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Open mike 23/03/2015

Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, March 23rd, 2015 - 106 comments
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106 comments on “Open mike 23/03/2015 ”

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  1. amirite 1
    23 March 2015 at 6:44 am

    Snowden files: GCSB spies monitored diplomats in line for World Trade Organisation job http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11421371

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11421371

    This is outrageous!

    • mickysavage 1.1
      23 March 2015 at 6:50 am

      Yep post coming up.

    • freedom 1.2
      23 March 2015 at 8:05 am

      On a side note-
      Noticed the NZH managed to supply a link to the document, a link they failed to offer re the RoastBusters’ report last week 🙁

  2. Paul 2
    23 March 2015 at 6:53 am

    Salvation Army derail Key’s plan to sell off state houses.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11421462

  3. Paul 3
    23 March 2015 at 6:55 am

    Politicians from all spectrum attend protest against environmental vandalism, arrogance and greed of the Ports of Auckland.
    We need our RMA.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11421470

    • Skinny 3.1
      23 March 2015 at 7:46 am

      Very disappointed Phil Twyford as Labours Transport spokesperson was missing in action. You would think Labour (Phil) would back up Peters who is championing this issue, a lost opportunity to get some runs on the board over the importance of stopping further RMA changes by National.

      • ScottGN 3.1.1
        23 March 2015 at 7:59 am

        Labour was represented pretty well by the local List MP for Auckland Central Jacinda Adern.

        • Skinny 3.1.1.1
          23 March 2015 at 8:57 am

          Yes as was wannabe Mayor Phil Goff, however Twyford is transport is he not. The Northland Line and the rail link to Marsden Point is something Labour need to keep the acid right on National, rail does not fit where their roading plans and they are quietly under funding rail to the point where they can close the line.

          The other thing is creating a bit of solidarity with NZF/Peters who is doing all the heavry lifting on the issue. Therefore a bit of action from Twyford is not too much
          too ask surely.

          • ScottGN 3.1.1.1.1
            23 March 2015 at 10:05 am

            I think you’re putting the cart before the horse Skinny. It seems to me Sunday’s protest was less about politics and all about a gut reaction from Aucklanders to what they see as a threat to their harbour. For Labour to have rolled out Twyford with a baldfaced political attack on the government and their transport policies would have been a mistake. It’s enough at the moment for Labour to be lining up alongside the views of Aucklanders (National will be trying to do this too of course). The politics can come later.

            • Murray Rawshark 3.1.1.1.1.1
              23 March 2015 at 5:51 pm

              Aucklanders fighting the council over the loss of their harbour is 100% political. It is a perfect opportunity for Twyford to mention Marsden Point and rail as a solution to the problem. To not do so is dereliction of duty.

        • North 3.1.1.2
          23 March 2015 at 9:07 am

          Is it churlish to suspect that this harbour protest will get an excellent level of media coverage, on the score that $40,000,000 worth of motor/sail vessels turned out……and yeah, quite alot of people ?

          For the avoidance of doubt I am with the people and I thank the vessels.

        • adam 3.1.1.3
          23 March 2015 at 9:57 am

          If that was well represented, I’d hate to see what a poor job was.

  4. Ffloyd 4
    23 March 2015 at 7:42 am

    Osborne from Northland said that he has worn out one and a half pairs of shoes. Is that three shoes?

    • blue-e 4.1
      23 March 2015 at 7:50 am

      Does that mean he’s “Jake the Peg”?

      • Murray Rawshark 4.1.1
        23 March 2015 at 5:53 pm

        Mike the Peg, with his extra leg … a Northland children’s delight. I think Osborne is lying anyway. Standing behind NAct ministers doesn’t wear the shoe leather much at all.

      • Bearded Git 4.2.1
        23 March 2015 at 9:35 am

        @Scott
        Interesting that Focus NZ (1,700 votes at the Gen Election) have been advised to vote for Peters. That could swing it.

    • Clemgeopin 4.3
      23 March 2015 at 11:26 am

      The claim from Osborne that he has worn out one and a half pairs of shoes is a preposterous claim.

      Those roads of Northland must really be atrocious!

      His candidacy was announced on 1st March. So, in about 20 days, he has worn out 1.5 pairs. i.e, 3 shoes! At this unbelievable rate, by election day this coming Saturday, he would have worn out about 2.5 pairs=5 shoes!…in just 30 days! The shoe companies would be thrilled and won’t believe their luck!

      But somehow I think Osborne has been a bullshitter about the shoes and quite untrustworthy.

      • veutoviper 4.3.1
        23 March 2015 at 11:33 am

        Having a rather weird sense of humour, I have been wondering why he only seems to have two casual shirts – both blue checks although slightly different.

      • ianmac 4.3.2
        23 March 2015 at 1:56 pm

        And would Osborne walk as much as he is driven by Joyce?

  5. ScottGN 5
    23 March 2015 at 8:07 am

    And it was no surprise to see Claire Trevett doing her bit for Osborne’s campaign in this morning’s Herald.

    • North 5.1
      23 March 2015 at 8:52 am

      This article in the Herald precedes Trev’s pumping up of Osborne this morning. It’s bloody hilarious but very, very sadly, true.

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11421110

      Peters’ political hero – Churchill

      Prime’s political hero – Michael Joseph Savage

      Osborne’s political hero – JOHN KEY ! That’s right……Mr “Anything Is Possible” according to Osborne.

      Osborne a sincere, fearless representative of the people of Northland ? Up against the dons Key and Joyce ? No. This is not an “anything”. Can you see Steven Joyce if Osborne wins ? – “Listen boy…….we turned you from Mr Laughing-Stock to Mr Limp-In so get outa my office. And in future……breath through your nose !”

      Good God. Northlanders roped into “ShonKey Python’s Flying-Jerk-Us”. Expect a breach of copyright claim additional to Eminem’s.

      • Bearded Git 5.1.1
        23 March 2015 at 9:39 am

        @North
        This article is a attempt by the Herald to promote the race as a 3-way affair and so split the anti-National vote.

        A vote for Prime is a wasted vote.

        • Bearded Git 5.1.1.1
          23 March 2015 at 9:59 am

          …and further notes on the tabloid Herald’s bias, the collapse of the government’s social housing policy is (online) listed below articles on Netflix’s charges, McCaw’s girlfriend and a bloke hassling drivers outside a school.

  6. rawshark-yeshe 6
    23 March 2015 at 8:50 am

    Winston just has to win — apart from obvious reason, but how unbearable will be the increased boasting and OTT arrogance of Key and Joyce in self congratulation … ugh.

    • dv 6.1
      23 March 2015 at 9:26 am

      What da ya rekon

      Peters will repeat history, and win on a judicial recount.

      • alwyn 6.1.1
        23 March 2015 at 9:59 am

        The really funny thing to happen would be if Peters were to win the seat in the by-election.
        He then resigns his list seat to get another NZF MP into the house.
        There is an electoral petition which Winston loses.
        He is out of the house until at least 2017.
        And no, it wouldn’t help to have another NZF MP being coerced into resigning to open up another vacancy. Winston would not be eligible to take it.

        Actually, I think that if Winston was to win in the by-election, and I don’t think it will happen, he won’t resign his list seat. He wouldn’t even consider allowing the above scenario to occur. He doesn’t really give a damn about his party or about Parliament. His sole interest is Winston the 1st.

        • ianmac 6.1.1.1
          23 March 2015 at 10:14 am

          You sad hopeful scenario will not happen because the result has to be confirmed before anyone changes seat.

          • alwyn 6.1.1.1.1
            23 March 2015 at 10:32 am

            I think you misunderstand the process.
            A recount, if called for, takes place before the final result is declared. This would be the confirmed result. It appears that Winston would have to have resigned his list seat prior to this happening if he was going to be replaced on the list.
            An electoral petition is a later thing and normally takes place after the new MP has taken their seat in Parliament. This is what happened when Winston got into Parliament way back in the dark ages. He came out on the right side of an electoral petition against Malcolm Douglas who had won the seat.
            So no, although it is not very likely it could happen if Winston hopes to be replaced by another NZF list MP.

          • veutoviper 6.1.1.1.2
            23 March 2015 at 10:50 am

            Hate to say it, but to a degree Alwyn is possibly correct – but the scenario he paints is highly unlikely but not impossible.

            The situation re resignation etc to get in another NZF member is apparently not set in stone in the electoral rules. The Electoral Commission have a view as to what the procedures should be; as do other electoral law experts such as Graeme Edgeler. Don’t have time to find links, but there was considerable Twitter discussion (Edgeler and others) a few weeks ago when Winston Peters first declared he would run in Northland.

            National have been pushing the line a win for Winston would benefit Southland with another seat as the next person on the NZF is an Invercargill hairdresser, Ria Bond.

            But according to the Herald article by Claire Trevett on Saturday, Ria Bond is no longer living in Invercargill but has bee in Wellington working for NZF since August 2014.

            http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11420760

            • alwyn 6.1.1.1.2.1
              23 March 2015 at 11:02 am

              Thank you.
              You’ll note that I never said it was likely. I only said it would be funny if it should happen.
              I’m sure that Winston would find it equally hilarious.

              ScottGN, a little bit further down. quotes an opinion from Pundit about ACT possibly taking up an Electoral Petition on the grounds that Winston winning would disturb the proportionality of the house. Like Pundit, I don’t think he has any grounds at all.
              Somebody living in the electorate, or a losing candidate in the by-election could however bring one on the grounds, (and this is hypothetical), that Winston had spent more than he is legally allowed to on his campaign, or something of that ilk.

              • Murray Rawshark …
                23 March 2015 at 6:06 pm

                Hilarious would be if Osborne won and had to resign to deal with the same type of family problems as Sabin. A vote for Winnie is a vote for a guy with no secrets, we know he’ll stay on.

            • Colonial Rawshark 6.1.1.1.2.2
              23 March 2015 at 11:04 am

              But according to the Herald article by Claire Trevett on Saturday, Ria Bond is no longer living in Invercargill but has bee in Wellington working for NZF since August 2014.

              And the National Party would know that very well as their staffers would see Ria frequently…

              • veutoviper …
                23 March 2015 at 11:28 am

                Exactly! The Parliamentary Precinct is a rather small place in reality, where people working there or visiting frequently (eg government officials) know one another and who they are.

            • Skinny 6.1.1.1.2.3
              23 March 2015 at 12:35 pm

              Jon Reeves is the most likely person the come through on the NZF list. Very solid chap promoting public transport, be good to add the term silver/green voter.

              • veutoviper …
                23 March 2015 at 1:48 pm

                Reeves may be a solid chap etc, but he is at No 15 on the NZF list.

                Ria Bond is at No12, and even if she decided not to come in as a list MP, there is Mataroa Paroro at No 13 (who seems keen according to the Herald article) and Romuald Rudzki at No 14, before Reeves.

                • Skinny …
                  23 March 2015 at 2:08 pm

                  Reeves has been very good with NZF’s transport policy. He may leap frog the others since Peters is advocating a port & rail strategy in Northland. He goes alright with media and public speaking too. I maybe a little bias he is a mate.

                  • veutoviper …
                    23 March 2015 at 2:23 pm

                    The rules relating to the filling of a list MP position do not allow leap-frogging – in principle anyway.

                    The party concerned does not get to pick and choose who they put in the position. The Electoral Commission goes to each person on that Party’s list as set prior to the last General Election in the sequence set in the list and asks them if they want to take up the vacancy. As I noted, there are three people ahead of Reeves – one of whom has apparently expressed interest according to the Herald article.

                    http://www.elections.org.nz/voting-system/mmp-voting-system/filling-vacancy-list-seat

                    Agree that Reeves sounds as though he would make a good choice, but it would take the three ahead to all decide not to take the position.

                    • Skinny …
                      23 March 2015 at 7:57 pm

                      With ‘ I do things my way Peters’ it easy seeing a game of leap frog developing. Winston First does ring true from time to time.

        • tricledrown 6.1.1.2
          23 March 2015 at 10:15 am

          Alwynger
          Stop crying in your beersies
          You couldn’t be grosser
          Spying and lying PorKeys a poser
          Winnie will win
          And all the S..in will be exposed.

    • ScottGN 6.2
      23 March 2015 at 9:53 am

      I can’t see much boasting in the event National holds on to what was a very safe seat with a narrow win. I imagine they’ll just be relieved to have avoided disaster and will be happy to move forward with their numbers restored in the parliament.

    • North 6.3
      23 March 2015 at 10:56 pm

      Yeah……I’m taking the precaution of travelling to Auckland Friday afternoon……having early voted for the only man in New Zealand right now who can prick the fetid-air balloon of the supreme heister of this entire nation, bar none. Whatever the outcome I need to be in the company of my closest.

      If Peters wins it is decidedly the start of the end of TheGodKey. Even if not…..still it is underway. Increasingly we have an entilted little PonceKey in our faces. It will not go beyond 2017. Indeed my appreciation is that significantly before 2017, seeing the writing on the wall, and rather than take electoral defeat, this gutless, narcissistic one will take his baubles, his honorofic, unblind his trusts, and slide off somewhere else.

      Ka Ki Te !

  7. Rosie 7
    23 March 2015 at 9:51 am

    Wasn’t there some “New Zealander” of some importance (apparently) meant to be having their name suppression lifted around about now, and aren’t the eyes of speculation glancing in the direction of a certain former……………..

    • vto 7.1
      23 March 2015 at 9:55 am

      yeah, what’s going on?

      • adam 7.1.1
        23 March 2015 at 9:59 am

        Usual authoritarian dirty tricks.

        • vto 7.1.1.1
          23 March 2015 at 10:14 am

          If it is to do with Mike Sabin and it all comes out after the by-election instead of before then it will go down very very badly with the electorate…..

          …. simply reinforces the lack of honesty and integrity associated with John Key

      • Rosie 7.1.2
        23 March 2015 at 10:13 am

        Anything to do with palms being greased and astonishing powers of persuasion coming into effect among the elites and certain professions?

        It feels we’re so corrupt now nothing would be beyond belief.

    • veutoviper 7.2
      23 March 2015 at 10:11 am

      Eleventh hour filing of an appeal against the lifting of name suppression filed on Thursday afternoon before 5pm deadline.

      A number of media have filed for an urgent hearing of the appeal – otherwise it is unlikely to be heard for at least 3 – 4 weeks.

      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=11419961

      • Rosie 7.2.1
        23 March 2015 at 10:18 am

        Thank you VV……………

        There really is some heavy duty identity protection going on there. It has the whiff of desperation around it.

        • Bearded Git 7.2.1.1
          23 March 2015 at 10:35 am

          @Rosie But surely the “whiff” is drifting over the Northland electorate?

          And having had a request for name supression refused what possible new grounds could there be?

          • veutoviper 7.2.1.1.1
            23 March 2015 at 11:00 am

            BG – I am going to be a pedant and say that :having had a request for name suppression refused” does not seem to be the actual situation from the little we know.

            Name suppression appears to have been in place prior to 30 January, when a total suppression order was put on by the judge on all details of the case – including the actual location of the court! Then in mid-February some details of the case were released; and the defendant was given four weeks to appeal a lifting of name suppression on 19 March.

            As I understand it, this procedure is not the same legally as having had a request for name suppression refused.

            • Bearded Git 7.2.1.1.1.1
              23 March 2015 at 11:18 am

              @veuto Thanks for that, nicely clarified

            • Murray Rawshark 7.2.1.1.1.2
              23 March 2015 at 6:11 pm

              I find it hard to imagine that the thing in question would not have asked for a continuation of suppression in February. If they hadn’t, it would have just lapsed and we would have seen it all over the tv. Hence a request was refused, but time was given to appeal the decision. This time has been abused as badly as the innocent children involved.

              • veutoviper …
                23 March 2015 at 8:15 pm

                I don’t necessarily disagree, MR. But we do not know whether that was the case/ But being a pendant, I could not allow a bald statement that name suppression had been refused to go – when we do not know that that was actually the case.

                I actually think that the procedures followed by the judge/court which are apparently in accordance with the law is actually in the best interests of justice in the longer term – by not allowing this to be used as a technicality to close the case down.

        • Skinny 7.2.1.2
          23 March 2015 at 12:51 pm

          The by election is therefore a fraud, details surrounding the reasons why it is being called should be made public. Non disclosure has corrupted democracy, I have no doubts that people who have or are going to vote in the Northland electorate will not have/will vote/d for National.

          • James 7.2.1.2.1
            23 March 2015 at 2:14 pm

            How can it be fraud?

            He resigned – and now there is a by election.

            Its pretty simple.

            • Skinny 7.2.1.2.1.1
              23 March 2015 at 2:36 pm

              Not when we are hearing of people already casting a vote for Osbourne and then hearing the reason Sabin resigned and the fact Osbourne was a key member of the National Northland electorate executive team. Tarred by association as they say. I am referring to some elderly church folk. People have the right to know the truth surrounding the murky resignation and cast their vote making an informed decision, especially when the timeline of who knew what is being disputed so widely in the media and so publicly.

            • Skinny 7.2.1.2.1.2
              23 March 2015 at 3:02 pm

              Another thing insulting is Osbourne claiming he still knows nothing, which then becomes a matter of trust. If he came out and admitted he has heard the rumour’s but doesn’t operate on rumours, instead of blatantly saying ” he still doesn’t know anything regarding Sabin’s resignation”.

              So this guy professes to have his finger on the pulse of Northland and is totally blind to what is going on right under his nose. Incredibly insulting to the electorate there are no other words for it.

              • jenny kirk …
                23 March 2015 at 3:22 pm

                Yeah – Skinny is right, James. And if the Nats don’t win, then Shon Key’s stuff-up in not replacing Sabin with a proper candidate in the 2014 election will be humiliating for them. Maybe a Winston win will be the end of the Key government ? ? ? hopefully ……

                • Tracey …
                  23 March 2015 at 3:33 pm

                  how can it be fraud when the information was subject to a court order????

                  aresholes
                  deceivers
                  manipulators

                  but not illegal to not tell folks when it is in a suppression order, surely.

                  • Murray Rawshark …
                    23 March 2015 at 6:15 pm

                    There was no court order in place either before the last election, or even maybe the 2011 election, or on the morning when Sabin resigned. Key has had plenty of chances to be honest with us. He has never taken a single one.

              • Clemgeopin …
                23 March 2015 at 5:53 pm

                “Another thing insulting is Osbourne claiming he still knows nothing, which then becomes a matter of trust”

                Both Key and Osborne have claimed that they knew nothing about Sabin’s stuff at all!

                If you believe that, I think there are lots and lots of three way bridges in Northland which this government is happily giving away for voters to take away on Trade-me with absolutely No Reserve!

                Cool bananas!

                https://www.ipredict.co.nz/app.php?do=browse&cat=740

  8. Bearded Git 8
    23 March 2015 at 10:20 am

    Good article on beer from Dom Post here by Dave Armstrong. Particularly like the last paragraph.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/67473832/Dave-Armstron-Craft-beers-doing-very-nicely

  9. Colonial Rawshark 9
    23 March 2015 at 10:46 am

    A couple of weeks ago I linked to a news article which described how the death rate for white women in the USA was exploding because of the use of prescribed pharmaceutical drugs. We are talking around a million excess White female deaths in the last few years and climbing. Such an upward shift in mortality is seen by experts as “historic.”

    Now here is research which shows that White lower educated women in the USA are experiencing a massive explosion in out of wedlock births. (While Black university educated womens’ out of wedlock birth figures fall dramatically). In other words, while upper class women enjoy traditional family structures more than ever, lower class women are getting smashed with increased family instability and poorer outcomes.

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-22/after-fed-crushed-middle-class-it-targeting-american-family

    The Economist has a stark conclusion:

    Among the educated elite the traditional family is thriving: fewer than 10% of births to female college graduates are outside marriage—a figure that is barely higher than it was in 1970…However the non-marital birth proportion among high-school-educated whites has quadrupled, to 50%, and the same figure for college-educated blacks has fallen by a third, to 25%. Thus the class divide is growing even as the racial gap is shrinking.

  11. Colonial Rawshark 11
    23 March 2015 at 11:02 am

    Russian propaganda doco on the history of Crimea

    Apparently there was such a thing as the “First Seige” of Sevastapol and over a 120,000 Russians died there defending Crimea from the West and Turkey. I’d only known about the “Second Siege” where the defenders of Sevastapol were eventually ground into dust by the Wehrmacht.

    • Rawsharkosaurus 11.1
      23 March 2015 at 6:17 pm

      There was a whole war going on at the time. If you’ve ever heard references to Florence Nightingale, or the Charge of the Light Brigade – “Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred” – they’re references to that war.

    • Murray Rawshark 11.2
      23 March 2015 at 6:23 pm

      There have probably been more than two over the years, but the other famous one was of course during the Crimean War, which gave us poetry about senseless death, a lady with a lamp, cardigans, and maybe even sandwiches. The senseless death of British cavalrymen was blamed on inferior Turkish infantry rather than English upper class imbecility and the Victoria Cross came into being for excessive zeal in the killing of wogs. Willie Apiata got one for the same thing not long ago and the English lies about Turkish infantry saw our young men die stupidly on the cliffs of Gallipoli. Key will be going this year to show he has guts. It was not gutlessness that made him keep Sabin on, not at all.

  12. Colonial Rawshark 12
    23 March 2015 at 11:13 am

    Yemen falls into sectarian chaos as yet another US project loses the plot in the ME

    The Americans have been conducting regular drone strilkes in Yemen since 2002 in support of the US friendly government there.

    Since the fall of that government, hundreds of millions of dollars of modern American made military equipment has now gone to new unapproved owners. ISIS and Al Qaeda recruitment is surging.

    US diplomats and US troops have abandoned Yemen as the security situation has gone down the toilet over the last couple of years.

    Another great Middle East project “Made in the USA.”

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/22/yemen-sunnis-al-qaida-isis-islamic-state-shia-houthis-sanaa

  13. greywarshark 13
    23 March 2015 at 1:38 pm

    NZs of current Note:

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20171978
    Beverley Forrester – Vocal champion of Wool ( 30′ 41″ )
    10:06 Beverley Forrester is a farmer, sheep breeder, fashion designer, yarn manufacturer, tourism operator and a vocal champion of wool. She says a generation of consumers have been bombarded with cheap, mass produced, synthetic alternatives, but she believes there’s a resurgence in demand for the living fibre, and for knitting, which she describes as “the new yoga”. After the sudden death of her farmer husband Jim Forrester just before his 54th birthday, Beverley found herself running their Hurunui farm and sheep stud. She’s developed a successful brand of natural coloured, undyed yarns, which are now sold internationally, as well as her own fashion label. Beverley Forrester talks with Kathryn Ryan about her love of what she believes is New Zealand’s best primary product.

    • b waghorn 13.1
      23 March 2015 at 3:56 pm

      Wools one of the best products in the world: renewable , fire proof , biodegadible any self respecting greeny wouldn’t be caught dead in poly prop clothing or on a synthetic carpet.!!

      • gsays 13.1.1
        23 March 2015 at 9:43 pm

        hi b waghorn, i couldnt agree more, i have been a vocal enthusiast (?) for wool for many a year.
        go to the local saleyards in feilding and you would be lucky to get 10% of sheep farmers wearing their own product. most of them are wandering round in recycled milk bottles.
        makes me blood boil.

        • b waghorn 13.1.1.1
          24 March 2015 at 7:02 am

          I have noticed that plenty myself. I think the problems is lack of r’n d around making wool products that can compete with plastic clothes . but our government s aren’t big on backing there own.

          • gsays 13.1.1.1.1
            24 March 2015 at 7:41 am

            mmm.. yes, and primary producers not putting their money where their mouth is.

            i read on stephanies blog (boots theory) about the rich man who bought expensive shoes while the poorer man bought cheap shoes.
            in the lifetime of the better quality footwear the poor man had spent twice as much on his shoes.

            while r n d is part of it, the whole economy around wool is screwed up. when it costs the farmer more to remove the wool from the sheep than what the wool is worth, something is rotten.

            i was talking to a farmer who says back in the ’50s he was getting a pound for a pound of wool.

            • b waghorn 13.1.1.1.1.1
              24 March 2015 at 7:53 am

              The Korean war caused the great wool boom in 1950-51.
              And most farmers will tell you there’s no money in wool but the wool clip on the property I work on pays our fertilizer bill which is in the 150k range.

              • gsays …
                24 March 2015 at 8:16 am

                ahh! thats right, wool for uniforms.

                to me wool is a panacea for our times, it grows on less than ideal land, labour intensive to harvest and process (jobs), and as you have mentioned earlier, heaps of uses, clothing, insulation, mulch/fertilizer…

                the foxton feltex factory is closed. with a simple stroke of a legislators pen, making wool carpets mandatory in state housing and government offices, it can be reopend and we reinvest in a kiwi town and kiwi resources, win win.

                • b waghorn …
                  24 March 2015 at 8:41 am

                  What a government legislate for the good of small town NZ wash you’re mouth out 🙂

    • Visubversaviper 13.2
      23 March 2015 at 4:14 pm

      Knitting – also known as “Scottish Valium”. Relaxing and cheap.

  14. Penny Bright 14
    23 March 2015 at 4:11 pm

    ‘Where the people lead – the politicians will follow’?

    “Earlier today, Mr Brewer reversed his support for the expansion, saying he now wanted a rethink on the issue.”

    Bernard Orsman Bernard Orsman is Super City reporter for the NZ Herald.

    Len Brown loses support on Auckland port expansion

    2:38 PM Monday Mar 23, 2015

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11421603

    A majority of Auckland councillors are now opposed or want a rethink on port expansion.

    The majority was achieved this afternoon when councillor Denise Krum joined councillors Cameron Brewer and Sharon Stewart in calling for the issue to be re-examined.

    Auckland’s mayor, Len Brown, who does not want to stop Ports of Auckland plans to build two massive wharf extensions next month, is now in the minority.

    ………………………………..

    A core of eight councillors – Chris Darby, Cathy Casey, Ross Clow, Chris Fletcher, Mike Lee, Wayne Walker, John Walker and George Wood – directly oppose the port expansion into the Waitemata Harbour.

    Mr Brown has ignored the message from yesterday’s protest of about 2000 people and 300 boats in the city who want an immediate stop to the extensions to Bledisloe Wharf.

    However, he said today he would set up a study of the economic, social and environmental impact of the port on wider Auckland, which he promised in August 2013.

    Ms Krum said she was unclear about the council’s position on the wharf extensions and whether legally the council can get back into the trenches on planning provisions for the port precinct in the Unitary Plan.

    She said things had changed over the past three weeks and the council would be negligent to bury its head in the sand.

    “We need some leadership with this issue. There is no singular leadership driven, ‘let’s take councillors on a journey here’. Let’s have all the information,” she said.

    “I’m also really quite miffed. I have heard nothing from the ports themselves. As someone who wants to back their business because I see the contribution they need to make to Auckland. As a shareholder, where are they in this foray?”

    The Ports of Auckland board is meeting today but it is unclear if the the board, chaired by Graeme Hawkins, will make a public statement in response to the public outcry over the plans.

    Mr Brewer has today written to Mr Brown asking him to convene a meeting of the governing body to reconsider the council’s position on reclamation rules in the Unitary Plan for mediation.

    In August 2013, the council voted for tough “non-complying” rules for reclamation in the Unitary Plan, but twice in the past five weeks it has voted to ease these rules to “discretionary” status requiring public notification.

    The council has argued it has not voted for more lenient rules on reclamation, saying the new “discretionary” status and other regulations are tougher than the current rules in the regional coastal plan.

    “I have yet to change my vote,” Mr Brewer says in the letter. “But like others, I am calling for these matters to be formally revisited by the governing body in a calm and collected way with all the information new and old presented without fear of favour.

    “Given the significant level of public interest, we at least owe that to Aucklanders.”

    Earlier today, Mr Brewer reversed his support for the expansion, saying he now wanted a rethink on the issue.

    “I invite the mayor to bring this back to the council table and give this another go,” he told the Herald.

    The Orakei councillor took part in a secret vote last month on the side of Mr Brown and his deputy Penny Hulse to ease the August 2013 rules for port expansion.

    “I thought I was doing the right thing by supporting tightening the old reclamation rules that were in existence from 1987 to 2013, but it’s clear that’s still not going far enough to appease the Auckland community.

    “If Aucklanders want no reclamation whatsoever, then lets at least have the debate again with the public sentiment now clearly known.

    “It is massive public sentiment. Len Brown needs to look it again,” Mr Brewer said.
    ______________________________________________________________________________________

    Gosh!

    That didn’t take long!

    Excellent! 🙂

    Penny Bright

    http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz

    • John Shears 14.1
      23 March 2015 at 8:19 pm

      The actual article in the Herald had an invite to email them your views on the subject. I sent the following :-

      I am totally opposed to any extensions until a full and independent assessment is completed with full and open discussion. 

      The arrogant attitude by those involved directly in the Ports of Auckland has happened because of the way the governance of this vital infrastructure was set up by the Key Government through their delegated front man , Rodney Hide,  who threw out a carefully considered scheme for Auckland City prepared over several years by three knowledgable and experienced Commissioners and replaced it with his hastily prepared alternative devised in about 6 months. 

      Largely ignored by the citizens of Auckland was the dispute between Ports Of Auckland (POA) and the Maritime Union which has recently been settled after several years of negotiation. The Mayor & the Council that is the elected Councillors refused to get involved in that problem because they were effectively 3 times removed from the POA because of the way that the lines of authority had been set up when the Auckland City plan was devised.. 

      The Mayor of Auckland and the Auckland City Councillors were Democratically elected by the citizens of Auckland to manage the affairs of the City, all the other people in the chains of command of POA including the CEO  of POA ( and there are quite a few) are appointed, not elected.

      The elected representatives of the citizens of Auckland need to manage this matter effectively NOW or resign and let us elect some new faces who are prepared to sort out this problem.

      In the meantime there needs to be an embargo on any expansion whatsoever in my opinion 

      • jenny kirk 14.1.1
        23 March 2015 at 8:46 pm

        Well said, John Shears. Hope it gets read, and considered.
        And the really stupid part about all of this is that Whangarei – Marsden Point – has the best deep water harbour in NZ, is little used, because both Auckland and Tauranga Ports have not only competing interests in Marsden Port, but their own interests which keeps their ports operating and Marsden lingering at the edges …….. Auckland Port needs to revise their thinking, and make use of Marsden for the bigger vessels coming – instead of trying to squeeze them into what has become a relatively narrow Waitemata harbour and Hauraki Gulf.

        ps John S – I’ve lost your email address ? ??

  15. Penny Bright 15
    23 March 2015 at 5:09 pm

    FYI folks!
    ______________________________________________________________________________________

    23 March 2015

    Press Release Sue Henry Spokesperson for the Housing Lobby:

    “Stop the privatisation of State Housing!”

    “The wheels are finally falling off the Government’s scheme to use charity and Iwi groups as a trojan horse to privatise the $18 billion worth of State Housing assets,” says Sue Henry, Spokesperson for the Housing Lobby:

    “If it was ‘untenable’ for the Salvation Army to use existing State Housing stock for the failed ‘social housing’ experiment, other NGOs and consortiums will never have the capacity as providers, unless they are bankrolled by foreign property development companies, for speculative gain, which still equates to privatisation.”

    “The public were told prior to the 2014 election there would be no further asset sales.”

    “There is no electoral mandate for the privatisation of State Housing.”

    “The Housing Lobby are calling on the Government to scrap the charity housing model and repeal the 2013 Social Housing, Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Act.”

    “Housing New Zealand must be reinstated as the ‘one stop shop’ State Housing provider, under the ‘public service’ model,” Sue Henry concluded.

    Sue Henry

    Spokesperson,
    Housing Lobby
    …………………….
    ______________________________________________________________________________________

    Kind regards

    Penny Bright

  16. McFlock 16
    23 March 2015 at 5:51 pm

    The war on workers continues – an Aussie compnay in auckland wants to remove tea breaks from an industrial site. This is why we need tea breaks abd corporate homicide charges. Forklifts and fatigue don’t mix in a happy way.

    • felix 16.1
      23 March 2015 at 6:41 pm

      That can’t be right.

      John Key and every other right winger said no employer would ever want to take away smokos even if they could.

      Must be a misprint. I’ll expect a retraction with the hour.

    • Draco T Bastard 16.2
      23 March 2015 at 6:44 pm

      Yep, exactly as anticipated by the Left and denied by the RWNJs:

      “The Prime Minister reassured New Zealanders that ‘post the passing of this law, will you all of a sudden find thousands of workers who are denied having a tea break? The answer is absolutely not’. We now know the Prime Minister’s assurance was misleading,” Mr Reid said today.

      Of course, Key and National knew that this would happen. It’s why they changed the law.

      • gsays 16.2.1
        23 March 2015 at 9:56 pm

        hi draco, hate to do this but i have to point out our dear leader was right.
        the laws was passed (like a bowel motion) in october, its now march, so that is not sudden.
        also this effects dozens not thousands of workers.
        all good on planet key. carry on.

  19. North 19
    23 March 2015 at 9:26 pm

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11421666

    Legal action “not taken lightly” indeed ! Well no, but of course the daddies had the 8-10 grand it would have cost. The considerations were constitutional and justice based were they ? Nothing to do with their wedged-up daddies’ determination to pass on down to their offspring the privilege they themselves enjoy. Nah, course not !

    If they were a couple of little Maori boys in Kaikohe, one’d be appearing in the Youth Court, one’d be in the District Court……and the 17 year old particularly would be on bail terms so oppressive that he’d be bound to breach……and then who knows ? Night in the cells in Whangarei before he’s ‘let off’ with a formally recorded bail warning ? Another meaningless breach. Oh God, not custody……then on down to UK investor owned/profiting, Serco/Mt Eden/”The Jungle”.

    In our justice system you’re sweet if you’re white with a wedged up daddy. I know that to be a freakish and disgusting truth. During 40 years with the opportunity to observe it I’ve seen it countless times. It’s this; the actors in the justice system ‘sign-up’, not consciously or wittingly, but it’s ‘sign-up’ nevertheless.

  20. Wensleydale 20
    23 March 2015 at 9:36 pm

    Just when you think New Zealand has a monopoly on greedy/ignorant/criminally insane politicians, get a load of Mike Baird…

    It starts off rather light-hearted, but gets grimmer and grimmer as it goes along. Anyone who cares at all about the environment will be vomiting blood by the end.

  21. North 21
    23 March 2015 at 11:52 pm

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11421805

    Of course this was always going to happen. Greed, like rust, never sleeps. The wicked thing is that its promoters don’t even see it is as greed, it is no-brainer rationality. Of course one will operate one’s undertaking to the outer edge of what is lawful. Why would one not ? And under ThePonceKey greed is increasingly encouraged never to sleep. Apologies for any mixed metaphors there. Like ThePonceKey ‘m not verrr lit-rit, ecksshilly !

    It looks as though we are getting closer and closer to a situation where the victims must take a serious stand. Strikes, pickets, appealing to the souls of would-be-scabs, defiance of legal process proscribing the standing up for essential rights……a network of moral and financial support for those on PlanetPonceKey with the ‘temerity’ to say “No – Enough !” Hit them in the very place from which prances forth the lusty greed…….the pocket. Hopefully that will have them (an unintended consequence of course) the financial pariahs they are in moral terms.

    The more the people do nothing the harder they’ll go. There are no moral questions come into play with these people. Greed (sorry, ‘maximisation of profit”) just never sleeps !

  22. Kiwiri - Raided of the Last Shark 22
    24 March 2015 at 7:47 am

    Woohoo. I’ve just heard Andrew Little on Morning Report about Northland. He did well, referring to the polls and being realistic.

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