Open mike 23/05/2014

Written By: - Date published: 6:45 am, May 23rd, 2014 - 232 comments
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232 comments on “Open mike 23/05/2014 ”

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  1. Not a PS Staffer 1
    23 May 2014 at 7:00 am

    PLEASE can I have cricket free news?
    Can this boring sleezy sport be contained in the sports section of the news?
    The game is boring, the players are boring and the boring people who want to talk about it are soooo boring.

    • amirite 1.1
      23 May 2014 at 7:16 am

      +1,000
      However, I don’t think it’s just coincidental that it has broken big right now. What with all the Key, Banks scandals etc

      • phillip ure 1.1.1
        23 May 2014 at 7:20 am

        so..the icc has moved on this..because of the banks/key scandals..?

        ..whoar..!

        ..who knew..?

        • Bob 1.1.1.1
          23 May 2014 at 7:41 am

          I heard that in a combined operation the GCSB, CIA, NSA, NASA and the RSA did a clandestine raid on the ICC offices and leaked the interviews to the Daily Mail, all very suspicious!

      • cricklewood 1.1.2
        23 May 2014 at 7:59 am

        Paranoid much?

        • The Lone Haranguer 1.1.2.1
          23 May 2014 at 8:41 am

          No paranoia at all. The VRWC are out to get you.

          Not a PS staffer may not have realised that its Granny Heralds job to have headines that sell papers, so papers can sell advertising.

          So “Lou Vincent Match Fixer” is a way better headline than “David Cunliffe’s tryout of new cloak of Invisibility today successful as 10,000 voters ignore him”

          • greywarbler 1.1.2.1.1
            23 May 2014 at 9:36 am

            Thanks Lone Ranger for providing a dismissive negative viewpoint of the Labour leader. Seeing that politics is more important than sport to our actual lives you indicate your shallowness by conflating the two.

            And sport talk does bring out the child within. The boohoo you lost and we are better and randomly competitive remarks said with great fervency and emotion comes from the juvenile that is resident in all of us. It’s a great transference activity, and tends to go with that other transference activity, alcohol. Then there is little time to think about the serious life changing political

            My observation of Radionz now is that sport news gets into the main news, and is usually then repeated in the sports news except from a different broadcaster. It is my feeling that Radionz in announcing that it is going to find more of its own news, is going to do that during in depth interviews on populist issues, celebrity, sport particularly, tragedies and death. For populist stories, the coverage about piss stories from South Africa was as attentive as if it happened locally.
            And the compassionate winkling out of feelings around every tragedy, from every victim and their connections, the emphasis on the personal and the individual rather than societal effects and the tragedy of lack of resources, preventative measures, good governance and regulation.

            This matter of our cricketers being smeared because of innuendo and leaked snippets leading to conjecture and misinformation is a story closer to our hearts. And is part of the sickness of doing everything as a business. Now we have the ICC acting corruptly through a body that is avowed to fight corruption. And our own people are being sullied by that corrupt behaviour. And what country does much of the match fixing? And isn’t leaking information damaging to the participants attempting honest interaction? And isn’t the result an off-field win to the corrupt people around the game? They appear to have control of the anti-corruption panel and what better way to play their game with a maximum of damage to any opposition that has arisen? And cause friction and demoralisation in the opposition playing team. It’s not a game of cricket they are playing. Just underarm tactics, and a different form of bodlyline attack.

            And that is an additional and important matter beside any NZ cricketer actually being bribed.

            • The Lone Haranguer 1.1.2.1.1.1
              23 May 2014 at 10:52 am

              GreyWarbler, what you are failing to grasp is that cricket match fixing is of FAR greater importance to the average radio listener/newspaper reader than the politic of Judith Collins doing private business in China or anything that David Cunliffe may say today.

              And thats not actually a put down of David Cunliffe either.

              With sport we have heroes, Chris Cairns being one for sure, and with cricket match fixing, we have heroes falling. So its really interesting stuff for the readers of Granny Herald and listeners of RNZ.

              There will be far more comments today on cricket match fixing than there will be on any quality political announcement.

              And yes I agree that the ability of the ICC to drip feed their “leaks” to the media as they see fit means that any half decent judge would have to conclude that theres no chance of any of their victims ever getting a fair trial.

              To me its a BCCI/ICC payback for those who who went and played in the ICL plain and simple and nothing to do with justice at all

              • framu …
                23 May 2014 at 12:26 pm

                but isnt not a PS staffer just pointing out the failure of modern journalism – just as you are doing here?

              • greywarbler …
                23 May 2014 at 2:23 pm

                Te Lone Haranguer
                Well go easy on Cunliffe. He hasn’t a thick enough hide to easily survive all the barbs of RWNJs plus extra from those inclining to the left as well. We want a mighty totara entire not one with scarf cuts up, down and around its base.

        • Anne 1.1.2.2
          23 May 2014 at 9:20 am

          Tongue in cheek cricklewood.

          Quite funny. The RSA bit should have alerted your soh levels.

          • cricklewood 1.1.2.2.1
            23 May 2014 at 11:27 am

            Was a reply to amirite the comment string has bumped it along a bit. I to enjoyed bobs input.

            On a more serious note it is imo news worthy of escaping the sports section. The accusations have a fairly wide international reach and deeply involve New Zealanders. It is basically corruption among other things and the tentacles will reach deep into society. Whilst it may not be of interest to some when compared to political fare it is worthy of News and very interesting.

      • Tracey 1.1.3
        23 May 2014 at 9:47 am

        now THAT is a long bow.

        This country is sport obsessed, hence Key uses sporting analogies at every possible moment. That is why, imo, it is being given somuch prominence (wrongly).

    • Lanthanide 1.2
      23 May 2014 at 8:57 am

      Actually it was funny on Morning Report this morning, the cricket match fixing was promoted to “news”, and therefore the “sports reporter” didn’t get to say anything about it.

      Gives you the context about what “sports reporters” usually talk about…

    • Pete 1.3
      23 May 2014 at 9:25 am

      This came up on my Facebook feed a couple of weeks ago:

      How Football Sounds To People That Don’t Care. This Guy Nails It.

      Firstly, imagine every time within a day that football is mentioned by someone else. Secondly, replace it with something that you don’t want to hear about every day. Say… Archaeology. Then, think carefully about how an average day would pan out.

      So, you awaken to the clock radio. It’s 7AM. Just as you awaken, it’s time for the news and archaeology already. Not news and other historical investigations, like library restorations or museum openings (unless there’s another event happening), but just the news and archaelogy. Malaysian plane is still missing. Pistorius is still on trial. New dig announced in Giza. Ancient Mayan temple discovered. Exciting stuff.

      Time for a bite to eat over the morning TV. More news. More archaeology…

      Continued here

      • ianmac 1.3.1
        23 May 2014 at 10:11 am

        How true Pete. Best I can do is watch the TV “News” then try to find some other thing to avoid the Sports. Wish there were more programs on archeology though!

      • Jenny 1.3.2
        24 May 2014 at 6:07 am

        1 hour news is 30 minutes of news and 30 minutes of sports news. Unless, there is some big new sport appointment or relegation, or scandal then sporting news makes it into the regulare news section. So it is 15 minutes of news and three quarters of an hour of sports news. Sometimes even less.

        Why is this?

        When mass media was first invented, in the form of newspapers and mass literacy became common, the new media had very little if any of sport news. The content was mainly coverage of the the interests of the ruling elite and the workings of their system. So in Britain there was lots of news of doings of the British Empire. There was lots of news of how well certain enterprises and combines were doing. There was constant feeds on the struggles in parliament. Unfortunately for the elites it wasn’t just them who were reading about the inner workings of their system, everyone was. A diversion was needed.

    • Bearded Git 1.4
      23 May 2014 at 10:19 am

      I love cricket and would walk over hot coals to get to a test match in Chennai. But the concentration of the MSM on the cricket corruption issue over the last few days has been disgraceful. It is not even big news in the UK, the home of the game.

      In particular Morning Report this AM was a shambles. 17 experts on cricket corruption; none on international law relating to drone strikes.

      • phillip ure 1.4.1
        23 May 2014 at 10:40 am

        “.. none on international law relating to drone strikes..”

        have they even covered that..?

      • ianmac 1.4.2
        23 May 2014 at 5:31 pm

        Morning Report may be deliberately setting out to bore listeners to the point that they stop listening. Imagine how excited non-cricketers would respond to this morning’s debacle? Wonder if the new National Party RNZ Chairman is steadily squeezing the life out of the program? About 500,000 people listen to RNZ and Mr Key regards them as non National voters.

  2. Colonial Viper 2
    23 May 2014 at 7:25 am

    The US power elite understand that social trust in them and their agendas is fading fast even on US soil. It is the rationale behind the massive own-citizen and ally focused NSA surveillance apparatus (yes the power elite say it is for legitimate reasons of safety and security – theirs not ours). This is also why as quickly as possible, Obama has been legalising the use of US military troops on US citizens on US soil (which has been disallowed since after the Civil War via Posse Commitatus), the use of indefinite military detention of US citizens on US soil without charge, and of course drone strikes – military model drones are now in use all over the USA by various gov and quasi gov agencies. These drones have the same hard points for the same Hellfire II missiles used in Pakistani airspace.

    But why remote controlled drones piloted by operators thousands of miles away?

    Well, it’s the same principle that dictators and empires have used to crush dissent and uprisings in restive provinces throughout history. After all, you cannot trust local law enforcement and local military units to open fire on friends and family from their own home town. Therefore, like the last Tsar Nicholas II did, and like Erich Honecker did, you have to move in military units from out of state to do the dirty work, or as Gaddafi did in Libya, and Ukraine is doing now, bring in foreign mercernaries from out of area and who don’t give a fuck about fucking over the citizens.

    Military drones take that principle into the 21st century. But now you don’t need an entire military unit of a thousand soldiers and dozens of complicit officers to crush dissent and take out troublemakers in some local uprising. All you need is half a dozen guys in a drone control centre thousands of miles away.

    And actually, they don’t even have to be military. Well paid private contractors can be hired to do this job.

    • minarch 2.1
      23 May 2014 at 9:52 am

      “After all, you cannot trust local law enforcement and local military units to open fire on friends and family from their own home town.”

      Makes me wonder about all the Brit police they keep on importing into NZ in groups of 20 at a time (greencard cops ? ) Every cop show on the tell-lies-vision (crime porn ) has em now….

      Growing up in NZ gives an insight and understanding into Maori and Polynesian culture (sadly a big part of our crime stats)

      Its much easier to swing the billy club when that gentleman with a moko is perceived as “some thug with his face covered in tattoos”

      • The Al1en 2.1.1
        23 May 2014 at 10:45 am

        So in order to point out that GB coppers coming to NZ are racist, you make a racist generalisation of your very own. Nugget.

        • minarch 2.1.1.1
          23 May 2014 at 10:51 am

          sigh………..

          Racism is a big problem in the UK police force

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_GWy82olhw

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TqTFBP8reQ

          & I think you TOTALLY missed my point there..

          but to clarify, Maori and Pacific Islanders are unfortunately over-represented in our prisons system

          “at 30 June 2012, Māori made up 51 percent (4,391) of the total prison population. European prisoners made up 33 percent (2,835), and Pacific peoples accounted for 12 percent (1,006) of the total.”

          http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/yearbook/society/crime/corrections.aspx

          • The Al1en 2.1.1.1.1
            23 May 2014 at 10:54 am

            There are racist police, just like there are racist milkmen, posties and shop assistants.
            If you’re going to tar all with the same brush, then at least ensure proper coverage.

            Nugget 😉

            • minarch 2.1.1.1.1.1
              23 May 2014 at 10:58 am

              Personally I consider Panorama ( The BBC) a fairly credible source….

              The difference is the police in the UK are institutionally racist

              I don’t want that on my streets

              Do you ?

              • The Al1en …
                23 May 2014 at 11:00 am

                I don’t mind Brit cops on our streets any more than I mind any other minority on the force. As long as they do the job well, why would I?

                • minarch …
                  23 May 2014 at 11:20 am

                  If you refer to my first post…

                  the point is they dont understand our local cultural nuances, nor really care in my experience

                  A kiwi copper sees

                  http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoo_museum/maori_tattoo_images.html

                  a british bobby sees

                  http://www.rapdict.org/MS-13

                  • The Al1en …
                    23 May 2014 at 11:45 am

                    You have no idea what an ex British copper sees or understands, that’s just your pre conceived opinion.

                    Some would say citation needed, which would force you to reference a poll of immigrant policemen and women that clearly shows they are not culturally sensitive. You won’t, ’cause you can’t, so I won’t bother asking, but kudos if you find one in your google search.

                    • The Al1en …
                      23 May 2014 at 11:53 am

                      That doesn’t support your point about ex UK police emigrating to NZ to work in the force here being culturally insensitive or easier for them to swing the billy club.
                      And those black and asian coppers, if they come here, are they as racist and culturally blind as the white ones?

                    • minarch …
                      23 May 2014 at 11:57 am

                      It does support my assertion that the British police force is an inherently racist organization

                      Those Bobbys just forget all that when they get of the plane ?

                    • The Al1en …
                      23 May 2014 at 12:04 pm

                      Well no it doesn’t, if anything, it says the met is, not the whole of the UK constabulary.

                      And ‘forget on the plane’ is I believe called false logic, because you assume the people had something to forget in the first instance, which you can’t possibly know as fact.

                      I see you have a thing for the police, and by the looks GB police in particular. I’m not here to change your mind, or have mine changed, but a little reality would improve your perspective… In my opinion.

                    • The Al1en …
                      23 May 2014 at 12:16 pm

                      Only a fool would argue there aren’t racists in the force, but then nobody has, and only a fool would generalise about all of them, or the ones that come here to live and work as being so.

                    • greywarbler …
                      23 May 2014 at 2:37 pm

                      There are racist police, just like there are racist milkmen, posties and shop assistants.
                      If you’re going to tar all with the same brush, then at least ensure proper coverage.

                      Why add police to milkmen etc. Police have the right to stop, question, arrest with or without violence, apprehend and damage people which is forbidden to others in society.
                      So they should be under scrutiny and possible attitudinal faults ought to be foreseen.

                      It is a sensitive point with you apparently. And if we run out of RWNJs providing content for disputation we will know how to encourage your
                      participation The Allen

                    • The Al1en …
                      23 May 2014 at 2:49 pm

                      “It is a sensitive point with you apparently. And if we run out of RWNJs providing content for disputation we will know how to encourage your
                      participation The Allen”

                      That’s a bit lame, if you don’t mind me saying. If I am a nut job, which tbf is 50/50 most of the time, it certainly isn’t for the right. Having said that, doesn’t mean a lwnj can’t be pulled up for it when a comment is at odds with the point they are making in the first place, does it?

                      “Why add police to milkmen etc.”

                      Because it’s true, just like there are racist black, brown, yellow and pink people.

                      “Police have the right to stop, question, arrest with or without violence, apprehend and damage people which is forbidden to others in society.
                      So they should be under scrutiny and possible attitudinal faults ought to be foreseen.”

                      They certainly should be under scrutiny, and again, no one here has argued they shouldn’t.
                      Are ex UK coppers more or less likely to be club happy to a bloke with a moko? That should be something that needs to be proven before accepted as gospel. If not, it’s cheap digs based on race that carry no weight with me, which as I’ve noted here previously, is something I have fought against since forever.

                      Me, a RWNJ 😆

                      I will state racism directed at me by kiwis is the reason I spent the $470.20 I had for citizenship on music software and an audio interface instead.
                      Glass houses and stones is all I’m saying.

            • Olwyn 2.1.1.1.1.2
              23 May 2014 at 11:11 am

              There are historic precedents for employing police that don’t have local loyalties. The first police in London tended to be imported from outside, and if a working class Londoner joined the police force at that stage they were considered a class traitor.

        • greywarbler 2.1.1.2
          23 May 2014 at 12:46 pm

          Jumping to PC condemnation The Allen. What though? Perhaps this, but it is a fact that needs to be understood, and referred to. Using the ‘insight and understanding’ of reasons as well by NZs.
          Growing up in NZ gives an insight and understanding into Maori and Polynesian culture (sadly a big part of our crime stats)
          This can be exactly what happens when a foreign police officer or anyone foreign is confronted with a tattooed man.

          Some people are gob smacked when they see a haka, stamping the ground, flourishing taiaha, and showing tongues and rolling eyes. A tattooed face is different, gets a second look, even for NZs who get a surprised, then possibly interested reaction, to see a whole face.

          From overseas it might seem something that has connotations of a criminal group such as the Japanese criminals who tattoo themselves as part of their allegiance to their trade. And a reason to disdain the offender.

          • The Al1en 2.1.1.2.1
            23 May 2014 at 1:28 pm

            Not to diminish in any way the significance and understanding of cultural differences, I should point out I’m not supporting, blind or otherwise, PC condemnation or WPC intolerance for that matter, but rash generalisations do nobody any favours.

            There is no basis to the claim “Its much easier to swing the billy club when that gentleman with a moko is perceived as “some thug with his face covered in tattoos”” without knowing for a fact it’s true, and besides, it’s a cheap shot at Brits and not a little racist.

            I’m not a cop, nor would I want to be, but in a confrontational situation, I wouldn’t care if the aggressor had a moko, a swastika or a picture of Betty Boop on their faces. Nothing culturally insensitive about that.

          • minarch 2.1.1.2.2
            23 May 2014 at 2:57 pm

            I met a Maori gent on the tube in London several years ago who had come over for a cultural performance tour,

            He had a full Moko, and people were visibly dismissive/or agressive towards him, he told me he tried to buy a drink at kiosk @ Waterloo station and the proprietor just stood and stared at him and then refused to serve him..

            he had also been stopped and questioned by the police a number of times even though he had only been in London for a couple of weeks

            • The Al1en 2.1.1.2.2.1
              23 May 2014 at 3:57 pm

              So there are racist or ignorant tube travellers and kiosk attendants too. Doesn’t mean for a minute that we’re all the same, and shame on you if that’s the inference. 😉
              When I had dyed hair I was treated exactly the same as that performer in a pub or two round our way, and a mate who had a sheepskin coat got pulled up by store detectives all the time. No excuse for ignorance, aye.

              • minarch …
                23 May 2014 at 4:06 pm

                mate try sporting a head full of dreadlocks and see how you go !

                Ive been called a Cheeky little c**nt (and worse) by more than a few policemen for exercising my rights & not allowing them to arbitrarily go through my pockets purely because of a hairstyle

                • The Al1en …
                  23 May 2014 at 4:08 pm

                  Folical profiling

                  • Colonial Viper …
                    23 May 2014 at 4:16 pm

                    You’re funny

                  • minarch …
                    23 May 2014 at 4:21 pm

                    Maybe it’s human nature to target the least threatening people. Simply labeling use of drugs or use of marijuana as abuse makes it sound like you habitually beat up on your spouse or children. Who wants to tolerate “abuse”?

                    We’ve created a mindset, uninformed consent, by allowing our law-makers to feel good about calling drug or marijuana use – abuse, and then advertising they are “tough on crime” for locking these people up. That’s NOT “tough on crime”!

                    Or messing with our life. Been there… like millions of other people

      • Murray Olsen 2.1.2
        23 May 2014 at 7:54 pm

        Minarch, I think you’re right, at least as regards the motivations of the people who import British coppers. We’re also seeing it with screws, WINZ workers, customs and immigration agents, and IRD people.
        I suspect very strongly that they are imported because they are not expected to empathise with Kiwis. In many cases they don’t, but in some it backfires. I remember one case of a bobby who complained about suspects’ rights being thuggishly violated by Kiwi poaka. He ended up finding another job. I also worked with a bobby in the 70s who hadn’t joined the Kiwi police because, according to him, they were too soft and allowed suspects far too many rights. He told some lovely stories of breaking people’s jaws during CND protests in London.

    • greywarbler 2.2
      23 May 2014 at 9:58 am

      I didn’t like this. The Army has been visiting schools in Hawkes Bay building relationships.
      That could solve unemployment in NZ. Serve with our own Army or in units with the UN, or the USA, or other acronyms. Army’R’Us Inc or ink on the death certificate of a once-aspirational nation. Reduced to only having mercenary jobs, see the world, kill people, learn about collateral damage. We have had an instructional display of weaponry, trained forces men in Timaru this year, sponsored by your friendly USA warmaker now coming to your neighbourhood. We have had a practice raid on a remote area and small population by the police. We have had extreme surveillance scares and revelations. Next?

      http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport
      War breaks out in Hawke’s Bay – but it’s just an exercise ( 2′ 49″ )
      08:41 War has broken out in Hawke’s Bay – but the bullets being fired are blanks.

      Several hundred Defence Force personnel are conducting war-games in different parts of the region as part of an international training exercise.

      • Molly 2.2.1
        23 May 2014 at 1:23 pm

        The failed(?) civilianisation project, while not meeting stated intentions probably did the job it was designed for admirably. It destroyed the existing culture within the MoD and got rid of a substantial amount of long-service men and women, who have worked in the armed forces in a mostly peacekeeping, civil defence and rebuilding capacity.

        If you want your armed services to be compliant in exercises that might conflict with their values, get rid of those who used to embody those values first. And replace them with young recruits who are enthralled at the thought of using weapons.

        • greywarbler 2.2.1.1
          23 May 2014 at 2:49 pm

          That’s at the back of it I should think. All that and the fun of handling weapons. Have you got a Glock and have you ever handled a Kalashnikov? See I watch TV and learn stuff. I understand that Kalashnikov died recently and regretted designing his effective gun and having his name on it and sort of on every bullet that is fired from it.

          I must have a go at the simulator next time I visit Wigram Air Museum. Playing with pretend toys didn’t seem harmful once. But now what is the mindset of someone who directs drones to shoot up a family wedding where people are firing their guns into the air as part of the celebration. Someone hundreds? of miles away thinking that’s wrong – it never happened at my wedding – shoot them down. I wonder if they get drunk as snipers tend to as they pick off moving targets from rooftops? And did they get a nice visit from those nice men and women from the Armed Forces, (is that because they carry arms or that they still have their arms because they’ve never been injured) when they were at school?

  3. Wyndham, George 3
    23 May 2014 at 7:30 am

    The West Auckland Police have been dysfunctional and out of control for years. The Area Commander before last resigned when the force undermined him. He was sent in to reform it and didn’t get backing from the top.
    I’ve friends who have been victims and friends who deal with them professionally and a common remark is ‘keep clear of them’.

    The problems are common to Hemderson and Avondale stations. Part of the problem is that the District Commander is in Takapuna and they think Henderson (area) is too far away.
    They need to turn the West into a district to sort it out.

    • Not a PS Staffer 3.1
      23 May 2014 at 7:52 am

      Greg O’Connor (Police Assoc) was disgraceful on TV3 this morning………and is most of the time.
      Journalists rarely challenge him as he dished out sanctimonious platitudes that shelter his less than glowing members.
      O’Connor puts the Roast Busters fiasco in the poor communication basket. It is not about how the Waitamata Police mishandled a press conference. That is insulting to the victims and to the community.
      The Roast Busters fiasco is about two things:
      a) It is about how the mainly male police force can’t distinguish between violence and sex
      b) It is about a lazy, incompetent, dishonest West Auckland Police force that does not answer to anyone.

      • JK 3.1.1
        23 May 2014 at 8:17 am

        to Wyndham,G and Not PS – totally agree with you both. What is more, its obvious the police have not learned anything since the Louise Nicholas/Rickards debacle. Police training needs sorting out, along with more (much more) training to current police officers on how to relate to rape victims and their complaints . NZ society is getting nastier, and the cops are part of that problem too !

      • Rosie 3.1.2
        23 May 2014 at 9:17 am

        Yes, Greg O Connor was appalling , but then he often is. I think the term “sideshow” as a reference to media attention around police behaviour was a very poor choice.

        In his efforts to protect his members he comes across as insensitive to victims, callous even and overly defensive of police actions.

      • framu 3.1.3
        23 May 2014 at 9:34 am

        the worst bit of this is that its only looking at the polices communication with the media – (unless theres a secondary investigation still going – im not sure)

        the fact that they had boys boasting of a crime online, plus 4 complaints (with one of those an official complaint) and no one seemed to have even bothered to get a search warrant for their digital devices, which resulted in the alleged perps getting a tip off to clear said devices because the case went public, seems to have been completely forgotten

        to me thats the real issue – not whether someone said something wrong to a journo

        • freedom 3.1.3.1
          23 May 2014 at 1:24 pm

          I heard it reported yesterday the investigation into the handling of the criminal proceedings is ongoing

      • minarch 3.1.4
        23 May 2014 at 9:57 am

        they should start letting women into the lodge & they might start getting used to them..

      • greywarbler 3.1.5
        23 May 2014 at 10:09 am

        NaPSS
        “dished out sanctimonious platitudes that shelter his less than glowing members.”
        Very true about O’Connor. It is amazing that someone from the Police Union is their spokesperson. Not someone from the Police Control executive team. Weird.

        And another weird thing is how the police seem to be divided into silo fiefdoms. Different strokes for different folks yes, but what about some cohesion, some people handling innovation, from the top with discussion amongst the all the area controllers. The group co-operating and being available for discussion on the best ways to handle difficult problems and not having to go alone and be judged competitively against each other’s performance, but with experienced input available without any loss of face.

    • BLiP 3.2
      23 May 2014 at 9:10 am

      ‘

      The entire police force, from the top down, has become dysfunctional and out of control under this John Key-led National Party™. Since the 2008 election we’ve seen . . .

      05/12/08 – Wellington police officer Jason Manu Casson is discharged without conviction for stealing $90.

      11/12/08 – Another police chase, another crash.

      16/12/08 – Palmerston North police officer Timothy Hesketh, 27, who lied during investigations and showed no remorse was found guilty of breaking a prisoner’s neck yet escapes a jail sentence.

      09/02/09 – A police recruit escapes assault charges and is permitted to graduate with any sanction or note on his personal file. He first posting was South Auckland.

      11/02/09 – Lower Hutt police leave confidential documents behind after executing a search warrant putting witnesses at risk of gang violence and then fail to own up at a subsequent IPCA enquiry. The inquiry noted: “The conflicting accounts given by the two officers, and the facts that no officer has taken responsibility for the loss of the Operation Order and that the Police investigator has not been able to identify that officer, are undesirable. Whilst there is no evidence of criminal conduct in relation to the loss of the order, its loss does amount to misconduct.” The Mongrel Mob say they know who left the report behind but were never interviewed.

      17/03/09 – The IPCA criticises police for their continuing failure to develop procedures for the prompt drug and alcohol testing of officers involved in serious incidents.

      27/03/09 – A Christchurch officer broke a number of police protocols in the lead up to the fatal shooting of Stephen Bellingham. The IPCA finds that the unnamed officer: did not tell his communications controller he was going to the scene, nor did he advise them he was armed, failed to brief two other officers who were on their way to the scene so that he could tackle Bellingham with support, and, crucially, a dog patrol unit, which would have been a huge asset to the effort to contain Bellingham, was diverted to another crime.

      30/03/09 – Nelson police officer Anthony Dale Bridgman is convicted of two counts of dangerous driving after he pulled out in front of two motorcyclists, seriously injuring both.

      24/03/09 – Another police chase, another crash.

      19/05/09 – Head of the Police Prosecution Service Superintendent Graham Thomas steps down after it is revealed that he refused to undergo a breath test.

      29/05/09 IPCA states that Auckland Police officer Constable Aaron Holmes was breaking the law and ignoring official policy when he seriously injured innocent teenage Farhat Buksh.

      20/06/09 – An unnamed police officer is reprimanded for writing out the employment details of a driver on a speeding ticket as “kitchen bitch”.

      25/07/09 – Northland police run down two pedestrians, killing one and injuring another.

      15/08/09 – An Auckland constable is suspended after it was alledged that he leaked sensitive information to help a known criminal to avoid arrest. The unnamed officer was in a squad which targets “volume crime”, in particular burglaries, and had access to the police intelligence database.

      05/08/09 – Hamilton police tell a disabled man they are too busy to investigate the alleged theft of $1600.

      07/09/09 – Senior Instructor at the Porirua Police College, Detective Sergeant John Gualter, is convicted for drunk driving after being found to have an alcohol reading at more than twice the legal limit.

      09/09/09 – A Wellington man has his neck broken by a police baton while a party is being shut down.

      19/09/09 – Auckland police officer Constable Matt Hooper is charged with perverting the course of justice after attempting to make use of a legal loop hole to avoid drunk driving charges.

      26/09/09 – National Head of Police Professional Standards, Superintendent Jon Moss resigns after news of an affair he had with a junior colleague comes to light. Moss helped introduce the new “professional distance policy” last year which covers sexual conduct for officers with the public, victims of crime and work colleagues.

      28/09/09 – Masterton detective Sue Mackle goes public on the fact that police are failing to investigate hundreds of sexual abuse complaints in favour of focussing on property crimes because doing so makes the statistics look better.

      04/10/09 Revelations that a senior police was a paedophile and interfered with investigations into the activities of Bert Potter and the Centrepoint commune come to light.

      09/10/09 – Dunedin police fail to follow procedure and a prisoner is found dead in the cells when they finally get around to checking.

      09/10/09 – Nelson police officer Senior Constable Garry Dunn is sent to trial for assault after a two day depositions hearing was told he rammed a cyclist with his car and then pepper sprayed the man for not wearing a safety helmet.

      04/11/09 – Whakatane police prosecutor Adrian Hilterman was sentenced in Tauranga District Court today to 150 hours community work for assaulting his wife. He was convicted and discharged on three charges of assaulting his children. In the same court last month, he was found guilty of assaulting Deborah Hilterman, 37-years-old, by kicking her around the groin area between June 1 and June 29 last year at Whakatane. He was also found guilty of assaulting her in a car travelling from Auckland to Whakatane on June 30, 2007. He was discharged on 10 other charges of assaulting his wife, a Whakatane general practitioner.

      09/11/09 – Figures released under the Official Information Act show that half of all police officers charged with drunk driving are convicted.

      16/11/09 – Auckland police officers Patrick Garty, 32, and Wiremu Bowers-Rakatau, 21, charged with assault.

      21/11/09 – 51 police officers were disciplined in the year to date for a variety of things including turning up to work drunk, unlawfully using their police ID, assault, speeding, using excessive force, and inappropriate behaviour on duty.

      08/12/09 – Former constables Reuben James Harris and Benson Lyle Murphy are accused of making false statements in regard to the prosecution of a third officer who was charged with manslaughter. Harris and Murphy had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiring to defeat the course of justice. Their jail sentence was subsequenrly quashed by a judge who refused to explain why.

      17/12/09 – Christchurch police officer Nathan Thorose Connolly is sent to jail for inducing sexual connection from the sex worker by means of a threat.

      19/12/09 – Another police chase, another crash.

      23/12/09 – The IPCA announces a nation wide investigation into how police are dealing with child abuse complaints, following on from revalations made public in November.

      05/01/10 – Police are filmed carrying out illegal road stops and searches.

      12/01/10 – Taranaki police are criticised by the IPCA for not preventing a drunk driver going on to kill three people when Hawera officers could have taken steps to immobilise the driver’s vehicle when they found it parked up outside a pub after a chase.

      19/01/10 – Two unnamed police officers fail in their duties resulting in the otherwise avoidable death of a Hamilton woman.

      22/01/10 – Rotorua District Court convicts an ex police officer for possession of child porn.

      23/01/10 – Two Papakura detectives charged with indecent exposure and offensive behaviour after a drunken escapade.

      31/01/10 Unnamed police officers are filmed putting the public at risk with a crazy display of dangerous driving at a school fair

      14/02/10 – Auckland High Court takes two minutes to throw out a murder charge brought by police who had used huge amounts of resources and dodgy investigation techniques to manufacture the arrest and 16-month incarcertation of an innocent man.

      16/02/10 – Christchurch police are slammed in a report for failing to adhere to policy during a chase which left an innocent bystander in hospital with horrific head injuries.

      20/02/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      21/02/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      26/02/10 – Innocent Auckland man, 62 year old Brett Abraham is admitted to hospital for weeks of treatment after being savaged by a police dog. The police dog handler left Mr Abraham alone, bleeding and crawling up the driveway to his home.

      28/02/10 – Christchurch police, despite a complaint of theft, failed to arrest a man who, the next day, committed murder. Police said at the time they were too busy to handle the theft complaint. Area police commander, Dave Cliff, refused to discuss the matter.

      01/03/10 – Union’s criticise a double-jeopardy situation produced by police circumventing privacy legislation in grubby deals with employers to ensure drink drivers are dealt to at work as well as in Court.

      01/03/10 – 1300 Police officers fail their fitness test.

      01/03/10 – Auckland police go to great lengths to keep the identity of the officer who shot to death innocent man Halatau Naitoko secret. His lawyers had earlier sought to deny justice by seeking to have the shooter exluded from attending the hearing at all.

      13/01/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      02/02/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      03/03/10 – Dunedin police reveal that they failed to follow up a possible sighting of missing British girl Madeline McCann after a local security guard’s approach to police was disregarded.

      04/03/10 – A man helping police is bitten by a police dog.

      05/03/10 – Invercargill District Court throws out an assault charge brought against a bus driver by local police after the driver was arrested for allegedly “assaulting” a child by stopping the child from assaulting another child on the bus.

      07/03/10 – Detective Sergeant Lloyd Schmid is investigated for encouraging a junoir staff member to have sex with an informant in order to gain additional information.

      14/03/10 – An unnamed senior police officer is accused of abusing his powers after a friend of his is held up at a check point when on the way to a sports match.

      18/03/10 – Police management refuse to name two officers being investigated for fraud.

      19/03/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      27/03/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      27/03/10 – Another police chase, another crash. Two in one day.

      31/03/10 – Senior police deny systemic faults played a part in the fact that Senior Constable Len Snee broken a number of rules in the lead up to him being shot by Napier gunman Jan Molenaar.

      1/04/10 – A police officer who works in a serious crash unit is under investigation for alleged drink-driving after he was reported for backing into a parked car.

      1/04/10 – Karl Walter Vincent, a North Otago police officer loses name supression in a case involving accusations of indecent assault.

      4/04/10 – Independent Police Complaints Authority Investigator Larry Reid describes a man who had his neck broken while in police custody as a “complete arsehole”.

      04/04/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      18/04/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      30/04/10 – Significant faults in the “Kahui Twins” police invesitgation are identified and which hampered both the defence and the prosecution teams.

      04/05/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      08/05/10 A three-year-old boy was mauled by a police dog at a kindergarten visit that was meant to teach the children about dog safety.

      14/05/10 – Police are found to have failed in their duty to protect after delaying the arrival of emergency medical staff to the scene of Navtej Singh’s fatal shooting.

      18/05/10 – A senior Wellington police officer receives name supression when appearing in court on assualt charges.

      21/05/10 A senior under cover police officer admits interfering with and removing objects from a murder scene. No disciplinary action follows.

      21/05/10 – An man helping police is bitten by a police dog.

      30/05/10 – A police officer’s vile on-line diary is investigated in the hope of identifying the officer concerned. All posts from the gpforums are deleted shortly thereafter.

      31/05/10 – An official information request shows that five police officers have been charged with drink driving over the previous 12 months, including a senior constable in the serious crash unit.

      05/06/10 – Constables Brenton David Rooney and Duncan Roy Hollebon are found guilty of assault after kicking a suspect already in custody.

      12/06/10 – Sergeant Jason Lamont gets to keep his job after being let off a drunk drive charge where he had been found to be one and a half times over the limit.

      20/06/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      23/06/10 Police are accused of improperly obtaining DNA samples from Maori.

      25/06/10 – Constables Patrick Garty and Wiremu Bowers Rakatau are convicted of assault.

      02/07/10 – Ex-Superintendent Jon Moss, the former head of “professional standards” faces new accusations of criminal behaviour.

      04/07/10 – Senior police deny a culture of violence exists in the force following the standing down of a fourth officer from one Auckland district for assault allegations.

      07/07/10 – Harsher laws for offences against police introduced but no requirement for harsher sentencing for police officers committing offences considered.

      10/07/10 – Police apologise after telling a woman she would have to wait two days for a follow-up to the burgalry of her house.

      10/07/10 – Two unnamed police officers to face charges for driving offences after crashing their police vehicles.

      10/07/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      29/07/10 – Armed police unnecessarily smash windows and fire ten tear gas cannisters into a house while searching for a suspect.

      29/07/10 – Gisborne police supress information in an effort to make the community feel safer.

      03/08/10 – a Mongrel Mob member and two associates walk free after a judge rules police acted unlawfully.

      06/08/10 – Police officers Keith Parsons, Erle Busby, John Mills, and Bruce Laing escape criminal conviction but are found to have used excessive force against a prisoner being held in Whakatane cells. The victim of the police violence subsequently received compensation.

      06/08/10 – Disbelief as the man responsible for tormenting Algerian refugee Ahmed Zaoui , former SIS director Richard Woods, is appointed to the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) for to years.

      08/08/10 – Seedy details of a police officer’s secret life start to come to light after he is stabbed to death.

      20/08/10 – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-police/news/article.cfm?o_id=131&objectid=10667461 And unnamed police officer is stood down after being charged with multiple accounts of indecent assualt.

      24/08/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      25/08/10 – Police get special treatment in liquor licensing law changes.

      25/08/10 – Detective Inspector Dave Archibald who had been caught illegally accessing the police computer system to help the defence of convicted pack rapist Brad Shipton gets a promotion.

      26/08/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      04/09/10 – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-police/news/article.cfm?o_id=131&objectid=10671040 Coroner David Crerar finds that having an extra officer involved in a search of Jan Molenaar’s Napier home would have prevented the death of police officer Len Snee.

      17/09/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      19/09/10 – Armed police terrorise a couple for hours after raiding a house looking for a suspect who had moved out months ago, a simple fact police could easily have verified. An apology is given and $2000 spent on repairing damage caused by police in the raid.

      22/09/10 – Auckland police sergeant Martin James Folan is name as the officer charged with assaulting five prisoners over a three month period.

      01/09/10 – Police accused by lawyer of silencing dissent by arresting those who’s political views they disagreed with.

      23/09/10 – Oamaru police constable Karl Walter Vincent is found guilty of multiple counts of indecent assault.

      25/09/10 – Increasing concern expressed at rising number of fatalities due to police pursuit tactics.

      25/09/10 – Police pursuits for traffic offences result in 11 deaths in the nine months to September 2010.

      28/09/10 – Former Otago police officer Neil Ford is jailed for perjury.

      28/09/10 – Superintendent Bob Burns says that other officers were involved in covering up perjury and the wilfully attempting to pervert the course of justice which is why it took five years to bring charges against only two officers.

      08/10/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      10/10/10 – Evidence given by two police officers is thrown out and the officers concerned are under investigation for failing to disclose information to a defence lawyer which would almost certainly have led to a not guilty finding.

      11/11/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      16/10/10 Veteran barrister Barry Hart details some of the history of a criminal culture within the New Zealand police force which goes back at least until the 1970s.

      19/10/10 – More evidence of endemic corruption in the New Zealand obfuscated.

      23/10/10 Superintendent Gary Smith gets promoted to a plum job despite a secret police report which states he acted unlawfully and totally mismanaged a complaint about the unlawful arrest of a justice of the peace. No charges have been laid.

      23/10/10 It is discovered that the Independent Police Conduct Authority has decided that a report which highlights illegal actions by police does not need to be published because it “is not in the public interest.

      27/10/10 – All Black coach Graham Henry gets let off a fine after being snapped travelling at over 30kmh above the speed limit.

      28/10/10 – Complaints of of “widespread police involvement” in local body electioneering in Manurewa and Papakura are being investigated by the police and the Independent Police Conduct Authority. The Authority never bothers to report back about this investigation.

      14/11/10 – The mother of a 12-year-old beaten by bullies is turned away from Christchurch Police station when she went to make a complaint because there were no officers on duty to deal with the matter.

      18/11/10 – Former police officer Dairne Olwen Cassidy gets home detention after being found guilty of wilfully attempting to pervert the course of jusitice.

      18/11/10 – Former police officer Anthony Dale Bridgman already notorious for another incident involving his dangerous driving of a police vehicle, is back in court again.

      04/12/10 – Another police chase, another crash.

      17/12/10 – Police are found to have failed to comply with rules regarding pursuits in case where the fleeing driver was seriously injured.

      17/12/10 Most crime in New Zealand goes unreported, a survey finds. Of those quizzed, 24 percent said they felt the police would not or could not be able to deal with the situation.

      20/12/10 – West Auckland police constables Alan Michael Douglas and Gareth John Needham are found guilty of assault. This is not the last the courts will hear of this pair.

      01/01/11 Bay of Plenty police refuse to reveal how many people were arrested during New Year celebrations.

      03/01/11 – Superintendent Ted Cox lies to a fellow officer after being pulled over for speeding on the Auckland southern motorway

      05/01/11 – Another police chase, another crash.

      07/01/11 Another “hurry up” issued to the police in regard to the culture change required as per the 2008 Bazley inquiry into police sexual misconduct.

      20/01/11 Another “hurry up”, this time from the State Services Commission is issued to the police in regard to the 2008 Bazley inquiry into police sexual misconduct.

      21/01/11 – Constable Raymond Dunbar is convicted of drunk driving.

      29/01/11 – Police National manager of youth services Superintendent Bill Harrison is under investigation for using police letterhead to lie in an effort to get out of a parking ticket.

      31/01/11 – Police are highlighted are persistent breakers of the do not drive while on the cell phone law.

      04/02/11 – Senior Constable Terry Beatson is found to have accessed the police computer system 17 times in order to assist his wife in a custody case against he ex-husband. Beatson gets to keep his job.

      18/02/11 – Detective Sergeant Mark McHattie is identified as having lied about a backlog of child abuse cases in the Wairarapa being cleared up.

      24/02/11 – Police are ordered to make an apology after being found to have released personal information containing untested factual allegations concering Tony Veitch to the media

      09/03/11 – Police are accused of assaulting a young autistic man who was then presented as the face of looting in Christchurch.

      09/03/11 – North Shore police use a taser to stop a protester.

      20/03/11 – Its revealed that Deputy Commissioner Viv Rickard did not act on allegations about a former colleague’s relationship with a senior civil servant which later led to a criminal investigation.

      29/03/11 – Start of the trail of Sergeant Martin James Folan who is subsequently found not guilty of assalt but who’s actions remain under investigation by the IPCA authority – two years later and nothing to show for it.

      16/04/11 – Police are under investigation for attempting to convince other officers not to testify against sergeant Martin Folan in an assault case.

      17/04/11 – Court actions against the police and corrections department come up against both political and institutional obstacles in what is described as a “David vs Goliath Battle for justice”.

      17/04/11 – Another police chase , another crash.

      17/04/11 Another innocent man sent to jail by dodgy police work finally receives compensation while the original case remains open and the police officers involved show little remorse or even interest in solving the case.

      06/05/11 – IPCA says rules were broken in police pursuit which ended in fatality but not action required or recommendations necessary.

      08/05/11 – Detective Sergeant Peter Govers is named as the officer responsible for sending two innocent men to jail. Govers keeps his job, even after subsequently being labelled as “reprehensible” for pressuring a female informant into giving him a blow job.

      09/05/11 – Constable Raymond John Dunbar loses appeal against his conviction for drunk driving.

      17/05/11 – Police officer Matthew Blythe fails in his bid to overturn a conviction for punching a very drunk suspect in the head as the man was being handcuffed by other officers.

      18/05/11 – Senior Constable Matthew Leslie Blythe loses an appeal in the Court of Appeal against a conviction for assault.

      26/05/11 – Former Detective Inspector Mark Franklin is arrested and charged with drug dealing in Rarotonga.

      31/05/11 – Nelson police arrest and charge a man for theft after he took pies out of a rubbish tin at the back of a petrol station. The owners of the petrol station had twice told police these did not want to press charges. The charges were withdrawn in court.

      16/06/11 An unnamed police officer found guilty of assault after punching a prisoner escapes conviction after a judge agrees that such a conviction would have effects out of all proportion.

      25/06/11 More evidence of historic and systematic police perjury surfaces.

      20/06/11 – Contables Alan Michael Douglas and Gareth John Needham are found guilty of assault.

      11/07/11 – Constable Jamie Anderson was driving on an unlit rural road and texting on his cellphone when he ran over a pedestrian. No problem says ICPA.

      11/07/11 – Unhappy with coverage of the police beating of an autistic man Christchurch Central Police Area Commander Inspector Derek Erasmus announce an investigation into TVNZ’s Sunday programme.

      18/07/11 – Another police chase, another crash.

      27/07/11 – Former police officer Neil Robert Ford gets an early release after being sent to jail for perjury.

      28/07/11 – Police employee Patrick Bruce Phipps is found guilty of charges of illegal possession of a Finnish Valmet semi-automatic rifle and a Czechoslovakian VZ58 fully automatic rifle.

      02/08/11 – Superintendent Ted Cox finally pays a $120 speeding ticket after first going through $8,000 of police budget trying to get out of it.

      13/08/11 – Senior Constable Michael Lenihan is fined $250 for careless use of a motor vehicle after doing a u-turn in front of motorcycle resulting in the death of the rider. Lenihan was acquited of dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing injury

      22/08/11 – Police finally find a good enough reason to drop charges against am autistic man they had beaten and held in custody for stealing two light bulbs before charging him with looting after the Christchurch earthquake.

      24/08/11 – Hasting Senior Sergeant Luke Shadbolt says to the media about a missing girl “she is missing, but it’s not the story of the century. And if we had a major concern about the disappearance, we would have [issued] a media release about it”.

      05/09/11 Police drop charges against Tiki Taane after he was arrested for expressing his opinion on what police describe was a “misunderstanding”.

      25/08/11 – Detective Inspector Dave Archibald is promoted to a senior position despite his illegal searching of the police computer system for information to assist officers’ defence in a pack rape charge.

      13/09/11 – Police blunders at Pike River Mine subject to questioning at inquiry. Assistant police commissioner Grant Nicholls does his best.

      16/09/11 – Illegal actions of police in regard to Urewera detailed in a Supreme Court judgement that couldn’t previously be released.

      18/09/11 – Another police chase, another crash.

      20/09/11 – Police apologise for breach of privacy after faxing a confidential parenting order to media.

      25/09/11 Police get a caning from the Supreme Court for knowingly breaking to law to illegal gain evidence. No charges are ever laid and the government changes to law to cover the officers concerned.

      29/09/11 – New Zealand police officers are described as racist by visiting journalists here to cover the Rugby World Cup.

      04/10/11 – Police Inspector Turepu Keenan is snapped texting on his cellphone.

      09/10/11 – Another police chase, another crash.

      19/10/11 – Accusations that police are lying about security threats in order to get their residential properties improved.

      25/10/11 – Deputy Police Commissioner Rob Pope admits that he knew about the history of Superintendent Gary Smith who had previously been found to have acted illegally before he was later promoted to a plum police job.

      30/10/11 – Superintendent Gary Smith appointed to the plum London job had previously been accused of sexually harassing a female police employee.

      09/11/11 Police are accused for forcing an Indian woman suspected of being in the country illegally to sign documents.

      17/11/11 – Police staff are among those arrested in a drug swoop.

      17/11/11 – Former Nelson policeman Garry Dunn is found not guilty of two assaults but resigns from the police after having illegally accessed the police computer system to assist his defence in the case.

      21/11/11 Dozens of police officers face criminal charges according to details released under an official information request. Very few such cases appear to merit media coverage, it would seem.

      22/11/11 – Police officers are found to have broken pursuit rules in a fatal chase.

      16/12/11 – Police officers use excessive force in the unjustified arrest of a Christchurch man. District Commander Gary Knowles says the police will not apologise.

      22/01/12 Police officers arresting protesters at the Occupy event are filmed all wearing the same ID number in an orchestrated attempt to hide their identities and hamper the processing of any complaints about the actions of individual officers

      09/02/12 Chinese tourist Naiju Li lays complaint against the police alleging brutality in their arrest of the 56 year old woman. She suffered a dislocated elbow and required stitches to her face.

      02/02/12 – Police are filmed illegally closing a road to support the activities of a corporate

      09/02/12 – Police commence an investigation after a 65 year old deaf, mute man dies while in police custody.

      17/02/12 Police officer Karis Rewa Charnley makes her first appearance in court after being charged with lending her uniform to someone for use in the theft of a car. The charge Charnley was eventually dismissed after the judge described a “vacuum” in the evidence.

      02/02/12 – Police employee Darren Ian Hodgetts admits to providing a drug ring with access to the police computer system.

      03/03/12 – Police prosecutor Timothy John Russell Sarah pleads guilty to a representative charge of supplying methamphetamine, four specific charges of supplying the drug and one charge of dishonestly accessing the police computer – the National Intelligence Application.

      30/03/12 – Constable David Mear is found not guilty of assault . . . hmmmm.

      05/04/12 – Police officer Karis Charnley is charged with being a party to theft , being a party to impersonating a police officer and assault.

      11/04/12 – An unnamed police officer appears in court allegedly involved in a collision with another car after doing a U-turn in front of it has appeared in court, charged with careless driving. But the officer is likely to avoid conviction after being offered diversion.

      12/04/12 – A unnamed police officer was disciplined after giving false details to the Rotorua harbourmaster after being caught breaching a bylaw while riding a jetski on a lake.

      18/04/12 – Various protesters at the Glenn Innes evictions of tenants in government housing claim the police used excessive force

      15/04/12 – Detective Sergeant Rod Carpinter receives support after carrying out an illegal raid which was described by a judge as “consciously reckless”. Mr Carpinter was earlier criticised for his involvement in a drug bust in 2005 where his actions were also found to be “unreasonable and unlawful”.

      20/04/12 Superintendent Bill Harrison, one of the country’s top policemen, was found guilty of serious misconduct after accusations he used police letterhead to dodge a $200 parking fine. Superintendent Bill Harrison retired on May 17 last year, before an independent investigation was completed so no disciplinary action was taken.

      24/04/12 – Detective Senior Sergeant Mark McHattie who was at the centre of a major child-abuse cover-up has kept his job after a code-of-conduct investigation but police will not reveal the outcome of the long inquiry.

      29/04/12 – A Northland man who received paralysing neck injuries while in police custody is in a “bad way” after surgery and is struggling to breathe on his own, his parents say.

      03/05/12 – Constable David Mear returns to work after being found not guilty of using excessive force against a man who suffered a broken eye socket and cut to the head

      16/05/12 – An unnamed police officer resigned late last year after being investigated for theft in the aftermath of the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

      04/06/12 – Police officer Gareth John Needham has lost his attempt to appeal his conviction for assault to the Supreme Court.

      25/06/12 – Police officer Marcus Guy Andrew Molnar is convicted of theft after admitted stealing cash and soft drinks from a bar at the police station on four separate occasions

      11/07/12 – National Crime Manager Detective Superintendent Rodney Drew defends the police force’s organised abuse of the court system by arranging the false arrest and court hearing of an undercover officer

      11/07/12 – Inspector Paul Dimery resigns and, in a parting shot, tells the media that the New Zealand police force is compromising front-line safety because it is being run like a business

      12/07/12 – Senior Constable Tony Andrews is found to have acted inappropriately due to a conflict of interest, and to have engaged incoercion and the breaching of privacy.

      14/07/12 – Another police chase, another crash – three dead, police failed to follow policy.

      28/07/12 – Another police chase, another crash

      07/08/12 – Senior Sergeant Rod Carpinter and Constable John Grantham escape criminal charges after having “materially misled” the court about a a drugs raid.

      14/08/12 – Police justifications for using anti-terrorist officers to raid Kim Dotcom’s home were partly based on claims the tycoon assaulted a former staff member with his stomach.

      24/08/12 – A police officer is filmed driving like a bloody idiot tail gating traffic on the open highway

      28/08/12 – New Zealand police have been praised by the White House for their role in the case against Kim Dotcom, but are keeping it secret.

      29/08/12 – An unnamed police officer appeared in court charged with <a href= appeared in court charged with illegal hunting. The officer appeared in the Blenheim District Court after earlier denying a charge of hunting deer and goats on land at Blue Mountain near Ward on April 17 without the authority of the property owner.

      17/09/12 – Senior Constable Sean Ramkissoon accuses senior police officers of conspiracy, corruption and dishonesty, and his employment grievance escalated to the Employment Court.

      22/09/12 – Details of the police force’s idiocy, excessive use of force, general illegality, and perjury in relation to the Kim Dotcom affairs starts to become public.

      25/09/12 – Police officer Jan Paul de Moor appears in court charged with assault

      25/09/12 – Its revealed that Police Commissioner Peter Marshall signed the indemnity order which accepts potential liability if Kim Dotcom lays a claim for damages, it has been confirmed.

      27/09/12 – The police are slated in the 2012 Ombudsman’s annual report to parliament after it topped the list of crown agencies ducking and diving official requests for information.

      29/09/12 – Police receive a rebuke in court for leaving three drunk men in a vehicle with the keys in the ignition. Judge David Saunders told police it was a recipe for disaster.

      29/09/12 – Police are heavily criticised for failing to abandon a pursuit that endangered the public and culminated in the deaths of two young men.

      03/10/12 – Two girls, aged 14 and 16, are arrested, denied contact with their family or a lawyer, strip searched, and held in a police cell for 36 hours . The 16 year old, who was nursing a baby, was forced to express breast milk into a cell sink.

      13/10/12 – Jakob Christie had his neck broken by a police baton more than three years ago. He is still waiting for the police to do something about it.

      14/10/12 – Detective Senior Sergeant Al Symonds ignores evidence and spends 18 months dragging an innocent man’s name through the mud only to have the case dismissed in minutes.

      16/10/12 – Police wait nine months after receiving instructions from the Minister before contacting a family to take formal criminal complaint

      18/10/12 – Few of the recommendations of a commission of inquiry into police conduct, concluded five years ago, have been fully implemented. Acting Police Commissioner Viv Rickard says he accepts the finding that more focus is needed on sexual assault investigations.

      19/10/12 – A report by the Office of the Auditor-General reveals an “unacceptable” level of inappropriate sexual behaviour within police and said improvements were still needed in training staff who were involved in adult sexual assault cases.

      20/10/12 – Police funding cuts have seen sex crime investigation courses slashed and firearms training reduced.

      21/10/12 – Increasing numbers of teenagers are being held in police custody for days, breaching United Nations protocols and sparking concern from human rights agencies. Child, Youth and Family statistics show the number of young people held for more than 24 hours in police cells almost trebled in the past three years.

      21/10/12 – Detective Sergeant Mark Keane and Detective Dale Forman were criticised in a stinging Independent Police Conduct Authority report for failing to fully investigate claims that Tineke Foley had been raped by a male nurse at a Christchurch mental health facility.

      23/10/12 – Police are found to be breaching basic human rights in the practises employed in the detention of young people in police cells. A review is called for, no action is taken.

      25/10/12 – A police blunder results in four alleged Chinese people smugglers being awarded a $2000 payout.

      02/11/12 – Police ignore three 111 calls to respond to an accident.

      12/11/12 – Another police chase, another crash.

      19/11/12 – Detective Jamie Woods is caught out providing a transcript containing “mistakes” as part of an application for a search warrant to intercept the phone calls and emails of senior Switched on Gardener staff.

      19/11/12 – Constable Gary Neil Morgan of the North Shore Police strategic traffic unit is charged with careless driving after he crashed his patrol car into a tree.

      28/11/12 – A convicted drug dealer is freed on bail pending an appeal because police involved in an investigation were found to have acted corruptly following a staged search for evidence against an undercover officer.

      21/12/12 – Mikayla Paul is found guilty of assaulting a woman may yet be discharged without conviction.

      22/12/12 – Police go over the top in protecting John Key from having to keep his word about buying a Christmas dinner for two Wellington men.

      24/12/12 – A Hawkes Bay family is left shocked and upset with the treatment they received from police after an officer smashed their windscreen with his torch at a drink-drive checkpoint this week.

      15/01/13 – Constable Perry Griffin is accused of excessive use of force after making an arrest.

      20/01/13 – After cut backs in fire arms training, almost 1000 new gun safes are removed from police cars because of potential security issues, just months after they were rolled out across the fleet.

      31/01/13 – An unnamed police officer who was sacked for using excessive force loses his case for unjustified dismissal.

      06/02/13 – Another police chase, another death

      11/02/13 – A fifteen year old girl lays an assualt complaint against police after being left bloodied and brusied when police were breaking up a party.

      15/02/13 – An unnamed police officer admits receiving money from people who had criminal charges against them dropped. At the request of defence counsel Pip Hall, Judge Brian Callaghan did not enter convictions because the defence wants to argue for a discharge without conviction.

      20/02/13 – The Independent Police Conduct Authority promises to try harder after being found out for unnecessarily keeping reports secret.

      21/02/13 – A police blunder in a major drugs investigation

      • BLiP 3.2.1
        23 May 2014 at 9:12 am

        ‘

        cont’d . . .

        23/02/13 – A former undercover officer comes clean about spying on protest groups, environmental organisations and trade unions.

        23/02/13 – The IPCA finds that police could have prevented a murder had they acted earlier on information received.

        01/03/13 – Hundreds of police officers across the country are withdrawn from the front line and told not to interact with the public, after failing a key fitness test

        03/03/13 – Another police chase, another accident.

        10/03/13 – Police officers who deliberately faked their uniform badge numbers to avoid being identified as they weighed into a violent public protest will keep their jobs and won’t be investigated by the force’s watchdog.

        16/03/13 – The police attempt to silence a retired officer for speaking to the media about the Teina Pora case.

        16/03/13 – Another police chase, another crash

        27/03/13 – Police still need time to introduce changes identified as necessary six years earlier following an investigation in its culture and practises.

        27/03/13 – About 20 people protest outside Masterton police station over claims young people have been mistreated during arrest. The protesters included two teenagers who alleged they had bones broken while being arrested.

        09/04/13 – An analysis of police statistics highlight the fact that Maori youth are far more likely to go to court after an arrest than pakeha youth.

        13/04/13 – Another police chase, another crash

        13/04/13 – More on the orchestrated miscarriage of justice in the Teina Pora case.

        15/04/13 – Retiring Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward says police officers are leaving the force in droves, frustrated with the “budgets, the judiciary, new systems in place alienating the community and traffic taking precedence over everything,”

        17/04/13 – Police admit to “dropping the ball” by failing to pay more than $5000 in rent to a tiny Christchurch community group run by volunteers and war veterans.

        20/04/13 – Former drug squad detective Ernest Langford escapes jail after being found guilty of stealing thousands of dollars from a police safe and colleagues desk. Charges involving the theft of thousands of more dollars were dropped.

        21/04/13 – Comments by Constable Paul Sharples about judges results in Auckland’s top police officer making an apology and starting an investigation into the way Sharples handled the case.

        24/04/13 – Police sergeant Blair Donaldson pleads guilty to careless driving. Magistrate Ngaire Mascelle say a conviction would outweigh the severity of the offence and discharged Donaldson without conviction.

        05/05/13 – The Independent Police Conduct Authority has received two complaints about the nation’s second-highest-ranking police officer, Mike Bush – but it will not be taking any action . The complaints were in response to Bush’s comments at the funeral of former police officer Bruce Hutton, a detective who was found to have planted evidence used to wrongfully convict Arthur Allan Thomas of murder.

        09/05/13 – Another police chase, another crash.

        17/05/13 – Police officer Peter Pakau appears in court on a raft of drug charges.

        12/05/13 – Another police chase, another crash.

        21/05/13 – an unnamed police officer appears in court accused of asking for sexual favours in return for not prosecuting a motorist on a driving charge.

        06/06/13 – Police refuse to engage with a lawyer representing teenagers seeking discussions about possible compensation.

        18/06/13 – Hastings police officer, Adam Dunnett, 37, charged with indecently assaulting five women from a Hawke’s Bay surf club loses his bid to keep his identity suppressed.

        08/07/13 – An investigation is begun after an unnamed police officer is accused of assault.

        09/07/13 – Another police chase, another crash.

        24/07/13 – Two expert reports about an incident in which a wedding guest was run over on a Waikato road were ignored by a police crash analyst, a coroner’s inquest has been told.

        04/08/13 – Lawyers are demanding a review of how police intercept private communications after a photo-journalist’s cellphone logs and messages, including exchanges with a lawyer, were obtained in and inquiry instigated by the PM.

        05/08/13 – Police officer Dugal Matheson is slammed by a judge and convicted for dragging his former partner around by her hair and “manhandling” her son.

        07/08/13 – Police officer Lotovale Ulufafo Solofa Perese appears in court charged with a variety of offences involving the smuggling of contraband for delivery to people being held in police cells.

        12/08/13 – Detective Sergeant Mike Blowers appears in court charged with supplying methamphetamine and cannabis.

        16/08/13 – Police have accidentally shot a man as he lay on the floor of a Hastings house while being taken into custody this afternoon.

        18/08/13 – Concerns are raised after police do not lay charges against a care giver who locked an austic man in a flat and who later died in a fire at the property.

        27/08/13 – Police breach confidentiality agreement concerning compenation paid to the mother of Halatau Naitoko.

        29/08/13 – The police decide to take no action of illegal spying.

        31/08/13 – Police carrying out a “cold case” investigation of the Crewe murders demand an alibi from Arthur Thomas and members of his family.

        04/09/13 – Officers working in OFCANZ fear internal reprisals if they were to tell police bosses about inappropriate conduct.

        07/09/13 – Casual racism, ignorance, disrespect and insensitivity on the part of the police when dealing with the family of a murder victim exacerbate their grief.

        09/09/13 – A sober woman left stranded in a pub car park in the early hours after police confiscated her car keys was raped shortly afterwards.

        15/09/13 – The family of Danielle King, 15, claim she was “thrown around like a rag doll” by officers breaking up a party.

        15/09/13 – Police are being slammed for a “monumental blunder” in which they searched and damaged an Auckland family’s home in the hunt for a man who brutally bashed a police officer – but they were at the wrong house.

        15/09/13 – Hawkes Bay police leaving the force in droves amid a “draconian climate” after a regional restructure .

        19/09/13 – Inspector Richard Wilkie is discharged without conviction for assaulting two teen agers.

        21/09/13 – Police have agreed to pay a Southland farmer $14,000 in damages and costs after armed officers entered his property without permission and, in a resulting tussle, pepper-sprayed him, punched him in the face and Tasered him while he was handcuffed.

        22/09/13 – Road safety data being submitted by the public is being ignored by the police.

        24/09/13 – It is revealed that police have not investigated the February 2011 death of a man in custody and have still not completed an investigation into another death of a man in custody dating back to October 2010.

        28/09/13 – The detective who blew the whistle on his alleged drug-dealing boss was removed from his squad and investigated before senior police took his concerns seriously.

        28/09/13 – Central District commander Superintendent Russell Gibson, in a letter to convicted child rapist Robin Peter Abraham’s wife, described one of the rape victims as a willing party to the sexual abuse.

        29/09/13 – A martial arts black belt who became a morphine-dependent invalid after a beating by Senior Sergeant Ron Greatorex , has won a five-year battle for compensation. Greatorex has never been charged and still works as a senior-ranking police officer in Christchurch.

        10/10/13 – Police Association president Greg O’Connor says most complaints made against the police are from “perennial complainers who complain about everything to everyone”.

        17/10/13 – No apology and no charges after police who broke a man’s neck are found to have used excessive force.

        17/10/13 – Police prosecutor Brent William Thomson pleads guilty to possession and use of methamphetamine and cannabis.

        17/10/13 – Another police chase, another crash.

        20/10/13 – It is proved in the Privvy Council that police use dodgy evidence and failed to provide all information to the defence in the Mark Lundy case.

        06/11/13 – Police admit to having lied to the public about not receiving any complaints in relation to the Roast Buster case.

        08/11/13 – Police threaten a blogger in an effort to stifle public discussion surrounding its own inaction and mendacity concerning the RoastBuster rapes.

        18/11/13 – Senior Constable Gordon Stanley Meyer pleads guilty to bribery, corruption, and sexual assault.

        18/11/13 – Police officers Brent Liddle and Gerard Russell are convicted of assault but discharged without conviction.

        18/11/13 – Police Senior Constable Gordon Stanley Meyer pleads guilty to bribery, corruption and indecent assult. Another unnamed police officer was also investigated but no charges were laid.

        19/11/13 – Police Senior Constable Keith Rose pleads guilty to assault after grabbing a referee around the throat.

        20/11/13 – An innocent man is mauled by a police dog.

        22/11/13 – Police Sergeant Brent English is investigated after a junior police officer complains that he made a lewd suggestion and exposed his penis to her.

        http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/229037/police-accused-of-double-standards-by-greens

        05/12/13 – police refuse to explain how a dangerous criminal escaped from Dunedin Police Station.

        11/12/13 – Sergeant James Casson takes a case to the Employment Relations Authority claiming he was subject to “bullying and threatening behaviour” by members of the Hamilton police management who had “closed ranks” against him.

        11/12/13 Tasman district police are ordered by the Emplyment Relations Authority to re-hire its business services manager after finding his redundancy was invalid. Derek Coffey had worked for police for 23 years before losing his job in February as part of a nationwide police restructure.
        The ERA found his redundancy was invalid and he was unjustifiably disadvantaged by police’s failure to redeploy him to an available suitable position.

        11/12/13 – Police Commissioner Peter Marshall admitted to police failings in the “Roast Busters” case before going on to say that a drop in the public confidence of the police from 82 percent to 76 percent wasn’t much of a change.

        13/12/13 – Police Constable Tako Cocker is arrested and suspended from duty after being arrested in Auckland for allegedly damaging a taxi side mirror after a dispute over the fare.

        20/15/13 – A group of Christchurch police officers are threaten to sue Police Commissioner Peter Marshall for defamation over comments made about leadership at the Christchurch South Station where corrupt ex-cop Gordon Stanley Meyer worked.

        22/01/14 – Christchurch District Police Commander Gary Knowles is expected to make an apology to a man arrested in November 2011 when the arresting officers were found to have used excessive force leaving an innocent man bruised and humiliated.

        04/04/14 – Former Police officer Timothy Phillip Hartnell is charged with assault following an incident when he was working as an officer.

        14/04/14 – Another police chase, another serious injury.

        24/04/14 – Police refuse to answer an Official Information Act request for details about a government minister interfering in a criminal investigation on the grounds of “maintenance of the law”.

        01/05/14 – Another police chase, another serious injury.

        01/05/14 – Greymouth police sergeant Matthew Charles Frost who had nine drinks before crashing his car on a West Coast country road was convicted of careless driving but let off without punishment.

        02/05/14 – Detective Inspector Mark Gutry resigns from the police before an employment investigation into the circumstances leading to him escaping charges in relation to a criminal sex complaint.

        03/05/14 – It becomes apparent Superintendent John Tims buckled to political pressure in January 2014 after receiving a phone call from a government Minister requesting that a domestic violence prosecution be subject to review. Police National Head Quarters claims to have not been advised of the political interference until two months later when an Official Information request was made by media. Police National Head Quarters did not advise the Minister of Police about the situation until 28 April 2014.

        04/05/14 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11249346 <— katie bradford says police family relationship political preferemces

        08/05/14 – Police are found to have acted unlawfully in a ”disrespectful and degrading” breach of human rights when hundreds of New Zealanders taking part in a charity event to raise money for the Christchurch earthquake appeal were unlawfully detained.

        • minarch 3.2.1.1
          23 May 2014 at 9:59 am

          If you haven’t had a bad experience with the police in your lifetime you are either

          A: Privileged

          or

          B: Naturally submissive

          “Most middle-class whites have no idea what it feels like to be subjected to police who are routinely suspicious, rude, belligerent, and brutal.”

          ― Benjamin Spock

          • TheContrarian 3.2.1.1.1
            23 May 2014 at 11:47 am

            What if you are neither?

          • thecard 3.2.1.1.2
            23 May 2014 at 11:59 am

            Judging by that list you can also add.

            C. Don’t drive like a fool and try to evade police.

            • Colonial Viper 3.2.1.1.2.1
              23 May 2014 at 12:06 pm

              Did you even read the list above? You do realise most of the items on the list are not related to ordinary people committing driving offences? Or do you just not care and prefer to feed your own prejudices?

              • thecard …
                23 May 2014 at 12:11 pm

                @CV the list provided only serves to feed prejudices.

                The vast majority of police are good people who have a difficult job, yes there are some bad ones who should feel the full weight of the law but to have a list interspersed with “Another police chase, another serious injury.” and suggest that the police are those who are at primary fault in such cases is utter bullshit.

                • minarch …
                  23 May 2014 at 12:19 pm

                  A lot of good people join the police for the right reason

                  Protecting society

                  catching the bad guys , rapists, murderers etc

                  a lot leave quite shortly after they realise thats not what the job is really about

                  this leaves only the people who joined for the wrong reasons…

                  • thecard …
                    23 May 2014 at 12:22 pm

                    Delusional you are !

                    • minarch …
                      23 May 2014 at 12:32 pm

                      then why are are conviction rates for the crimes that matter

                      rape

                      murder

                      domestic violence

                      so low, and yet our prisons a full of drug offenders ??

                      Eg” a FOAFs daughter was attacked and stabbed 3 times with a screw driver by a gang of youths walking home in Glen Eden about 3 months ago

                      she made it home, and the police were called. When the police arrived they “smelled cannabis” and proceeded to tear the place apart looking for the it while the young lady was left covered in blood waiting for the ambulance . When my FOAF became agitated about the lack of interest in his badly injured daughter they threatened to arrest him .

                    • Tiger Mountain …
                      23 May 2014 at 12:33 pm

                      as a public service; why you should be careful what you say to Mr Plod.
                      http://www.kirkpiccione.com/10-reasons-not-talk-police/

                      …would add that in reason #1 “evidence” could be substituted with “cause to arrest” (in the coppers mind anyway, whether a legal statute is involved or not)

                • felix …
                  24 May 2014 at 5:02 pm

                  Hi “thecard”.

                  If you had read the list you would have noticed that many of the examples are of police “who should feel the full weight of the law” but didn’t.

                  But you didn’t, so you didn’t.

          • Blue 3.2.1.1.3
            23 May 2014 at 12:57 pm

            Or……..honest , non violent and treat people with respect. You don’t to be privileged to be any if those things. If you consider those things submissive you really are a fuckwit. If you’ve had bad experiences with the police I imagine you were continuing that behaviour.

            • minarch 3.2.1.1.3.1
              23 May 2014 at 1:29 pm

              Im all of those things

              in my experience (and plenty of other peoples ) the police certainly aren’t !

        • greywarbler 3.2.1.2
          23 May 2014 at 10:16 am

          I dub you – Blip the Chronicler.
          And mention once again the value to an academic in sociology or political studies of your work. So you smart people in unis get moving and capture this useful time consuming data.

        • Rosie 3.2.1.3
          23 May 2014 at 10:19 am

          Stunning work BLiP, purely stunning.

        • Tracey 3.2.1.4
          23 May 2014 at 10:21 am

          It’s just business as usual. Police officers are paid for 3 months training before being “on the streets”.

          Anytime something really bad happens, it takes years for the report to finalise, and when it does we get told the police have changed since then.

    • minarch 3.3
      23 May 2014 at 9:55 am

      “A primary purpose of the police is to enforce the delusions of those with lots of green paper.”

      Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

    • Seti 3.4
      23 May 2014 at 10:06 am

      George Wyndham, you appear to know little about the Waitemata district. Firstly the DC is based at the district headquarters in Mairangi Bay, not Takapuna. Secondly, Avondale is part of the Auckland Central district, which obviously has different management. Thirdly, the number of IPCA complaints last year per sworn officer is the second lowest of any district.

      You need to stop listening to offenders.

    • Murray Olsen 3.5
      23 May 2014 at 8:15 pm

      I got bashed at the Henderson copshop in 1976. My son copped it at Avondale in 2000. We were told by other cops in 2000 that Avondale was dysfunctional and would be sorted out. I had my doubts, because the institutional inertia of a station full of cowboys is hard to beat. I always considered Otahuhu a cesspit as well, and wasn’t surprised to see the Teina Pora case come from there.

      It will require a lot of political will to reform our police into something decent, and the only political will I’m seeing wants to increase their powers and turn them into a paramilitary. A big part of the problem is that most of the civilians who know how they operate have blotted copybooks, and too many Kiwis mistake vengeance for justice.

  4. bad12 4
    23 May 2014 at 7:37 am

    From Stuffed.co., the Parliaments Social Services Committee has given HousingNZ CEO Sowry a serve over the manner in which HousingNZ has been redeveloping its property portfolio, telling Sowry to not only put the tenants back into the suburbs they have been removed from but to also ensure that there is at least the same number of HousingNZ homes in the redeveloped areas as previously,

    While grateful for the support most HousingNZ tenants probably doubt whether Sowry or the Minister of un-HousingNZ Nick Smith will take the slightest bit of notice of the Committee,

    It wouldn’t seem to be rocket science for HousingNZ to build X number of units some place and then move X tenants into these properties temporarily while their former homes were redeveloped/upgraded and then move the tenants back again,

    Hone put it better, saying that He was pissed off with all those involved and they deserve a kick up the arse, adding that like me, He has seen no change in attitude from HousingNZ…

  5. Rosie 5
    23 May 2014 at 9:10 am

    Calling all Agony Aunts/Uncles.

    Some time ago someone posted on the topic of bank profits during the GFC and how banks actually increased their “mark up” during that time to protect themselves. But more than protecting themselves they turned a better profit than ever before.

    I’d like to get more information about this as I want to use that info as a bargaining chip when our fixed mortgage rate of 4.9% ends – I need the rate to stay as low as I can get it while they will try to pull the wool over my eyes and ramp it up. The crux of the argument will be morality, if I can point to their increased profits and mechanisms for that while we/NZer’s are all struggling

    Before you scoff at the thought of using morality as argument with the bank, I’ll let you know it’s worked once before. Because we had a low deposit (7.8%) the bank charged us lenders mortgage insurance, which is a scam whereby the borrower pays the insurance on the banks behalf in the event you can’t pay your mortgage, the house is sold by the bank and they don’t recoup the profit they expect, the insurance pays out the difference.

    I got them to reduce the rate by 80% by using morality as a part of the argument. Economics and banking systems is a real weak spot for me but I can do assertive when negotiating, so if anyone has a (simple!) link they can send explaining how banks have protected themselves at our expense I would be really grateful. I know it sounds like a long shot but you don’t know if you don’t try eh

    • Colonial Viper 5.1
      23 May 2014 at 12:11 pm

      NZ banks only? or all banks (including global investment banks) in general? If you look up the annual profit of your bank as reported in 2007 (before the GFC) then 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 I think you will see that your bank did just fine

      As for using morality on your bank – yes it can work with individuals in the organisation who have some discretion. But as a corporation in its entirety…banks morality get smaller as the bank gets bigger, until with banks like HSBC and GS, it’s in the negative territory.

      • Rosie 5.1.1
        23 May 2014 at 1:59 pm

        Thanks Colonial Viper. I’m thinking of banks operating in NZ, and if there is a common approach to increasing profit.

        I’m with Kiwibank and have been since they opened. I had read once that they had some bumper profits a couple of years ago. I know for a fact their services or level of service provision has decreased (unless you own a smartphone). I’m wondering HOW they went about achieving those high profits at a time people were and still are loosing their jobs, wages and salaries are stagnant and living costs have increased. If there’s a formula for this, apart from them benefiting from debt as a result of these circumstances, I’d like to know.

        I will look up Kiwibanks annual profits for those years. Those figures alone can at least be one part of a moral argument.

        Ta 🙂

  6. Gosman 6
    23 May 2014 at 9:10 am

    I always think people who write about a subject and use statistics like the article below should actually reference those statistics.

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/23/lack-of-confidence-in-police-over-rape-handling-justified/

    • Draco T Bastard 6.1
      23 May 2014 at 11:38 am

      Yes, they should. At the end of the day, it’s what’s going to put blogs above the MSM for getting news and information.

  7. captain hook 7
    23 May 2014 at 9:13 am

    look gooseman. why dont you write your own opinion. I’m sick of your link wild goose chases. If you have to quote others all the time then the conclusion is you have nothing to say for yourself.

    • felix 7.1
      23 May 2014 at 9:39 am

      Hey he’s just doing his job.

      • fender 7.1.1
        23 May 2014 at 10:09 am

        Yeah filling in for the absent Petty George (stress leave) is a specialised role, only complete arseholes can do it competently.

      • greywarbler 7.1.2
        23 May 2014 at 10:21 am

        Yeah be fair to Gooseman. He may be silly but he’s our goose. Just watch out though the goose is a territorial bird of uncertain temper and a strong beak which can cause painful damage.

        • freedom 7.1.2.1
          23 May 2014 at 1:30 pm

          gumboots are known to limit potential damage from goose attacks 🙂
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tAWwqKNI7go

          • greywarbler 7.1.2.1.1
            23 May 2014 at 2:17 pm

            freedom
            I loved that. Nostalgia, what a wonderful smoke. NZs golden age with Fred Dagg –
            it brings tears to my eyes. I was thrilled to see all the Trevs in their singlets at the end. The shy Dagg family I suppose, rarely seen. Cousins of Bruce Bayliss no doubt.

      • minarch 7.1.3
        23 May 2014 at 10:34 am

        time for a performance review ?

        3 month trial period up yet ?

    • McFlock 7.2
      23 May 2014 at 9:52 am

      Gos doesn’t have an opinion. He doesn’t care about these issues, or his faux objections. He said yesterday that he just wants to annoy people here.

      Look at his approach to the problem of how we [fail to] investigate rape – his most pressing concern was a citation issue for stats that seem to be pretty consistent with the data I looked at back in the day.

      • framu 7.2.1
        23 May 2014 at 10:02 am

        “He said yesterday that he just wants to annoy people here.” – and not for the first time either

      • Gosman 7.2.2
        23 May 2014 at 10:15 am

        Where did I state that?

        • McFlock 7.2.2.1
          23 May 2014 at 10:58 am

          “I am not terribly fussed with John Key. My only real interest in him is that he riles up leftists like yourself something rotten”

          You weren’t fussed that our PM lies to the people and lies to the House, yet tried to derail an entire thread on that.

          Now you expect us to believe you give a shit about proper citation practises.

          Go fuck yourself you pointless waste of space.

          • Gosman 7.2.2.1.1
            23 May 2014 at 11:11 am

            I’m not going to die in a ditch over defending John Key but do like him because he annoys leftists like you. That means I am going to point out when your attacks on him are ineffectual or without a firm basis.

            I think leftists ideas (as expressed by people like you) are one of the greatest threats to ongoing freedom and prosperity for the vast majority of us when they are attempted to be put in to practice. Hence why I like to point out the flaws in the ideas in places like this.

            • McFlock 7.2.2.1.1.1
              23 May 2014 at 12:28 pm

              It’s not leftists who have the GCSB providing intelligence support to a bombing campaign that murdered at least one NZ citizen without so much as a trial.
              That’s how much you care about freedom.

              Child poverty is treble what it was thirty years ago.
              That’s how much you care about prosperity.

              But you seemed to miss the flawed plank in your own eye when you decide that someone else’s post might be a bit short on citations. You don’t even claim that they’re incorrect, just not referenced to your hypocritical satisfaction.

              • Gosman …
                23 May 2014 at 1:49 pm

                If you are going to claim statistics show there is a problem you should be ready to identify where those statistics are from. Otherwise we have a situation where I could argue the 84 % of leftists have emotional issues that impact their rational thought processes significantly. I am sure if I made that claim people wouldn’t be satisifed without sone sort of reference to the source data and rightly so.

                • McFlock …
                  23 May 2014 at 2:23 pm

                  My main claim is that your sudden concern for proper referencing is simply an excuse to piss people (as in actual human beings who care that a low reporting rate and low conviction rate mean that only a few percent of sexual assaults result in conviction) off. You’re using literally thousands of sexual assaults simply as an opportunity to trool, even though you almost certainly know or are closely related to women who have been sexually assaulted.

                  You’re a piece of shit.

                  • greywarbler …
                    23 May 2014 at 4:48 pm

                    Does bothering with Gosman to the point of connecting him with detritus actually assist you, him, or the level of discussion on the site? Why oh why can’t people ignore the trials. You are just being played for suckers by someone as slippery as an eel. He might be nice served with onions, perhaps smoked but that is his and the others only possible use.

            • framu 7.2.2.1.1.2
              23 May 2014 at 12:30 pm

              bullshit – your a time waster, a diverter, a trool

          • Tracey 7.2.2.1.2
            23 May 2014 at 11:35 am

            I’m not a cheerleader for Key and I like him cos he doesn’t like you. I don’t like the left because they threaten freedom. I sleep through things like GCSB laws, ACC leaks, and invasions of privacy and lying and misleading the people (which threaten freedom) cos I don’t understand that they threaten freedom. I believe that socialism is the root of all evil even though the majority of evidence of failures around the world are under capitalist systems. Gosman

            • Gosman 7.2.2.1.2.1
              23 May 2014 at 4:34 pm

              Most failures are the result of wrong headed Statist policies.

              • Colonial Viper …
                23 May 2014 at 4:39 pm

                So you favour the roll back of the security and surveillance state?

              • Draco T Bastard …
                23 May 2014 at 7:20 pm

                What a load of BS. The failure rate of the private sector is above that of the public sector. For some strange reason we never get to hear about it (The Entrepreneurial State).

      • Gosman 7.2.3
        23 May 2014 at 11:27 am

        Consistent with what data that you have seen?

    • Tracey 7.3
      23 May 2014 at 10:10 am

      he does, but no one reads them. Over at keeping stock.

  8. Tracey 8
    23 May 2014 at 10:06 am

    After years of trying for a family, Steven Joyce, and Gerry Brownlie are proud to welcome a bouncing baby boy to their union.

    Brownlie and Joyce, better known as larger than life Ministers of the New Zealand Government, had been trying all kinds of way to have a child and finally settled on controversial cloning. The result is a boy they have named Christopher.

    “We’re calling him Chris,” said Joyce who was clearly delighted at the arrival “”it’s so much more efficient than Christopher.”

    “We were concerned at first because the doctors said he might have lung problems because someone in the lab was smoking when they were making him. But then we paid for a report which said that passsive smoking causing health problems was unproven. We were so relieved.”

    The couple are buying Chris a house in Petone where he will be cared for by a nanny. “Probably from the Phillipines” said Brownlee. “we want him to have a multi cultural life.”

    http://static2.stuff.co.nz/1400712824/238/10072238.jpg

    ” Hutt South hopeful Christopher Bishop says his time working for tobacco company Philip Morris “doesn’t define me” as he becomes the second former tobacco lobbyist to be named as a National Party candidate.

    The former Young Wellingtonian of the Year and champion debater, who is currently a senior adviser to Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, was named yesterday by National as its candidate to take on nine-term Labour MP Trevor Mallard in Hutt South.

    Bishop’s nomination has attracted headlines and considerable social media comment, especially as 23-year-old Todd Barclay, another former Philip Morris lobbyist, was named recently as National’s candidate for the safe National seat of Clutha-Southland.

    “Two years at Philip Morris doesn’t define me. I’ve done lots of other things in my life, both community development and working in a range of organisations and people should look at my whole CV,” Bishop said.

    He said he took the role after working in Cabinet minister Gerry Brownlee’s office, seeing it as an interesting and challenging way to use the skills he had gained as he qualified as a lawyer.

    “Tobacco is a legal industry. It’s controversial, but . . . companies are entitled to legal and corporate representation and that’s what I was doing.”

    As a tobacco lobbyist Bishop worked against the National Government’s plans to increase excise on tobacco and plain-packaging of tobacco.

    Yesterday he said he agreed with the Government’s policy on both.

    “That’s my Chris Bishop view, that I agree with the prime minister.”

    Bishop said he planned to take unpaid leave from late June or early July to campaign. Having grown up in the Hutt Valley, he is moving to Petone next week. “

    • greywarbler 8.1
      23 May 2014 at 10:24 am

      +1 Tracey

    • Kiwiri 8.2
      23 May 2014 at 10:38 am

      Hah.

      +1

      The only one suggestion is an edit to read:

      “Probably from the Philip-ines” said Brownlee.

      And that for their amusement in their offices, Brownlee and Joyce keep their love child entertained with a little Morris dance and a drink of toddy.

    • bad12 8.3
      23 May 2014 at 10:50 am

      Lolz, the sanctimonious anti-smoking fanatics beat the drum long and loud, funnily enough i have been doing a little research this morning on the very subject of tobacco use,

      i was going to save my latest little piece for tomorrow’s Open Mike but as you are on the subject it is worth a comment in a ”contrary” vein,

      The facts,(using American statistics), 10% of long term smokers will eventually be diagnosed with Lung Cancer, and worse, 80% of those diagnosed with Lung Cancer will surely die from the disease,

      How bout YOU tho, the holier than thou, never smoked anti-tobacco fanatics,???, this might wipe the smirk away,

      Of the 220,000 new diagnosis of Lung Cancer in the US every year 16,000 to 24,000 of them will never have touched a cigarette, and you guessed it, 80% of them will also die of the disease,

      i have to ask of course, if 10% of tobacco users are given Lung Cancer by such use why are the other 90% of users immune…

      • Tracey 8.3.1
        23 May 2014 at 11:27 am

        For me bad, it’s about ethics, not smoking. The tobacco industry has a LONG history of lying, of burying research and thereby removing the ability of people to freely decide. Then we have two pretty young men, trained in Minister’s offices, popping of to lobby for tobacconists before being given seats to stand for (one a plumb seat). Both say “it’s just a job”.

        Only a few people get murdered each year, I don’t know why we bother making it illegal to murder.

        • Tracey 8.3.1.1
          23 May 2014 at 11:37 am

          by pretty I mean relatively… not commenting ont heir looks.

          • Colonial Viper 8.3.1.1.1
            23 May 2014 at 12:15 pm

            I’m sure a few will be swooning over them at the Young NATs ball

        • Draco T Bastard 8.3.1.2
          23 May 2014 at 12:07 pm

          Both say “it’s just a job”.

          The last time I said “it’s just a job” I didn’t get hired. I expect the same would apply to business lobbyists.

        • bad12 8.3.1.3
          23 May 2014 at 6:25 pm

          Tracey, i would suggest that the anti-tobacco industry also has a propensity to completely disregard the truth in its efforts…

          • Tracey 8.3.1.3.1
            23 May 2014 at 6:55 pm

            but who dies when they disregard the truth.

            • bad12 8.3.1.3.1.1
              23 May 2014 at 8:52 pm

              ”Who dies when they completely disregard the truth”, that has to be one of the more spurious questions i have ever been asked,

              This is what the anti tobacco fanatics purport to be the truth Tracey, ”50% of those who do use or have used tobacco products will die from various cancers and heart disease”,

              Laws have been changed and taxes rack-raised from the majority of mainly low income people who use tobacco products on the basis of such mis-information Tracey,

              Ripping extra taxation out of the pockets of the addicted means that for the supposed 16% of us that still smoke the product,(census figures), and have a low income would mean in simple terms that the users have a choice, either quit and if quitting cannot be achieved then minor things like food on the table will obviously have to be sacrificed because of that taxation,

              i would suggest that what will kill people far quicker than tobacco use would be a poor diet via having less monies to spend upon food because of an addiction to tobacco,

              As far as 50% of users/ex users dying from having used tobacco products goes, read my lengthy reply to Puddlegum below…

      • Tracey 8.3.2
        23 May 2014 at 12:02 pm

        “Of the 220,000 new diagnosis of Lung Cancer in the US every year 16,000 to 24,000 of them will
        never have touched a cigarette, and you guessed it, 80% of them will also die of the disease,”

        Lived with smokers? Hung with smokers? Nothing on their passive smoking habits bad?

      • Draco T Bastard 8.3.3
        23 May 2014 at 12:12 pm

        Of the 220,000 new diagnosis of Lung Cancer in the US every year 16,000 to 24,000 of them will never have touched a cigarette,

        How many of those non-smokers have been around smokers all their life?

        You’re trying a standard Nat trick there – lying with numbers.

        • bad12 8.3.3.1
          23 May 2014 at 7:35 pm

          Draco, lying with numbers,???, come on then Mr oh so truthful, answer your own question, how many of those 16,000 to 24,000 of them have been around smokers all their lives,

          Provide us the numbers of your assertion,(via question), along with proof that those numbers died of Lolz second hand smoke Lolz…

          • Draco T Bastard 8.3.3.1.1
            23 May 2014 at 9:02 pm

            http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/general_facts/
            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_smoking#Evidence

            And yet it should be you supplying the information as you’re the one claiming, against all evidence, that there’s nothing wrong with smoking.

            • bad12 8.3.3.1.1.1
              23 May 2014 at 9:52 pm

              Exactly where Draco do i claim ”that there is nothing wrong with smoking,???,

              My major claims are, that 10% of those who have or do use tobacco products and have a lung cancer at any time is not a reliable statistic that shows cause and effect when 90% of the users of the same product never have a lung cancer at any time,

              And,

              IF 50% of those who have ever used tobacco products will die of either a cancer or heart disease, SO WHAT, even treated in the most kind manner the statistics show that 49% of people who have never used tobacco products will also die of a cancer or heart disease…

              • Draco T Bastard …
                24 May 2014 at 1:27 am

                Exactly where Draco do i claim ”that there is nothing wrong with smoking,???,

                Really? You have to ask when you said it again in the same fucken comment?

                My major claims are, that 10% of those who have or do use tobacco products and have a lung cancer at any time is not a reliable statistic that shows cause and effect when 90% of the users of the same product never have a lung cancer at any time,

                As I said, you’ve got no fucken evidence to refute decades of evidence from the actual people who know what they’re talking about.

      • Puddleglum 8.3.4
        23 May 2014 at 1:41 pm

        Hi bad12,

        If somewhere between 16,000 to 24,000 of the 220,000 who are diagnosed with lung cancer have never touched a cigarette then I presume that means that some 196,000 to 204,000 of those diagnosed will have smoked at some time in their lives.

        I don’t see how this is a useful argument in defence of smoking as a personal habit unless rates of smoking and non-smoking in the population are consistent with the rates of developing lung cancer.

        Also, if only 10% of smokers develop lung cancer and 90% don’t it would be interesting to see the statistics on the % of smokers who develop heart disease, cardiovascular disease, emphysema, throat and mouth cancers, etc. and, therefore, what the overall ‘disease burden’ is from smoking.

        Further, given that lung cancer generally is diagnosed later on in life, it may well be that smokers disproportionately die from other diseases – at higher rates than non-smokers – before they are ‘able’ to develop it.

        It would also be interesting to see the statistics on rates of lung cancer in non-smokers – as high as 10%?

        Here’s a hint:

        “Lung cancer mainly occurs in older people. About 2 out of 3 people diagnosed with lung cancer are 65 or older; fewer than 2% of all cases are found in people younger than 45. The average age at the time of diagnosis is about 70.

        Overall, the chance that a man will develop lung cancer in his lifetime is about 1 in 13; for a woman, the risk is about 1 in 16. These numbers include both smokers and non-smokers. For smokers the risk is much higher, while for non-smokers the risk is lower.“

        • phillip ure 8.3.4.1
          23 May 2014 at 2:39 pm

          well..that’s a slam-dunk on the resident tobacco-pimp..

          • bad12 8.3.4.1.1
            23 May 2014 at 6:34 pm

            So says the resident dope-whore…

            • phillip ure 8.3.4.1.1.1
              24 May 2014 at 8:22 am

              “..the resident dope-whore…”

              yep..!..i will continue to strenuously argue the logic/healing-benefits of/from ending the specific madness of cannabis-prohibition..

              ..and our official ‘drug-culture’/treatment..in general..

              ..any day of the week..

              • bad12 …
                24 May 2014 at 10:39 am

                Mmmmm, yes sure Phillip while you studiously ignore the list of serious affects on the health of dope smokers from the Dr Tashkin link you had us look at last week…

        • bad12 8.3.4.2
          23 May 2014 at 7:10 pm

          Puddlegum, yep the fact that 10% of all new Lung Cancer diagnosis every year are from the population that have never smoked is a bit of a red herring,

          The more relevant statistic, 10% of smokers/ex smokers will get Lung Cancer is of greater relevance simply because in reverse it says that 90% of those who have ever smoked WILL NOT get Cancer of the Lungs,

          That’s a really ‘thin straw’ to advance don’t you think, the argument that users of tobacco products might die of something else ‘befor’ they can develop Lung Cancer, not quite advancing an argument that ”he died in a car crash but if he hadn’t he would have got Lung Cancer”,(and yes that’s taking the argument into the realm of absurdity as an example),but certainly heading in that direction,

          The statistics on smokers/ex smokers who die of ”other cancers” and ”heart disease”, hard to find, BUT lolz, acording to ASH and various other anti tobacco fanatics 50% of smokers/ex smokers will succumb to ”other cancers” and ”heart disease”,

          Why Lolz?, theres this, 29% of all deaths in New Zealand are due to various cancers,
          http://www.cancernz.org.nz/divisions/auckland/about/cancer-statistics

          And then there’s this, heart disease accounts for 40% of all deaths in New Zealand,
          http://www.heartfoundation.org.nz/our-work/about-us

          Put those two figures together and 69% of us all will die of either a cancer or a heart disease, now strip out the (old figures) of 20% of us that do or have smoked tobacco and what have you got,

          You have got the anti-smoking fanatics apparently lying through their teeth, strip out 20% for the smoking population from those figures and you have 49% of those who do not and never have smoked tobacco dying of heart disease and various cancers as opposed to the figure of 50%, so the anti-tobacco fanatics tell us of those who do or have used tobacco products who will die from exactly the same diseases,

          The above is me being kind, the old figure of 20% of the population either smoking or having done so is the total % of the population that i have stripped out of the 69% of population that will die from either heart disease or various cancers,

          As the anti tobacco fanatics have said that 50% of that total of population of users, 20% of the population, will die of those diseases it would have been far more correct for me to strip only half that smoking/have smoked population from that 69% figure,

          That of course would leave me stripping 10% as smokers/ex smokers from that 69% of total population meaning that 50% of smokers/ex smokers will die of heart disease/cancers while 59% of those who have never touched the stuff will die of the same…

      • Shrubbery 8.3.5
        23 May 2014 at 5:31 pm

        Congratulations, you’ve simultaneously failed at epidemiology, statistics, medicine and toxicology. The answer to your final question is obviously: they die of other things first. If they were somehow functionally immortal, they would eventually get lung cancer themselves.

        • bad12 8.3.5.1
          23 May 2014 at 6:36 pm

          Provide some proof of your assertion thanks, so far you have simply inserted the absurd into the argument…

        • bad12 8.3.5.2
          23 May 2014 at 7:57 pm

          Seriously, that is the most laughable assertion that i have ever seen inserted into the debate surrounding tobacco use,

          i keep coming back to your comment and having a little belly-laugh it is so absurd,

          90% of those who have or do use tobacco products DO NOT get Lung Cancer because they managed to die of something else befor they could, Lolz, Lolz, and Lolz again,

          And you reckon i failed at various things in my original comment…

          • JAK 8.3.5.2.1
            23 May 2014 at 8:26 pm

            There are factors other than tobacco smoke eg. Radon, genetic susceptibility, air pollution. The American Cancer Society website article “Why cancer strikes non-smokers” briefly discusses them.

            • bad12 8.3.5.2.1.1
              23 May 2014 at 9:15 pm

              Yes JAK, i have read the information about Radon etc, but, to introduce such things into a discussion about tobacco’s role in Lung Cancer is to simply introduce red herrings,

              Seriously, how do you get cause and effect from a statistic, when said in the reverse as i have,” 90% of those who have ever used tobacco products will not get Lung Cancer”

              How do you get cause and effect from the statistic when said as the negative,”10% of those who have ever used tobacco products will get Lung Cancer”

              i would suggest that in those statistics there is little cause and effect evident and that is why the anti tobacco fanatics switched to the ”50% of those who have or do use tobacco products will die of either a cancer or heart disease”

              Even when considered in the best light possible the figures for those who die of those very same things, cancers and heart disease, in the population who have never touched a cigarette at least match those of the figures for those who have or do use tobacco products, so where is the cause and effect…

  9. minarch 9
    23 May 2014 at 10:29 am

    are you a fish head ?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxq7hiHi1cE

    great film !

  10. greywarbler 10
    23 May 2014 at 10:39 am

    I put this up late on 21 May but nobody has commented so I bring it to attention again.

    While I was searching google for latest on shane jones I noticed the terrible choice of face photo of David Cunliffe. Who would be in a position to put up such an unflattering shot? He has a beard growth, he looks as if he is about to say something so his face is not composed, his eyes appear to be looking to the side, his face looks puffy. Compare to the PM and his carefully concocted camera shots. (stuff appears responsible.)

    The photo should be changed – it is unreasonable if it was stuff that downloaded all these.
    David Cunliffe public photos

    I went to some trouble to link but I see that the link hasn’t followed through so if anyone is interested and Labour people should be, I suggest you have a look in Open Mike towards the end. I have got an appointment so must go.

    • phillip ure 10.1
      23 May 2014 at 10:51 am

      that was cunnliffe during his ‘berlin-years’…

      ..(lot’s of ‘late-nites’..eh..?..)

      ..y’know..!..it was berlin..after all…

  11. Draco T Bastard 11
    23 May 2014 at 11:56 am

    IRD looks at ‘donation’ payments to private schools

    Inland Revenue has issued a Revenue Alert regarding payments being made to a small number of private schools and private childcare centres. The payments are being re-characterised as donations to charitable trusts, enabling people to make false claims for donations tax credits.

    The rich looking for more ways to rip everyone else off.

    • Tracey 11.1
      23 May 2014 at 12:05 pm

      A private school can be a charity? It’s a pretty defined section of society isn’t it? If I want my son to go to Kings College I have to be able to afford the fees… a public benefit?

      “In order for a purpose to be charitable, it must —

      fall within one of the four charitable purposes set out in section 5(1) of the Charities Act and
      provide a public benefit and
      not be aimed at creating private financial profit."

      • idlegus 11.1.1
        23 May 2014 at 12:55 pm

        years ago when the msm were mentioning that john key gave “half his salary to charity” i did read somewhere that the charity was his sons school.

      • Draco T Bastard 11.1.2
        23 May 2014 at 1:54 pm

        I read IRD’s press release as a warning to the schools and rich doing this to stop it. Personally, I think the IRD should just have come down on them like a tonne of bricks.

        • Tracey 11.1.2.1
          23 May 2014 at 3:03 pm

          they have provided a link for those under paying to pay back.

          i understand ird is telling them off, my point was that anyone could ever think it met the criteria for charities in the first instance. rebate is 33%?

  12. Pascal's bookie 12
    23 May 2014 at 12:30 pm

    meanwhile, on twitter, redbaiter is complaining that his favoured media outlets are filled with ads clearly aimed at morons.

  13. Tracey 13
    23 May 2014 at 12:32 pm

    Herald reportting

    “Former Minister Maurice Williamson asked a senior police officer to call him soon after receiving emails the police planned to release to the Herald which showed the politician had called the same officer about a National Party donor’s criminal case.”

    Not to influence them or anything, just to get advanced notice of something due to his preferential position as a cabinet member… unlike members of the public who have to wait until they read it in the paper or someone knocks on their door….

  14. Ben 14
    23 May 2014 at 12:37 pm

    Interesting CUE TV with 23 year old Todd Barclay on Youtube starts at 9.05 from their South Today News of 19 May, first time I have heard him – young, good looking, articulate, shame about his views and that is he is standing for National !
    http://goo.gl/E2ShWm

  15. Clemgeopin 15
    23 May 2014 at 1:14 pm

    Regarding the manure attack on Banks:

    I noticed an interesting aspect of that video. It is this: Just before the mud/manure throwing
    attack, Banks actually moves from the left to the right, so that the manure thrower has the best possible angle/position to hit. Lucky/Unlucky karma coincidence. Take a look at the initial part of the video to see what I mean.

    http://www.3news.co.nz/Banks-trial-gets-messy-before-it-begins/tabid/423/articleID/344872/Default.aspx

    • veutoviper 15.1
      23 May 2014 at 2:00 pm

      I also noticed that. Just coincidental and karma – or intentional? Or maybe the manure thrower called out to him and Banks was going to talk to him?

      I cannot recall where I read this, but immediately after the incident, a few people were speculating that it might be a set-up to get media coverage/sympathy for Banks. I personally don’t buy that theory.

      RNZ National news in the /middle of the night news reports on Monday morning had been reporting that there had been massive applications from media to attend the trial and report on it, so there was always going to be wide media coverage.

    • Draco T Bastard 15.2
      23 May 2014 at 2:01 pm

      That seems to be so that he could avoid the cameraman standing in his path.

  16. geoff 16
    23 May 2014 at 1:25 pm

    Now here’s a story:

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/245214/private-schools'-tax-loophole-exposed

    Some parents of children attending private schools have been claiming school fees are donations to charitable trusts and getting tax credits.

    “… some parents could potentially claim back $20,000 in fees for each child.”

    • Clemgeopin 16.1
      23 May 2014 at 1:45 pm

      That practice is THEFT, pure and simple. No amount of BS or spin can excuse this CORRUPT practice. Any one with a basic common sense can see it for what it is. a CRIME.

      The department’s group tax counsel Graham Tubb said it also meant schools were not paying GST on the fees. Mr Tubb described it as incorrect practice rather than a tax rort.
      “It’s a little bit of a double-whammy isn’t it. The crown misses out on the GST on what would normally be the school fees and we pay a donation tax credit out to the parents” he said.

      No, not an ‘incorrect’ practice as Tubb describes, but definitely a RORT. The list of schools and the people involved in this serious offense should be exposed, their names publicised, heavily fined. All those guilty should also be made to pay back all that is due with interest.

      It is a shameful and serious issue.I do not understand why this corrupt ‘practice’ should be dealt with leniently and the people involved protected from publicity and punishment.

      • phillip ure 16.1.1
        23 May 2014 at 2:00 pm

        and a lot of those people..out of the other side of their mouths..

        ..would bang on about ‘bludging-benificiaries’…

        ..and let’s not forget that tax big-picture snapshot..

        ..that depending on who you talk to .. between $2.5 and/or $5 billion dollars..

        ..is criminally-avoided by the richest..(not including legal-rorts..this is all criminal-avoidance..)

        ..each and every year..

        .now..that is pretty fucked..i reckon..

        ..and if i cd just repeat my formula to ‘fix’ that:..

        ..after the election/change of govt..an amnesty should be announced/widely publicised..(tv/radio/online-ads etc..)..

        ..this can be for three-six months..

        ..and during this time..these people who are doing this..should be offered the opportunity to come forward..come clean..and just pay the taxes owed..with no penalties…

        ..at the same time introduce legislation ramping up the penalties for criminal tax avoidance..

        ..(both in fines..and custodial..)

        ..this legislation to come into effect when the amnesty ends..

        ..and the amnesty comes cloaked in an iron fist..

        ..’cos the promise is that after that amnesty expires..the tax dept will go gangbusters..

        ..hunting down those still doing this..

        ..a couple of 1%ers tossed into the slammer..

        ..should do the trick/shake the tree enough..

        ..i reckon..

    • Puddleglum 16.2
      23 May 2014 at 1:47 pm

      Well, that considerably undermines the argument that parents who do this ‘pay twice’ for their children’s education (once through school fees and once through general taxation).

      That argument has been part of the justification for taxpayer money being used to support private schools and schooling.

  17. Penny Bright 17
    23 May 2014 at 1:46 pm

    ‘Dodgy John is going …going … going …..’

    I tried to get on Sean Plonker’s show to remind them of THE LAW relating to the definition of ‘anonymous’ donations, as it applied in 2010.

    The producer wouldn’t let me on. As soon as I said my name – he cut me off.
    I rang back to ask why he did that and he cut me off again.

    I wasn’t actually expecting that PIVOTAL evidence – best evidence – directly from the horse’s (rat’s) mouth – John Banks’ recorded interview with Police.

    Banks has put his defence in the BLENDER, and even if David Jones QC was a superhuman Perry Mason on STEROIDS – there is no way he can turn that evidential ‘goatsh*t into honey’.

    Lying his teeth off to the Police?

    It wasn’t a ‘sworn statement’ – so it’s not subject to a perjury charge – but do you really think the Judge is going to like that?

    In my considered opinion, it is no longer a question of whether John Banks is going to be convicted – it’s for how long is he going to be imprisoned.

    We shall see…. Monday is more PIVOTAL evidence – the evidence of the CEO of Sky City – Nigel Morrison (from whom Banks ‘forgot’ he received a cheque which Nigel personally handed over, at a special meeting convened for just that purpose ……)

    Whose coming?

    Monday 26 May 2014, 10am Auckland High Court Waterloo Quadrant.

    Penny Bright

  18. phillip ure 18
    23 May 2014 at 2:05 pm

    “..The U.S. is using the ‘war on drugs’ throughout Latin America – mainly as an excuse to get boots on the ground..”

    “..In their latest article on U.S. government spying for The Intercept –

    Ryan Devereaux – Glenn Greenwald – and Laura Poitras-
    review and publish leaked documents –
    that show that the U.S. government may have used the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to aid the National Security Agency (NSA) –
    to spy on U.S. citizens and non-citizens in foreign countries.

    The NSA is shown to have assisted the DEA with efforts to capture narcotraffickers –

    but the leaked documents also refer to ‘a vibrant two-way information sharing relationship’ between the two intelligence agencies –
    implying that the DEA shares its information with the NSA to aid with non-drug-related spying.

    This may explain how the NSA has gathered not just metadata –

    but also the full-take audio from ‘virtually every cell phone conversation on the island nation of the Bahamas’..”

    (cont..)

    (ed:..i wonder if they are doing that here..

    ..what they are doing in the bahamas..)

    http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article38583.htm

  19. Marius 19
    23 May 2014 at 2:17 pm

    Greg ‘The Police must have guns / We don’t tolerate corruption in the police force’ O’Connor will have a reason for each and every one of those examples of police corruption and brutality. More and more the police of this country are modelling themselves on the screaming nutcase officers on ‘Cops’.

  20. JG 20
    23 May 2014 at 2:31 pm

    [deleted]

    [lprent: What does that have to do with donations? Banned for 8 weeks for diversion trolling. Comments off topic deleted. Be a fuckwit elsewhere. ]

    • Tracey 20.1
      23 May 2014 at 2:46 pm

      can they not go to their local public school and avoid the unfairness you just invented?

      can you name the private schools that get no government funding. tia.

      • JG 20.1.1
        23 May 2014 at 2:48 pm

        They can, but that will cost taxpayers an additional amount, unless you think they can all be absorbed into the public system for free.

        • Tracey 20.1.1.1
          23 May 2014 at 3:09 pm

          so, its not really about unfairness, is it? and people dont send their kids to private schools to save tax payers money do they?

          its about 30-40% govt funded, doesnt have to publish results, doesnt have to comply with stuff public schools do, and make up about 3% of school children.

          • JG 20.1.1.1.1
            23 May 2014 at 3:15 pm

            Nice red herrings.

            The fact is taxpayers do save money, for whatever reason.

            Of course they have to publish results and comply with the same regulations as public schools.

            I’m not a massive supporter of public schools per se, but why shouldn’t parents be able to use their kid’s education allowance (let’s call it) to go to school wherever they like?

            I honestly don’t understand this massive opposition to private schools (or it seems any kind of school that happens to be a bit different).

            • Draco T Bastard 20.1.1.1.1.1
              23 May 2014 at 3:22 pm

              I’m not a massive supporter of public schools per se, but why shouldn’t parents be able to use their kid’s education allowance (let’s call it) to go to school wherever they like?

              Because it costs more.

              I honestly don’t understand this massive opposition to private schools (or it seems any kind of school that happens to be a bit different).

              Ah, the cry of the ignorant. Every public school in NZ is different to every other public school.

              • JG …
                23 May 2014 at 3:29 pm

                Why does it cost more? It would cost less if schools were forced to improve.

                Your second statement is meaningless in the context.

                • Colonial Viper …
                  23 May 2014 at 3:31 pm

                  Also JG either you are a liar or ignorant. I’d say both. Are you even a NZer?

                  You said

                  Of course they have to publish results and comply with the same regulations as public schools.

                  But the truth is completely different

                  Differences from state schools

                  Private schools can charge fees and they are not required to follow the Government’s National Education Guidelines. This means that they do not have to follow the New Zealand Curriculum or comply with the National Standards’ requirements.

                  Instead, private schools have the freedom to choose an appropriate curriculum and they have a contract between the persons paying for the tuition of the child at the school (generally the parents) and the school’s governing body.

                  Now fuck off.

                  • Tracey …
                    23 May 2014 at 3:52 pm

                    well so far hes been wrong about most things he thought so it kind of makes sense that he doesnt understand.

            • Colonial Viper 20.1.1.1.1.2
              23 May 2014 at 3:29 pm

              Let’s state a simple principle – being monied should not allow a parent to buy their child into an elite private school system that 90% of NZ children cannot afford to attend.

              I honestly don’t understand this massive opposition to private schools (or it seems any kind of school that happens to be a bit different).

              That’s because you are a shill for wealthy privilege, not someone who understands what was a top performing NZ education system before you and your mates fucked it in double time.

            • Tracey 20.1.1.1.1.3
              23 May 2014 at 3:33 pm

              not true. if a private school runs cambridge it does not have to publish results. i understand nat standards dont apply to them and YOU are the one who said it was unfair that private school kids get “NO” government funding.

            • Tracey 20.1.1.1.1.4
              23 May 2014 at 3:36 pm

              i honestly dont understand why anyone would try to steal from nzers by pretending sending tgeir child to a private school is charitable and entitles them to a 33% income rebate, ergo, taxpayers 30-40% of fee directly and parent gets a further 33% from taxpayers through rebate.

      • JG 20.1.2
        23 May 2014 at 3:01 pm

        Apologies I didn’t see your edit. Fair point – I stand corrected – but the govt subsidy of around $1000-$2000 per pupil per annum is a fraction of the equivalent public school amount.

        http://www.theage.com.au/comment/why-funding-private-schools-is-a-smart-idea-20140203-31×70.html

        • Draco T Bastard 20.1.2.1
          23 May 2014 at 3:24 pm

          Why are you linking to an Australian RWNJ mag?

          • Colonial Viper 20.1.2.1.1
            23 May 2014 at 3:33 pm

            Because its a foreigner who thinks NZ is part of Australia

            Fucking incompetence. Whatever the PR/Trolling company is charging the Tories, they’re not providing value for money.

          • Tracey 20.1.2.1.2
            23 May 2014 at 3:41 pm

            because its the only way he can claim a 30-40% subsidy from govt is a “fraction” of public school funding.

            and lets not forget the religious indoctrination.

        • SpaceMonkey 20.1.2.2
          23 May 2014 at 3:46 pm

          All private schools in NZ receive some operational funding from the Government but it is a fraction of the amount given to public schools. This is to reflect the “saving” to the public education system of a student attending a private school. It also ensures these schools comply with the national curriculum and reporting requirements as set out by the Ministry of Education.

          • Tracey 20.1.2.2.1
            23 May 2014 at 3:56 pm

            its 30-40% and they dont have to publish cambridge or nat standard results.

            if they claim their school is a charity, as some are, they get a 33% rebate on the total fees, so its not a “fraction” but does point to tge mindset of some who send their kids to private schools.

    • TeWhareWhero 20.2
      23 May 2014 at 3:09 pm

      “If you were consistent you’d point out how unfair it is that kids in private schools get NO government funding, unlike their public schooled contemporaries.”

      That’s not true – independent schools DO get some government funding and they exist within and utilise infrastructure largely provided by the State using social capital. And that’s aside from the various tax dodges that can be utilised by the schools, parents and employers who pay all or part of school fees as a part of executive pay packages.

      Look at the International Schools Foundation Scholarships as an example of the ways that private schools, corporations and their executives get round tax laws.

      • JG 20.2.1
        23 May 2014 at 3:16 pm

        Employers paying school fees would incur fringe benefit tax.

        As The Age article says ‘the fact that such schools exist frees up funds that governments can then redirect to their own schools’.

        Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/why-funding-private-schools-is-a-smart-idea-20140203-31×70.html#ixzz32VNGYMyr

        • TeWhareWhero 20.2.1.1
          23 May 2014 at 3:19 pm

          I assume this is the Kevin Donnelly who

          “is a critic of Labor’s education reforms, including the Gonski review and was also chief of staff to cabinet minister Kevin Andrews in 2004.

          In 2008 he established the Education Standards Institute in Melbourne and is also a senior research fellow at the Australian Catholic University.

          On the Education Standard’s Institute’s website, it says it “favours an education system based on standards, equity, diversity and choice and the values and institutions that promote liberty, democracy, an open and free society and a commitment to Christian beliefs and values”.

          His views on religion, homosexuality and gender in education have divided opinion and caused widespread criticism over his appointment as co-head of the review into the national school curriculum with Ken Wiltshire.”

    • Draco T Bastard 20.3
      23 May 2014 at 3:19 pm

      Rich idiots spending money on their children’s education that they don’t need to spend is entirely their choice. It has nothing to do with us.

      • Colonial Viper 20.3.1
        23 May 2014 at 3:35 pm

        You asked why and the comment went into moderation – its a foreigner who thinks NZ and Australia are the same country.

  22. Puckish Rogue 22
    23 May 2014 at 2:53 pm

    Well I’ve been too busy to participate but I’m wondering if this will get its own thread:

    http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/5597-roy-morgan-new-zealand-voting-intention-may-22-2014-201405220454

    “National (45.5%) regains lead over Labour/ Greens (44%) after Finance Minister Bill English delivers sixth Budget and projects a Budget surplus this year of $372 million – the first NZ Budget surplus since 2008”

    Probably not I’m guessing 😉

    • phillip ure 22.1
      23 May 2014 at 2:59 pm

      you’re easily excited..aren’t you..?

      ..done and dusted..is it..?

      ..dream on tiger..!

      • Puckish Rogue 22.1.1
        23 May 2014 at 3:02 pm

        More curious as to whether it’ll get its own thread like the previous poll got, to be honest whether Labour or National are in power my personal circumstances won’t noticably change

    • fender 22.2
      23 May 2014 at 3:00 pm

      Yeah it’s a shame you took annual leave just when Judith took acid and thought she could fly…

      • Puckish Rogue 22.2.1
        23 May 2014 at 3:03 pm

        According to the Roy Morgan poll not many people give two hoots about JC

        • Tracey 22.2.1.1
          23 May 2014 at 3:20 pm

          its a shame if you are right that people dont care about any politician behaving as she did, and god knows theres been many over the decades.

    • Puddleglum 22.3
      23 May 2014 at 4:40 pm

      I actually thought that was quite encouraging for the left given the polling period included the budget coverage which tended to emphasise the social support measures and was largely positive.

      The budget was an important campaign shot for National yet it hasn’t been a game-changer it seems.

      • phillip ure 22.3.1
        23 May 2014 at 5:03 pm

        all they have left now..it more of the same same..

        ..and that is looking pretty threadbare..

        ..so all of nationals’ campaign(ing) will be attack! attack! attack..!

        ..and labour should tackle that head on..

        ..’labour..the ‘scary’ party..that ran surpluses for nine years..’

        ..’labour..the ‘scary’ party..that got unemployment down to (whatever it was at lowest)..’

        ..use humour against the humourless bastards..

        ..that’ll really fuck with their heads..

        ..’cos they can’t do humour..

        (it’s that s.o.h. byepass @ birth..eh..?..

        ..poor bastards..!..eh..?..

        ..you almost feel sorry for them..for that..)

  23. Penny Bright 23
    23 May 2014 at 3:17 pm

    Thanks to the ‘John Banks case’ – the Local Electoral Act 2001 was amended.

    http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2001/0035/latest/DLM5315333.html

    However – the LAW regarding the definition of ‘anonymous’ in December 2010, when John Banks signed his 2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate return, was, as I understand it:

    anonymous, in relation to an electoral donation, means a donation that is made in such a way that the candidate who receives the donation—

    does not know the identity of the donor;

    FYI – here are the amendments to the Local Electoral Act 2001 covering electoral donations and expenses and related matters, so those who are interested, can ‘seek truth from FACTS’?

    Part 5

    Electoral donations and expenses

    Subpart 1—Electoral donations

    103A Interpretation
    103B Donations and contributions include GST
    103C Donations to be transmitted to candidate
    103D Contributors to be identified
    103E Offence relating to contravention of section 103D
    103F Identity of donor to be disclosed by transmitter, if known
    103G Offence relating to contravention of section 103F
    103H Disclosure of identity of donor
    103I Offence relating to contravention of section 103H
    103J Anonymous donation may not exceed $1,500
    103K Offence relating to contravention of section 103J
    103L Records of electoral donations

    Subpart 2—Electoral expenses

    104 Interpretation
    105 Periods for claiming and paying expenses
    106 Procedure if claim disputed
    107 Leave to pay claim after time limited
    108 Payments to be vouched by bill
    109 Return of electoral expenses [Repealed]
    110 Return to be open for public inspection [Repealed]
    111 Maximum amount of electoral expenses
    112 Apportionment of electoral expenses
    112AA Offence to pay electoral expenses in excess of relevant prescribed maximum

    Subpart 3—Return of electoral donations and expenses

    112A Return of electoral donations and expenses
    112B Nil return
    112C Failure to file return of electoral donations and expenses
    112D Filing a false return of electoral donations and expenses
    112E Obligation to retain records necessary to verify return
    112F Return of electoral donations and expenses to be open for public inspection

    This is NOT a complicated case.

    The very simple question is, as I understand it:

    Did John Banks, as a 2010 Auckland Mayoral candidate, know that Kim Dotcom and Sky City Entertainment Ltd had made a donation to his electoral campaign?

    If he did – then those donations should not have been listed as ‘anonymous’.

    ” anonymous, in relation to an electoral donation, means a donation that is made in such a way that the candidate who receives the donation—

    does not know the identity of the donor;”

    Penny Bright

  24. Tracey 24
    23 May 2014 at 4:07 pm

    john key misleading parliament again by pretending to know what he is talking about? this time in answer to a question in parliament this week about help for newborn babies.

    https://www.greens.org.nz/press-releases/officials-scramble-cover-pm

  25. karol 25
    23 May 2014 at 5:09 pm

    The latest article on Briefing Papers, by Ian Shirley, Prof of Public Policy at AUT, has some background to the economic policies that now dominates NZ government, and its relationship to polciies on welfare and employment.

    He outlines two strands in NZ’s public policy history, adopted from the UK: the deserving/undeserving poor approach and the 1930 social security approach.

    Then explains the impact of the shift to Rogernomics:

    Investment in New Zealand manufacturing declined by almost 50% between 1985 and 1989 and by 1991 registered unemployment represented 11% of the total workforce.
    {…]
    New Zealand’s economy was once controlled by producers- today it is dominated by moneylenders and dealers. Buying and selling companies has become more important than selling products. New Zealand once led the world because of its distinctive social policy arrangements only to lose its way since the mid-1980s with policy initiatives that have undermined individual and social security.

  26. freedom 26
    23 May 2014 at 5:11 pm

    budget assessment update from across the ditch
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq_7lNALyGw

  27. North 27
    23 May 2014 at 6:05 pm

    With the headline “Documents back MP” the Stuff website reports thus –

    “Ousted minister Maurice Williamson had indeed contacted police before on behalf of constituents.”

    Click to the actual article – http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10077636/Williamson-took-up-more-causes-with-police – you do not find any vindication/sanitisation of Williamson’s actions regarding the National Party donor Liu.

    What you do find is confirmation that on behalf of constituents Williamson has previously contacted the police in circumstances which do not scream of the advancement of the financial interests of the National Party.

    Which am I to understand ? (1) The writer of the headline “Documents back MP” seeks by use of false soundbite to whitewash Williamson’s actions in the Liu case, or (2) the headline writer is so thick as to be unable to locate ‘non sequitur’ in the dictionary.

    • bad12 27.1
      23 May 2014 at 7:26 pm

      “The rule of thumb” so i am told is that Ministers nor MP’s are permitted to contact police inquiring about any charges an individual may or may not be charged with,

      Williamson is obviously a serial offender in at least the vein of ”the Silver spoon” gave him the right to intervene, and, obviously doesn’t deserve to be an MP,

      Having said that, i wondered while listening to the story unfold on RadioNz National today whether there is not a move afoot to try and leverage Maurice out the back door of the Parliament via a resignation over such interference in police business,

      Colon Craig needs an electorate to safely stand in and it doesn’t look like McCully will give His up without a hell of a scrap…

  28. greywarbler 28
    23 May 2014 at 8:55 pm

    I have just had an idea for a small entrepreneurial biscuit – making company. The Chinese have fortune cookies with a paper enclosed that gives some idea of what might happen to you. Befre the Budget each year there could be special ‘fortune’ cookies with different predictions in them that people sell at flea markets and farmers markets. It would be a special short-term thing at Budget time like the once a year Girl Guide biscuit sale

    So go for it you entrepreneurs – it would be fun and you could think of some great predictions. You would have to get the mix right, not too wet and thick enough to enclose the folded? slip with the idea. Perhaps shortbread would do it, and the idea on greaseproof paper. There could even be a special mix coloured dark brown with rather ribald slogans in it. (I’m a biscuit fan so I’d go with this one.)

  29. Draco T Bastard 29
    24 May 2014 at 1:24 am

    Wonder what the B/C ratio will be for National’s roads when people are taking the lift to work.

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    Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • How to Screen Record on a Dell Laptop A Guide to Capturing Your Screen with Ease
    Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • How Much Does it Cost to Fix a Laptop Screen? Navigating Repair Options and Costs
    A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • How Long Do Gaming Laptops Last? Demystifying Lifespan and Maximizing Longevity
    Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Climate Change: Turning the tide
    The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • How to Unlock Your Computer A Comprehensive Guide to Regaining Access
    Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Faxing from Your Computer A Modern Guide to Sending Documents Digitally
    While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Protecting Your Home Computer A Guide to Cyber Awareness
    In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Server-Based Computing Powering the Modern Digital Landscape
    In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
    Gareth’s WorldBy admin
    2 days ago

  • Vroom vroom go the big red trucks
    The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Jones finds $410,000 to help the government muscle in on a spat project
    Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Again, hate crimes are not necessarily terrorism.
    Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    2 days ago

  • Despair – construction consenting edition
    Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Coalition promises – will the Govt keep the commitment to keep Kiwis equal before the law?
    Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • An impermanent public service is a guarantee of very little else but failure
    Chris Trotter writes –  The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • What happens after the war – Mariupol
    Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    2 days ago

  • Babies and benefits – no good news
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three.  ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Should the RBNZ be looking through climate inflation?
    Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours, as of 9:16 am on Thursday, April 18 are:Housing: Tauranga residents living in boats, vans RNZ Checkpoint Louise TernouthHousing: Waikato councillor says wastewater plant issues could hold up Sleepyhead building a massive company town Waikato Times Stephen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the public sector carnage, and misogyny as terrorism
    It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • Meeting the Master Baiters
    Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • How extreme was the Earth's temperature in 2023
    This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blog In 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Backbone, revisited
    The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Ministers are not above the law
    Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • What’s the outfit you can hear going down the gurgler? Probably it’s David Parker’s Oceans Sec...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point  of Order first heard of the Oceans Secretariat in June 2021, when David Parker (remember him?) announced a multi-agency approach to protecting New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and fisheries. Parker (holding the Environment, and Oceans and Fisheries portfolios) broke the news at the annual Forest & ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Bryce Edwards writes  – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Matt Doocey doubles down on trans “healthcare”
    Citizen Science writes –  Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • A TikTok Prime Minister.
    One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Texas Lessons
    This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's pick 'n' mix of the news links at 6:06 am
    The top six news links I’ve seen elsewhere in the last 24 hours as of 6:06 am on Wednesday, April 17 are:Must read: Secrecy shrouds which projects might be fast-tracked RNZ Farah HancockScoop: Revealed: Luxon has seven staffers working on social media content - partly paid for by taxpayer Newshub ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Fighting poverty on the holiday highway
    Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Bernard's six-stack of substacks at 6:26 pm
    Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • At a glance – Is the science settled?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Apposite Quotations.
    How Long Is Long Enough? Gaza under Israeli bombardment, July 2014. This posting is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 days ago

  • What’s a life worth now?
    You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Howling at the Moon
    Karl du Fresne writes –  There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Newshub is Dead.
    I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Seymour is chuffed about cutting early-learning red tape – but we hear, too, that Jones has loose...
    Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Will politicians let democracy die in the darkness?
    Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago

  • Was Hawkesby entirely wrong?
    David Farrar  writes –  The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • PRC shadow looms as the Solomons head for election
    PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time. A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change: Criminal ecocide
    We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Last year was (again) the hottest year on record. NOAA has just announced another global coral bleaching event. Floods are threatening UK food security. So naturally, Shane Jones wants to make it easier to mine coal: Resources Minister Shane Jones ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Is saving one minute of a politician's time worth nearly $1 billion?
    Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • PM’s South East Asia mission does the business
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago

  • $41m to support clean energy in South East Asia
    New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago

  • Minister releases Fast-track stakeholder list
    The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago

  • Judicial appointments announced
    Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • Education Minister heads to major teaching summit in Singapore
    Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa.  The summit is co-hosted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago

  • Value of stopbank project proven during cyclone
    A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago

  • Anzac commemorations, Türkiye relationship focus of visit
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul.    “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago

  • Minister to Europe for OECD meeting, Anzac Day
    Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government commits $20m to Westport flood protection
    The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Taupō takes pole position
    The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Cost of living support for low-income homeowners
    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners.  “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government backing mussel spat project
    The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government focused on getting people into work
    Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Clean energy key driver to reducing emissions
    The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Earthquake-prone buildings review brought forward
    The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Thailand and NZ to agree to Strategic Partnership
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Government consults on extending coastal permits for ports
    RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Inflation coming down, but more work to do
    Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • School attendance restored as a priority in health advice
    Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Unnecessary bureaucracy cut in oceans sector
    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Patterson promoting NZ’s wool sector at International Congress
    Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector.    "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Removing red tape to help early learners thrive
    The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • RMA changes to cut coal mining consent red tape
    Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • McClay reaffirms strong NZ-China trade relationship
    Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Prime Minister Luxon acknowledges legacy of Singapore Prime Minister Lee
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.   Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • PMs Luxon and Lee deepen Singapore-NZ ties
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.  During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Antarctica New Zealand Board appointments
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner.  The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Finance Minister travels to Washington DC
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.  “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Pet bonds a win/win for renters and landlords
    The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Long Tunnel for SH1 Wellington being considered
    State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns Iranian strikes
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel.    “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says.    "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Huge interest in Government’s infrastructure plans
    Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Health Minister thanks outgoing Health New Zealand Chair
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board.   “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti.  “I have asked her to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Roads of National Significance planning underway
    The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Navigating an unstable global environment
    New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.   “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States.    “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ welcomes Australian Governor-General
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Pseudoephedrine back on shelves for Winter
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