I see Garner is having yet another dig at Labour,the coalition and the process and unilaterally setting a 100 day deadline for Jacinda to deliver his list of Labours election policies.
The bitterness of the Natz and their MSM puppets will only get worse so the prposed changes to RNZ and TVNZ should also be a 100 day priority.
Yes that is the exactly the advice I would give Nzsage. We can’t have these people damaging OUR new Government and our country’s reputation yes you idiots you are damaging OUR country O but that is a bit to far forward for you to think .
I think one of OUR more experienced people from Labour or NZFirst anyone with the skills to sort them out but they need to be wise as these people can turn any shit onto you . And put on this task of bringing OUR media to HEEL as this should be a priority plan for the long term of OUR coalition Goverment. We don’t have to control our media but they need a code of conduct slapped on them . Ka pai
If it was not so funny it would make you cry over the opinions of some of the prats out there. I wrote yesterday about all the griping going on @ https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20102017/#comment-1402555 and all the things that were going to happen under Labour.
With tongue in cheek, I also added a couple of my own. I noticed that the gas had risen in price by 2c a litre and jokingly I said to my wife I should put that on the Standard saying typical Labour have not been in power 1 day and they have already put gas up by 2c
Would you believe it some twat in the opinions to the article you have quoted has written just that, here’s the quote
“Wait to inflation gets a grip. Oh it already has petrol rose 2c a litre on day 1”
Indeed NZsage. I get the feeling with all this 100 days stuff that MSM expect the new government to deliver policy that:
a) does everything the way MSM wants it to be done; and
b) completely solves all the issues within the 100 days.
This is, obviously, not possible so I fear they are setting up the new Government for failure.
Actually, I don’t remember reading in any of the parties manifestos that they will do everything in the first 100 days.
Is this the MSM snatching something from overseas and trying to apply it to the incoming government?
It will be interesting seeing hoe the government will get so many things changed, given the amount of Nat members on select committees, I wonder if they will have to resort to creating law under urgency, like national did?
I actually think this Government is the best fit for equal and fair changes to our systems
As if any of those neo liberal state servants try and stop Jacinda from making these changes needed Winston Peters will kick there asses to touch. And Jamie will keep the focus on OUR environment. And most of the people in OUR new Coalition Government have the same left principles they just have to have there guard up and trust no one till they no they can be trusted I.E test them first before you give them that trust Tino pai
Many thanks to Barack Obama Bill Bush and John McCain for seeing the big pitcher .
We are all human’s we all expect to be treated like humans and when this happens OUR world will truly advance for the better of everything on her OUR mother earth.
I can see that these three family’s love there country and OUR world and are fighting for a equal society . Kia Kaha
Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana-Galizia, played a pivotal role in exposing NZ foreign trusts involvement in corrupt money-laundering – and now she’s dead.
Daphne Carauna-Galizia was blown to pieces in a car bomb assassination on 16 October 2017.
“I am never going to forget, running around the inferno in the field, trying to figure out a way to open the door, the horn of the car still blaring, screaming at two policemen who turned up with a single fire extinguisher to use it.
“They stared at me. “I’m sorry, there is nothing we can do”, one of them said.
“I looked down and there were my mother’s body parts all around me. I realised they were right, it was hopeless.
“Who is in the car?”, they asked me.
“My mother is in the car. She is dead.
She is dead because of your incompetence.”
__________________
A Malta magistrate is investigating explosive claims of money laundering and corruption that have put New Zealand in the middle of a global cash trail from the family of Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliyev.
President Aliyev’s daughter, Leyla Aliyeva, is alleged to have channelled more than NZ$1.6 million to senior figures of the Malta government, including Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s wife.
These include alleged payments to Panama companies owned by New Zealand trusts set up by the Malta Energy Minister Karl Mizzi and Muscat’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri.
On April 20, Maltese blogger Daphne Caruana-Galizia reported that she held copies of documents originally stored in a kitchen at Pilatus Bank, which showed that Egrant Inc, a mystery Panama Papers company identified by the Financial Review last year, was secretly owned by the Maltese Prime Minister’s wife, Michelle Muscat.
In March 2016, a Dubai company controlled by Leyla Aliyeva had transferred US$1.017 million (NZ$1.47 million) marked as a loan into Egrant’s account at Pilatus Bank, Caruana-Galizia reported.
Joseph Muscat denied the claims, calling it the “biggest political lie in Malta’s history”.
Caruana-Galizia reported that other payments were made from Leyla Aliyeva’s company to Pilatus accounts held by Egrant as well as Tillgate Inc and Hearnville Inc, two Panama companies that are owned by Schembri and Mizzi, through New Zealand trusts.
Schembri and Mizzi vehemently deny Caruana-Galizia’s reports. Mizzi has produced audited accounts for his New Zealand trust which shows it as dormant with no assets or income.
LUXURY YACHTS
Muscat announced on April 20 that magistrate Aaron Buge would conduct an inquiry into the allegations.
In a controversial energy deal, the Maltese government in 2013 contracted with a consortium led by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), which has financed a string of luxury yachts and homes across the world for the Aliyev family, to build a power station and gasification plant in Malta, with SOCAR taking an 18-year contract to supply LPG to Malta.
In 2015, Malta’s auditor general questioned €14 million (NZ$22 million) lost on fuel hedging contracts that the government-owned EneMalta took with SOCAR “at ministerial direction” from Mizzi.
The latest revelations, if substantiated, are an embarrassment for the New Zealand government, which announced an inquiry into its offshore trust laws on April 11 last year, the day after the Financial Review revealed details of how Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca’s Malta agent, BT Nexia, began setting up Tillson, Hearnville and Egrant five days after Muscat’s election victory in 2013.
Mossack Fonseca’s files were obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.
New Zealand subsequently amended its offshore trusts regime, requiring foreign trusts to file annual accounts with the New Zealand tax office, but with no further restrictions.
At that time, it appeared the Malta trusts had never been used, after Mizzi and Schembri’s Panama companies were turned down by eight banks who refused to open accounts for them because they were Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).
The Panama Papers, however, show repeated cases of overseas investors filing false or implausible sets of accounts with New Zealand lawyers, who have limited means to verify the figures.
SIGNIFICANT ROLE
The latest wave of allegations in Malta underline how easily the New Zealand disclosure laws can be avoided, which the new laws do not change.
If the reports are substantiated, they raise a far more serious picture of money-laundering from one of the most corrupt countries in the world, in which New Zealand’s foreign trusts played a significant role.
The saga began in February 2016 when Caruana-Galizia revealed that Schembri and Mizzi had set up two Panama companies, Tillgate Inc and Hearnville Inc, owned by the Haast Trust and Rotorua Trust in New Zealand.
In April 2016, the Financial Review published new details of Schembri and Mizzi’s New Zealand trusts and their attempts to open a bank account in Dubai.
Mossack Fonseca’s Malta files read like a whodunnit.
…..”
I had hopes after seeing this leaked Green policy win in the negotiations:
A referendum on legalising the personal use of cannabis by 2020. Funding for drug and alcohol addiction services will be increased.
But thinking it through, a referendum in 2020 is 3 years away, presumably legislation would follow, so add another year or two to that.
But James Shaw just said on The Nation that they haven’t worked out whether it will be a binding referendum or not.
If not there will be a toothless referendum in three years that the following government will ignore, and if National is back then that's likely.
A disappointingly soft policy.
[formatting fixed for clarity. Link added from below. I’ve had a quick look and see we’ve discussed quoting before.
So to be very clear – either use your own words and be prepared to back up claims of fact, or, if quoting someone else, then cite. This means if you cut and paste from elsewhere you need to provide a link. If the quote is cut and paste but not publicly available (e.g. email or behind a paywall), then name the source and link where you can. If you are quoting someone from offline, then name the source (specifically not vaguely) so others can look it up.
The reasons for that are that it’s a courtesy to the source; it gives readers a chance to understand the context; and it lessens trolls’ and astroturfers’ ability to push certain lines unchallenged. Please take this as a moderation warning. – weka]
[just found the last time I moderated you on this which resulted in a 2 week ban. Next time I’ll start doubling the ban times – weka]
There have been plenty of poll indications of support for drug law reform already, so I don’t know why we need referendum.
Law change is likely to be complex so a simple referendum is unlikely to address it adequately.
If we have a referendum I’d like to see legislation passed through parliament this term, sooner rather than later, then if a referendum is deemed necessary make it a binding ratification or rejection of the legislation.
Then at least we would know exactly what we are deciding on, and enables a simple yes/no referendum on something that is complex.
One would hope that the Greens design a referendum that would pass under the L/NZF/G govt if supported by the voters. I can’t imagine them drafting something that wasn’t acceptable to Labour or NZF, that would be daft. So is there a need for it to be binding?
I’m on my ph so can’t log in to moderate, but when I get home If there is no source or citation for that quote expect me to get out the bold. I’ll be looking up the last time we had this issue too.
I never thought I would do this, but I am going to support Pete George on this one in the interests of fairness – and also because I am surprised that there appears to have been no mention/discussion of this referendum on here that i could find.
That a ‘referendum on legalising the personal use of cannabis at or by the 2020 general election’ appears to be part of the policy gains for the Green Party has been the subject of many media reports and discussions on social media and other blogs for the last 24 or so hours. it has even been the subject of overseas media reports by for example the BBC.
This appears to be as a result of an informal release (aka leak) of an internal Green Party email sent out on Thurs night as part of their SGM via teleconference to decide whether to agree the C & S agreement.
I stress that it is widely available on social media but I have used Russell’s link only because as he is very savvy as to whether or not to post such things. Russell has more in his actual post here (and there is more in the comments) https://publicaddress.net/hardnews/all-change/
The ‘release’ of this email is also mentioned in many of the media articles and reports below on the proposed referendum:
“This appears to be as a result of an informal release (aka leak) of an internal Green Party email sent out on Thurs night as part of their SGM via teleconference to decide whether to agree the C & S agreement.”
That’s the ‘leak’? No, it’s not a leak. It wasn’t an internal email, it was an email sent to the full membership (I got a copy). Emails of that kind aren’t private or confidential and members are free to share the content.
The email wasn’t part of the SGM, it was an email to the full membership after the decision had been reached (and, from memory, announced).
Matthew Whitehead, an active member who afaik wasn’t involved in the SGM posted some of it on TS on Thurs night. I put a copy of part of it in a post on Thurs night, again, after the SGM had made a decision and this had been announced,
As for Shub, honestly, I can’t be bothered looking at what’s happened there and am quite happy to believe they’re shit stirring calling it a ‘leak’ unless proven otherwise.
“I am really sad to see these leaks happening as it casts a shadow over the integrity of the whole coalition/C & S arrangements.”
I think it’s premature to be thinking anything bad has happened. All three parties seem to have taken trouble to be both as transparent as they can be, and to not overstep the bounds because one of the other parties needs time to finish due process.
So Shaw talked on Thurs night about being able to release small amounts of detail e.g. what went to the membership in the email, but not being able to say things like who would be in what positions because Labour still needed to work through that. He reassured the membership that good ground had been gained on key areas, and this was confirmed in the email. It’s inconceivable that the intention was for that email to remain confidential given that there will be journalists who are members of the GP.
Leaked by whom, I wonder …. seems to me to be a bit of Post truth to both undermine, and colour the Greens as … kakariki, together with the coalition….
But James Shaw just said on The Nation that they haven’t worked out whether it will be a binding referendum or not.
If it is a referendum initiated by the government then it is a binding referendum. Of course the government is still free in their in interpretation of that referendum but even National won’t be able to reneg on it.
The question is, if it’s a Green Party initiated referendum, will it be considered a Government initiated referendum? Technically, the Greens aren’t the Government.
A few days ago Wayne Mapp was relying on OECD figures to back his view about how great the economy is under National. Lots of growth… would like his comment on the following given it shows growing GDP hasnt solved this problem…
So Tracey, if you follow the link from the magazine that it came from you may gain a balanced view on what it’s point is. In fact the main title of the article is this;
“As Cities Grow Worldwide, So Do the Numbers of Homeless.
Homelessness is more visible and varying definitions prevent global comparisons; experts debate if the problem is even solvable.”
adam , “do I support eugenics”, pffffft. How do you get that from my sentence.
Do I sit around and wax lyrical about the state of the world. I think there is more than enough people on this site who do that day in / day out.
adam , I just followed Traceys link back to the original core article that NewsHub commented on. The point I was making is that if you actually read it & it is interesting , its not as supportive to Traceys anti Nat Govt argument as she has been making out.
Rob, Wayne suggests that when the OECD ranks us highly it means the govt is great.He does not delve deeper nor observe IMF pronouncements that counter his world view.
By Waynes logic, the reverse must, ipso facto, mean the govt is bad. It is Wayne making simplistic conclusions, not me.
Whenever the meme “What a wonderful economy we have – just look at the growth rate!” rears its ugly head, one has always to ask the question – “But what is the economy for?”
A countries economy is not an end in itself – it is only a means to an end.
If the one boasting about the wondrous economy cannot say what this wonderful thing is for, then it is just as useless as the wonderful toy that the singer got when he was a boy. It went whizz when it moved, bopped when it stopped, and whirred when it stood still – he never knew just what it was, and I guess they never will.
The thing is, to worship a means, and not seek the end, is simply idolatry. If the means is not delivering the end, then no matter how wonderful you might think it is – it is useless.
So what is the economy for, anyway?
I would answer this question thus:
“The role of the economy is to deliver the most good, to the most people, over the longest time” If it does not do that, then it is a failing economy.
The rate of growth may or may not be a useful indicator but only over a short term – take for instance the lack of clean water supplies in Puerto Rico following the Hurricane. One month later only 2/3 of the population have access to potable water.
This is a slow rate of growth on the provision of a vital human need. But money is pouring into this “Island in an ocean .. a very big ocean” to use the words of Trump at a astonishing rate. ie over the past month the GDP of Puerto Rico would have been off the scale – but just how effective has it been?
Capitalism is a “blatant failure” when it comes to housing the poor, says Jacinda Ardern.
…
“What is the point of economic growth when we have some of the worst homelessness in the developed world?”
…
“When you have a market economy, it all comes down to whether or not you acknowledge where the market has failed and where intervention is required. Has it failed our people in recent times? Yes. How can you claim you’ve been successful when you have growth roughly 3 percent, but you’ve got the worst homelessness in the developed world?”
Ms Ardern said her Government wouldn’t measure economic success just on things like GDP.
“The measures for us have to change. We need to make sure we are looking at people’s ability to actually have a meaningful life, an enjoyable life, where their work is enough to survive and support their families.”
Asked directly if capitalism had failed low-income Kiwis, Ms Ardern was unequivocal.
“If you have hundreds of thousands of children living in homes without enough to survive, that’s a blatant failure. What else could you describe it as?”
Oh how the Nat shills will be spinning on the spot….. hope this kind of narrative can be kept up, and that more mainstreamers really begin to take note of the failures of capitalism, and the need for change.
Great piece macro but I would add to your definition. It must be measured by how it caters for its vulnerable who have a right to thrive not just survive
Interestingly around 4000 years ago someone inscribed a piece of wisdom on a clay tablet that has survived until today. I’m afraid I cannot find a link to this because I found this in a book some years back, and it is something that has not been digitized as far as I know.
Anyway the ancient sage wrote something like this:
” The greatness of a king will be judged not on the strength of his armies, but on the way he treats the most vulnerable of his subjects.”
There have been others to whom this sentiment has been attributed, but as far as I know the Babylonian clay tablet is the first expression. And this from what could be considered the cradle of civilization.
Thanks for this. I have long thought that to label ourselves civilised while simultaneously running down health, education and leaving the disabled to less than subsistence makes us barbarians
This mornings The Nation,what delight to see and hear from a true face of compassion, our new vibrant exiting Prime Minister,hope again is in the air optimism and a better future for families and those in need,how exiting.
Ardern stepped up into the leadership role exceptionally well in August, then lost a bit of ground when campaign weariness and lack of breadth and depth of policy became obvious.
But she has stepped up further coming out of the negotiations. One notable thing she indicated in The Nation interview was she says she has stood her ground against Winston on immigration, retaining Labour’s position on it.
It’s a long way to go for her but she generally looks very impressive. Not many successfully rise above hope and ambition to be a successful political leader, but so far she looks very capable.
Minor quibbles – too much over the top language, especially ‘absolutely’, and while she sounded natural when she first became leader she is starting to sound like she is reciting written language rather than talking naturally. She’s likely to sort that out as she goes.
You probably dont mean to but this comes across as slightly patronising. From what basis do you make these observations? What is your experience I mean.
Ardern: capitalism a ‘blatant failure’ for poor children of New Zealand
“If you have hundreds of thousands of children living in homes without enough to survive, that’s a blatant failure. What else could you describe it as?”
It looks like dear Claire Robinson is pissed off she was wrong.
She’s doing a lot of projection from National and placing it at the door of Labour and NZ First. Couched in academic-ese, her petulance and anger is plain to see.
That’s a piece written by somebody whose (intellectual) world has been rocked because “NZ First has challenged the established business model” [my bold] and her “innovation lens” was out of focus. Robinson seems to be oblivious to the fact that all her (academic) tools & models are just that. Robinson also appears to be at the second of five stages of grief: anger.
I can only hope that Robinson and many other ‘experts’ will find themselves outwitted and wrong-footed many times as a result of real change rather than the having to endure a “modified status quo” that Robinson seems to pine for.
“I can only hope that Robinson and many other ‘experts’ will find themselves outwitted and wrong-footed many times as a result of real change rather than the having to endure a “modified status quo” that Robinson seems to pine for.”
Well, of course this is the woman who was telling us just a week or so ago that Ardern and Labour must be “gutted” at the Specials result…
Who’s checked out the latest rant from Richard Prebble? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11935125
He’s trying to tell us that Ardern is just a puppet to Peters, who has “stolen” the election – comparing it to a coup, and that the result is undemocratic (no surprises there). He also says “I blame Bill English for this debacle. He ran a great First Past the Post campaign – and a losing MMP campaign.” This comment is fair enough, maybe, but how does it compare with this one, from his last piece (on September 21st): “Bill has run a mistake-free campaign but he took too long to attack Labour’s tax policy”? Let’s forget that it can’t be mistake-free if there’s a “but” coming up and focus on the fact that before the final result was known our friend Richard thought Bill E had run a great campaign and now he thinks it was a debacle. Which was it, Richard? And why no mention of the campaign manager, Stephen Joyce? Thos two decided together to run a “take ’em all out” campaign, and were perfectly prepared to tell lies and countenance leaking of personal information as part of the strategy.
Doesn’t look too smart now, does it? All those blue joggers running off to the opposition benches, still alone and monochromatic.
I’ve not an ounce of empathy for them because they conducted themselves so dishonestly and – dare I say it – corruptly over the last 9 years. Yet their supporters turned a blind eye to it all and continue to turn a blind eye. Did Labour and the Greens respond with such venom when they were ousted in 2008? No. They did not. They were just as disappointed of course – and particularly with the blatant lies and the innuendo during the campaign – but they were all gracious in defeat and continued to be gracious in defeat for the next two elections.
When Labour lost in 2008, a disabled man in Wellington was so frightened by the news that he rang the police. This was reported, as I remember it, with wry amusement. This time around, the howls are all about a perceived threat to the privilege and licence enjoyed by the well- heeled, that expanded exponentially under John Key.
I never heard about that incident but it is a profoundly story. He might have been disabled but he clearly sensed there would be a gradual removal of the support and assistance he – and others in his situation desperately needed and my goodness… how right he was.
Some of the letters to the editor in today’s Herald are simply appalling in their venality. I will see if can find an online link…
I haven’t seen today’s Herald, but members of my family have told me some of the vile comments they have seen and heard. National, under Key, certainly unleashed a nasty streak in certain quarters, and it is still hanging around although he has moved on.
ACT people do have some knowledge of puppetry… but there seems to be so much writing from a perspective of;
This is how I behave so others must be the same.
“Business model”, “innovation lens”.
Lol. If Robinson swims in the shallow pool of business language she will never understand the real world. It’s desperate and incoherent drivel.
Worked for some years with CR. Epitomises the careerist academic. Vain, devoid of anything resembling humour or humility, and not at all an empathic, insightful or imaginative person. Made up for those deficiencies in ambition, realised that riding the coattails of the powerful and repeating their jargon back at them would serve that. Seeing her turn this bitter when she embarrasses herself is no surprise.
… and unfortunately, far from the worst that Massey has. The place is a menagerie of malice and stupidity.
Even RNZ’s regular gal with the balanced portfolio and work-life equilibrium (going forward) seems to have recognised things can’t continue as they are – I think she began to realise a year or 18 months ago.
(btw – for those prepared to jump on the ‘dearest’, and ‘regular gal’ remarks above – it was said with the same intent as is common by Garners, Richardsons and many other gNats in the media and those in the political class sweetie. shorthand: /sarc
An increasing number of academics behave this way due to the great ideological culls ratchetted up under Joyce. Academic integrity sold to the highest bidders
This is the important stuff.
Any chance we cold have a thread based on this article by George Monbiot?
Here are some excerpts…..
‘Which of these would you name as the world’s most pressing environmental issue? Climate breakdown, air pollution, water loss, plastic waste or urban expansion? My answer is none of the above. Almost incredibly, I believe that climate breakdown takes third place, behind two issues that receive only a fraction of the attention.
This is not to downgrade the danger presented by global heating – on the contrary, it presents an existential threat. It is simply that I have come to realise that two other issues have such huge and immediate impacts that they push even this great predicament into third place.
One is industrial fishing, which, all over the blue planet, is now causing systemic ecological collapse. The other is the erasure of non-human life from the land by farming.
Some information from his article…
‘A study published this week in the journal Plos One reveals that flying insects surveyed on nature reserves in Germany have declined by 76% in 27 years.‘
One study in Britain suggests that, if we stopped using animal products, everyone in Britain could be fed on just 3m of our 18.5m hectares of current farmland (or on 7m hectares if all our farming were organic).
A recent study in Nature Plants reveals that most farms would increase production if they cut their use of pesticides
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, at current rates of soil loss, driven largely by poor farming practice, we have just 60 years of harvests left.
‘Over the past 33 years, the neo-liberal idea of a ‘free market’ ruled by naked self-interest has led to radical disparities of wealth and privilege, and an erosion of care for others and our beautiful land.
It has also undermined democratic institutions in New Zealand. Elections are seen as a Darwinian contest among political parties, in which the winners and their supporters take all, while the losers are shafted.
The independence of the civil service has been corroded, with chief executives who kowtow to their ministers, rather than serving the public interest. Government bodies are stacked with political cronies, while lobby groups dominate much decision-making.
In New Zealand, it is not just our waterways that have turned toxic as a result of greedy, self-interested politics. This is the real challenge for the new government – to clean up and restore life to our democracy, as well as to rivers and lakes across the land.‘
And the free market has not ruled in its entirety. When the free market dictates that skill shortages = higher wages those industries turned to the govt and immigration to circumvent free market and keep wages down.
That’s correct, as Ardern and Peters have stated, capitalism can be made to work for the people through “REGULATION”, something sadly missing in most countries today, preferring market driven outcomes which have been distorted by MONOPOLISATION.
There is considerable backlash on social media by those who now don’t like MMP and how it delivers democracy, still pushing moral right and how they had 44.5% of the vote, but it appears they’re not quite intelligent enough to work out that 55% is actually a majority and MMP stands for “Mixed Member Proportional” representation, still living in the FPP days, even after requiring the support of Dunne, ACT and the Maori Party for there previous Governments.
One of the articles goes:
92.8% didn’t vote for NZF
93.7% didn’t vote for the Greens
63.1% didn’t vote for Labour
And when you add that up??
And then there’s this one
Breaking news
All Blacks lose Rugby world Championship as
Aus, SA and Argentina combine their points and become coalition winners!
I have NO sympathy for any of them, just bad LOSERS
🙂
They had it so damm good for so long. All that power and prestige fed down the line to the henchmen and henchwomen from those at the top and suddenly… its gone. No wonder Mike Hoskings went berserk. They’ll be demanding a change of name for Labour Weekend next.
The thing is, to further complete the analogy, the All Blacks were playing in a different competition. They were playing in the Federation of Past Players, under the old rules, and the other three were competing for the Modern Mixed Players cup. Guess who won the MMP Cup?
Who gives a shit anyway. If National was in the same position they would have done it. And they know it.
Some times you need a coup. This was the coup we needed — a second October Revolution.
When you play the Game of Thrones, you play to win. Jacinda did iust that. Power was sitting right in front of her, and all she had to do was take it. She took it alright, outflanking National in the process. Completely within the rules.
The intent is to delegitimise the expression of a majority of voters and paint as palpable high morality the expression of a minority of voters. This is a seminal fight for democracy.
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It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Asia Pacific Report A Pacific civil society alliance has condemned French neocolonial policies in Kanaky New Caledonia, saying Paris is set on “maintaining the status quo” and denying the indigenous Kanak people their inalienable right to self-determination. The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGOs) Alliance, representing some 15 groups, said in ...
Koi Tū New Zealand cannot sit back and see the collapse of its Fourth Estate, the director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, Sir Peter Gluckman, says in the foreword of a paper published today. The paper, “If not journalists, then who?” paints a picture of an industry ...
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I see Garner is having yet another dig at Labour,the coalition and the process and unilaterally setting a 100 day deadline for Jacinda to deliver his list of Labours election policies.
The bitterness of the Natz and their MSM puppets will only get worse so the prposed changes to RNZ and TVNZ should also be a 100 day priority.
See:https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/98090961/duncan-garner–the-accidental-pm-and-the-utopian-expectations
Yes that is the exactly the advice I would give Nzsage. We can’t have these people damaging OUR new Government and our country’s reputation yes you idiots you are damaging OUR country O but that is a bit to far forward for you to think .
I think one of OUR more experienced people from Labour or NZFirst anyone with the skills to sort them out but they need to be wise as these people can turn any shit onto you . And put on this task of bringing OUR media to HEEL as this should be a priority plan for the long term of OUR coalition Goverment. We don’t have to control our media but they need a code of conduct slapped on them . Ka pai
If it was not so funny it would make you cry over the opinions of some of the prats out there. I wrote yesterday about all the griping going on @ https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20102017/#comment-1402555 and all the things that were going to happen under Labour.
With tongue in cheek, I also added a couple of my own. I noticed that the gas had risen in price by 2c a litre and jokingly I said to my wife I should put that on the Standard saying typical Labour have not been in power 1 day and they have already put gas up by 2c
Would you believe it some twat in the opinions to the article you have quoted has written just that, here’s the quote
“Wait to inflation gets a grip. Oh it already has petrol rose 2c a litre on day 1”
Indeed NZsage. I get the feeling with all this 100 days stuff that MSM expect the new government to deliver policy that:
a) does everything the way MSM wants it to be done; and
b) completely solves all the issues within the 100 days.
This is, obviously, not possible so I fear they are setting up the new Government for failure.
Actually, I don’t remember reading in any of the parties manifestos that they will do everything in the first 100 days.
Is this the MSM snatching something from overseas and trying to apply it to the incoming government?
It will be interesting seeing hoe the government will get so many things changed, given the amount of Nat members on select committees, I wonder if they will have to resort to creating law under urgency, like national did?
Nationals damage will take up to a decade in some cases to fix.
It’s not going to be easy with this caterwauling going on top of the entrenching and bridge burning to overcome in fixing rail as one example.
To paraphrase the other WInston — it is much easier to wreck a country than it is to build it.
Committees will consist of 3 gov parties plus Nats. They will always be outnumbered.
The 100 days is for essential items of change Jacinda outlined, mentioning 1 out and 1 in through negotiations.
MSM can tie themselves in knots. Jacinda will make official announcements as and when to communicate.
She will tease Garner again, saying ‘God loves a trier’
I actually think this Government is the best fit for equal and fair changes to our systems
As if any of those neo liberal state servants try and stop Jacinda from making these changes needed Winston Peters will kick there asses to touch. And Jamie will keep the focus on OUR environment. And most of the people in OUR new Coalition Government have the same left principles they just have to have there guard up and trust no one till they no they can be trusted I.E test them first before you give them that trust Tino pai
Many thanks to Barack Obama Bill Bush and John McCain for seeing the big pitcher .
We are all human’s we all expect to be treated like humans and when this happens OUR world will truly advance for the better of everything on her OUR mother earth.
I can see that these three family’s love there country and OUR world and are fighting for a equal society . Kia Kaha
EMK
You have got the family’s mixed up..
Why would you thank any of the three you name, other than for showing who the faces are that represent the true ‘enemy’ of lifes existence..
NZ WHISTLE-BLOWER ALERT!
21 October 2017
Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana-Galizia, played a pivotal role in exposing NZ foreign trusts involvement in corrupt money-laundering – and now she’s dead.
Daphne Carauna-Galizia was blown to pieces in a car bomb assassination on 16 October 2017.
https://www.google.co.nz/amp/www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/car-bomb-killed-panama-papers-11378880.amp
Matthew Carauna-Galizia, son:
“I am never going to forget, running around the inferno in the field, trying to figure out a way to open the door, the horn of the car still blaring, screaming at two policemen who turned up with a single fire extinguisher to use it.
“They stared at me. “I’m sorry, there is nothing we can do”, one of them said.
“I looked down and there were my mother’s body parts all around me. I realised they were right, it was hopeless.
“Who is in the car?”, they asked me.
“My mother is in the car. She is dead.
She is dead because of your incompetence.”
__________________
Malta scandal exposes New Zealand trusts again
Neil Chenoweth and Susan Edmunds
April 28 2017
http://i.stuff.co.nz/business/world/91999096/malta-scandal-exposes-new-zealand-trusts-again
A Malta magistrate is investigating explosive claims of money laundering and corruption that have put New Zealand in the middle of a global cash trail from the family of Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliyev.
President Aliyev’s daughter, Leyla Aliyeva, is alleged to have channelled more than NZ$1.6 million to senior figures of the Malta government, including Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s wife.
These include alleged payments to Panama companies owned by New Zealand trusts set up by the Malta Energy Minister Karl Mizzi and Muscat’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri.
On April 20, Maltese blogger Daphne Caruana-Galizia reported that she held copies of documents originally stored in a kitchen at Pilatus Bank, which showed that Egrant Inc, a mystery Panama Papers company identified by the Financial Review last year, was secretly owned by the Maltese Prime Minister’s wife, Michelle Muscat.
In March 2016, a Dubai company controlled by Leyla Aliyeva had transferred US$1.017 million (NZ$1.47 million) marked as a loan into Egrant’s account at Pilatus Bank, Caruana-Galizia reported.
Joseph Muscat denied the claims, calling it the “biggest political lie in Malta’s history”.
Caruana-Galizia reported that other payments were made from Leyla Aliyeva’s company to Pilatus accounts held by Egrant as well as Tillgate Inc and Hearnville Inc, two Panama companies that are owned by Schembri and Mizzi, through New Zealand trusts.
Schembri and Mizzi vehemently deny Caruana-Galizia’s reports. Mizzi has produced audited accounts for his New Zealand trust which shows it as dormant with no assets or income.
LUXURY YACHTS
Muscat announced on April 20 that magistrate Aaron Buge would conduct an inquiry into the allegations.
In a controversial energy deal, the Maltese government in 2013 contracted with a consortium led by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), which has financed a string of luxury yachts and homes across the world for the Aliyev family, to build a power station and gasification plant in Malta, with SOCAR taking an 18-year contract to supply LPG to Malta.
In 2015, Malta’s auditor general questioned €14 million (NZ$22 million) lost on fuel hedging contracts that the government-owned EneMalta took with SOCAR “at ministerial direction” from Mizzi.
The latest revelations, if substantiated, are an embarrassment for the New Zealand government, which announced an inquiry into its offshore trust laws on April 11 last year, the day after the Financial Review revealed details of how Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca’s Malta agent, BT Nexia, began setting up Tillson, Hearnville and Egrant five days after Muscat’s election victory in 2013.
Mossack Fonseca’s files were obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.
New Zealand subsequently amended its offshore trusts regime, requiring foreign trusts to file annual accounts with the New Zealand tax office, but with no further restrictions.
At that time, it appeared the Malta trusts had never been used, after Mizzi and Schembri’s Panama companies were turned down by eight banks who refused to open accounts for them because they were Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).
The Panama Papers, however, show repeated cases of overseas investors filing false or implausible sets of accounts with New Zealand lawyers, who have limited means to verify the figures.
SIGNIFICANT ROLE
The latest wave of allegations in Malta underline how easily the New Zealand disclosure laws can be avoided, which the new laws do not change.
If the reports are substantiated, they raise a far more serious picture of money-laundering from one of the most corrupt countries in the world, in which New Zealand’s foreign trusts played a significant role.
The saga began in February 2016 when Caruana-Galizia revealed that Schembri and Mizzi had set up two Panama companies, Tillgate Inc and Hearnville Inc, owned by the Haast Trust and Rotorua Trust in New Zealand.
In April 2016, the Financial Review published new details of Schembri and Mizzi’s New Zealand trusts and their attempts to open a bank account in Dubai.
Mossack Fonseca’s Malta files read like a whodunnit.
…..”
RIP Daphne Carauna-Galizia.
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption whistle-blower’.
I had hopes after seeing this leaked Green policy win in the negotiations:
But thinking it through, a referendum in 2020 is 3 years away, presumably legislation would follow, so add another year or two to that.
But James Shaw just said on The Nation that they haven’t worked out whether it will be a binding referendum or not.
If not there will be a toothless referendum in three years that the following government will ignore, and if National is back then that's likely.
A disappointingly soft policy.
[formatting fixed for clarity. Link added from below. I’ve had a quick look and see we’ve discussed quoting before.
So to be very clear – either use your own words and be prepared to back up claims of fact, or, if quoting someone else, then cite. This means if you cut and paste from elsewhere you need to provide a link. If the quote is cut and paste but not publicly available (e.g. email or behind a paywall), then name the source and link where you can. If you are quoting someone from offline, then name the source (specifically not vaguely) so others can look it up.
The reasons for that are that it’s a courtesy to the source; it gives readers a chance to understand the context; and it lessens trolls’ and astroturfers’ ability to push certain lines unchallenged. Please take this as a moderation warning. – weka]
[just found the last time I moderated you on this which resulted in a 2 week ban. Next time I’ll start doubling the ban times – weka]
What’s the mechanism by which you imagine James Shaw holding a future National government to the results of a “binding” referendum, Pete?
There have been plenty of poll indications of support for drug law reform already, so I don’t know why we need referendum.
Law change is likely to be complex so a simple referendum is unlikely to address it adequately.
If we have a referendum I’d like to see legislation passed through parliament this term, sooner rather than later, then if a referendum is deemed necessary make it a binding ratification or rejection of the legislation.
Then at least we would know exactly what we are deciding on, and enables a simple yes/no referendum on something that is complex.
Probably should be a Royal Commission IMO – let all New Zealanders have their say that way, then make the recommendations binding.
Interestingly, New Zealand First was in fact pushing for a binding referendum on cannabis last year.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/83173728/NZ-First-are-on-their-own-calling-for-a-referendum-on-decriminalising-cannabis
This lead to Bradbury posting this on the Daily Blog in May this year
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/05/07/why-nz-first-is-the-only-route-to-legalising-cannabis-and-why-we-will-need-to-start-a-citizens-initiated-referendum-to-get-real-change/
So I hope that this this proposed referendum is not going to be a sticking point for the new government.
One would hope that the Greens design a referendum that would pass under the L/NZF/G govt if supported by the voters. I can’t imagine them drafting something that wasn’t acceptable to Labour or NZF, that would be daft. So is there a need for it to be binding?
Hippy!
I’m on my ph so can’t log in to moderate, but when I get home If there is no source or citation for that quote expect me to get out the bold. I’ll be looking up the last time we had this issue too.
I think it’s obvious where the quote ends.
Source Newshub:
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/10/the-greens-10-big-policy-gains.html
Also Robert Guyton:
https://yournz.org/2017/10/20/greens-ratify-agreement-with-labour/#comment-225633
Please see moderation note above.
I never thought I would do this, but I am going to support Pete George on this one in the interests of fairness – and also because I am surprised that there appears to have been no mention/discussion of this referendum on here that i could find.
That a ‘referendum on legalising the personal use of cannabis at or by the 2020 general election’ appears to be part of the policy gains for the Green Party has been the subject of many media reports and discussions on social media and other blogs for the last 24 or so hours. it has even been the subject of overseas media reports by for example the BBC.
This appears to be as a result of an informal release (aka leak) of an internal Green Party email sent out on Thurs night as part of their SGM via teleconference to decide whether to agree the C & S agreement.
The actual email has been circulating widely on social media and a copy posted by Russell Brown on Public Address can be viewed here:
https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-all-change/?p=376620#post376620
I stress that it is widely available on social media but I have used Russell’s link only because as he is very savvy as to whether or not to post such things. Russell has more in his actual post here (and there is more in the comments)
https://publicaddress.net/hardnews/all-change/
The ‘release’ of this email is also mentioned in many of the media articles and reports below on the proposed referendum:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98101382/greens-policy-grabbag-where-are-they-rousing-for-a-shakeup
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/10/the-greens-10-big-policy-gains.html
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/10/referendum-on-obsolete-cannabis-law-long-overdue-drug-foundation.html
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98081732/greens-promised-referendum-on-personal-cannabis-use
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98081802/greens-promised-referendum-on-legalising-the-personal-use-of-cannabis
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11935119
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/342008/cannabis-referendum-part-of-greens-deal
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/green-party-secure-referendum-legalising-cannabis-documents-claim
http://www.radiolive.co.nz/home/audio/2017/10/how-a-referendum-on-personal-use-of-cannabis-could-look.html
Overseas reports
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41693728
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/20/legalizing-cannabis-new-zealand-government-open-to-referendum.html
Bit over the top, but there are plenty more where those came from.
The policy gains are not the only details that appear to have been released informally – this Newshub report also speaks directly of leaks of the green ministerial roles
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/10/leak-greens-ministerial-roles-revealed.html
I am really sad to see these leaks happening as it casts a shadow over the integrity of the whole coalition/C & S arrangements.
Thanks, will have a look at the links later.
My comment to Pete was simply about him not providing a reference for his quote. He’s not the only one that does it, but he’s been warned before.
“This appears to be as a result of an informal release (aka leak) of an internal Green Party email sent out on Thurs night as part of their SGM via teleconference to decide whether to agree the C & S agreement.”
That’s the ‘leak’? No, it’s not a leak. It wasn’t an internal email, it was an email sent to the full membership (I got a copy). Emails of that kind aren’t private or confidential and members are free to share the content.
The email wasn’t part of the SGM, it was an email to the full membership after the decision had been reached (and, from memory, announced).
Matthew Whitehead, an active member who afaik wasn’t involved in the SGM posted some of it on TS on Thurs night. I put a copy of part of it in a post on Thurs night, again, after the SGM had made a decision and this had been announced,
https://thestandard.org.nz/james-shaw-this-is-an-historic-moment/
As for Shub, honestly, I can’t be bothered looking at what’s happened there and am quite happy to believe they’re shit stirring calling it a ‘leak’ unless proven otherwise.
“I am really sad to see these leaks happening as it casts a shadow over the integrity of the whole coalition/C & S arrangements.”
I think it’s premature to be thinking anything bad has happened. All three parties seem to have taken trouble to be both as transparent as they can be, and to not overstep the bounds because one of the other parties needs time to finish due process.
So Shaw talked on Thurs night about being able to release small amounts of detail e.g. what went to the membership in the email, but not being able to say things like who would be in what positions because Labour still needed to work through that. He reassured the membership that good ground had been gained on key areas, and this was confirmed in the email. It’s inconceivable that the intention was for that email to remain confidential given that there will be journalists who are members of the GP.
Leaked by whom, I wonder …. seems to me to be a bit of Post truth to both undermine, and colour the Greens as … kakariki, together with the coalition….
More Dirty Shit to Come!
Shaw also stated (on the Nation today) that binding referendums go against Green Party policy.
So it doesn’t look like they (the Greens) will be supporting holding a binding referendum.
If it is a referendum initiated by the government then it is a binding referendum. Of course the government is still free in their in interpretation of that referendum but even National won’t be able to reneg on it.
The question is, if it’s a Green Party initiated referendum, will it be considered a Government initiated referendum? Technically, the Greens aren’t the Government.
George W Bush gives a speech, and it really quite good. How much is the world up side down? One line from Bush in particular, is stunning.
Here highlights from Young Turks. With commentary about republican leadership issues.
Jonathan Pie on Trump.
+10000000
A few days ago Wayne Mapp was relying on OECD figures to back his view about how great the economy is under National. Lots of growth… would like his comment on the following given it shows growing GDP hasnt solved this problem…
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/07/nz-s-homelessness-the-worst-in-oecd-by-far.html
So Tracey, if you follow the link from the magazine that it came from you may gain a balanced view on what it’s point is. In fact the main title of the article is this;
“As Cities Grow Worldwide, So Do the Numbers of Homeless.
Homelessness is more visible and varying definitions prevent global comparisons; experts debate if the problem is even solvable.”
Experts, and there is the problem. Experts has turned into code for – look our ideological agenda can be hidden behind this vernier of knowledge.
So Rob will you be out supporting eugenics next? That was a movement full of experts – waxing lyrical about the state of the world.
adam , “do I support eugenics”, pffffft. How do you get that from my sentence.
Do I sit around and wax lyrical about the state of the world. I think there is more than enough people on this site who do that day in / day out.
adam , I just followed Traceys link back to the original core article that NewsHub commented on. The point I was making is that if you actually read it & it is interesting , its not as supportive to Traceys anti Nat Govt argument as she has been making out.
You misunderstood my point. Read below.
Rob, Wayne suggests that when the OECD ranks us highly it means the govt is great.He does not delve deeper nor observe IMF pronouncements that counter his world view.
By Waynes logic, the reverse must, ipso facto, mean the govt is bad. It is Wayne making simplistic conclusions, not me.
I know that nothing is as simple as it seems.
Whenever the meme “What a wonderful economy we have – just look at the growth rate!” rears its ugly head, one has always to ask the question – “But what is the economy for?”
A countries economy is not an end in itself – it is only a means to an end.
If the one boasting about the wondrous economy cannot say what this wonderful thing is for, then it is just as useless as the wonderful toy that the singer got when he was a boy. It went whizz when it moved, bopped when it stopped, and whirred when it stood still – he never knew just what it was, and I guess they never will.
The thing is, to worship a means, and not seek the end, is simply idolatry. If the means is not delivering the end, then no matter how wonderful you might think it is – it is useless.
So what is the economy for, anyway?
I would answer this question thus:
“The role of the economy is to deliver the most good, to the most people, over the longest time” If it does not do that, then it is a failing economy.
The rate of growth may or may not be a useful indicator but only over a short term – take for instance the lack of clean water supplies in Puerto Rico following the Hurricane. One month later only 2/3 of the population have access to potable water.
This is a slow rate of growth on the provision of a vital human need. But money is pouring into this “Island in an ocean .. a very big ocean” to use the words of Trump at a astonishing rate. ie over the past month the GDP of Puerto Rico would have been off the scale – but just how effective has it been?
Jacinda Ardern on The Nation this weekend according to Newshub:
Oh how the Nat shills will be spinning on the spot….. hope this kind of narrative can be kept up, and that more mainstreamers really begin to take note of the failures of capitalism, and the need for change.
Thank you Macro. That is sensible and sound. We need to measure how our actions help or hinder people’s lives.
Many equate the word economy with money and forget “management of resources”
Great piece macro but I would add to your definition. It must be measured by how it caters for its vulnerable who have a right to thrive not just survive
Interestingly around 4000 years ago someone inscribed a piece of wisdom on a clay tablet that has survived until today. I’m afraid I cannot find a link to this because I found this in a book some years back, and it is something that has not been digitized as far as I know.
Anyway the ancient sage wrote something like this:
” The greatness of a king will be judged not on the strength of his armies, but on the way he treats the most vulnerable of his subjects.”
There have been others to whom this sentiment has been attributed, but as far as I know the Babylonian clay tablet is the first expression. And this from what could be considered the cradle of civilization.
Thanks for this. I have long thought that to label ourselves civilised while simultaneously running down health, education and leaving the disabled to less than subsistence makes us barbarians
The concept of Gross National Happiness has its drawbacks – but is still worthy of consideration.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness
This mornings The Nation,what delight to see and hear from a true face of compassion, our new vibrant exiting Prime Minister,hope again is in the air optimism and a better future for families and those in need,how exiting.
Ardern stepped up into the leadership role exceptionally well in August, then lost a bit of ground when campaign weariness and lack of breadth and depth of policy became obvious.
But she has stepped up further coming out of the negotiations. One notable thing she indicated in The Nation interview was she says she has stood her ground against Winston on immigration, retaining Labour’s position on it.
It’s a long way to go for her but she generally looks very impressive. Not many successfully rise above hope and ambition to be a successful political leader, but so far she looks very capable.
Minor quibbles – too much over the top language, especially ‘absolutely’, and while she sounded natural when she first became leader she is starting to sound like she is reciting written language rather than talking naturally. She’s likely to sort that out as she goes.
You probably dont mean to but this comes across as slightly patronising. From what basis do you make these observations? What is your experience I mean.
Ardern: capitalism a ‘blatant failure’ for poor children of New Zealand
“If you have hundreds of thousands of children living in homes without enough to survive, that’s a blatant failure. What else could you describe it as?”
Ardern was speaking on TV3 show The Nation.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11935456
It will be interesting to see who gets all the jobs at the various SOE and quango boards under the new govt.
Dear oh dear oh dear,
It looks like dear Claire Robinson is pissed off she was wrong.
She’s doing a lot of projection from National and placing it at the door of Labour and NZ First. Couched in academic-ese, her petulance and anger is plain to see.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/342071/labour-nz-first-govt-how-did-it-get-to-this
RW sycophant spits dummy
That’s a piece written by somebody whose (intellectual) world has been rocked because “NZ First has challenged the established business model” [my bold] and her “innovation lens” was out of focus. Robinson seems to be oblivious to the fact that all her (academic) tools & models are just that. Robinson also appears to be at the second of five stages of grief: anger.
I can only hope that Robinson and many other ‘experts’ will find themselves outwitted and wrong-footed many times as a result of real change rather than the having to endure a “modified status quo” that Robinson seems to pine for.
“I can only hope that Robinson and many other ‘experts’ will find themselves outwitted and wrong-footed many times as a result of real change rather than the having to endure a “modified status quo” that Robinson seems to pine for.”
That’s exactly what she’s afraid of!
Well, of course this is the woman who was telling us just a week or so ago that Ardern and Labour must be “gutted” at the Specials result…
Who’s checked out the latest rant from Richard Prebble? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11935125
He’s trying to tell us that Ardern is just a puppet to Peters, who has “stolen” the election – comparing it to a coup, and that the result is undemocratic (no surprises there). He also says “I blame Bill English for this debacle. He ran a great First Past the Post campaign – and a losing MMP campaign.” This comment is fair enough, maybe, but how does it compare with this one, from his last piece (on September 21st): “Bill has run a mistake-free campaign but he took too long to attack Labour’s tax policy”? Let’s forget that it can’t be mistake-free if there’s a “but” coming up and focus on the fact that before the final result was known our friend Richard thought Bill E had run a great campaign and now he thinks it was a debacle. Which was it, Richard? And why no mention of the campaign manager, Stephen Joyce? Thos two decided together to run a “take ’em all out” campaign, and were perfectly prepared to tell lies and countenance leaking of personal information as part of the strategy.
Doesn’t look too smart now, does it? All those blue joggers running off to the opposition benches, still alone and monochromatic.
I’ve not an ounce of empathy for them because they conducted themselves so dishonestly and – dare I say it – corruptly over the last 9 years. Yet their supporters turned a blind eye to it all and continue to turn a blind eye. Did Labour and the Greens respond with such venom when they were ousted in 2008? No. They did not. They were just as disappointed of course – and particularly with the blatant lies and the innuendo during the campaign – but they were all gracious in defeat and continued to be gracious in defeat for the next two elections.
When Labour lost in 2008, a disabled man in Wellington was so frightened by the news that he rang the police. This was reported, as I remember it, with wry amusement. This time around, the howls are all about a perceived threat to the privilege and licence enjoyed by the well- heeled, that expanded exponentially under John Key.
I never heard about that incident but it is a profoundly story. He might have been disabled but he clearly sensed there would be a gradual removal of the support and assistance he – and others in his situation desperately needed and my goodness… how right he was.
Some of the letters to the editor in today’s Herald are simply appalling in their venality. I will see if can find an online link…
No. They’re not currently publishing letters online. They used to, because I recall linking to one or two in the past.
Edit: my first reply should read “profoundly sad story…”
Having majors with my pc at moment.
I haven’t seen today’s Herald, but members of my family have told me some of the vile comments they have seen and heard. National, under Key, certainly unleashed a nasty streak in certain quarters, and it is still hanging around although he has moved on.
What was that Blog he used..?
ACT people do have some knowledge of puppetry… but there seems to be so much writing from a perspective of;
This is how I behave so others must be the same.
“Business model”, “innovation lens”.
Lol. If Robinson swims in the shallow pool of business language she will never understand the real world. It’s desperate and incoherent drivel.
Worked for some years with CR. Epitomises the careerist academic. Vain, devoid of anything resembling humour or humility, and not at all an empathic, insightful or imaginative person. Made up for those deficiencies in ambition, realised that riding the coattails of the powerful and repeating their jargon back at them would serve that. Seeing her turn this bitter when she embarrasses herself is no surprise.
… and unfortunately, far from the worst that Massey has. The place is a menagerie of malice and stupidity.
Well said @Rhino.
And, as I watched “the sage” Lisa Owen this morning interviewing both JA and JS, I was mindful of dearest Clair Robinson.
I thought both would benefit from a listen to this – let alone a few others:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018618291/audit-culture-the-creeping-problem-of-our-age
Even RNZ’s regular gal with the balanced portfolio and work-life equilibrium (going forward) seems to have recognised things can’t continue as they are – I think she began to realise a year or 18 months ago.
(btw – for those prepared to jump on the ‘dearest’, and ‘regular gal’ remarks above – it was said with the same intent as is common by Garners, Richardsons and many other gNats in the media and those in the political class sweetie. shorthand: /sarc
An increasing number of academics behave this way due to the great ideological culls ratchetted up under Joyce. Academic integrity sold to the highest bidders
Interesting. How does she get on with Maharey?
Fortunately only on the site temporarily!
Disappeared within the hour, (An attempt at Balance perhaps) despite the offence!
The shocking collapse of insect populations hints at a global ecological meltdown
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/20/insectageddon-farming-catastrophe-climate-breakdown-insect-populations
This is the important stuff.
Any chance we cold have a thread based on this article by George Monbiot?
Here are some excerpts…..
‘Which of these would you name as the world’s most pressing environmental issue? Climate breakdown, air pollution, water loss, plastic waste or urban expansion? My answer is none of the above. Almost incredibly, I believe that climate breakdown takes third place, behind two issues that receive only a fraction of the attention.
This is not to downgrade the danger presented by global heating – on the contrary, it presents an existential threat. It is simply that I have come to realise that two other issues have such huge and immediate impacts that they push even this great predicament into third place.
One is industrial fishing, which, all over the blue planet, is now causing systemic ecological collapse. The other is the erasure of non-human life from the land by farming.
Some information from his article…
‘A study published this week in the journal Plos One reveals that flying insects surveyed on nature reserves in Germany have declined by 76% in 27 years.‘
One study in Britain suggests that, if we stopped using animal products, everyone in Britain could be fed on just 3m of our 18.5m hectares of current farmland (or on 7m hectares if all our farming were organic).
A recent study in Nature Plants reveals that most farms would increase production if they cut their use of pesticides
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, at current rates of soil loss, driven largely by poor farming practice, we have just 60 years of harvests left.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/20/insectageddon-farming-catastrophe-climate-breakdown-insect-populations
Convert quickly to broad-scale, managed woodland forest gardens.
Edit: very quickly!
And how does this happen quickly?
Can’t be just personal responsibility.
https://twitter.com/GlobalFishWatch
Dame Anne Salmond: A new start for NZ
‘Over the past 33 years, the neo-liberal idea of a ‘free market’ ruled by naked self-interest has led to radical disparities of wealth and privilege, and an erosion of care for others and our beautiful land.
It has also undermined democratic institutions in New Zealand. Elections are seen as a Darwinian contest among political parties, in which the winners and their supporters take all, while the losers are shafted.
The independence of the civil service has been corroded, with chief executives who kowtow to their ministers, rather than serving the public interest. Government bodies are stacked with political cronies, while lobby groups dominate much decision-making.
In New Zealand, it is not just our waterways that have turned toxic as a result of greedy, self-interested politics. This is the real challenge for the new government – to clean up and restore life to our democracy, as well as to rivers and lakes across the land.‘
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/10/19/54722/dame-anne-salmond-a-new-start-for-nz
And the free market has not ruled in its entirety. When the free market dictates that skill shortages = higher wages those industries turned to the govt and immigration to circumvent free market and keep wages down.
Oh yes. Regulation is very useful, when applied in the “Right” way.
That’s correct, as Ardern and Peters have stated, capitalism can be made to work for the people through “REGULATION”, something sadly missing in most countries today, preferring market driven outcomes which have been distorted by MONOPOLISATION.
There is considerable backlash on social media by those who now don’t like MMP and how it delivers democracy, still pushing moral right and how they had 44.5% of the vote, but it appears they’re not quite intelligent enough to work out that 55% is actually a majority and MMP stands for “Mixed Member Proportional” representation, still living in the FPP days, even after requiring the support of Dunne, ACT and the Maori Party for there previous Governments.
One of the articles goes:
92.8% didn’t vote for NZF
93.7% didn’t vote for the Greens
63.1% didn’t vote for Labour
And when you add that up??
And then there’s this one
Breaking news
All Blacks lose Rugby world Championship as
Aus, SA and Argentina combine their points and become coalition winners!
I have NO sympathy for any of them, just bad LOSERS
I’ve got some figures too:
55.6% didn’t vote for the Nats
99.5% didn’t vote for Act.
99.9% didn’t vote for UF
99% didn’t vote for MP
And since it’s leader indicated he would go with the Nats;
97.6% didn’t vote for Top.
If they want to go down that road, its a much more damming outcome for the Right.
Anne
These people only like democracy when they win, but it’s not working properly when they lose.
🙂
They had it so damm good for so long. All that power and prestige fed down the line to the henchmen and henchwomen from those at the top and suddenly… its gone. No wonder Mike Hoskings went berserk. They’ll be demanding a change of name for Labour Weekend next.
The thing is, to further complete the analogy, the All Blacks were playing in a different competition. They were playing in the Federation of Past Players, under the old rules, and the other three were competing for the Modern Mixed Players cup. Guess who won the MMP Cup?
Good one!!
Who gives a shit anyway. If National was in the same position they would have done it. And they know it.
Some times you need a coup. This was the coup we needed — a second October Revolution.
When you play the Game of Thrones, you play to win. Jacinda did iust that. Power was sitting right in front of her, and all she had to do was take it. She took it alright, outflanking National in the process. Completely within the rules.
The intent is to delegitimise the expression of a majority of voters and paint as palpable high morality the expression of a minority of voters. This is a seminal fight for democracy.
I agree, also I think, venting disatisfaction