This is new (or 1930s old if you want to look at it that way) for Dunedin:
“There have been many reports of people asking strangers for money – and people begging on the footpath – in recent weeks. Rising living costs and displacement in the wake of the Canterbury earthquakes have been linked to the sometimes shocking and all-too-obvious signs of personal struggle.”
I’ve been asked for change at bus-stops a couple of times recently, and there’s always been the limited talent “buskers” (the kind you wouldn’t stop and listen to). The weather is fine this week, but it’s really not a town in which you want to be homeless during winter.
yeah happened to me on friday, a couple teens, i was with my 6 year old & they were quite in our faces. not good. but i guess with 20% (at least) of under 25s unemployed, this is what we should expect..
Afaik, everyone in NZ without cash assets, who doesn’t have enough money for groceries in a week, is entitled to financial support from WINZ. What does it say about us that people find it easier to beg from strangers on the street than strangers in the WINZ office?
Yeah that’s right phil, putting me down is the important thing here. But let me fix it, seeing as how logic isn’t your strong point and you would obviously rather point score and make it personal than further the conversation in a meaningful way.
NZ residents who pass an income and asset test are entitled to Special Needs Grants from WINZ. I’m sure that you can find fault with that statement if you try.
if you happen to be on some kind of stand down & maybe facing other penalties or run out of your ‘special needs’ grants its possible you wont get anything. some of these beggers might even have some work, minimum hours on minimum wage, its possible for these young ppl to have to beg so they can get some spare cash.
True, but most of those things aren’t in statute I think, they’re gate keeping at the office, hence my point about it being easier to beg from strangers on the street than it is to approach the govt agency responsible for looking after people who are really struggling.
… so your point was that it’s easier to beg from strangers on the street than it is from WINZ? (just to clarify). I’d go along with that from those beggars I’ve had conversations with around Wellington.
btw ….. sometimes I think you (and others), and PU should really kiss and make up. Holier than thou … and all that kaka.
Maybe we need a Nosher Powel to mediate (“Give him back his fuckn cuntry”)
Four shops a year from emergency WINZ grants – that’s if you are VERY Lucky.
And going to the foodbanks – you’re only allowed a couple of these a year. So if you run out of food and funds at other times in the year ……. you’ve just run out of luck and food !!
I would say the biggers with very few exceptions are obtaining a tax payer funded benefit as well. I observed a beggar on Friday for about thirty minutes. He got a. Few coins in the time I was watching. Certainly did not seem starved. Then he started a conversation on his smart phone. After that he went over and had a chat to a couple of other beggers about twenty metres away, had a smoke and then went back to his position.
There were reports that the beggers do quite well thank you very much.
It was an observation, not an in depth investigation. I never have and never would walk an inch in their shoes. These people have no self respect, and are not prepared to do what is necessary to improve their lives. Beginning with making intelligent life decisions. There is no excuse for their begging.they intimidate people.
I don’t personally find beggers intimidating, except in the sense of empathising with their plight. Generally I find I can spare a few coins for the downtrodden. If you do in fact ignore these people how can you be so certain of your generalisations about them (eg; “These people have no self respect, and are not prepared to do what is necessary to improve their lives”)? Street-collecting, protesting, or busking can be dispiriting enough; I don’t want to ever find out just how grinding the begging process is.
From the ODT article above:
“The Dunedin City Council has no bylaws addressing begging. A spokeswoman said the council had received no complaints about it.
In some centres, Work and Income has staff specifically assigned to deal with the homeless and very poor, but not in Dunedin.”
Sukie Damson
That was a plum one you landed TS with on that there link!
I had a close look at it and it is a send-up, a satire. And sounds as if it might be from some UK union or left-wing students mag (from when students usually had a left wing lean.)
What do YOU think?
We’ve whipped up our ignorant readers into a bigoted frenzy of hatred. Here’s the kind of hand outs they’d like to see dished out to the money grubbing …
Cut his cock off and make him eat it..said disabled war veteran Joe …82, of Leeds.
etc
Have your neighbours got a nicer house than you? Do they appear to be better off than you are? Or perhaps their garden is a mess, or their kids have got snotty noses. Ring us today….and tell us about your nightmare neighbours. Perhaps we can arrange for a lynching……
Looks just like a typical WhaleSpew/Kiwibog thread. BTW, I hate how Farrar has misappropriated our national bird, our symbol, the name of our league team, and part of our identity for his hate site.
Monty, if I may be so bold, What things you must see from your lofty tower. You must feel so disappointed, so aggrieved, so challenged by the audacity of it all that these beggars have the indecency to stain your eyes with their meagre presence. You don’t ask for much. All you want is to pass along the street your taxes built and not be harangued by society’s flotsam. They are of course the only ones responsible for their circumstances and deserve every pointy stick of shame they get. Not only for being worthless street scum, but for their subsequent lack of a real contribution to what is obviously your society. They should, quite simply, not be tolerated by decent hard working penguins who only want to be exposed to osh-approved representations of society as dictated by the latest fearfacts poll . (I could go on but it would just get kind of mean and I think the sarcasm would be tedious after the first thirty odd pages)
Absolutely there are scammers out there on the street. Lots of them. Devious sods each and every one. Dedicated, they chip away at it day after day. Working hard to grift your coin from your wallet. Most of them wear suits by the way. Dispersed between the suits you will see other people, the ones you belittled so confidently. I feel I should enquire as to your validation for doing so. Have you ever spoken to the person you are accusing of failure? Have you ever asked a question of them? I imagine you are more likely one of those whom bark life directives as you pass by, choking on the guilt a bit as you cast the soiled coins from your pocket.
Do you know of any of these people’s achievements for example?
There are many proud histories that sit dishevelled on street corners around New Zealand. Just because many of these fellow humans are garbed in the broken shells of what they could have been, that is no reason to spew your ignorance upon them.
I doubt you could honestly fathom the daily challenges many beggars have faced. Battling with their mental state, dumped into the machinery of hot potato bureaucracy and some of the lucky ones even survive their personal traumas of violence and sexual assault. Monty, for someone who has such obvious trouble accepting the existence of others’ difficulties, I am unconvinced your limpet-celled cerebellum could process the pressured choices that eventually led many of these people to reach out a hand in submission.
Now, to stand in judgement on strangers for a full half hour and come to such a clear conclusion that you state “There is no excuse for their begging” means you are either an omniscient form of idiot-savant who has a razor keen understanding of humanity (and live in rarefied air), or you are just an idiot.
Male or female, straight, gay, trans, black, white or brown, able bodied or not; capitalism considers over 95% of the human race disposable and replaceable in exploitation for profits.
the technology will do nothing for humanity.
Science and technology today serves human ambitions, aspirations and greed, all of which are now capitalist in nature.
You should move to Brazil, Monty. Most of the middle class think like you, and there are even more beggars to hate. You can even run them over and get away with it, or set fire to them. That teaches them not to be intimidating to good citizens.
Program by Philippa Tolley on whether the NZ Public Services democratic role is being undermined this morning very good!
…..very articulate experienced well educated professional speakers on the problems facing New Zealand’s public Service eg Foreign Affairs man Mr Leak?, Matthew Palmer? ( legal), Brenda Pilot (PSA).
….and Labour Party’s Maryan Street, Spokesperson for State Services …. also very competent …..talking about the problems facing Public Servants….
…..as a former Public Servant my heart goes out to Public Servants under a NACT Government …it must be hell!
…. problems of giving free and frank advice on what is best for New Zealand versus what the government wants to hear
….problems of working under the threat of being made redundant
…problems of having to carry on after your mates have been made redundant illegitimately
…problems of working under a huge workload ( remember Cave Creek….this happened after redundancies on the West Coast and impossible work loads carried by DOC staff)
I don’t agree that the running down of the public service under National is a beltway issue. It just needs to be framed in terms relevant to people’s lives – hospital waiting lists, class sizes, the amount of time it takes government departments to respond or deal with issues,
There is the possibility, depending upon what occurs in the next month, of an interesting story developing surrounding ”just how” this current Government is managing those hospital waiting lists…
Beltway…it means the political scene in Wellington. People in the beltway are in the Know. Apparently. It often gets used disparagingly here to refer to people who aren’t in touch with the rest of NZ.
public servants are everywhere…not just in Wellington….and their health and well-being is a litmus test for democracy…they are servants of the public…the people of NZ …. and our taxpayer dollar
….when they start to sqwark down the tunnels and kark it in the mines you know your democracy is in trouble
Like you Chooky, as a former PS (both in the pre-corporatisation, AND post-corporatisation eras), I feel for them.
’87 – we were promised
…. greater accountability
…… de-politicisation
……. fishinsy n fektivness
……….. and a whole lot of other BS.
In fact exactly the opposite has occured AND at greater expense if you take into account the salary largesse of ‘CEO’s’ (ffs!!!!! CEO’s in the Public Service – an anomaly in and of itself), and their ‘Senior Management’.
Actually, the result has been highly politicised little feifdoms, open to manipulation and scams, and an environment where actual public servants work IN SPITE of their ‘entitled’ management, rather than BECAUSE of them. Ask any at the coal face what they think of their so-called management – I dare ya!!
Be it Internal Affairs
Be it Defence,
Be it Te Puni Kokiri (present Hippolite excepted thus far, but we’ll wait and see)
Be it WINZ
Be it …. (name your poison)
I bothers me that ‘progressives’ (including the current Labour Party leadership claiming progressive credentials) can’t see the bleeding obvious
….this will be a big issue for Wellingtonians especially .
…and I might add ….a country is only as good as its high quality , independent Public Servants, committed to serving that country….so it is a very important political issue
I have to say Mayan Street spoke well on the issue
i got six paragraphs into today’s Herald column by Matt McCarten and found i had far far better activities to occupy my Sunday morning with than allowing Matt’s views to ruin yet another day,
According to Matt, the Alfred E. Nuemann of television reporting Patrick Gower is a ”frighteningly good journalist”,
i can only surmise that Matt considers Himself in with a chance, along with Bryce and Kerre of getting the nod to fill John Armstrong’s position at the Herald when the latter falls asleep at His computer for the final time…
Matt seems to be doing a job interview for his paymasters…..looky here see how I can spin it with the best, wondered about him in an election year at pravda, wonder no more.
Also no surprise that cammy is being positioned as some type of hard done by family man and crusader of worthy causes with bradbury thrown in for granny styled ‘balance’.
with shonkey aligning himself with the slater its nicely framed for WO to become every bit as ‘credible’ as granny with the payback for cammy probably escalated site hits and perhaps similar taxpayer gigs like farrars curia enjoys.
Yeah true, i suppose if McCarten is taking the Massah Bosses coin then He is beholden to write what will keep the Massah Boss passing over that 30 pieces of silver…
So another poll is coming out tonight. The rumours are that it is bad news for the left and good news for the right. I suspect it will have a bit of a slump for the greens and Labour with National who have run a tight ship this. Year possibly able to rule alone, or maybe with the help of act and Dunne.
Som what will a bad result mean for the left? Has Cunliffe finished the honeymoon only after six months, while John Key’s honeymoon continues six years into the Job.
If the poll results are bad will labour be capable of taking a hard look at their policy platform and realise that
A. The population generally do understand that National is doing a good job and the gains are not to be risked by a lurch to the left such as a green labour government would deliver
B. The left policies of more welfare in one form or another are not capturing the imagination of the public.
C. More taxes are not going to win any election. The promise of increased taxes has failed the last two elections, why do labour think it will work a third time. Isn’t it time the left dropped their hatred of success?
Hmmm Monty is pontificating on something and assuming the worst for Labour and then offering the benefit of his sage advice. What happens Monty if the poll shows increased support? I hear the internal polling is sound.
+1
Aus has a very large tax regime with the top personal rate nearly 50%, CGT, FBT, GST, Superannuation tax and thats before we look at state taxes like stamp duty those are federal taxes.
Those roads, schools, hospitals etc are paid for with taxes, rwnjs appear to be wilfully ignorant on the massive borrowing the nact perform to stop serious cracks appearing everywhere while they are in power.
if we pulled the tablecloths of cafe nacts tables now, you would see books, bricks, bodies propping up the legs theyve sawn off.
There has been a lot of bleating from the right about the living wage and they have very helpfully supplied figures to bolster their argument as to how much WFF will go down. Mostly in the billions.
So if we can get the bottom end wages up, with a knock on effect up the scale through to the median ( and hopefully decrease the profit amounts going off shore) then we will have plenty more to spend on community needs. Bit like ditching the holiday highway and spending money on a few passing lanes and public transport.
Isn’t it time the left dropped their hatred of success?
The polls show that National is winning because it’s getting votes from the old – the same people who lived it up riotously on the generous postwar welfare state and who want to deny the same to the under 40s.
It really doesn’t have anything to do with what you say other than that the boomers are a worthless load of spongers.
Deficit = 1.79 billion dollars, now that’s what i call book balancing,
Gross Government Debt = 80+ billion dollars, when it hits 100 billion bucks the automatic invitation for the IMF to move in and loot the place on behalf of the creditors becomes active???,
Business Tax Evasion/Avoidance $179 million dollars in six months, s’pose Bill can always plug the hole with the loot from asset sales in the name of surplus at any cost,
The RockBottom Economy brought to you by Nationals stunning economic mismanagement circa 2008–2014…
I have always though that this election will be close. But recent polls have given the green labour bloc extreme cause for concern, with good reason given the nightmare of the past couple of weeks for the left to think the trend would have changed.
The labour and green policies to date have had no impact and have been easily dissected by us on the right ( with much joy I might add)
Nothing the green labour bloc has done has managed to impact on the ongoing strong and unprecedented support national continues to enjoy.
at this rate Winston will not be of benefit to the green labour bloc in forming a government. Besides I doubt he will go with David and Russel for the simple reason that his ego will not want him to play third fiddle.
I wonder if the recent grumpiness of labour MPs is related to on going poor polling.
Voters will vote for some more redistribution. There is widespread concern at persistent inequality. But they will not vote for policies that make New Zealand poorer.
As an example – The recent solar panel policy is such an example. It uses the Government (and its ability to tax and borrow) to promote an expensive generation mode over existing cheaper ones. It dishonestly portrays solar as cheaper by claiming that the interest subsidy is not really a subsidy, and by downplaying the ownership risks. If someone had a spare $15,000 and they did want to spend that on energy efficiency they would be well advised to spend it on top notch insulation, double glazing, installing a reverse cycle air hot water system and an efficient gas central heating system or a heat pump. These are proven technologies that also will add to capital value.
There is concern at inequality of opportunity. I am not at all convinced there is huge amounts at the level of concern around inequality of outcome.
The outcome is dependant upon so many factors such as ambition, priorities, life decisions, risks taken and outcome of those risks.
labour and the greens keep harping on about needing equality of outcomes. That is effectively socialism and means those who work hard, invest, make good decisions are penalised and their money taken to redistribute to those who make poor life decisions, don’t necessarily have the skills to make money.
Only if you measure the entire value of a human being by how many “skills to make money” they have Monty.
labour and the greens keep harping on about needing equality of outcomes.
Except nobody does. No-one is arguing for equality of outcomes. What we are pointing out is that in a world where just 85 people now control more wealth than the poorest 3.5 BILLION people on the planet – that there is plenty of room to reduce this gross extreme of wealth and poverty.
“labour and the greens keep harping on about needing equality of outcomes. That is effectively socialism and means those who work hard, invest, make good decisions are penalised and their money taken to redistribute to those who make poor life decisions, don’t necessarily have the skills to make money.”
Whilst I have no objection to taxing hard work only lightly, much of the higher incomes that we see are coming from economic rent and ticket clipping, and this should be providing the lion’s share of the tax take.
Sometimes. Though their income comes from the ownership of assets which contribute to the productive process, and they stand to lose their investment if the enterprise fails.
I was thinking more of interest recipients, who contribute nothing to the productive process, landlords, in respect of land, and administrators who are often grossly overpaid for what they actually contribute
Though their income comes from the ownership of assets which contribute to the productive process,
But they themselves don’t.
I was thinking more of interest recipients, who contribute nothing to the productive process,
Interest recipients are just indirect shareholders.
and administrators who are often grossly overpaid for what they actually contribute
Within a business administrators are an expense on the workers and so the workers should have a say how much that they’re paid.
Landlords should be administrators hired by the government on a fixed income to administer state rental properties. There should be no private rentals.
“Interest recipients are just indirect shareholders.”
Shareholders own assets – machines, tools, etc – which contribute to production, and which get used up through depreciation. Interest recipients hold promissory notes, or something similar, which contribute nothing.
“Within a business administrators are an expense on the workers and so the workers should have a say how much that they’re paid.’
They should be paid a fair price for the service they provide.
Shareholders own assets – machines, tools, etc – which contribute to production, and which get used up through depreciation.
Don’t kid yourself. The shareholders only “own” that hardware through legal fictions.
In the most common reality, the banks effectively own all that stuff. You can see this when a factory folds: the banks get all the money from the fire sale of those items, and the employees and shareholders get nothing.
Shareholders own assets – machines, tools, etc – which contribute to production, and which get used up through depreciation. Interest recipients hold promissory notes, or something similar, which contribute nothing.
Ownership of a machine doesn’t contribute to production.
They should be paid a fair price for the service they provide.
I didn’t say that they shouldn’t. It was more a statement that they shouldn’t set their wages.
Or even better you put up the panels, for the joy of shafting the power companies, and then with the reduction in the monthly bills, do all those other things so that the house is a net supplier. Maybe one would be allowed to donate the power to certain community facilites like schools or hospitals or towards the bill of an older or younger relative.
The recent solar panel policy is such an example. It uses the Government (and its ability to tax and borrow) to promote an expensive generation mode over existing cheaper ones. It dishonestly portrays solar as cheaper by claiming that the interest subsidy is not really a subsidy, and by downplaying the ownership risks.
When governments first started building sealed highways they were effectively subsidising a dearer mode of transport (cars) over an existing cheaper and more reliable one (horses).
SSLands i can nearly hear you sobbing from here at the Green Party having the temerity to cut out the profit making trading banks from the solar power equation, there is no ”interest subsidy” as you latest lie attempts to infer,
Those taking up the offer will be able to borrow up to $15,000 off of the Government and pay the same amount of interest the Government is charged to borrow the money on behalf of those borrowing to install solar,
You will probably be depressed to the point of self harm once the first low income families are housed under the Green Parties home ownership initiative where it will be up to the home owners how much of the mortgage they pay down on these Government housing loans which again cut out the profit making trading banks…
As an after-thought to your latest of whines formulated upon lies SSLands, you have to remember that the Government will be buying any spare generation off of those who choose to cleverly take up the Green Party initiative which lends the money to those wishing to install a solar energy system,
i should imagine that such solar producers will be given preference over the major generators when selling power to the Government wholesaler Labour/Green intend to install between the current generators and current retailers,
i would further imagine that the Government wholesaler will purchase that solar generation from the household generators at the fair price paid to the large generators which they will then on-sell to the retailers,
Obviously a single desk wholesale buyer of electricity generation will be able to use market forces to squeeze the margins and make a small profit so how you think the Government will lose money on the solar power start-up transaction is in fact beyond me…
It dishonestly portrays solar as cheaper by claiming that the interest subsidy is not really a subsidy, and by downplaying the ownership risks.
The lower interest isn’t a subsidy and there are very few, if any, downside risks. It will also make many NZers richer. The only ones that will get poorer will be the ones who bought our assets, against our will, with a look to get free money.
I have just read on Kiwiblog that Richard Prebble is returning to ACT to run their election campaign. On reading this my personal opinion is that the election is now sown up barring any major scandals.
This “in bed with the bloggers” article is thought provoking imo. Isn’t it interesting watching the meme develop that you have to be a ‘personality’ to be a blogger with impact or influence. I’m not against personalities but surely it is the ideas – oh sorry how naive of me.
I have to say that I am still struggling to get my head around the recent news that the prime minister rings slater up and chats – and the killer is, that is only if the lying dirty wanker is telling the truth – and he hardly ever does that! Dirty, dirty fight, dirty tactics, fight to win. Wake (further) up lefties the skirmishing is here.
Our PM is a well advised cold calculating banksta representing the hollowmen, time will tell why he did this.
IMO it was to give ‘credibility’ to WO who will become an outlet for the dirt etc that him and lusk etc have as their stock in trade.
you will not hear the end of the brown saga as one example as its all about throw as much shit as you can so more sticks to the ‘left’, its obvious with the nact cabal on akl council the scene has been set after sharon stewarts tanty last week which I highly doubt was her own work.
If any bloggers on here live in Sharon’s area might be good to get in touch with her office and suggest she gets on with running Auckland which is what she is paid to do. A bit of Faux concern about how the scandals are hurting the right wing image as icing on the cake.
Clearly a strong attempt to rehabilitate Slater. Which demonstrates exactly how important and central to the right-wing he is.
While I despise him with every fibre of my being – I never underestimated him. Slater is absolutely central to their value system and is now a prime channel for promulgating it. Key’s weekly chats with Slater are not an idle amusement in a bored moment; they will be a critical part of Key’s strategy and communications plan.
I do not really think Mr Key is that much in touch with Mr Slater. It was either a distraction ploy, (once Slater is hinted at we stop looking) or a deliberate effort to campaign amongst the Whale oil commentators. “I say chaps, John Key is one of us you know, so we should jolly well vote for him don’t you think?”
The context in which Mr Key hinted that Mr Slater was a confidante seemed to me that it was so unlikely that he was, and more likely that it was a slip-up being covered-up. It is true that Mr Key has not contacted me once this year even though I am freely available to offer considered opinions to him.
Sad really that only people who have conversations with Mr Key should offer opinions about his behaviours. The rest of you must remain silent!
Are you suggesting that Leaders should not “visit” those who likely would vote for them weka? Anyway, I just doubt the legitimacy of the belief in Key/Slater rapport.
Key isn’t talking to Slater weekly because he wants him to vote for National. I think leaders can visit whoever they like. But they will come under scrutiny if they lack judgement in who they visit. And let’s not forget the context of this particular contact between PM and constituent.
Lol, Pete George is on to that Herald article too and mentions you, and karol, and mickey savage, and zetetic……………..aww still thinking of you all. Ain’t that just the sweetest thing…………..
Auspylands
Serial lies again
Reverse cycle water heaters are dearer to run than a standard electric water heater because of the set up costs then a limited life span of the mechanism of 10 years.
Gas heating is also dearer.
Double glazing is only guaranteed for ten years needing expensive reglazing.
Insulation is a good idea.
But as usual National first changed govt funded retrofiting insulation so only wealthy people could afford it Now they have scraped it .
Donkeyotay would we well advised to steer clear of slater and his crew. They are on the road to being charged with fomenting civil disorder. They think they can get away with anything they like but the moment they step over the mark they will feel the full force of the law.
Hmm, having some technical difficulties, so I can’t amend my post… anyway, to add, the moron – some personoid, creature, whatever called Jonathan Milne – writing the piece thinks that the ability to attract advertising revenue is a measure of someone’s worth. He/it gives away a lot in that short statement.
That’s The Herald!
I’ve been watching House of Cards – the American remake with Kevin Spacey lately, and there’s a paper called “The Washington Herald”. Always, the camera frames it as “The Was”. That’s old media.
State of the country’s education
Not exactly a ringing endorsement from a former employer of his staff?
“When I was at Auckland Grammar, people would often say what a wonderful institution I was in charge of,” Morris says. “But there is no point having a nice building if you have lousy teachers.”
Of course, he would no doubt believe that when he was in the classroom he was a brilliant teacher. “Oh why couldn’t they all be like me …?
gee..!..that rory-the-green from politicheck…(over on that politcheck-thread..)
..is being very coy about answering my (quite straightforward to my mind) questions about the ideological-tinges/records of those helping him settle the form/function imperatives of this new political watchdog..
..i asked if truth-bender farrar is involved..if the rightwing trout hooten is involved..
..(but then..he did say he was staying away from ‘the fringe’..eh..?
..and libertarian hooten..and farrar…the main architect/peddler of the vile campaigns of lies/hatred against the weakest/poorest of our country..oh..!..since he started kiwiblog..?
..if they aren’t truth-bending fringe..who are..?
..and you know what..?
..i fear my wild guess on this..is correct..
..and if rory happens to be from the right/libertarian-wing of the green party..
..well then..this politicheck thing is a rightwing attack-machine..
phil, is there much point in screaming fire if no-one has actually opened the box of matches ?
I hope they find a way to make politicheck work and this is the line that holds most promise, imho.
In the interests of transparency, all our researchers will have their affiliations listed and their names published on the articles they worked on, much the same as mine.
Not an easy statement to back away from if they do fail to deliver [unbiased] fact checking
Phil,
I am not saying you are wrong,
just looking at the facts.
The site is new, it’s looking for volunteers, there is probably a fair bit of mail for the crew to get through, and as yet there has not been one published “checked fact” for anyone to comment on, let alone the vast conspiracy you seem to be consigning the site to. Have you considered the lack of immediate action in the site getting back to you might actually be a good thing? If they had gotten back to everyone straight away would that have not raised much bigger alarm bells as to how they are resourced?
I have not read the thread you reference, (guessing you mean yesterday’s posting on politicheck?) I saw the politicheck site link, went and looked at the site and now wait for updates on their status so further assessment can occur.
the situation reminds me of reviews based on trailers and not the film itself
often the critics are correct, but every now and then . . . egg on face
don’t let it happen to you is all
I see you are being foul mouthed and rude as usual today. On a related topic, did you see you are (in)famous on Kiwiblog? Although they are too polite to call you a fuckwit.
It is not gambling any more than the stockmarket is. Do you direct that your retirement savings not be invested in stocks? No, didn’t think so. Because presumably you are not a fuckwit.
Ipredict is authorised by the Securities Commission as a futures dealer.
And for your own sake stop being so foul mouthed and rude. It is disgusting.
SSLands, if i am attracting abusive comments on one or other of the Sewers channels it simply means that those who i have given a verbal slapping are too thin skinned and have run off to whine like dogs over there,
And no, i do not feel a need to dirty myself reading such rubbish as the blog you mention so my infamy or otherwise in the sewers network is immaterial,
What is more important given that National/ACT have decided to spend YOUR money, Ha-ha-ha upon brand new white-ware for ME, Ha-ha-ha, is the little question i have for you being my adopted bill payer SSLands, silver or white for the new fridge/freezer YOU are paying for SSLands, Ha-ha-ha…
Your point about my retirement savings is also an amusement SSLands, although you obviously not having a sense of humor never intended this to be thus,
My retirement savings are all on deposit in the Bank of Tane Mahuta SSLands, the Tararua branch of the ”bank” to be exact, lolz, you might be able to see the particular ”branch” below which my deposit lurks from your lounge window, Ha-ha-ha…
Hey fuckwit. That is the same trader you highlighted the other day. Obviously, his order for 2.5K shares on that stock still hasn’t been fulfilled since he is buying for the low price of $0.36. The price for that stock is effectively fixed at ~$0.36 because this large buy order is dominating all other buy orders, as I said would happen. I can’t see why the fuck you think that ipredict tells you anything – the volume traded is so low that one or two traders with a bit of cash to spare can set the price to whatever they want.
As I pointed out to you then, if he was really a rich leftie manipulating the stock, he would have simply used his money to mop up all those shares that are being sold at >$0.36 and push the price of the stock up. You really are a clueless fuck, aren’t you?
Or perhaps that is your buy order and you are trying to suck people into selling at the price to make a tidy profit when Cunliffe because our next PM? You certainly have been pushing ipredict a lot these past few weeks.
Take your keys off the keyboard and go outside and enjoy the summer. Ipredict is subject to manipulation. It also has a right wing bias. This is why lefties can actually do quite well with it.
Kim Dotcom’s hearing to be delayed again. I haven’t got much love for him , but I agree when he says that the delay will save John Key embarrassment during an election campaign.
Hard not to believe that the Minister of Jackets didn’t give a little push for the Court’s decision.
Really? If Dotcom was an going to be an embarrassment I would have thought Key would want him out of the country pronto? If
he is corrupt enough to delay a hearing then surely he is corrupt enough to bring one forward?
That makes no sense at all. If embarrassing details are going to come out at the hearing, Key would want to put it off until after the elections. He wouldn’t want them fresh in the mind of voters while they line up at the polls, and despite the best efforts of NAct’s crack legal team of Collins and Finlayson, a finding against Dotcom is still not guaranteed.
Latest Colmar Brunton is out. It claims National is up 6% to 51%, Labour is unchanged on 34%, Greens are down 5% to 8%, NZ First down 1% to 3%, the conservatives are on 1% as is the Maori Party.
The poll appears to be a rogue. I do not know why National should benefit from Green vote.
And Monty it appears that everything you have been saying today is, with respect, incorrect. How about an apology?
A real little amusement isn’t it MS, the Green Party losing 5% of their vote to the National Party, only in the dreams of the little tory that obviously thrills at making shit up,
Winston’s lot on 3%, the propaganda machine is having to stretch reality past the bounds of credibility with this one,
i was tho amused with the ”art” of those kids at that school in Slippery the PM’s electorate, trust the young to see everything for what it is befor the brainwashing begins to sink in,
The PM’s face being depicted in the kids painting of a mural sitting comfortably framed by a Donkey’s arse fits nicely with my oft stated proposition that Slippery the PM covers over the Large bald spot on His nut with the soft anal hairs plucked from a donkeys arse,
Wonder if the kids named that particular donkey Brucie, great painting, shame the same couldn’t be said about the rush of polls bullshitting us, as they did last election, with the Governing alone crap…
Why would you think Nats have pinched from Greens?
A far more sensible explanation would be that Lab have taken some at the lunatic end with the cash for breeders policy but lost some at the less nutty end to the Nats.
Barnsly Bill, your award for the dull Dunces comment of the day is in the post, the Labour poll % hasn’t moved since the last propaganda release from Colmar/National…
Um think you missed the point.. for arguments sake, the greens lost 5 points to Labour and Labour in turn lost five to the nats…. in terms of labour maybe they gained some votes at the left end of the spectrum but lost some of the more neolib inclined supporters to the nats. Tis possible labour has moved back left and has a leader that appeals to the left wing base now…
Or its just an outlier….
What Barnsley is saying (whether he’s right or not is another issue) is that National while went up and Greens went down, it wasn’t all one group of voters moving from the Greens to National.
Rather, Labour was on 34%. It gained 5% from the Greens due to strong left-wing policy. It then lost 5% to National due to centrist leaving. Therefore National goes up, Greens goes down, Labour stays the same.
Whether that’s right or wrong (it’s probably wrong) is up to debate… but you ended up looking like the dunce for not understanding that.
Poor old Disraeli Gallstone, obviously you believe in Christmas and other fairy tales as well, just like Barnsley Bill obviously does,
Colmar/national always polls National 3-4% above their actual support and the Green Party 3-5% below,
The fact that you and BB the Dunce place any real credence whatsoever in these fairy tales as anything but propaganda and then proceed to embellish that propaganda with a little narrative speculating on this and that proves nothing about the previous comment i made to BB, it simply proves that the pair of you along with the ‘wing-nut’ chorus are happy to indugle in bouts of public masterbation…
“Whether that’s right or wrong (it’s probably wrong)”
That’s what I said to you.
I don’t think this poll is right.
I was just merely commenting on your abysmal skills of reading comprehension. Amazingly, your response is another example of poor reading comprehension.
Disraeli Gallstone, wrong, i fully comprehend the little mathematics game the ‘wing-nuts’ choose to play to explain this particular piece of propaganda,
i just choose to use ignorance to portray my disbelief and it works a treat especially on those ‘wing-nuts’ that choose to pile in to blow their flatulence claiming victory across the pages of the Standard where those same ‘wing-nuts’ have little history of commenting here previously,
You may choose to believe that 10% of the left’s voters have chosen to suddenly engage in an electoral shuffle of their support toward the right, or, you may chose as i do to see these polls as having an element of manufacture within them with an actual intent of swaying softer voters intentions,
Of course if you have the slightest belief in the latter proposition then my belief is that showing any sign of belief in the little ‘wing-nut’ theory of a 10% shift of the left’s vote to the right is to put yourself in the position of a soft voter able to be swayed by the media bullshit, in other words a mere serf to the likes of Patrick Gower etc,
There are enough here who engage in the ‘wailing’ after each successive negative poll for the left to form a large enough ‘chorus of tears’ and i do not propose to become one of them, IF defeat occurs in 2014 i will only concede at the point the vote is counted,
Until then i will happily engage the ‘wing-nuts’ who fly in to spew on a momentary basis with derision which includes the pretense of deliberately misrepresenting the content of any of their particular comments, a little trick i learned from them…
Simple. The policies announced by Labour had pulled support from the greens, to Labour, but has sent labour support to the Nats. Assuming the 6% that National has gained has come from the Greens who lost 5% and claiming that to be the reason for the poll being rogue is a bit rich.
Is it not possible that Green vote at the margin moved to Labour and Labour vote at the margin moved to National rather than Green vote leapfrogging Labour to National?
Denial, now what was Colmar Brunton polling National at prior to the 2011 election, oh that’s right a ‘Govern Alone 50%’,
The desperate from the sewer pour into the Standard to try and convince us of a victory, remember your stupidity after the vote in 2014 which will see National not as governing alone, but, as the biggest opposition party yet under the MMP system…
Right so you are a true believer then, last election colamr/national polled the Tory’s at 50.3% just befor the election, what was the actual result again,
Oh that’s right 47%, please keep dreaming the National governing alone rubbish it will be all the sweeter when National wind up as a very large opposition after the 2014 vote is taken…
Sponge – You raise an interesting and potentially valid point. Whether it was as the MSM portray it (which I question), that Norman more or less went “begging” to Dotcom to not start his Internet Party, or not, it raised the possibility that he did.
In the public eye, even amongst some otherwise loyal Green voters, this could have led to serious disappointment, as the Greens have previously always tried to maintain an image of honesty, openness, transparency and independence.
The same media reports about Winston Peters having visited Dotcom, allegedly 3 times, then Peters reacting angrily, first denying this, and later claiming that Key may have had the GCSB spy on him, that will likely have disappointed some otherwise rather loyal supporters of NZ First and Winston.
I think that whether justified or not, bot suffered some loss of credibility in the public’s perception, hence the support in this poll went down for both parties, and significantly.
The Green’s solar energy policy release may not have impacted on this poll, but even that release was only moderately well received by the media, as it seems.
The MSM are ridiculed by some here, but sadly, most people out there still use them for most of their “humble” and poor quality information uptake, to base decisions on.
Abuse aside, do you not admit that the reason for the flow of votes outlined by several of us makes sense?
It is fricking obvious, surely!
You have gained some votes from fruitcakes but lost some of the middle-ground people.
Swings and roundabouts.
I’ll bet you that even Chris Trotter would agree with me.
It may not be “nice” but the truth sometimes hurts….
The key for the Left remains turning out the bottom 50% of the population to vote.
That means policies and politicians directly engaging with that part of the electorate, while emphasising to the top 50% of voters that not only is it the right thing to do to leave no one behind, but that it is economically crucial for the long term well being of society.
Now now, Felix, BM is just a lovely fellow who simply wants the best for NZ, and his comments here are simply honest and intelligent advisories on how we can all bring about the best for NZ.
He’s certainly not a lying prick shilling for a government of thieves and crooks, simply to lower his tax bill by a few percent and callous as to the tragic effect this will have on the lives of others. /sarc
I hope you remember to keep laughing when National win in October and royally fuck you and all your lefie mates in the arse as well sell this country to our bankster mates and Chinese overlords
But the bottom 50 per cent may be better off with a $ 16 minimum wage, ideally at least a living wage, no GST on essential food and other common use items, perhaps even a universal basic income (also used as a direct tax credit for those that earn above that annual UBI amount), and a more comprehensive housing policy, than something like “Best Start”, which sounds ok, but is just another WFF type benefit, costing much to administer.
With a UBI and radical tax reform, and reducing WINZ to focus only on topping up those that have extra needs due to disability, illness, parenting, accommodation, huge amounts could be saved on bureaucracy.
They may also be better off with some comprehensive state investments (SOEs) in infrastructure projects to build better public transport, value adding production plants for agricultural products, more wind-farms, solar thermal energy generation plants, geothermal projects, with a clear strategy for boosting local manufacturing (tax holidays or reductions as incentives for businesses to set up manufacturing here), with having more comprehensive training and more accessible education, combined with high-calibre research projects to develop niche foodstuffs, to research particular areas in health and environmental areas, and so forth.
People would see this agenda as revolutionary and a game changer, targeted at the long term future of the country, rather than what Labour has presented so far, which is a patchwork of bits here and there, but not changing the system as it is.
The top 50 % (certainly top 25 to 30 %) need to be held to account and do their share to build for the future, and not get away with just planning for secure personal nest-eggs and personal savings plans, while forgetting the country.
A clear difference in policy direction to National and ACT is overdue, all else is just not going to “thrill” people that much now.
Micky, surely your are joking?
The last FOUR polls in recent weeks have ALL showed national gaining and labour/greens declining with National being able to (or almost able to) govern alone.
According to many commenters on this site, the last 6 Years polls are rogue. Surely you aren’t going to fall into this rhetoric as well?
Just to give the Bob above a fair go (I am guessing your lack of patience with him is due to our differring views in the past), it wasn’t me making that comment (although I completely agree with everything the other Bob has stated).
Lots of people think that 51% is the high point of National polling. I suspect not. The margin of error suggests that it could be currently sitting at 54.1%. That figure still seems surprisingly low. The total ineptitude of the Greens and Labour suggest that many of their supporters will not be bothered voting. As the good news keeps coming in week after week we could well be seeing a historic landslide.
The trends Brett Dale are saying that colmar/national have just released another piece of propaganda which has got all the wing-nuts going from simply being heavy breathing porn watchers to being true believers that displays of public masterbation will enable national to govern alone after the vote in 2014…
I think this poll is probably slightly high for national but not by much so National can still govern alone. If NZ first gets in then Labour is quite far from being in government.
Please,please, stop with the funnies will you, my gut has just started processing dinner and the laughter is a definite interference in that process,
National heading for the prize of being the largest opposition since the beginning of MMP, even Slippery the PM couldn’t raise a smile when commenting on the latest piece of propaganda, although it was gut busting to see the PM depicted in a mural as a semi-part of a donkeys arse…
When new immigrants are sucked into believing that “…the Conservative Party is good for Christians, Green Party good for environment, Labour Party good for the poor and National Party good for business” then it’s obviously time for Labour to get off it’s lazy entitled ass, and start shifting that perception through clever social media advertising.
It’s the only way to shift that bitch!
National is only good for BIG business, but sucks for our entrepreneurs. Labour is the party for the workers, and wants to ensure that all workers benefit from any economic upside – National only wants the CEOs to benefit and the people that do the hard work, our everyday workers, to not receive any benefit but to be happy with the crumbs from the table.
The message should be that Labour is not ashamed to say it stands for ensuring that every person who wants to work, can, BUT should be entitled to receive a fair days wage for a fair days pay. Labour needs to be UPFRONT and thunder that it is WRONG and UNCONSCIONABLE for overseas corporations to treat New Zealand workers like COTTON PICKERS!
It’s emotive language for sure, but emotions win elections. Labour and the Greens won’t get anywhere being namby pamby and focusing on Key. KEY is the WRONG area to target. National policies needs to be ignored and Labour needs to start highlighting NOW! Stop banging on about what National has done or not, start banging on NOW!
NOW: Your wages haven’t moved in 5 years, yet the cost of living has gone up. Labour wants to ensure that you can afford to live and have enough to save for the things you want.
NOW: Your power prices are amongst the highest in the OECD. Labour wants you to stop paying so much for power, and have money for the things that matter.
NOW: New Zealand has lost too many workers in the forestry sector thanks to unregulated activities causing death. Labour wants every worker to be safe at work, and not be at risk of dying for the corporate.
NOW: There aren’t enough jobs for everyone who wants one. Labour wants people to have every opportunity to find a job, and if they can’t, help people while they look for work.
NOW: Education has become too expensive for many people. Labour believes in free education for everyone under 18 and will work to restore the right to free education.
NOW: People aren’t being fairly remunerated for a 40 hour week. Labour believes the corporates have more than enough ability to adequately compensate their employees with a fair wage.
NOW: Labour believes that New Zealanders are being targeted by overseas corporates with no regard for the true cost of living in New Zealand. Labour will work to ensure that New Zealanders are treated on a level playing field with the cost of goods and services.
It is so simple and easy to do. The soundbites are easy, and National have done fine on a “less said the better” policy when it comes to people talking about what they perceive National to be doing.
The left get sucked into believing that they need to counter the lack of concrete substance by National with a marshmallow puffed policy which is WRONG. Labours issue when they release policy is that they release far too much of it, giving their opponents grist for the mill.
Compare and CONTRAST:
National: – New policy. High performing teachers will be paid more and we’ll have special principals overlooking a number of different schools. Yada yada yada, more money but education good! Yay!
Nil critical aspect, nil detail, and just a vague outline of what they propose.
Labour: First time babies, $60 per week, except and unless, first year, second year, third year, $150,000, or not. Parental leave! Look! Details! More more details! Part time income! Working for Families! Entitlement! Everyone! Universal! Oh, no, wrong. Stop talking! Shoosh. Shucks, we flubbed it.
Too much information, too much room for interpretation.
Far better would have been: New policy: First start. All parents with babies will receive assistance and support. Further details released closer to election.
Easy! Simple! Even Paddy Gower wouldn’t have been able to fuck that up.
There are over 4 million reasons wrong with this country, where the CEO of a parasitic organisation can earn nearly 100 times more than the people that do the daily grind in the teller role, and are arguably more valuable to ANZ than the high falutin’ CEO. The tellers are the ones that keep the customers happy at the end of the day.
Labour lose the plot when it comes to articulating their vision for a better New Zealand. It’s almost like they don’t understand the KISS principle. If they did, they might be better off.
Labour needs to articulate the fact that they are the government for the PEOPLE. National are the government for OVERSEAS interests.
Sing it loud, sing it proud. No need to proffer proof. Just keep tying OVERSEAS INTERESTS back to WARNER BROTHERS – RIO TINTO – BANK OF NEW YORK (and it’s 8 million shares in our former SOE)
OVERSEAS INTERESTS = NATIONAL
NEW ZEALANDERS = LABOUR
So what do you want Kiwis? A government for New Zealand, or a Government for Overseas Interests?
Make it the boogy man. Overseas Interests are the new “Reds under the Bed”
I just get so frustrated and annoyed at what should be relatively simple politics and keep watching Labour stumble every time headlong into the catchers mitt that has been placed there so artfully by the likes of Gower et al.
If only Labours media managers would stop insisting on having so much policy released upfront, and stop muzzling Cunliffe or whoever from being so restrained, Labour might actually have a chance to win.
As I outlined above, the framing is right there, it’s NOW.
As we’ve seen in the last two weeks with Progressive Enterprises, the mood is right to capture New Zealanders thinking about OVERSEAS INTERESTS and definitely put the framing square onto LABOUR for NEW ZEALAND and National for OVERSEAS INTERESTS!
Easy framing, right timing.
In politics, Timing is Everything.
The Timing is Now, the framing is ready to roll.
But who the heck is going to listen? I’m just another Labour party member that has no links to the hallowed halls of hell, nor do I have any inclination to get involved with the pit of self absorption that is the local LEC.
If only Labours media managers would stop insisting on having so much policy released upfront, and stop muzzling Cunliffe or whoever from being so restrained, Labour might actually have a chance to win.
Well as I see it that’s exactly what theyre doing. Chinless wonder says what ever he wants and the only policy Labour has is regurgitated Greens policy or 1950s socialist propaganda.
simple effective slogans, used by all, ad nauseum, chimpboy, gooner and co cant twist it and the likes of mallard and goff cant grandstand with it.
I hope some deadwood gets cleared out also but thats unlikely.
Nats got in on a smile and wave with one liners , labour should do similar, the missing voters cant cope with unecessary detail, a change is what they will vote for.
You raise valid points there, and believe in passion being part of politics, and it surely does and must be getting its fair share.
The problem you will have with that approach is, that the MSM (mainstream media) will of course see this, and jump at it straight away, and than claim, it is just about “whipping up emotions”, but without any evidence to prove the arguments. They will take that approach to pieces, and then Labour and Greens will have to come and try and prove their arguments, and we are back to nitty gritty back and fro arguments about details, and hollowing out of what the message is meant to say.
What we have here is a repeat of the last election campaigns, where the MSM are already largely feeding the public with the usual BIASED commentary and information (no background info, no analysis, treating Key and Nats with the soft brush, and Labour and Greens with a knife and hammer), all coming from the supposedly “independent” reporters and “media personalities” (having their personal “views”), and the public hear and read little else.
The public then think, that is how it is, and hence they poll as they do, which reinforces again the conviction of the MSM that they are right with their (idiotic or manipulative) assessments. So you end up in a catch 22 situation, where polls feed and shape perception, and that again shapes commentary and views coming from the MSM, which again brings about the polls like a self fulfilling prophecy.
The challenge is to go beyond the MSM, to go and hold public meetings, run public events and campaigns, aggressively and widely use social media, and to network and meet people face to face. There is no alternative to such damned hard work, and the first thing the Labour MPs in caucus can do, is start on Monday, doing exactly that.
Visit work places, factories, council staff, drain layers, road workers, hospital nurses and doctors, people rebuilding in Christchurch, talk with the exploited foreign workers here, expose this, talk with the taxi drivers working 12 hour days for less than minimum pay per hour, talk with social workers, drug and alcohol counsellors, with stressed out teachers, with ECE workers, with beneficiaries struggling, and so forth it must go!
Clusterfuck Cunliffe is Nationals greatest asset, the only thing saving him is Norman collapsing greens support by sucking up to the fat German fraudster.
If he’s a ‘Naki’ man, then he’s only a thirty-something jerk, probably from Taranaki but not yet a man. It’s talk from the same generation as the ‘hard-core’ bullshit used to sell tee-shirts.
Deconstructing his moniker is a tediously embarrassing business for anybody who’s actually lived an adult-hood in the place.
Of course if Naki man was actually Taranaki man with the emphasis on the Tara from the more oblique usage of that particular word in some tribal dialects i could well believe Him to be that…
the johnkey donkey mural was funnier. i’m trying to get a good screen capture so share the laughs. & the look on keys face when he had to sign its arse, hilarious!
Lolz there are some extremely clever kids in Slippery’s electorate, the mouthful of tea ended up expelled all over the place when i got a look at that…
SSLands, what the hell are you on about now, have not i told you on numerous occassions to stay off the internet when you have been on the bottle all day,
Commenting when your pissed just makes you come across as more ludicrous than normal, i know that for you is probably a badge of honor as you seem incapable of anything but the ludicrous but you should have a small modicum of shame even in your drunken state,
My advice of course is in your best interests as you should cease to turn up for your employment as a minor bean counting serf in your lonely little bean counters cubicle with a raging and patently obvious whisky hangover as despite your thinking otherwise your employment is far from assured into the future with your boss looking to increase profits by cutting out the under-performers,
Is there any truth to the rumor that you consider your employment status to be safe during the upcoming restructuring of the company you are a serf for because as far as the boss is concerned you out of all the slaves gives the best blow-jobs…
I was looking forward to the Roy Morgan poll (a poll that the folks here seem to place a lot of faith in) showing Labour clawing back some ground, but unfortunately it showed gains to the Nats. The lack of discussion on this borad re the RM poll said it all. This latest poll reinforces National’s position, albeit with a different Left distribution. No matter how you slice & dice it, the CB poll is not good news for the Left, and Cunliffe slipping in the preferred PM stakes is a concern also (I can’t recall what Shearer was polling when he was rolled).
IMO Labour are spending too much time attacking the Nats, and not enough time & energy promoting their own policy. Also, with the exception of recent performances from Jones, Labour don’t seem to have any depth to their team. What happened to the energy that Robertson exhibited during the leadership contest? If Cunliffe is struggling in the popularity stakes, his team need to step up, take some of the heat and show some passion, engage in intelligent & positive dialogue with the MSM, and act like a team that is capable of leading NZ.
Ben Hur, faith in the Roy Morgan, you have that slightly wrong, the Roy Morgan is of much more interest to us political junkies as it is produced on a far greater number of occasions than the other media polls and thus makes an interesting watch for ‘the trend’,
Faith though is a measurement of respect in what is clearly a neutral polling organization and i for one have seen none of them recently which includes the Morgan poll in the none of them,
Gary Morgan, son of Roy, and the current named proprietor of the Roy Morgan polling organization is heavily invested in Australian mining interests and if you think that such interests can fit in with a polling company being unbiased i fear for your sanity…
IMO Labour are spending too much time attacking the Nats, and not enough time & energy promoting their own policy.
WRONG. The Nats and their acolytes are doing the attacking. And what’s more the claims are bogus lies and the MSM know it. Still, they let them get away with it. Labour and the Greens are the parties releasing damm good policies. By and large, the MSM are ignoring them – mind bogglingly concentrating on petty issues instead.
The Nats have got their policy out there and understood, so arguably have the time to attack the Left. It will be interesting to see if there is any fallout with Bradbury stating that he talks with Cunliffe, and the fact (and therefore linkage) that Bradbury was in the pay of Dot Com.
Labour policies like turning people on $149k into beneficiaries and Greens policy like subsidised
PV panels that are not cost effective, there is no need to tell lies these clowns are shooting themselves in the foot.
The MSM is corporate dominated, the top media bosses, the editors, the “media personalities”, they are clearly in their vast majority having a personal bias towards maintaining the status quo! And now APN have even bought the majority or total share holding of what was the Radio Network (1ZB and so forth).
Just having listened to the conversations about the Shane Taurima incident or “scandal” at TVNZ, and how that was commented on by many, that sent shivers down my spine. The majority of the private media journalists and moderators try to portray themselves as “independent” and TVNZ and Radio NZ as “left leaning”. And they get away with it. Even Radio NZ disappointed me a bit with their last summary of this on Media Watch:
A shocker to me was the last Focus on Politics program last Friday, and how that started, almost showing National in the best of light to fight poverty and social problems!? Hear it here, if you did not:
I did not hear the whole of Insight this morning, but I think it also tried to be overly “balanced” (careful to not upset the government) to report on how the public service have been treated under this government, and that is on Radio NZ National:
Forget TVNZ, they are now so scared to say or present anything that may just slightly show Labour or Greens in a positive light, being “scared” by the reports of mostly private media persons, that they are “left leaning” and prone to bias. So the MSM is anything but helpful, it will NOT be useful to communicate to the public what matters, they are not going to do their job!
But despite of this, I am still flabber-ghasted why Labour and Greens do not hammer Bennett on welfare issues, of which there are a many, and I know that others (besides myself) have sent some of the MPs a fair bit of very revealing, useful information, which is probably sitting and gathering dust, or has been deleted as too complex email communication.
What they do wrong is going on about the same again and again and again, slogan like, but not expand the line of attack, and not fire with studied information, questions and arguments. Some of them are in my view not capable of doing their jobs, simple fact.
The elephant in the room: why hasn’t David Cunliffe (and Labour) purged the likes of Phil Goff, Annette King and the treacherous Trevor Mallard? Why do these old-timers continue warming the benches and doing nothing sweet fuck all?
Unless a miracle happens New Zealand is looking to another three years of a National-Act government. There is time for a change, but it is running out quickly.
Good point,a lot depends on how the pollsters frame the questions to those prepared to respond, of course if you were planning on having a fiddle with the outcome after the poll had been taken the ‘undecided’ column would be a good place to start…
It is alot, what that means is of the 11% there are plenty of voters not happy with National and are holding out to see what policies come out from Labour. You can count on NZF voters not wanting a National deal done.
The Greens are losing cred by both the Dotcom support and Norman has soiled his previous good work by engaging in a silly tussle with God Botherer Collin Craig. The Greens are better off keeping their head down and remaining silent, coming out when they have sensible things to say. People voted NZF last election because Peters is a one man wrecking ball. Look for Winston to come out boxing and trim National back in popularity. A scandal exposing Key, further slamming the assets sale with the GE sale and the aftermath with price hikes, and the total costs of the ticket clippers from across the ditch.
Once the interest rates start to climb and China clips Nationals wings with a strategic drop in bidding for our milk powder causing the price to slump. China will not be happy with Key and his sucking up to Uncle Sam. The TPPA is heavy weighted in the Yanks favour and we are in China’s part of the globe, we are going to get a sharp reminder of this very soon.
James,
I don’t think anti foreign companies is quite the right way to approach that for a major party. It works better in the hands of Winston and he will just out xenophobe you.
I think instead you can just focus on Big corporations, in particular dodgy advertising but also other practices.
The pitch can be a much stronger and much more aggressive commerce commission. Find some illegal stuff then say you need broarder laws to catch the similar but marginally legal activities.
In the same theme one could go after tax loopholes etc. Maybe use closing them as revenue source in a way that will catch the public’s attention.
In terms of all the normal policies – the 2 key things for labour to win is
1) for it to sell itself as being responsible party of government – So it needs to look fiscally responsible to the public – more so as often as possible than national. (eg push the super issue as a cost).
2) It also needs to distance itself from the Greens and sell the idea that it can control the greens. Because the swing voters fear greens.
Hmm .. am not sure what Labour will really stand for and what next will happen with maintaining the entitlement age for super, given that the new ACT leader is now pushing for the increase.
John Key and National’s dirty work already being done by ACT … and David Parker?
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The ultra-rich have done very, very well out of the pandemic. Globally, the wealth of the ten richest people rose by US$540 billion last year, enough money to pay for the pandemic in its entirity. And in New Zealand, local billionaire Graeme Hart saw his wealth increase by almost NZ$3.5 ...
Postmodernism has long been looked upon as an indecipherable ideology and a source of amusement. In 1996 Alan Sokal, a physics professor at New York University, had a hoax article published in ‘Social Text’ an academic journal of postmodern cultural studies. In ‘Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Anew study in Nature Sustainability incorporates the damages that climate change does to healthy ecosystems into standard climate-economics models. The key finding in the study by Bernardo Bastien-Olvera and Frances Moore from the University of California at Davis: The models have been underestimating the ...
In a recent interview with RNZ (14th of January), NZ Council of Civil Liberties Chair Thomas Beagle, in response to Simon Bridges condemnation of the post-Trump Twitter purge of local far Right and other accounts, said the following: “Cos the thing about freedom of expression is that it’s not just ...
Let’s be clear: if Trump is not politically killed off once and for all, he will become a MAGA Dracula, rising from the dead to haunt US politics for years to come and giving inspiration to his wretched family of grifters and thousands of deplorables well into the next decade. ...
Since its demise as an imperial power, and especially its deindustrialisation under Thatcher, the UK's primary economic engine has been its role as a money laundry, using its network of overseas territories as tax havens to enable rich people around the world to steal from the societies they live in. ...
Last month OMV quit the Great South Basin and surrendered its offshore exploration permits outside of Taranaki. This month, Australian-owned Beach Energy has done the same: Beach Energy Resources New Zealand has decided to abandon all of its oil and gas exploration permits off the South Island coast, including ...
The new Northland case has been linked to the South African strain of Covid-19, one of a number of new, more contagious Covid variants. Here’s how they emerge and why. Let’s start with the basics. The genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Covid-19 is a strand of RNA ...
MARVIN HUBBARD, US citizen by birth, New Zealand citizen by choice, Quaker and left-wing activist, has been broadcasting his show, "Community or Chaos", on Otago Access Radio for the best part of 30 years. On 24 November last year, I spoke with him about the outcome of the 2020 General ...
This is a guest blog post by Daniel Tamberg, Potsdam, co-founder and director of SCIARA GmbH. The non-profit organisation SCIARA is developing and operating a flexible software platform for scientific simulation games that allows thousands of players to explore, design and understand possible climate futures together. Decision-makers in politics, business, ...
Yesterday's Gone: Cold shivers are running up and down the spines of conservatives everywhere. Donald Trump may have gone, but all the signs point to there being something much more momentous in the wind-shift than a simple return to the status quo ante. A change is gonna come. ONE COULD ...
Is it possible to live and let live in the post-Trump era? The online campaign to vilify Christopher Liddell, ex-White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant to Trump, makes for an interesting case study. Liddell is a New Zealander whose illustrious career in corporate America once earned him plaudits ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 17, 2021 through Sat, Jan 23, 2021Editor's Choice12 new books explore fresh approaches to act on climate changeAuthors explore scientific, economic, and political avenues for climate action ...
This discussion is from a Twitter thread by Martin Kulldorff on 20 December 2020. He is a Professor at Harvard Medical School specialising in disease surveillance methods, infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety. His Twitter handle is @MartinKulldorff #1 Public health is about all health outcomes, not just a single ...
The Treasury forecasts suggest the economy is doing better than expected after the Covid Shock. John Kenneth Galbraith was wont to say that economic forecasting was designed to make astrology look good. Unfair, but it raises the question of the purpose of economic forecasts. Certainly the public may treat them ...
Q: Will the COVID-19 vaccines prevent the transmission of the coronavirus and bring about community immunity (aka herd immunity)? A: Jury not in yet but vaccines do not have to be perfect to thwart the spread of infection. While vaccines induce protection against illness, they do not always stop actual ...
Joe Biden seems to be everything that Donald Trump was not – decent, straightforward, considerate of others, mindful of his responsibilities – but none of that means that he has an easy path ahead of him. The pandemic still rages, American standing in the world is grievously low, and the ...
Keana VirmaniFrom healthcare robots to data privacy, to sea level rise and Antarctica under the ice: in the four years since its establishment, the Aotearoa New Zealand Science Journalism Fund has supported over 30 projects.Rebecca Priestley, receiving the PM Science Communication Prize (Photo by Mark Tantrum) Associate Professor ...
Nothing more from me today - I'm off to Wellington, to participate in the city's annual roleplaying convention (which has also eaten my time for the whole week, limiting blogging despite there being interesting things happening). Normal bloggage will resume Tuesday. ...
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weaponscame into force today, making the development, possession, use or threat of use of nuclear weapons illegal in international law. Every nuclear-armed state is now a criminal regime. The corporations and scientists who design, build and maintain their illegal weapons are now ...
"Come The Revolution!" The key objective of Bernard Hickey’s revolutionary solution to the housing crisis is a 50 percent reduction in the price of the average family home. This will be achieved by the introduction of Capital Gains, Land, and Wealth taxes, and by the opening up of currently RMA-protected ...
by Daphna Whitmore Twitter and Facebook shutting down Trump’s accounts after his supporters stormed Capitol Hill is old news now but the debates continue over whether the actions against Trump are a good thing or not. Those in favour of banning Trump say Twitter and Facebook are private companies and ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Democrats now control the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives for the first time in a decade, albeit with razor thin Congressional majorities. The last time, in the 111th Congress (2009-2011), House Democrats passed a carbon cap and trade bill, but it died ...
Session thirty-three was highly abbreviated, via having to move house in a short space of time. Oh well. The party decided to ignore the tree-monster and continue the attack on the Giant Troll. Tarsin – flying on a giant summoned bat – dumped some high-grade oil over the ...
Last night I stayed up till 3am just to see then-President Donald Trump leave the White House, get on a plane, and fly off to Florida, hopefully never to return. And when I woke up this morning, America was different. Not perfect, because it never was. Probably not even good, ...
Watching today’s inauguration of Joe Biden as the United States’ 46th president, there’s not a lot in common with the inauguration of Donald Trump just four destructive years ago. Where Trump warned of carnage, Biden dared to hope for unity and decency. But the one place they converge is that ...
Dan FalkBritons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...
Sara LutermanGrowing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice ...
Doug JohnsonThe alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...
Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Michael Cowling, CQUniversity AustraliaWe’ve probably all been there. We buy some new smart gadget and when we plug it in for the first time it requires an update to work. So we end up spending hours downloading and updating before we can even play with our new toy. But ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Zero emission buses, cleaner cars and environmentally-friendly biofuels will soon be hitting New Zealand’s roads, as the Government delivers on its election promise to make our transport network more sustainable. ...
The Green Party is already delivering on its commitment for cleaner, climate-friendly transport through our Cooperation Agreement with the Government. ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
Prudence Steven QC, barrister of Christchurch has been appointed as an Environment Judge and District Court Judge to serve in Christchurch, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. Ms Steven has been a barrister sole since 2008, practising in resource management and local government / public law. She was appointed a Queen’s ...
The Government is delivering on its first tranche of election promises to take action on climate change with a raft of measures that will help meet New Zealand’s 2050 carbon neutral target, create new jobs and boost innovation. “This will be an ongoing area of action but we are moving ...
The Government is investing up to $10 million to support 30 of the country’s top early-career researchers to develop their research skills. “The pandemic has had widespread impacts across the science system, including the research workforce. After completing their PhD, researchers often travel overseas to gain experience but in the ...
A Waitomo-based Jobs for Nature project will keep up to ten people employed in the village as the tourism sector recovers post Covid-19 Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “This $500,000 project will save ten local jobs by deploying workers from Discover Waitomo into nature-based jobs. They will be undertaking local ...
Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw spoke yesterday with President Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. “I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Mr. Kerry this morning about the urgency with which our governments must confront the climate emergency. I am grateful to him and ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta today announced three diplomatic appointments: Alana Hudson as Ambassador to Poland John Riley as Consul-General to Hong Kong Stephen Wong as Consul-General to Shanghai Poland “New Zealand’s relationship with Poland is built on enduring personal, economic and historical connections. Poland is also an important ...
Work begins today at Wainuiomata High School to ensure buildings and teaching spaces are fit for purpose, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. The Minister joined principal Janette Melrose and board chair Lynda Koia to kick off demolition for the project, which is worth close to $40 million, as the site ...
A skilled and experienced group of people have been named as the newly established Oranga Tamariki Ministerial Advisory Board by Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis today. The Board will provide independent advice and assurance to the Minister for Children across three key areas of Oranga Tamariki: relationships with families, whānau, and ...
The green light for New Zealand’s first COVID-19 vaccine could be granted in just over a week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today. “We’re making swift progress towards vaccinating New Zealanders against the virus, but we’re also absolutely committed to ensuring the vaccines are safe and effective,” Jacinda Ardern said. ...
The Minister for ACC is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to join the Board of ACC on 1 February 2021. “All three bring diverse skills and experience to provide strong governance oversight to lead the direction of ACC” said Hon Carmel Sepuloni. Bella Takiari-Brame from Hamilton ...
The Government is investing $9 million to upgrade a significant community facility in Invercargill, creating economic stimulus and jobs, Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene have announced. The grant for Waihōpai Rūnaka Inc to make improvements to Murihiku Marae comes from the $3 billion set ...
[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...
The Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...
Border workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...
The next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
Upscaling work already underway to restore two iconic ecosystems will deliver jobs and a lasting legacy, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “The Jobs for Nature programme provides $1.25 billion over four years to offer employment opportunities for people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 recession. “Two new projects ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The New Zealand public sector and judiciary has again been ranked the least corrupt in the world. The 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released today by global anti-corruption organization Transparency International ranks New Zealand first equal ...
New Zealand is again ranked first equal with Denmark in the Transparency International annual index of perceived levels of public sector corruption. Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has welcomed New Zealand’s position in the 2020 index. He says New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Kaufman, Research Fellow, Vaccine Uptake Group, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute The federal government’s A$23.9 million COVID-19 vaccination information campaign, launchedyesterday, aims to reassure the public about vaccine safety and effectiveness. It will also provide information about the vaccine rollout. We’ve ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Hongi Luo, brand director at TikTok.In terms of cultural reach and impact, the ...
After Covid devastated its 2020, Basement Theatre comes roaring into 2021 with its Summer Season. Here’s the rundown of shows in-store, with some comments from programmer Nisha Madhan.Pre-FringeLust IslandWhen’s it on: February 2-6, 8pmWho’s involved: The women of improv troupe Hearthrobs (McKenzie’s Daughters, Salem Bitch Trials), including Brynley Stent, Alice ...
The whānau of Te Ahikaiata Turei supported by Māori and non-Māori staff at Unitec will take back a portrait of the Tūhoe leader who led the establishment of Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae and the values that brought the institute back from the brink of ...
A poll across the Early Childhood Education community found 93% in favour of pausing the ‘lunchbox rules’, or the Ministry of Education’s new Food Safety/choking changes to the Licensing Criteria, which came into effect on 25 January. “The message ...
Cycling advocates are calling for the transformation of urban transport, as New Zealand races to cut carbon. The Climate Change Commission will release its initial advice on Sunday 31 January. “Bikes and e-bikes are perfect for many local trips, ...
Three Ministers, led by the PM, joined in chorus today to warble about a bunch of measures aimed at helping to meet New Zealand’s 2050 carbon neutral target, create new jobs and boost innovation. Mind you, the measures mentioned seem to be more matters of decisions yet to be made ...
Michelle Kidd defines her role at Auckland’s specialist family violence court as te kaiwhakatere – the navigator. It’s a one-of-a-kind job, helping guide defendants through the court system. And there’s no one better suited to it than Whaea Michelle.First published November 24, 2020.Whaea Michelle is part of Frame, a series of short ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sallie Yea, Associate professor & Principal Research Fellow, La Trobe University Each year, thousands of men and boys labour under extremely exploitative conditions on commercial fishing vessels owned by Taiwanese, Chinese and South Korean companies. The Taiwanese fleet, which operates in all ...
Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis believes the Crown should maintain responsibility for the care and protection of at-risk and vulnerable children, regardless of their race. Moreover, he is confident his all-Maori team of advisers will not be taking race into account as they help to improve Oranga Tamariki’s care and protection of ...
It’s easy to sacrifice John Banks. It’s a lot harder for brands, sports organisations and government to truly stop funding racism. Are they willing to try?Yesterday John Banks, the former Auckland mayor and MP, became subject to one of the fastest firings in media history when audio covering his approving ...
A community is outraged after Auckland Council granted consent for a row of trees planted by local kids to be removed along a revitalised waterway in South Auckland, reports Justin Latif. An Auckland Council decision to give contractors the all-clear to chop down 12 mānuka and kānuka trees shading Māngere’s Tararata ...
Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu hopes that the recent changes to Oranga Tamariki leadership present an opportunity for a long overdue paradigm shift that will place whānau at the heart of the child welfare sector. Pouārahi Helen Leahy says that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rice, Professor of Management, University of New England Elon Musk is now the world’s richest person, edging out previous title holder Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. His rocketing fortune is due to the booming share price of Tesla, the maker of electric vehicles ...
There are now three returnees who contracted the virus in the Auckland isolation facility then left into the community while positive. These are some of the questions that need to be resolved. At 10.20pm last night the Ministry of Health confirmed that the two cases they’d been treating as probable ...
Having a hard time remembering to scan in on the NZ Covid Tracer app when you’re out and about? Get this song stuck in your head and you’ll never forget again.Learn the lyrics:Aotearoa, it’s time to get scanning!I mean if you think about it, it never really wasn’t time we ...
We conclude our week-long examination of New Zealand writer Roderick Finlayson with a review of his stories by John Newton Roger Hickin’s Cold Hub Press is one of the small miracles of contemporary New Zealand publishing. Over the last decade, on what can only be a shoe-string budget, the ...
Thursday 28th January, AUCKLAND: Drive Electric, the not-for-profit with one mission – making electric vehicle uptake in New Zealand mainstream, welcomes the announcement by the Government today as a sign of what’s to come through 2021, and we are confident ...
The Government announced today key policy decisions on the proposed clean car policies. The MIA has stated on many occasions that we support well thought out and constructive policies that will lead to an increased rate in the reduction of CO2 emissions from ...
Get wild, get cultured, get fed and then get to bed: the essential guide to a perfect few days in the southern city. There’s one thing that preoccupies the staff of The Spinoff almost as much as arranging popular food items into arbitrary lists, and that’s Dunedin. A quite remarkable ...
John Banks’ racist exchange with a Magic Talk listener on Tuesday was the latest in nearly 50 years of talkback controversies. Donna Chisholm has the receipts.John Banks axed over Māori ‘stone age culture’ comments on Magic Talk1972: On Radio I, sports talkback host Tim Bickerstaff launches a “Punch a Pom ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission.Two new community Covid-19 cases have been identified as the more infectious South African variant, but Auckland Mayor Phil Goff sayit would be "premature to go into lockdown now". The two new cases of Covid-19 identified in the ...
Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine in Southland to Fonterra’s ...
KiwiRail STOP Hauling COAL Today, for the second time in two months Dunedin climate protectors have locked themselves to the railway tracks outside the Dunedin Railway station to stop the KiwiRail coal train from Bathurst Resources’ Takitimu mine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Dunn, Associate professor, University of Sydney The government is rolling out a new public information campaign this week to reassure the public about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, which one expert has said “couldn’t be more crucial” to people actually getting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Therese O’Sullivan, Associate Professor, Edith Cowan University The COVID vaccine rollout has placed the issue of vaccination firmly in the spotlight. A successful rollout will depend on a variety of factors, one of which is vaccine acceptance. One potential hurdle to vaccine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bernard Walker, Associate Professor in Organisations and Leadership, University of Canterbury Kiwis know what it’s like when life throws curveballs. We’ve had major quakes, floods, fires, an eruption, a terrorist attack and now a pandemic. In those situations, it’s the ability to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Irwin, Emeritus professor, Murdoch University While we continue to be occupied with the COVID pandemic, another life-threatening disease has emerged in northern Australia, one that’s cause for considerable alarm for the millions of dog owners around the country. This disease — ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cath Ferguson, Academic, Edith Cowan University Almost half of Australian adults struggle with reading. Similar levels of struggling readers are reported in the United Kingdom and United States. This does not mean all struggling readers are illiterate. It means they often struggle ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abbas Shieh, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Design, Islamic Azad University The industrial revolution transformed cities, resulting in places of residence and work becoming more distant than ever before. This spatial segregation is still largely embedded in the design of our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Review: Occupation: Rainfall, written and directed by Luke Sparke Historically, when a sequel to a film was greenlit, you could rest assured this was because the first film made a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 28, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tourism suffers in the shadow of Covid-19, two new positive cases in Auckland confirmed, and National will contest the Māori electorates.The front page of the January 4 Greymouth Star carried grim tidings for several of the glacier towns on the ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Two people who left managed isolation on January 15 have been confirmed as positive Covid-19 cases, with the Ministry of Health urging anyone who visited the same locations during the same time period as the infected pair in Auckland to ...
The watchlist of 'offensive or unreasonable' babies' names is to be reviewed, to include more names from other languages. Generations of the Īhaka family have played a meaningful role in bringing Te Reo and stories of Māori to our wider community. Archdeacon Sir Kīngi Matutaera Īhaka (Te Aupōuri, 1921-93) was known as the orator of ...
After Morocco’s flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire in Western Sahara on Friday 13 November 2020 war broke out between the two sides. In the midst of this war Tauranga based Ballance Agri-Nutrients has decided to carry on importing phosphate ...
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This is new (or 1930s old if you want to look at it that way) for Dunedin:
“There have been many reports of people asking strangers for money – and people begging on the footpath – in recent weeks. Rising living costs and displacement in the wake of the Canterbury earthquakes have been linked to the sometimes shocking and all-too-obvious signs of personal struggle.”
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/292394/beggars-streets-dunedin
I’ve been asked for change at bus-stops a couple of times recently, and there’s always been the limited talent “buskers” (the kind you wouldn’t stop and listen to). The weather is fine this week, but it’s really not a town in which you want to be homeless during winter.
yeah happened to me on friday, a couple teens, i was with my 6 year old & they were quite in our faces. not good. but i guess with 20% (at least) of under 25s unemployed, this is what we should expect..
Youth unemployment in Dunedin is circa 30% or higher AFAIK
Afaik, everyone in NZ without cash assets, who doesn’t have enough money for groceries in a week, is entitled to financial support from WINZ. What does it say about us that people find it easier to beg from strangers on the street than strangers in the WINZ office?
@ weka..
“..everyone in NZ without cash assets, who doesn’t have enough money for groceries in a week, is entitled to financial support from WINZ…”
..factually incorrect there..weka…
..where on earth do you get this miss-information from..?
..how out of touch with the realities of life for so many are you..?
..and you a ‘green’..eh..?
..you’d think you’d know better..
..eh..?
..phillip ure..
Yeah that’s right phil, putting me down is the important thing here. But let me fix it, seeing as how logic isn’t your strong point and you would obviously rather point score and make it personal than further the conversation in a meaningful way.
NZ residents who pass an income and asset test are entitled to Special Needs Grants from WINZ. I’m sure that you can find fault with that statement if you try.
if you happen to be on some kind of stand down & maybe facing other penalties or run out of your ‘special needs’ grants its possible you wont get anything. some of these beggers might even have some work, minimum hours on minimum wage, its possible for these young ppl to have to beg so they can get some spare cash.
True, but most of those things aren’t in statute I think, they’re gate keeping at the office, hence my point about it being easier to beg from strangers on the street than it is to approach the govt agency responsible for looking after people who are really struggling.
oh right, yep, exactly. who really wants to have anything to do with the govt if it can be helped.
… so your point was that it’s easier to beg from strangers on the street than it is from WINZ? (just to clarify). I’d go along with that from those beggars I’ve had conversations with around Wellington.
btw ….. sometimes I think you (and others), and PU should really kiss and make up. Holier than thou … and all that kaka.
Maybe we need a Nosher Powel to mediate (“Give him back his fuckn cuntry”)
WINZ have turned discouraging people (I mean “clients”) from accessing their entitlements into an art form.
+1
@ weka..i fact-checked you because you used the words..’in a week’..
..thus implying that any week this could happen..
..that is not correct..
..if you time it right..you might get four shops a year out of them..in emergency-grants..
..then you are sent to the foodbanks..
..then you…
..phillip ure..
Yes WINZ are gate keeping at the office, hence my comment that it’s easier to beg on the streets.
No, I didn’t mean every week of the year. I meant that WINZ usually income and asset test for the week that you apply.
Four shops a year from emergency WINZ grants – that’s if you are VERY Lucky.
And going to the foodbanks – you’re only allowed a couple of these a year. So if you run out of food and funds at other times in the year ……. you’ve just run out of luck and food !!
I would say the biggers with very few exceptions are obtaining a tax payer funded benefit as well. I observed a beggar on Friday for about thirty minutes. He got a. Few coins in the time I was watching. Certainly did not seem starved. Then he started a conversation on his smart phone. After that he went over and had a chat to a couple of other beggers about twenty metres away, had a smoke and then went back to his position.
There were reports that the beggers do quite well thank you very much.
you sound almost envious there..monty..
..after yr in-depth investigation of the matter..
..will you be submitting yr conclusions to an academic-journal..?
..for a peer-review..?
..walked a mile in their shoes..did you..
..you ineffably shallow/simplistic little-man..
..you..
..phillip ure..
It was an observation, not an in depth investigation. I never have and never would walk an inch in their shoes. These people have no self respect, and are not prepared to do what is necessary to improve their lives. Beginning with making intelligent life decisions. There is no excuse for their begging.they intimidate people.
They are best ignored.
Monty
I don’t personally find beggers intimidating, except in the sense of empathising with their plight. Generally I find I can spare a few coins for the downtrodden. If you do in fact ignore these people how can you be so certain of your generalisations about them (eg; “These people have no self respect, and are not prepared to do what is necessary to improve their lives”)? Street-collecting, protesting, or busking can be dispiriting enough; I don’t want to ever find out just how grinding the begging process is.
From the ODT article above:
“The Dunedin City Council has no bylaws addressing begging. A spokeswoman said the council had received no complaints about it.
In some centres, Work and Income has staff specifically assigned to deal with the homeless and very poor, but not in Dunedin.”
And my casual observation is that you have simply sketched this tried & tested meme out of thin air.
Now, if you are looking for a masterclass in benny bashing, look no further.
http://t.co/BpR85fUCqe
That link!
Sukie Damson
That was a plum one you landed TS with on that there link!
I had a close look at it and it is a send-up, a satire. And sounds as if it might be from some UK union or left-wing students mag (from when students usually had a left wing lean.)
What do YOU think?
We’ve whipped up our ignorant readers into a bigoted frenzy of hatred. Here’s the kind of hand outs they’d like to see dished out to the money grubbing …
Cut his cock off and make him eat it..said disabled war veteran Joe …82, of Leeds.
etc
Have your neighbours got a nicer house than you? Do they appear to be better off than you are? Or perhaps their garden is a mess, or their kids have got snotty noses. Ring us today….and tell us about your nightmare neighbours. Perhaps we can arrange for a lynching……
Looks just like a typical WhaleSpew/Kiwibog thread. BTW, I hate how Farrar has misappropriated our national bird, our symbol, the name of our league team, and part of our identity for his hate site.
Read Orwell’s “Down and Out in Paris and London” Monty.
..how about down and out in Melbourne and Sydney?…no benefit for NZers
Monty, if I may be so bold, What things you must see from your lofty tower. You must feel so disappointed, so aggrieved, so challenged by the audacity of it all that these beggars have the indecency to stain your eyes with their meagre presence. You don’t ask for much. All you want is to pass along the street your taxes built and not be harangued by society’s flotsam. They are of course the only ones responsible for their circumstances and deserve every pointy stick of shame they get. Not only for being worthless street scum, but for their subsequent lack of a real contribution to what is obviously your society. They should, quite simply, not be tolerated by decent hard working penguins who only want to be exposed to osh-approved representations of society as dictated by the latest fearfacts poll . (I could go on but it would just get kind of mean and I think the sarcasm would be tedious after the first thirty odd pages)
Absolutely there are scammers out there on the street. Lots of them. Devious sods each and every one. Dedicated, they chip away at it day after day. Working hard to grift your coin from your wallet. Most of them wear suits by the way. Dispersed between the suits you will see other people, the ones you belittled so confidently. I feel I should enquire as to your validation for doing so. Have you ever spoken to the person you are accusing of failure? Have you ever asked a question of them? I imagine you are more likely one of those whom bark life directives as you pass by, choking on the guilt a bit as you cast the soiled coins from your pocket.
Do you know of any of these people’s achievements for example?
There are many proud histories that sit dishevelled on street corners around New Zealand. Just because many of these fellow humans are garbed in the broken shells of what they could have been, that is no reason to spew your ignorance upon them.
I doubt you could honestly fathom the daily challenges many beggars have faced. Battling with their mental state, dumped into the machinery of hot potato bureaucracy and some of the lucky ones even survive their personal traumas of violence and sexual assault. Monty, for someone who has such obvious trouble accepting the existence of others’ difficulties, I am unconvinced your limpet-celled cerebellum could process the pressured choices that eventually led many of these people to reach out a hand in submission.
Now, to stand in judgement on strangers for a full half hour and come to such a clear conclusion that you state “There is no excuse for their begging” means you are either an omniscient form of idiot-savant who has a razor keen understanding of humanity (and live in rarefied air), or you are just an idiot.
yeah i’m going with you are an idiot
Beautifully said, Freedom, as always.
Monty’s shallow smug callousness could bring tears to one’s eyes – to consider that we live along side those who are so hateful of humanity.
And thanks for the lolz SukieDamson. That is classic Viz.
+1
@ freedom..
1..
..very well said…
phillip ure
Global Capitalism Has Written Off The Human Race
We are already seeing this truth today. In fact, we’ve been seeing it for several decades but we’ve been ignoring it.
Male or female, straight, gay, trans, black, white or brown, able bodied or not; capitalism considers over 95% of the human race disposable and replaceable in exploitation for profits.
Science and technology today serves human ambitions, aspirations and greed, all of which are now capitalist in nature.
There are scientists who do care about their work and its effect for good to the public.
did you have an empathy bye-pass at birth..there..monty..?
..what/how else to explain yr bleak/dark heart..?
..eh..?
..phillip ure..
“I would say the biggers with very few exceptions are obtaining a tax payer funded benefit as well”
So? You do realise that benefits are intentionally set below a liveable level.
Why do you think that only people who ‘look’ starved deserve help?
Why do you think that someone with a smart phone isn’t hungry or needing to pay a power bill before their power gets cut off?
Why do you have a problem with people who beg socialising with each other?
You should move to Brazil, Monty. Most of the middle class think like you, and there are even more beggars to hate. You can even run them over and get away with it, or set fire to them. That teaches them not to be intimidating to good citizens.
Program by Philippa Tolley on whether the NZ Public Services democratic role is being undermined this morning very good!
…..very articulate experienced well educated professional speakers on the problems facing New Zealand’s public Service eg Foreign Affairs man Mr Leak?, Matthew Palmer? ( legal), Brenda Pilot (PSA).
….and Labour Party’s Maryan Street, Spokesperson for State Services …. also very competent …..talking about the problems facing Public Servants….
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday
…..as a former Public Servant my heart goes out to Public Servants under a NACT Government …it must be hell!
…. problems of giving free and frank advice on what is best for New Zealand versus what the government wants to hear
….problems of working under the threat of being made redundant
…problems of having to carry on after your mates have been made redundant illegitimately
…problems of working under a huge workload ( remember Cave Creek….this happened after redundancies on the West Coast and impossible work loads carried by DOC staff)
Beltway issue. Labour needs policy that people can relate to to get votes.
I don’t agree that the running down of the public service under National is a beltway issue. It just needs to be framed in terms relevant to people’s lives – hospital waiting lists, class sizes, the amount of time it takes government departments to respond or deal with issues,
There is the possibility, depending upon what occurs in the next month, of an interesting story developing surrounding ”just how” this current Government is managing those hospital waiting lists…
…what does beltway mean?
It means people watched too much West Wing
Beltway…it means the political scene in Wellington. People in the beltway are in the Know. Apparently. It often gets used disparagingly here to refer to people who aren’t in touch with the rest of NZ.
eerh thanx …..
public servants are everywhere…not just in Wellington….and their health and well-being is a litmus test for democracy…they are servants of the public…the people of NZ …. and our taxpayer dollar
….when they start to sqwark down the tunnels and kark it in the mines you know your democracy is in trouble
Like you Chooky, as a former PS (both in the pre-corporatisation, AND post-corporatisation eras), I feel for them.
’87 – we were promised
…. greater accountability
…… de-politicisation
……. fishinsy n fektivness
……….. and a whole lot of other BS.
In fact exactly the opposite has occured AND at greater expense if you take into account the salary largesse of ‘CEO’s’ (ffs!!!!! CEO’s in the Public Service – an anomaly in and of itself), and their ‘Senior Management’.
Actually, the result has been highly politicised little feifdoms, open to manipulation and scams, and an environment where actual public servants work IN SPITE of their ‘entitled’ management, rather than BECAUSE of them. Ask any at the coal face what they think of their so-called management – I dare ya!!
Be it Internal Affairs
Be it Defence,
Be it Te Puni Kokiri (present Hippolite excepted thus far, but we’ll wait and see)
Be it WINZ
Be it …. (name your poison)
I bothers me that ‘progressives’ (including the current Labour Party leadership claiming progressive credentials) can’t see the bleeding obvious
+100..Tim
….this will be a big issue for Wellingtonians especially .
…and I might add ….a country is only as good as its high quality , independent Public Servants, committed to serving that country….so it is a very important political issue
I have to say Mayan Street spoke well on the issue
i got six paragraphs into today’s Herald column by Matt McCarten and found i had far far better activities to occupy my Sunday morning with than allowing Matt’s views to ruin yet another day,
According to Matt, the Alfred E. Nuemann of television reporting Patrick Gower is a ”frighteningly good journalist”,
i can only surmise that Matt considers Himself in with a chance, along with Bryce and Kerre of getting the nod to fill John Armstrong’s position at the Herald when the latter falls asleep at His computer for the final time…
Matt seems to be doing a job interview for his paymasters…..looky here see how I can spin it with the best, wondered about him in an election year at pravda, wonder no more.
Also no surprise that cammy is being positioned as some type of hard done by family man and crusader of worthy causes with bradbury thrown in for granny styled ‘balance’.
with shonkey aligning himself with the slater its nicely framed for WO to become every bit as ‘credible’ as granny with the payback for cammy probably escalated site hits and perhaps similar taxpayer gigs like farrars curia enjoys.
Yeah true, i suppose if McCarten is taking the Massah Bosses coin then He is beholden to write what will keep the Massah Boss passing over that 30 pieces of silver…
As we all know WO is a pretty revolting specimen. It is indicative of Key’s outlook on life that he can’t see this.
My guess is that there are wavering voters who will be put off Key by his closeness to the Whale.
Cue Labour repeating often that Key has fireside chats with the Oily One=more votes.
So another poll is coming out tonight. The rumours are that it is bad news for the left and good news for the right. I suspect it will have a bit of a slump for the greens and Labour with National who have run a tight ship this. Year possibly able to rule alone, or maybe with the help of act and Dunne.
Som what will a bad result mean for the left? Has Cunliffe finished the honeymoon only after six months, while John Key’s honeymoon continues six years into the Job.
If the poll results are bad will labour be capable of taking a hard look at their policy platform and realise that
A. The population generally do understand that National is doing a good job and the gains are not to be risked by a lurch to the left such as a green labour government would deliver
B. The left policies of more welfare in one form or another are not capturing the imagination of the public.
C. More taxes are not going to win any election. The promise of increased taxes has failed the last two elections, why do labour think it will work a third time. Isn’t it time the left dropped their hatred of success?
Hmmm Monty is pontificating on something and assuming the worst for Labour and then offering the benefit of his sage advice. What happens Monty if the poll shows increased support? I hear the internal polling is sound.
“Montificating”…
It is certainly time to scroll past Montykins scrawlings.
Perhaps Labour need new pollsters? Tonights OneNews poll is a disaster.
In the 1990’s National cut taxes by closing hundreds of hospitals around the country and cutting other services that help New Zealand.
FACT: you can only cut taxes by cutting services. Raising taxes to pay for services that help New Zealanders is the only way forward in this country.
That is not a fact Millay.
What is a fact is that throwing money at a problem does not necessarily resolve it.
Whereas not spending money on a social problem generally makes it worse.
+1
Aus has a very large tax regime with the top personal rate nearly 50%, CGT, FBT, GST, Superannuation tax and thats before we look at state taxes like stamp duty those are federal taxes.
Those roads, schools, hospitals etc are paid for with taxes, rwnjs appear to be wilfully ignorant on the massive borrowing the nact perform to stop serious cracks appearing everywhere while they are in power.
if we pulled the tablecloths of cafe nacts tables now, you would see books, bricks, bodies propping up the legs theyve sawn off.
Or realigning what you do with the taxes.
There has been a lot of bleating from the right about the living wage and they have very helpfully supplied figures to bolster their argument as to how much WFF will go down. Mostly in the billions.
So if we can get the bottom end wages up, with a knock on effect up the scale through to the median ( and hopefully decrease the profit amounts going off shore) then we will have plenty more to spend on community needs. Bit like ditching the holiday highway and spending money on a few passing lanes and public transport.
“hundreds of hospitals”, hundreds????
I am in possession of a document obtained under the Offical Information Act that I can provide a link to if you like.
The polls show that National is winning because it’s getting votes from the old – the same people who lived it up riotously on the generous postwar welfare state and who want to deny the same to the under 40s.
It really doesn’t have anything to do with what you say other than that the boomers are a worthless load of spongers.
RockBottom Economy,
Deficit = 1.79 billion dollars, now that’s what i call book balancing,
Gross Government Debt = 80+ billion dollars, when it hits 100 billion bucks the automatic invitation for the IMF to move in and loot the place on behalf of the creditors becomes active???,
Business Tax Evasion/Avoidance $179 million dollars in six months, s’pose Bill can always plug the hole with the loot from asset sales in the name of surplus at any cost,
The RockBottom Economy brought to you by Nationals stunning economic mismanagement circa 2008–2014…
$1.8 billion crown deficit, $82.95 billion gross government debt and rising.
Good job indeed. Maybe in a parallel, upside-down universe.
Truly a Rock-Bottom Economy and Slippery the PM has no plans on altering anything if given a third term…
I have always though that this election will be close. But recent polls have given the green labour bloc extreme cause for concern, with good reason given the nightmare of the past couple of weeks for the left to think the trend would have changed.
The labour and green policies to date have had no impact and have been easily dissected by us on the right ( with much joy I might add)
Nothing the green labour bloc has done has managed to impact on the ongoing strong and unprecedented support national continues to enjoy.
at this rate Winston will not be of benefit to the green labour bloc in forming a government. Besides I doubt he will go with David and Russel for the simple reason that his ego will not want him to play third fiddle.
I wonder if the recent grumpiness of labour MPs is related to on going poor polling.
Voters will vote for some more redistribution. There is widespread concern at persistent inequality. But they will not vote for policies that make New Zealand poorer.
As an example – The recent solar panel policy is such an example. It uses the Government (and its ability to tax and borrow) to promote an expensive generation mode over existing cheaper ones. It dishonestly portrays solar as cheaper by claiming that the interest subsidy is not really a subsidy, and by downplaying the ownership risks. If someone had a spare $15,000 and they did want to spend that on energy efficiency they would be well advised to spend it on top notch insulation, double glazing, installing a reverse cycle air hot water system and an efficient gas central heating system or a heat pump. These are proven technologies that also will add to capital value.
There is concern at inequality of opportunity. I am not at all convinced there is huge amounts at the level of concern around inequality of outcome.
The outcome is dependant upon so many factors such as ambition, priorities, life decisions, risks taken and outcome of those risks.
labour and the greens keep harping on about needing equality of outcomes. That is effectively socialism and means those who work hard, invest, make good decisions are penalised and their money taken to redistribute to those who make poor life decisions, don’t necessarily have the skills to make money.
It is a very dangerous road to go down.,
Only if you measure the entire value of a human being by how many “skills to make money” they have Monty.
labour and the greens keep harping on about needing equality of outcomes.
Except nobody does. No-one is arguing for equality of outcomes. What we are pointing out is that in a world where just 85 people now control more wealth than the poorest 3.5 BILLION people on the planet – that there is plenty of room to reduce this gross extreme of wealth and poverty.
“labour and the greens keep harping on about needing equality of outcomes. That is effectively socialism and means those who work hard, invest, make good decisions are penalised and their money taken to redistribute to those who make poor life decisions, don’t necessarily have the skills to make money.”
Whilst I have no objection to taxing hard work only lightly, much of the higher incomes that we see are coming from economic rent and ticket clipping, and this should be providing the lion’s share of the tax take.
+1
The biggest bludgers are the shareholders.
“The biggest bludgers are the shareholders.”
Sometimes. Though their income comes from the ownership of assets which contribute to the productive process, and they stand to lose their investment if the enterprise fails.
I was thinking more of interest recipients, who contribute nothing to the productive process, landlords, in respect of land, and administrators who are often grossly overpaid for what they actually contribute
But they themselves don’t.
Interest recipients are just indirect shareholders.
Within a business administrators are an expense on the workers and so the workers should have a say how much that they’re paid.
Landlords should be administrators hired by the government on a fixed income to administer state rental properties. There should be no private rentals.
“Interest recipients are just indirect shareholders.”
Shareholders own assets – machines, tools, etc – which contribute to production, and which get used up through depreciation. Interest recipients hold promissory notes, or something similar, which contribute nothing.
“Within a business administrators are an expense on the workers and so the workers should have a say how much that they’re paid.’
They should be paid a fair price for the service they provide.
Don’t kid yourself. The shareholders only “own” that hardware through legal fictions.
In the most common reality, the banks effectively own all that stuff. You can see this when a factory folds: the banks get all the money from the fire sale of those items, and the employees and shareholders get nothing.
Ownership of a machine doesn’t contribute to production.
I didn’t say that they shouldn’t. It was more a statement that they shouldn’t set their wages.
“Ownership of a machine doesn’t contribute to production.”
This is just playing with words. The machine itself contributes to production.
No, it’s not playing with words. The ownership of the machine doesn’t contribute to production.
are they those same shareholding-elites who are part of the $5 billion in criminally-avoided tax in nz..?
..(and as a benchmark at the other end..benefit-fraud in the last measured year was $23 million..)
..there is yr funding to end poverty..
..right there..
..that..and a financial transaction tax on the inter-institution trading of banks/finance-companies etc..
..and we will have poverty done and dusted..
..and we will even have enough to start cleaning up the mess we have made of this place..
..just those two measures will be enough..
..tell that to those who wring their hands..
..and claim there is nothing we can do..
..to end this poverty-blight..
..and to clean up our country..
..phillip ure..
Or even better you put up the panels, for the joy of shafting the power companies, and then with the reduction in the monthly bills, do all those other things so that the house is a net supplier. Maybe one would be allowed to donate the power to certain community facilites like schools or hospitals or towards the bill of an older or younger relative.
The recent solar panel policy is such an example. It uses the Government (and its ability to tax and borrow) to promote an expensive generation mode over existing cheaper ones. It dishonestly portrays solar as cheaper by claiming that the interest subsidy is not really a subsidy, and by downplaying the ownership risks.
When governments first started building sealed highways they were effectively subsidising a dearer mode of transport (cars) over an existing cheaper and more reliable one (horses).
SSLands i can nearly hear you sobbing from here at the Green Party having the temerity to cut out the profit making trading banks from the solar power equation, there is no ”interest subsidy” as you latest lie attempts to infer,
Those taking up the offer will be able to borrow up to $15,000 off of the Government and pay the same amount of interest the Government is charged to borrow the money on behalf of those borrowing to install solar,
You will probably be depressed to the point of self harm once the first low income families are housed under the Green Parties home ownership initiative where it will be up to the home owners how much of the mortgage they pay down on these Government housing loans which again cut out the profit making trading banks…
As an after-thought to your latest of whines formulated upon lies SSLands, you have to remember that the Government will be buying any spare generation off of those who choose to cleverly take up the Green Party initiative which lends the money to those wishing to install a solar energy system,
i should imagine that such solar producers will be given preference over the major generators when selling power to the Government wholesaler Labour/Green intend to install between the current generators and current retailers,
i would further imagine that the Government wholesaler will purchase that solar generation from the household generators at the fair price paid to the large generators which they will then on-sell to the retailers,
Obviously a single desk wholesale buyer of electricity generation will be able to use market forces to squeeze the margins and make a small profit so how you think the Government will lose money on the solar power start-up transaction is in fact beyond me…
The lower interest isn’t a subsidy and there are very few, if any, downside risks. It will also make many NZers richer. The only ones that will get poorer will be the ones who bought our assets, against our will, with a look to get free money.
sryland..
..did you ever find the evidence of yr bullshit claims yesterday..?
..or doesn’t that really matter..
..every day is just bullshit-groundhog-day for you..
..eh..?
..phillip ure..
I have just read on Kiwiblog that Richard Prebble is returning to ACT to run their election campaign. On reading this my personal opinion is that the election is now sown up barring any major scandals.
But isn’t Prebble the RNZ go to commentator for ‘what’s going on in the Labour party’? So confusing…
This “in bed with the bloggers” article is thought provoking imo. Isn’t it interesting watching the meme develop that you have to be a ‘personality’ to be a blogger with impact or influence. I’m not against personalities but surely it is the ideas – oh sorry how naive of me.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11208097
I have to say that I am still struggling to get my head around the recent news that the prime minister rings slater up and chats – and the killer is, that is only if the lying dirty wanker is telling the truth – and he hardly ever does that! Dirty, dirty fight, dirty tactics, fight to win. Wake (further) up lefties the skirmishing is here.
Our PM is a well advised cold calculating banksta representing the hollowmen, time will tell why he did this.
IMO it was to give ‘credibility’ to WO who will become an outlet for the dirt etc that him and lusk etc have as their stock in trade.
you will not hear the end of the brown saga as one example as its all about throw as much shit as you can so more sticks to the ‘left’, its obvious with the nact cabal on akl council the scene has been set after sharon stewarts tanty last week which I highly doubt was her own work.
If any bloggers on here live in Sharon’s area might be good to get in touch with her office and suggest she gets on with running Auckland which is what she is paid to do. A bit of Faux concern about how the scandals are hurting the right wing image as icing on the cake.
Waste of time IMO, thats exactly what her, brewer, krum, quax etc are paid to do, continue to undermine brown.
Supercity is nacts vehicle to take over akl assets, the poodles led by banks jnr will not stop yapping until thats achieved.
Getting rate and taxpayers to fund that agenda is a bonus, not that they need the cash as I hear Waitemata trust is very flush.
Wow, that’s a really long article, with some interesting biases. Am curious as to why Tiso attracts so much criticism.
Also interesting to see the humanising and cleaning up of Slater’s image underway.
Ideas vs personality, heh.
Mouth still open – the “warm and cuddly Slater image” ?
As to bias no women mentioned, I think, Herald gotta problem, woman ban in place?
Clearly a strong attempt to rehabilitate Slater. Which demonstrates exactly how important and central to the right-wing he is.
While I despise him with every fibre of my being – I never underestimated him. Slater is absolutely central to their value system and is now a prime channel for promulgating it. Key’s weekly chats with Slater are not an idle amusement in a bored moment; they will be a critical part of Key’s strategy and communications plan.
I do not really think Mr Key is that much in touch with Mr Slater. It was either a distraction ploy, (once Slater is hinted at we stop looking) or a deliberate effort to campaign amongst the Whale oil commentators. “I say chaps, John Key is one of us you know, so we should jolly well vote for him don’t you think?”
I do not really think Mr Key is that much in touch with Mr Slater.
When were you last in touch with a Prime Minister – ever?
Exactly! That is the point – well put red.
+1 – but I would put it the other way around. When was a PM directly in touch with you?
A question several journalists (Herald ones) tweeted each other sarcastically just after the Key statement. re his calling WO regularly.
The context in which Mr Key hinted that Mr Slater was a confidante seemed to me that it was so unlikely that he was, and more likely that it was a slip-up being covered-up. It is true that Mr Key has not contacted me once this year even though I am freely available to offer considered opinions to him.
Sad really that only people who have conversations with Mr Key should offer opinions about his behaviours. The rest of you must remain silent!
You think that Slater’s crowd don’t already vote on the right?
Are you suggesting that Leaders should not “visit” those who likely would vote for them weka? Anyway, I just doubt the legitimacy of the belief in Key/Slater rapport.
Key isn’t talking to Slater weekly because he wants him to vote for National. I think leaders can visit whoever they like. But they will come under scrutiny if they lack judgement in who they visit. And let’s not forget the context of this particular contact between PM and constituent.
marty mars
Lol, Pete George is on to that Herald article too and mentions you, and karol, and mickey savage, and zetetic……………..aww still thinking of you all. Ain’t that just the sweetest thing…………..
http://yournz.org/
Lol alright – thanks Rosie 🙂
Auspylands
Serial lies again
Reverse cycle water heaters are dearer to run than a standard electric water heater because of the set up costs then a limited life span of the mechanism of 10 years.
Gas heating is also dearer.
Double glazing is only guaranteed for ten years needing expensive reglazing.
Insulation is a good idea.
But as usual National first changed govt funded retrofiting insulation so only wealthy people could afford it Now they have scraped it .
Donkeyotay would we well advised to steer clear of slater and his crew. They are on the road to being charged with fomenting civil disorder. They think they can get away with anything they like but the moment they step over the mark they will feel the full force of the law.
“How is it, then, that bloggers can be so outspokenly partisan, can get into bed with the politicians and still call themselves journalists?”
Oh my God, the irony, it burns.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=11208097
Hmm, having some technical difficulties, so I can’t amend my post… anyway, to add, the moron – some personoid, creature, whatever called Jonathan Milne – writing the piece thinks that the ability to attract advertising revenue is a measure of someone’s worth. He/it gives away a lot in that short statement.
That’s The Herald!
I’ve been watching House of Cards – the American remake with Kevin Spacey lately, and there’s a paper called “The Washington Herald”. Always, the camera frames it as “The Was”. That’s old media.
State of the country’s education
Not exactly a ringing endorsement from a former employer of his staff?
“When I was at Auckland Grammar, people would often say what a wonderful institution I was in charge of,” Morris says. “But there is no point having a nice building if you have lousy teachers.”
Of course, he would no doubt believe that when he was in the classroom he was a brilliant teacher. “Oh why couldn’t they all be like me …?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11208096
gee..!..that rory-the-green from politicheck…(over on that politcheck-thread..)
..is being very coy about answering my (quite straightforward to my mind) questions about the ideological-tinges/records of those helping him settle the form/function imperatives of this new political watchdog..
..i asked if truth-bender farrar is involved..if the rightwing trout hooten is involved..
..(but then..he did say he was staying away from ‘the fringe’..eh..?
..and libertarian hooten..and farrar…the main architect/peddler of the vile campaigns of lies/hatred against the weakest/poorest of our country..oh..!..since he started kiwiblog..?
..if they aren’t truth-bending fringe..who are..?
..and you know what..?
..i fear my wild guess on this..is correct..
..and if rory happens to be from the right/libertarian-wing of the green party..
..well then..this politicheck thing is a rightwing attack-machine..
..how can it not be..?
..rory-the-green really needs to come-clean..
..eh..?
phillip ure..
moderation..
phillip ure..
and imagine if..say..that other far-right trout jordan carter were also involved..?
..whoar..!
..eh..?
..(and here’s a knee-slapper..!..)..maybe they even have acceptable-gatekeeper-wannabe edwards-the-younger on board..
..(snigger/snort!’..he could be their ersatz-‘leftie’..eh..?..
..and of course with him..they would also be blessed with/by the presence of one pete george..whoar..!..eh..?..)
..and as for rory-the-green..?
it’s really a matter of:..
‘..politichecker..!..first politicheck thyself..!..’
..eh..?
..phillip ure..
phil, is there much point in screaming fire if no-one has actually opened the box of matches ?
I hope they find a way to make politicheck work and this is the line that holds most promise, imho.
Not an easy statement to back away from if they do fail to deliver [unbiased] fact checking
freedom..
..it’s more the ‘screaming’ silence ..since a really simple question was asked..
..look at my first comment in that thread..to see my initial reaction to this..
..but we are allowed no questions..?
..especially of this person who has done a seagull-drop..
..and then flown away..?
..the questions aren’t going to go away..eh..?
..’cos america has versions of what this may be..
..rightwing attack-machines cloaked in ‘fact-checking’-robes..
..and..i hope i am proved to be questioning unecessarily..
..(i again refer back to my initial comment in that thread..)
..phillip ure..
Where did all these mountains come from? Weren’t there molehills there before?
Phil,
I am not saying you are wrong,
just looking at the facts.
The site is new, it’s looking for volunteers, there is probably a fair bit of mail for the crew to get through, and as yet there has not been one published “checked fact” for anyone to comment on, let alone the vast conspiracy you seem to be consigning the site to. Have you considered the lack of immediate action in the site getting back to you might actually be a good thing? If they had gotten back to everyone straight away would that have not raised much bigger alarm bells as to how they are resourced?
I have not read the thread you reference, (guessing you mean yesterday’s posting on politicheck?) I saw the politicheck site link, went and looked at the site and now wait for updates on their status so further assessment can occur.
the situation reminds me of reviews based on trailers and not the film itself
often the critics are correct, but every now and then . . . egg on face
don’t let it happen to you is all
peace
Translated: someone failed tp pay attention to phil, so it’s a fringe-right wing conspiracy
bit harsh McFlock!
phil has valid questions, and i am sure answers will eventually arrive
Can’t see how Rory McCarthy owes anyone anything at this stage.
oh noes………eh
how could they …
the inventor of nationalisation ….eh
and 3 dots …
libertarians, eh….
….eh?
https://www.ipredict.co.nz/app.php?do=contract_detail&contract=PM.2014.LABOUR
I see that rich prick leftie is “manipulating” the ipredict market yet again with a 1925 Buy order on “PM Labour”.
What was that claim again? Oh yes the market can be manipulated by a fuckwit with a spare thousand.
SSLands, is that why you gamble on that site, fuck-wit is what we usually attach to you as an epithet,
Glad to see you agree with us all here at the Standard on the important issues…
I see you are being foul mouthed and rude as usual today. On a related topic, did you see you are (in)famous on Kiwiblog? Although they are too polite to call you a fuckwit.
It is not gambling any more than the stockmarket is. Do you direct that your retirement savings not be invested in stocks? No, didn’t think so. Because presumably you are not a fuckwit.
Ipredict is authorised by the Securities Commission as a futures dealer.
And for your own sake stop being so foul mouthed and rude. It is disgusting.
SSLands, if i am attracting abusive comments on one or other of the Sewers channels it simply means that those who i have given a verbal slapping are too thin skinned and have run off to whine like dogs over there,
And no, i do not feel a need to dirty myself reading such rubbish as the blog you mention so my infamy or otherwise in the sewers network is immaterial,
What is more important given that National/ACT have decided to spend YOUR money, Ha-ha-ha upon brand new white-ware for ME, Ha-ha-ha, is the little question i have for you being my adopted bill payer SSLands, silver or white for the new fridge/freezer YOU are paying for SSLands, Ha-ha-ha…
Hey shit head
Since you hold the bottom 95% of NZers in contempt and disdain, your concept of “politeness” is just an elitist farce.
“..on Kiwiblog? Although they are too polite ..”
now..that is one thing i have never heard said before..
..of the denizens of the kiwiblog-swamp..
..that they are ‘too polite’…
..and not something..i must say..i ever saw..
..phillip ure..
Your point about my retirement savings is also an amusement SSLands, although you obviously not having a sense of humor never intended this to be thus,
My retirement savings are all on deposit in the Bank of Tane Mahuta SSLands, the Tararua branch of the ”bank” to be exact, lolz, you might be able to see the particular ”branch” below which my deposit lurks from your lounge window, Ha-ha-ha…
lol…i do so love your comments to SSLands
”It” being a simpleton does make it an easy target tho…
Why don’t Ipredict run market for how many people do or don’t turn up to vote?
Framing a Non Voters market you would think 800,000+ would be 100-1
300,000- set at about 2-1
Sound about right Shrilland?
Hey fuckwit. That is the same trader you highlighted the other day. Obviously, his order for 2.5K shares on that stock still hasn’t been fulfilled since he is buying for the low price of $0.36. The price for that stock is effectively fixed at ~$0.36 because this large buy order is dominating all other buy orders, as I said would happen. I can’t see why the fuck you think that ipredict tells you anything – the volume traded is so low that one or two traders with a bit of cash to spare can set the price to whatever they want.
As I pointed out to you then, if he was really a rich leftie manipulating the stock, he would have simply used his money to mop up all those shares that are being sold at >$0.36 and push the price of the stock up. You really are a clueless fuck, aren’t you?
Or perhaps that is your buy order and you are trying to suck people into selling at the price to make a tidy profit when Cunliffe because our next PM? You certainly have been pushing ipredict a lot these past few weeks.
Worse than that, SSLands is clueless with deliberation…
srylands let it go …
Take your keys off the keyboard and go outside and enjoy the summer. Ipredict is subject to manipulation. It also has a right wing bias. This is why lefties can actually do quite well with it.
Kim Dotcom’s hearing to be delayed again. I haven’t got much love for him , but I agree when he says that the delay will save John Key embarrassment during an election campaign.
Hard not to believe that the Minister of Jackets didn’t give a little push for the Court’s decision.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9754895/Kim-Dotcom-hearing-to-be-delayed
Really? If Dotcom was an going to be an embarrassment I would have thought Key would want him out of the country pronto? If
he is corrupt enough to delay a hearing then surely he is corrupt enough to bring one forward?
That makes no sense at all. If embarrassing details are going to come out at the hearing, Key would want to put it off until after the elections. He wouldn’t want them fresh in the mind of voters while they line up at the polls, and despite the best efforts of NAct’s crack legal team of Collins and Finlayson, a finding against Dotcom is still not guaranteed.
Latest Colmar Brunton is out. It claims National is up 6% to 51%, Labour is unchanged on 34%, Greens are down 5% to 8%, NZ First down 1% to 3%, the conservatives are on 1% as is the Maori Party.
The poll appears to be a rogue. I do not know why National should benefit from Green vote.
And Monty it appears that everything you have been saying today is, with respect, incorrect. How about an apology?
Only 51% for National. Surely this is a rogue poll . It should be near 60%
The greens are predominately a middle/upper class white party.
I think Normans silliness over the last few weeks has really hurt the greens and put a lot of people off.
That’s right. Upper/middle class green voters don’t want solar power rolled out across the country 🙄
A real little amusement isn’t it MS, the Green Party losing 5% of their vote to the National Party, only in the dreams of the little tory that obviously thrills at making shit up,
Winston’s lot on 3%, the propaganda machine is having to stretch reality past the bounds of credibility with this one,
i was tho amused with the ”art” of those kids at that school in Slippery the PM’s electorate, trust the young to see everything for what it is befor the brainwashing begins to sink in,
The PM’s face being depicted in the kids painting of a mural sitting comfortably framed by a Donkey’s arse fits nicely with my oft stated proposition that Slippery the PM covers over the Large bald spot on His nut with the soft anal hairs plucked from a donkeys arse,
Wonder if the kids named that particular donkey Brucie, great painting, shame the same couldn’t be said about the rush of polls bullshitting us, as they did last election, with the Governing alone crap…
Why would you think Nats have pinched from Greens?
A far more sensible explanation would be that Lab have taken some at the lunatic end with the cash for breeders policy but lost some at the less nutty end to the Nats.
Barnsly Bill, your award for the dull Dunces comment of the day is in the post, the Labour poll % hasn’t moved since the last propaganda release from Colmar/National…
Um think you missed the point.. for arguments sake, the greens lost 5 points to Labour and Labour in turn lost five to the nats…. in terms of labour maybe they gained some votes at the left end of the spectrum but lost some of the more neolib inclined supporters to the nats. Tis possible labour has moved back left and has a leader that appeals to the left wing base now…
Or its just an outlier….
Oh. Oh dear. You looked very silly.
What Barnsley is saying (whether he’s right or not is another issue) is that National while went up and Greens went down, it wasn’t all one group of voters moving from the Greens to National.
Rather, Labour was on 34%. It gained 5% from the Greens due to strong left-wing policy. It then lost 5% to National due to centrist leaving. Therefore National goes up, Greens goes down, Labour stays the same.
Whether that’s right or wrong (it’s probably wrong) is up to debate… but you ended up looking like the dunce for not understanding that.
Poor old Disraeli Gallstone, obviously you believe in Christmas and other fairy tales as well, just like Barnsley Bill obviously does,
Colmar/national always polls National 3-4% above their actual support and the Green Party 3-5% below,
The fact that you and BB the Dunce place any real credence whatsoever in these fairy tales as anything but propaganda and then proceed to embellish that propaganda with a little narrative speculating on this and that proves nothing about the previous comment i made to BB, it simply proves that the pair of you along with the ‘wing-nut’ chorus are happy to indugle in bouts of public masterbation…
“Whether that’s right or wrong (it’s probably wrong)”
That’s what I said to you.
I don’t think this poll is right.
I was just merely commenting on your abysmal skills of reading comprehension. Amazingly, your response is another example of poor reading comprehension.
Disraeli Gallstone, wrong, i fully comprehend the little mathematics game the ‘wing-nuts’ choose to play to explain this particular piece of propaganda,
i just choose to use ignorance to portray my disbelief and it works a treat especially on those ‘wing-nuts’ that choose to pile in to blow their flatulence claiming victory across the pages of the Standard where those same ‘wing-nuts’ have little history of commenting here previously,
You may choose to believe that 10% of the left’s voters have chosen to suddenly engage in an electoral shuffle of their support toward the right, or, you may chose as i do to see these polls as having an element of manufacture within them with an actual intent of swaying softer voters intentions,
Of course if you have the slightest belief in the latter proposition then my belief is that showing any sign of belief in the little ‘wing-nut’ theory of a 10% shift of the left’s vote to the right is to put yourself in the position of a soft voter able to be swayed by the media bullshit, in other words a mere serf to the likes of Patrick Gower etc,
There are enough here who engage in the ‘wailing’ after each successive negative poll for the left to form a large enough ‘chorus of tears’ and i do not propose to become one of them, IF defeat occurs in 2014 i will only concede at the point the vote is counted,
Until then i will happily engage the ‘wing-nuts’ who fly in to spew on a momentary basis with derision which includes the pretense of deliberately misrepresenting the content of any of their particular comments, a little trick i learned from them…
You’re not even addressing what I’m saying anymore. You’re ignoring my post and having a completely separate conversation.
Essentially, you are arguing with yourself. So I’ll leave you to it. Good luck.
You are famous again!
His response is another example of his shocking rudeness.
OK forget the polls. Bad12 says the Greens will get between 12 and 15%. Everything is fine.
PLus you can’t spell “masturbation”. Although that is secondary to your vileness in using the word in this context. You should be ashamed.
awwww, like you’re so fucking pristine.
Oh.
OH.
My time machine worked. I’m back in the 1950s!
Seriously. Bad12 apparently can’t read or spell, but saying that using the word “masturbation” is vile?
Really?
SSLands please refer to my comment posted at 8.26pm, my ‘rudeness’ actually knows no bounds when directed at a ‘wing-nut’ like you…
Correct, BB.
Simple. The policies announced by Labour had pulled support from the greens, to Labour, but has sent labour support to the Nats. Assuming the 6% that National has gained has come from the Greens who lost 5% and claiming that to be the reason for the poll being rogue is a bit rich.
Is it not possible that Green vote at the margin moved to Labour and Labour vote at the margin moved to National rather than Green vote leapfrogging Labour to National?
Old Tony, it is also possible that there really are little Green Men, have you seen any recently…
Possible but I do not see why the Green vote would go to Labour.
This is a rogue. Polling is getting more and more random.
Ahhhhh… the sweet sound of denial…….. 🙂
Keep it up! (Shhhhh…. don’t tell anyone that you are really a Nats “plant”……. 🙂 )
Denial, now what was Colmar Brunton polling National at prior to the 2011 election, oh that’s right a ‘Govern Alone 50%’,
The desperate from the sewer pour into the Standard to try and convince us of a victory, remember your stupidity after the vote in 2014 which will see National not as governing alone, but, as the biggest opposition party yet under the MMP system…
Desperate….. moi….. ?
Why would we be “desperate” when three recent polls have shown us to be pushing 50%?
Desperation is for the 30 percenters……. 🙂
Right so you are a true believer then, last election colamr/national polled the Tory’s at 50.3% just befor the election, what was the actual result again,
Oh that’s right 47%, please keep dreaming the National governing alone rubbish it will be all the sweeter when National wind up as a very large opposition after the 2014 vote is taken…
So, when is John Key about to blow off that crazy moon landing denier, Colin Craig?
Except of course National still need the Conservatives on the scene.
I think the greens would loose to Labour after Norman being was exposed fawning to Dotcom.
Sponge – You raise an interesting and potentially valid point. Whether it was as the MSM portray it (which I question), that Norman more or less went “begging” to Dotcom to not start his Internet Party, or not, it raised the possibility that he did.
In the public eye, even amongst some otherwise loyal Green voters, this could have led to serious disappointment, as the Greens have previously always tried to maintain an image of honesty, openness, transparency and independence.
The same media reports about Winston Peters having visited Dotcom, allegedly 3 times, then Peters reacting angrily, first denying this, and later claiming that Key may have had the GCSB spy on him, that will likely have disappointed some otherwise rather loyal supporters of NZ First and Winston.
I think that whether justified or not, bot suffered some loss of credibility in the public’s perception, hence the support in this poll went down for both parties, and significantly.
The Green’s solar energy policy release may not have impacted on this poll, but even that release was only moderately well received by the media, as it seems.
The MSM are ridiculed by some here, but sadly, most people out there still use them for most of their “humble” and poor quality information uptake, to base decisions on.
Gawd all the wing nuts are here. Did Cameron send you over?
Abuse aside, do you not admit that the reason for the flow of votes outlined by several of us makes sense?
It is fricking obvious, surely!
You have gained some votes from fruitcakes but lost some of the middle-ground people.
Swings and roundabouts.
I’ll bet you that even Chris Trotter would agree with me.
It may not be “nice” but the truth sometimes hurts….
It’s a nice theory, sewer rat, but it relies on believing that the Greens dropped more than a third of their vote for no clear reason.
Smells like bullshit.
The key for the Left remains turning out the bottom 50% of the population to vote.
That means policies and politicians directly engaging with that part of the electorate, while emphasising to the top 50% of voters that not only is it the right thing to do to leave no one behind, but that it is economically crucial for the long term well being of society.
How’s this for a crazy idea, how about come up with some policies that actually appeal to the majority of voters.
This bribing the bludgers strategy is shit and in all honesty labour, deserves to die because of it.
“How’s this for a crazy idea, how about come up with some policies that actually appeal to the majority of voters.”
That’d be Green policy.
Ok,so what’s going wrong?
Popular policies != 8%
I said popular policies, not popular party or personalities.
http://voteforpolicies.org.uk/
Green policy is nuttier than squirrel shit..
Yet it’s consistently the most popular policy in blind tests.
Yeah BM, it must be damn disheartening for none of them to be offering you a bribe for your vote this time round right…
I don’t need or want to be bribed, especially with my own money.
What’s best for the country is of more importance to me.
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Lolz, felix has just given you the only logical answer to your latest comment, i could not have put it more succinctly…
Bullshit.
You only care about the top 5%, you consider the rest of the nation wasters and disposable.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
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[lprent: Do you have an Igor to help improve that crazy laugh? Bring it back when it isn’t quite so repetitive. ]
Blame BM, he’s the comedian
Now now, Felix, BM is just a lovely fellow who simply wants the best for NZ, and his comments here are simply honest and intelligent advisories on how we can all bring about the best for NZ.
He’s certainly not a lying prick shilling for a government of thieves and crooks, simply to lower his tax bill by a few percent and callous as to the tragic effect this will have on the lives of others. /sarc
I hope you remember to keep laughing when National win in October and royally fuck you and all your lefie mates in the arse as well sell this country to our bankster mates and Chinese overlords
Dan, you should write the script for Nationals election billboards…
Well Dan I’ve been laughing for the last 5 years as they’ve fucked all the idiots like yourself who voted for them against your own interests.
Correct, and that is IMPORTANT.
But the bottom 50 per cent may be better off with a $ 16 minimum wage, ideally at least a living wage, no GST on essential food and other common use items, perhaps even a universal basic income (also used as a direct tax credit for those that earn above that annual UBI amount), and a more comprehensive housing policy, than something like “Best Start”, which sounds ok, but is just another WFF type benefit, costing much to administer.
With a UBI and radical tax reform, and reducing WINZ to focus only on topping up those that have extra needs due to disability, illness, parenting, accommodation, huge amounts could be saved on bureaucracy.
They may also be better off with some comprehensive state investments (SOEs) in infrastructure projects to build better public transport, value adding production plants for agricultural products, more wind-farms, solar thermal energy generation plants, geothermal projects, with a clear strategy for boosting local manufacturing (tax holidays or reductions as incentives for businesses to set up manufacturing here), with having more comprehensive training and more accessible education, combined with high-calibre research projects to develop niche foodstuffs, to research particular areas in health and environmental areas, and so forth.
People would see this agenda as revolutionary and a game changer, targeted at the long term future of the country, rather than what Labour has presented so far, which is a patchwork of bits here and there, but not changing the system as it is.
The top 50 % (certainly top 25 to 30 %) need to be held to account and do their share to build for the future, and not get away with just planning for secure personal nest-eggs and personal savings plans, while forgetting the country.
A clear difference in policy direction to National and ACT is overdue, all else is just not going to “thrill” people that much now.
Or those surveyed are making a concerted effort to lie, just to upset the pollsters. It would be tempting if one was a green
Micky, surely your are joking?
The last FOUR polls in recent weeks have ALL showed national gaining and labour/greens declining with National being able to (or almost able to) govern alone.
According to many commenters on this site, the last 6 Years polls are rogue. Surely you aren’t going to fall into this rhetoric as well?
Denial won’t change things.
Bob you will have more credibility if you post to the right comment.
What do you mean denial, Da Nial is a river in Egypt, and yes polling for Labour is looking sharp!
Just to give the Bob above a fair go (I am guessing your lack of patience with him is due to our differring views in the past), it wasn’t me making that comment (although I completely agree with everything the other Bob has stated).
Also, national hasn’t gained the greens vote. The likely case is national have picked up labour vote and in turn labour has picked up greens vote.
Yep ….. correct!
Yawn, check the polls prior to the 2011 vote, all of them with the ‘National governing alone lies’, all wrong,
No Maori Party as the lapdog this time round children, looks a bit like the prize for the biggest opposition party under MMP is coming your way…
this, and here they are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_New_Zealand_general_election,_2011
The prize being a long Hawaiian holiday …
Lots of people think that 51% is the high point of National polling. I suspect not. The margin of error suggests that it could be currently sitting at 54.1%. That figure still seems surprisingly low. The total ineptitude of the Greens and Labour suggest that many of their supporters will not be bothered voting. As the good news keeps coming in week after week we could well be seeing a historic landslide.
Gawd, what fictional drivel you come up with fisiani.
Having said that, Labour needs to start firing up in top gear, time is a-wasting.
A new poll is out, with not very good news for the Green Party.
http://curiablog.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/one-news-colmar-brunton-poll-february-2014/
So what are the trends saying?
The trends Brett Dale are saying that colmar/national have just released another piece of propaganda which has got all the wing-nuts going from simply being heavy breathing porn watchers to being true believers that displays of public masterbation will enable national to govern alone after the vote in 2014…
bad12
I think it has the greens too low, they should be at 10%
Although I think it shows that a certain fat german has hurt the left.
“I think it has the greens too low, they should be at 10%”
Yay, the poll of Brett’s Mind is out.
Readers should be aware that Brett’s Mind has had the Greens at roughly half of their actual result for the last two elections.
felix:
The greens got 20% last election? of the party vote?
This election the greens will get 10%, they wont be as low as 8%.
And again, dotcom is hurting you guys.
Last election you said the polls were wrong about the Greens. You said they would be lucky to get 7%.
I think this poll is probably slightly high for national but not by much so National can still govern alone. If NZ first gets in then Labour is quite far from being in government.
Labour needs to adjust their strategy…
Please,please, stop with the funnies will you, my gut has just started processing dinner and the laughter is a definite interference in that process,
National heading for the prize of being the largest opposition since the beginning of MMP, even Slippery the PM couldn’t raise a smile when commenting on the latest piece of propaganda, although it was gut busting to see the PM depicted in a mural as a semi-part of a donkeys arse…
Labour needs to adjust their strategy…
Labour needs to have a strategy.
This is the problem for Labour and Greens
New Immigrants who are eligible to vote.
When new immigrants are sucked into believing that “…the Conservative Party is good for Christians, Green Party good for environment, Labour Party good for the poor and National Party good for business” then it’s obviously time for Labour to get off it’s lazy entitled ass, and start shifting that perception through clever social media advertising.
It’s the only way to shift that bitch!
National is only good for BIG business, but sucks for our entrepreneurs. Labour is the party for the workers, and wants to ensure that all workers benefit from any economic upside – National only wants the CEOs to benefit and the people that do the hard work, our everyday workers, to not receive any benefit but to be happy with the crumbs from the table.
The message should be that Labour is not ashamed to say it stands for ensuring that every person who wants to work, can, BUT should be entitled to receive a fair days wage for a fair days pay. Labour needs to be UPFRONT and thunder that it is WRONG and UNCONSCIONABLE for overseas corporations to treat New Zealand workers like COTTON PICKERS!
It’s emotive language for sure, but emotions win elections. Labour and the Greens won’t get anywhere being namby pamby and focusing on Key. KEY is the WRONG area to target. National policies needs to be ignored and Labour needs to start highlighting NOW! Stop banging on about what National has done or not, start banging on NOW!
NOW: Your wages haven’t moved in 5 years, yet the cost of living has gone up. Labour wants to ensure that you can afford to live and have enough to save for the things you want.
NOW: Your power prices are amongst the highest in the OECD. Labour wants you to stop paying so much for power, and have money for the things that matter.
NOW: New Zealand has lost too many workers in the forestry sector thanks to unregulated activities causing death. Labour wants every worker to be safe at work, and not be at risk of dying for the corporate.
NOW: There aren’t enough jobs for everyone who wants one. Labour wants people to have every opportunity to find a job, and if they can’t, help people while they look for work.
NOW: Education has become too expensive for many people. Labour believes in free education for everyone under 18 and will work to restore the right to free education.
NOW: People aren’t being fairly remunerated for a 40 hour week. Labour believes the corporates have more than enough ability to adequately compensate their employees with a fair wage.
NOW: Labour believes that New Zealanders are being targeted by overseas corporates with no regard for the true cost of living in New Zealand. Labour will work to ensure that New Zealanders are treated on a level playing field with the cost of goods and services.
It is so simple and easy to do. The soundbites are easy, and National have done fine on a “less said the better” policy when it comes to people talking about what they perceive National to be doing.
The left get sucked into believing that they need to counter the lack of concrete substance by National with a marshmallow puffed policy which is WRONG. Labours issue when they release policy is that they release far too much of it, giving their opponents grist for the mill.
Compare and CONTRAST:
National: – New policy. High performing teachers will be paid more and we’ll have special principals overlooking a number of different schools. Yada yada yada, more money but education good! Yay!
Nil critical aspect, nil detail, and just a vague outline of what they propose.
Labour: First time babies, $60 per week, except and unless, first year, second year, third year, $150,000, or not. Parental leave! Look! Details! More more details! Part time income! Working for Families! Entitlement! Everyone! Universal! Oh, no, wrong. Stop talking! Shoosh. Shucks, we flubbed it.
Too much information, too much room for interpretation.
Far better would have been: New policy: First start. All parents with babies will receive assistance and support. Further details released closer to election.
Easy! Simple! Even Paddy Gower wouldn’t have been able to fuck that up.
There are over 4 million reasons wrong with this country, where the CEO of a parasitic organisation can earn nearly 100 times more than the people that do the daily grind in the teller role, and are arguably more valuable to ANZ than the high falutin’ CEO. The tellers are the ones that keep the customers happy at the end of the day.
Labour lose the plot when it comes to articulating their vision for a better New Zealand. It’s almost like they don’t understand the KISS principle. If they did, they might be better off.
Labour needs to articulate the fact that they are the government for the PEOPLE. National are the government for OVERSEAS interests.
Sing it loud, sing it proud. No need to proffer proof. Just keep tying OVERSEAS INTERESTS back to WARNER BROTHERS – RIO TINTO – BANK OF NEW YORK (and it’s 8 million shares in our former SOE)
OVERSEAS INTERESTS = NATIONAL
NEW ZEALANDERS = LABOUR
So what do you want Kiwis? A government for New Zealand, or a Government for Overseas Interests?
Make it the boogy man. Overseas Interests are the new “Reds under the Bed”
Go forth, prosper.
+1000…. James Thrace
Gawdammit James Thrace, that was good stuff.
Thanks Tat.
I just get so frustrated and annoyed at what should be relatively simple politics and keep watching Labour stumble every time headlong into the catchers mitt that has been placed there so artfully by the likes of Gower et al.
If only Labours media managers would stop insisting on having so much policy released upfront, and stop muzzling Cunliffe or whoever from being so restrained, Labour might actually have a chance to win.
As I outlined above, the framing is right there, it’s NOW.
As we’ve seen in the last two weeks with Progressive Enterprises, the mood is right to capture New Zealanders thinking about OVERSEAS INTERESTS and definitely put the framing square onto LABOUR for NEW ZEALAND and National for OVERSEAS INTERESTS!
Easy framing, right timing.
In politics, Timing is Everything.
The Timing is Now, the framing is ready to roll.
But who the heck is going to listen? I’m just another Labour party member that has no links to the hallowed halls of hell, nor do I have any inclination to get involved with the pit of self absorption that is the local LEC.
You think Parliamentary staff get to decide which policies get released and how much and in what form? You’ve clearly never been near Parliament.
Well as I see it that’s exactly what theyre doing. Chinless wonder says what ever he wants and the only policy Labour has is regurgitated Greens policy or 1950s socialist propaganda.
Well said
Nailed it James.
simple effective slogans, used by all, ad nauseum, chimpboy, gooner and co cant twist it and the likes of mallard and goff cant grandstand with it.
I hope some deadwood gets cleared out also but thats unlikely.
Nats got in on a smile and wave with one liners , labour should do similar, the missing voters cant cope with unecessary detail, a change is what they will vote for.
That’s bloody good James.
You raise valid points there, and believe in passion being part of politics, and it surely does and must be getting its fair share.
The problem you will have with that approach is, that the MSM (mainstream media) will of course see this, and jump at it straight away, and than claim, it is just about “whipping up emotions”, but without any evidence to prove the arguments. They will take that approach to pieces, and then Labour and Greens will have to come and try and prove their arguments, and we are back to nitty gritty back and fro arguments about details, and hollowing out of what the message is meant to say.
What we have here is a repeat of the last election campaigns, where the MSM are already largely feeding the public with the usual BIASED commentary and information (no background info, no analysis, treating Key and Nats with the soft brush, and Labour and Greens with a knife and hammer), all coming from the supposedly “independent” reporters and “media personalities” (having their personal “views”), and the public hear and read little else.
The public then think, that is how it is, and hence they poll as they do, which reinforces again the conviction of the MSM that they are right with their (idiotic or manipulative) assessments. So you end up in a catch 22 situation, where polls feed and shape perception, and that again shapes commentary and views coming from the MSM, which again brings about the polls like a self fulfilling prophecy.
The challenge is to go beyond the MSM, to go and hold public meetings, run public events and campaigns, aggressively and widely use social media, and to network and meet people face to face. There is no alternative to such damned hard work, and the first thing the Labour MPs in caucus can do, is start on Monday, doing exactly that.
Visit work places, factories, council staff, drain layers, road workers, hospital nurses and doctors, people rebuilding in Christchurch, talk with the exploited foreign workers here, expose this, talk with the taxi drivers working 12 hour days for less than minimum pay per hour, talk with social workers, drug and alcohol counsellors, with stressed out teachers, with ECE workers, with beneficiaries struggling, and so forth it must go!
Clusterfuck Cunliffe is Nationals greatest asset, the only thing saving him is Norman collapsing greens support by sucking up to the fat German fraudster.
I don’t think you’re a ‘naki man at all. I bet you went to Auckland Grammar.
You could be onto something there felix, looks more like a Nakahi Man to me…
If he’s a ‘Naki’ man, then he’s only a thirty-something jerk, probably from Taranaki but not yet a man. It’s talk from the same generation as the ‘hard-core’ bullshit used to sell tee-shirts.
Deconstructing his moniker is a tediously embarrassing business for anybody who’s actually lived an adult-hood in the place.
Of course if Naki man was actually Taranaki man with the emphasis on the Tara from the more oblique usage of that particular word in some tribal dialects i could well believe Him to be that…
This denial is hilarious.
the johnkey donkey mural was funnier. i’m trying to get a good screen capture so share the laughs. & the look on keys face when he had to sign its arse, hilarious!
Lolz there are some extremely clever kids in Slippery’s electorate, the mouthful of tea ended up expelled all over the place when i got a look at that…
SSLands, what the hell are you on about now, have not i told you on numerous occassions to stay off the internet when you have been on the bottle all day,
Commenting when your pissed just makes you come across as more ludicrous than normal, i know that for you is probably a badge of honor as you seem incapable of anything but the ludicrous but you should have a small modicum of shame even in your drunken state,
My advice of course is in your best interests as you should cease to turn up for your employment as a minor bean counting serf in your lonely little bean counters cubicle with a raging and patently obvious whisky hangover as despite your thinking otherwise your employment is far from assured into the future with your boss looking to increase profits by cutting out the under-performers,
Is there any truth to the rumor that you consider your employment status to be safe during the upcoming restructuring of the company you are a serf for because as far as the boss is concerned you out of all the slaves gives the best blow-jobs…
I was looking forward to the Roy Morgan poll (a poll that the folks here seem to place a lot of faith in) showing Labour clawing back some ground, but unfortunately it showed gains to the Nats. The lack of discussion on this borad re the RM poll said it all. This latest poll reinforces National’s position, albeit with a different Left distribution. No matter how you slice & dice it, the CB poll is not good news for the Left, and Cunliffe slipping in the preferred PM stakes is a concern also (I can’t recall what Shearer was polling when he was rolled).
IMO Labour are spending too much time attacking the Nats, and not enough time & energy promoting their own policy. Also, with the exception of recent performances from Jones, Labour don’t seem to have any depth to their team. What happened to the energy that Robertson exhibited during the leadership contest? If Cunliffe is struggling in the popularity stakes, his team need to step up, take some of the heat and show some passion, engage in intelligent & positive dialogue with the MSM, and act like a team that is capable of leading NZ.
Ben Hur, faith in the Roy Morgan, you have that slightly wrong, the Roy Morgan is of much more interest to us political junkies as it is produced on a far greater number of occasions than the other media polls and thus makes an interesting watch for ‘the trend’,
Faith though is a measurement of respect in what is clearly a neutral polling organization and i for one have seen none of them recently which includes the Morgan poll in the none of them,
Gary Morgan, son of Roy, and the current named proprietor of the Roy Morgan polling organization is heavily invested in Australian mining interests and if you think that such interests can fit in with a polling company being unbiased i fear for your sanity…
WRONG. The Nats and their acolytes are doing the attacking. And what’s more the claims are bogus lies and the MSM know it. Still, they let them get away with it. Labour and the Greens are the parties releasing damm good policies. By and large, the MSM are ignoring them – mind bogglingly concentrating on petty issues instead.
The Nats have got their policy out there and understood, so arguably have the time to attack the Left. It will be interesting to see if there is any fallout with Bradbury stating that he talks with Cunliffe, and the fact (and therefore linkage) that Bradbury was in the pay of Dot Com.
National’s policy is a simple one: “let us keep what we’re doing, you can see it’s working”.
Labour hasn’t yet come up with a single thing to counter it.
Labour policies like turning people on $149k into beneficiaries and Greens policy like subsidised
PV panels that are not cost effective, there is no need to tell lies these clowns are shooting themselves in the foot.
“turning people on $149k into beneficiaries “
That’s what you said about Working for Families. Don’t see National getting rid of it though.
ps people on 149k are already beneficiaries.
Yep, Anne, you got it!
The MSM is corporate dominated, the top media bosses, the editors, the “media personalities”, they are clearly in their vast majority having a personal bias towards maintaining the status quo! And now APN have even bought the majority or total share holding of what was the Radio Network (1ZB and so forth).
Just having listened to the conversations about the Shane Taurima incident or “scandal” at TVNZ, and how that was commented on by many, that sent shivers down my spine. The majority of the private media journalists and moderators try to portray themselves as “independent” and TVNZ and Radio NZ as “left leaning”. And they get away with it. Even Radio NZ disappointed me a bit with their last summary of this on Media Watch:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2586711/mediawatch-for-23-february-2014
A shocker to me was the last Focus on Politics program last Friday, and how that started, almost showing National in the best of light to fight poverty and social problems!? Hear it here, if you did not:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2586637/poverty-and-inequality-looming-as-big-debate-of-election-year
I did not hear the whole of Insight this morning, but I think it also tried to be overly “balanced” (careful to not upset the government) to report on how the public service have been treated under this government, and that is on Radio NZ National:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2586566/insight-for-23-february-2014-public-service-survival
Forget TVNZ, they are now so scared to say or present anything that may just slightly show Labour or Greens in a positive light, being “scared” by the reports of mostly private media persons, that they are “left leaning” and prone to bias. So the MSM is anything but helpful, it will NOT be useful to communicate to the public what matters, they are not going to do their job!
But despite of this, I am still flabber-ghasted why Labour and Greens do not hammer Bennett on welfare issues, of which there are a many, and I know that others (besides myself) have sent some of the MPs a fair bit of very revealing, useful information, which is probably sitting and gathering dust, or has been deleted as too complex email communication.
What they do wrong is going on about the same again and again and again, slogan like, but not expand the line of attack, and not fire with studied information, questions and arguments. Some of them are in my view not capable of doing their jobs, simple fact.
Jones is the stand out performer. The rest of the talentless bunch just have their nose in the trough.
The elephant in the room: why hasn’t David Cunliffe (and Labour) purged the likes of Phil Goff, Annette King and the treacherous Trevor Mallard? Why do these old-timers continue warming the benches and doing nothing sweet fuck all?
Why do these old-timers continue warming the benches and doing nothing sweet fuck all?
I’m guessing its the pay, privileges and perks…doesn’t matter what side of the house you’re on
keep stirring, your reputation might be overwhelmed by somenone’s confirmation bias and they’ll care about what YOU say regarding the labour caucus.
Unless a miracle happens New Zealand is looking to another three years of a National-Act government. There is time for a change, but it is running out quickly.
Note the 11% undecided. Seems a lot?
About three times the usual
Good point,a lot depends on how the pollsters frame the questions to those prepared to respond, of course if you were planning on having a fiddle with the outcome after the poll had been taken the ‘undecided’ column would be a good place to start…
It is alot, what that means is of the 11% there are plenty of voters not happy with National and are holding out to see what policies come out from Labour. You can count on NZF voters not wanting a National deal done.
The Greens are losing cred by both the Dotcom support and Norman has soiled his previous good work by engaging in a silly tussle with God Botherer Collin Craig. The Greens are better off keeping their head down and remaining silent, coming out when they have sensible things to say. People voted NZF last election because Peters is a one man wrecking ball. Look for Winston to come out boxing and trim National back in popularity. A scandal exposing Key, further slamming the assets sale with the GE sale and the aftermath with price hikes, and the total costs of the ticket clippers from across the ditch.
Once the interest rates start to climb and China clips Nationals wings with a strategic drop in bidding for our milk powder causing the price to slump. China will not be happy with Key and his sucking up to Uncle Sam. The TPPA is heavy weighted in the Yanks favour and we are in China’s part of the globe, we are going to get a sharp reminder of this very soon.
James,
I don’t think anti foreign companies is quite the right way to approach that for a major party. It works better in the hands of Winston and he will just out xenophobe you.
I think instead you can just focus on Big corporations, in particular dodgy advertising but also other practices.
The pitch can be a much stronger and much more aggressive commerce commission. Find some illegal stuff then say you need broarder laws to catch the similar but marginally legal activities.
In the same theme one could go after tax loopholes etc. Maybe use closing them as revenue source in a way that will catch the public’s attention.
In terms of all the normal policies – the 2 key things for labour to win is
1) for it to sell itself as being responsible party of government – So it needs to look fiscally responsible to the public – more so as often as possible than national. (eg push the super issue as a cost).
2) It also needs to distance itself from the Greens and sell the idea that it can control the greens. Because the swing voters fear greens.
Hmm .. am not sure what Labour will really stand for and what next will happen with maintaining the entitlement age for super, given that the new ACT leader is now pushing for the increase.
John Key and National’s dirty work already being done by ACT … and David Parker?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1402/S00327/australia-faces-reality-while-new-zealand-ignores-it.htm