and other websites. Fakebook.eco in Brazil is joining Klimafakten.de in Germany and Nauka o Klimacie in Poland to leverage translated rebuttal material and to make the information readily available in other ...
This interview on RNZ with Ross Tucker, the scientist who headed a review of transgender athletes playing in women’s rugby, discusses the findings of the review and what it means for women in sports. The review that World Rugby undertook had a broad range of independent experts and included a ...
Siouxsie WilesThe restrictions in place for metropolitan Melbourne now are in some ways stricter than those that were in force during New Zealand’s COVID-19 lockdown. A curfew is in place and most people have to wear masks when they leave their home – neither of which happened in New ...
On Friday the Hit and Run inquiry delivered a devastating report which found that NZDF had systematically misled Ministers over civilian deaths. The report called into question civilian control of the military (and indeed, military control of the military), a fundamental principle of our democracy. So you'd expect our politicians ...
Let's Do This Again: What else can Jacinda do in a political environment so bereft of imagination and courage but seek a continuance? If she trades upon the extraordinary personal qualities that she has, miraculously, carried with her into the office of Prime Minister, then I, for one, will offer ...
How corrupt are the New Zealand Police? This corrupt: On 10 February 2019, Police attended a family harm incident. The suspect attempted to run the attending officers over in a driveway with his car, narrowly missing them, before fleeing the scene. A short pursuit followed, ending when the suspect stopped ...
Parliament's triennial Review of Standing Orders was released today, and it contains a number of welcome, if minor, improvements. The ones that caught my are: A move to encourage "pre-legislative engagement" - the government consulting widely on legislation before it is introduced - by promising easier passage (e.g. with ...
Lauren Vargo, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonGlaciers around the world are melting — and for the first time, we can now directly attribute annual ice loss to climate change. We analysed two years in which glaciers in New Zealand melted the most in at least four ...
Caroline Shaw, Anja MizdrakE-bikes are everywhere. Sales are booming and predicted to overtake sales of new cars in a few years. There were three times as many e-bikes and e-scooters imported into NZ in 2019 alone as there are e-cars in the entire country. You can’t go out in ...
New Zealand First is facing a difficult struggle to get re-elected, but Josh Van Veen, who was once a researcher for Winston Peters, argues that there is still a very significant section of cultural conservatives who oppose mass immigration and political correctness and might yet be won back over to ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk Many Americans these days seem unable to avoid controversy on practically any topic, so why not embrace the discord and wade into the especially volatile arena of nuclear energy? Advocates claim it’s the only way to meet global climate goals, ...
Can we trust New Zealand’s military? There must now be serious doubt, given the landmark report released on Friday concluding the investigation into allegations made in the book Hit and Run by Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson about a 2010 SAS killing raid in Afghanistan. The most recent Colmar Brunton ...
In New Zealand, we've just had the report of the Hit and Run inquiry, which found that a New Zealand led raid had accidentally killed civilians, including a child. meanwhile, around the same time, the British SAS was conducting its own raids in Afghanistan, and theirs were a hell of ...
In addition to establishing a process for setting emissions reductions plans, the Zero Carbon Act established a process for managing the risks of climate change. The first part of this is the preparation of regular risk assessments, looking at the risks to our economy, society, environment, and ecology. The first ...
Over on The spinoff, Amnesty International's Meg de Ronde has a response to Friday's release of the Hit and Run report. And in response to Attorney-General David Parker's claim that the government was being "transparent" by releasing the report, its titled "we shouldn’t have to work this hard to get ...
Story of the Week... Opinion of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Rising Seas Could Menace Millions Beyond Shorelines, Study FindsAs climate change raises sea levels, storm surges and high tides will ...
There's an election next month, so you'd be expecting political parties to be telling us what they stand for and what they'd do if they'd win. But while the Greens have given us a detailed policy platform, and National has talked about roads and austerity, Labour, currently leading the polls ...
"Who's youse accusin' of innference?" Without the timely intervention of a team of top American political consultants and campaign experts, Boris Yeltsin would never have won his second term as President of the Russian Federation. The Russians waited 20 years to return the favour.WHEN IT COMES to the disinformation game, ...
As polling day in the American presidential election draws closer, things are looking bad for Donald Trump. The polls show that he is tracking well behind his Democrat rival. Most people assume that the President will be striving might and main to avoid what looks increasingly likely to be a ...
Our health professionals do an amazing job. Image credit: Wikipedia – Cardiac surgery. Finally, I have got back to these rankings. A long period in hospital and computer problems meant the June 2020 rankings were abandoned. Now, with a new personal defibrillator implanted in my chest and a new hard ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, July 26 through Sat, Aug 1, 2020Editor's ChoiceThe four types of climate denier, and why you should ignore them allThe shill, the grifter, the egomaniac and the ideological ...
Over the last few days, reports have emerged of people travelling from New Zealand and testing positive for Covid-19 upon arrival at their destination. First in South Korea and now in Australia. What might these positive tests mean?They’re false-positives As Toby Morris and I have explained before, there are ...
Former National Minister - Wayne MappYou could tell that the Hit and Run book by investigative journalists Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson was right on the money by the way former National Party Minister of Defence, Wayne Mapp, reacted to its now largely vindicated claims.Even though the recent inquiry into ...
So, the Hit and Run inquiry has reported back, and found some appalling shit at NZDF and NZSIS. And while they quibble a few of the details - the name of a dead child - they basicly uphold Hager and Stephenson's version of events. The SAS went to those villages. ...
We are failing to think though the interdependencies in an economy. We miss economist Bryan Philpott (1921-2000). I miss him personally – we used to have such great discussions – but this column is about how the nation misses his economic experience and wisdom. We tend to ...
Michelle Boag - LeakerThe Heron report (PDF) was released yesterday, and it was a bit disappointing to say the least. It correctly found that former National Party president Michelle Boag and National Party MP Hamish Walker were politically motivated in leaking peoples private medical information, but didn’t look further into ...
Adam Smith, Massey UniversityA recent global assessment of shark populations at 371 coral reefs in 58 countries found no sharks at almost 20% of reefs and alarmingly low numbers at many others. The study, which involved over 100 scientists under the Global FinPrint project, gave New Zealand a good ...
On different trajectories and from different ends of the political spectrum, last night’s One News/Colmar Brunton poll has the Green Party and ACT converging around the five percent mark. And, as odd as it may sound, they head into the election campaign with a lot in common.Putting the Greens and ...
Janet Stephenson, University of OtagoA proposed multibillion-dollar project to build a pumped hydro storage plant could make New Zealand’s electricity grid 100% renewable, but expensive new infrastructure may not be the best way to achieve this. New Zealand’s electricity generation is already around 80% renewable, with just over half ...
Truth In Advertising: Labour, it would seem, is the party that knows nothing about running the economy right up until the moment that it does. HOW DID LABOUR acquire its reputation for being a poor economic manager? As with most things political and historical, it’s a long story.In the beginning, the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Government rulemakers looking to decide how much money to spend to avoid adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere need a good estimate of what a warming climate will cost in social damages, for example through more extreme weather events. That point makes ...
Below is the list of gender-critical material which appeared on Redline from October 1, 2019 to October 31, 2019. Rainbow Tick threatens to pull Massey’s tick if lesbians are allowed to speak Freer Lives – a gender-critical Marxist site Freer Lives on Violence, debate and Britain’s Gender Recognition Act British ...
Fact Check: New Zealand’s own relationship with China might, however, be salvageable if our own Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was willing to equip its minister, Winston Peters, with a few facts. Legislating for the protection of national security – the very action our Foreign Minister is decrying – ...
I hope we can all agree that charging only certain returning expats for isolation costs is the right call. Instead of a blanket fee, which may have resulted in a small number of Kiwis deciding not to return home because of financial reasons, the Government has chosen to implement a ...
Back at the beginning of this government, the Greens made a foolish decision to support the Electoral Integrity Act - demanded by Winston Peters to keep his own backbench in line as part of his coalition deal with Labour - as an act of good faith within the coalition. It ...
SATURDAY AUGUST 1Artefact (Prime, 7.30pm). The series presented by Dame Anne Salmond screened on Māori Television, but is totally worth revisiting if you saw it the first time. Dame Anne tells the stories of taonga that highlight the history of Aotearoa. Further reading: this 2013 interview with Dame Anne by the lovely ...
Have unions and the Government sold workers short with their attempt at fixing the so-called “Hobbit Law”? Unionist Ian Powell argues that the union movement has been outmanoeuvered, and the Government has agreed to a new piece of anti-worker legislation that retains the principles of the previous National Government’s hated ...
Most of the claims made by anti-fluoride propagandists are simply wrong. Image source:Fluoridation and the ‘sciency’ facts of critics Anti-fluoride propagandists continually cite studies from areas of endemic fluorosis in their arguments against ...
An article in the EETimes suggests that advances in autonomous vehicles are not moving as quickly as expected because those working on them have confused complicated problems with complex ones. Engineering can only take you so far in complex worlds. Complicated systems tend to have fairly predictable inputs, processes and outputs. Complex systems (like ...
Last week, after Judith Collins announced that National would be cruel and vicious to kiwis caught overseas by the pandemic, and rob them at the border if they returned home, Labour looked like it was falling all over itself to cry "me too". But now, it looks like kindness has ...
If entry into New Zealand from abroad is safe, it should be allowed. People arriving from places that are Covid-free, or no more risky than New Zealand, and who get here on flights that do not intersect with risky places, should return to normal travel arrangements. Currently, the Cook ...
Liz SlootenScientists from the University of Otago, working with colleagues from around the world, have found that New Zealand right whales are doing much better than right whales in other parts of the world. The research was published as the feature article in the journal Marine Ecology Progress ...
Back in 2019, the government asked for a comprehensive, independent review of the Resource Management Act and associated legislation. That review has now reported back and recommended a complete repeal and re-enactment. Despite the headlines, this is not a "scrapping" - we're still going to have a resource management law, ...
By Associate Professor Mik Black, Department of Biochemistry, University of OtagoThe increased availability of complex biological data sets means that analysis and computation are becoming critically important skills for New Zealand’s future scientists. Because of this, we need to be doing everything we can to help our students develop ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzIs humanity doomed? If in 2030 we have not reduced ...
Britain's spy agencies are supposedly overseen by various watchdogs, including the investigatory powers tribunal. But it turns out that MI6 at least has contempt for those watchdogs, and attempted to interfere with the operations of the tribunal by concealing evidence from its judges: MI6 has been accused of “inappropriate interference” ...
This week was the last of the 52nd Parliament: a major milestone for our Government and a great opportunity to look back at all the progress we've made for New Zealanders. This week, we increased support for businesses to take on apprentices, improved access to hospital care in Northland, and ...
Kia orana and kia ora koutou katoa. It is a privilege to be able to speak in this adjournment debate and to mark and acknowledge the fact that we are now two years and 10 months into the conclusion of a parliamentary term that has been extraordinary in so many ...
On 1 August, we marked the anniversary of Jacinda Ardern becoming the Leader of the Labour Party. On that day in 2017, Leader Andrew Little nominated Jacinda Ardern to succeed him and lead the party to victory.Now, three years on, we look back at some of the key moments ...
With the June 2020 quarter showing underemployment increasing, the Green Party is calling for a Guaranteed Minimum Income and an increase to the abatement threshold to ensure everyone has a dignified income. ...
We went hard and we went early in our health response to COVID-19, and we did everything we could to cushion the economic impact too. In fact, we can fill every letter of the alphabet with the steps we took to fight COVID-19 and ensure we were in a position ...
Investing in our people, backing businesses, and upgrading infrastructure and housing throughout the country - it's been another week of progress for New Zealanders as we deliver our plan to recover and rebuild. ...
July was another busy month, packed with key investments aimed at progressing our economic recovery as we rebuild New Zealand. We extended support for businesses, helped create jobs through local infrastructure projects, and kept working to clean up our waterways so Kiwis can access safe clean water. Check out the ...
The Green Party is calling for the Defence Force Chiefs in place between 2010-2017 to front up and explain how dishonesty, process and policy failures within the Defence Force led to ‘a series of incorrect statements in briefings to ministers and public releases’ regarding alleged breaches of international torture prevention ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
The Green Party are ensuring that New Zealanders who were overseas when COVID-19 hit will not be charged for the cost of isolation or quarantine if they return home to live. ...
It's been another week of creating jobs, supporting local businesses, and investing in infrastructure up and down the country - all of which are helping to keep our economy moving post-COVID-19. ...
Law changes to end tenure review and provide for better management of Crown pastoral lands in the South Island high country were considered by Parliament today with the first reading of the Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill says Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage. ...
The Green Party have secured legislative amendments in a bill expected to pass third reading this week, to ensure better rules for school teachers and staff, so they can de-escalate children with diverse needs and cognitive differences, such as autism, rather than using unnecessary and often traumatising force. ...
New Zealand needs to be more aggressive in pursuing economic opportunities and resist the short-term thinking affecting some of its major industry, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says.Mr Peters told Wellington Chamber of Commerce members this morning that the planned closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will have ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has ridiculed the National Party "circus", with the politician saying it was in "chaos" after the resignation of another MP.Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon announced on Monday he would retire from politics after he allegedly sent inappropriate pornographic images to a young woman. Following a ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters today outlined what he saw as the requirements to re-open New Zealand's borders for tourists and travellers. If New Zealand was dealing solely with an Australian state such as Tasmania, we wouldn't need a vaccine, said Mr Peters, but these moves were complicated by the ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters appears to have prompted last-minute alterations to proposed legislation for commercial landlords and their tenants. Mr Peters told reporters on Wednesday said that he was making sure the proposed bill was in step with what the parties had actually agreed to. He said he ...
Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprise and New Zealand First List MP Shane Jones attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new NZ Post "super depot" in Wellington. The state-owned postal service, which got $280 million from the Coalition Government last month, is expanding its operations to handle surging parcel volumes. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First CHECK AGAINST DELIVERYIntroduction Good afternoon. Welcome to you all here today and party supporters watching from around the country. We appreciate your hard work keeping New Zealand First strong; thank you for keeping the faith. Sixty-three days out from Election Day, ...
The diversity of conservation boards around Aotearoa is increasing with 47 appointments to 14 of the 15 conservation boards across New Zealand announced today by the Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage. ...
The Green Party is honoured to be remembering former co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons today at a public memorial service in the heart of Wellington at the Cathedral of St. Paul’s. Following her passing in March, this celebration of her life brings together her friends, family and colleagues to honour her life ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has announced a $2.5 million boost for South Westland to help a regional alliance of local businesses and government agencies provide nature based jobs. ...
Cyclists and walkers will now have a safer way to get around Taupō, Tūrangi, and between Hamilton and Cambridge, with funding for shared paths and Te Awa River Ride, Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter announced today. “The Te Awa River Ride is the latest part of massive growth ...
Six major cycle routes will be completed in Christchurch thanks to funding from the Government’s investment in shovel-ready infrastructure as part of the COVID-19 recovery Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter announced today. $125 million will be invested to kick-start construction and fund the completion of the following cycleway ...
Plans are underway for a brand new state-of-the-art hub for Whanganui’s justice and social agencies, following confirmation the ageing Whanganui Central Police Station is to be replaced. Police Minister Stuart Nash has announced $25 million in new infrastructure spending to improve facilities for the wider community, and for staff who ...
An adjustment payment has been made to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu under the relativity mechanisms in their 1995 and 1997 Treaty of Waitangi settlements, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little announced today. The latest payments to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu are $2,700,000 and $2,600,000 respectively to ensure the ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off the start of the Auckland NZ Upgrade Programme rail projects which will support over 400 jobs and help unlock our biggest city. Both ministers marked the start of enabling works on the third main rail line project ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment of $3.78 million in Wairoa will create much needed economic stimulus and jobs, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. PGF projects announced today include: $200,000 loan to Nuhaka Kiwifruit Holdings Ltd (operated by Pine Valley Orchard Ltd) to increase the productivity ...
Tenants in public and Māori housing may be benefiting from their own affordable renewable energy in future – a fund to trial renewable energy technology for public and Māori housing has today been announced by Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods and Associate Minister for Housing (Māori Housing) Nanaia Mahuta. ...
Hokianga will receive $2.7 million to redevelop four of its wharves and upgrade its water supply, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Far North District Council will receive $1.8 million from the Provincial Growth Fund for the work on the wharves. “The work will include the construction of ...
A $350 million Residential Development Response Fund is being established to support the residential construction sector and to minimise the economic impact from COVID-19, the Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods has announced. “The Residential Development Response Fund will help to progress stalled or at-risk developments that support our broader housing ...
As part of a broader plan to divert waste from landfill, the Government today announced $10.67 million for new infrastructure as part of the Resource Recovery Network across the Auckland region. “This key investment in Auckland’s community recycling network is part of the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group ‘shovel ready’ projects ...
The Government is investing $45 million in the first stage of an ambitious urban development project for Tauranga that will employ up to 250 people and help the region grow, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says the funding has been allocated out of the $3 billion ...
Getting low-emission trucks on the road is a step closer with investment in infrastructure to support hydrogen vehicles, the Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods has announced. The Infrastructure Reference Group has provisionally approved $20 million for New Plymouth company Hiringa Energy to establish a nationwide network of hydrogen-fuelling stations. ...
A new trades training centre to upskill the local workforce will be built in the South Waikato town of Tokoroa through funding from the Government’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. The Government will contribute $10.84 million from ...
The Government has agreed to repeal part of the Oranga Tamariki Act subsequent children provisions, Minister for Children Tracey Martin announced today. “There are times when children need to go into care for their safety – the safety and care of children must always be paramount,” Minister Martin said. “But ...
A $1.5 million boost to grow primary mental health and addiction services for Pacific peoples in Auckland, Hamilton and Canterbury will lead to better outcomes for Pacific communities, Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa says. Pasifika Futures has received funding to expand services through The Fono, Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest by ...
Twenty-two projects to boost the sustainability and climate resilience of New Zealand’s food and fibres sector have been announced today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The $18m funding will deliver practical knowledge to help farmers and growers use their land more sustainably, meet environmental targets, remain prosperous, and better understand ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson welcomes an initiative that assists employers to get mature workers into New Zealand small businesses. The disadvantages that older people face in the workplace was highlighted in the whole of Government Employment Strategy. In order to address this, a Mature Workers Toolkit has been developed and ...
New Zealand and Australia reaffirmed today the need for the closest possible collaboration as they tackle a global environment shaped by COVID-19, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said. “In these challenging times, our close collaboration with Australia is more vital than ever,” said Mr Peters. Mr Peters and his Australian ...
The recovery and forensic examination of the loader driven by survivor Russell Smith means the underground team are now moving into an area of the Pike River Mine that has not been seen since the explosion, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little said. “The fifth and last robot ...
The Government has confirmed a community-wide trial of CovidCard technology as it explores options for COVID-19 contact tracing. “Effective contact tracing is a vital part of the COVID-19 response,” Minister of Health Chris Hipkins said. “While manual processes remain the critical component for contact tracing, we know digital solutions can ...
The government is proposing changes to aquaculture legislation to improve the process for allocating and transferring aquaculture assets to iwi. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash has introduced the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Amendment Bill to Parliament. It proposes a limited new discretionary power for Te Ohu Kaimoana Trustee Limited (ToKM). ...
The Minister of Justice has today introduced the Family Court (Supporting Children in Court) Legislation Bill – the next step in the ongoing programme of work to fix the failed 2014 Family Court reforms led by then Justice Minister Judith Collins. The Bill arises from the report of the Independent ...
A new Department of Conservation (DOC) action plan tackles the impacts of climate change on New Zealand’s biodiversity and DOC managed infrastructure including tracks, huts and cultural heritage. Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage says extreme weather events around the country have really brought home our vulnerability to changing weather patterns. ...
A heavily scaled back international Antarctic season will commence this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods have confirmed. “Antarctica is the only continent that is COVID-19 free,” Mr Peters said. “Throughout the global pandemic, essential operations and long-term science have continued at ...
The Government is providing up to $30 million to help fund the NZ Campus of Innovation and Sport in Upper Hutt - an investment that will create 244 jobs. “The sports hub is designed to be a world-leading shared service for a range of sports, offering the level of facilities ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today transport projects currently in construction will continue at pace due to extra Government support for transport projects to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. To keep the $16.9 billion 2018-21 National Land Transport Programme going the Government has allocated funding from the COVID Response and ...
$50 million for further rural broadband digital connectivity has been allocated from the $3 billion infrastructure fund in the COVID Response and Recovery Fund has been announced by Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure and Kris Faafoi, Minister for Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media. The investment will go to boosting broadband ...
The Minister for Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media has congratulated the Ultra-fast Broadband (UFB) programme on its major milestone of connecting more than 1 million New Zealand households and businesses to UFB. “This milestone has been 10 years in the making and demonstrates the popularity of the UFB network. “Uptake ...
Landmark legislation passed today puts New Zealand on track to saving thousands of lives and having a smokefree generation sooner rather than later, Associate Health Minister, Jenny Salesa says. The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Bill regulates vaping products and heated tobacco devices. “There has long been concern ...
A discriminatory law that has been a symbol of frustration for many people needing and providing care and support, has been scrapped by the Government. “Part 4A of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill (No 2) was introduced under urgency in 2013 by a National Government,” Associate ...
Kiwi motorists are set to reap the benefits of a more competitive fuel market following the passing of the Fuel Industry Bill tonight, Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods says. “This Act is where the rubber meets the road in terms of our response to the recommendations made in the ...
The Government has delivered on its promise to New Zealanders to modernise tenancy laws with the passing of the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill 2020 today, says Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing), Kris Faafoi. “The Residential Tenancies Act 1986 was out-dated and the reforms in the RTA modernise our ...
New rules to protect and restore New Zealand’s freshwater passed into law today. Environment Minister David Parker and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor welcomed the gazetting of the new national direction on freshwater management. “These regulations deliver on the Government’s commitment to stop further degradation, show material improvements within five years and ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced the appointment of Jeremy Clarke-Watson as New Zealand’s new Consul-General in Los Angeles. “New Zealand and the United States share a close and dynamic partnership, based on a long history of shared values and democratic traditions,” Mr Peters said. “Mr Clarke-Watson is a ...
Victims of family violence can end a tenancy with two days’ notice Landlords can terminate tenancies with 14 days’ notice if tenants assault them Timeframe brought forward for limiting rent increases to once every 12 months Extension of time Tenancy Tribunal can hear cases via phone/video conference Reform of New ...
Two employment schemes – one new and one expanded – going live today will help tens of thousands of people continue training on the job and support thousands more into work, the Government has announced. Apprenticeship Boost, a subsidy of up to $12,000 per annum for first year apprentices and ...
The Government is funding a significant infrastructure package at Omokoroa which will create 150 new jobs and help transform the Western Bay of Plenty peninsula, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says the Government is investing $14 million towards the $28 million roading and water package. This ...
The Bill allowing the Government to recover some costs for managed isolation and quarantine passed its third reading today, with charges coming into force as soon as regulations are finalised. Putting regulations into force is the next step. “The COVID-19 Public Health Response Amendment Bill and its supporting regulations will ...
Today’s unemployment data shows the Government’s plan to protect jobs and cushion the blow for businesses and households against the economic impact of COVID-19 was the right decision, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. Stats NZ said today that New Zealand’s unemployment rate in the June quarter – which includes the ...
A new role of New Zealand Reading Ambassador for children and young people is being established, Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Internal Affairs and for Children, Tracey Martin announced today. The Reading Ambassador, announced at a Celebration of Reading event at ...
The introduction of a $3,100 fee for returning New Zealanders will disadvantage Māori disproportionately, Phoebe Carr (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe)and Max Harris argue.The government has once again failed to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi by rushing through legislation to introduce exorbitant managed isolation fees for returning New Zealanders. This ...
7 August 2020: The Team of Six Million, a campaign group established to oppose the imposition of quarantine fees by the New Zealand Government, has expressed disappointment at the Government's urgent passing of the Public Health Response Amendment Bill to ...
In July support for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party was at 53.5% down 1% since June, but still more than double the support for National on 26.5%, down 0.5%, with just over a month to go before the election in mid-September. If ...
Welcome to Election Live for August 7, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other breaking news. For key dates in the election season click here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Policy launching soon. Get in touch ...
After initial concerns about low testing rates in South Auckland, Counties Manukau DHB has the second-highest testing rate in the country. Ōtara Health chief executive Sosefina Paletaoga explains her organisation’s role in achieving this. Covid-19 has affected us all in different ways, and for us in Ōtara, it has highlighted existing ...
Oranga Tamariki's Chief Executive appeared before the Waitangi Tribunal a day after a report from the Chief Ombudsman found the agency had used its draconian powers to uplift babies too readily in many cases A Waitangi Tribunal hearing has seen Oranga Tamariki chief executive Gráinne Moss concede her organisation harmed families during ...
"A resident of the boarding house disappeared the same day Mrs Bethany’s body was discovered": provincial gothic, with astrology, by Auckland writer Mandy McMullin. I moved into the tearooms the day I turned sixteen, 23 December 2006. The same day I met Garth. It was Saturday, a lucky day for ...
The resignation of Westland Milk Products chief executive Tony Brendish almost a year to the day the company was sold to Chinese conglomerate Yili makes a mockery of assurances that there was no conflict of interest in top management preparing ...
*Watch the video in the player below*The wheels of progress turn frustratingly slow in Christchurch’s Red Zone. Frank Film asks, is anything going to happen? Hayley Guglietta is honest about her group’s activities on vacant land bordering Christchurch’s Avon River. She admits the groundwork was commenced without official ...
On this week's Extra Time podcast: After significant investigations into cycling, football and hockey in New Zealand, now gymnastics is in the spotlight around their athletes' welfare. Allegations of multiple New Zealand gymnasts suffering from verbal and physical abuse, bullying and unsafe training methods have surfaced over the past week. And ...
She’s a lone wolf, a team player, a rebel, a leader and the nicest lady around. But what combination of those do you need to survive in government?On a cold July morning, I found myself driving around Totara Park in Manurewa in the dark. I had been invited to a ...
All around the country, people are asking ‘what’s going to happen in the 2020 general election campaign?’ That’s because they haven’t read this guide, which reveals exactly what will happen in the 2020 general election campaign.Someone has finally put this term of parliament out of its misery. We’ve had three ...
The UK car industry has run a good race in the post-Brexit lobbying stakes. But Britain’s chemical industry looks to be making a late run, if recent coverage in the Financial Times is accurate.The issue for the industry is the post-Brexit regulatory regime and how this is to be ...
Latest from the Beehive – We had just finished digesting an outpouring of announcements from the Beehive over the previous 24 hours or so when the Point of Order Trough Monitor shrieked an alert. A new trough had been established. While we were inspecting the contents of this new trough, ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Chart 1, Historical: Australian much lower than Spain, Belgium and Sweden. Chart by Keith Rankin. The known incidences of Covid19 in Spain, Belgium and Sweden are similar, although Sweden lagged for a while before overtaking the other two. In deaths, Sweden is slightly lower than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The good news in the Reserve Bank’s latest quarterly set of forecasts is that the recession won’t be as steep as it thought last time. The bad news is it ...
Analysis: National entices voters with big infrastructure projects, Judith Collins rips into Jacinda Ardern and Parliament passes a bill that could affect every tenant in the country. ...
By RNZ Pacific France’s new overseas minister Sebastien Lecornu says New Caledonia’s restrictions over the covid-19 pandemic will not affect the preparations for the October referendum on independence. Lecornu gave the assessment during a visit to New Caledonia House in Paris. Paris is expected to send dozens of officials and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Griffith University National crises, like the pandemics that can provoke them, come in stages. Each stage presents leaders with unique problems that require mental, moral and emotional agility to manage. Change is the only constant, as ...
How is New Zealand faring in during the Covid-19 pandemic? Newsroom is taking a weekly look at the latest numbers related to the virus and the impact on the economy.Excess deaths Overseas the death toll in some countries has risen sharply, with the ...
Justice campaign organisation JustSpeak has outlined a vision for a society without prisons in its 2020 election campaign ‘ Our Justice Our Future ’. The campaign was launched last night in Wellington, to a sold out audience of supporters and volunteers. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vasso Apostolopoulos, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research Partnerships, Victoria University During the COVID-19 pandemic we’re constantly being reminded to practise good hygiene by frequently washing our hands and regularly cleaning the spaces where we live and work. These practices aim to remove or kill ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and University of Canberra Assistant Professor Caroline Fisher discuss the week in politics. This week Michelle and Caroline discuss the closure of ‘non-essential’ businesses in Melbourne under stage ...
Labour's campaign slogan "Let's Keep Moving" is hardly the most inspirational but reflects the conservative game plan - trade on the Covid response and stay on track. ...
By granting a permit to OceanaGold to mine under DOC land in the Coromandel, the government is not only threatening an endangered species, says Catherine Delahunty – it’s threatening future generations.I woke up angry. The government has given a 40-year permit to OceanaGold to mine under DOC land behind Whangamatā. ...
How come, after numerous condemnatory reports, Oranga Tamariki chief executive Grainne Moss holds on to her job? Aaron Smale wonders if those harmed by her tenure aren't a big enough voting bloc So, what happens when a government department breaks the law and breaches its own policies? Nothing, apparently. The latest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Review: The Meddler, screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival For movie scholars and enthusiasts, one of the worst things about the COVID-19 pandemic has been the shutting down of ...
The combination of solar panels, electricity storage batteries, smart household gadgets, and a boring looking black box is set to change forever how our electricity system works. But do we need subsidies? ...
The New Zealand Bar Assocation says misinformed criticism of a South Island judge’s sentencing of a sex offender has the potential for disturbing consequences for the justice system and society generally. The Bar Association’s President Kate Davenport ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Royal Commission into Aged-Care Quality and Safety delivered it’s interim report in October 2019. Titled ‘Neglect’, it provided a scathing insight into the aged care industry – finding it centred around transactions not care. ...
By Tom Peters, Socialist Equality Group More than one year after the March 15, 2019 terrorist attack, an official inquiry into the mass shooting that killed 51 people and injured 49 in two Christchurch mosques has still not released any information ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Damien Manuel, Director, Centre for Cyber Security Research & Innovation (CSRI), Deakin University Australia’s long-awaited cybersecurity strategy, released yesterday, pledges to spend A$1.67 billion over the next ten years to improve online protection for businesses, individuals and the country as a whole. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roxana Diamond, PhD Candidate, Flinders University This article has links that contain graphic content Many industries and employees have been hurt by COVID-19. But sex workers, who face stigma and discrimination at the best of times, have been hit particularly hard by ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby Port Moresby may need to expand its covid-19 isolation facilities quickly and effectively in case a big spike in cases occurs, a doctor says. Rita Flynn isolation facility manager Dr Gary Nou said it would be a disaster if the spread of covid-19 in ...
Paige Tapara is a fast-rising young singer-songwriter whose debut EP explores themes of sexuality, coming of age, mental health and relationships. We asked her how it came together, and why she thinks it’s so important for NZ music to include voices like hers.Paige swoops into the room, a cream doughnut in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cathy Foley, Chief Scientist, CSIRO Universities and other research organisations in Australia have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, a group led by Australia’s Chief Scientist Alan Finkel forecasted severe impacts for our research workforce. These included the loss ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Carnt, Scientia Senior Lecturer, School of Optometry and Vision Science, UNSW, Sydney, UNSW You’re rushing and accidentally drop a contact lens on the bathroom floor. Should you: a) run it under the tap and pop it in? b) spit on it ...
The Māori Party is celebrating World Indigenous Day the Māori way, surrounded by friends and whānau at a Meet-the-Candidates at the Third Place Café in Rotorua this weekend. To mark World Indigenous Day, the Māori Party wants to remind Aotearoa ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Wayland, Lecturer, University of Sydney As part of new research into missing persons in Australia, I have been asking people who return after disappearing what they needed or wanted. Mary, who has gone missing four times in the last few years, ...
Forest & Bird is calling for all political parties to back an end to mining conservation land, after a permit was issued to mine the home of a critically-endangered native animal. This week Oceana Gold was granted a 40-year mining permit from the ...
Here’s a snapshot of a single day in parliament. A day where changes were made to laws that govern everything from the milk in your refrigerator to the speed you can drive your car, and to Netflix, and war crimes, and who tests your water. It was a big day.The ...
*This article was first published on RNZ and is republished with permission* Māori leaders say they have no faith in Oranga Tamariki and the chief executive needs to go after the latest report into the organisation found it was routinely taking newborns without whānau consultation. The Chief Ombudsman's report He Take Kōhukihuki, ...
So is the government succeeding in steering the country through the Covid-19 crisis and what it calls a “one-in-100-year shock”. And just what is it costing? These are questions which will be uppermost in the minds of voters when they cast their ballots in next month’s general election. Finance Minister ...
Peddlethorp calls on other businesses that cancelled events due to Covid to donate now when need is greatest Peddlethorp Architects is calling on businesses that cancelled events due to Covid-19 to donate event catering or funding to those in need, if circumstances ...
A poem by Rhian Gallagher from her new collection Far-Flung.At the Boatshedfor Sonja MitchellWe carried the day through the door the harbour had earned its keep light laid its hands on each contourthe shed held abreast with the shore spreading the waves in pleats we carried the day through the ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alistair Sisson, Postdoctoral Research Associate, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Social and public housing is intensely stigmatised in Australia and has been for several decades. Estates in particular are often labelled “ghettos”, framed as places of danger, drugs and vice. This stigma ...
National is promising to spend $20 million over four years on increasing testing rates and accessibility to clinical trials for gynaecological cancer if elected. ...
The National Party is criticising the government's list of "shovel-ready projects", meant to kickstart the economy, for not generating enough jobs for women. ...
Wedged between punitive commercial law and an ineffective government, a once-thriving business is dying a slow and expensive death.It was one of the most acclaimed backpackers in New Zealand.Perched at the top of the Elliot Stables building in central Auckland, it was voted by Hostelworld as the city’s most popular ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW One of the many things COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on is the way many of us work. Those fortunate enough to be able to work from home have been able to adapt to this ...
When Covid-19 forced New Zealanders to live most of their lives online it exacerbated the effects of digital exclusion. Jean Teng spoke to the organisations that kept vulnerable communities connected during the pandemic. From job hunting and banking to watching TV and scrolling through the news, there is hardly a ...
Bernard Hickey writes this election's argument over who will repay Government debt faster is a dangerous and pointless replay of a 30-year old debate rendered obsolete by today's financial facts Often the myths and legends of the past are more powerful in the minds of politicians, bureaucrats and voters than the reality. Just the fear ...
Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki says the Government has utterly betrayed the public by allowing MBIE to grant a 40 year mining permit to Oceana Gold on Dept of Conservation land at Wharekirauponga near Whangamata this week. " It is appalling that this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Moffat, ARC DECRA Senior Research Fellow in Archaeological Science, Flinders University How did the first person evolve? Mabel, age 7, Anglesea, Victoria. Hi Mabel, what a great question! We know humans haven’t always been around. After all, we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Baker, Professor of Public Health, University of Otago On Sunda Your heading here , New Zealand will mark 100 days without community transmission of COVID-19. From the first known case imported into New Zealand on February 26 to the last case ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanne Gannaway, Senior Lecturer in Higher Education, The University of Queensland The federal government’s proposed increase in the cost of studying humanities and communications degrees at Australian universities has stirred much debate. One aspect that should not be overlooked is that these ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alistair Sisson, Postdoctoral Research Associate, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Social and public housing is intensely stigmatised in Australia and has been for several decades. Estates in particular are often labelled “ghettos”, framed as places of danger, drugs and vice. This stigma ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW One of the many things COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on is the way many of us work. Those fortunate enough to be able to work from home have been able to adapt to this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Coates, Program Director, Household Finances, Grattan Institute A big part of the Morrison government’s response to COVID-19 has been allowing people early access to their superannuation. Australians who have claimed hardship have applied for A$30.7 billion to date. This has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Phiddian, Professor of English, Flinders University For a long time, the answer has been yes. When Saturday Night Live, John Oliver and the satirical establishment railed at him, the president’s supporters were only strengthened in their belief there was a highbrow ...
Welcome to Election Live for August 7, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other breaking news. For key dates in the election season click here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Policy launching soon. Get in touch ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Preparing for a possible return of the pandemic, SFO prevents JLR document release, and stoush over National candidate selection deepens.I say possible in the headline there, because we can’t know for sure that community transmission of Covid-19 absolutely will come ...
Attention spans were low and hijinks high on Parliament's last sitting day before the September 19 election, as Sam Sachdeva writes “Welcome to the last day of school.” Chris Hipkins’ opening line at his last Covid-19 press conference before the dissolution of Parliament was remarkably fitting - not just because ...
Lockdown highlighted and exacerbated difficulties for young Māori students on the wrong side of the digital divide A lack of access to suitable digital devices, internet connectivity and quality learning resources during the eight weeks of lockdown hindered the learning of rangatahi and tamariki and negatively impacted their mental health and ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford says he's asked NZTA to strike a deal that will reset the clock and give Transmission Gully a clear path to completion. ...
The future's looking bright for Junior Tall Fern Leah Mafua - pursuing a US college scholarship in basketball, and a business degree that's focused on the sea. Leah Mafua must feel like her ship has come in. The Junior Tall Fern is happy in her new life at Otero Junior College in Colorado, USA ...
Open mike 21/10/2014 
Open mike is your post.
National Party leader - Judith CollinsElections often bring out the best and worst in politicians. Some rise to the occasion and provide us with a clear vision for the future. While others wallow in resentment and controversy, over-relying on attack politics to try to attain the interest of voters.That’s been ...1 hour ago
The attempts to sabotage Corbyn's leadership seems likely to do more damage than Corbyn supposedly ever could have done, even if all the stories about him were true: I was reluctant to say anything but this is too important, the full story needs to be told.Don’t let anyone ever tell ...3 hours ago
Good day to everyone. I’ve been asked by Mr Thinks to come here and talk to you all about my concerns regarding the government response to Covid-19. We’ve been living through this pandemic for, what seems like, years. Years and years and years. Why else would the National Party have ...4 hours ago
‘Good Economics for Hard Times’ should be on your reading list. New Zealand does not have a Minister of Labour. It has Ministers of Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety but there is no minister with responsibility for the labour market. That responsibility was abolished in 2012 when ...18 hours ago
Back in the Kyoto era, the international climate change regime included a Clean Development Mechanism to fund emissions reduction projects in developing nations. Essentially someone would certify that a project - e.g. building a windfarm, or installing energy-efficient lightbulbs - would reduce emissions over and above "business-as-usual". The project would ...1 day ago
By Geoffrey Miller Prominent refugee advocate Murdoch Stephens says he is disappointed by Judith Collins’ reaction to Immigration New Zealand’s decision to grant refugee status to Kurdish-Iranian writer Behrouz Boochani. Judith Collins told media last month that “there’s a lot of concern in New Zealand about what they see as ...1 day ago
That was clearly a huge explosion. Just after the explosion, we see a cloud of ‘fog’ moving outwards at high speed. This is a shockwave, rather similar to that which causes a sonic boom. The ‘fog’ is caused by water condensing from the atmosphere in areas of intense low pressure ...2 days ago
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by Don Franks This talk was given to the Wellington Anti Capitalist Alliance, fifteen years ago. The ultimate weapons of mass destruction so far seen on this planet have been used just twice, 60 years ago this month. August 6 and August 9 1945 witnessed the US atomic bombing ...2 days ago
100 Articles Physical science of global warming & effects Analyzing the Arctic Feedback Mechanism between Sea Ice and Low-Level Clouds Using 34 Years of Satellite Observations Observations of global warming & effects Sea‐Level Rise Driving Increasingly Predictable Coastal Inundation in Sydney, Australia (open access) The recent state and variability ...2 days ago
After I noticed that my name had been taken yet again in vain by my friendly antagonist Tom Hunter over at No Minister, I went over to see what the fuss was about. Nothing much, but then I discovered a post about the Operation Burnham Inquiry by Psycho Milt. I ...3 days ago
As polling day in the American presidential election draws closer, things are looking bad for Donald Trump. The polls show that he is tracking well behind his Democrat rival. Most people assume that the President will be striving might and main to avoid what looks increasingly likely to be a ...5 days ago
Our health professionals do an amazing job. Image credit: Wikipedia – Cardiac surgery. Finally, I have got back to these rankings. A long period in hospital and computer problems meant the June 2020 rankings were abandoned. Now, with a new personal defibrillator implanted in my chest and a new hard ...6 days ago
Below is the list of gender-critical material which appeared on Redline from October 1, 2019 to October 31, 2019. Rainbow Tick threatens to pull Massey’s tick if lesbians are allowed to speak Freer Lives – a gender-critical Marxist site Freer Lives on Violence, debate and Britain’s Gender Recognition Act British ...1 week ago
TUESDAY AUGUST 4Grand Designs UK (Three, 7.30pm). ...1 week ago
Most of the claims made by anti-fluoride propagandists are simply wrong. Image source: Fluoridation and the ‘sciency’ facts of critics Anti-fluoride propagandists continually cite studies from areas of endemic fluorosis in their arguments against ... 1 week ago
This week was the last of the 52nd Parliament: a major milestone for our Government and a great opportunity to look back at all the progress we've made for New Zealanders. This week, we increased support for businesses to take on apprentices, improved access to hospital care in Northland, and ...16 hours ago
The Green Party is strongly opposed to MBIE’s decision to grant mining permits under public conservation land in the Coromandel. ...1 day ago
New Zealand needs to be more aggressive in pursuing economic opportunities and resist the short-term thinking affecting some of its major industry, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says. Mr Peters told Wellington Chamber of Commerce members this morning that the planned closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will have ...3 weeks ago
Cyclists and walkers will now have a safer way to get around Taupō, Tūrangi, and between Hamilton and Cambridge, with funding for shared paths and Te Awa River Ride, Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter announced today. “The Te Awa River Ride is the latest part of massive growth ...2 hours ago
By Michael Baker, University of Otago; Amanda Kvalsvig, University of Otago, and Nick Wilson, University of Otago Tomorrow, New Zealand will mark 100 days without community transmission of covid-19. From the first known case imported into New Zealand on February 26 to the last case of community transmission detected on ...49 mins ago
The introduction of a $3,100 fee for returning New Zealanders will disadvantage Māori disproportionately, Phoebe Carr (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe) and Max Harris argue.The government has once again failed to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi by rushing through legislation to introduce exorbitant managed isolation fees for returning New Zealanders. This ...1 hour ago
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I posted this in the wrong Open Mike yesterday – so note that David Parker dropped back in to his Q&A post for some final comments at 40.1
i asked parker this:
“..could you please detail/specify for us what you would do in your first one hundred days as prime minister..
..to address the open sores of poverty and inequality…
..what will you do for the poorest..?
Reply
David Parker 2.1
19 October 2014 at 2:44 pm
Issues that I believe we urgently need to address include affordable housing. We’d kick off with building more homes, and enforcing a healthy homes warrant of fitness.
We need to lift incomes. By the time of the next election, I want people when they hear “Labour” to think higher wages. Wages lifted immediately for the lower paid via minimum wage. Wage increases for others via better labour laws and a strongr economy investing in productive jobs rather than speculation.
Incomes for the poorest families need the likes of the Best Start package. Shamefully, the Nats equivalent deliberately excludes kids in beneficiary’s homes..”
you will note that the question is only addressed in the final couple of lines..
..where the best start for newborns is mentioned..but that is it..eh..?
..but it is the final line that has been doing my head in..
..seeing as parker was part of the labour govt that ‘excluded’ the poorest families from ‘working for (some) families’…him accusing national of ‘exclusion’ is beyond fucken black-irony..
..but wait..there’s more..!..parker is on record as attempting to blame the 2011 policy of including the poorest families in ‘w.f.(s).f.by 2018..(!)..(seven yrs/two elections after 2011)..
..as a major reason for labour losing that election..
..(and therefor reason to ditch that ‘future’-promise..)
..so 2014 didn’t even have that..all parker/labour 2014 offered to do for the poorest families was s.f.a…
..(which left us with once again..the beyond black-irony situation of the far-right conservative party..with their first 20 grand tax free policy..
..actually offering more to those most in need..than the labour party..
..which i repeat…was offering s.f.a…
..it is clear from parkers’ non-answer to my straightforward question..that his answer to my question should have been short and sharp:..
..’we will do s.f.a for the poorest families’..
..because that is what his answer actually said..
“..’we will do s.f.a for the poorest families’….because that is what his answer actually said..”
No he didn’t, he wrote
Address include affordable housing.
Build more homes.
Healthy homes warrant of fitness.
Wages lifted immediately for the lower paid via minimum wage.
Wage increases for others via better labour laws and a stronger economy investing in productive jobs rather than speculation.
Best Start package.
Thanks for spending the time to decipher phil’s dribble. I looked at it, thought he might possibly be saying something interesting this time, but couldn’t be bothered trying to read his mess.
Turns out it was the usual mis-representation of reality (and English) that phil specialises in.
+1 to the first paragraph (didn’t look closely enough to know about the second).
ad homs is pretty much all you’ve ever got there..eh lanth…?
..slim-pickings in the abilities-bag..there..eh..?
and i/doncha love those people who have clearly read..
..and yet claim to have ‘not read’..
..yr fooling nobody..eh?
..not even yrslf really..eh..?
personally, I routinely skip anything by pu unless subsequent comments catch my eye in the scroll-down.
And even then I still skip his intial unintelligible diatribes and simply flip through the tit-for-tats afterwards. Sometimes The Al1en can be quite funny, and pu is often Cartman-esque in his indestructible ego 🙂
Problem with that is reading so many comments out of context. Lately it means scrolling through most of some threads, esp OM.
I’ve found that once it gets over a couple of hundred comments, I have to skip much of a thread. Filtering out the whackos and known tory-lying-swine (unless I feel like a joust) tends to reduce the larger threads’ content into a couple of interesting discussions between about a dozen commenters.
tits for tats???
sorry? Half my brain is at work at the moment, so I might have missed a subtlety or jargon.
so..flocky..
..the removal of capital letters..throws you into a total tail-spin..eh..?
..have you always had difficulties/issues with change..?
..u do know that language evolves..eh..?..
..(remember how until recently most here wrote in blocks of words..?..like bricks..?..doesn’t that look strange now..eh..?)
..scary..!..i know..but..y’know..!..don’t be too scared there..flocky.
..nothing really to be scared of..eh..?…
..(and you left yr ‘sniff!’ of disdain out of yr comment..where wd u like me to insert it..?..)
see, that sort of shit is too garbled to bother reading. The first sentence was at least in context, but the change bit was just random. So I stopeed reading.
Much of it is the visual composition, but there’s also a strong indication that what actually gets written is only a portion of the content that he reads off the backs of his eyelids. There might be a well-developed link between not bothering to read his deliberately uncommunicative scrawl (A) and a general aversion to change (Z), but he never bothered to link A to Z. The result feels a bit like trying to read heiroglyphs that have been eroded and fractured over time.
And it’s not like sitting down and focusing intently on the content has revealed any great insight to be cherished, so I tend to think “why bother?”. I put as much effort into understanding his comments as he puts into making them understandable.
a very ‘literal person r u there..?..flocky..?
..a tad ‘rigid’ in yr ways..?
..over-neat lawns..?..that kinda thing..?
..this is what people who know wd say of you..?
lol. Indeed, guffaw (but metaphorically so, because I’m at the office).
I think I can safely say “no” to that description, especially anyone who’s seen my hovel.
I do like polished shoes, but that is merely because I like shiny things. And you, phil, are most certainly not shiny.
i’m so ‘shiny’ u’d need shades..
(and ‘well done there!’ for getting thru that comment..!..)
I had already suspected that your desire for obscurity from other’s eyes is merely a dramatic overcompensation for (what you believe to be) your brilliance.
@ flocky..
..have you been talking to my therapist..?
..and/but hardly..”..your desire for obscurity from other’s eyes..”
..very soon i’m kicking off a daily vid-blog news-bulletin..
..where i intend to indiscriminately rip the shit out of all concerned..
..it’s time to get fucken angry..
..and my persona will be decidedly ‘grumpy’…
..(and i’ll try to limit the subtitles/written word..in consideration of those such as you..)
@ flocky..
“..’Cartman-esque’..?..moi..?
..i’m not one in these environs who demands others…
..’respect my authority!’…
.am i..?
Oui. Vous.
Don’t confuse a catchphrase with character.
philip ure ..lol…you are really a mad person who tries to drive people trying to be sane…MAD!
Lanthanide, Weka and McFlock 😆
I don’t reply half as much as I could, which considering the amount of rubbish posted already is probably a good thing. The fact that Philip’s opinions rants and musings are mostly ignored and not debated is telling, proving just because you shout the loudest doesn’t mean you’re being heard.
And believing the quality over quantity rule I self moderate. I don’t always get it right, but sometimes seeing the worst has merit, like so you know the good stuff when/if it comes.
So never say never and write pu off, ’cause just like living in nat NZ, there’s always hope even in the darkest places.
I don’t think his comments are mostly ignored/not debated, which is why OM in particular is strewn with his conversations with other people.
Maybe I should have written the comments ‘don’t find wide acceptance and consensus’ instead of ignored seeing it’s what I meant.
And Sir Spamalot (Can’t strikethrough the text) Sir Quornalot doesn’t really debate, it’s more smear and resist alternative views at all cost, and yes, there’s plenty of that.
ah, ok, so more like people engage, they’re mostly just disagreeing with him?
If they don’t skim past first.
Obama Agonistes and the rush to nihilism.
http://www.syrianperspective.com/2014/10/eyeless-in-kobane-obama-agonistes-and-the-rush-to-nihilism.html
Eruption Spells Gently Impending Doom For A Hawaiian Suburb
http://space.io9.com/this-eruption-spells-slowly-impending-doom-for-hawaiian-1647902487
Tangata whenua regard Pu’u ‘O’o as a guest to be welcomed.
Airstrikes finish off #ISIS @ #Kobane
https://twitter.com/ArmedResearch/status/523485410862059520/photo/1
Looks like a classic case of saving a town by wiping big chunks of it out.
Anyways, the War Nerd says that the USA was not serious about stopping ISIS until a couple of weeks ago. Before that the USA was simply waiting for Kobani to fall. But the YPG fighters proved very effective.
http://pando.com/2014/10/16/the-war-nerd-nobody-could-have-predicted-islamic-states-retreat-from-kobane-except-me/
That looks like the Kurds got rid of ISIL and only after that did O’Bomber decide to unleash the bombs. What we see in those pictures are the Kurdish defenders being bombed. The whole intervention there is just sick. The bombings and strafings in open desert are largely ineffective, but bombing the only force that has stood up to ISIL will do some real damage. Sucks to be socialists and progressive on women’s issues when the US and A is intent on imposing freedom for women, doesn’t it?
Medical Officer of Health Canterbury on Nat Rad this morning. New upper levels for nitrates in ground water in Selwyn District are too close to maximum safe levels for drinking water. Nitrates, from intensification of dairying, take a long time to accumulate and to reduce. Intensification has been rapid and will continue to be rapid.
It is our tragedy as a society that those he seeks to warn understand only money.
Just had my nitrate levels back from the first aquifer monitoring bore. They were so low that ECAN did a second test – which confirmed the very low reading.
@ grumpy 10.06 am
Are your nitrate levels relevant to the previous comment? If so it’s nice to hear.
What is your situation, have you been doing riparian planting? What is your situation, high up river or down the bottom? If you aren’t in the area of the comment where are you, and why is it good to hear for you?
this is john olivers’ latest offering..
..and it had me laughing far too hard for so early in the morn..
http://www.alternet.org/video/video-john-olivers-brilliant-hilarious-solution-no-cameras-supreme-court-rule
I have tears running down my face – Thanks philip ure for the link that was truly the funnest thing I have seen in a long time.
News this morning that a submarine has been spotted in Swedish waters.A hazy image of a sub and speculation it is Soviet and a rerun of the Cold War is imminent.The Dutch have confirmed they have a sub operating in the area.The Mainstream media have become so tedious that its an ordeal to listen or read it these days.
Must justify NATO bases crowding around Russian borders…must pretend to be surprised when Russia finds this prospect disagreeable.
Andrew Little choosing his cat as his running mate was a stroke of genius.
The leadership is in the bag.
🙂
Yep, leading by a whisker:
http://liberation.typepad.com/liberation/2014/10/top-tweets-about-andrew-little-and-his-cat-buddy.html
The purrfect strategy…….
Obviously you aren’t a cat person. Cats choose you rather than the other way around. I suspect that you are just a dog… person
cats are haughty and dismissive, dont need anyone… labour party deputy?!?
cats are evil/sadistic killing-machines…
..they should only be permitted enclosed where they live..(electronic-collar/barriers/walls..?..)
..and must be taken indoors at nite..
..the odds are far too weighted against the birds..
..and i wd rather have..the birds..
Good point.
Being under the ownership of two cats , I’m quite surprised I forgot about that.
Hi lprent just noticed the links to the graphs in your post about The Standard’s analytics seem to be broken. (For me anyway).
I was playing around with a different system for providing graphics system last night. It is probably just the image caching ‘refilling’ after I switched it back.
Looks like they are there for me now. Try Ctrl + Refresh or Ctrl + F5 on that page to force a reload of everything.
Cheers!
This sounds familiar. How many times have we heard that National is a good economic manager and Labour is rubbish? From the Guardian:
“Why did Britain’s political class buy into the Tories’ economic fairytale?”
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/19/britain-political-class-tories-economic-fairytale
The solution for Labour?
“The country is in desperate need of a counter narrative that shifts the terms of debate. A government budget should be understood not just in terms of bookkeeping but also of demand management, national cohesion and productivity growth. Jobs and wages should not be seen simply as a matter of people being “worth” (or not) what they get, but of better utilising human potential and of providing decent and dignified livelihoods. Ways have to be found to generate economic growth based on rising productivity rather than the continuous blowing of asset bubbles.”
Linked nearby to that Guardian article is another closely related one:
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/18/economy-bleak-british-workers-technology
This is where the oligarchic elite are sending ‘western civilisation’ back to.
Or maybe it’s not the oligarchies fault as such. Maybe there is not so much a big conspiracy to cut living standards – as much as the simple reality that regardless of how many dollars they print, there are not the resources to redeem them. So maybe the rich are doing us all a favour by hoarding useless money that would only cause more harm if all of us ordinary people tried to spend it.
That maybe the work most ordinary people do simply isn’t worth that much anymore, that either automation does it better or the total marginal utility of what we are doing is either zero or negative.
That maybe falling living standards are simply a symptom of the fact that we have exceeded the capacity of the planet to carry us.
I see the sense in what you are saying and there is an element of truth to it: the deliberate rationing of scarce resources where the 0.1% have no effective limits but the bottom 80% are highly constrained.
Having said that however, a power elite acting to keep the class of commoners just slightly above the point of subsistence/starvation is not a new or novel tactic of social control.
so automation does a job better and faster than workers can do, fine. However, that economic value is still be created – and instead of it going to help run society as a whole, it is being concentrated in the hands of a very few owners.
Sorry it does seem a bleak assessment.
But what it does highlight is that there is no possibility of asking the 80% to live within the means of the planet – while the other 20% consume far more.
And I think we are on much the same wavelength with automation and tech. I see enormous potential for low-energy, bio-mimicry tech to completely re-shape the economic world.
For instance the PC I’m typing this on is an Intel i5 Quad Core NUC that has heaps of processing power – yet only draws about 2-3W most of the time. (Yeah the screen is the biggest power hog at about 20W). Technology does not always have to be a problem; it takes the shapes we want it to have.
The old energy-hungry industrial systems will soon die out – and either humans rapidly transform their energy and resource consumption along with the social systems that distribute their capital , or we will start heading even more steeply down Greer’s Long Descent.
It’s an enormous challenge. Greer thinks it’s unlikely we will meet it and it’s hard to argue with him. It’s a pattern we’ve repeated unthinkingly so many times in our past.
Yet this time might be different; if only because so many of us can see it coming. That’s the crucial link in the chain – we have to stop discounting our future against our present consumption.
Sometimes I think it would be a good idea to compel anyone who thinks of standing for public office, public service, or even C-level corporate jobs to go on a very long tramp. Six months of facing reality in the wilderness (or as near as we get it these days) might just trigger a change in values.
Inequality has not been good for the planet’s resources, it has involved greater depletion.
Characterising inequality as effectively rationing the world’s resources (as CV does) is false, because goods and services are not priced to reflect their true cost because of the economic system of exploitation.
If labour was priced properly, widgets would be made to last longer. Notice how planned obsolescence really picked up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, just as jobs and capital moved to cheaper locations offshore?
And there’s more tangential links; if people had more time, energy and money, they would eat less processed food. Processed food strains the environment, and increases demand on the health system.
Another example could be the extremely cheap air travel around Europe.
The Spirit Level had something to say about greater equality engendering more care for the environment, and less focus on status and consumption.
Characterising inequality as effectively rationing the world’s resources (as CV does) is false, because goods and services are not priced to reflect their true cost because of the economic system of exploitation.
Do you mean exploitation of labour – or resources? In the next para you talk about labour, but the problem is that in planet of 7.5b people and automation – labour has become almost worthless.
While resources are finite and increasingly scarce, money is really nothing more than a claim on future resources. Paying people more really does not solve that problem at all.
The Spirit Level had something to say about greater equality engendering more care for the environment, and less focus on status and consumption.
Which is an excellent point – but how many people have considered that equality may means all of us much more constrained lives than we in the rich countries are accustomed to?
You overstate automation. Labour is not ‘almost worthless’. If it was, why would Western manufacturers set up factories offshore? Wouldn’t it be easier to produce good at home, without the geopolitical risk of offshoring?
A bigger factor than automation (so far, anyway) in wages and wealth concentration was the huge expansion in the worker pool caused by globalisation and lack of labour protection.
As an automation engineer I’m probably more conscious of the impact of technology than most. Since 1980 technology has more than tripled labour productivity in most industries. When was the last time you saw a typing pool?
So far most of the jobs we have automated out of existence have been the repetitive or low-skilled tasks. But that is all about to change. The next wave will replace more than 98% of all jobs as we currently know them. Within a generation.
And yes the vast expansion of the exploitable labour pool globally has been important too. But we ain’t seen nothing yet.
An economy which does not need workers, where vast profits and surplus are available only to a few. (For a little while).
Of course this model is already failing now, with Wal Mart and McDonalds in the US complaining that people are becoming too poor to buy their products.
Will it be an economy predicated on making and selling Maseratis and diamond encrusted iPhone cases?
Corporates are by their nature able to operate at a global scope, while democratic accountability (limited as it is) remains constrained to the nation state.
The NZLP could elect a cross between Karl Marx and Jesus Christ for a leader – and it would make no difference to the real challenges facing ordinary New Zealanders because all the big problems of the world are global in nature.
Yet ironically enough John Key’s govt. can slide along happily looking after the interests of the globalised corporates, and probably gets more done for that reason.
Tory economic infrastructure and scope of social networks is stunning.
So why are there no equivalent networks on the left? Where are our intellectual and social connections outside of this very small country?
Or did we somehow allow the Tories to define the boundaries of left-wing politics to be confined to the nation-state? While they themselves covertly took full advantage of the wealth, prestige and influence of a globalised, corporatised world?
Maybe living outside of NZ for a short while has changed my perspective somewhat.
There needs to be an honest discussion about the future of work, and the impact of automation on many jobs (although I don’t think it will wipe out more than 98% of all jobs as we currently know them).
But it’s your claim that wealth inequality (of which automation is one driver) may be beneficial because it helps to save the world’s resources that I find highly dubious.
@Red Logix Formes 8.52pm
Actually if people can have a different mindset on acquiring things, they would have an easier life, with more satisfaction, and a feeling of more freedom. Buying less would leave more to pay off their house, still have quality appliances, and not work so hard.
Work constrains people and their are many working for a psychopathic managerial type. If you don’t need money desperately because you have over-reached yourself, you know that you can maintain yourself if you finally have to confront someone who is riding you in an unreasonable way.
It would be good if people could realise how to cut their aspirations a little. And then they could support some project, organisation that puts back into society some of what has gone missing.
And you can spend time with your children, who are riches to their family as are gold and precious stones from mining. People haven’t had to slave in a physical sense to have their children to form their family, yet the children are much more complex and wonderful than any wealth from the ground. Time, thought and loving words given and received at the appropriate time can result in happy children with the parental role modelling giving their own mind strength to handle the uncertain futures of the human being. This is bigger by far to achieve, than most outcomes from formal work.
Thank you gw. That approaches the issue from the other side – and is a strategy always of considerable merit.
‘While resources are finite and increasingly scarce, money is really nothing more than a claim on future resources. Paying people more really does not solve that problem at all.’
This is an over simplification, and perhaps I haven’t explained my point clearly. The example I used in my first comment involved the link between planned obsolescence, inequality, and globalisation.
It’s not about simply paying people more.
With greater labour protection, higher wages, less wealth concentration/inequality, we would use resources more sparingly. For one thing, planned obsolescence would make less sense financially.
Resulting health and social benefits would allow people to be a little more creative and resourceful, and find ways to enjoy their lives while consuming less.
I think we are saying much the same thing – but I suspect few people have truly grasped the magnitude of the changes in resource consumption that are coming down the track at us.
We really have only two choices – a dramatic adaptation of our entire social and economic structure to harness science and technology to optimise and adapt the best we can to a very different world; or the usual descent into another Dark Age.
The former is within our knowledge and ability to achieve. But our delusions and vanities make the latter a far more likely outcome.
The solution. Nah. Too big and complicated for a soundbite.
Fyi,
http://kurdishquestion.com/kurdistan/west-kurdistan/what-s-happening-in-kobane.html
CBS NewsOctober 20, 2014, 7:00 AM
U.S. veteran joins ground war against ISIS
The Kurds are out-gunned and out-manned, but Williams discovered that one of the fighters who has joined their ranks is an American volunteer.
“I figured if I came over here more Americans and other people from other countries would come here,” Jeremy Woodard, a security guard from Meridian, Mississippi, told Williams.
Woodard served with the U.S. military until 2012, having seen tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
A month ago, after he was angered by news reports about atrocities committed by ISIS, he paid his own way to Turkey and was smuggled into the war zone.
“I can’t really understand them, but sign language is everything,” he said of working with his new comrades. Woodard told CBS News he’s been involved in several battles against ISIS, including one close to Syria’s border with Iraq that he said raged for 24 hours.
“I’ve killed two, in my first battle in Jezaa, and that’s it so far,” he told Williams. “Hopefully my numbers will go up. I never thought I’d be over in Syria killing people, but they’ve killed innocent people.”………………Woodard told us he’s not the only American fighting with the Kurdish militia members against ISIS in Syria. He said he knows of two others, and has heard there may be several more.
And a US veteran interviewd here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29689832
Would anyone else like to be one of Amy Adams’ sisters?
Good job if you can get to be.
Please could you post the link for this. I saw it yesterday morning and was unable to find the article again later in the day.
ANNOUNCEMENT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hamilton
Thursday 30 October, Midday
Garden Place
Funeral : Death of the Common Good: Pensioner Housing
The number of pensioner houses in Hamilton is significantly lower than the majority of regional councils. At a time when the number of pensioners are expected to rapidly rise for the next thirty years, we might have expected local government to be investing in a significant increase in pensioner housing.
This is NOT the case in Hamilton.
Hamilton is governed by one of the most right wing councils in New Zealand. So far right that it would make Whyte and Seymour seem like communists. Hamilton can show the rest of New Zealand where local government can end up if the right’s “hidden agenda” is allowed to progress. Why Hamilton should be blessed with such an obnoxious bunch on Council is a mystery.
Two years ago the sale of pensioner houses began. About 50 were sold in a firesale, raising about 3.5 million dollars. The majority on the open market, but the council likes to refer to their sale of a dozen of these houses (also sold at firesale rates) to Habitat for Humanity/Crosslight trust. The justification was that maintenance was urgently required on all the housing stock, and the proceeds would be used to upgrade the rest of the housing stock.
This was a lie.
The money has been left idle in a bank account, now tagged as the base for the mayor’s (Julie Hardaker) “legacy fund” so that she can be remembered for beautifying the Waikato River as it meanders through Hamilton.
None of this money has been spent on maintenance on pensioner housing.
But wait. There’s MORE. The current council plans are much worse
Hamilton City Council are planning to sell their entire stock of pensioner housing 🙁
The City Council say this is a Government responsibility. Government say that pensioner housing is a regional responsibility. Pensioners requiring housing are in the middle, with an increasing number of them facing the prospect of living in the backs of cars and under canvas presumably.
The City Council will say that this is not true. They will be selling them to wonderful social service organisations who will be able to do a better job. (They will say little about the whole purpose of this is to fund Julie Hardaker’s legacy fund of beautifying the Waikato River)
But let us analyse the sale. The sale of Hamilton’s 344 pensioner houses will be another firesale
The exact amount that these will be sold for is unknown. The units have a book value of about $70000 each (on average) (Seems to me that this figure is substantially lower than current real estate market values, and is little more, or possibly less than land value)
Council discussion papers refer to an approximate “discounted” rate of $43000 each. (on average) But rumours are that a deal has already been worked out between closed doors (presumably while PR spin is being worked out) and the 344 units will be sold for a as a gift at $30000 each (on average)
These proposals are outrageous. And absolute fiscal irresponsibility
How many New Zealanders are aware that a major City in out country could be so heartless?
And who will be the recipients of this gift? The recipients should be named and shamed. The Catholic organisation St Vincent de Paul; Habitat for Humanity
Of course they are interested. It’s a gift. But if these organisations had any sort of heart they would use their money to build additional required pensioner houses. If they use their money to purchase this stock, the chances of anybody extending pensioner housing schemes in Hamilton are almost zero. The Council will not do it. Who will?
These proposals are outrageous. A moral outrage
And a few questions:
Question 1
Is there any connection between Hamilton Councillor O’Leary working with St Vincent de Paul, and back room deals being worked out with St Vincent de Paul? Is this a conflict of interest?
Question 2
How does Councillor King get off going off overseas being a nice guy building a house for Habitat for Humanity, while at home he willingly gets rid of 344 homes for the humanity of Waikato citizens?
Question 3
If the majority of these pensioner houses were actually gifted to Council, have the Council studied all the trust deeds of these gifts?
Question 4
How can Hamilton City Council claim that the St Vincent de Paul Society and Habitat for Humanity are all about those organisations being a “better landlord”? They are in this game solely because they have been gifted a major investment opportunity.
Question 5
How can the Hamilton City Council consider improvements to the city design and landscaping of the Waikato River (Julie Hardaker’s legacy project) be of greater value than the ownership of 344 pensioner units for Hamilton?
Question 6
Why are surrounding councils such as Waipa, gearing up to provide more pensioner housing, while Hamilton is going out of such a responsibility for it’s citizens?
Question 7
Have the Hamilton City Council studied all the proposals that other councils have considered in their areas, to maintain Pensioner housing? I understand that Christchurch is studying alternatives, that do not involve simply getting rid of them all.
Question 8
How are Hamilton City Council going to PR this sale to the public? The left are against the sale because it is a moral outrage. Many on the right are against the sale because it is fiscally irresponsible. Who will be the winners? Julie Hardaker will be able to finance her “legacy” Waikato River landscape propsals. The far far right will be happy, simply because they are loons.
Question 9
For Hamilton ratepayers. Submissions on this topic are required by Council by the end of the month. It’s important that these are received. Even though the sale has already been unofficially been approved behind closed doors, and will be announced before Christmas. Will you please make a submission?
Question 10
For Waikato residents. WIll you be able to attend the Funeral : Death of the Common Good: Pensioner Housing at Hamilton Garden Place on Thursday 30 October?
Silly question boldsirbrian, you do understand when people go down a certain economic path they limit their options? Especially, within the realms of liberalism. Liberalism, has many faults, but the worst in my perspective – is when it is the dominant ideology – it can’t but act in an ideological manner. Orwell when he wrote 1984, was not just criticizing communism – he wrote it as a warning of liberalism as well.
.
@ adam (11.1)
In an attempt to understand what is good or bad in your perspective, (and regardless of academic discussions concerning liberalism and communism), what do you think about proposals of any New Zealand regional government to sell off all their pensioner housing stock?
@ adam
Do you like my favourite ideological description for the way forward – follow the idealistic pragmatist path?
Kim Dot com breaks post election media silence.
http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-breaks-post-election-media-silence-141004/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
+100 Clem…liked this bit by Dotcom:
““The Internet Party failed to deliver meaningful change in New Zealand at the last election because of the media spin by our opponents,” Dotcom says.
“They have successfully turned me into a villain, a German Nazi, a horrible employer, a political hacker, a practitioner of prohibited digital voodoo magic and nothing short of a monster. I would hate that guy too if I didn’t know that it wasn’t true.”…
“When you have the US Government, the NZ Government, all Hollywood studios and all major record labels fighting against you, you don’t have a lot of friends, especially in the media,” Dotcom says.
“They either own the media (like in the US) or control the media with their significant advertising spending. Their passion to destroy me and everything I do, because of a copyright disagreement, is almost as fanatical as some of the religious extremism I see on TV.”
imo…Monopoly Corporate Capitalism from USA in action….expect more of this if the TPPA is signed
I suggest Mr Dotcom didn’t help his own cause and reputation:
1 Villian. Has criminal convictions relating to money laundering and fraud.
2 [deleted] Is of German heritage, admits to owning a copy of Mein Kamf (Also apparently owns a fair amount of Nazi memorabilia.)
3 Bad Employer. Plenty of ex employees who testified to him making them working long hours and not paying wages as promised. Not many ex employees stating how wonderful he was. (maybe Liala Haree??)
4 Political hacker. Admits to hacking credit record of ex German PM whom he didn’t like.
5 Prohibited Digital Voodoo Magic. not sure about the voodoo magic but operating a file sharing website where copyrighted software was being distributed left/right & centre probably counts as prohibited digital….
6 Nothing short of a monster. Probably ok with this one however with his ex wife having to sneak away from in the middle of a night on a golf cart does have similarities to Jack (of bean stalk fame) fleeing the giant…..so maybe if the shoe fits…..
[lprent: Bye Jimmie. You are banned permanently for making a unsubstantiated defamatory assertion of fact. I really can’t be bothered educating fools who make this site liable.
If you hadn’t then you would have been getting a long ban anyway because you didn’t link to anything to back your other assertions of fact. Try Whaleoil. He appears to like spending time in the dock.
I don’t, especially for a pissant dickhead like you. ]
he owns stuff by churchill too does that make him a pompous englishman?
17% of the Act party mps have criminal convictions for deceit and fraud… so they are the most criminally inhabited party we have. national gifted them a seat.
he didnt breach copyright, users of his website did
You missed the bit about KDC being German. That misdemenour compounds the other to make him a monster.
😉
@Tracey 1.09
Good to bring that forward and remind us about ACT. A busy little Party screwing everybody else and yet treading water itself under the NACT party.
what a fevered wee mind ye have there..jimmie..
..have you thought of penning pot-boilers..?
..and a gold star for weaving jack and the beanstalk into yr harrowing-tales..
..that showed creative-courage..
..(and it’s laila harre..eh..?..)
dotcom was his whipping boy here before the election… nothings changed
That Dotcom is a “Nazi” is the dumbest claim I’ve heard from you for some time, Jimmie.
Good try on the hit job though.
Chooky @ 12.1 Same process, different content for DC
+100 anker…..agreed David Cunliffe was a ” hit job” as well!…infact like Dotcom DC should reply , now that he is out of it all….David Cunliffe should detail and itemise all the hits on him! ( maybe with some research and journalist help)..it must have been very bruising, even although he was very strong!….and like others who have been through trauma it is cathartic to write it all down
…it would be good to see it published also ….such “hit jobs” should be made accountable and sheeted back home to the perpetrators for all to see
(…I can think of a book titled ‘Hit Jobs’…in fact if written by a research journalist i can think of several chapters…Dotcom, Cunliffe, Hagar, and going back a bit …Helen Clark …..etc etc
Kim Dot Com could be in serious trouble. The next few months will determine if he remains in New Zealand or is deported to the United States. The justice system will have the final say.
It’s good to read his own admission of the Internet-Mana failure, although he not always offers the correct reasons. He could and should have invested his money more wisely. The choice of Miss Harre turned out to be a serious mistake.
“..The choice of Miss Harre turned out to be a serious mistake..”
achtung gets bullshit-comment-of-the-day for that one..
..no contest..!
The right wing know that they are damn lucky not to have Hone and Laila in Parliament now.
Labour probably thinks similarly.
and minto..and sykes…
..what we almost had..
..i dunno about you..but the grief in me is almost palpable..
..and isn’t easing much..
..i am going to start doing commentaries on q-time again..tomorrow..
..on a pale imitation of what might have been..
..and my mood is ugly…
Western countries are increasingly ignoring Israel and demanding justice for the Palestinians and recognising the State of Palestine…Two eminent Jews discuss why the need for justice now
“Why have Western countries only now decided to vote to recognize the state of Palestine? What will be the outcome? Will a legitimate Palestinian state bring peace to the region? Is an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan a dead end?”
CrossTalking with Norman Finkelstein and Amir Oren.
http://rt.com/shows/crosstalk/197292-palestine-state-west-israel/
The seppos are basically under Zionist control on these issues. It’s great to see other countries standing up to Zionist atrocities, but support from Washington allows Israel to carry on.
Don’t you love when you’re on your morning read, and someone writes something which not only runs alongside what you have been thinking, but expands and develops that idea brilliantly.
I’ve been thinking about music, and the woeful state it is in for ages. All the best music is underground, and hard to find – whilst Mainstream music is quite shallow and lacks any message.
I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
http://raprehab.com/bet-awards-black-music-neutralized/
You too can take part in the Labour’s independent review if you like:
JUST RECEIVED BY EMAIL:
Dear Clem
Today we are pleased to announce the names of the four reviewers who will lead Labour’s independent review.
Bryan Gould is Convenor of the review. He is joined by Hon Margaret Wilson, Stacey Morrison and Brian Corban. You can find out more about them by clicking HERE
Hon Pete Hodgson and Gaylene Nepia are working as lead consultants in the production of the first report on the 2014 campaign, with similar arrangements for the other reports.
The work of the whole initiative will be supported by a team of expert advisers. This will include successful senior campaigners from progressive parties overseas and specialists in qualitative and quantitative analysis.
The review is an opportunity for Labour to take a long hard look at ourselves. We need to learn and apply lessons from the election and ensure that we can be an effective opposition and prepare for government in 2017.
The review allows us to set a course to reconnect with the majority who want to see a fairer society and a more productive, sustainable economy. We need to be the alternative government ready to take office in 2017.
The review team will be responsible for the production of three reports. The first one is on the 2014 general election campaign (completed by December 7), the second on the longer-term perspective, and the final one on the governance and operations implications for the Party (both completed by the end of February 2015).
Submissions are open from today. Members, non-members and groups are all welcome to submit. The Terms of Reference can be found
HERE
You can submit through the Labour website by clicking here or by emailing your submission to review@labour.org.nz.
There will also be the opportunity for Labour members to submit in person to the review at face-to-face meetings in each hub. Details of these meetings will be provided as soon as they are available from the review team.
Thank you to so many people who have already offered to participate in this important review.
In solidarity,
Moira Coatsworth
Labour Party President
Clem…10.23 am..you posted this..I am so pleased you did…however you’d think that by 7.30 pm some would show a bit of interest..by posting a couple of comments.Yesterday in open mic I mentioned that I had heard Bryan Gould on the talk back radio talking of this and asked if anyone else had too?
Not a dicky bird.
I am beginning to wonder if the people in here are quite happy to tell everyone what’s wrong with Labour but none too many are prepared to to put their money where their mouth is and get involved. Perhaps some people have got too cosy in opposition and their twitter accounts & latte labour.
@ Ecosse Maidy…all they need to do is get a researcher/student to trawl through the all comments on this blog and other blogs eg Daily Blog
….and they will have a very good random selection as to why many different people thought Labour failed !!! …and was failing even six months before the Election!
….i think people are very tired of repeating themselves!
…and btw …this Review is a bit late isnt it?!…in the meantime David Cunliffe (the popular membership choice) has been forced to take the blame and not only resign but also promise never to seek re-election ( smells!)
…no wonder people are cynical about the Labour Party!…i wouldnt mind betting they are also cynical about the review!
Thanks.
Actually I did listen to the brilliant Brian Gould. I am sure many others from here would have too, but may not necessarily write a reply.
In my opinion, the Neo liberal minded destructive caucus members are a drain on the Labour party as they seem to be the disloyal dodgy secret leakers that have sullied this great social justice party. It is time for the membership to seek greater powers and kick these bastards out. They are free to join ACT, NZF, National, the Cons or just go away and live quietly and happily somewhere on their very fat political pensions and baubles.
My efforts will be going towards Mana. What Labour comes up with in a review is of little direct interest. I don’t have a twitter account and I don’t drink lattés. I have been in opposition all my life. It’s not cosy.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/former-prime-minister-gough-whitlam-dead-at-98-20141021-1192t2.html
He was asked: “When you die, what will you say to God?”
He apparently replied: “Well you can be certain of one thing. I will treat him as an equal.”
Possibly apocryphal, but quite a line.
– Brought in the first national health insurance.
– Recognised China (during the Vietnam War no less!)
– Let the arts flourish
– Abolished university fees
(Among other things)
To me, this guy deserves a post of his own – with a comparison to Norman Kirk.
Sure as heck one of those guys for whom it was better to flame out after making massive positive change, than to hang around after defeat.
A well deserved rest.
That certainly counts as a great statement.
It comes into the same category as Churchill’s view on the same subject really.
“I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.”
They would both have been polite to God. What they would have said to each other doesn’t really bear thinking about.
Important part of the narrative 40 years ago–Gough Whitlam and Queenie’s rep John ‘Cur’.
Along with Big Norm in NZ, Allende in Chile, French nuclear testing, etc. All set against the wiretapping, assassinating, election fixing CIA backdrop.
Agree totally, TM. Dirty politics was a lot less subtle in the early seventies.
not so. murdoch ordered his editors to “kill whitlam”…. not literally but politically. they played their part. fast forward 40+ years
I thought Murdoch backed Whitlam’s election, Tracey? He loathed the Liberals (but was also keen on the even more rightwing Country party).
he turned his editors on him ten months before the downfall
http://www.smh.com.au/national/murdoch-editors-told-to-kill-whitlam-in-1975-20140627-zson7.html
Ah, yes. Cheers for digging that up; another piece of the jigsaw falls into place.
its hard finding examples of media complicity of this type to harm right wing govts… notwithstanding the wailing of “the left do it too”
Murdoch’s interference in politics is so very wrong, so blatantly unfair and shows such contempt for democracy just because he is rich and owns news media. He should be hauled into courts in Australia, ( possibly UK and other countries around the world) for his corrupt ways and put into jail for the rest of his remaining few years. What a scum.
Clemgeopin -Murdoch’s name should never be said without the prefix Scum…. Scumurdoch should be the everyday usage. Probably applies to his kids too,
Sad news.
I wonder if I will live long enough to find out what really happened in 1975. There’s a dark mist that covers that particular sequence of events.
A colossus. Vale.
.
@ joe90
That’s interesting. Enigmatic. Is it a vanishing point of political accountability?
+100…grey…thought on a pin point
Thanks for that link, Te Reo Putake. Very informative. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Cheers!
Is someone going to post properly on the Speech from the Throne?
Slim pickings in there unless you build motorways, build houses, or need your ACC fees lowered.
apparently isis has had a meteoric rise. i wonder, wasnt the usa warned about them eighteen months ago? is that meteoric?
Same with ebola. No-one knew about it really, apart from a few deadly and puzzling outbreaks. And now. who’d have thunk it.
hmmmmm, ebola has been known for decades… it just hadnt reached the usa til now…
key says we need 1984 type law changes cos of meteoric rise of isis. i call bs on meteoric
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11345670
this is remarkable .. how Nigeria has defeated Ebola using proper hydration and very basic electrolytes, nothing more … common sense with intelligence … panic can cease.
And I think I am quite amazed it was even published !
rawshark yeshe 2.20
And the heros of Nigeria now dead – from ebola.
http://www.channel4.com/news/ebola-nigeria-world-health-organisation-patrick-sawyer
Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh is the doctor credited with helping prevent the disease spreading much more widely at the early stages.
She and her colleagues quickly identified a victim who came to Nigeria as having Ebola and placed him in quarantine…..
Dr Adadevoh, whose great-grandfather was a founder of the modern Nigeria, died on 19 August, having herself contracted the disease.
From the bbc more detail. And the other health workers who died are recognised – so that is nice – it is easy to be fixated on one hero,
The sick man demanded to be allowed to leave and tore out the drips and splashed health workers with him.
Dr Adadevoh and four other health workers died from the virus.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29682325
More like the intent to build motorways and the vague aspiration to build houses rather than the actual doing of it.
The ACC fees yes. Of course they had to raise them considerably first so that they could lower them sufficiently later (several times).
Weird…
I opened the Bob Jones piece from NZHerald today hours ago then left it because I couldn’t be bothered reading his dribble. When I returned to my laptop I noticed the poll about Labour leader preference. It had 50-150 responses and had Al on 30% and GR leading on 34%. I thought I would refresh to see what the results were now, and it came back with 0-50 responses and a completely different response (DP equal lead with AL).
What’s going on with the Herald polls? Is someone gaming them? That is very dodgy.
they havent decided who they want yet?
squirmy awaiting instructs from CrosbyTxtor .. 😀
chuckle…
gordon campbell and jane kelsey’s latest offerings ontpp well worth a read… at scoop.
here is kelsey’
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1410/S00175/latest-leak-of-tppa-intellectual-property-text-confirms-risk.htm
david fisher has an interesting article on the herald today about our spy agencies.
… wonder when his long awaited piece on dirty poitics is coming out
Labour Party factions and the leadership contest.
MP3 of Radio 1 interview I did with Olivier Jutel and Karl Williams, in Dunedin last Friday.
[audio src="http://www.r1.co.nz/podcasts/Olivier%20-%20Tat%20Loo.mp3" /]
That was wonderful! Well done! Such a relief to hear the issues spoken about frankly, in a public forum, free from the standard braying.
Thanks 🙂 These guys actually let me finish whole statements, which was amazing. Radio 1 are a real class act in this regard.
Listening to that, I felt quite jealous of you Dunedinites.
Colonial Rawshark
A good interview, you come across well Colonial, with sensible discussion casting some light and the interviewer was sharp but interested in getting info.
Cheers, GW. The main interviewer Olivier Jutel has completed a PhD on US politics and the Obama effect. Smart guy.
That was such a refreshingly good interview! I enjoyed it very much. Wish it had gone on for a little longer exploring more issues. Well done!
I think every Labour leadership contender, the caucus members and every Labour party member should listen to that interview.
Tell you what, I am going to send that link to each Labour MP to mull things over. Can you give me the link to the interview that I can email please?
Cheers!
Yeah I looked up at the clock and 15 minutes had passed in a flash…must have been enjoying myself!
Can you give me a suitable link to the interview that I can email to the caucus members please?
Thanks for your support Standardistas. I’ve learnt much from each of you over time and hope to synthesise more of your ideas and put them out there in public forums as opportunities come up. The interviewers were pretty sharp and challenging, it was good times.
I was reading about Leonard Bernstein. His story is great but his death and burial had some points to note. Construction workers commemorating a musician in NZ – would that happen?
On the day of his funeral procession through the streets of Manhattan, construction workers removed their hats and waved, yelling “Goodbye, Lenny.”[41]
Bernstein is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, next to his wife and with a copy of Mahler’s Fifth lying across his heart.[42]
The draft of his memoir, Blue Ink, having only existed in electronic form in a password-protected document that still remains unopened to this day, has become a poster-child in the probate community for the need of increased awareness of digital assets during the estate planning process. [43] Wikipedia
Could be that techies here should think about this matter of death and digital records assets etc.
Mention has been made of Redline blog. I’m surprised some folks haven’t heard of it because, although we’re very small fish compared to the major right-wing and left-wing blogs, we have been getting about 8,000 hits a month in recent months.
Whether we are ‘old’ – or what that even means – folks can judge for themselves. But here’s some recent stuff:
another very busy week at the blog as we’ve been sticking up pieces about workers’ struggles here and abroad.
The key articles in recent days about workers’ struggles are:
ANZ bank workers take action: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/anz-bank-workers-take-action/
A significant factory takeover in Buenos Aires points the way forward: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/factory-takeover-in-argentina-sees-discussions-on-workers-power-and-womens-liberation-the-russian-revolution/
There’s a really interesting article about the rise of China’s workers movement as the ‘communist’ rulers impose a particularly rapacious capitalism on the population: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/the-rise-of-chinas-workers-movement/
A German worker writes about his employer, Amazon; where he works, the employees are currently in struggle: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/amazon-the-global-digital-east-india-company-of-the-21st-century/
The latest global wealth statistics show inequality is widening: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/latest-global-wealth-statistics/
Almost wherever workers are in struggle, we find the police being called on us; what is the role of the cops in society? There’s a good piece by the Irish group Socialist Democracy, see here: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/the-cops-and-the-capitalist-state/
Ever feel like you are having to live to work, rather than merely working to live? No surprise, because while technology once held out the prospect of a leisure society, the reality is that in NZ (and some other OECD countries, like the US) we’re working more hours than at any time since the 40-hour week was won 100 or more years ago.
See Capitalism and the tyranny of time: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/capitalism-and-the-tyranny-of-time/
Whatever happened to the leisure society?: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/whatever-happened-to-the-leisure-society/
While the New Zealand elite are smug and self-flattering about getting a guest position on the United Nations Security Council for the next two years, the rest of us should be organising rather than celebrating, because it’s not good news for us.
See: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/20/nz-elite-win-seat-at-un-security-council-dont-celebrate-organise/
As to the United Nations itself, see: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/20/united-nations-friend-or-foe/
Also see how there’s a division of labour between the UN and the big powers; for instance, first the UN killed about a million Iraqis through its sanctions in the 1990s, then the US led a military invasion: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/20/sanctions-and-bombs-how-the-un-and-western-powers-committed-mass-murder-in-iraq-before-the-2003-invasion/
Lastly, we’ve stuck up the text of Urewera ‘terrorist’ frame-up victim Val Morse’s speech at the Wellington anti-prisons rally on October 18:
http://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/prison-abolition-part-of-creating-a-just-equal-peaceful-society/
Actually, one more lastly, which is some stuff to do with Labour. People here might be interested in our analysis of the Labour Party as part of the problem rather than part of the solution. Our major feature on Labour is here (it’s pamphlet-length long):
http://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/the-truth-about-labour-a-bosses-party/
Not much is written about the rather overlooked third Labour government (1972-75); we examine its record and conclude it rather paved the way for the fourth Labour government: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/anti-working-class-to-its-core-the-third-labour-government/
Phil
for Redline blog
Thanks for popping by Phil, good to hear a bit more about Redline. That factory takeover story looks very interesting indeed. Democratic socialism in action…
As for Labour being a capitalist party…well its been that way well before Rogernomics.
Yes, indeed, Labour was a capitalist party well before Rogernomics, a point made in the examination of its history by Daphna Whitmore and myself.
Indeed, by 1935, the radicalism of the early Labour leaders was well gone. The biggest capitalist in the country, Ernest Davis supported them – and Labur had him knighted.
Semple has become a boss.
Also, I think quite a few people would be shocked to see how racist (anti-Chinese) a lot of these early Labour heroes were.
Phil
i see the defence force is happy to lie or look duplicitous for the PM
” Tim Keating says “We dropped the ball” not informing PM about Obama meeting….”
He has announced his resignation, right? Key will sack him, right?
its clever, it contains distraction, cos according to us press reports, even without obamas attendance it was to discuss ISIS, but keating makes it all about protocol stopping them knowing in advance about obamas attendance. see what they did there, smoke and mirrors.
and so it goes. sigh. Crosby Textor takes us to war while Jason Ede is rewarded and Simon Lizard Lusk sees his candidates offer their maiden speeches. omfg. how wrong this is.
I won’t make a habit of advertising our stuff here, but here’s some basic stuff on capitalism on Redline and also on Key’s economic policy, and a couple of pieces on the end of the idea of ‘the leisure society’ (thanks capitalism) and pensions/retirement age stuff.
How capitalism works – and why it doesn’t: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/how-capitalism-works-%E2%80%93-and-doesn%E2%80%99t-work/
The Key-English government in the context of capital accumulation in New Zealand today: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/the-key-english-government-in-the-context-of-capital-accumulation-in-new-zealand-today/
Key’s ‘vision’: managing the malaise of New Zealand capitalism: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/keys-vision-managing-the-malaise-of-new-zealand-capitalism/
Whatever happened to the leisure society?: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/whatever-happened-to-the-leisure-society/
Pensions and the retirement age – the problem is capitalism, not an aging population: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/06/29/pensions-and-the-retirement-age-the-problem-is-capitalism-not-an-aging-population/
Low pay, longer hours and less social mobility – welcome to 21st century NZ capitalism: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/low-pay-longer-hours-and-less-social-mobility/
Phil