Stuff has published an article today with the above headline.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gave birth on Thursday, and her baby will grow up to be part of a generation that, based on statistics, could live a long life that lasts well into the next century.
Obviously, life will be different for Ardern and her partner Clarke Gayford’s baby for at least some time as the child of the leader of the country.
But there’s a lot that their baby will share with the nation’s other newborns.
Stuff.co.nz – Last updated 20:39, June 21 2018
Maybe Stuff were planning on a bigger article, but in the end settled on three sub headlines, on what it might be like for the Prime Minister’s child growing up.
They were, “lifespan”, “Career”, “lifestyle”.
The one other guaranteed certainty that could have been briefly covered, on what the Prime Minister’s growing daughter will share with the nation’s other newborns, is climate change.
Maybe our more courageous and informed commenters could go where the mainstream media fear to tread?
We all face, or should contemplate, throughout life, these inter-related aspects of life:
1) Quality of life; health & well-being with rich supportive and nurturing social communities and networks.
2) Quality of occupation; meaningful occupation(s) that allows for individual and collective development.
3) Quality of environment; a safe but stimulating environment with a place to live that provides a sense of connectedness and belonging.
All of the above could be extended, added to, and elaborated on; they are the basis and consequence of our personal and collective values (and opinions).
Is today a good day to yet again demand that this Coalition honours it’s promise to repeal Section 70A?
Just so the less privileged child can feel,well, a little less underprivileged.
Patient safety requires more money but the Government claims there is no more money to put on the table.
Yet, when it comes to foreign aid, the Government can muster up a billion dollars. Or in the case of eradicating M.bovis, the Government is able to commit to signing a blank cheque.
I think more people should watch Death Aid. Particularly the bit where foreign aid people planted a food crop (tomatoes?) along a bank. The locals who were experiencing famine laughed at them. The crop was maturing and was totally destroyed by rhinos or something.
I hear there is good aid money for conference centres and hotels in Nuie, and the maintenance contracts to run the hotels… to help the locals train to be waiters and chefs on minimum wages and a few million of aid for the rich list foreign owner/managers to run the hotels of course. wink, wink.
There is also the Hillary foundation to contribute in. A few million of ‘aid’ to somebodies ex politican’s private charity seems obligatory for today’s small country politician’s for an eye on future career opportunities and influence.
Me but I have a vested interest. If a health professional carried on willingly spreading contagious disease as farmers have done you would lose both livelyhood and liberty. People are jailed for the same offence.
Sick people are less of a priority than sick cows because business loses money on sick cows but sick people are a commodity that can be replaced easier and cheaper than that cow, if you believe in one dimensional economics without social order and based on flawed models.
The lead story on line from the Herald about Fonterra is the important one this morning and it goes a long way to explaining Shane Jones, Winston and Damien O’Connor publicly giving Fonterra a kicking.
It illustrates how dopey dairy farmers in particular are with their adoption of TAF share trading and loud and strenuous objection to NAIT, both against reasoned advice.
Both decisions have come to bite them on the arse like a rabid cattle dog with really bad financial decisions by Fonterra and the MB spread.
Serve them right, but it has cost the country dearly.
Couldn’t agree more. The outrage in the rural newspapers that only farmers get had to be seen to be believed, the majority said then that they wouldn’t comply.
Who is the biggest enabler… fucking Fonterra.
No compliance, no milk pick up.
This is the sort of Fonterra piss poor management that Shane Jones is on about,
Kia kaha, Shane.
Agreed!!!
TAF , from what I recall was a means by which the idea of a corrupting a co-operative by appealing to a farmer’s desire for treats and trinkets could be achieved – the ability to sell (for an earn) the results of their shareholding without actually giving up ownership. Short term gain, long term pain.
There were warnings at the time. I seem to remember Nine to Noon with its host (with a balanced portfolio and a work/life balance) had a couple of very sensible guests on alerting everyone to what has now come to pass.
And for those farmers for whom things have, (or are about to) go(ne) tits up, they have an expectation that a “pretty communist” will come to the rescue in true communist style.
There are those that are STILL not complying with NAIT quite obviously.
I’m not sure what’s happened to @ Countryboy, but I’d be interested in hearing his perspective.
“If you support Israel’s crimes, if you supported the assault that broke Libya, if you supported the “infestation” of Syria by foreign head-choppers, if you back the genocide in Yemen but are upset by crying children in your own camps – you are just a hypocrite. That’s all. “
Yes, because shooting a medic dressed in white with her arms raised to indicate she was there only to attend to the injured is totally defending yourself against terrorism. Well done, Israeli snipers. (You have scopes on those rifles, right? You might want to clean them occasionally so you can, you know, see who you’re about to shoot.) That dreadful terrorist. She would probably have thrown band-aids and antiseptic cream at them.
All of those have been condemned multiple times in the security council. On the other hand Israel hasn’t due to the US being able to veto it there. The weight passes to smaller orgs to try and do something about it.
Dominion Road light rail is now “city to Mangere” rather than “city to airport” as AT belatedly tries to refocus on what is really the whole point of that LRT. Which is as a commuter line servicing the southwestern city that just happens to terminate at the airport.
And which eventually may extend north across the harbour (via tunnels) to Takapuna and Albany if/when the Northern Busway is converted to light rail.
Funny tho, all the ‘high profile’ money pits seem to involve big business benefiting. No interest in the city rail loop until Sky City got their own stop and rebranded “city to Mangere” now has the airport piggy backing onto it with all that extra traffic, the rate payers and resident fitting the bill.
Isn’t Auckland airport one of the most profitable in the world per journey. No wonder when you get poorer residents forced to contribute to bills.
Likewise Sky City gets another sweetener onto of everything else. Are they still having China air having quicker entry for visas for Sky Cities VIP gambling clients?
AT ‘consultation’ is the same as ‘Auckland University’ consultation, they made the decision before they had the consultation. might as well just not bother pretending to consult. The decision is made and nobody can change through consultation apart from a tiny bit of tinkering. Like RMA and OIA. It’s rubber-stamping for 99% of decisions.
So, affluent white people probably won’t use it then. They’d rather chew their own legs off than visit Mangere. Unless it’s Mangere Bridge, which has been sufficiently gentrified. (And I say that as a resident of Mangere.)
The way gentrification is going I think it’s not so much colour based aka affluent white people (Auckland 50% Asian) but more class based what is happening.
By the time the rail way line gets built I doubt there will be the traditional Maori and Pacific Islanders living in South Auckland, they will have been displaced by high rents and the cost of living.
Note in Auckland even food has gone up $21 since the start of the year, add in rates which will impact mortgages/rents, power, metro water, petrol, insurance and travel charges aka train/bus
The government will get their way of race displacement in Auckland. History is going to show it. The stats already say what has happened in only a decade with how the neoliberal government policy is playing out.
Remember how we were all fed that lie about Metrowater fees being necessary as well as council rates so we could have that 21c separation of pipes… tricked Yah!
Good to see Andrew Little showing public disdain for Garrett and McVicar and their pathetic vengeance fantasies. Wiped the floor with Mitchell in the House yesterday.
Nice to see Key’s molestation offences formally recorded in Hansard too.
Paula Bennett had tried a similar approach to trying to ‘pin’ Little for alleged belittling (unintended pun) the seriousness of the pinching assault of a female prison officer under Question 1 to the Prime Minister (answered by the Acting Prime Minister):
Having not done too well in that exchange and Mitchell also failing in his attempts, Bennett then tried again later under Question 6 to trap Julie Ann Genter as Minister for Women into disagreeing with Little re the same incident – without success:
To give her some due, as Deputy Opposition Leader, Bennett had been the first in the House yesterday to congratulate Ardern, wish her well etc on going into labour in a Motion Without Notice during the earlier morning session under Urgency of the House: https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=201011
Between the above Questions and also others such as Question 3 (Amy Adams to David Parker – see 11.1.1 below) it was an interesting Thursday QT for a change. Thursday QT are not usually so “vibrant”. LOL.
Weird we can give away free water overseas for 40 “never never” jobs of unknown duration and quality ( “full production is hardly a date”), but happy to see our educational outcomes reduced and lose 40 jobs immediately at our highest ranked university….
Didn’t exactly see our politicians worrying about those jobs. If it’s not cows or trade or fake/low level degrees for residency then the politicians seem to think it’s outside their radar… someones got our politicians trained for neoliberalism down to a t.
At the end of the day who cares about the arts, architecture, music and planning when you can just import farm workers, aged care workers and chefs and become another low wage asian economy, more consumers with low level education, easier for banks, construction and infrastructure companies to profit from, as they harvest natural assets, which is some economists and our local and central governments dream position for NZ.
Richard Harmon went more in depth behind a paywall on Politik, apologies for the length of the post
==Labour and the Queenstown Property Developer==
Published: 21 June 2018 By Richard Harman (author)
Questions are being asked about how a group of Labour MPs on a Select Committee agreed to grant an exemption from the overseas buyers ban to a luxury Northland property development where sections are valued at up to $4.5 million each.
The exemption has now been removed for procedural reasons but how it got where it did raises some intriguing questions.
They are accentuated because the inclusion is so unusual, particularly for a Labour Government, to grant what in effect was a special favour to wealthy property developers.
Labour disputes that and says it was actually granting a favour to the local iwi who stood to be substantially disadvantaged if the development did not go ahead.
But POLITIK has found that the iwi have only a minority interest in the development.
On the face of it, the exemption flew in the face of everything Labour has been saying about property development since it became the Government.
For example, only 12 days ago, the Minister in charge of the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill, which implements the ban, David Parker, said this:
“We want the prices of New Zealand homes, whether it be a lakeside station, the best houses in the Bay of Islands or the modest homes in our towns and cities, to be set by local buyers, not on the international market,” he said.
“It’s also a matter of values. We believe New Zealand homes should not be traded on an international market and New Zealanders should not be outbid by wealthier foreign buyers.”
But that is precisely what the developers of Te Arai are intending with their building lots which have rating valuations of up to $4.5 million each being offered on the international market.
Also worrying was that the exemption was granted to only one development; a point the Speaker was later to fasten on pointing out that the possibility of an exemption had not been offered to other developers.
—The development—
The development itself consists of 100 sites spread through a forest adjacent to a pristine east coast beach.
Its history is complex and involves two Maori entities; Te Uri o Hau and Ngati Manuhiri.
The Maori entities, beginning in 2000, reached two treaty settlements with the crown which entailed, among other things, then purchasing two crown forests totalling 1370 hectares adjacent to beachfront south of Mangawhai on the east coast of Northland.
The crown valuation for the forests was set at their “highest and best” land use, which was not forestry but included tourism and residential uses.
In a submission to Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee, the hapu and the iwi said:
“While they were commercial forests, the trees were low-grade third rotation pine and the lands’ true economic value was based on subdividing the land into residential lots and forest rural lifestyle lots (under 5 hectares) and developing the land and recreational and tourism uses.
Initial plans for the Mangawhai North Forest were for a coastal subdivision of around 700 properties.
The Mangawhai South Forest could have delivered a larger number of properties.
This would have seen the two forests largely clear-felled and replaced with around 1500 new homes just south of Mangawhai.”
Unveiled in 2005, this would have created a town nearly twice the size of Mangawhai immediately to its south effectively setting up a new urban centre on the Northland east coast.
The proposal almost immediately ran into local objections and resource consent difficulties with the-then Rodney District Council.
—Enter John Darby—
So thwarted in their property development ambitions, and with little access to more capital, the following year the Maori sold 75 per cent of their holding to NZ Land Trust Holdings, a Queenstown based company for $21.8 million and the two sides formed a new company, Te Arai Coastal Lands to continue the development.
NZ Land Trust Holdings is a company associated with a Queenstown landscape architect and property developer, John Darby.
On his website he describes himself as one of the most successful investors in New Zealand, with investment interests in multiple industries.
He has near-celebrity status in Central Otago.
He has developed a string of luxury lodges and resorts including Millbrook, Blanket Bay on the shores of Lake Wakatipu near Glenorchy, the upmarket Jacks Point golf course and clubhouse, Clearwater Resort and Golf Course in Christchurch and Michael Hill’s private golf course.
Darby’s background is in landscape architecture and he’s a HarvardUniversity-trained golf course architect and resort planner.
He is also a high profile networker and has a connection with Labour’s Associate Finance Minister David Parker as well as a public relations firm with close Labour connections.
His highest profile networking came when he hosted the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at his Amisfield winery in 2014.
He was to turn Te Arai from a proposed beachside town into a boutique upmarket luxury development aimed at the international market.
Initially the directors of Te Arai Coastal Lands were two local Maori; Rawson Wright and the late Russell Kemp and a Dunedin lawyer, Fraser Goldsmith.
Goldsmith was working at the time for Anderson Lloyd, an Otago law firm that acted for Darby and co-incidentally also employed David Parker before he entered Parliament.
Darby had another connection with Parker. Both worked with and were friends of the Otago entrepreneur, the late Howard Patterson.
Darby’s relationship with Patterson saw Patterson become one of the original shareholders in the NZ Land Trust which was the vehicle Darby used to buy into Te Arai.
—The golfing billionaire—
Once Darby’s company had control of Te Arai, the proposal was changed several times until an application in 2009 for 180 sites was turned down by planning commissioners.
This was the point where things appear to have changed.
In 2012, a Los Angeles Billionaire and fanatical golfer, Rick Kayne bought 230 hectares of the Te Arai forest and began turning it into what is now regarded as one of the best golf courses in the world – Tara Iti.
It was where John Key played his round with Barrack Obama.
Tara Iti set the tone for what was now happening.
Te Arai now be a boutique development aimed at the world’s super-wealthy. .
In 2014 Te Arai gifted a 400-hectare publicly-owned coastal reserve, with the vesting of the entire beach frontages and sensitive ecological areas in both forests to Auckland Council.
This created a 15km publicly owned stretch of beachfront.
But behind the reserve running along the beachfront, Te Arai obtained permission to develop 46 homesites.
The lots will sit behind at least 200 metres of reserve land on a 5.2-kilometre coastal stretch and will not be visible from the beach.
In its submission to the Select Committee Te Arai emphasised that the buyers would be overseas people.
“The time and cost to develop projects of such a high calibre and amenity value, with limited number of allowable home sites, results in these properties requiring to be sold into the high-value market,” it said.
“Purchasers of these types of sites would typically spend between two-to-three times the purchase price of the bare land on building improvements.
“For projects such as ours to be undertaken, we require a large pool of potential purchasers.
“Due to the required price point for such home sites to be economical, and the relatively small size of the New Zealand/Australian buyer pool in this price point, such a purchaser pool is necessarily going to be a wider international one. “
QV currently shows sections in the development with rating valuations of up to $4.5 million each.
—NZ First objects—
There have been consistent objections to the development — not the least from New Zealand First.
In February last year NZ First Leader Winston Peters issued a press statement saying that Finance Minister Steven Joyce had signed off a change to the Te Arai beach access road without even discussing it with the community.
“Mr Joyce said in his answers that ‘it is important to remember that this is iwi-owned land,” said Peters.
“He neglected to mention that the iwi, seriously financially challenged, have had to partner with US billionaire Ric Kayne’s company Te Arai North Ltd, to get a return on their money or lose it.”
In fact the partnership is also with John Darby and the iwi have been left with only 25 per cent of the holding company.
Even the Maori representatives on the company board are no longer there.
Instead the directors are John Darby and one of his executives, Jim Castiglione
—Overplaying the iwi role—
The question of the iwi role is important.
Speaker Trevor Mallard has ruled that the inclusion of the exemption for Te Arai was improper for procedural reasons.
There were other ways the exemption could probably have been granted, he said.
But even though the Committee was advised what it was doing in recommending the exemption was improper and even though the Opposition opposed it, the Committee went ahead and recommended it.
Mallard, however, appeared to excuse them.
“I appreciate that the amendment was made by the Finance and Expenditure Committee at the request of the landowner in order to preserve the value of the land purchased as commercial redress following Treaty of Waitangi settlements,” he said.
“The committee was motivated by a desire to assist and to be fair to the landowner.”
It would appear that Parliament was under the misapprehension that this development was essentially an iwi development when in fact it was a high priced luxury development 75 per cent owned by a property development company that boasts of having completed $2 billion of developments.
There is another casual link between Te Arai and the Government — Te Arai’s public relations consultant is David Lewis, a former press secretary to Helen Clark and business partner of Gordon-John Thompson who filled in as Jacinda Ardern’s Chief of Staff when the Government was being formed.
What all this adds up to is what Parliamentary insiders would call an “untidy” process
Was it because Parliament misunderstood who really owned Te Arai that led to the exemption being granted and did Parker know what was going on.
Did he know people he knew were deeply involved in getting the exemption?
In a way, it doesn’t matter because Mallard has struck the exemption from the Bill.
But the opposition may not see it that way. they may well want to pursue this matter further.
Yeah I didn’t quite realise how long it was until I posted it, i know how annoying it is to scroll through screeds and screeds of stuff and then I go and do it myself
That being that its also not the first time David Parker has got himself into a spot of bother:
“In respect of my own life I’ve done a lot more in my life than a lot of people have and overall I am proud of my achievements, but I’m certainly ashamed of this particular mistake,” he said last night. With the benefit of hindsight I was a bit glib in the way I ticked the form and sent it in.”
Wasn’t he the most modest of men in those days? Reminds me of The Donald in that way. I can just imagine Parker describing himself as “a very stable genius”.
Pity he didn’t stay that way. I’m afraid he has now lost the plot.
Still, aren’t we so privileged to have someone of his calibre in our Parliament.
Rather like the 0.177 air rifle I had as a kid.
“David Parker will be reinstated to the Cabinet next week after a Companies Office inquiry emphatically cleared him of filing false returns – but he is unlikely to regain his role as Attorney-General.
A smiling Mr Parker, tipped as a rising star within Labour, said: “Now I feel vindicated. I feel pretty good.”
An opinion from Crown solicitors Meredith Connell concluded no case “whatsoever” for a prosecution existed, not even at prima facie level. “
As the left so like to point out that just because something is legal doesn’t make it correct so I’m going off his own words:
“but I’m certainly ashamed of this particular mistake,” he said last night. With the benefit of hindsight I was a bit glib in the way I ticked the form and sent it in.”
This fevered attack from you is a little unseemly, Pucky. My guess is, you’ve spent too long trawling Kiwiblog or Pete George’s greyblog and lost your head, sense of reality, decorum and some of the limited standing you might have previously enjoyed here. Still, you could patch up afterwards, I suppose, with grudging apologies or attempts at humour; we shall see how it unfolds (your about-face that is; Parker is not going to suffer because of Hooten et all and their witless shrieking).
The exemption seemed to be for an Iwi owned company, except the company is 75% foreign owned
Had it gone ahead wouldn’t that just be a backdoor entry for any overseas company to buy in and isn’t that the sort of thing the left accused National of
Mallard said:
“I appreciate that the amendment was made by the Finance and Expenditure Committee at the request of the landowner in order to preserve the value of the land purchased as commercial redress following Treaty of Waitangi settlements,” he said.
“The committee was motivated by a desire to assist and to be fair to the landowner.”
In the interview, David Parker made clear that the needs of iwi granted compensation as the result of their treaty settlement have to be considered favourably and that is what motivated his actions. The rest is churn and you are churning.
Ok substitute any National MPs name for David Parker and tell me the left wouldn’t have been calling for his or hers resignation whereas I’m saying it looks dodgy
Well Ok then my argument obviously isn’t good enough. Had a National MP worked at the same firm and been friends with the same people involved with the company and the company was owned by an american billionaire and that MP had tried to get an exemption for that company and that company alone the cries of corruption and resignation from the left would be deafening
“Well Ok then my argument obviously isn’t good enough”
Hey! That’s not troll language! You okay?
Oh! No worries, your edit straightened that misconception out. I suppose commentators from “the Left” would be doing as you describe but … “you do it too”, Pucky? I’m off. Can’t argue with that. In any case, I’ve a hobbit hole to dig (it won’t dig itself!)
If my argument was good enough it would have changed peoples opinions and since it hasn’t then my argument wasn’t good enough and I need to do better
Also I’m not a troll (more of a puckish rogue really 🙂 ) but I have noticed the level of debate here has somewhat regressed of late so I’m trying to be less..I don’t know confrontational maybe to hopefully help improve the situation, sort of like I I can’t make anyone else improve but I can improve myself and maybe that will, in some small part, help improve the general level of debating
Well Pucky, I don’t regard you as a troll at all, but your effort today lacked the lighter touch you have been working on – you acted like a dyed in the wool Nat, leaping to the worst possible conclusion and even seemed happy to cite an ancient, unconvincing failing of Mr Parkers. Still, the tone of your comment at 12:40 is very encouraging and I’ll put your poor performance today down to human error and look forward to your refreshed approach next week 🙂
Yes, that was a very convenient letter wasn’t it?
Unsigned, as I remember it. Nobody ever seemed to have remembered it or to recollect writing it and it just turned up after a search of the files.
Very, very convenient wasn’t it?
Pat @8.1.1.2
My memory of that case is: the former associate in question (presumably the Mr Hyslop mentioned in the item) was known to hold a grudge against David Parker because he “mistakenly” believed Parker was responsible for him being bankrupted. It emerged sometime later – but don’t remember the details – that Hyslop was wrong.
think Hooton chose a poor target for this venture in Parker…a lawyer with a reputation for integrity …dont think this will go unchallenged as I suspect the Herald has already discovered
Yep David Parker, defiantly a neoliberal of the highest order aka selling out for TPPA. So no surprises if dollars beats principals for him in land sales to rich buyers. Then he worries about how Kiwis can’t afford to buy their own prime land anymore. The answer is because of deals like that, along with their obsession with bringing in low skilled people to create a low wage economy and drive down wages.
Then go on about the price of land being a factor in the high house prices and then they allow foreigners to buy up and speculate on NZ land??? Can’t do that in China but as usual the dimwits do a deal that gives the Chinese a huge advantage in the deal and they are smiling as they get a little cut of the pie instead of a proper deal where there is equal benefit for both countries.
Probably Labour still are wondering why are National still on 48% when everyone hates the natz so much.
The answer is the wolves in sheeps clothing Labour MP’s forging their neoliberal policy in Labour.
further note that the Herald appear to have pulled Hooton’s original piece…..he (Hooton) seems to be working on commission for the legal fraternity now.
Yes, I heard that RNZ item this morning and had the sense David Parker was being blindsided by a mischievous ‘re-arrangement’ of the story behind the story in question. For example, it turns out that a principle player by the name of “John Darby” is not a friend or close associate of David Parker’s as was being suggested. He (Parker) knew him through a former work-place around 20 years ago. As Parker said… he’s merely one of a thousand or so people I have met over the years.
He was obviously very angry and at one point politely advised Espiner that some of the claims he was making were bordering on defamation.
Puckish Rogue 8.1.1.2.3.1
22 June 2018 at 12:17 pm
I’m not saying they were friends but there’s certainly more than just a casual connection
‘Initially the directors of Te Arai Coastal Lands were two local Maori; Rawson Wright and the late Russell Kemp and a Dunedin lawyer, Fraser Goldsmith.
Goldsmith was working at the time for Anderson Lloyd, an Otago law firm that acted for Darby and co-incidentally also employed David Parker before he entered Parliament.
Darby had another connection with Parker. Both worked with and were friends of the Otago entrepreneur, the late Howard Patterson.
Darby’s relationship with Patterson saw Patterson become one of the original shareholders in the NZ Land Trust which was the vehicle Darby used to buy into Te Arai.’
You can have all manner of connections to a person but they are no more than casual associations and, more often than not, come about through a set of innocent circumstances. If you base the kind of inferences that are currently being leveled at David Parker as sinister then nobody, anywhere would dare have verbal intercourse with anyone, anywhere – or even be seen in the same room. Anarchy would prevail.
David Parker must be a very angry man at the moment. More fool him or her who pursues this line of innuendo. They will likely end up facing Parker in court.
PR, IMO the various media articles and interviews discussed above, also need to be considered in the light of Parker’s answers in the House yesterday to Question 3 from Amy Adams. I have already provided a link to this at the new thread below at 11.1.1 but here it is again. Parker is pretty clear in his responses, as is the Speaker.
…lawlessness, absence of government, nihilism, mobocracy, revolution, insurrection, riot, rebellion, mutiny, disorder, disorganization, misrule, chaos, tumult, turmoil, mayhem, pandemonium
“the country is threatened with anarchy”
Anarchism is a political philosophy that advocates self-governed societies based on voluntary institutions. These are often described as stateless societies,[1][2][3][4] although several authors have defined them more specifically as institutions based on non-hierarchical or free associations.[5][6][7][8] Anarchism holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary and harmful.
PR has just shown how little life experience he really has, and that appears to be in the relative anonymity of a small,young player in a city like Auckland.
It would be impossible to have a legal and business career, be the MP for Otago, and be a senior MP with a 20 year career without having the acquaintance of prominent business players in the region. The place is just too small. Everybody knows everybody.
But that doesn’t mean they are all doing dodgy deals with each other.
Around Otago, and especially Queenstown it would be almost impossible to find a lawyer, or firm that won’t have some conflicting clients. In my experience this is handled in a professional manner, and declared, this includes Anderson Lloyd. PR is drawing a very long bow indeed with those accusations.
Edit. I see the thread split, and he has withwdrawn and appogised below. Good lad.
This a shocker especially with plastic being found everywhere. I used to think the oil industry would kill us via cars and environmental degradation but now I realise they did it via plastic – the actual killer of life.
Mate I now you’re new but in the past on this blog the kaupapa is for major contributors to get a send off when they leave for whatever private reason they may have. I have genuine concern for someone whose writing and thinking I admire and miss. Often a series of comments and posts preceed a leaving or there are comments after – I wanted a link to that.
weka dropped out of sight in early April, both here and on Twitter.
When people raised concerns/enquiries here on TS some time later in mid May(?), Tracey advised that weka was OK so presumably she is in direct contact with weka.
Thats good to hear, Weka was always one of the people on here that was able to make me (and presumably others) at least think about things in different ways
“I’m not saying they were friends but there’s certainly more than just a casual connection”
Parker very clearly described the situation but you are bumbling on with your accusations, despite listening to his interview; you did listen to the interview, Pucky? Parker made his position very clear. Did you miss that?
Pat already put up the link to the Espiner Parker exchange on Morning Report this morning at 8.2 in the earlier thread, but here it is again. (11+ mins)
This was also the topic of a ‘heated’ discussion under Question 3 in Question Time in the House yesterday (Amy Adams to Parker) so here is a link to this as well as IMHO this morning’s interview needs to be heard in the context of this earlier exchange :
Funny that. David says on Morning Report that to impinge on his integrity in your way is libellous. So watch out Puckish old chap. You would be wise to withdraw your accusations, and apologise to David.
I told them that everytime the try to use there unethical tactic to try and intimidat ECO MAORI than there bad Karma is going to bite them on the – – – the sandflys were really stepping up the intimidation to night they have been getting in the shit at every turn I wonder why they really have their nickers in a twist NO. Ana to kai Ka kite ano P.S now THE Rotorua lot are just using their lights so no one can hear them muppets
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
Tree sap can be a sticky, unsightly mess on your car’s exterior. It can be difficult to remove, but with the right techniques and products, you can restore your car to its former glory. Understanding Tree Sap Tree sap is a thick, viscous liquid produced by trees to seal wounds ...
The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
Chris Trotter writes – MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. The data is from February this ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications:Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
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 ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
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 ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],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, Friday 19 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When ASIO boss Mike Burgess delivered his annual threat assessment earlier this year, he stressed the rising danger posed by espionage and foreign interference. “In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed ...
The Tribunal had called on Minister for Children Karen Chhour to provide evidence at an urgent inquiry into the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Midjourney image by T.J. Thomson As more than half of Australian office workers report using generative artificial intelligence (AI) for work, we’re starting to see this technology affect every ...
The Elephant in the Nursery
“PM Jacinda Ardern’s baby: What the future will look like for a child born today?”
stuff.co.nz –
Stuff has published an article today with the above headline.
Maybe Stuff were planning on a bigger article, but in the end settled on three sub headlines, on what it might be like for the Prime Minister’s child growing up.
They were, “lifespan”, “Career”, “lifestyle”.
The one other guaranteed certainty that could have been briefly covered, on what the Prime Minister’s growing daughter will share with the nation’s other newborns, is climate change.
Maybe our more courageous and informed commenters could go where the mainstream media fear to tread?
We all face, or should contemplate, throughout life, these inter-related aspects of life:
1) Quality of life; health & well-being with rich supportive and nurturing social communities and networks.
2) Quality of occupation; meaningful occupation(s) that allows for individual and collective development.
3) Quality of environment; a safe but stimulating environment with a place to live that provides a sense of connectedness and belonging.
All of the above could be extended, added to, and elaborated on; they are the basis and consequence of our personal and collective values (and opinions).
Is today a good day to yet again demand that this Coalition honours it’s promise to repeal Section 70A?
Just so the less privileged child can feel,well, a little less underprivileged.
Good call Rosemary. They really need to follow through.
Patient safety requires more money but the Government claims there is no more money to put on the table.
Yet, when it comes to foreign aid, the Government can muster up a billion dollars. Or in the case of eradicating M.bovis, the Government is able to commit to signing a blank cheque.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/06/grant-robertson-signs-blank-cheque-to-tackle-mycoplasma-bovis.html
Who else thinks the Government has got its priorities wrong?
Yep.
I think more people should watch Death Aid. Particularly the bit where foreign aid people planted a food crop (tomatoes?) along a bank. The locals who were experiencing famine laughed at them. The crop was maturing and was totally destroyed by rhinos or something.
Not the doco but still good overview https://youtu.be/8FkVNpNiLd0
Anyway, hey Govt stop misallocating our capital.
I hear there is good aid money for conference centres and hotels in Nuie, and the maintenance contracts to run the hotels… to help the locals train to be waiters and chefs on minimum wages and a few million of aid for the rich list foreign owner/managers to run the hotels of course. wink, wink.
There is also the Hillary foundation to contribute in. A few million of ‘aid’ to somebodies ex politican’s private charity seems obligatory for today’s small country politician’s for an eye on future career opportunities and influence.
Me but I have a vested interest. If a health professional carried on willingly spreading contagious disease as farmers have done you would lose both livelyhood and liberty. People are jailed for the same offence.
Sick people are less of a priority than sick cows because business loses money on sick cows but sick people are a commodity that can be replaced easier and cheaper than that cow, if you believe in one dimensional economics without social order and based on flawed models.
Definitely got it’s priorities wrong – it’s still supporting capitalism.
The lead story on line from the Herald about Fonterra is the important one this morning and it goes a long way to explaining Shane Jones, Winston and Damien O’Connor publicly giving Fonterra a kicking.
It illustrates how dopey dairy farmers in particular are with their adoption of TAF share trading and loud and strenuous objection to NAIT, both against reasoned advice.
Both decisions have come to bite them on the arse like a rabid cattle dog with really bad financial decisions by Fonterra and the MB spread.
Serve them right, but it has cost the country dearly.
RE Nait and compo to farmers
ONLY those farmers whose cows are infected and who can show via NAIT their stock movements should be eligible for compensation.
No compliance, NO compensation.
Farmers… comply or your stock die and you get nout.
Couldn’t agree more. The outrage in the rural newspapers that only farmers get had to be seen to be believed, the majority said then that they wouldn’t comply.
Who is the biggest enabler… fucking Fonterra.
No compliance, no milk pick up.
This is the sort of Fonterra piss poor management that Shane Jones is on about,
Kia kaha, Shane.
Yes agree, NAIT compliance should extend to milk pick up too.
Agreed!!!
TAF , from what I recall was a means by which the idea of a corrupting a co-operative by appealing to a farmer’s desire for treats and trinkets could be achieved – the ability to sell (for an earn) the results of their shareholding without actually giving up ownership. Short term gain, long term pain.
There were warnings at the time. I seem to remember Nine to Noon with its host (with a balanced portfolio and a work/life balance) had a couple of very sensible guests on alerting everyone to what has now come to pass.
And for those farmers for whom things have, (or are about to) go(ne) tits up, they have an expectation that a “pretty communist” will come to the rescue in true communist style.
There are those that are STILL not complying with NAIT quite obviously.
I’m not sure what’s happened to @ Countryboy, but I’d be interested in hearing his perspective.
(Parallels btw with the firearms register)
Firearms register?
No such thing unless you own pistols or automatic weapons.
exactly
Galloway nails it.
“If you support Israel’s crimes, if you supported the assault that broke Libya, if you supported the “infestation” of Syria by foreign head-choppers, if you back the genocide in Yemen but are upset by crying children in your own camps – you are just a hypocrite. That’s all. “
😺
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2018/06/us_should_pull_out_of_un_human_rights_council.html
“This tweet sums it up nicely. In the last ten years Israel has been condemned 68 times and China, Russia and Venezuela not once.”
Poor babies – did they desist? Then no surprise that they are condemned.
Desist from what? Defending themselves against terrorism?
Yes, because shooting a medic dressed in white with her arms raised to indicate she was there only to attend to the injured is totally defending yourself against terrorism. Well done, Israeli snipers. (You have scopes on those rifles, right? You might want to clean them occasionally so you can, you know, see who you’re about to shoot.) That dreadful terrorist. She would probably have thrown band-aids and antiseptic cream at them.
Disproportionate use of force BY.
Heinlein got it – you don’t spank a baby with an axe. Unless you’re FITH like Trump.
All of those have been condemned multiple times in the security council. On the other hand Israel hasn’t due to the US being able to veto it there. The weight passes to smaller orgs to try and do something about it.
https://twitter.com/adamjohnsonNYC/status/945004761618833409
The centre left media puppets find their heart. Looks a lot like Hosking.
https://youtu.be/TdPCMozwPbg
Irrespective of view on this matter, really unprofessional performance
Dominion Road light rail is now “city to Mangere” rather than “city to airport” as AT belatedly tries to refocus on what is really the whole point of that LRT. Which is as a commuter line servicing the southwestern city that just happens to terminate at the airport.
And which eventually may extend north across the harbour (via tunnels) to Takapuna and Albany if/when the Northern Busway is converted to light rail.
Funny tho, all the ‘high profile’ money pits seem to involve big business benefiting. No interest in the city rail loop until Sky City got their own stop and rebranded “city to Mangere” now has the airport piggy backing onto it with all that extra traffic, the rate payers and resident fitting the bill.
Isn’t Auckland airport one of the most profitable in the world per journey. No wonder when you get poorer residents forced to contribute to bills.
Likewise Sky City gets another sweetener onto of everything else. Are they still having China air having quicker entry for visas for Sky Cities VIP gambling clients?
AT ‘consultation’ is the same as ‘Auckland University’ consultation, they made the decision before they had the consultation. might as well just not bother pretending to consult. The decision is made and nobody can change through consultation apart from a tiny bit of tinkering. Like RMA and OIA. It’s rubber-stamping for 99% of decisions.
So, affluent white people probably won’t use it then. They’d rather chew their own legs off than visit Mangere. Unless it’s Mangere Bridge, which has been sufficiently gentrified. (And I say that as a resident of Mangere.)
The way gentrification is going I think it’s not so much colour based aka affluent white people (Auckland 50% Asian) but more class based what is happening.
By the time the rail way line gets built I doubt there will be the traditional Maori and Pacific Islanders living in South Auckland, they will have been displaced by high rents and the cost of living.
Note in Auckland even food has gone up $21 since the start of the year, add in rates which will impact mortgages/rents, power, metro water, petrol, insurance and travel charges aka train/bus
The government will get their way of race displacement in Auckland. History is going to show it. The stats already say what has happened in only a decade with how the neoliberal government policy is playing out.
Remember how we were all fed that lie about Metrowater fees being necessary as well as council rates so we could have that 21c separation of pipes… tricked Yah!
http://trendingnowgh.com/opposition-grows-to-pumping-sewage-into-waitemata-harbour-near-the-harbour-bridge/
Good to see Andrew Little showing public disdain for Garrett and McVicar and their pathetic vengeance fantasies. Wiped the floor with Mitchell in the House yesterday.
Nice to see Key’s molestation offences formally recorded in Hansard too.
Keys molestation offences? Not Max’s surely?
Key senior’s inability to keep his hands off of a certain female cafe worker’s hair.
Here is the link to the Mitchell/Little exchange under Question 4 yesterday:
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=201056
Mitchell did not come off well.
Paula Bennett had tried a similar approach to trying to ‘pin’ Little for alleged belittling (unintended pun) the seriousness of the pinching assault of a female prison officer under Question 1 to the Prime Minister (answered by the Acting Prime Minister):
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=201056
Having not done too well in that exchange and Mitchell also failing in his attempts, Bennett then tried again later under Question 6 to trap Julie Ann Genter as Minister for Women into disagreeing with Little re the same incident – without success:
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=201060
To give her some due, as Deputy Opposition Leader, Bennett had been the first in the House yesterday to congratulate Ardern, wish her well etc on going into labour in a Motion Without Notice during the earlier morning session under Urgency of the House:
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=201011
Between the above Questions and also others such as Question 3 (Amy Adams to David Parker – see 11.1.1 below) it was an interesting Thursday QT for a change. Thursday QT are not usually so “vibrant”. LOL.
Weird we can give away free water overseas for 40 “never never” jobs of unknown duration and quality ( “full production is hardly a date”), but happy to see our educational outcomes reduced and lose 40 jobs immediately at our highest ranked university….
Didn’t exactly see our politicians worrying about those jobs. If it’s not cows or trade or fake/low level degrees for residency then the politicians seem to think it’s outside their radar… someones got our politicians trained for neoliberalism down to a t.
At the end of the day who cares about the arts, architecture, music and planning when you can just import farm workers, aged care workers and chefs and become another low wage asian economy, more consumers with low level education, easier for banks, construction and infrastructure companies to profit from, as they harvest natural assets, which is some economists and our local and central governments dream position for NZ.
http://teu.ac.nz/2018/06/auckland-library-cuts/
David Parker now making a run for title of dodgiest Labour minister
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104911541/david-parker-denies-accusation-over-foreign-buyers-ban
Richard Harmon went more in depth behind a paywall on Politik, apologies for the length of the post
==Labour and the Queenstown Property Developer==
Published: 21 June 2018 By Richard Harman (author)
Questions are being asked about how a group of Labour MPs on a Select Committee agreed to grant an exemption from the overseas buyers ban to a luxury Northland property development where sections are valued at up to $4.5 million each.
The exemption has now been removed for procedural reasons but how it got where it did raises some intriguing questions.
They are accentuated because the inclusion is so unusual, particularly for a Labour Government, to grant what in effect was a special favour to wealthy property developers.
Labour disputes that and says it was actually granting a favour to the local iwi who stood to be substantially disadvantaged if the development did not go ahead.
But POLITIK has found that the iwi have only a minority interest in the development.
On the face of it, the exemption flew in the face of everything Labour has been saying about property development since it became the Government.
For example, only 12 days ago, the Minister in charge of the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill, which implements the ban, David Parker, said this:
“We want the prices of New Zealand homes, whether it be a lakeside station, the best houses in the Bay of Islands or the modest homes in our towns and cities, to be set by local buyers, not on the international market,” he said.
“It’s also a matter of values. We believe New Zealand homes should not be traded on an international market and New Zealanders should not be outbid by wealthier foreign buyers.”
But that is precisely what the developers of Te Arai are intending with their building lots which have rating valuations of up to $4.5 million each being offered on the international market.
Also worrying was that the exemption was granted to only one development; a point the Speaker was later to fasten on pointing out that the possibility of an exemption had not been offered to other developers.
—The development—
The development itself consists of 100 sites spread through a forest adjacent to a pristine east coast beach.
Its history is complex and involves two Maori entities; Te Uri o Hau and Ngati Manuhiri.
The Maori entities, beginning in 2000, reached two treaty settlements with the crown which entailed, among other things, then purchasing two crown forests totalling 1370 hectares adjacent to beachfront south of Mangawhai on the east coast of Northland.
The crown valuation for the forests was set at their “highest and best” land use, which was not forestry but included tourism and residential uses.
In a submission to Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee, the hapu and the iwi said:
“While they were commercial forests, the trees were low-grade third rotation pine and the lands’ true economic value was based on subdividing the land into residential lots and forest rural lifestyle lots (under 5 hectares) and developing the land and recreational and tourism uses.
Initial plans for the Mangawhai North Forest were for a coastal subdivision of around 700 properties.
The Mangawhai South Forest could have delivered a larger number of properties.
This would have seen the two forests largely clear-felled and replaced with around 1500 new homes just south of Mangawhai.”
Unveiled in 2005, this would have created a town nearly twice the size of Mangawhai immediately to its south effectively setting up a new urban centre on the Northland east coast.
The proposal almost immediately ran into local objections and resource consent difficulties with the-then Rodney District Council.
—Enter John Darby—
So thwarted in their property development ambitions, and with little access to more capital, the following year the Maori sold 75 per cent of their holding to NZ Land Trust Holdings, a Queenstown based company for $21.8 million and the two sides formed a new company, Te Arai Coastal Lands to continue the development.
NZ Land Trust Holdings is a company associated with a Queenstown landscape architect and property developer, John Darby.
On his website he describes himself as one of the most successful investors in New Zealand, with investment interests in multiple industries.
He has near-celebrity status in Central Otago.
He has developed a string of luxury lodges and resorts including Millbrook, Blanket Bay on the shores of Lake Wakatipu near Glenorchy, the upmarket Jacks Point golf course and clubhouse, Clearwater Resort and Golf Course in Christchurch and Michael Hill’s private golf course.
Darby’s background is in landscape architecture and he’s a HarvardUniversity-trained golf course architect and resort planner.
He is also a high profile networker and has a connection with Labour’s Associate Finance Minister David Parker as well as a public relations firm with close Labour connections.
His highest profile networking came when he hosted the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at his Amisfield winery in 2014.
He was to turn Te Arai from a proposed beachside town into a boutique upmarket luxury development aimed at the international market.
Initially the directors of Te Arai Coastal Lands were two local Maori; Rawson Wright and the late Russell Kemp and a Dunedin lawyer, Fraser Goldsmith.
Goldsmith was working at the time for Anderson Lloyd, an Otago law firm that acted for Darby and co-incidentally also employed David Parker before he entered Parliament.
Darby had another connection with Parker. Both worked with and were friends of the Otago entrepreneur, the late Howard Patterson.
Darby’s relationship with Patterson saw Patterson become one of the original shareholders in the NZ Land Trust which was the vehicle Darby used to buy into Te Arai.
—The golfing billionaire—
Once Darby’s company had control of Te Arai, the proposal was changed several times until an application in 2009 for 180 sites was turned down by planning commissioners.
This was the point where things appear to have changed.
In 2012, a Los Angeles Billionaire and fanatical golfer, Rick Kayne bought 230 hectares of the Te Arai forest and began turning it into what is now regarded as one of the best golf courses in the world – Tara Iti.
It was where John Key played his round with Barrack Obama.
Tara Iti set the tone for what was now happening.
Te Arai now be a boutique development aimed at the world’s super-wealthy. .
In 2014 Te Arai gifted a 400-hectare publicly-owned coastal reserve, with the vesting of the entire beach frontages and sensitive ecological areas in both forests to Auckland Council.
This created a 15km publicly owned stretch of beachfront.
But behind the reserve running along the beachfront, Te Arai obtained permission to develop 46 homesites.
The lots will sit behind at least 200 metres of reserve land on a 5.2-kilometre coastal stretch and will not be visible from the beach.
In its submission to the Select Committee Te Arai emphasised that the buyers would be overseas people.
“The time and cost to develop projects of such a high calibre and amenity value, with limited number of allowable home sites, results in these properties requiring to be sold into the high-value market,” it said.
“Purchasers of these types of sites would typically spend between two-to-three times the purchase price of the bare land on building improvements.
“For projects such as ours to be undertaken, we require a large pool of potential purchasers.
“Due to the required price point for such home sites to be economical, and the relatively small size of the New Zealand/Australian buyer pool in this price point, such a purchaser pool is necessarily going to be a wider international one. “
QV currently shows sections in the development with rating valuations of up to $4.5 million each.
—NZ First objects—
There have been consistent objections to the development — not the least from New Zealand First.
In February last year NZ First Leader Winston Peters issued a press statement saying that Finance Minister Steven Joyce had signed off a change to the Te Arai beach access road without even discussing it with the community.
“Mr Joyce said in his answers that ‘it is important to remember that this is iwi-owned land,” said Peters.
“He neglected to mention that the iwi, seriously financially challenged, have had to partner with US billionaire Ric Kayne’s company Te Arai North Ltd, to get a return on their money or lose it.”
In fact the partnership is also with John Darby and the iwi have been left with only 25 per cent of the holding company.
Even the Maori representatives on the company board are no longer there.
Instead the directors are John Darby and one of his executives, Jim Castiglione
—Overplaying the iwi role—
The question of the iwi role is important.
Speaker Trevor Mallard has ruled that the inclusion of the exemption for Te Arai was improper for procedural reasons.
There were other ways the exemption could probably have been granted, he said.
But even though the Committee was advised what it was doing in recommending the exemption was improper and even though the Opposition opposed it, the Committee went ahead and recommended it.
Mallard, however, appeared to excuse them.
“I appreciate that the amendment was made by the Finance and Expenditure Committee at the request of the landowner in order to preserve the value of the land purchased as commercial redress following Treaty of Waitangi settlements,” he said.
“The committee was motivated by a desire to assist and to be fair to the landowner.”
It would appear that Parliament was under the misapprehension that this development was essentially an iwi development when in fact it was a high priced luxury development 75 per cent owned by a property development company that boasts of having completed $2 billion of developments.
There is another casual link between Te Arai and the Government — Te Arai’s public relations consultant is David Lewis, a former press secretary to Helen Clark and business partner of Gordon-John Thompson who filled in as Jacinda Ardern’s Chief of Staff when the Government was being formed.
What all this adds up to is what Parliamentary insiders would call an “untidy” process
Was it because Parliament misunderstood who really owned Te Arai that led to the exemption being granted and did Parker know what was going on.
Did he know people he knew were deeply involved in getting the exemption?
In a way, it doesn’t matter because Mallard has struck the exemption from the Bill.
But the opposition may not see it that way. they may well want to pursue this matter further.
Jeeze mate did one of your minions put that shocker up – bit of a fail imo.
Yeah I didn’t quite realise how long it was until I posted it, i know how annoying it is to scroll through screeds and screeds of stuff and then I go and do it myself
That being that its also not the first time David Parker has got himself into a spot of bother:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10373671
“In respect of my own life I’ve done a lot more in my life than a lot of people have and overall I am proud of my achievements, but I’m certainly ashamed of this particular mistake,” he said last night. With the benefit of hindsight I was a bit glib in the way I ticked the form and sent it in.”
Wasn’t he the most modest of men in those days? Reminds me of The Donald in that way. I can just imagine Parker describing himself as “a very stable genius”.
Pity he didn’t stay that way. I’m afraid he has now lost the plot.
Still, aren’t we so privileged to have someone of his calibre in our Parliament.
Rather like the 0.177 air rifle I had as a kid.
really?…if youre going to trawl back to 2006 at least report the outcome….
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10379118
“David Parker will be reinstated to the Cabinet next week after a Companies Office inquiry emphatically cleared him of filing false returns – but he is unlikely to regain his role as Attorney-General.
A smiling Mr Parker, tipped as a rising star within Labour, said: “Now I feel vindicated. I feel pretty good.”
An opinion from Crown solicitors Meredith Connell concluded no case “whatsoever” for a prosecution existed, not even at prima facie level. “
As the left so like to point out that just because something is legal doesn’t make it correct so I’m going off his own words:
“but I’m certainly ashamed of this particular mistake,” he said last night. With the benefit of hindsight I was a bit glib in the way I ticked the form and sent it in.”
and what year was it again when you graduated from the Exceltium School for Alternative Facts?
This fevered attack from you is a little unseemly, Pucky. My guess is, you’ve spent too long trawling Kiwiblog or Pete George’s greyblog and lost your head, sense of reality, decorum and some of the limited standing you might have previously enjoyed here. Still, you could patch up afterwards, I suppose, with grudging apologies or attempts at humour; we shall see how it unfolds (your about-face that is; Parker is not going to suffer because of Hooten et all and their witless shrieking).
The exemption seemed to be for an Iwi owned company, except the company is 75% foreign owned
Had it gone ahead wouldn’t that just be a backdoor entry for any overseas company to buy in and isn’t that the sort of thing the left accused National of
Mallard said:
“I appreciate that the amendment was made by the Finance and Expenditure Committee at the request of the landowner in order to preserve the value of the land purchased as commercial redress following Treaty of Waitangi settlements,” he said.
“The committee was motivated by a desire to assist and to be fair to the landowner.”
In the interview, David Parker made clear that the needs of iwi granted compensation as the result of their treaty settlement have to be considered favourably and that is what motivated his actions. The rest is churn and you are churning.
And Pucky, are you really trying to drag the events of 2006 into this argument?
If so, you are scrrrrrrrrrrrrrraping the barrels bottom, aren’t you?
Ok substitute any National MPs name for David Parker and tell me the left wouldn’t have been calling for his or hers resignation whereas I’m saying it looks dodgy
Because it does look dodgy
To you. Not to me.
“Speaker Trevor Mallard has ruled that the inclusion of the exemption for Te Arai was improper for procedural reasons.
There were other ways the exemption could probably have been granted, he said.”
Not dodgy. Procedural reasons. Other ways to achieve the same outcome. You’re looking to inflame. For no justifiable reason. Not that it matters…
Well Ok then my argument obviously isn’t good enough. Had a National MP worked at the same firm and been friends with the same people involved with the company and the company was owned by an american billionaire and that MP had tried to get an exemption for that company and that company alone the cries of corruption and resignation from the left would be deafening
“Well Ok then my argument obviously isn’t good enough”
Hey! That’s not troll language! You okay?
Oh! No worries, your edit straightened that misconception out. I suppose commentators from “the Left” would be doing as you describe but … “you do it too”, Pucky? I’m off. Can’t argue with that. In any case, I’ve a hobbit hole to dig (it won’t dig itself!)
If my argument was good enough it would have changed peoples opinions and since it hasn’t then my argument wasn’t good enough and I need to do better
Also I’m not a troll (more of a puckish rogue really 🙂 ) but I have noticed the level of debate here has somewhat regressed of late so I’m trying to be less..I don’t know confrontational maybe to hopefully help improve the situation, sort of like I I can’t make anyone else improve but I can improve myself and maybe that will, in some small part, help improve the general level of debating
Well Pucky, I don’t regard you as a troll at all, but your effort today lacked the lighter touch you have been working on – you acted like a dyed in the wool Nat, leaping to the worst possible conclusion and even seemed happy to cite an ancient, unconvincing failing of Mr Parkers. Still, the tone of your comment at 12:40 is very encouraging and I’ll put your poor performance today down to human error and look forward to your refreshed approach next week 🙂
Obligatory motivational Friday clip 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRBak_2X3Do
Yes, that was a very convenient letter wasn’t it?
Unsigned, as I remember it. Nobody ever seemed to have remembered it or to recollect writing it and it just turned up after a search of the files.
Very, very convenient wasn’t it?
suggest you avail yourself of a dictionary and look up ’emphatic’ and ‘prima facie’
Alwyn doesn’t have time to consult dictionaries. It would eat into the time he’d otherwise spend trying to appear clever on the internet.
Pat @8.1.1.2
My memory of that case is: the former associate in question (presumably the Mr Hyslop mentioned in the item) was known to hold a grudge against David Parker because he “mistakenly” believed Parker was responsible for him being bankrupted. It emerged sometime later – but don’t remember the details – that Hyslop was wrong.
think Hooton chose a poor target for this venture in Parker…a lawyer with a reputation for integrity …dont think this will go unchallenged as I suspect the Herald has already discovered
Yep David Parker, defiantly a neoliberal of the highest order aka selling out for TPPA. So no surprises if dollars beats principals for him in land sales to rich buyers. Then he worries about how Kiwis can’t afford to buy their own prime land anymore. The answer is because of deals like that, along with their obsession with bringing in low skilled people to create a low wage economy and drive down wages.
Then go on about the price of land being a factor in the high house prices and then they allow foreigners to buy up and speculate on NZ land??? Can’t do that in China but as usual the dimwits do a deal that gives the Chinese a huge advantage in the deal and they are smiling as they get a little cut of the pie instead of a proper deal where there is equal benefit for both countries.
Probably Labour still are wondering why are National still on 48% when everyone hates the natz so much.
The answer is the wolves in sheeps clothing Labour MP’s forging their neoliberal policy in Labour.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018650434/te-arai-foreign-buyer-exemption-claims-outrageous-parker
further note that the Herald appear to have pulled Hooton’s original piece…..he (Hooton) seems to be working on commission for the legal fraternity now.
Yes, I heard that RNZ item this morning and had the sense David Parker was being blindsided by a mischievous ‘re-arrangement’ of the story behind the story in question. For example, it turns out that a principle player by the name of “John Darby” is not a friend or close associate of David Parker’s as was being suggested. He (Parker) knew him through a former work-place around 20 years ago. As Parker said… he’s merely one of a thousand or so people I have met over the years.
He was obviously very angry and at one point politely advised Espiner that some of the claims he was making were bordering on defamation.
Puckish Rogue 8.1.1.2.3.1
22 June 2018 at 12:17 pm
I’m not saying they were friends but there’s certainly more than just a casual connection
‘Initially the directors of Te Arai Coastal Lands were two local Maori; Rawson Wright and the late Russell Kemp and a Dunedin lawyer, Fraser Goldsmith.
Goldsmith was working at the time for Anderson Lloyd, an Otago law firm that acted for Darby and co-incidentally also employed David Parker before he entered Parliament.
Darby had another connection with Parker. Both worked with and were friends of the Otago entrepreneur, the late Howard Patterson.
Darby’s relationship with Patterson saw Patterson become one of the original shareholders in the NZ Land Trust which was the vehicle Darby used to buy into Te Arai.’
Oops, reply @11
Bollocks PR @8.2.2.1
You can have all manner of connections to a person but they are no more than casual associations and, more often than not, come about through a set of innocent circumstances. If you base the kind of inferences that are currently being leveled at David Parker as sinister then nobody, anywhere would dare have verbal intercourse with anyone, anywhere – or even be seen in the same room. Anarchy would prevail.
David Parker must be a very angry man at the moment. More fool him or her who pursues this line of innuendo. They will likely end up facing Parker in court.
” They will likely end up facing Parker in court”
Thats one way to find out what happened
PR, IMO the various media articles and interviews discussed above, also need to be considered in the light of Parker’s answers in the House yesterday to Question 3 from Amy Adams. I have already provided a link to this at the new thread below at 11.1.1 but here it is again. Parker is pretty clear in his responses, as is the Speaker.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=201056
We could but hope…
Oh, wait – you mean chaos.
Definition of anarchy:
🙂
Anarchy
But we should probably look at the origin as well:
Without chief.
Far more accurate.
Anarchism
As has been said:
The dictators don’t like people governing themselves though and insist that we need to be governed.
+1000 Anne
PR has just shown how little life experience he really has, and that appears to be in the relative anonymity of a small,young player in a city like Auckland.
It would be impossible to have a legal and business career, be the MP for Otago, and be a senior MP with a 20 year career without having the acquaintance of prominent business players in the region. The place is just too small. Everybody knows everybody.
But that doesn’t mean they are all doing dodgy deals with each other.
Around Otago, and especially Queenstown it would be almost impossible to find a lawyer, or firm that won’t have some conflicting clients. In my experience this is handled in a professional manner, and declared, this includes Anderson Lloyd. PR is drawing a very long bow indeed with those accusations.
Edit. I see the thread split, and he has withwdrawn and appogised below. Good lad.
This a shocker especially with plastic being found everywhere. I used to think the oil industry would kill us via cars and environmental degradation but now I realise they did it via plastic – the actual killer of life.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/104854515/manufacturer-accused-of-spilling-thousands-of-plastic-nurdles-into-wellington-harbour
Yep
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2131051-remote-pacific-island-found-buried-under-tonnes-of-plastic-waste/
I’ve been away for 6 months. Can someone please explain or link to what has happened to weka. Thanks
And please also.
I guess if she wanted us to know, she would have told us
There is a right to privacy
A.
Mate I now you’re new but in the past on this blog the kaupapa is for major contributors to get a send off when they leave for whatever private reason they may have. I have genuine concern for someone whose writing and thinking I admire and miss. Often a series of comments and posts preceed a leaving or there are comments after – I wanted a link to that.
weka dropped out of sight in early April, both here and on Twitter.
When people raised concerns/enquiries here on TS some time later in mid May(?), Tracey advised that weka was OK so presumably she is in direct contact with weka.
Thank you.
Thats good to hear, Weka was always one of the people on here that was able to make me (and presumably others) at least think about things in different ways
“I’m not saying they were friends but there’s certainly more than just a casual connection”
Parker very clearly described the situation but you are bumbling on with your accusations, despite listening to his interview; you did listen to the interview, Pucky? Parker made his position very clear. Did you miss that?
Nope, a little busy this morning at work. If what was written was wrong i’m sure the writer will get sued though.
Pat already put up the link to the Espiner Parker exchange on Morning Report this morning at 8.2 in the earlier thread, but here it is again. (11+ mins)
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018650434/te-arai-foreign-buyer-exemption-claims-outrageous-parker
This was also the topic of a ‘heated’ discussion under Question 3 in Question Time in the House yesterday (Amy Adams to Parker) so here is a link to this as well as IMHO this morning’s interview needs to be heard in the context of this earlier exchange :
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=201056
Cool, I’ll listen to it later
Funny that. David says on Morning Report that to impinge on his integrity in your way is libellous. So watch out Puckish old chap. You would be wise to withdraw your accusations, and apologise to David.
I withdraw and I’m very sorry David
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYOZ3IzRaf4
Love it!!!!!!!!! LOL.
One of the greatest sitcoms ever I feel
Good on yer Puck. We are generally anonymous here but welcome to your whiskery self. Do you have trouble with your teeth?
Looks like slater’s in for a drubbing this coming October. He’s getting clobbered with costs awards against him, too. Poor bugger:
http://www.nzlii.org/nz/cases/NZHC/2018/1099.html
http://www.nzlii.org/nz/cases/NZHC/2018/1101.html
here we go i wonder how the sandflys no were i am all the time do they have warrants to bug my ph or my gps have they given my number to their redneck m8s link below
ka kite ano
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2018/jun/22/supreme-court-bans-police-access-to-phone-data-without-a-warrant
Here a report views on Papatuanukue and Atoearoa reality link is Below
COMMENT
Yesterdaze: When a child is born
James Elliott
Ka kite ano
Here is the link for the above post some thing funny happening to my phone
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/06/22/128750/when-a-child-is-born
I told them that everytime the try to use there unethical tactic to try and intimidat ECO MAORI than there bad Karma is going to bite them on the – – – the sandflys were really stepping up the intimidation to night they have been getting in the shit at every turn I wonder why they really have their nickers in a twist NO. Ana to kai Ka kite ano P.S now THE Rotorua lot are just using their lights so no one can hear them muppets