*** Would you please consider this contribution for publication on The Standard as a post rather than a comment. I’ve had a couple of emails bounce back to me from the gmail submissions address, so making the request here since I know it will end up in moderation. Feel free to edit what ever. I am happy to be identified as the author. If you decide not to publish it, I would appreciate any feedback you might offer with a view towards how it may be tailored to better suit your requirements for publication at a future date, if at all.
Kind Regards,
BLiP ***
New Zealanders put their trust in John Key. As the 2008 election neared, New Zealanders sensed a positive change was in the offing, a change driven by optimism which held out the reassurance that the darkening and ominous clouds heralding financial meltdown gathering around previously rock-solid international banking institutions didn’t have to reach as far as us. In fact, a multi-millionaire, a man who had made his fortune working with those very institutions had stepped up to offer his talents and to soften any impact such impending fiscal threat imposed. And look – he grew in a solo parent family dependent on a benefit for his family’s very food and rent. He knows struggle street, he’ll look after us, he’s one of us. Consider his own example; that’s how we work things out – be positive, couple our inate Kiwi optimism with a sturdy and aspirational mind-set to embrace a new New Zealand offered by John Key. Sure, we can make mistakes, heh, just look at all that silly fuss about the Coldplay song on that promotion CD the nice smiling John Key sent to us. He won’t us down. Yes, its time for a change. And guess what? John Key has promised live on television to never lie and to always do his best.
Now, four-and-a-half years later we know that was his first lie, and it certainly wasn’t going to be his last. And these are only the ones we know about. In fact, as the litany of lies still spills from John Key, it must be asked: is the litany orchestrated?
06 – We seek a 50% reduction in New Zealand’s carbon-equivalent net emissions, as compared to 1990 levels, by 2050. 50 by 50. We will write the target into law.
50 – oh, maybe our SAS soldiers were in the Kabul hotel gun fight but they weren’t wounded by friendly fire
51 – New Zealand has lost $12 billion from GDP due to the Christchurch earthquake . . . oh, it might actually be around $15 billion from GDP due to the Christchurch earthquake . . . Blinglish said what?
I think David Shearer and Co. really need to be honest about how they are going to approach the election. They can’t be unrealistic about what John Key’s approach will be. It’s going to be the bullying ‘show me the money’ angle where Key tries to make Shearer look like a bumbling fool under the pressure of live TV. If an experienced politician like Goff can lose to Key that way then it is quite likely that Shearer will be crushed.
So he needs to not play that game. Admit that he can’t play the slick, salesman routine like Key can. People love an underdog who shows some humility(that was one of Helen’s weaknesses, too much pride).
Shearer should instead try to occupy the moral ground (but without the typical labour party smug sanctimony ).
I think National’s strategy will be to start announcing sweeteners soon in the form of election bribes while continuing with the beneficiary bashing and getting tough on crime angle. I don’t think Key will necessarily want to go head to head with Shearer too often because, as long as Shearer can rattle off a few of Key’s failures, that’s where Key will get tripped up. Instead, Key will continue to rely on a biased media to paint him in a good light… No journalist asking the hard questions will be allowed. There will likely be a play of extended coverage about a minor controversy leading up to the election to ensure Key is in the limelight where he can smile and wave till the cows come home. Labour will try to outplay the Natz with their own happy go lucky clown card.
biased media indeed Jackal; see comment on the news coverage of the “far left” and investors “scared off” by Labour and the Greens; freakin’ toadies; the ghost has no respect for the majority of them, though he must understand them all the same.
Shearer was absolutely pitiful on Morning Report this morning about the polls. “What it shows is that Labour are beginning to show themselves as a credible party”, “We’re showing that we really can give John Key a run for his money” or words to that effect. Just pathetic. He should be dismissing the polls as having limited value when the shifts are so small, that this is reflected in the different poll results, and then move quickly on to how that John Key’s a dishonest schmuck who doesn’t care about the majority of New Zealanders, only the rich, and that for these reasons he’s not fit to be prime minister. Short of making defamatory statements the guy needs to harden up and tell it how it is. The way Shearer’s behaving at the moment I’d be embarrassed if were to become the prime minister. Pathetic.
Shearer sounded like the Labour we’re tired of – interested in getting elected primarily, so interested in whether they have gained some advantage over the other Party. And strangely referring to leaks from Key’s side as if that was of real importance to voters.
He should have been talking about how Labour is going to roll up its sleeves and get busy for NZ with good policies (a stirring class image). Great if he’d talked about things NZ need done – for the economy, for profitable businesses that have thought for their workers and society, with encouragement from government, also environment maintaining, enhancing, saving etc. No it’s all about the voters realising that Labour has something to offer. Labour don’t wait for us to realise, repeat about firm vision again and again!
We who derive from early colonisation that left an industrial society for a better life and opportunities to get ahead will suffer increasing disappointment as years of this economic management continue. Now we are sinking back into the old feudal agricultural economy of poor farm workers and impoverished town dwellers, with a sprinkling of jobs in the new industrial trend that allows oppressive surveillance from new technology allowing the wealthy to keep the poor distant from government – NZ Housing is just the start. What a damnable place this country is turning into under these bourgesoisie in government.
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: —that is right, $385,000—and there apparently was not any audience at all, apart from mum and dad and the cousins down the road. That is the kind of shambles that Mr Williamson allowed to happen. So why he is talking during this important speech, I do not know. Then, of course, he went off and he made a colleague of his a multimillionaire.
Hon Maurice Williamson: Which one?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Mr Steven Joyce. He gave out licences under a Vickrey sale process—a Vickrey sale process. I want to remind everybody listening that this is the kind of money that has gone into this. The Vickrey sale process goes like this. Up comes this item for purchase. Mr Williamson is heading the sale. A bids $1 million, B bids $100,000, and C bids $50,000. A gets the tender—
Hon Maurice Williamson: We could have a royal inquiry.
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: —well, it deserves an inquiry, all right, but not, I think, from that member—because A bid $1 million, but he does not pay $1 million; he pays what the second guy, B, bid. He pays $100,000. Now every morning, and five times a day, Mr Joyce gets up and he points his face towards Pakuranga. He gets down on his knees and he prays to the Mecca of Pakuranga who made him a multimillionaire, and then he walks into the House and calls himself a self-made man.
have banked your component specs and a 4-year-old transaction machine gifted by a fellow philosophical communitarian today is going into the shop for an increased horse=power deposition tomorrow. Cheers (further disclosure may be harnessed from the Pogues and Rolls bridle.)
Well no, it is an assumption. But what of the water that never touches the lake bed? It just seems to be an illogical argument that is straight from the capitalist rentier book.
Similar to land, people do not own the entire column of atmoshere that exists above the land. And it is very clear that their ownership is limited to the bed and does not include the entire column of water and atmosphere that exists above the bed.
I think tranzrail tried something equally silly and money-grubbing over its rail lines some years ago.
I wonder whether there is some fuzzy-wuzzy thinking going on in Tuwharetoa land. A few weeks ago someone there (I think) was bemoaning the first-in-first-served principle under the RMA that operates when allocating the country’s resources. Bemusement arose given that their own claims rest on the first-in-first-served principle. Perhaps they need to get some sea air to clear the fuzz and the wuzz.
I don’t like your term fuzzy wuzzy so please cease using that insult.
I would say all of the water touches the lake bed at some point so all good.
You are speaking ignorance when you go on about first in and so forth, I replied to the alien the other day on this point.
“a very small percentage of the populace, even if they are first arrivals.”
Māori are not just ‘first arrivals’, the culture developed here and that is why they are indigenous to these islands. As wikipedia outlines, “Indigenous peoples are ethnic minorities who have been marginalized as their historical territories became part of a state.[1] In international or national legislation they are generally defined as having a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory, and to their cultural or historical distinctiveness from politically dominant populations. The concept of indigenous people may define them as particularly vulnerable to exploitation, marginalization and oppression by nations or states that may still be in the process of colonialism, or by politically dominant ethnic groups.”
It is a very important concept to grasp and I emphasise it because too often the line ‘first arrivals’ is used to marginalise and denigrate Māori as if somehow in some strange universe they are not indigenous and by not being indigenous, under this worldview, they are not due the rights and respect that indigenous peoples should be given in this world. I say should because the sad truth is that that rarely has happened unless the dominant culture decides to misappropriate some aspect of the indigenous culture for their own purposes.
Understanding the indigenous culture of a land people choose to live in imo should be step 1 otherwise we end up with the sorts of negative social statistics for marginalised indigenous cultures we see here and around the world.
I know it is a tangential point but I felt I had to make it to correct any misunderstandings that may be there with the use of the term ‘first arrivals’.
Perhaps they need some sea air? Why don’t you leave them alone instead of the bullying, snide, nasty putdowns vto or are you just feeling mean this morning.
the culture apart from a few local variances arrived fully formed with the first Pasifikans. Very little actually developed here indigenously.
Choose any indicator you like, language, dress, customs, traditions, gods…
But i still afford 1st nation status, with all sovereignty rights conferred, to Maori even if you are a multitude of disparate tribes sharing a common aesthetic masked as a united people.
finders keepers
though you still shouldn’t have signed that bloody treaty eh. 🙂
polly – that ‘fully formed’ argument is the same as ‘not first here’ except the other way round. We can be Pasifikans and have our own cultural identity – it is not mutually exclusive. I think we are becoming more united 🙂 and true about that treaty bro, so trusting and so let down.
the culture developed here and that is why they are indigenous to these islands.
Just saying if the proviso of indigineity is that the culture developed here, but it didn’t, then it calls into question the nature of indigenousness ?
Hasn’t a unique kiwi culture developed more here since the Euros arrived, but are they indigenous?
I’d stick to the rights of finders keepers and possession being 9/10ths of the law 🙂
If pollywog is right then at some point the multiple cultures of NZ must become one culture (in one sense) which incorporates those that exist now and then such as the current indigenous one. At that point the indigeneity shifts, does it not, to that next point along the timescale where the ‘new improved’ culture is the reality and the previous cultures drift back in time not forgotten but not used.
We could be at that point now. Surely not too far off atthe most. Or perhaps when that point arrives indigeneity simply stops and no longer exists….
It makes my eyes cross-eyed like looking at concentric rings.
I don’t mean one culture as in homogeneity, that’s why it was framed with “(in one sense”).
But indigeneity must have moved along that timeframescale for today’s Maori culture to be indigenous, given the difference with the first Maori cultures here. Those original ones have morphed into today’s one through population increase, migrations, time, changed habits, etc , hence the claim to being indigenous here.
But that process must surely still apply. If it were not to apply then indigeneity must stop when cultures change (which leads to todays maori not being indigenous). As such, at some point the indigenous culture of NZ must come to include other arrivals such as the europeans.
“You are speaking ignorance when you go on about first in and so forth, I replied to the alien the other day on this point.”
You could have quoted my reply, which from memory was something like “that’s not how I meant it at all”, so plenty of distance between myself and the intent of your ignorance barb.
The copied piece refers to understanding and respect for a developed culture lest negative things arise. That is all genuine and credible sure, but it is not the sole consideration in application of the first-in-first-served principle. It is merely one of many factors to consider. It does not deliver a knockout punch.
It smells of framing an argument to support a predetermined position, rather than understanding the pricniple in the first place and then applying particular circumstances around it.
(You may like (but probably not) a couple posts made on open mike yesterday around the constitutional review and the place of te tiriti and others….)
vto said, “Bemusement arose given that their own claims rest on the first-in-first-served principle.”
I said, “It is a very important concept to grasp and I emphasise it because too often the line ‘first arrivals’ is used to marginalise and denigrate Māori as if somehow in some strange universe they are not indigenous and by not being indigenous, under this worldview, they are not due the rights and respect that indigenous peoples should be given in this world.”
You know by your logic there is no-one who is indigenous because they “all came from somewhere” even though unique and valuable cultures developed.
And as for the silly notion you propose below where some water molecules are supported by the lakebed and others not – you do know they are all, sort of moving around a lot in there – you know in the water itself.
I don’t believe I made any mention over who is indigenous and who isn’t, or what effect such indigeneity has, I merely spoke of the principle of first in first served.
Sure, Maori are indigenous here, that is clear. And sure, people may well do what you intimate there and use it to denigrate. I don’t disagree with you but it still misses the point made in response – namely that such issues are tangential to the principle and are merely considerations in the application of the principle and not determinative.
First in first served is a poorly principle with few good applications in the wanderings of manwomankind across the planet. This was recognised by Tuwharetoa themselves when they recognised its weaknesses in its application in the RMA. They and I are on the same page on that – it is just where it is being chosen for application that was bemusing.
Oh and on your ‘inadvertent’ use of the term – perhaps stop and think about how that might hurt a group of people in society, that inadvertent language happens all the time and hurts people all the time. I said that your use of that term in regards to this iwi was “bullying, snide, and a nasty putdown” you said, “nope. typical.” The truth is that you are/were wrong and your “nope. typical” was incorrect wasn’t it?
I raise this in some detail because it was typical but just not in the way you thought vto.
I see that marty. Things is there was no intention to insult, it was truly inadvertant. That was why I said nope – at that stage its meaning was still flying around in the wind.
You may well see that it sprang to mind because of its use in distance days past, when it was used to insult etc (not by me I would hope but perhaps by others in my vicinity which was picked up on). Such is the nature of man and the long timeframes that are often required to change flawed ways.
Yep, a deliberate racist insult. You’re usually far cleverer than that VTO.
And, to go back to your original question, all the water in Lake Taupo is supported by the lake bed. The bed holds the water that later gets used in a profit making business. Fair enough that the owners of the lake bed would want their interests recognised.
Yes it was inadvertant. One of those never-used terms that popped to mind from distance days past and plunked out with no thinking.
As for the bed issue – don’t agree. Just like tranzrail some years ago the claim is unsound and smacks of rentier behaviour that is of no benefit to anyone expect the capitalist. The country is moving away from rentier behaviour so they are running against the grain in attempting to grab it. Don’t blame them though – all’s fair in love and war apparently and it is only what the corporates do themselves, so good on them for giving it a crack.
Only the water on the bottom is supported by the bed, all else is supported by the water below it, just as the air above the lake surface is supported by the lake itself. Quick send a bill to the nearest windfarm.
The water is in that location due to gravity and the higher topographical position of surrounding property, not the lake bed. See how silly it is?
Nope, I don’t think you’ve thought this through properly, VTO. Water is a liquid and water in a lake is a contiguous mass. All the water is supported by the bed, which is actually shown by your example, not disproved by it.
The phrase ‘hydro storage’ just popped into my head. I’m guessing that the claim probably has a basis in the fact that lake bed performs a role in the overall process of generation, even if it’s only storage. It just seems reasonable to me for that to be recognised.
Yes I do (although probably quite differently than you). But tell me this vto, who put Tuwharetoa in the position where they had to use such silly arguments to reinstate their capacity to maintain their culture and people? And who gave them those tools of argument in the first place?
Personally, I find many Western concepts of relationship with nature pretty bizarre esp this idea that nature is primarily a set of resources for our use (thank-you Judeo-Christian peoples). But we can hardly blame Maori for using and developing those concepts when they’ve been forced to by the dominant culture.
vto, if you turn up with a 750 ml bottle of whisky at my door, how much can I take because it hasn’t touched the sides of the bottle? Your argument makes absolutely no sense. If the water isn’t supported by the lake bed, what happens if the lake bed drops by 100m?
When you load logs on a truck, are only the ones which touch the truckbed supported by it? The springs might argue with you there.
Yes well I’m just trying to apply the logic to this situation whereby logic is spinning down a hot pool whirlpool.
For the water molecule to get to the turbines it needs to go down this path…….. flow down a river some goddamn other place and out to sea, then it gotta drift around over some sea bottoms for an age or two before being lifted to the sky when it gets too close to the surface on a hot day due to wind blowing down off somebody’s mountain range over the horizon. It then finds itself drifting helplessly in clouds of other water molecules with the same dilemma, floating over all sorts of peoples places like my house (I’ve seen them) and lots of other peoples houses and farms and cemetries. Then whoever owns Mount Cook is lucky because all them wee molecules gather together at places like that where it’s mr gravity’s turn. Heshe pulls them back down to the earth where they belong. Water doesn’t like flying. If they are in a Taupo catchment they will fall onto the land and property of individual private people, businesses, government, iwi, nobody, roads, crown, and even people’s own heads. Then, quite tired by now, it wends its way back to where it likes to be – a drain, a creek, a low area, a swamp, a culvert, river, pipe, drink bottle and lake taupo.
why thanks ghostrider. Hopefully it highlights the silliness of the claim. (or if it is a legit claim then perhaps all landowners should follow suit with same logic) Another one could be put up around wind farms and neighbouring properties too, along with many more.
Yes Ad. Although was late arriving because I got lost… another story. Very nice, spacious office. It was packed to the rafters. Just about every ethnic group was represented. I picked up that David Cunliffe and his supporters are in a good place.
I was also pleased to see Phil Twyford there… and Louisa Wall and Carmel Sepuloni. And for those of us getting a bit long in the tooth, so was Jonathon Hunt.
Matthew Hooton is feeling the pressure
Right-wing pundit’s embarrassing performance on radio this morning From the Left and From the Right, Radio NZ National, Monday 22 April 2013
Kathryn Ryan, Matthew Hooton, Mike Williams
A flustered Matthew Hooton nearly melted down a few minutes ago. He’s usually so calm and in control of himself, but these latest polls, plus the popularity of the Labour-Green electricity price policy, have evidently upset the poor fellow. Mike Williams’ knowing laughter will have infuriated him even more…
MATTHEW HOOTON:[steadily rising tone of hysteria] They’ve crashed the stock market with just a press statement! God knows what they’d be like if they were in office!
KATHRYN RYAN: The stock market has NOT crashed. That’s nonsense.
HOOTON: But, but! aaaaarghhh!…. they, they…
MIKE WILLIAMS: Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho.
KATHRYN RYAN: They did NOT crash the stock market. That is NOT true, Matthew.
HOOTON: They have CHOSEN to go to the left…politics of envy… [mutter, choke, splutter with indignation]…
He also made a comment about it being a wealth destroyer…and Williams told him it was about wealth distribution.
Maybe someone can compile a list of all the effects of NZ Power ( as described by the hysterical right) and make a post based on it…like the list of Key’s brainfades posted today.
Mike Williams gave his best performance yet with some excellent advice to the Labour Party.
Get out there and SELL the policies from now through to the election. Don’t do what you’ve tended to do in the past and that is… assume everyone understands them. THEY DON’T!
Hey Morrissey Breen, please stay off my blog, you have been trolling it, since I started it five years ago, you have also been trolling my posts for the 20 years, starting with usenet in the mid 90’s. (not political posts, but sporting ones)
Its a bit weird, that someone would do this for nearly 20 years, your not interested in a discussion, your trolling, any posts you do at my blog, will now will be deleted.
You made some particularly foolish remarks on this forum. You have provided a link to your blog, which I clicked on. Presumably that is what you WANT people to do.
I felt compelled to comment on a few of your more ridiculously stupid opinions, but you obviously lack the wherewithal to defend your statements. Go ahead and ban me, but bear in mind that I was your only reader.
Morrissey
You must watch your addictions. Put Brett Dale down now. 20 years of him seems excessive. And sometimes you can never find even a tiny gap to slip your arguments through.
Better play Kiss the Postman with someone more accommodating.
I’ve put down the poor fellow so often that I actually feel a bit guilty.
20 years of him seems excessive.
It certainly does, and it is. Poor old Mr. Dale has doubled the length of time I’ve been on Usenet. Twenty years ago, I couldn’t even turn on a computer.
Garth Brooks, Neil Diamond? That’s pretty cutting edge stuff, Brett, no wonder nobody else comments. I think you should give Mozza a medal if he’s been putting up with that quality of posting for 20 years.
Like I said, its just my wee blog, just my thoughts, not suppose to be cutting edge. If someone is consistently going to the blog, but not interested in the subject matter, then they’re trolling. The fact that he has been trolling my posts over the internet for 20 years about Garth Brooks and sports that anit rugby union (when he has no interest whatsoever in these topics) shows me that he is trolling/bullying.
I’ve had that impression for a long time now. He keeps posting here the letters he’s sent off to Radio NZ, obviously they never read them out and reading a few of them it’s clear why. Someone reposting their letters in a public forum like this is just dying for attention.
Er, actually, Lanth, I heard two of Morrissey’s letters read out, in part, on RNZ shows last week. One of them (about ‘Lord’ Monckton) even made me laugh and not in a roll your eyes kind of way either.
He keeps posting here the letters he’s sent off to Radio NZ, obviously they never read them out and reading a few of them it’s clear why.
You make it seem like I send a flood of correspondence to Radio NZ. I’m sure you intend to create that impression, but of course you are wrong. I occasionally post to Radio NZ, as in roughly once a fortnight, and contrary to your mean-spirited allegation, the majority of my e-mails have been read out on air—whether by Bryan Crump, Chris Laidlaw, Kim Hill, Kathryn Ryan or Jim Mora.
Someone reposting their letters in a public forum like this is just dying for attention.
I work hard at writing clear, punchy communications. Of course I welcome the fact they get attention. You think I want to write for an audience of none, like some sad bloggers we know?
Thanks for the kind words, my friend. Lanthanide started off as one of my admirers—if I were an Auckland Blues star or a pop singer, like my namesake, he’d have been classified as a “groupie”—but then I started treading on areas that he didn’t appreciate. Since then it’s been all downhill.
Don’t sweat it Morrissey, the *self styled* here, have little useful to offer, many will never have sent a single letter, email or turned up on a picket, or at a protest, or spoken face to face with a radio host, and MP or any such thing.
And some will stroke their egos by kidding themselves that they are better than their peers. How is project Onan going, Muz? Any closer to releasing the results?
“Interesting comment about ego, from someone who openly attaches his own self to a political entity!”
Surely attaching one’s self to another entity is a denial of ego?
“Whats this peers nonsense, we are human beings…”
We don’t need your steenkin’ thesaurus …
“The results of the projects (not mine), are clear for all those who are paying attention to see, its called NZ!”
So you aren’t going to be transparent with project Onan after all? Your mates at Lordy Find’em aren’t going to be pleased with you. They’re all about teh openness, or so they say. Which reminds me, did they ever do that expose on the Standard they promised? It’d be fascinating reading.
B’Jesus Morrissey you’re a frustrating bugger……..here I am tryin’ to back you up bro’ and also make a point about the whiff of a slightly sniffy “Beltway” happening on TS. Whadda you do ?
Did anyone see susan devoy’s interview with JC last week. He asked her who rang her and she said that they did not say who they were and she never found out.They just advised her to ring phone number supplied and there would be a job there for her that she might be interested in.A ghost caller.Spooky. Then again maybe it was discussed over the neighbouring back fence with the fairy at the bottom of the garden.
Naughty Chrissy ! Maybe not. Look at the National Party votes for and against……….?
You know it’s the height of fashion to turn your lime green check table cloth into a business shirt with an orange and purple paisley tie underneath a navy two inch wide pinstripe.
Have to own that one re sartorial. Sorry, from the bottom my garden. Something went wrong in the North.
Then I see the name “undefined” is replaced by “North”. Oh well since I’m here might as well add this: VERY large lime green check under VERY lawyerly two inch wide pinstripe.
Gee that’s interesting, how do you get to be a Dame or Sir, just hang around in the vicinity of the political electrical field and hope you make contact with someone live?
You play some sport really really well for a considerable time (with attendant reflected glory for the nation) OR you make heaps of money and give a smidgen of it away with strings attached OR you inherit a fortune and donate some to the ****** party OR you do exacting legal work for the government laying the basis for privatisation…….Damehoods and Sirhoods…. piece of cake!
PS Do not under any circumstances do long term unnoticed work in an old peoples home or unpaid for the community. No gongs available there.
Yeah. We have Sir Roger Douglas but never Sir William Sutch. He mingled in the wrong electrical fields. Ouch.
Though I was just thinking of Sir Angus Tait – someone who was a worthy knight.
Wikipedia – Bronze bust of Sir Angus Tait as part of the Twelve Local Heroes sculpture … He served with the Royal NZ and also Royal Air Force instructing as a Second…
After the war, he designed and built mobile radio equipment, although his first company went into receivership. In 1969, he founded Tait Electronics Ltd, now operating as Tait Radio Communications, Christchurch (New Zealand), with men who had decided to remain loyal and see him through; now his company is considered a world leader in mobile radio. He had persisted in keeping his manufacturing base in New Zealand, with 95 per cent of production exported to 160 countries.
I looked up the Twelve Local Heroes sculptures – The Twelve Local Heroes is a series of bronze busts located in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand on Worcester Boulevard outside the Arts Centre to commemorate twelve local Christchurch people who were prominent in their respective fields in the latter part of the 20th century.
I can’t remember if they are still there – this happened in 2009 and the earthquake cluster started end of 2010 I think.
Re knighthoods and so on: at the risk of attack from TS Beltway for reposting one’s letters and what-not on TS, I have to offer this in response to Prism at 15 above. Came to me in a disturbing dream after Shonkey Python excitedly told his acolytes in the media that he’d offered Richie McCaw a knighthood – obviously he was after a “testo-top-up”.
ON KNIGHTS AND DAMES AND OTHER BULLSHIT
I heard a dirty story
It’s truly damned horrific
Shyster Boy Smiley Key
He’s selling honorifics
First he went to Richie
“Cos he’s a real man
Said Shyster Boy to Richie
Help me if you can
Take this crappy medal
It’s such a thing to show
And ‘cos I gave it to you
I’m basking in your glow
Richie he’s a cagey guy
He sussed the slimey game
He yelled out loud “Piss off you ponce…..
Go find yourself a Dame”
Tari proved no problem
For this she’d always itched
“Dame Toryana Torya”
The whispering old witch
“Pita” “Peter” take your pick
Demands he had a few
Pension with the knighthood
And Bee Em Double U
This was getting crazy
And people thought it stank…..
Shyster Boy pulled out the sword
Sir Botox Bloody Banks…..!!!
North
Blistering stuff. That little blister King John of Charmalot will be impervious to it of course. I think he’s one of those boys whose mother loves him as in Lyrics Freak supplied words of Paul Simon – Loves me like a Rock.
Songwriters: SIMON, PAUL
Words & music by paul simon
When I was a little boy, (when I was just a boy)
And the devil would call my name (when I was just a boy)
I’d say “now who do,
Who do you think you’re fooling? ” (when I was just a boy)
I’m a consecrated boy (when I was just a boy)
I’m a singer in a sunday choir
Oh , my mama loves, she loves me
She get down on her knees and hug me
Like she loves me like a rock
She rocks me like the rock of ages
And loves me
She love me, love me, love me, love me
When I was grown to be a man (grown to be a man)
And the devil would call my name (grown to be a man)
I’d say “now who do,
Who do you think you’re fooling? ” (grown to be a man)
I’m a consummated man (grown to be a man)
I can snatch a little purity
My mama loves me, she loves me
She get down on her knees and hug me…
And if I was president (was the president)
The minute congress call my name (was the president)
I’d say “who do,
Who do you think you’re fooling? (who do you think you’re fooling)
I’ve got the presidential seal (was the president)
I’m up on the presidential podium
My mama loves me
She loves me… etc
Another nice start to the week for National today – not!
There is nothing yet on the RNZ website (or on Stuff or the Herald), but one of the top stories on RNZ National midday news was that apparently a Court this morning has put a stop/hold on the long awaited and not yet completed investigation and report by Paula Rebstock into the leaks from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – a witchhunt that has already cost a quarter of a million dollars.
If I heard it correctly, someone – presumably an MFA employee only referred to as Complainant A (or similar) – has filed to stop the report on the basis that publication would infringe their rights to natural justice.
“…The order comes ahead of a judicial review of that restructuring, which starts next week in the High Court.
…That follows an application by someone known as Applicant A, who is seeking the judicial review.
Applicant A argued Ms Rebstock’s draft report would amount to predetermination of his position and a breach of natural justice.
In the High Court, Justice Dobson agreed and prohibited Ms Rebstock from completing her report in a way that contains any findings against Applicant A.”
Goff has called for the whole inquiry to be abandoned.
Edit – SNAP. Thanks Karol and R0b. Your links went up while I was typing.
New laws to allow spying on New Zealand citizens is a step towards totalitarianism, says a professor of cyber security and forensics.
“The idea of placing innocent citizens under constant surveillance is one definition of totalitarianism,” Hank Wolfe, an associate professor in the Information Science Department of Otago University’s School of Business told the Herald. “It will inhibit free thought and association. This has been demonstrated historically time and again where repressive totalitarian regimes have installed pervasive surveillance to watch citizens.”
Hugh Wolfensohn left the GCSB employment in february as a kind of persona no grata, after being there 25 years. He was put on gardening leave because of his role in the illegal operations relating to Kim Dotcom.
The spymaster who oversaw the Kim Dotcom raid left the GCSB without a golden handshake, gold watch or even a sausage roll….
Soon after Mr Wolfensohn became involved in questions around the case in August, he was put on “gardening leave” before the bureau confirmed last month that he had left.
The GCSB confirmed he had resigned on a Thursday and left on a Friday. It told the Herald: “Mr Wolfensohn has not received an exit payment, leaving function, dinner or present.” David Fisher
Mr Wolfensohn has not received an exit payment, leaving function, dinner or present.”
As a former government employee that story sounds familiar. It usually means the department or agency is on the backfoot for some reason and they immediately cast around for a “scapegoat”. It has been reported ‘Mr Wolfensohn’ was overworked and understaffed and that has to reflect back on both the agency bosses and the govt. of the day.
sorry I was late, had to see a man about a star…
and on the 8th day…
TAG (fracking representatives) “worse than the worse used-car salesmen he’d ever met” (Ever)
according to one Dannevirke farmer interviewed by Don’t Frack The Bay.
Auckland Airport (and Tourism) are marketing directly to Chinese micro social media (like twitter) and a plugged in audience of 500M; go littlewood, go chicky; Cool Bananas!
just like White-caps
(remember those Terence Hill and Bud Spencer movies?)
There’s something mildly illustrative about racists sending “go back to where you come from” messages to the other end of the country. One can’t help thinking that many/most Aucklanders would wish that the racists had followed their or advice.
I did indeed, felix. That was the renowned but (at least on this occasion) rather bewildered Don Donovan. I thought Michele Acourt and Noelle McCarthy were both remarkably restrained and good-humoured in their treatment of him. I’m not sure that he was entirely genuine in his befuddlement; in the past he has seemed quite tolerant and liberal in his attitudes.
To Morrissey and Felix: you two made up have you ? Lovely !
Apropos your comment at 20 above Morrissey, I steeled myself and (very rare for me) went to SLATER PORN to check out HAZARDS001. Not before warning everyone in the house to bash me with a chair and call the cops the moment I started to froth at the mouth.
Well, I did, and they did, and I’ve got a bloody great egg on my noggin. Still, I am grateful. Fortunately the cops accepted my explanation and they’ve gone.
But what utter OBSCENITY on SLATER PORN !
Tell you, were I still the cute young fulla I was 40 years ago I would consider it very, very, very hazardous to be around HAZARDS001.
HAZARDS001 is absolutely OBSSESSED with anal rape. How I pity HAZARDS001’s monitor and keyboard. And any youngster in proximity.
There must be the most horrific background story there !
HAZARDS001 is absolutely OBSSESSED with anal rape. How I pity HAZARDS001′s monitor and keyboard. And any youngster in proximity.
Michael Jackson takes a little boy out for a walk in the deep dark woods late one night. Finally, trudging miles from anywhere, the young boy, totally scared says, “It’s so dark and cold, and these trees are so frightening”
Jackson replies “you think that’s scary, but I’m the one who has to walk back by myself.”
I CHALLENGE YOU ! – TAU HENARE – NATIONAL PARTY LIST MP – I CHALLENGE YOU !
Tonight, Tuesday 23 April 2013, I’ve watched a replay of Native Affairs Maori Television from Monday night.
I understand that your vote is all that’s needed to progress Mana’s Feed The Kids.
I URGE YOU TO VOTE FOR IT !
If you intend not to do that I CHALLENGE YOU to come to Kaikohe for korero with me. I can be found most days at the Kaikohe District Court. I’m not gonna give all my details here but all you need to do is to ask at the court office where to find a tall, skinny, early 60s, balding, sometimes grumpy Pakeha. First name starting S. Alternatively you might check with the young Maori fullas you’ll see wandering up and down Broadway Kaikohe, no jobs. If you’ve got the balls to come and have that korero, you’ll end up doing your duty and voting right.
You see Tau, rightly or wrongly I have this view of you: you’ve been an MP 1993 to date, apart from ’02-’05. So that’s 17 years in Parliament. During that time, in which you’ve paddled in three different waka, you’ve pulled, let’s see, average $150K a year. Mate ! That’s $2,500,000. Two and a half million bucks. And throughout that time you’ve been as useless as tits on a bull, sorry. Here you are saying that we don’t need Feed The Kids ? How the fuck would you know ?
Kaikohe where the median income is $17,000 dollars a year. Let’s see – 17 by 17. Oh Jesus how handsome is that – $289,000 over a whole generation. A little over 10% of what you’ve had. And you’re not gonna do the decent thing ? Because Shonkey Python says “Nah !” ?
Tau, I’m gonna say this. In the 9 years I’ve worked at that court in Kaikohe, me, the Pakeha, he’s done twenty times for your people what you have. For maybe one quarter what you’ve pulled. Legal aid ain’t flash. But that’s algud. For this reason – your people and me have given to one another. Actually they’ve given much more to me than I’ve ever given to them. Aroha. Whanaungatanga. You know about those ones Tau ?
YOU DON’T ANSWER THE CHALLENGE TAU……..YOU GOT NO BALLS. KIA ORA. KEEP ON SUCKING TE PUTEA.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
*** Would you please consider this contribution for publication on The Standard as a post rather than a comment. I’ve had a couple of emails bounce back to me from the gmail submissions address, so making the request here since I know it will end up in moderation. Feel free to edit what ever. I am happy to be identified as the author. If you decide not to publish it, I would appreciate any feedback you might offer with a view towards how it may be tailored to better suit your requirements for publication at a future date, if at all.
Kind Regards,
BLiP ***
New Zealanders put their trust in John Key. As the 2008 election neared, New Zealanders sensed a positive change was in the offing, a change driven by optimism which held out the reassurance that the darkening and ominous clouds heralding financial meltdown gathering around previously rock-solid international banking institutions didn’t have to reach as far as us. In fact, a multi-millionaire, a man who had made his fortune working with those very institutions had stepped up to offer his talents and to soften any impact such impending fiscal threat imposed. And look – he grew in a solo parent family dependent on a benefit for his family’s very food and rent. He knows struggle street, he’ll look after us, he’s one of us. Consider his own example; that’s how we work things out – be positive, couple our inate Kiwi optimism with a sturdy and aspirational mind-set to embrace a new New Zealand offered by John Key. Sure, we can make mistakes, heh, just look at all that silly fuss about the Coldplay song on that promotion CD the nice smiling John Key sent to us. He won’t us down. Yes, its time for a change. And guess what? John Key has promised live on television to never lie and to always do his best.
Now, four-and-a-half years later we know that was his first lie, and it certainly wasn’t going to be his last. And these are only the ones we know about. In fact, as the litany of lies still spills from John Key, it must be asked: is the litany orchestrated?
You decide. Take the “power” back.
01 – I promise to always be honest
02 – We’re not proposing to change the Employment Relations Act in a way that weakens unions
03 – we are not going to sack public servants, the attrition rate will reduce costs
04 – we are not going to cut working for families
05 – I firmly believe in climate change and always have
06 – We seek a 50% reduction in New Zealand’s carbon-equivalent net emissions, as compared to 1990 levels, by 2050. 50 by 50. We will write the target into law.
07 – National Ltd™ will provide a consistent incentive for both biofuel and biodiesel by exempting them from excise tax or road user charges
08 – I didn’t know about The Bretheren election tactics
09 – If they came to us now with that proposal [re trans-Tasman Therapeutic Goods regime], we will sign it
10 – I can’t remember my position on the 1981 Springbok Tour
11 – Tranzrail shares
12 – I did not mislead the House (1)
13 – Lord Ashcroft
14 – National Ltd™ would not have sent troops into Iraq
15 – Standard & Poors credit downgrade
16 – the double-down grade doesn’t really matter and its only about private sector debt
17 – I did not mislead the House (2)
18 – I didn’t say I want wages to drop
19 – the real rate of inflation is 3.3 percent.
20 – the tourism sector has not lost 7,000 jobs
21 – no I have never heard of Whitechapel
22 – I won’t raise GST
23 – people who are on the average wage and have a child are $48 a week better off after the rise in GST
24 – the purchase of farmland, by overseas buyers will be limited to ten farms per purchase
25 – the Pike River Mine was consented to under a Labour Government
26 – no promises were made to get the remains of the miners out of the Pike River mine
27 – I did not provide a view on the safety of the Pike River coalmine
28 – I did not mislead the House (3)
29 – capping, not cutting the public service
30 – raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour will cost 6000 jobs
31 – north of $50 a week
32 – privatisation won’t significantly help the economy
33 – wave goodbye to higher taxes , not your loved ones
34 – I never offered Brash a diplomatic job in London
35 – Tariana Turia is “totally fine” with the Tuhoe Treaty Claim deal
36 – Kiwisaver
37 – National Ltd™ is not going to radically reorganise the structure of the public sector
38 – tax cuts won’t require additional borrowing
39 – New Zealand does not have a debt problem
40 – New Zealand troops in Afghanistan will only be involved in training, not fighting
41 – the wage gap between New Zealand and Australia has closed under my National Ltd™ government
42 – It took 9 years for Labour to make a complete and utter mess of the economy
43 – National Ltd™ has changed the Overseas Investment Act to include 19 different criteria
44 – the price of goods and services has risen by 6 per cent since the last election, while the has actually gone up by 16 per cent
45 – no, although its a week ago and here I am being interviewed on television about them, I havn’t seen Gerry Brownlee’s comments regarding demolitions in Christchurch and which caused such outrage, but I can talk all about them
46 – our SAS soldiers were not involved in the Kabul Hotel gunfight
47 – the use of the Vela brother’s helicopter was required so I could attend meetings relating to national/international security concerns
48 – the DPS makes the decision about accompanying the Prime Minister or not, I had no choice but to take them on holiday to Hawaii
49 – I did not mislead the House
50 – oh, maybe our SAS soldiers were in the Kabul hotel gun fight but they weren’t wounded by friendly fire
51 – New Zealand has lost $12 billion from GDP due to the Christchurch earthquake . . . oh, it might actually be around $15 billion from GDP due to the Christchurch earthquake . . . Blinglish said what?
52 – 10,000 houses will have to be demolished in Christchurch due to the earthquake
53 – 14,000 new apprentices will start training over the next five years, over and above the number previously forecast
54 – Our amendments to the ETS ensure we will continue to do our fair share internationally
55 – we are committed to honouring our Kyoto Protocol obligations
56 – any changes to the ETS will be fiscally neutral
57 – we [NZ] have grown for eight of the last nine quarters”
58 – National Ltd™ will tender out the government banking contract
59 – we will be back in surplus by 2014-15
60 – Nicky Hager’s book “Other People’s Wars” is a work of fiction
61 – unemployment is starting to fall
62 – we have created 60,000 jobs
63 – we have created 45,000 jobs
64 – the 2011 Budget will create in the order of 170,000 jobs
65 – I don’t know if I own a vineyard
66 – no, I did not mislead the House (4)
67 – the Isreali spy killed in the Christchurch quake had “only one” passport
68 – the Police will not need to make savings by losing jobs
69 – GCSB re Kim Dotcom x 3 (that we know about)
70 – I did not mislead the House (5)
71 – I voted to keep the drinking age at 20
72 – New Zealand is 100% Pure
73 – I’ve been prime minister for four years, and it’s really 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year
74 – baseball in New Zealand is attracting more government support
75 – the decision to buy brand new BMWs was made by the Department of Internal Affairs without reference either to their minister or to me
76 – I didn’t have a clue that Ministerial Services, which I am in charge of, was going to buy brand new BMWs
77 – even though two of my ministers knew all about it, I didn’t have a clue that brand new BMWs were being bought.
78 – even though my Chief of Staff met with officials to discuss purchase of the the brand new BMWs, I didn’t have a clue
79 – Labour forced us into buying the brand new BMWs, its their fault
80 – ummm, look, sorry about that BMW thing , it was because I was so upset about the death of a New Zealand soldier and Julia Gillard was visit too
81 – the public demanded that we change the labour laws for The Hobbit
82 – “The Hobbit” created 3000 new jobs
83 – we have delivered 800 extra doctors in the public service
84 – I did not mislead the House (6)
85 – I wasn’t working at Elders when the sham foreign exchange deals took place
86 – I was starting School Certificate exams in 1978
87 – I don’t know who arrived on the CIA jet to visit the spies I am responsible for
88 – reducing barriers to property developers will increase the availability of affordable housing
89 – Labour left the economy in poor shape
90 – forecasts show unemployment will fall
91 – we have closed the wage gap with Australia by $27
92 – Ngati Porou and Whanau Apanui are not opposed to mining
93 – I have not had any meetings with Media Works
94 – our [NZ’s] terms of trade remain high
95 – the TPP is an example of democracy
96 – National Ltd™ will use the proceeds of state asset sales to invest in other public assets, like schools and hospitals
97 – New Zealand troops will be out of Afghanistan by April 2013
98 – overseas investment in New Zealand adds to what New Zealanders can invest on their own
99 – overseas investment in New Zealand creates jobs, boosts incomes, and helps the economy grow
100 – National Ltd™ will build 2000 houses over the next two years
101 – there are only 4 New Zealand SAS soldiers in Bamiyan and all working in the area of logistics and planning only
102 – selling state assets will give cash equity to those companies
103 – the Sky City deal doesn’t mean more pokies
104 – there was nothing improper about the Sky City deal
105 – my office has had no correspondence, no discussions, no involvement with the Sky City deal
106 – SkyCity will only get “a few more” pokie machines at the margins
107 – any changes to gambling regulations will be subject to a full public submission process
108 – Sky City has approached TVNZ about the purchase/use of government-owned land
109 – the Auditor General has fully vindicated National over the Sky City deal
110 – there’s a 50/50 chance the Hobbit is going off shore unless we do something
111 – David Shearer has signed up for the purchase of shares in Mighty River
112 – Solid Energy asked the government for a $1 billion capital investment
113 – fracking has been going safely on in Taranaki for the past 30 years without any issues
114 – no front line positions will be lost at DoC
115 – Iain Rennie came to me and recommended Fletcher for the GCSB job
116 – I forgot that after I scrapped the shortlist for GCSB job I phoned a life-long friend to tell him to apply for the position
117 – I told Iain Rennie I would contact Fletcher
118 – for 30 years, or three decades, I didn’t have any dinners or lunches or breakfasts with Ian Fletche
119 – I did not mislead the House (7)
120 – No, I did not say we would follow the US and Australia into a war against North Korea
121 – I paid for that lunch and I’ve got the credit card bill to prove it
122 – I called directory service to get Ian Fletcher’s number
123 – I did not mislead the house (8)
124 – I am honest and upfront
125 – cyber terrorists have attempted to gain access to information about weapons of mass destruction held on New Zealand computers
126 – the illegal spying on Kim Dotcom was an isolated incident
127 – New Zealand has an arrangement to have asylum seekers processed in Australian detention camps
128 – the law which says the GCSB cannot spy on New Zealanders is not clear
129 – the only way net new jobs can be created is by private investors putting their money into businesses in New Zealand
130 – an increase in the number of people looking for work indicates that confidence is returning to the economy
131 – the 10 percent of taxpayers in New Zealand who are the top earners pay 76 percent of all net personal tax.
132 – I did not mislead the House (9)
133 – the substantial wage growth under Labour was eroded by inflation
134 – National Ltd™’s 2010 tax changes were fiscally neutral
135 I did not mislead the House (10)
136 – the bulk of New Zealanders earn between $45,000 and $75,000 a year
137 – Pike River Coal did not put profits and its production ahead of the safety and lives of those 29 workers.
138 – Radio Live had sought advice from the Electoral Commission about my show just before the election
139 – it is because of National Ltd™’s policies that the price of fresh fruit and vegetables has dropped.
140 – the length-of-the-country cycleway will create 4000 jobs.
141 – police training for next year has not has not been cancelled
142 – National Ltd™ has only cut back-office jobs in the health service
143 – The Crown’s dividend stream from the Meridians, the Mighty Rivers of the world is large and there is no motivation to sell assets
144 – Gross.
Blip
That is a massive effort to inform. Thanks. The length of the list illustrates the disgraceful dealings of the NACT government.
Take a bow BLiP – Thats outstanding work!
Awesome stuff BliP
I think David Shearer and Co. really need to be honest about how they are going to approach the election. They can’t be unrealistic about what John Key’s approach will be. It’s going to be the bullying ‘show me the money’ angle where Key tries to make Shearer look like a bumbling fool under the pressure of live TV. If an experienced politician like Goff can lose to Key that way then it is quite likely that Shearer will be crushed.
So he needs to not play that game. Admit that he can’t play the slick, salesman routine like Key can. People love an underdog who shows some humility(that was one of Helen’s weaknesses, too much pride).
Shearer should instead try to occupy the moral ground (but without the typical labour party smug sanctimony ).
Key is damaged goods: smug arrogance may work for Mr. Popular but it’s a bad look on dead meat.
Heart of OAK
What an attractive picture.
I think National’s strategy will be to start announcing sweeteners soon in the form of election bribes while continuing with the beneficiary bashing and getting tough on crime angle. I don’t think Key will necessarily want to go head to head with Shearer too often because, as long as Shearer can rattle off a few of Key’s failures, that’s where Key will get tripped up. Instead, Key will continue to rely on a biased media to paint him in a good light… No journalist asking the hard questions will be allowed. There will likely be a play of extended coverage about a minor controversy leading up to the election to ensure Key is in the limelight where he can smile and wave till the cows come home. Labour will try to outplay the Natz with their own happy go lucky clown card.
biased media indeed Jackal; see comment on the news coverage of the “far left” and investors “scared off” by Labour and the Greens; freakin’ toadies; the ghost has no respect for the majority of them, though he must understand them all the same.
Shearer was absolutely pitiful on Morning Report this morning about the polls. “What it shows is that Labour are beginning to show themselves as a credible party”, “We’re showing that we really can give John Key a run for his money” or words to that effect. Just pathetic. He should be dismissing the polls as having limited value when the shifts are so small, that this is reflected in the different poll results, and then move quickly on to how that John Key’s a dishonest schmuck who doesn’t care about the majority of New Zealanders, only the rich, and that for these reasons he’s not fit to be prime minister. Short of making defamatory statements the guy needs to harden up and tell it how it is. The way Shearer’s behaving at the moment I’d be embarrassed if were to become the prime minister. Pathetic.
+1
Shearer sounded like the Labour we’re tired of – interested in getting elected primarily, so interested in whether they have gained some advantage over the other Party. And strangely referring to leaks from Key’s side as if that was of real importance to voters.
He should have been talking about how Labour is going to roll up its sleeves and get busy for NZ with good policies (a stirring class image). Great if he’d talked about things NZ need done – for the economy, for profitable businesses that have thought for their workers and society, with encouragement from government, also environment maintaining, enhancing, saving etc. No it’s all about the voters realising that Labour has something to offer. Labour don’t wait for us to realise, repeat about firm vision again and again!
We who derive from early colonisation that left an industrial society for a better life and opportunities to get ahead will suffer increasing disappointment as years of this economic management continue. Now we are sinking back into the old feudal agricultural economy of poor farm workers and impoverished town dwellers, with a sprinkling of jobs in the new industrial trend that allows oppressive surveillance from new technology allowing the wealthy to keep the poor distant from government – NZ Housing is just the start. What a damnable place this country is turning into under these bourgesoisie in government.
And right on cue, salesman Key never turns down an opportunity like this:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10878940
Let’s not forget that super popular ‘gay-icon’ Maurice Williamson was the very man who gave us the gift that keeps on stinking….Steven Joyce.
http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/e/a/b/50HansD_20130322_00000008-M-ori-Television-Service-Te-Aratuku-Whakaata.htm
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: —that is right, $385,000—and there apparently was not any audience at all, apart from mum and dad and the cousins down the road. That is the kind of shambles that Mr Williamson allowed to happen. So why he is talking during this important speech, I do not know. Then, of course, he went off and he made a colleague of his a multimillionaire.
Hon Maurice Williamson: Which one?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Mr Steven Joyce. He gave out licences under a Vickrey sale process—a Vickrey sale process. I want to remind everybody listening that this is the kind of money that has gone into this. The Vickrey sale process goes like this. Up comes this item for purchase. Mr Williamson is heading the sale. A bids $1 million, B bids $100,000, and C bids $50,000. A gets the tender—
Hon Maurice Williamson: We could have a royal inquiry.
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: —well, it deserves an inquiry, all right, but not, I think, from that member—because A bid $1 million, but he does not pay $1 million; he pays what the second guy, B, bid. He pays $100,000. Now every morning, and five times a day, Mr Joyce gets up and he points his face towards Pakuranga. He gets down on his knees and he prays to the Mecca of Pakuranga who made him a multimillionaire, and then he walks into the House and calls himself a self-made man.
The truth is that nobody is a self-made manwoman. No such person would have done so without the following lowly or nowly paid people. None…
Mother (and Father)
doctor and nurse
plunket
kindy teacher, primary teacher, secondary teacher
road worker
postman
cleaner
police, defence force
This is the unrecognised base from which most all wealth springs.
Not from the likes of Joyce. Joyce on his own without any of those things would be ….. well you can only imagine.
How about Gerry Brownlee?
I don’t think self-made refers to a large physique as a result of too many calories.
I was referring to imagining him “on his own without any of those things”.
In his birthday suit? Gagh!
So what’s the bet that Labour/Greens will water down the NZ Power plan between now and the election?
Err, why would they do that?
Their best bet would be to strengthen it by re-incorporating all the state owned power companies.
It would be better if they strengthened it by taking control of strategic needs such as water and energy.
and the banking + EFTPOS transaction network.
have banked your component specs and a 4-year-old transaction machine gifted by a fellow philosophical communitarian today is going into the shop for an increased horse=power deposition tomorrow. Cheers (further disclosure may be harnessed from the Pogues and Rolls bridle.)
Ref Roy Morgan Polls.
We lost the 2008 Election with National on 45% and Labour on 34%
Currently it is National on 40.5 % and Labour on 35.5%
National has been consistently on 45% through Goff and Shearer’s time.
Labour has been consistently on 30-32% through Goff and Shearer’s time.
National has dropped a bit as a result of massive foul-ups.
We are picking up an additional 3-4 people out of 100 only.
We have a lot more work to do.
what were the greens on in 2011?
It isn’t a two horse race.
How can Tuwharetoa charge for use of the Lake Taupo bed when most all the water that passes through the lake never touches the lake bed?
Doesn’t the air do the same thing over land?
Bloody rentiers
Are your really sure that “most of the water that passes through the lake never touches the lake bed” because that doesn’t seem correct to me.
Well no, it is an assumption. But what of the water that never touches the lake bed? It just seems to be an illogical argument that is straight from the capitalist rentier book.
Similar to land, people do not own the entire column of atmoshere that exists above the land. And it is very clear that their ownership is limited to the bed and does not include the entire column of water and atmosphere that exists above the bed.
I think tranzrail tried something equally silly and money-grubbing over its rail lines some years ago.
I wonder whether there is some fuzzy-wuzzy thinking going on in Tuwharetoa land. A few weeks ago someone there (I think) was bemoaning the first-in-first-served principle under the RMA that operates when allocating the country’s resources. Bemusement arose given that their own claims rest on the first-in-first-served principle. Perhaps they need to get some sea air to clear the fuzz and the wuzz.
I don’t like your term fuzzy wuzzy so please cease using that insult.
I would say all of the water touches the lake bed at some point so all good.
You are speaking ignorance when you go on about first in and so forth, I replied to the alien the other day on this point.
Perhaps they need some sea air? Why don’t you leave them alone instead of the bullying, snide, nasty putdowns vto or are you just feeling mean this morning.
yeah nah Marty
the culture apart from a few local variances arrived fully formed with the first Pasifikans. Very little actually developed here indigenously.
Choose any indicator you like, language, dress, customs, traditions, gods…
But i still afford 1st nation status, with all sovereignty rights conferred, to Maori even if you are a multitude of disparate tribes sharing a common aesthetic masked as a united people.
finders keepers
though you still shouldn’t have signed that bloody treaty eh. 🙂
polly – that ‘fully formed’ argument is the same as ‘not first here’ except the other way round. We can be Pasifikans and have our own cultural identity – it is not mutually exclusive. I think we are becoming more united 🙂 and true about that treaty bro, so trusting and so let down.
Just saying if the proviso of indigineity is that the culture developed here, but it didn’t, then it calls into question the nature of indigenousness ?
Hasn’t a unique kiwi culture developed more here since the Euros arrived, but are they indigenous?
I’d stick to the rights of finders keepers and possession being 9/10ths of the law 🙂
If pollywog is right then at some point the multiple cultures of NZ must become one culture (in one sense) which incorporates those that exist now and then such as the current indigenous one. At that point the indigeneity shifts, does it not, to that next point along the timescale where the ‘new improved’ culture is the reality and the previous cultures drift back in time not forgotten but not used.
We could be at that point now. Surely not too far off atthe most. Or perhaps when that point arrives indigeneity simply stops and no longer exists….
It makes my eyes cross-eyed like looking at concentric rings.
Indigineity only applies in the literal sense until all treaty claims are settled, then its about cultural evolution and convergence.
Fun times ahead, especially when framed by the question…
What does it mean to be Maori ?
He’s not right imo and I find the concept of one culture to be repellant – I love diversity and uniqueness too much.
I don’t mean one culture as in homogeneity, that’s why it was framed with “(in one sense”).
But indigeneity must have moved along that timeframescale for today’s Maori culture to be indigenous, given the difference with the first Maori cultures here. Those original ones have morphed into today’s one through population increase, migrations, time, changed habits, etc , hence the claim to being indigenous here.
But that process must surely still apply. If it were not to apply then indigeneity must stop when cultures change (which leads to todays maori not being indigenous). As such, at some point the indigenous culture of NZ must come to include other arrivals such as the europeans.
I look forward to this point in time, if still around.
I can’t see it being a proviso, maybe an attribute and it did develop here, which answers the ‘calls into question’ bit.
like i said…yeah nah 🙂
“You are speaking ignorance when you go on about first in and so forth, I replied to the alien the other day on this point.”
You could have quoted my reply, which from memory was something like “that’s not how I meant it at all”, so plenty of distance between myself and the intent of your ignorance barb.
yes you said it didn’t relate to you and your views and therefore wasn’t relevant. Sorry to have not mentioned that.
I don’t really care that much, I’m just cruising with the window wound down, looking for a fight 😆
been there done that haha
In a glowing orb? I bet not 😆
“insult bullying, snide, nasty ”
nope. typical.
and i don’t think your copied piece addresses the principle of first-in-first-served at all. It addresses tangential issues to the principle.
edit: reply to the post of marty mars above
in what way is that tangential – it seems to cover your use of the term.
plus
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/146100.html
noted on the fuzzy wuzzy. inadvertant.
The copied piece refers to understanding and respect for a developed culture lest negative things arise. That is all genuine and credible sure, but it is not the sole consideration in application of the first-in-first-served principle. It is merely one of many factors to consider. It does not deliver a knockout punch.
It smells of framing an argument to support a predetermined position, rather than understanding the pricniple in the first place and then applying particular circumstances around it.
(You may like (but probably not) a couple posts made on open mike yesterday around the constitutional review and the place of te tiriti and others….)
vto said, “Bemusement arose given that their own claims rest on the first-in-first-served principle.”
I said, “It is a very important concept to grasp and I emphasise it because too often the line ‘first arrivals’ is used to marginalise and denigrate Māori as if somehow in some strange universe they are not indigenous and by not being indigenous, under this worldview, they are not due the rights and respect that indigenous peoples should be given in this world.”
You know by your logic there is no-one who is indigenous because they “all came from somewhere” even though unique and valuable cultures developed.
And as for the silly notion you propose below where some water molecules are supported by the lakebed and others not – you do know they are all, sort of moving around a lot in there – you know in the water itself.
I don’t believe I made any mention over who is indigenous and who isn’t, or what effect such indigeneity has, I merely spoke of the principle of first in first served.
Sure, Maori are indigenous here, that is clear. And sure, people may well do what you intimate there and use it to denigrate. I don’t disagree with you but it still misses the point made in response – namely that such issues are tangential to the principle and are merely considerations in the application of the principle and not determinative.
First in first served is a poorly principle with few good applications in the wanderings of manwomankind across the planet. This was recognised by Tuwharetoa themselves when they recognised its weaknesses in its application in the RMA. They and I are on the same page on that – it is just where it is being chosen for application that was bemusing.
Fair enough – thank you for that explanation.
Oh and on your ‘inadvertent’ use of the term – perhaps stop and think about how that might hurt a group of people in society, that inadvertent language happens all the time and hurts people all the time. I said that your use of that term in regards to this iwi was “bullying, snide, and a nasty putdown” you said, “nope. typical.” The truth is that you are/were wrong and your “nope. typical” was incorrect wasn’t it?
I raise this in some detail because it was typical but just not in the way you thought vto.
I see that marty. Things is there was no intention to insult, it was truly inadvertant. That was why I said nope – at that stage its meaning was still flying around in the wind.
You may well see that it sprang to mind because of its use in distance days past, when it was used to insult etc (not by me I would hope but perhaps by others in my vicinity which was picked up on). Such is the nature of man and the long timeframes that are often required to change flawed ways.
Thanks again vto for your reply.
Yep, a deliberate racist insult. You’re usually far cleverer than that VTO.
And, to go back to your original question, all the water in Lake Taupo is supported by the lake bed. The bed holds the water that later gets used in a profit making business. Fair enough that the owners of the lake bed would want their interests recognised.
Yes it was inadvertant. One of those never-used terms that popped to mind from distance days past and plunked out with no thinking.
As for the bed issue – don’t agree. Just like tranzrail some years ago the claim is unsound and smacks of rentier behaviour that is of no benefit to anyone expect the capitalist. The country is moving away from rentier behaviour so they are running against the grain in attempting to grab it. Don’t blame them though – all’s fair in love and war apparently and it is only what the corporates do themselves, so good on them for giving it a crack.
Only the water on the bottom is supported by the bed, all else is supported by the water below it, just as the air above the lake surface is supported by the lake itself. Quick send a bill to the nearest windfarm.
The water is in that location due to gravity and the higher topographical position of surrounding property, not the lake bed. See how silly it is?
Nope, I don’t think you’ve thought this through properly, VTO. Water is a liquid and water in a lake is a contiguous mass. All the water is supported by the bed, which is actually shown by your example, not disproved by it.
The phrase ‘hydro storage’ just popped into my head. I’m guessing that the claim probably has a basis in the fact that lake bed performs a role in the overall process of generation, even if it’s only storage. It just seems reasonable to me for that to be recognised.
“See how silly it is?”
Yes I do (although probably quite differently than you). But tell me this vto, who put Tuwharetoa in the position where they had to use such silly arguments to reinstate their capacity to maintain their culture and people? And who gave them those tools of argument in the first place?
Personally, I find many Western concepts of relationship with nature pretty bizarre esp this idea that nature is primarily a set of resources for our use (thank-you Judeo-Christian peoples). But we can hardly blame Maori for using and developing those concepts when they’ve been forced to by the dominant culture.
vto, if you turn up with a 750 ml bottle of whisky at my door, how much can I take because it hasn’t touched the sides of the bottle? Your argument makes absolutely no sense. If the water isn’t supported by the lake bed, what happens if the lake bed drops by 100m?
When you load logs on a truck, are only the ones which touch the truckbed supported by it? The springs might argue with you there.
Yes well I’m just trying to apply the logic to this situation whereby logic is spinning down a hot pool whirlpool.
For the water molecule to get to the turbines it needs to go down this path…….. flow down a river some goddamn other place and out to sea, then it gotta drift around over some sea bottoms for an age or two before being lifted to the sky when it gets too close to the surface on a hot day due to wind blowing down off somebody’s mountain range over the horizon. It then finds itself drifting helplessly in clouds of other water molecules with the same dilemma, floating over all sorts of peoples places like my house (I’ve seen them) and lots of other peoples houses and farms and cemetries. Then whoever owns Mount Cook is lucky because all them wee molecules gather together at places like that where it’s mr gravity’s turn. Heshe pulls them back down to the earth where they belong. Water doesn’t like flying. If they are in a Taupo catchment they will fall onto the land and property of individual private people, businesses, government, iwi, nobody, roads, crown, and even people’s own heads. Then, quite tired by now, it wends its way back to where it likes to be – a drain, a creek, a low area, a swamp, a culvert, river, pipe, drink bottle and lake taupo.
i mean …
was a lovely reed though vto
why thanks ghostrider. Hopefully it highlights the silliness of the claim. (or if it is a legit claim then perhaps all landowners should follow suit with same logic) Another one could be put up around wind farms and neighbouring properties too, along with many more.
Yet another scaremongering article in the Herald,,this time by Liam Dann.
At least this NZ Power issue is flushing out who all the neo-liberals are. People need to remember who the defenders of big business are.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10878895
Scaremongering is the only ammo these fools have.
Hooton just said on RNZ that Labour and the Greens had “crashed the share market” with their press conference on NZ Power.
I wonder if they remember the story of Chicken Licken?
Bryan Gaynor another wealthy disappointment.
That would be the brother of Corin Dann? TV1s political editor?
Yep!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10878895
(had to unload the paste)
Anyone get to the New Lynn electorate office opening yesterday?
Yes Ad. Although was late arriving because I got lost… another story. Very nice, spacious office. It was packed to the rafters. Just about every ethnic group was represented. I picked up that David Cunliffe and his supporters are in a good place.
I was also pleased to see Phil Twyford there… and Louisa Wall and Carmel Sepuloni. And for those of us getting a bit long in the tooth, so was Jonathon Hunt.
I would have gone if I’d known, and wasn’t working. Or was it just for NZLP members? Where is the new office?
All comers welcome, you don’t even have to live in the electorate 🙂
I’ve been to Cunliffe’s old electorate office, on the corner of Great North Road and Rata Street. The staff were very friendly and helpful.
They don’t like to be called “staff”, I believe the correct term is “disciples”.
That’s only in National offices.
Or the Exclusive Brethren branches of the National Party at least.
Matthew Hooton is feeling the pressure
Right-wing pundit’s embarrassing performance on radio this morning
From the Left and From the Right, Radio NZ National, Monday 22 April 2013
Kathryn Ryan, Matthew Hooton, Mike Williams
A flustered Matthew Hooton nearly melted down a few minutes ago. He’s usually so calm and in control of himself, but these latest polls, plus the popularity of the Labour-Green electricity price policy, have evidently upset the poor fellow. Mike Williams’ knowing laughter will have infuriated him even more…
MATTHEW HOOTON: [steadily rising tone of hysteria] They’ve crashed the stock market with just a press statement! God knows what they’d be like if they were in office!
KATHRYN RYAN: The stock market has NOT crashed. That’s nonsense.
HOOTON: But, but! aaaaarghhh!…. they, they…
MIKE WILLIAMS: Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho.
KATHRYN RYAN: They did NOT crash the stock market. That is NOT true, Matthew.
HOOTON: They have CHOSEN to go to the left…politics of envy… [mutter, choke, splutter with indignation]…
MIKE WILLIAMS: Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.
He also made a comment about it being a wealth destroyer…and Williams told him it was about wealth distribution.
Maybe someone can compile a list of all the effects of NZ Power ( as described by the hysterical right) and make a post based on it…like the list of Key’s brainfades posted today.
Mike Williams gave his best performance yet with some excellent advice to the Labour Party.
Get out there and SELL the policies from now through to the election. Don’t do what you’ve tended to do in the past and that is… assume everyone understands them. THEY DON’T!
Please stop trolling my blog, your messages will now be deleted.
Why on earth are you talking about that on a thread about Matthew Hooton?
Clearly, you’re still as confused as ever you have been.
I wish the housing market could be crashed as easily as Hooton is saying the stock market has been.
I suspect the Hysterical reaction of the Nats also had an effect on the energy companies fall.
Hey Morrissey Breen, please stay off my blog, you have been trolling it, since I started it five years ago, you have also been trolling my posts for the 20 years, starting with usenet in the mid 90’s. (not political posts, but sporting ones)
Its a bit weird, that someone would do this for nearly 20 years, your not interested in a discussion, your trolling, any posts you do at my blog, will now will be deleted.
You made some particularly foolish remarks on this forum. You have provided a link to your blog, which I clicked on. Presumably that is what you WANT people to do.
I felt compelled to comment on a few of your more ridiculously stupid opinions, but you obviously lack the wherewithal to defend your statements. Go ahead and ban me, but bear in mind that I was your only reader.
You have been doing this for 20 years though,You dont find that a bit sick? Again, any comment you leave, wont be read, but will be deleted.
Again, any comment you leave, wont be read,
Well, no, it won’t. Not if it’s on your blog.
Hey Brett, if it’s wordpress blog you can just feed him to Akismet.
Good Lord, felix, that sounds…. ominous. What will this Akismet do to me?
Probably nothing, but it’s not really about you.
It’s about what it will do for Brett, which is make sure he doesn’t have to put up with your trooling.
It’s about what it will do for Brett, which is make sure he doesn’t have to put up with your trooling.
You mean my drooling, surely?
Very interesting Brett.
I’m starting to get the impression that Morrissey is a deeply troubled individual.
We’re all deeply troubled, felix.
Morrissey
You must watch your addictions. Put Brett Dale down now. 20 years of him seems excessive. And sometimes you can never find even a tiny gap to slip your arguments through.
Better play Kiss the Postman with someone more accommodating.
Put Brett Dale down now.
I’ve put down the poor fellow so often that I actually feel a bit guilty.
20 years of him seems excessive.
It certainly does, and it is. Poor old Mr. Dale has doubled the length of time I’ve been on Usenet. Twenty years ago, I couldn’t even turn on a computer.
Garth Brooks, Neil Diamond? That’s pretty cutting edge stuff, Brett, no wonder nobody else comments. I think you should give Mozza a medal if he’s been putting up with that quality of posting for 20 years.
Like I said, its just my wee blog, just my thoughts, not suppose to be cutting edge. If someone is consistently going to the blog, but not interested in the subject matter, then they’re trolling. The fact that he has been trolling my posts over the internet for 20 years about Garth Brooks and sports that anit rugby union (when he has no interest whatsoever in these topics) shows me that he is trolling/bullying.
The fact that he has been trolling my posts over the internet for 20 years
Wrong. I have been trolling Usenet since the end of January, 2003. Before then I never even owned a computer.
about Garth Brooks
Wrong. I have never ever written a single word about Garth Brooks. Ever.
…and sports that anit [sic] rugby union [sic]
You have been reminded several times now that nobody other than you and Murray Deaker ever calls it rugby union.
“Wrong. I have been trolling Usenet since the end of January, 2003.”
Wow, that really showed him. 🙄
Actually, felix it did show him. So there.
I’ve had that impression for a long time now. He keeps posting here the letters he’s sent off to Radio NZ, obviously they never read them out and reading a few of them it’s clear why. Someone reposting their letters in a public forum like this is just dying for attention.
Er, actually, Lanth, I heard two of Morrissey’s letters read out, in part, on RNZ shows last week. One of them (about ‘Lord’ Monckton) even made me laugh and not in a roll your eyes kind of way either.
He keeps posting here the letters he’s sent off to Radio NZ, obviously they never read them out and reading a few of them it’s clear why.
You make it seem like I send a flood of correspondence to Radio NZ. I’m sure you intend to create that impression, but of course you are wrong. I occasionally post to Radio NZ, as in roughly once a fortnight, and contrary to your mean-spirited allegation, the majority of my e-mails have been read out on air—whether by Bryan Crump, Chris Laidlaw, Kim Hill, Kathryn Ryan or Jim Mora.
Someone reposting their letters in a public forum like this is just dying for attention.
I work hard at writing clear, punchy communications. Of course I welcome the fact they get attention. You think I want to write for an audience of none, like some sad bloggers we know?
Keep it up Morrissey, appears some natives to this blog don’t appreciate your comms to here and elsewhere. We are so tribal methinks.
Thanks for the kind words, my friend. Lanthanide started off as one of my admirers—if I were an Auckland Blues star or a pop singer, like my namesake, he’d have been classified as a “groupie”—but then I started treading on areas that he didn’t appreciate. Since then it’s been all downhill.
Here’s the first time we fell out….
http://thestandard.org.nz/continuing-nuke-crisis-in-japan/#comment-309036
And here’s the second…
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30082011/#comment-369493
We argued about the World Cup Final: for the record I was right!
Boy, Moz, the thread in that second link didn’t work out too well for you, did it? Dunno who that Voice of Reason bloke is, but man is he persuasive!
Yeah, he/she kicked my asssss, all right. When I work out who he (or she) was, I’ll give him/her what for.
Oh yes.
Frankly it’s just creepy that you have those links around.
It’s not the comms, it’s the solipsism that comes with them.
“Solipsistic”? This writer, i.e. moi?
lolz
Don’t sweat it Morrissey, the *self styled* here, have little useful to offer, many will never have sent a single letter, email or turned up on a picket, or at a protest, or spoken face to face with a radio host, and MP or any such thing.
Keep at it!
And some will stroke their egos by kidding themselves that they are better than their peers. How is project Onan going, Muz? Any closer to releasing the results?
Interesting comment about ego, from someone who openly attaches his own self to a political entity!
Whats this peers nonsense, we are human beings…
The results of the projects (not mine), are clear for all those who are paying attention to see, its called NZ!
Heal the world, make it a better place…
“Interesting comment about ego, from someone who openly attaches his own self to a political entity!”
Surely attaching one’s self to another entity is a denial of ego?
“Whats this peers nonsense, we are human beings…”
We don’t need your steenkin’ thesaurus …
“The results of the projects (not mine), are clear for all those who are paying attention to see, its called NZ!”
So you aren’t going to be transparent with project Onan after all? Your mates at Lordy Find’em aren’t going to be pleased with you. They’re all about teh openness, or so they say. Which reminds me, did they ever do that expose on the Standard they promised? It’d be fascinating reading.
You could not be more wrong!
No idea about LF!
What is project onan ?
I thought the project referred to must be an ism
“Surely attaching one’s self to another entity is a denial of ego?
You could not be more wrong!”
Ok then, prove me wrong.
“No idea about LF”
“One of our regular readers, Muzza, posted a comment the other day … ”
You do remember that you’re a regular reader, dontcha?
I have nothing to prove to anyone!
You referred to the *exposure of the standard* – Yes LF did an article on TS some time back!
I’m no more invovled with LF, than I am with TS!
I also have heard Morrissey’s letters read out on NZ National.
AND, AND
Guess what the album of the day is today on Mora’s afternoon show?
Morrissey
On now….!
Morrissey = entertaining.
Some who lash him = justified.
Some who lash him = boring.
Some think they own TS = yes.
Those who are perfect = none.
Stick around Morrissey = yes.
Those who are perfect = none.
Jessica Alba?
B’Jesus Morrissey you’re a frustrating bugger……..here I am tryin’ to back you up bro’ and also make a point about the whiff of a slightly sniffy “Beltway” happening on TS. Whadda you do ?
Blow me down………come back all bloody human !
Sorry, North. I meant to say: Mother Theresa.
Did anyone see susan devoy’s interview with JC last week. He asked her who rang her and she said that they did not say who they were and she never found out.They just advised her to ring phone number supplied and there would be a job there for her that she might be interested in.A ghost caller.Spooky. Then again maybe it was discussed over the neighbouring back fence with the fairy at the bottom of the garden.
That’s a load of bullshit, just like the “If you deposit $10,000 into this Nigerian bank account…”
Naughty Chrissy ! Maybe not. Look at the National Party votes for and against……….?
You know it’s the height of fashion to turn your lime green check table cloth into a business shirt with an orange and purple paisley tie underneath a navy two inch wide pinstripe.
Too Gock for me……..
Have to own that one re sartorial. Sorry, from the bottom my garden. Something went wrong in the North.
Then I see the name “undefined” is replaced by “North”. Oh well since I’m here might as well add this: VERY large lime green check under VERY lawyerly two inch wide pinstripe.
Gee that’s interesting, how do you get to be a Dame or Sir, just hang around in the vicinity of the political electrical field and hope you make contact with someone live?
You play some sport really really well for a considerable time (with attendant reflected glory for the nation) OR you make heaps of money and give a smidgen of it away with strings attached OR you inherit a fortune and donate some to the ****** party OR you do exacting legal work for the government laying the basis for privatisation…….Damehoods and Sirhoods…. piece of cake!
PS Do not under any circumstances do long term unnoticed work in an old peoples home or unpaid for the community. No gongs available there.
😀 reverb: wah wah; just a minor burgandy E DS (GT) du Pre concerto
Yeah. We have Sir Roger Douglas but never Sir William Sutch. He mingled in the wrong electrical fields. Ouch.
Though I was just thinking of Sir Angus Tait – someone who was a worthy knight.
Wikipedia – Bronze bust of Sir Angus Tait as part of the Twelve Local Heroes sculpture … He served with the Royal NZ and also Royal Air Force instructing as a Second…
After the war, he designed and built mobile radio equipment, although his first company went into receivership. In 1969, he founded Tait Electronics Ltd, now operating as Tait Radio Communications, Christchurch (New Zealand), with men who had decided to remain loyal and see him through; now his company is considered a world leader in mobile radio. He had persisted in keeping his manufacturing base in New Zealand, with 95 per cent of production exported to 160 countries.
I looked up the Twelve Local Heroes sculptures – The Twelve Local Heroes is a series of bronze busts located in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand on Worcester Boulevard outside the Arts Centre to commemorate twelve local Christchurch people who were prominent in their respective fields in the latter part of the 20th century.
I can’t remember if they are still there – this happened in 2009 and the earthquake cluster started end of 2010 I think.
Re knighthoods and so on: at the risk of attack from TS Beltway for reposting one’s letters and what-not on TS, I have to offer this in response to Prism at 15 above. Came to me in a disturbing dream after Shonkey Python excitedly told his acolytes in the media that he’d offered Richie McCaw a knighthood – obviously he was after a “testo-top-up”.
ON KNIGHTS AND DAMES AND OTHER BULLSHIT
I heard a dirty story
It’s truly damned horrific
Shyster Boy Smiley Key
He’s selling honorifics
First he went to Richie
“Cos he’s a real man
Said Shyster Boy to Richie
Help me if you can
Take this crappy medal
It’s such a thing to show
And ‘cos I gave it to you
I’m basking in your glow
Richie he’s a cagey guy
He sussed the slimey game
He yelled out loud “Piss off you ponce…..
Go find yourself a Dame”
Tari proved no problem
For this she’d always itched
“Dame Toryana Torya”
The whispering old witch
“Pita” “Peter” take your pick
Demands he had a few
Pension with the knighthood
And Bee Em Double U
This was getting crazy
And people thought it stank…..
Shyster Boy pulled out the sword
Sir Botox Bloody Banks…..!!!
North
Blistering stuff. That little blister King John of Charmalot will be impervious to it of course. I think he’s one of those boys whose mother loves him as in Lyrics Freak supplied words of Paul Simon – Loves me like a Rock.
Songwriters: SIMON, PAUL
Words & music by paul simon
When I was a little boy, (when I was just a boy)
And the devil would call my name (when I was just a boy)
I’d say “now who do,
Who do you think you’re fooling? ” (when I was just a boy)
I’m a consecrated boy (when I was just a boy)
I’m a singer in a sunday choir
Oh , my mama loves, she loves me
She get down on her knees and hug me
Like she loves me like a rock
She rocks me like the rock of ages
And loves me
She love me, love me, love me, love me
When I was grown to be a man (grown to be a man)
And the devil would call my name (grown to be a man)
I’d say “now who do,
Who do you think you’re fooling? ” (grown to be a man)
I’m a consummated man (grown to be a man)
I can snatch a little purity
My mama loves me, she loves me
She get down on her knees and hug me…
And if I was president (was the president)
The minute congress call my name (was the president)
I’d say “who do,
Who do you think you’re fooling? (who do you think you’re fooling)
I’ve got the presidential seal (was the president)
I’m up on the presidential podium
My mama loves me
She loves me… etc
Another nice start to the week for National today – not!
There is nothing yet on the RNZ website (or on Stuff or the Herald), but one of the top stories on RNZ National midday news was that apparently a Court this morning has put a stop/hold on the long awaited and not yet completed investigation and report by Paula Rebstock into the leaks from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – a witchhunt that has already cost a quarter of a million dollars.
If I heard it correctly, someone – presumably an MFA employee only referred to as Complainant A (or similar) – has filed to stop the report on the basis that publication would infringe their rights to natural justice.
Watch this space ….
Thanks for the tip, veuto. RNZ print report on it is here.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/133310/court-order-blocks-mfat-restructuring-review
Edit to the above – here is the RNZ link
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/133310/court-order-blocks-mfat-restructuring-review
“…The order comes ahead of a judicial review of that restructuring, which starts next week in the High Court.
…That follows an application by someone known as Applicant A, who is seeking the judicial review.
Applicant A argued Ms Rebstock’s draft report would amount to predetermination of his position and a breach of natural justice.
In the High Court, Justice Dobson agreed and prohibited Ms Rebstock from completing her report in a way that contains any findings against Applicant A.”
Goff has called for the whole inquiry to be abandoned.
Edit – SNAP. Thanks Karol and R0b. Your links went up while I was typing.
Two interesting GCSB-related articles:
Phil Taylor in today’s NZ Herald writes about how Key’s new spy laws are comparable to Big Brother. The article begins:
Hugh Wolfensohn left the GCSB employment in february as a kind of persona no grata, after being there 25 years. He was put on gardening leave because of his role in the illegal operations relating to Kim Dotcom.
As a former government employee that story sounds familiar. It usually means the department or agency is on the backfoot for some reason and they immediately cast around for a “scapegoat”. It has been reported ‘Mr Wolfensohn’ was overworked and understaffed and that has to reflect back on both the agency bosses and the govt. of the day.
It is called a cover-up.
Exactly, Anne – scapegoat and cover-up.
He didn’t get a sausage when they rolled him. It’s a serious game when you get into the civil service, as the name is becoming an oxymoron. Beware.
you’ve been talking like the end of the world
sorry I was late, had to see a man about a star…
and on the 8th day…
TAG (fracking representatives) “worse than the worse used-car salesmen he’d ever met” (Ever)
according to one Dannevirke farmer interviewed by Don’t Frack The Bay.
Auckland Airport (and Tourism) are marketing directly to Chinese micro social media (like twitter) and a plugged in audience of 500M; go littlewood, go chicky; Cool Bananas!
just like White-caps
(remember those Terence Hill and Bud Spencer movies?)
I’m for the hippopotamus
Watch out
you’rewe’re madIDIOTS
yep.
There’s something mildly illustrative about racists sending “go back to where you come from” messages to the other end of the country. One can’t help thinking that many/most Aucklanders would wish that the racists had followed their or advice.
a few typos lately Flockie; u OK?
The Insult File. No. 1: Hazards001
Monday 22 April 2013
“Give yourself an uppercut you arrogant pissant.”
Insulter: Hazards001
Insultee: Morrissey (i.e., moi)
Forum: The Whaleoil blog
“Give yourself an uppercut you arrogant pissant.”
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2013/04/a-violent-little-scumbag/#comment-871573385
Morrissey did you happen to hear The Panel today with that bewildered older gent who couldn’t figure out whether he was married to a man or a woman?
I did indeed, felix. That was the renowned but (at least on this occasion) rather bewildered Don Donovan. I thought Michele Acourt and Noelle McCarthy were both remarkably restrained and good-humoured in their treatment of him. I’m not sure that he was entirely genuine in his befuddlement; in the past he has seemed quite tolerant and liberal in his attitudes.
To Morrissey and Felix: you two made up have you ? Lovely !
Apropos your comment at 20 above Morrissey, I steeled myself and (very rare for me) went to SLATER PORN to check out HAZARDS001. Not before warning everyone in the house to bash me with a chair and call the cops the moment I started to froth at the mouth.
Well, I did, and they did, and I’ve got a bloody great egg on my noggin. Still, I am grateful. Fortunately the cops accepted my explanation and they’ve gone.
But what utter OBSCENITY on SLATER PORN !
Tell you, were I still the cute young fulla I was 40 years ago I would consider it very, very, very hazardous to be around HAZARDS001.
HAZARDS001 is absolutely OBSSESSED with anal rape. How I pity HAZARDS001’s monitor and keyboard. And any youngster in proximity.
There must be the most horrific background story there !
I think you’ll find that, like most of the commenters on Slater’s blog, it’s Slater.
True ? Well, there’s a 10 times tragic story.
Michael Jackson takes a little boy out for a walk in the deep dark woods late one night. Finally, trudging miles from anywhere, the young boy, totally scared says, “It’s so dark and cold, and these trees are so frightening”
Jackson replies “you think that’s scary, but I’m the one who has to walk back by myself.”
I CHALLENGE YOU ! – TAU HENARE – NATIONAL PARTY LIST MP – I CHALLENGE YOU !
Tonight, Tuesday 23 April 2013, I’ve watched a replay of Native Affairs Maori Television from Monday night.
I understand that your vote is all that’s needed to progress Mana’s Feed The Kids.
I URGE YOU TO VOTE FOR IT !
If you intend not to do that I CHALLENGE YOU to come to Kaikohe for korero with me. I can be found most days at the Kaikohe District Court. I’m not gonna give all my details here but all you need to do is to ask at the court office where to find a tall, skinny, early 60s, balding, sometimes grumpy Pakeha. First name starting S. Alternatively you might check with the young Maori fullas you’ll see wandering up and down Broadway Kaikohe, no jobs. If you’ve got the balls to come and have that korero, you’ll end up doing your duty and voting right.
You see Tau, rightly or wrongly I have this view of you: you’ve been an MP 1993 to date, apart from ’02-’05. So that’s 17 years in Parliament. During that time, in which you’ve paddled in three different waka, you’ve pulled, let’s see, average $150K a year. Mate ! That’s $2,500,000. Two and a half million bucks. And throughout that time you’ve been as useless as tits on a bull, sorry. Here you are saying that we don’t need Feed The Kids ? How the fuck would you know ?
Kaikohe where the median income is $17,000 dollars a year. Let’s see – 17 by 17. Oh Jesus how handsome is that – $289,000 over a whole generation. A little over 10% of what you’ve had. And you’re not gonna do the decent thing ? Because Shonkey Python says “Nah !” ?
Tau, I’m gonna say this. In the 9 years I’ve worked at that court in Kaikohe, me, the Pakeha, he’s done twenty times for your people what you have. For maybe one quarter what you’ve pulled. Legal aid ain’t flash. But that’s algud. For this reason – your people and me have given to one another. Actually they’ve given much more to me than I’ve ever given to them. Aroha. Whanaungatanga. You know about those ones Tau ?
YOU DON’T ANSWER THE CHALLENGE TAU……..YOU GOT NO BALLS. KIA ORA. KEEP ON SUCKING TE PUTEA.