Tracey Watkins gives her view, that the row between the two camps is just is not about politics. She is of the view that the dispute is all about the perceived performance of the two leaders rather than any major political difference.
The Labour caucus row is about performance, rather than policy.
While David Cunliffe has become the poster boy for the Labour Left, there are no obvious policy differences between him and leader David Shearer.
They both agree on big-ticket policies like the retirement age, capital gains tax, and monetary policy.
TRACEY WATKINS
In my view Watkins is wrong, performance is based on politics, one has got something to say, and one hasn’t.
Watkins left out one major policy difference between the two.
And it is the defining issue of our age.
David Cunliffe is the only parliamentary political leader to take Climate Change seriously. And he is being punished for it.
Even the Greens have given up talking about climate change, on the grounds that it will make them appear too radical and cost them seats. Also so as not to embarrass their future coalition partner, the current leadership of which, seem dead set on Ignoring Climate Change altogether.
This is a worldwide crisis but internationally most mainstream politicians have chosen if the can to put it in the too hard basket. Shearer is one of those. His deliberate ignoring of this issue is painful to witness. Instead he is moved to punish Cunliffe who openly faces the issue his honest appraisal of the threat is a spur to the opposition parties and the leader of the Labour Party opposition top make a stand..
I hope that David Cunliffe is not intimidated by the events of yesterday and continues to speak up on this and other issues.
People are not all about to vote for the left wing of the Labour party. Labour like National likes not having to lean on other parties for a mandate. So it seems entirely predictable in Feb next year that the party will back Shearer. Most people who might switch to Labour aren’t going to just throw their neo-liberal memes off as quickly as you hope. It takes time for people to change.
And good on Cunliffe for boosting his leaders standing, giving him a victory, and providing kiwis with a opportunity of putting meat on the bone so to speak.
What a load of old right wing rubbish. Shearer is a gonner as you will see. the fool cant string 2 sentences together unless he’s had a week to practice.
1. You make speeches with tacit but heavily coded inferences that if they made you the leader, you would introduce kick-butt policies that the incumbent is too gutless/politically unsound/incompetent to contemplate – carefully omitting specifics.
2. You tickle up edginess among the many anxious party supporters who are panicking at what they perceive is a lack of progress in the party’s profile and poll fortunes.
3. You agree to a live TV interview on the morning of the party’s annual conference debate about the rules for electing the leader at which you conspicuously avoid expressing support for the leader.
4. You do nothing to dispel the inference that dissatisfaction with the leadership, and an appetite for your ascendancy, is a big factor in the conference making sweeping constitutional changes about the leader’s election which appear to put a banana skin under the current leader’s foot.
5. You spend the conference wearing a smile that could power the California grid.
Smiling is now a crime!!! Is this schoolgirl gossip the best one of our senior political journo’s can come up with? This isn’t evidence; it’s inference and speculation fed to her by Mallard. (Direct and in person I’m led to understand.)
And who is Shane Jones, stepper-in on other people’s portfolios to talk about whares and huhu grubs and team players? When is he going to be disciplined for his comments on fisheries and reserves…
I guess with the gleeful dissing of Cunliffe means he’ll be back on the front bench in the reshuffle.
Yes, smiling is a fucking crime now. You’re not allowed to look happy or you’re plotting to overthrow the leadership.
You must remain determinedly po-faced throughout a great historic moment for Labour, modernising the party in the most significant set of constitutional changes in thirty years.
Dirty rotten little coupmakers. You can always tell them by the weird upturn of their mouths and the flash of white teeth that tells you they are planning espionage.
So Labour’s serial leaker strikes again. Details of what happened in yesterday’s Caucus meeting have been leaked to the Herald and the spin is obviously anti Cunliffe.
So Cunliffe’s freedom of Speech is removed by David Shearer “The Somali War Lord” really I would have thought under the bill of rights that a person any person had a right to ohh I dunno free speech’ wonder what the UN would think about it?
Well, is it not totally reasonable to get Trevett to reveal who it is she is quoting when she says an mp cescribed the dressing down as “sobering”. I mean that take is in quote marks, which means it isn’t ‘off the record’, no?
And on Edward’s piece, I agree that seeking mp’s intention on a future secret ballot is (constitutional matters aside) utter bullshit. That thing called democracy, you know, where mp’s are bound by the democratic will of their members – means it’s impossible for any democractically minded mp to say. That was, quite rightly in my opinion, Sue Moroney’s response when asked by the media which way she would vote in Feb.
edit: Besides all that, I think it’s time to focus on the hand within the (to be discarded by and by) glove puppet from here on in.
Who is lying here ? From MS’s NZ Herald link
“He later said he was not able to comment because caucus had decided that only Mr Shearer would speak on the matter.”
So how did the NZH hear about the goings on in caucus ? Either Shearer is the deep throat or someone is acting without following instructions. Do as I say not as I do !!!! Agreed with you Karol. I bet there will be no investigation done as to the source of the leak, and approp. action taken.
For an egalitarian party there appears to be “princeps civitatis”
Not sure who is the under performer of the following: Labour, National or the NZ cricket team. From what I have seen it is not NZC 🙁
Anyone else notice Joky Hen’s choice of shirt at his “Heads of state conference”. Was he trying to convince us all that his quip about shirt colour was just, you know, “weird.” Or was he wearing that shocking pink shirt so that he would stand out amongst the throng? Perhaps his family told him to wear it. Just wondering
An interesting and measured contribution from Greg Presland on RNZ a few minutes ago. Cunliffe’s LEC is considering a formal complaint about the treatment of Cunliffe over the last few days. Not so much the demotion (there was an acceptance that the leader has the right to pick his team), but the underhanded leaks and the public dissing from the likes of Hipkins, which, on the face of it, were more damaging to the party than Cunliffe’s cheesy grin could possibly do.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 6.1
I heard some guy just about in tears going in to bat for Cunliffe then immediately after Brent Edwards saying that this guy was actually one of Cunliffes smear merchants in the run up to the disastrous coup.
It was on Morning report. And in order not to offend you, will re post in order to make it easier for you to read.
Oh, that’s who that was.
I heard a man in an interview on National Radio this morning strongly in support of Cunliffe. This man sounded like he was on the verge of tears.
Immediately after the article, Brent Edwards presented a piece which included reference to the previous interviewee being one of Cunliffes smear merchants in the run up to the disastrous coup.
How is the Labour Party membership supposed to give feedback to their local Labour MP on what has happened when we are all being kept in the dark? And DC and in fact the whole of caucus has been gagged?
Looks like the NZLP has opted for a Singapore Style Democracy. Lee Kuan Yew would be proud.
I gave my feedback about the process directly to Shearer (well, his PA) through the ‘contact us’ message option on the Labour Party website. Felt good, it did… I must send the same to my local MP – Grant Robertson – that will feel good too, I reckon.
R0b, the link you put above seems to loop directly back to the comment above that, where LP states I am on a ban, which was news to me. Generally I don’t lower the tone to “pointless abuse”, it serves no purpse, but my comments do attract some, which is water off a ducks back really.
I would accept that sometimes I a flippant with words, but “pointless abuse” is something I won’t lower myself to.
Would be good to understand where the “ban” originates from, and who issued it.
Sick of crappy search results? I just discovered Duck Duck Go which means search results are not personalised. (Yes….I do sound like an ad don’t I? The last few months have been searching hell for me dispite using ixquick, etc and Google results are so bad that I can’t find what I’m looking for sometimes unless I type the site directly into the search bar – how is that possible? Google is crap, that’s how.)
Thanks, will check it out. Google just goes from bad to worse. At the moment it returns multiple hits from the same site all in a row (sometimes taking up nearly all of the page). Can I turn that off somehow? And their new menu system means many more clicks to get what I want 🙄
Are the results different to the ones you get on google if you turn off their advertising, disable cookies and block tracking using tools provided by google? I don’t know, I’ll give it a try.
Result: yes they are. A far broader understanding of any particular search than offered on google, even with all the winkies turned off.
I think I might give that a go. Usually what I had to do on google was to search something then immediately click to page ten to find the interesting stuff.
Israel-Palestine – what is the U.S. national interest?
Posted November 20, 2012
By RALPH NADER
Israeli elections are coming up in January so it is Palestinian hunting season again. Israeli cynics call it a time “for mowing the grass.”
Out comes the well-worn playbook by Israel’s militaristic government that has worked to silence Israeli politicians and citizens who want a two-state solution. This is an opportunity to use and test advanced weaponry from the U.S., compliments of U.S. taxpayers, and squelch ongoing peace efforts, small and large, by Palestinians, Israelis and international peace advocates.
The playbook’s first chapter is provocation to upset a tense but workable truce with Hamas, the elected government of Gaza. Hamas was encouraged at its creation years ago by both Israeli and U.S. backers to counter the secular Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Bit of a blowback there.
Israeli government leaders are expert provocateurs when they wish to seize land, water or prisoners and upset any movement toward a peace that would create a viable Palestinian state back to the 1967 borders, which includes East Jerusalem. When Israel came into being in 1948, it soon broke a UN truce and doubled its territory by taking the large area known as the Negev desert, whose refugees ended up in the Gaza Strip. Now 1.6 million encircled and impoverished humans, blockaded and under siege by Israel, try to survive in an open-air prison little more than twice the size of the District of Columbia.
and to Britain France et al, when sitting on the Security Council of the UN an abstention is tacit agreement with the veto threat that provoked each and every abstention
In the UN, toast always falls butter side up for some
UNSC have further protracted their dithering by announcing the issue is to be discussed again in another meeting tomorrow. At this rate Gaza will be empty of living people before they decide to tell the truth. Like East Timor, Like Cambodia, Like Rwanda, genocide is a business and business keeps their gravytrain rolling. Maybe if the UNSC moved the meeting to Gaza, or to TelAviv, they would show a little urgency, a little humanity.
The Four Horsemen of the Economic Apocalypse
was watching Max Keiser on RT; he is one funny dude, anyway, there is an indie film about the above topic and Max was interviewing Ross Ashcroft of renegadeeconomist.com about the film;
-rapacious financial system
-escalating organised violence
-environmental resource degradation
-poverty of the billions (there are those pesky “billions” of people again)
Root cause-Neoclassical Economics
Time, to change cognitive maps
helpful antidote to rampant capitalism-The Co-operative (with a little peer-to-peer crowd funding)
support Debt Jubilee initiatives
(re sovereign debt; Max reported on how an Argentinian naval ship is being held by a hedge fund) 🙂
“this is not a love song…this is not a love song…may the road rise with you…may the road rise with you
I could be wrong…I could be right..Anger is an energy…Anger is an energy” Public Image Public Image
The search lags. It runs sphinxsearch on a cron job about 3 or 4 times per hour to pick up the delta’s. Now I have more headroom on the CPU I should look at increasing it again.
That may be what you are seeing. I’ll tag it for checking.
NZ population growth stalls, as more young skilled take up residence in Australia, and start growing the next generation of Kiwis. Offspring will either be so Australianized and won’t be connected to NZ, or worse will get criminal records and be sent packing back to NZ. So essentially Key’s and NZ policy is to grow Australian success stories, and take the also-rans back. Imaginative hey.
So we get the harder to deal with returning, who have been brought up Australian, who if they are successful, turn around their lives, get a degree with government loans, start a business even, who will jump back over the ditch at the first opportunity. Only the worst or the worst, stopped from ever returning, will pile up here, those with criminal records, with poor educational acheivements, etc.
But worse! The new kiwis citizens who know nothing of their homeland, will be educated to support the Australian economy needs, not the NZ, taught Australia history, skilled to build a deepening and wide economic base, and our kids in NZ will continue to be plagued by education politics.
here is one TPP article full of those pesky fact thingys that you won’t see in the local papers
“participants in the negotiations had to sign a memorandum of understanding which forbids them from releasing any “negotiating documents until four years after a deal is done or abandoned.”
Oops! Hey Lynn, (or another mod) I seem to have approved a ‘comment’ that wasn’t actually a comment that’s now come up on the comments sidebar. Don’t know what to do with it now. Meaning…don’t want to touch in case all sort of wierd and (not so) wonderful stuff starts to happen. Bloody phobia!
these links to topical articles on allied blogs are really helpful; we are not alone
anyway,
Herald
-health delivery delays
-insurance companies are gonna just love the predictive / actuarial potential of these telomere tests
-many Islamic activist groups in Syria do not support the “official” opposition grouping supported by the West
-another truck and trailer falls over
-Tolkein family interests place a line in the sand over inappropriate commercialisation
-wow, there sure is a demand for easy access sex at Hunters Corner
(used to be an excellent Indian restaurant on the road leaving Papatoetoe towards the eastern suburbs, and when one is a single man (or not, as I learn of all the married local Harley club guys hitting the knock-shops as soon as they are away out of town) ya just wanna stick ya dick in something sometimes)
On the back of bad publicity concerning the mistreatment of animals comes more bad news for the makers of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey movie just days out from its premiere at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington…
So tell me if I have read the postings wrongly.
The majority of posters here now hate Shearer and would rather see John Key win in 2014 than have the Quisling Shearer bring in a National- lite coalition government for 3 years?
If this premise is correct then the sole focus should be on kneecapping Shearer either before or after the election.
If Shearer loses in 2014 then he would be gone.
If Shearer wins in 2014 then he will stay.
If you cannot kneecap Shearer before election 2014 then you have to work to ensure that he loses.
Will we see embittered Leftists not simply transferring their vote to Green or Mana but strategically biting the bullet and voting National for once only.
I can’t speak for everyone else, but I don’t dislike Shearer, I just dislike how unelectable and incompetent he is.
Will we see embittered Leftists not simply transferring their vote to Green or Mana but strategically biting the bullet and voting National for once only.
WTF? You been smoking crack? Are you asking if lefties would rather vote for a party that would pull Labour into the direction that they think Labour should be heading in, or, vote for National?
Ask google about MMP
How about some focus now on the BIG issues folks? 🙂
Like the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations which will be starting here in Auckland on 3 December 2012 – 12 December 2012?
What are Labour stalwarts doing on THIS issue?
Hopefully THOUSANDS of you will want the opportunity to show your opposition to the ‘pro-investor’ /’anti-public majority’ Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement?
(What sort of ‘partnership’ – excludes the public?
Why is the TPPA so ‘top secret’?)
Here you go!
SIGN ON HERE FOLKS TO SHOW YOUR OPPOSITION TO THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT! (TPPA)
MY COMMENT:
What’s good for big business it not usually good for the public majority.
The neo-liberal reforms have proven that FREE TRADE = PRIVATISATION.
Arguably the root cause of corruption is privatisation – how is it decided who gets the contracts?
Where’s the corruption-risk assessment of ‘Free Trade Agreements’ such as the TPPA?
(Haven’t been provided with any reply from MFAT on that question…… first asked it back in 2010 – at the last round of TPPA negotiations held in NZ).
Where is is the ‘cost-benefit analysis’ which proves that the private provision of public services is a more ‘cost-effective’ use of tax-payer and ratepayer monies, compared with when those services used to be provided ‘in-house’ at central and local government level?
How much public monies could be saved by CUTTING OUT THE CONTRACTORS (especially private consultants)?
I been wondering how many journalism and /or politics students and faculty read and write here.
There sure are some clever writers and analysts.stream of consciousnes teccnique may be effective and adopted by those possessing consciousness
The link to Gavin Ellis demonstrated his scholarship in propaganda; he would have adopted technique through study and would know about the sinful nature of man and hedonistic versus ethical decisions.
I have a small gardening job for the owner of my rental caravan tomorow. See, man writes about gardening and it happens, like The Death of God.
The local paper reported on the large number of local people living in caravans or inadequate housing.
Very compassionate of them. The editor is also a shill for the real estate industry.
Yet, in the letters to the editor they publish some very critical analyses of salient issues like the NZIER
proposal to increase the New Zealand population to 11M and the implications for the environment and resource use versus foreign export earnings.
the experience of “bipolarity” is both un-nerving and predictable but it can get a person in a lotta trouble until they understand it. (reading Lord of The Rings compulsively in the loo during apprenticeship and going to the gym before and after work on the big motorbike vroom vroom)
This “civics” proposal is interesting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civics
and this entry is interesting
yet I challenge the critics employment of the Aristotle assertion and the three freedoms.
recur the telos back into the sphere and maybe we will see a “kingdom on earth” or do we await our young people ending up in institutions, jail or dead.
Capitalist economic-rationalisation propaganda takes care of “freedom of choice” “freedom of action” and “freedom to” suffer.
May be Confuscianism with a little Taoist leaning to the side while squeaking some decentralization through in a successful Left-bloc government.
The landlord, a self-employed man supporting his family comparitively comfortably, understood that people are aware of economic and climate implications yet they continue to walk into events.
“Conditioned” was his word.
AA is not for every one pointy one; long way round
Consider work, shopping, adrenaline consider new memories consider forgiveness
Great to hear of people digging up their lawn and planting veges. I have done it at few dwellings over recent years.I worked in the produce department of the local supermarket that came out the most expensive in recent nationwide survey; anecdotal support for how they screw the growers on price for access and then mark-up %%%%% sometimes.
Pak N Save are also local, have very friendly staff and often have fresh brocoli and other vegetables at reasonable prices.
An increasing amount of authorities are advising us of how much is determined;
freedom within determinism was how the issue of free-will has been considered;
plenty of nested
hierarchies
within
Evolutionary Biology (big thanks to Hamilton,Cosmides and Toomey)
A Little lightness ,away from the daily worries .
Who will be the man of the year? My choice a toss up,between Bernie Monk and Dr Lance O’Sullivan. . Woman of the year Helen Kelly . hands down !
A Little lightness ,away from the daily worries .
Who will be the man of the year? My choice a toss up,between Bernie Monk and Dr Lance O’Sullivan. . Woman of the year Helen Kelly . hands down !
“Roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news”…
The NZLP is now a tertiary party not the sole opposition. So, pull your heads in. 30 years almost of neo liberalism is way too many. Jobs Jolt? Middle class WFF but not for bennies?
As a late 50s guy my partner tells me I am out of touch with where modern kiwis are at, heh, where is that though? Flat Screen Frenzy? Precarious minimum wage jobs you are meant to be grateful for?
I still do not trust most dudes in suits, which ever one it is, end of.
cool.
how ruthless are the beverage companies. Went for a carbonated soft-drink after the lawns
Seven tall fridges, some double, in the superette and not a drink that did not have sugar or caffeine in it
if sugar-free, they had caffeine. very few sugar-free options.ruthless
Has anyone seen the story on, ‘no right turn’ concerning John Banks, apparantley he has a
shareholding in Talent2 through a trust, he is also associate minister of education, (sorry
can’t link it),this is the same crowd responsible for novapay.
I’ve said for awhile that selling Telecom is the perfect example of the dead weight loss of profit. Well, The Greens went and put the real figures on it.:
Dividends lost due to sale in 2011$millions: 16826
So, if private business is so efficient and provides what the community needs without intervention then WTF are we paying Telecom another billion or so to put in place the network that they should have put in place with the ~$17b in dividends that they took from us?
C’mon DtB you know why we’re gifting them another billion, why pay for it yourself when you can get the taxpayer to pay for you to increase your profits.
The Greens need to pretty that data table up and get it out there.
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TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Photo by Jari Hytönen on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
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. ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Next week the government will again next try to get its legislation through to deal with non-citizens who won’t cooperate with efforts to deport them. The bill, which the opposition and crossbench refused to rush ...
A long-term project that will set out an alternative vision for Aotearoa that looks beyond the narrow confines of the policy straight jacket adopted by successive governments. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bree Hurst, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Law, QUT, Queensland University of Technology TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock A much-awaited report into Coles and Woolworths has found what many customers have long believed – Australia’s big supermarkets engage in price gouging. What started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Ghezelbash, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney The Albanese government wanted to avoid an inquiry into its migration amendment bill. The report, handed down yesterday by a senate committee that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne Lobbying is at the heart of government. Who has access to and influence over key government officials shapes the decisions governments make – and how they make them. The ability to influence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myfany Turpin, Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology, Linguistics and Ethnobiology, University of Sydney The act representing Australia at this year’s Eurovision contest has sadly not qualified for the grand final. Yet for Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross, the duo that makes up Electric Fields, ...
In announcing changes to the school lunches programme, David Seymour said kids would no longer be served ‘woke’ foods. To clear up any confusion, The Spinoff has compiled a guide to the wokeness levels of some common food items. Apple = NOT WOKE Avocado = WOKE Avocado, smashed = EVEN ...
The Minister Responsible for GCSB and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security have been notified of this review, and have been provided a finalised Terms of Reference. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Minglu Chen, Senior Lecturer, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney Robert Way/Shutterstock As the past few years have illustrated so clearly, the Australia-China relationship is complicated. As such, it is crucial for Australians to develop a more nuanced understanding of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mariana Campbell, Research Lecturer, Conservation, Charles Darwin University Marilyn Connell Australian freshwater turtles are facing an alarming trend. Almost half of these species are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. The Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus) is one of Australia’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debbie Passey, Digital Health Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Josephine Barbaro, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, Psychologist, La Trobe University Unsplash We’ve come a long way in terms of understanding that everyone thinks, interacts and experiences the world differently. In the past, autistic people, people with attention deficit hyperactive disorder ...
PNG Post-Courier Papua New Guinea’s deputy opposition leader James Nomane has accused the government of “reckless economic management” that has forced devaluation to manage loan repayments in foreign currency and placate the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prime Minister James Marape “must stop lying to the people of Papua New Guinea”, ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Jane Arthur, author of Brown Bird, and former bookseller at Good Books.The book I wish I’d writtenI have been working on not comparing myself to others. On accepting that what I can ...
The final decision on the Wellington District Plan makes it official: High-density housing is legal across most of Wellington. Housing minister Chris Bishop has announced his decision on the Wellington District Plan, approving a series of amendments to radically upzone most of Wellington, allowing tens of thousands of new townhouses ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to ...
RNZ News As Israel presses ahead with strikes in Rafah and seizing the Rafah crossing from Egypt, aid agencies are sounding the alarm of a “catastrophic humanitarian situation”. Rafah was “significant” because it was the only part in Gaza that had not been terribly damaged by the conflict, United Nations ...
With funding set to be scrapped for the Hamilton-Auckland commuter train, Te Huia enthusiast Georgie Dansey argues for it to be thrown a lifeline. It’s 5.45am and the chain of my crappy old bike falls off slugging up the one hill in Hamilton. I contemplate yeeting the bike into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Cooke, Honorary Fellow, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland We feel ecological grief when we lose places, species or ecosystems we value and love. These losses are a growing threat to mental health and wellbeing globally. We all see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shauna Brail, Associate Professor, Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto A shift to hybrid and remote work continues to affect worker presence in Toronto’s downtown.(Shutterstock) Downtown Toronto, the core of Canada’s largest city, continues to reel from the lingering ...
Responding to an Auditor-General's report slamming failures in the administration of the 2023 General Election, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said: ...
Productivity apps now make up a big chunk of the software market. But do they work? And why do they all have AI integrations?Despite being firmly on the record as a physical planner fan, I sometimes dream of something better than my pretty diary and its scrawled, ugly, interior ...
The Taxpayers’ Union says the Beehive need to lead by example, following reports of more than $50,000 spent upgrading video conferencing equipment and furniture in the Prime Minister’s office. Taxpayers’ Union Campaign Manager, Connor Molloy, ...
An objective list of the 50 most powerful people in New Zealand, as judged by the Spinoff Editorial Board. It’s power list season, baby, and we want in on the action. Sure, there’s the rich list and the powerful “c-suite” list and the young people with power (hmmm) but here, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the names of deceased people, and describes ongoing colonial violence towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. First Nations people in Australia ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Macquarie University Netflix Baby Reindeer’s phenomenal success has much to do with its writer and lead, Richard Gadd, who plays Donny in a tender semi-autobiographical account of sexual abuse, harassment and stalking. Gadd’s story has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle KarolinaGrabowska/Pexels If you didn’t have food allergies as a child, is it possible to develop them as an adult? The short answer is yes. But the reasons why are much ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Moon, Professor of History, Auckland University of Technology Ans Westra, self-portrait, c. 1963. National Library ref AWM-0705-F They try but invariably fail – those writers who believe they are capable of encapsulating in prose or verse the essence of ...
Stewart Sowman-Lund looks at the growing concern around the world in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. What’s all this? When Covid-19 arrived on our shores in early 2020, some argued we were too slow, or crucially, ill-prepared for a pandemic. So ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Franco Montalto, Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and Director, Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Laboratory, Drexel University Water runs into a storm drain in a Los Angeles alley on Aug. 19, 2023, during Tropical Storm Hilary.Citizen of the Planet/Universal Images ...
The inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones has turned up a new witness who says he saw two teenagers and a small child in a high vis vest in the area where the boy’s body was found the day he died. Lachie’s body was discovered face up ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 8 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Tracey Watkins gives her view, that the row between the two camps is just is not about politics. She is of the view that the dispute is all about the perceived performance of the two leaders rather than any major political difference.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7976341/Power-of-old-guard-part-of-leadership-tussle
In my view Watkins is wrong, performance is based on politics, one has got something to say, and one hasn’t.
Watkins left out one major policy difference between the two.
And it is the defining issue of our age.
David Cunliffe is the only parliamentary political leader to take Climate Change seriously. And he is being punished for it.
Even the Greens have given up talking about climate change, on the grounds that it will make them appear too radical and cost them seats. Also so as not to embarrass their future coalition partner, the current leadership of which, seem dead set on Ignoring Climate Change altogether.
This is a worldwide crisis but internationally most mainstream politicians have chosen if the can to put it in the too hard basket. Shearer is one of those. His deliberate ignoring of this issue is painful to witness. Instead he is moved to punish Cunliffe who openly faces the issue his honest appraisal of the threat is a spur to the opposition parties and the leader of the Labour Party opposition top make a stand..
I hope that David Cunliffe is not intimidated by the events of yesterday and continues to speak up on this and other issues.
People are not all about to vote for the left wing of the Labour party. Labour like National likes not having to lean on other parties for a mandate. So it seems entirely predictable in Feb next year that the party will back Shearer. Most people who might switch to Labour aren’t going to just throw their neo-liberal memes off as quickly as you hope. It takes time for people to change.
And good on Cunliffe for boosting his leaders standing, giving him a victory, and providing kiwis with a opportunity of putting meat on the bone so to speak.
What a load of old right wing rubbish. Shearer is a gonner as you will see. the fool cant string 2 sentences together unless he’s had a week to practice.
Amused too by Jane Clifton’s >whack job in the Listener:
Smiling is now a crime!!! Is this schoolgirl gossip the best one of our senior political journo’s can come up with? This isn’t evidence; it’s inference and speculation fed to her by Mallard. (Direct and in person I’m led to understand.)
This really like witch dunking.
And who is Shane Jones, stepper-in on other people’s portfolios to talk about whares and huhu grubs and team players? When is he going to be disciplined for his comments on fisheries and reserves…
I guess with the gleeful dissing of Cunliffe means he’ll be back on the front bench in the reshuffle.
Shane Jones – no electorate, just a list MP. Wonder just who actually listens to him (outside the press gallery).
you spend the conference wearing a smile
Was Jane Clifton at the conference, or is she doing another analysis based merely on photos from the event?
pillow talk
Yes, smiling is a fucking crime now. You’re not allowed to look happy or you’re plotting to overthrow the leadership.
You must remain determinedly po-faced throughout a great historic moment for Labour, modernising the party in the most significant set of constitutional changes in thirty years.
Dirty rotten little coupmakers. You can always tell them by the weird upturn of their mouths and the flash of white teeth that tells you they are planning espionage.
Clearly all these should be spelled out in a new little red book.
Of course smiling is only a crime if you throw in a wave as well.
“Of course smiling is only a crime if you throw in a wave as well.”
And it comes from a mean spirited class war general undertaking the theft of NZ and the rebirth of slavery for the poor.
So Labour’s serial leaker strikes again. Details of what happened in yesterday’s Caucus meeting have been leaked to the Herald and the spin is obviously anti Cunliffe.
When is the party going to deal with this person?
And why did the leader insist on MPs telling him who they were going to vote for in February when it is a secret vote and they are obliged to consult with their LECs before they make up their mind?
So Cunliffe’s freedom of Speech is removed by David Shearer “The Somali War Lord” really I would have thought under the bill of rights that a person any person had a right to ohh I dunno free speech’ wonder what the UN would think about it?
David Shearer “The Somali War Lord”
You know your freedom of speech? Think first, otherwise you might seem a bit … irrational.
Fuck sake.
Well, is it not totally reasonable to get Trevett to reveal who it is she is quoting when she says an mp cescribed the dressing down as “sobering”. I mean that take is in quote marks, which means it isn’t ‘off the record’, no?
And on Edward’s piece, I agree that seeking mp’s intention on a future secret ballot is (constitutional matters aside) utter bullshit. That thing called democracy, you know, where mp’s are bound by the democratic will of their members – means it’s impossible for any democractically minded mp to say. That was, quite rightly in my opinion, Sue Moroney’s response when asked by the media which way she would vote in Feb.
edit: Besides all that, I think it’s time to focus on the hand within the (to be discarded by and by) glove puppet from here on in.
So it’s OK for someone in the caucus to talk to the press about what happened, as long as they do it anonymously, and in support of Shearer.
What a bunch of hypocrits!
Give them enough rope…
Who is lying here ? From MS’s NZ Herald link
“He later said he was not able to comment because caucus had decided that only Mr Shearer would speak on the matter.”
So how did the NZH hear about the goings on in caucus ? Either Shearer is the deep throat or someone is acting without following instructions. Do as I say not as I do !!!! Agreed with you Karol. I bet there will be no investigation done as to the source of the leak, and approp. action taken.
For an egalitarian party there appears to be “princeps civitatis”
Not sure who is the under performer of the following: Labour, National or the NZ cricket team. From what I have seen it is not NZC 🙁
NRT has it right as usual.
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/an-act-of-self-mutilation.html
Shearer’s performance on TV1 last night was a shocker. Mumbling, complacent, vindictive…
‘Trust me, and we’ll sleepwalk to victory. Save your energy for the internal scrapping.’
Not good enough, guys.
Anyone else notice Joky Hen’s choice of shirt at his “Heads of state conference”. Was he trying to convince us all that his quip about shirt colour was just, you know, “weird.” Or was he wearing that shocking pink shirt so that he would stand out amongst the throng? Perhaps his family told him to wear it. Just wondering
I think it’s a subtle hint that he’s considering running for the leadership of the Labour Party in February.
I think he’s trying to undo his fuckups that have made him an international laughing stock.
Next he will wear an “I love the brainy Beckham” shirt.
An interesting and measured contribution from Greg Presland on RNZ a few minutes ago. Cunliffe’s LEC is considering a formal complaint about the treatment of Cunliffe over the last few days. Not so much the demotion (there was an acceptance that the leader has the right to pick his team), but the underhanded leaks and the public dissing from the likes of Hipkins, which, on the face of it, were more damaging to the party than Cunliffe’s cheesy grin could possibly do.
..thereby ensuring that this plays in the news for at least as long as it takes to consider that complaint. What a complete fucking idiot.
Oh, thats who that was.
I heard some guy just about in tears going in to bat for Cunliffe then immediately after Brent Edwards saying that this guy was actually one of Cunliffes smear merchants in the run up to the disastrous coup.
Yeah? Where did you hear that? It would also help if your sentence made grammatical sense.
It was on Morning report. And in order not to offend you, will re post in order to make it easier for you to read.
Oh, that’s who that was.
I heard a man in an interview on National Radio this morning strongly in support of Cunliffe. This man sounded like he was on the verge of tears.
Immediately after the article, Brent Edwards presented a piece which included reference to the previous interviewee being one of Cunliffes smear merchants in the run up to the disastrous coup.
Don’t let it get to you weka, nothing from KK makes sense.
How many of Shearer’s troops are list MP’s and not answerable to LEC’s.?
Include all the ones with majorities of 3000 or less.
All the ones that will be unemployed in 2014 if they don’t get their shit together smartish.
How is the Labour Party membership supposed to give feedback to their local Labour MP on what has happened when we are all being kept in the dark? And DC and in fact the whole of caucus has been gagged?
Looks like the NZLP has opted for a Singapore Style Democracy. Lee Kuan Yew would be proud.
I gave my feedback about the process directly to Shearer (well, his PA) through the ‘contact us’ message option on the Labour Party website. Felt good, it did… I must send the same to my local MP – Grant Robertson – that will feel good too, I reckon.
Well surely after the first 20000 messages telling them they are morons maybe the message will get thru that they have royally screwed the pooch.
[deleted]
[lprent: You have a current ban for a pointless abuse comment. Doubling it for posting comments while banned. Puts you up to 2 weeks. ]
[RL: Sorry my mistake for approving it. I hadn’t spotted the ban.]
…care to suggest something better as an alternative to our current parliamentary system then?
I had no idea I was on a ban, or that I had been banned,
Would it be too much to ask which comment lead to this situation?
Ive been falsely banned on here once before, so excuse me if I don;t have much faith in where this has originated from!
[I wasn’t involved, but see here. I’ll let this through so you can see the link. r0b]
R0b, the link you put above seems to loop directly back to the comment above that, where LP states I am on a ban, which was news to me. Generally I don’t lower the tone to “pointless abuse”, it serves no purpse, but my comments do attract some, which is water off a ducks back really.
I would accept that sometimes I a flippant with words, but “pointless abuse” is something I won’t lower myself to.
Would be good to understand where the “ban” originates from, and who issued it.
here.
The “NO COMMENT” membership drive starts this Saturday.
It’s so refreshing that all that leadership nonsense is now behind us.
In completely unrelated news, can I commend the below documentary to readers?
!!
Sick of crappy search results? I just discovered Duck Duck Go which means search results are not personalised. (Yes….I do sound like an ad don’t I? The last few months have been searching hell for me dispite using ixquick, etc and Google results are so bad that I can’t find what I’m looking for sometimes unless I type the site directly into the search bar – how is that possible? Google is crap, that’s how.)
http://dontbubble.us/
Site above shows you WHY you can’t find what you are looking for anymore, then suggests Duck Duck Go as a search engine.
I only just found it, so hope it works. After previously having good search results this has turned into a surprisingly time consuming issue. *argh*
Thanks, will check it out. Google just goes from bad to worse. At the moment it returns multiple hits from the same site all in a row (sometimes taking up nearly all of the page). Can I turn that off somehow? And their new menu system means many more clicks to get what I want 🙄
dontbubble.us is a really good visual explanation of what is wrong with current search engines.
Are the results different to the ones you get on google if you turn off their advertising, disable cookies and block tracking using tools provided by google? I don’t know, I’ll give it a try.
Result: yes they are. A far broader understanding of any particular search than offered on google, even with all the winkies turned off.
I think I might give that a go. Usually what I had to do on google was to search something then immediately click to page ten to find the interesting stuff.
Small group of Israelis pretending to be scared…
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1353421901.html
Israel-Palestine – what is the U.S. national interest?
Posted November 20, 2012
By RALPH NADER
Israeli elections are coming up in January so it is Palestinian hunting season again. Israeli cynics call it a time “for mowing the grass.”
Out comes the well-worn playbook by Israel’s militaristic government that has worked to silence Israeli politicians and citizens who want a two-state solution. This is an opportunity to use and test advanced weaponry from the U.S., compliments of U.S. taxpayers, and squelch ongoing peace efforts, small and large, by Palestinians, Israelis and international peace advocates.
The playbook’s first chapter is provocation to upset a tense but workable truce with Hamas, the elected government of Gaza. Hamas was encouraged at its creation years ago by both Israeli and U.S. backers to counter the secular Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Bit of a blowback there.
Israeli government leaders are expert provocateurs when they wish to seize land, water or prisoners and upset any movement toward a peace that would create a viable Palestinian state back to the 1967 borders, which includes East Jerusalem. When Israel came into being in 1948, it soon broke a UN truce and doubled its territory by taking the large area known as the Negev desert, whose refugees ended up in the Gaza Strip. Now 1.6 million encircled and impoverished humans, blockaded and under siege by Israel, try to survive in an open-air prison little more than twice the size of the District of Columbia.
Read more….
http://nader.org/2012/11/20/israel-palestine-what-is-the-u-s-national-interest/
a handy reference list of the US veotes that co-incidentally allowed Israel to further dominate an oppressed people and continue to generate billions in weapons technology
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/UN/usvetoes.html
and to Britain France et al, when sitting on the Security Council of the UN an abstention is tacit agreement with the veto threat that provoked each and every abstention
In the UN, toast always falls butter side up for some
RT: US have blocked a UNSC statement condemning Israel’s violence (wasn’t rocket science)
UNSC have further protracted their dithering by announcing the issue is to be discussed again in another meeting tomorrow. At this rate Gaza will be empty of living people before they decide to tell the truth. Like East Timor, Like Cambodia, Like Rwanda, genocide is a business and business keeps their gravytrain rolling. Maybe if the UNSC moved the meeting to Gaza, or to TelAviv, they would show a little urgency, a little humanity.
Israel has the right to defend its citizens when under attack.
Palestine has the right to defend its territory when under occupation.
So what next?
The Four Horsemen of the Economic Apocalypse
was watching Max Keiser on RT; he is one funny dude, anyway, there is an indie film about the above topic and Max was interviewing Ross Ashcroft of renegadeeconomist.com about the film;
-rapacious financial system
-escalating organised violence
-environmental resource degradation
-poverty of the billions (there are those pesky “billions” of people again)
Root cause-Neoclassical Economics
Time, to change cognitive maps
helpful antidote to rampant capitalism-The Co-operative (with a little peer-to-peer crowd funding)
support Debt Jubilee initiatives
(re sovereign debt; Max reported on how an Argentinian naval ship is being held by a hedge fund) 🙂
this is not the correct link, but I gotta go pay the rent
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/bill-buckler-presents-four-horsemen-financial-apocalypse
“this is not a love song…this is not a love song…may the road rise with you…may the road rise with you
I could be wrong…I could be right..Anger is an energy…Anger is an energy” Public Image Public Image
The search and links seems to be breaking on the
http://thestandard.org.nz/leadership-meeting-the-outcome/ atricle.
400+ comments wow 🙂
The search lags. It runs sphinxsearch on a cron job about 3 or 4 times per hour to pick up the delta’s. Now I have more headroom on the CPU I should look at increasing it again.
That may be what you are seeing. I’ll tag it for checking.
quote from NZ Herald , John Key
“I’ve never lied about Kim Dotcom and I don’t lie about anything”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10848948
Excellent – to deny is to lose.
He is on the ropes folks, get stuck in now
I seem to recall that he lied about how many rail shares he owned.
And what his opinion was on 1981.
oh wait, he just forgot… [tui]
NZ population growth stalls, as more young skilled take up residence in Australia, and start growing the next generation of Kiwis. Offspring will either be so Australianized and won’t be connected to NZ, or worse will get criminal records and be sent packing back to NZ. So essentially Key’s and NZ policy is to grow Australian success stories, and take the also-rans back. Imaginative hey.
So we get the harder to deal with returning, who have been brought up Australian, who if they are successful, turn around their lives, get a degree with government loans, start a business even, who will jump back over the ditch at the first opportunity. Only the worst or the worst, stopped from ever returning, will pile up here, those with criminal records, with poor educational acheivements, etc.
But worse! The new kiwis citizens who know nothing of their homeland, will be educated to support the Australian economy needs, not the NZ, taught Australia history, skilled to build a deepening and wide economic base, and our kids in NZ will continue to be plagued by education politics.
Interesting choice of words by the PM when questioned about Dotcom last night:
“If he’s miraculously going to find some person who he reckons whispered in my ear something, well, OK, prove the person and put them up.
“But I’ll tell you now, what difference would it make whether I’d heard about the guy six months earlier? Absolutely none.”
Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Dotcom-contractors-contacted-PMs-office/tabid/1607/articleID/277455/Default.aspx#ixzz2CnkBknT9
lies upon lies upon lies beginning to leak out…
here is one TPP article full of those pesky fact thingys that you won’t see in the local papers
“participants in the negotiations had to sign a memorandum of understanding which forbids them from releasing any “negotiating documents until four years after a deal is done or abandoned.”
http://www.nationofchange.org/trans-pacific-partnership-what-corporate-governance-looks-1353428537
Oops! Hey Lynn, (or another mod) I seem to have approved a ‘comment’ that wasn’t actually a comment that’s now come up on the comments sidebar. Don’t know what to do with it now. Meaning…don’t want to touch in case all sort of wierd and (not so) wonderful stuff starts to happen. Bloody phobia!
We’ll keep an eye out for it…..
these links to topical articles on allied blogs are really helpful; we are not alone
anyway,
Herald
-health delivery delays
-insurance companies are gonna just love the predictive / actuarial potential of these telomere tests
-many Islamic activist groups in Syria do not support the “official” opposition grouping supported by the West
-another truck and trailer falls over
-Tolkein family interests place a line in the sand over inappropriate commercialisation
-wow, there sure is a demand for easy access sex at Hunters Corner
(used to be an excellent Indian restaurant on the road leaving Papatoetoe towards the eastern suburbs, and when one is a single man (or not, as I learn of all the married local Harley club guys hitting the knock-shops as soon as they are away out of town) ya just wanna stick ya dick in something sometimes)
Jackson must be spewing
On the back of bad publicity concerning the mistreatment of animals comes more bad news for the makers of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey movie just days out from its premiere at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington…
splatter
So tell me if I have read the postings wrongly.
The majority of posters here now hate Shearer and would rather see John Key win in 2014 than have the Quisling Shearer bring in a National- lite coalition government for 3 years?
If this premise is correct then the sole focus should be on kneecapping Shearer either before or after the election.
If Shearer loses in 2014 then he would be gone.
If Shearer wins in 2014 then he will stay.
If you cannot kneecap Shearer before election 2014 then you have to work to ensure that he loses.
Will we see embittered Leftists not simply transferring their vote to Green or Mana but strategically biting the bullet and voting National for once only.
I can’t speak for everyone else, but I don’t dislike Shearer, I just dislike how unelectable and incompetent he is.
Will we see embittered Leftists not simply transferring their vote to Green or Mana but strategically biting the bullet and voting National for once only.
WTF? You been smoking crack? Are you asking if lefties would rather vote for a party that would pull Labour into the direction that they think Labour should be heading in, or, vote for National?
Ask google about MMP
great link yesterday (all my troubles seem to fade away) fatty; kiwipolitico is an interesting blog
More bad news, many of our estuaries are approaching environmental collapse.
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/sage-advice-for-saving-our-estuaries.html
How about some focus now on the BIG issues folks? 🙂
Like the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations which will be starting here in Auckland on 3 December 2012 – 12 December 2012?
What are Labour stalwarts doing on THIS issue?
Hopefully THOUSANDS of you will want the opportunity to show your opposition to the ‘pro-investor’ /’anti-public majority’ Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement?
(What sort of ‘partnership’ – excludes the public?
Why is the TPPA so ‘top secret’?)
Here you go!
SIGN ON HERE FOLKS TO SHOW YOUR OPPOSITION TO THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT! (TPPA)
http://gpjanz.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/urgent-auckland-round-target-1-million-sign-ons-to-avaaz-petititon-to-stop-the-tpp/
MY COMMENT:
What’s good for big business it not usually good for the public majority.
The neo-liberal reforms have proven that FREE TRADE = PRIVATISATION.
Arguably the root cause of corruption is privatisation – how is it decided who gets the contracts?
Where’s the corruption-risk assessment of ‘Free Trade Agreements’ such as the TPPA?
(Haven’t been provided with any reply from MFAT on that question…… first asked it back in 2010 – at the last round of TPPA negotiations held in NZ).
Where is is the ‘cost-benefit analysis’ which proves that the private provision of public services is a more ‘cost-effective’ use of tax-payer and ratepayer monies, compared with when those services used to be provided ‘in-house’ at central and local government level?
How much public monies could be saved by CUTTING OUT THE CONTRACTORS (especially private consultants)?
Where is the TRANSPARENCY?
Where is the ACCOUNTABILITY?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
In between lawns
I been wondering how many journalism and /or politics students and faculty read and write here.
There sure are some clever writers and analysts.stream of consciousnes teccnique may be effective and adopted by those possessing consciousness
The link to Gavin Ellis demonstrated his scholarship in propaganda; he would have adopted technique through study and would know about the sinful nature of man and hedonistic versus ethical decisions.
I have a small gardening job for the owner of my rental caravan tomorow. See, man writes about gardening and it happens, like The Death of God.
The local paper reported on the large number of local people living in caravans or inadequate housing.
Very compassionate of them. The editor is also a shill for the real estate industry.
Yet, in the letters to the editor they publish some very critical analyses of salient issues like the NZIER
proposal to increase the New Zealand population to 11M and the implications for the environment and resource use versus foreign export earnings.
the experience of “bipolarity” is both un-nerving and predictable but it can get a person in a lotta trouble until they understand it. (reading Lord of The Rings compulsively in the loo during apprenticeship and going to the gym before and after work on the big motorbike vroom vroom)
This “civics” proposal is interesting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civics
and this entry is interesting
yet I challenge the critics employment of the Aristotle assertion and the three freedoms.
recur the telos back into the sphere and maybe we will see a “kingdom on earth” or do we await our young people ending up in institutions, jail or dead.
Capitalist economic-rationalisation propaganda takes care of “freedom of choice” “freedom of action” and “freedom to” suffer.
May be Confuscianism with a little Taoist leaning to the side while squeaking some decentralization through in a successful Left-bloc government.
The landlord, a self-employed man supporting his family comparitively comfortably, understood that people are aware of economic and climate implications yet they continue to walk into events.
“Conditioned” was his word.
AA is not for every one pointy one; long way round
Consider work, shopping, adrenaline consider new memories consider forgiveness
Great to hear of people digging up their lawn and planting veges. I have done it at few dwellings over recent years.I worked in the produce department of the local supermarket that came out the most expensive in recent nationwide survey; anecdotal support for how they screw the growers on price for access and then mark-up %%%%% sometimes.
Pak N Save are also local, have very friendly staff and often have fresh brocoli and other vegetables at reasonable prices.
An increasing amount of authorities are advising us of how much is determined;
freedom within determinism was how the issue of free-will has been considered;
plenty of nested
hierarchies
within
Evolutionary Biology (big thanks to Hamilton,Cosmides and Toomey)
back to the grass
oops forgot, when I had to rewrite from memory what I had just written spontaneously,
Flockie, I think your thoughts are often exceptional
😉
A Little lightness ,away from the daily worries .
Who will be the man of the year? My choice a toss up,between Bernie Monk and Dr Lance O’Sullivan. . Woman of the year Helen Kelly . hands down !
A Little lightness ,away from the daily worries .
Who will be the man of the year? My choice a toss up,between Bernie Monk and Dr Lance O’Sullivan. . Woman of the year Helen Kelly . hands down !
ooh, I know, I know 🙂 (any union member should do)
Wonder how long has John Banks been involved with Talent2?
“Roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news”…
The NZLP is now a tertiary party not the sole opposition. So, pull your heads in. 30 years almost of neo liberalism is way too many. Jobs Jolt? Middle class WFF but not for bennies?
As a late 50s guy my partner tells me I am out of touch with where modern kiwis are at, heh, where is that though? Flat Screen Frenzy? Precarious minimum wage jobs you are meant to be grateful for?
I still do not trust most dudes in suits, which ever one it is, end of.
http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/574603_10151532813403452_216392422_n.jpg
cool.
how ruthless are the beverage companies. Went for a carbonated soft-drink after the lawns
Seven tall fridges, some double, in the superette and not a drink that did not have sugar or caffeine in it
if sugar-free, they had caffeine. very few sugar-free options.ruthless
Has anyone seen the story on, ‘no right turn’ concerning John Banks, apparantley he has a
shareholding in Talent2 through a trust, he is also associate minister of education, (sorry
can’t link it),this is the same crowd responsible for novapay.
I’ve said for awhile that selling Telecom is the perfect example of the dead weight loss of profit. Well, The Greens went and put the real figures on it.:
Dividends lost due to sale in 2011$millions: 16826
So, if private business is so efficient and provides what the community needs without intervention then WTF are we paying Telecom another billion or so to put in place the network that they should have put in place with the ~$17b in dividends that they took from us?
C’mon DtB you know why we’re gifting them another billion, why pay for it yourself when you can get the taxpayer to pay for you to increase your profits.
The Greens need to pretty that data table up and get it out there.
Take from the cold bloody [hope they aren’t dead yet] hands of kiwis, and give to foreign owned corporations has been National policy for ages mate. 😉