Lincoln University’s professor of agribusiness Keith Woodford estimates that half of dairy exports have been affected.
Source: RadioNZ
The government says no retaliatory protections are envisioned for NZ industry.
In other news the government of economic traitors favours Chinese train builders over the local rail industry.
So in practice under “Free Trade”, the bigger more powerful country gets all the advantage while the leaders of the small country get to prostrate our workforce and our economy before them.
But hasn’t this always been the way?
Even under the Brits in the 19th century when British imperialism was in it’s ascendency the struggle between the “Free Traders” and those in favour of “Tarriff Reform” was played out. Where the strong country Britain set the terms of trade for their dominions, which were then administered by local saptraps. (Just as in modern New Zealand).
By sucking up to the superpower of the day the local mercantile ruling elite benefit at the expense of the rest of the local population. As a result of this craven foreign trade policy, the local elite, get to lead lives of privilege while the rest of us are turned into unemployed or low paid serfs in our own land and the local Maharajas, (Jonkey and co.), working in with their foreign partners live it up.
So in practice under “Free Trade”, the bigger more powerful country gets all the advantage while the leaders of the small country get to prostrate our workforce and our economy before them.
Yep and that’s why we’re worse off now after three decades of neo-liberal policies. The economists even know that the smaller economy in the relationship will always be worse off.
By sucking up to the superpower of the day the local mercantile ruling elite benefit at the expense of the rest of the local population.
Well, they’re kept in power and are reasonably well rewarded for selling out their country but they don’t do as well as the foreign over-lords.
China is smarter at playing the Free Trade game in their own interests than we are. In fact we are shit at it because we naively believe that there is such a thing as even playing field, everyone gets a fair go “free trade”.
It’s a funny old world when Ken Mair comes across as the voice of reason, but his description of Hone’s meltdown last night is spot on:
‘Mr Mair said the change in line-up wasn’t a “cover-up” and Mr Harawira had gone too far.
“Once again, that’s the style of Hone,” he said. “I was taken back by his rather aggressive style, his swearing. I don’t think it’s appropriate in this type of forum; in particular in front of children and some of our kuia [senior women].”‘
That nicely echoes my comment on the ‘Turia’ post that Hone will lose because of his unparalleled ability to annoy mature voters. The young will support him, but as they’re not on the roll, that’s no help to him now. Maybe, by November, his supporters will get the message and enrol, which could make the vote then closer, but for now, he’s toast.
That bullshitting poacher turned gamekeeper Ken Mair, Vice-President of the Maori Party, needn’t nut off about Hone Harawira using the words “bullshit Maori Party tactics” re Solomon’s failure to turn up at the Tai Tokerau education hui last night.
The very same Ken Mair of Moutoua Gardens fame, the menacing, shrill hacksaw voiced dork who had the gathered at Waitangi a few years ago pissing themselves at his self-centred “freestyle” haka.
The idiot who had violent insurgent written all over him, who didn’t give a stuff how many kuia of whatever stripe, or kids, were present when he got off his chain as it suited him.
Hone says “bullshit” and Mair’s clutching his pearls like some startled Edwardian dowager.
There’s none like the converted……….for rank hypocrisy that is.
Away with you Ken Mair…….you egg. You’re not a fraction of the fulla Hone is !
I met Ken Mair on Pakaitore (Moutoa Gardens) during the last days of the occupation in ’95. Despite the tension, the personal attacks he was under, the pressure from his own supporters, he was very welcoming to me and my whanau and took time out to show us around and explain the dispute from his perspective. He was rational, calm and forgiving of my limited understanding of their ties to the river I grew up next to. He was clearly not at all the person maligned in the media or indeed, by you, North.
But perhaps you know Mair better than me or maybe his comment last night just show how far he has come and how far Hone has to go?
Well right back at ya Voice Of Reason………my personal experience of Hone Harawira tells me, using your own words Voice, that Hone Harawira “…..is clearly not at all the person maligned in the media, or indeed by…….” you Voice or by Ken Mair.
Remains that Mair is hardly one to engage such piety over the word “bullshit”, particularly given that Harawira has never come within cooey of Mair’s excesses.
A double standard is hardly the voice of reason Voice of Reason.
“……Mair’s clutching his pearls like some startled Edwardian dowager” … best visual of the year so far ! Thank you for the laughter in the grey drear of it all !
Hey doofus I am 55 and am the proud father of a 5 week old, just because anyone is over 50 they are not dead. I applaud Tipene for standing up and probably doing something that is probably new to him. And all he gets is ” he’s a silly old man” yada yada yada. Hey Millsy come and say it to my face and I WILL show you where moses bought his beer. fucking tosser.
Well maybe you should be a little more careful in some of the generalisations you are making ie he’s 56, he’s a grandfather And as PP can also attest that acting our age is one of the last things we want to do. So say he’s a racist shit head or a what ever and I will keep quiet call any other politician and depending on who they are and i may respond, and not nastily. What got my goat was the inference that at 56 everyone should sit back, and rock their grand children to sleep and act our age.
BTW how is a 56 year old supposed to act like ? what age should i act? you see the endless possibilities in a debate on that fact alone.
Bloody hell! Im eighty and still chasing my lovely wife ,and sometimes catch her.
However it was Charlie Chaplin who squashed all the old wives tale about us old wrinklies. He was born just around the corner from where I was born so perhaps a bit has brushed off ? hopefully !
pink postman – Ooh this is good stuff. You can rely on The Standard for lively anecdotes and repartee with style (and pearls). But when it comes to DF it’s pearls before swine!
That’s pretty encouraging. The production volumes they outlined, if achieved, will make a big difference to the viability of the industry come oil price shocks.
In the new ecology of political discourse, special-interest contributors of the large sums of money now required for the privilege of addressing voters on a wholesale basis are not squeamish about asking for the quo they expect in return for their quid. Politicians who don’t acquiesce don’t get the money they need to be elected and re-elected. And the impact is doubled when special interests make clear — usually bluntly — that the money they are withholding will go instead to opponents who are more than happy to pledge the desired quo. Politicians have been racing to the bottom for some time, and are presently tunneling to new depths. It is now commonplace for congressmen and senators first elected decades ago — as I was — to comment in private that the whole process has become unbelievably crass, degrading and horribly destructive to the core values of American democracy.
And the US does have rules and regulations that, supposedly, control lobbyists etc. I suppose the question now is, are we going to demand that our politicians put in place even stronger rules on transparency? Can’t really expect so from this government as the last time such transparency and regulation was tried we got a faux Democracy Under Attack meme from them that was supported by the MSM.
Interesting little confrontation on NewstalkZB this morning (23.6.11)
NewstalkZB, Thursday 23 June 2011, 7:40 a.m.
Mike Hosking and Alasdair Thompson vs. Helen Kelly
Catherine Delahunty’s new Equal Pay Bill has drawn the ire of two of the National government’s biggest supporters: the Employers and Manufacturers Association and NewstalkZB. Time to get one of those lefty pinko commies onto the programme and deal to her, tag-team fashion.
Whoops! Not only was it was a bad idea, and (as we shall see) badly executed, it never had a chance. Alasdair Thompson up against Helen Kelly? That’s a mis-match made in Employer Hell…
Helen Kelly begins the discussion by pointing out that the statistics are irrefutable, and show women get lower pay across the board. This prompts Thompson to launch into a windy tirade about the “unreliability of statistics” and the “myth” that women get lower pay. Whenever Kelly tries to talk, he shouts her down, and talks relentlessly. Thompson is aided and abetted in this strategy by Hosking, whose contribution consists of thoughtfully saying “Mmmm, yeah” to show he agrees with everything Thompson says.
But Helen Kelly is not one to be intimidated and shut down by such behaviour. Last year she faced down the bully-boys and girls from Peter Jackson Inc., South Pacific Pictures, Warner Bros. and the National government. So a windy and incoherent haranguing from somebody like Alasdair Thompson was never going to de-rail her. She finally insists on being heard, and makes him stop…
KELLY: You can try to talk over me and stop me from speaking, but you won’t succeed. If women and men are equal as you say, why are aged care workers, who do incredibly difficult and responsible work, paid minimum wage?
THOMPSON: That’s got NOTHING to do with them being women! It’s just an all-woman job, that’s why!
HOSKING: Mmm. yeah. You can’t argue with that!
THOMPSON: Look, you have to realize something. Women are different from men.
HOSKING: Mmmm, yeah.
THOMPSON: They get paid less than men do because once a month they, uh, they have, uh, well, they have “sick problems”.
HOSKING: Mmmm, yeah.
THOMPSON: They get pregnant, and have babies. And then they have to stay home and look after sick children.
HOSKING: Mmmm, yeah.
THOMPSON: I don’t like to say this, because it looks like I’m a sexist.
KELLY: Of course. I’m glad you said it, Alasdair. I let you go on and on with that one.
Silence. Even the insensitive and brusque Alisdair Thompson realises he has just been horribly and publicly owned.
HOSKING: Alasdair Thompson and Helen Kelly, thank you very much!
——————————————————–
But that’s not the end of it. Although he has been quite incapable of formulating any response to Helen Kelly while she was on air, Hosking has one more way of getting at her—he can read out any number of hateful texts and e-mails, purportedly from listeners…
HOSKING: “It seems like a bill rooted in feminist ideology”, says this text. This one says: “HELEN KELLY, WHAT A MUPPET!” And there are many more like this! It’s ten to eight!
Interesting fact: NewstalkZB’s slogan is “Fair and Balanced”.
I’ve noticed this tactic from Nats used alot by their MPs in media debates – they talk over their opponents, interrupt with any old argument they can throw out – which doesn’t matter to them because they don’t allow time for the opposition to respond to point out their factual errors and/or ideological slant.
Nikki Kaye has used it against Jacinda Ardern in the debates between them on Citizen A – at least, she used it in the first debate, but Jacinda (and Bomber) were wise to it. In the second debate, Jacinda was more proactive about getting her points across, including telling Kaye calmly but assertively not to interrupt when Kaye did so. Kaye looked a little put out and lost when she wasn’t able to bulldoze through with her lines.
Although, this didn’t stop Kaye by claiming, in her final word, that National had a better record and more committment to public transport in Auckland than Labour.
FFS, as a westie, I noticed the improvement under the Labour-led government in rail transport & station upgrades from the western areas into the city. And National is STILL more committed to their RONS than public transport. Nats think they can swear blue is red and no-one will notice if they talk louder & don’t let the opposition get a word in.
And as for Kaye repeatedly claiming that Nats were not ideologically-driven…..???!!
they talk over their opponents, interrupt with any old argument they can throw out – which doesn’t matter to them because they don’t allow time for the opposition to respond to point out their factual errors and/or ideological slant
The problem stems from the incompetence or bias of the host (in this case, Mike Hosking). A decent and impartial host would have kept the conversation on track. Hosking made no attempt at all to be fair or impartial; in fact, he slavishly endorsed everything Thompson said.
Nikki Kaye used it in the first debate, but Jacinda (and Bomber) were wise to it
I’m impressed by Jacinda Ardern. She’s tough, and regularly shows up Simon Bridges as shallow, vague and poorly prepared. On National Radio last year, Bomber politely but persistently challenged some false statements by Murray McCully’s vile ex-squeeze Michele Boag, reducing her to spluttering incoherence. Obviously Boag doesn’t come across many people brave enough to take her on.
What are the grounds for filing a BSA complaint against Mike ‘Mmmm yeah’ Hosking who effectively encouraged the dissemination of such bad view and attitude by failing to poke and probe Thompson ?
You can file any BSA complaint you want, whether there are grounds or not. The BSA then review it and judge it.
I filed one against The Edge for promoting pot at 8:20am when I was driving to work. The authority said it was very close, but on balance they decided to reject the complaint.
I think if I had pointed out that they were exerting significant amounts of peer-pressure on a fellow radio worker to eat a cannabis muffin and that this was a bad example for children, that they probably would have upheld the complaint. Unfortunately I didn’t consider that angle until after I’d sent the form off.
The thing for Thompson to do … the thing for Thompson – who is a man who doesn’t have “sick problems”, doesn’t get pregnant and have babies, doesn’t have to stay at home and look after the sick – is to apologise for the statements he had made and resign.
Has Alasdair got the balls that he finds so superior for having as a man?
This guy Thompson is a typical Right-Wing ignorant loud-mouth.For years now he has been calling for Youth rates , Lowering the mininum wage and attacking unions. Perhaps now is the time for workers to get even. Lets all demand his resignation and bar him from any simular position. Jim N you mention Michelle Boag well there’s the answer put him on a island with her and a diet of viagra . bloody hell just imagine being embraced by her ? Mind you imagine some poor woman being embraced by Thomson.
I loved Thompson at the Labour Conference last year saying that we should follow the example of Ireland and axe our company tax rates because Ireland had done so well from it, if you ignore the last few years.
I would like to ask Thompson what research he has carried out regarding menstruation and productivity?
51 is the average age of menopause. I suppose he has a different comment for women over 50, slow due to declining reflex as a result of the ageing process.
Does anyone know if Thompson smokes, because smokers can be targeted as not being as productive as non smokers? Obese people have been targeted as well.
Thompson is a fucking douchebag who thinks he’s in 1911, not 2011.
The crap coming out of his mouth doesnt suprise me in the slightest. He (as well as his boyfriends Lowe and O’Reilly) think that all workers are somehow expendable, to be thrown away on a whim.
If Helen Kelly was even remotely her father’s daughter, she would have a picket line outside the studio (and his work) lickety split.
Helen Kelly certainly won that round. Women, all around New Zealand in Australia and globally will be sent this piece of information from any number of women who are appalled at the idiots Thompson and Hosking’ behaviour and who will now realise that while they were putting aside the feminist mantra thinking most men actually liked, respected and wanted them to have equal pay/pay equity, they now know that is, was and will always be a lie.
Women, if they don’t want to deserve the unproductive tag that these men have given them, will ensure that they think very carefully come election time knowing now as they do that Thompson and Hosking, not to mention John Campbell and Paul Holmes are on the side of John Key and Steven Joyce the two men of Hollow Men fame and with neo-conservative contacts globally and with their own agenda for taking away the few rights that women own at present, by reducing women’s safety through closing down refuges, reducing their children’s income which is what the benefit is directed at thereby forcing them to stay with violent partners and thereby having no independent voice to state their needs and to demand real equality.
By directly forcing women into unemployment, this government has a cheap, desperate, voiceless workforce at the mercy of conservative cruelties and and cruel treatment at home if they are unfortunate enough to be forced to stay in an unwanted relationship like that.
Once again we have a backlash against women; once again women are called upon to stand up and fight back.
Morrissey – NewstalkZB – fair and balanced? Interviewer has blonde hair and is a plonker who specialises in planking? Were you listening to Mary Wilson interviewing Thompson from the employers group? He is too grand to have his spiel interrupted to actually answer her question. And is affronted when she persists.
He repeated his comments and says he knows from his own, and others experiences, of women who have monthly time off. And of course they have a propensity to have children (my words). Mary wanted to know how many, what percentage, need extra time off monthly. He is a leader in the employers group and he doesn’t bloody well know. He has no personal, particular to NZ, or general statistics. I think such remarks are rich coming from people in good comfortable situations. They don’t want to recognise that having babies is part of life, creates future customers if that’s how they judge everything, and finally that once they, now enjoying the good things in life, were once babies themselves. And then women are generally being paid less than men, which could be argued was reasonable because of extra time off.
It’s still discrimination when you use a person’s abilities to rule them out for getting paid the same for the same freaking work, even more so when there’s a majority of women who don’t have serious period problems. Plus, expecting females to always “take care of the kids” is likewise sexist, as it paints it as being a solely female role, instead of something guys can do just as well (if they actually get over teh stupid man myths and do it that is).
And the money quote:
“I don’t like saying this because it sounds like I’m sexist but…”
Sheesh, just come out and admit it, instead of the usual pathetic “I’m not x, but…” that is used to oft in an attempt to excuses one inability to overcome ones racist/homophobic/sexists/feminazi*/transphopic biases.
But hey, it’s an old white dudely dude who heads up a club of mostly dudes, so how could he possibly be wrong?…
/sigh
________________________________________
*i.e. the feminists who treat trans, gays, bi’s and heterosexuals as crap, often with a side of treating sex workers as human scum. see “womyn born as womyn” for the keystone example along with the backing ideas. Doesn’t refer to the porn wars due to the fact that monolithic descriptions are failtastic due to the myriad real issues involved.
I’ve read that men think about sex every minute or so, and more often than women. I think their pay should be docked because they are just not keeping their minds on the job.
If Alasdair Thompson puts Michelle Boag on an aged care job, on the minimum wage, what are the chances that Boag will have the part of anatomy which Thompson values so much being docked?
The use of the feminazi term in your post confuses issues. Not only is it invoking Godwin’s Law in respect of feminism failures and trans culture, but it’s a term used by the racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobics (that you refer to in the same sentence) as a way of undermining the good stuff that feminism does.
And you’re ignoring the major problems within feminism that lead me to re-appropriating that term for a slightly better use, then there’s the white, non-disabled, cis face of some of the more mainstream fractions of feminism, not that they’re as problematic as the feminazis, more varying shades of frustration. And while teh term is loaded, I’d rather re-purpose it to a much better end than let the anti-feminist fucktards lord over it
Mind you, I do have troll blood coursing through my veins, so yeah.
I’m not ignoring those problems (I think they need to be critiqued and sorted, although my strategies would be boldly different than yours), I just think appropriating the term in the way that you do creates confusion not clarity.
The campaign was launched by LIANZA — the New Zealand libraries’ national association — last month. It aims to raise the profile of the issue in the General Election campaign this year.
I definitely support this, especially because:
“Charges would be a personal barrier for many and would restrict libraries supporting all members of the public to be well informed.
“A well-informed, educated population brings economic benefits to the whole country, so it’s regressive to restrict libraries’ ability to support such a positive social outcome.
Yep. Same sort of thing happens most Wed. mornings with Steven Joyce and Annette King. King rarely gets a chance to finish what she’s saying before Joyce shouts over the top of her. More often than not she’s replying to a direct question from Hosking but does he intervene and shut Joyce up? No – hardly ever anyway. Just lets him get away with it.
It’s bully boy tactics and I believe part of the reason these Ministers (and their mates) get away with it is because todays crop of media types are scared of them… scared if they stray too far out of line they will lose their positions and prospects. I’m starting to pick up some real parallels with the Muldoon regime when journalists and reporters were overtly terrified of him. This time around though it’s not just one person, but a collective group of them.
Joyce is a very smooth and competent operator, and King handles herself well in those exchanges, I think. But Hosking really is a disgrace; he makes no attempt to be even-handed or even to ask probing questions.
The worst bullying, though, happens on Drivetime with Larry Williams. Compared to Williams, Hosking is indeed “fair and balanced”.
No, not really! Hosking’s terrible. There are some intelligent and hard-working presenters on NewstalkZB, but they are few and far between, and they do not have the prime spots. That’s no accident, it’s company policy. Former CEO Bill Francis said that he preferred extreme right wing hosts like Leighton Smith and Paul Holmes because they were “more entertaining” and “easier to understand”. Naturally, he gave no evidence to back up these statements.
The only way the RWNJs can win the debate is to try and drown out everybody else. If they left it to actual debate on merits and facts they know they wouldn’t have a leg to stand on as nothing they say is related to truth.
So the Speaker has just ruled that Joyce is justified in using the term xenophobic in response to Labour’s questions about the rail engineers, asset sales, and not supporting Kiwi workers and businesses over foreign ones because, according to labour, foreign interests will shift profits overseas. The justification given by the speaker was that Labour used an equally emotive term in the question…. the term being privatisation.
To my fellow lefties out there I need a bit of infrormation regarding some statistics .What was the unemployment figures under the last labour government as against the Nats. Plus what was the sickness benifit figures.
Statistics NZ table builder Annual Household income from 1998 (select “govt transfers”)
Ministry of Social Development benefit stats page (the current one is only from 2000, but the sickness benefit sheet on the 2004 page has 10 year trends going to 1994.).
You might also want to match unemployment rate or benefit levels with quarterly gdp – it’s always looked like an interesting project to me, but I haven’t had the time. Doesn’t quite intersect with my current field 🙂
Steven Joyce was asked some hard questions today by Labour Minister of Communications and Information Technology David Cunliffe concerning Nationals Privatisation plans for New Zealand’s SOEs. Once again the speaker of the house Lockwood Smith came to National’s rescue. Lockwood argued that Joyce didn’t have to answer a question because the Minister disagreed with the word “Privatisation.” What utter Bullshit!
Lockwood equated privatisation with Joyce’s use of xenophobia, and said they were both emotive terms. But Joyce’s claim that opposing asset sales on sovereignty issues is xenophobic doesn’t wash… nevertheless, it’s the line NAct is peddling.
Bullshit right wing constraining of the English language.
The heart of the Left is in emotive rallying cries, and it makes sense that National would want the language of cold hard rational but false neoliberalism to rule instead.
Since when is the word Privatisation out of bounds… because National says so? Calling somebody xenophobic is entirely different, and Anette King rightly stood up for herself. If the Government can’t even get these simple facts right, it’s no wonder New Zealand is in such a mess.
Carol – Perhaps Lockwood should provide a list of words inappropriate because they have emotional contexts.
I can think of Beemer, babies, going forward, at the end of the day, sheepskin, exchange rate, oh lots just off the top of my head. I think there are 72,000 head words or such in my dictionary. Perhaps he should work through it alphabetically and produce a banned list of yucky words.
Two news items, one from Commerce Commission and one showing the real owner’s details. Looks suspiciously like a sale to a foreign company of New Zealand assets owned by the people of Selwyn District and Christchurch City, 100% being sold off to an American company.
The Commerce Commission press release doesn’t mention it is a foreign company, knowing that Matariki sounds like a New Zealand business enterprise and doesn’t acknowledge that probably the Overseas Investment watchdog should be looking into it, unless the Commerce Commission can keep it quiet. Let’s not keep it quiet. Is this the work of CERA, selling off assets already, assets which could provide productive work for generations of Kiwis AND the dividends. Go figure.
‘Scoop >> Business Thursday, 23 June 2011, 9:48 am
1 – Press Release: Commerce Commission
Matariki Forests applies for clearance to acquire the Selwyn Plantation Board’s forestry assets
The Commerce Commission has received an application from Matariki Forests seeking clearance to acquire the forestry assets of the Selwyn Plantation Board.
Matariki Forests is New Zealand’s third largest forestry company and owns exotic forests throughout New Zealand. It is the largest forest owner in Canterbury.
The Selwyn Plantation Board owns exotic forests in Canterbury. It is owned by the Selwyn District Council (60 per cent) and Christchurch City Council (40 per cent).
The clearance application relates to both parties’ involvement in the supply of saw and pulp logs in the Canterbury region. In considering the application, the Commission’s role is to determine whether the acquisition has the effect of substantially lessening competition in a market.
A public version of the application will be available shortly on the Commission’s website:
2 – Matariki Forests, global forester Rayonier’s New Zealand arm, is seeking Commerce Commission permission to buy a swathe of Canterbury forest and farmland owned by the Christchurch City and Selwyn District councils.
Matariki, the country’s third-largest forest owner, lodged the application to buy the assets of the Selwyn Plantation Board, a council-controlled organisation, owned 61 per cent by Selwyn Investment Holdings and 39.3 per cent by Christchurch City Holdings.
Matariki is the New Zealand arm of Rayonier, a global forester based in Florida.
It is unclear whether Overseas Investment Office permission will be required, assuming the Commerce Commission rules the acquisition is not anti-competitive.
• Rayonier seeks clearance to buy Canterbury forests’
Mmm. I hope lots of people are remembering the fact that Anderton was streets ahead of Parker before the first earthquake; now they know that Parker and his followers are simply following NAct’s instructions, just as they will with Auckland’s freed up asset portfolio in 2012 if they get back in.
Labour needs to return these assets back to a 75% required citizen agreement before selling.
I see that Papandreou has succeeded in pushing austerity measures through the greek parliament. This looks bad for the greeks, though I’m not really qualified to judge whether default would have been worse. Bryan Gould seems think it would have been preferable.
“If I have to choose between the posturing of politicians and the greed of bankers on the one hand, and the decent lives of ordinary people on the other, there is no choice. The Greeks must default, abandon the euro and make a fresh start.”
Papandreaou is the inside man for the bankster occupiers of Greece.
I’m glad Gould has come to this conclusion. Greece is being asked to sell off all its real hard assets for pennies on the pound to gain less than 6 months worth of additional debt to pay its current debt.
The financial terrorists are in a race to see who can pick up the most valuable Greek assets at the cheapest price now, because a Greek default is virtually unavoidable.
…though I’m not really qualified to judge whether default would have been worse.
Would be bad for the EU and the Euro(€) (both would probably collapse (Actually, this reminds me of what happened to the Gold Standard in the late 19th century)) but good for the Greeks. Guess why it’s being rammed down the Greeks throat.
When taking issue with Mr Thompson, employer spokesperson, why didn’t Hekia Parata, Minister of Women’s Affairs, put forward the stats that her department should have had to hand if she had bothered to ask them and do her job advocating and advancing women’s lives.
Alasdair Thompson is clearly a fully fledged asshole! He typifies the chauvinistic old man, which is unfortunately a prevalent disease in this country. It’s mainly caught by older males who believe they’re somehow superior to woman, who they believe need to be subservient to the status quo.
Perhaps it’s because of the sheer size – and therefore enormous potential – of their country, but Australians have always demonstrated a harder-edged nationalism than have Kiwis. And that tendency has become even more apparent in recent years, when they ...
Current member of the National Party, List MP Alfred Ngaro, has declared he has an intent towards the possibility of setting up a Christian-oriented “values” party. Simon Bridges initially denied discussion, but we all know his denials are really never ...
Australians went to the polls over the weekend, and have apparently re-elected the shit party to government. It was unexpected, but I guess that's what happens when you have a media landscape utterly dominated by a highly partisan monopoly. Meanwhile, ...
Back in 2017, Taiwan's highest court ruled that violated “the people’s freedom of marriage” and “the people’s right to equality”, and gave the legislature to enact a marriage equality law. And over the weekend, just one week before the deadline ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, May 12 through Sat, May 18, 2019 Editor's Pick 12 excuses for climate inaction and how to refute themUsing moral ...
While abortion laws in New Zealand are likely to be liberalised, in the US abortion rights are being rolled back. This article from Feminist Current looks at the way the anti abortion movement is reframing its arguments. by Karen Jolly ...
by Sean Kearns It appears that even in Britain, where a lot of unions remain affiliated to Labour, the working class itself is less attached to Labour. The bureaucratic leaderships keep unions chained to Labour, the workers are just not ...
In October 2013 I wrote about “Valuing Xero in one hour“, and (although it had a bug) came up with a forecast that justified the then $2.2 billion valuation of Xero with a Weighted Average Cost of Capital of 18%. ...
Climate Change Minister James Shaw has announced the latest decisions in the government's programme to tweak the Emissions Trading Scheme to make it actually discourage pollution rather than subsidise it. There's a commitment to begin auctioning units from late next ...
Dunedin will play host to the New Zealand Minerals Forum at the end of the month, where the companies who dig up New Zealand and destroy our natural environment for private profit will conspire on how to pillage more effectively ...
Earlier in the year, National helped failed Green leadership candidate Vernon Tava set up a "teal" astroturf party, sustainablenz. It seems to have sunk without a trace, without even registering a logo with the Electoral Commission, let alone applying for ...
Those with a progressive agenda (and yes, I count myself as one) have been frustrated by our own inability and reluctance to engage head-on in the most important argument in political discourse – the role, function and objective of government.read ...
There is a story of a little old lady who woke up after a close election and was told that the result was a ‘hung parliament’. She responded that she did not know what that meant, but it sounded like ...
In a major decision, the UK Supreme Court has ruled that that country's spies are not above the law:Government security decisions will in future be open to challenge in the courts after judges ruled that a secretive intelligence tribunal could ...
‘Cheating by university students paying ‘ghostwriters’ to write essays for them is totally unacceptable and requires a nationally co-ordinated response’, says the New Zealand Tertiary Education Union. ...
ECan has just declared a climate emergency, becoming the first local authority in New Zealand to do so. But what does it mean? Their declaration included this:Environment Canterbury declares a climate emergency and commits to continue to: robustly and visibly ...
An investigation by the Privacy Commissioner has found that WINZ systematically misused its powers, conducting intrusive and illegal searches into beneficiaries' lives in violation of both the Social Security Act and Privacy Act. Searches like this:“In one instance, a beneficiary ...
I love the National's Library's Papers Past archive. I've used it many times for work and sometimes just for fun. The one thing I never thought I'd be able to do is vanity-search on it. And yet, here it is: ...
Bolton has never conceded that invading Iraq was a mistake, in fact he considers it to this day still as a roaring success. His history in public life is that of an unrepentant, ignorant thug of a politician, a persona ...
A big myth in this country is that we are all equal under the law. If someone commits a crime, they get prosecuted, regardless of who they are. We already know that that's a myth when it comes to race ...
Hate speech’ laws are being considered in New Zealand. We believe it is important to defend free speech. This is an important issue that the left should take up. If you’d like to be a part of the Left Network ...
One of the criticisms of the government's Zero Carbon Bill is that it is toothless: the independent Climate Change Commission can set budgets and advise on plans, but has no power to implement anything. Greenpeace for example wanted the Commission ...
(fire, California)Some time ago Jeanette Fitzsimons described our action on climate change like a car driving rapidly to a precipice while the occupants argue about whether they should maybe change down a gear. If we are to continue with this ...
“Business as usual” is always the catch-cry of those who are happy with the way things are. “Let’s not change anything” makes sense to those who are doing well and see no reason to run any risks in case that ...
KYOTO, Japan, May 13 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released on Monday an update to its methodology used by governments to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions and removals. Governments are required to report their national greenhouse gas ...
The Tertiary Education Union Te Hautū Kahurangi welcomes the pre-budget announcement of $197 million for the reform of vocational education saying it’s a step in the right direction. ...
As Donald Trump surveys the current state of his relationships with China, Iran and North Korea, with all of whom he has recently engaged in a somewhat confrontational way, even someone as resistant to self-doubt as the US President might ...
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being prosecuted for corruption. So how is he planning to avoid it? A law granting him immunity would not survive judicial scrutiny. So, he plans to remove that scrutiny entirely:The new far-reaching bill would ...
Last week I highlighted an odious secrecy clause in the government's Zero Carbon Bill, which unnecessarily exempted information from the Official Information Act, undermining transparency and accountability. The government's Equal Pay Amendment Bill is back from select committee today, and ...
Earlier today Redline reached a total of 600,000 views since we began in June 2011. This is a modest total, but not bad for a hardcore marxist blog at the arse-end of the world, and based in perhaps the most ...
Why is MBIE so supportive of the oil industry, why do they come up with outrageous estimates of the value of the oil industry to New Zealand, and why do they see environmentalists as a threat to be suppressed by ...
So, its on. On May 29, the day before Labour's "wellbeing budget", the centrepiece of its political year when it tries to send a good news message about what its doing, the teachers are going on strike. They've been overworked ...
My wife grew up in suburban London – not an environment that was conducive, one might think, to developing an interest in wild life. But her father was a bird lover and he helped her, too, to develop a love ...
“You just need a sense of humour”. I heard this patronising and unhelpful advice from a panellist at an Autism New Zealand Conference many years ago. What about access to education and services, understanding, financial and other support?These words came ...
The Giddens Project has its origins in my association with 'Third Way' politics during my time as a member of the New Zealand parliament between 1990 and 2008.read more ...
by Jon Flanders Once again this year I traveled to Cuba on a delegation that visited many interesting sites on the island, once of them being the huge May Day march in Havana. Cuba celebrates May Day as a national ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, May 5 through Sat, May 11, 2019 Editor's Pick Proposal to spend 25% of EU budget on climate change Schoolchildren ...
Film review by Don Franks All is not true but lots is good in the Shakespeare movie now showing in Wellington. In “All is true” , Ben Elton’s script combines, happily to this viewer, the little that’s known of historical Shakespeare ...
A selection of new climate related research articles is shown below. This post has separate sections for: Climate Change, Climate Change Impacts, Climate Change Mitigation, and Other Papers. Climate change mitigation Climate change communicationClimate change and educational attainment in ...
There's a strange thing about having songwriters as longtime friends. On the one hand there are years when you're mates getting in the same scrapes; they're smoking your weed and you're drinking their riders; you're all fitfully growing up, not ...
Just look at all the houses they own. Parliament's Register of Pecuniary Interests was released yesterday, showing all the pies our MPs said they have their fingers in. And their favourite pie is houses. NewsHub has a list here, and ...
Last week, the UK Parliament became the first in the world to recognise the seriousness and urgency of the environmental situation by declaring a climate emergency. And last night, Ireland followed suit:Ireland has become only the second country in the ...
Two developments over the past week or so demonstrate how serious is the existential crisis we now face, in terms of the damage we are doing to our planet, and how far we are from facing up to our responsibilities. ...
This is a fascinating interview – and not only because it is a highly respected independent journalist, Aaron Maté, interviewing his highly respected mental health expert father, Dr. Gabor Maté. It is fascinating because it is objective and adult ...
At the core of a successful economy is ‘trust’. Buy a can of beans and your decision depends on trusting a whole chain of suppliers. Admittedly, you also trust that the law is working in your favour too; it usually ...
A new 23-country survey conducted by the YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project found that America has the highest percentage of climate denial among first-world nations, behind only Indonesia and Saudi Arabia in all the countries surveyed. A total of 13 percent of Americans responded that ...
by Don Franks Way back in the bad old days before cell phones and computers, I helped a fellow car factory militant campaign for a union position. My mate belonged to what was then called the Engineers Union, at that ...
Writing in The Spinoff, former National Minister Wayne Mapp argues that a good first step to meeting the targets of the Zero Carbon Act would be to end fossil fuelled cars. He's right (and I've talked at length about how ...
Yesterday the government announced its Zero Carbon Bill, which would establish a framework for long-term emissions reductions. The most controversial aspect of the Bill is its agricultural targets: for the first time, farmers will face an explicit responsibility to clean ...
This week, TVNZ’s Sunday programme led with a feature about sperm donation. Specifically, about a ‘freelance’ sperm donor, going by the name Tauranga Tony. Real name Tony Ross, he has donated sperm to a number of women. Quite a large number, ...
Shortly after being elected, Labour promised to be "the most open, most transparent Government that New Zealand has ever had". I've commentedrepeatedly on how Labour is failing to meet that promise in its behaviour over parliamentary written questions. And ...
Something odious about the Zero Carbon Bill: it expands the Climate Change Response Act's existing secrecy clause to cover "the Climate Change Commission, in respect of the performance of its functions or exercise of its powers under Parts 1A to ...
Press Release by Speak Up For Women Wellington, 8 May 2019 Speak Up For Women NZ says the sacking of a gender critical British tax expert in the United Kingdom serves as a warning of what is to come if ...
This is a media release from ipbes Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history — and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts on people around the world now likely, warns a landmark new report ...
Improving the safety of all road users is the focus of a new public consultation document on the issue of drug driver testing. Plans for public consultation on options to improve the drug driver testing process have been announced by ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash says calling a cop suddenly got a whole lot easier with the launch of a ground-breaking new service for non-emergency calls. “The single non-emergency number ‘ten-five’ is designed to provide better service for the public and ...
Frontline Police numbers have been boosted with today’s deployment of 77 new officers to the regions.Police Minister Stuart Nash today congratulated the recruits of Wing 325 who graduated at a formal ceremony at the Royal New Zealand Police College. ...
One of the biggest IT projects ever undertaken in the state sector has successfully passed its latest hurdle with the transition of more than 19.7 million taxpayer accounts from one Inland Revenue computer system to another. Revenue Minister Stuart Nash ...
The first nationwide snapshot of the consumption of restricted drugs indicates the prevalence of methamphetamine use in New Zealand, says Police Minister Stuart Nash. “The first quarterly analysis of the nationwide wastewater testing programme reinforces the coalition government’s determination to ...
The spectre of trout farming has reared up from the murky shadows of the previous National government’s treaty deals. Māori owners of Lake Rotoaira near Turangi are reported to be backing an attempt to allow trout farming. ...
Our education system is a slowly unfolding disaster. Too many kids leave school without basic literacy and numeracy skills. In 2014, the Tertiary Education Commission found about half of Year 11 students achieved the international reading and numeracy benchmarks. ...
Free speech or hate speech? When do words go too far? We debate whether New Zealand needs new hate speech laws with ACT leader David Seymour and Labour MP Louisa Wall. ...
The Hauraki Gulf Forum, the statutory body tasked with progressing integrated management of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, today recommended two significant goals for the important and much-loved marine park. ...
“I was very disappointed that last night all my Minister could do when confronted with the reality of teaching, was to mouth the same old clichés and platitudes. ...
The Sensible Sentencing Trust say the Children’s Commissioner is guilty of riding the ‘Colonialism’ bandwagon by blaming racism and colonialism after Oranga Tamariki removed a child from its mother’s care. Children’s Commissioner Judge Andrew ...
The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) is inviting submissions on proposals to create dual Māori–English names for 16 sounds and inlets in Fiordland. The NZGB says restoring traditional Ngāi Tahu names alongside ...
Few of us want to think about something happening to us that might impact on our ability to make sound decisions. The reality is, we can’t predict what’s going to happen in life that may impact on our health or ...
Former retired Probation officer Tom Hemopo and Māori Climate Commissioner, Donna Awatere-Huata are due to give evidence this afternoon at the Māori Prisoner’s Voting Inquiry at the Waitangi Trbunal in Wellington. ...
May 20 (BusinessDesk) - The National Party proposes ambitious new trade targets for New Zealand's relations with both China and the United States in a foreign affairs discussion document released this morning for public consultation. ...
Christchurch Central Labour MP Dr Duncan Webb has been criticized by the NZ Jewish Council for his promotion of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement directed at Israel. ...
The highly publicised case of Nicky Stevens who died in 2015 while in the legal care of the Waikato DHB is to be put before the Prime Minister next week. ...
New Zealand's first shelter dedicated to housing pets affected by family violence is being built. Pet Refuge will provide a temporary safe haven for pets, while their owners escape abuse. The initiative comes as new research from Women’s Refuge reveals ...
Forest and Bird, The Tree Council and the Waitakere Ranges Protection Society are dismayed but not surprised at the recent attacks on the scientific credibility of the Auckland Council Monitoring Report that describes the increased spread of kauri ...
Kiwibuild is turning into a corporate welfare racket, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union in response to news that none of the seven Kiwibuild homes marketed in Christchurch have sold, and therefore the Government is likely to pay out the ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s budget later this month could have contained an additional $6 billion in spending without costing taxpayers a single cent more, Social Credit Party Leader, Chris Leitch told the party’s Canterbury Regional conference ...
New Zealand’s specialist sexual violence service sector is heartened to hear today that the government has demonstrated its commitment to the Well-Being of its citizens by announcing a significant injection of money into the work the sector undertakes ...
The spectre of trout farming has reared up from the murky shadows of the previous National government’s treaty deals. Māori owners of Lake Rotoaira near Turangi are reported to be backing an attempt to allow trout farming. ...
The Aotearoa Legal Workers’ Union (ALWU) launches today to advocate for all legal workers and to improve working conditions for junior lawyers in the legal sector. ...
Tammy Ngawhika has recently achieved her dream of becoming a homeowner, together with her four children. She attained her goal through Progressive Home Ownership. Progressive Home ownership is one of the KiwiBuy products the Government is being ...
The National Network of Stopping Violence Services today welcomed the Ardern Government’s Family Violence and Sexual Violence Package announcement, part of its Wellbeing Budget. ...
A distressed and traumatized grandmother from the Rodney Electorate will meet with Rodney Electorate MP Mark Mitchell on Monday, May 20, 10am at the Rodney Electorate Office, Tamariki House, 7 Tamariki Avenue, Orewa. The Rodney Electorate MP has been ...
Over 400,000 New Zealanders say they would definitely seek out medicinal cannabis products when they become widely available from 2020, according to a large independent survey and the first of its kind, just released. ...
The so-called “ Christchurch Call ” summit in Paris on Wednesday, led by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron, marked a significant escalation of the drive by governments throughout the world to censor ...
A new nationwide Curia Market Research poll shows the gap between supporters and opponents of euthanasia is narrowing, and that many people withdraw their support when asked to consider some of the details involved in the End of Life Choice ...
The recently published article by TVNZ is yet another piece of over sensationalised journalism that drives a wedge into New Zealand society. International Students are an integral party of what makes New Zealand a diverse and unique country in the ...
Simon Shepherd: Minister for Children Tracey Martin, Thanks for your time this morning. So, we’ve seen this jump in the number of newborn Maori babies being taken from their parents in the last three years. Is that because it’s a ...
Recently I was talking with a group of people about the growing issue of internet harassment, and in particular, gender based online abuse. We talked about how online violence directed at women is a symptom of deep-seated gender inequality, and ...
Former Hawke’s Bay woman Lou Hutchinson, who has this week been setting up action group Whanau First in response to a meeting she staged in Raglan on Sunday to challenge Oranga Tamariki child removal strategies, said she’s not surprised by ...
New Zealanders with an interest in the outdoors are being invited to have their say on legislation that helps them access nature throughout the country. ...
Mayor Supports Random Roadside Drug Testing South Taranaki District Mayor Ross Dunlop urges the Government to take immediate action on the introduction of random roadside drug testing. Mayor Dunlop makes the call for action after reading the coroner’s ...
Fish and Game New Zealand welcomes the decision by Environment Minister David Parker to appoint a formal investigator to assess Otago Regional Council’s performance of their RMA functions in relation to freshwater management. ...
PRESS RELEASE “Tanzania has been at the forefront of cleaning up their environment of plastic waste in recent years” says Stuart Batty, Honorary Consul for the United Republic of Tanzania . The Government have announced that Effective 1 June 2019, ...
Forest industry leaders say the pre-Budget announcement by Forestry Minister Shane Jones of additional regional resources for Te Uru Rākau is potentially of great benefit to regional New Zealand. ...
Eight Regional Councils, in partnership with their Territorial Authorities and others, have applied for and will receive $14 million of co-funding from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) to obtain, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) elevation datasets. ...
"The latest opinion poll results are in, and 55% of New Zealanders want a New Zealander as our next head of state, only 39% want the next British monarch. This is the third poll in the past three years showing ...
KFC is off the menu this weekend as hundreds of Fast Food workers employed by Restaurant Brands and members of Unite Union take strike action this weekend. ...
The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) who conduct drug tests on blood samples for a range of government organisations is supporting the introduction of a roadside saliva (oral fluid) test for drug-impaired drivers. ESR forensic toxicologist ...
Today, we celebrate sexual and gender diversity in our communities and welcome the fact that more people than ever are free to identify their gender and love whom they choose. We welcome the progress that has occurred, both in Aotearoa ...
Māori screen organisation Ngā Aho Whakaari says Māori screen practitioners are having to wait until the end of the year for decisions to be made about the promised overhaul of the Māori Media sector in the review being conducted by ...
Up to 120 PSA and E tu union coordinators, contact centre workers and administrators at Access Community Health will be walking off the job from 9:00am as part of a nationwide walk-off. ...
Auckland Action Against Poverty is calling on the CEO and deputy CEO of the Ministry of Social Development to resign following a report by the Privacy Commissioner, which found that the Ministry was unlawfully breaching beneficiaries’ privacy. The report ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lucy Deng, Staff Specialist Paediatrician, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance; Clinical Associate Lecturer, Children’s Hospital Westmead Clinical School, University of Sydney About 4.1 million Australians are under-vaccinated, meaning they’ve received ...
By RNZ Pacific Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare is coming under increasing pressure from his own MPs to switch the country’s political allegiance from Taiwan to China, report local news media. Solomon Islands is one of 17 nations ...
The legislation was introduced by the National government in May 2017 but has languished without progress ever since - it’s the oldest non-members bill yet to receive a first reading by a long way ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Cameron, Research Fellow, University of Sydney Polls had predicted a narrow win for Labor in this election, so what explains the Coalition victory? Data from the Australian Election Study (AES), based ...
Dr Bryce EdwardsThe stars seem to be aligning in favour of the establishment of a socially conservative Christian-based political party, making it more than just a vague possibility. However, some big hurdles remain in place before the National Party ...
After being lobbied to take a stand on scientific terms, the prime minister’s chief science adviser attempted to find out who makes the call on whether or not to approve an application by a majority-Malaysian-owned company to mine at the ...
A Taranaki couple threw in their high-flying careers to bring people together through the joys of good baking.Tucked down an alleyway off New Plymouth’s main street, just a stone’s throw from the famous Len Lye Centre, you’ll find Billow Bakery ...
Broadcasting legend Elizabeth Alley reviews Loving Sylvie, the gorgeous, ephemeral new novel by Elizabeth Smither.A bride is rowed across a grey-green lake to her wedding. She rehearses her new name, “Sylvie Grace Taverner,” as the waters lap the boat. There’s ...
If the wellbeing budget is going to do something about the long-term productivity of the country, it must address the growing gap between digital haves and have-nots, writes Grant Thornton’s Helen Fortune.Many fear that increasing digitisation and automation will result ...
In a series of posts on social media, it is claimed that the touring players targeted a group with ‘homophobic slurs, limp wrists and high pitched voices’.Several members of The Crusaders rugby team have been accused of homophobia following an ...
Tof Eklund reviews Lovestruck, a free-to-play treasure trove of romantic queer gaming content.Voltage’s Lovestruck does not, at first glance, look particularly queer-inclusive. Created in 2017 to unify four otome (‘women’s romance’) mobile games, this game hub now houses at least ...
The Australian left will need to do a far better job of connecting with voters – and what they really care about – if they’re ever going to regain power, writes Australian political historian Geoffrey Robinson.The Australian election result was ...
The National Party has put the relationship with the United States front and centre of its foreign policy, saying it's a relationship that will be prioritised. ...
Katie Meadows reviews Catch-22, George Clooney’s bleak and boring TV adaptation of the classic novel.Even if you are not familiar with Joseph Heller’s 1961 satirical novel, you will be familiar with its title — a catch-22 at its most technical is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen G Bosi, Senior Lecturer in Physics, University of New England Curious Kids is a series for children. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to ...
The government is investing more than $7.7 million in upgrading the SuperGold card website and an app, plus $600,000 on digital literacy training for seniors. ...
By Marija Taflaga of the Australian National University in Canberra The man that has “always believed in miracles” has just delivered one for the Liberal party. It’s not clear at the time of writing if the government will have ...
May 20 – 26 is macular degeneration awareness week. The subject is a personal one for Grant Thompson and his daughter Donna, who have both been diagnosed the condition which can lead to blindness.“I thought I just needed new glasses, ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand. Today’s contentGovernment Colin James: Ardern: transformation now or a ...
National leader Simon Bridges says he is happy to give Alfred Ngaro "the space" to explore setting up a Christian values party, but National will stand a candidate in Botany. ...
National leader Simon Bridges says he is happy to give Alfred Ngaro "the space" to explore setting up a Christian values party, but National will stand a candidate in Botany. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Brynn Hibbert, Emeritus Professor of Analytical Chemistry, UNSW We measure stuff all the time – how long, how heavy, how hot, and so on – because we need to for things ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katinka van de Ven, Research Fellow, Drug Policy Modelling Program, SPRC, UNSW Most media reports would have you believe steroid users are predominantly young men suffering a “crisis of male ego” who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Green, Lecturer, UNSW Can the design of a climate change message change someone’s beliefs? Absolutely, and with a surprisingly powerful correlation. My research found climate change messages that spark fear and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karyn Healy, Researcher, The University of Queensland School bullying can have serious consequences for victims including depression, psychosis, self-harm and suicide. With increasing evidence of harm, a groundswell of school anti-bullying programs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Stanley, Adjunct Professor, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney Melbourne is growing faster than most cities of similar size in developed countries. Population ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Albo, or Plibersek, or whoever it turns out to be the next Labor leader, might have had a lucky accident. ...
Simon Bridges has been damping down rumours that National Party list MP Alfred Ngaro could split off and set up a Christian values party. Watch live as he speaks to Morning Report. ...
Another KiwiBuild development backed by taxpayer money is failing to generate buyer demand - prompting more calls for Labour's flagship programme to be dumped. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Scott Morrison wins re-election in Australia, major boost in funding for sexual violence services, and stories around Alfred Ngaro party continue to swirl.Few saw it coming, but Australian PM Scott Morrison ...
Auckland today hosts delegations from Los Angeles and Guangzhou in its annual tripartite meeting for economic opportunities between the three cities - at a delicate time of division between the Chinese and US over trade. ...
Auckland's growth pains and urgent needs are well known. But, Rupert Hodson of Beca asks, are we responding as urgently and comprehensively as we should for such a 'crisis'? ...
Wastewater testing provides an objective, standardised way of assessing levels of drug usage, and that has manifold benefits, writes Brent Gilpin of ESR.There are suggestions from time to time that wastewater drug testing is an erosion of our civil liberties and ...
While curbing the proliferation of extremism and terrorism through social media is understandably a priority, it is really the visible tip of a much larger regulatory iceberg, writes Dr Peter Thompson. ...
If the government doesn’t include a comprehensive solution for Māui dolphins in this Threat Management Plan, it will be game over, writes Livia Esterhazy of WWF-New ZealandOnce great flightless birds roamed Aotearoa’s forests. Before humans arrived, moa only had one predator, ...
The Coalition win in Australia has dealt a blow to the hopes of more than 800 refugees stuck on Pacific Islands, writes RNZ Pacific’s Johnny Blades.Refugees in Australia’s offshore processing centres on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island had ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison’s spectacular win, against all expectations, is attributable to a potent mix of his strengths and Labor’s weaknesses. Morrison, it turns out, was made ...
Open mike 23/06/2011 
Perhaps it’s because of the sheer size – and therefore enormous potential – of their country, but Australians have always demonstrated a harder-edged nationalism than have Kiwis. And that tendency has become even more apparent in recent years, when they ...4 hours ago
Current member of the National Party, List MP Alfred Ngaro, has declared he has an intent towards the possibility of setting up a Christian-oriented “values” party. Simon Bridges initially denied discussion, but we all know his denials are really never ...4 hours ago
Australians went to the polls over the weekend, and have apparently re-elected the shit party to government. It was unexpected, but I guess that's what happens when you have a media landscape utterly dominated by a highly partisan monopoly. Meanwhile, ...9 hours ago
New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations National President JamesRanstead argues student voice is crucial in the Reform of VocationalEducation ...9 hours ago
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, May 12 through Sat, May 18, 2019 Editor's Pick 12 excuses for climate inaction and how to refute them Using moral ...2 days ago
While abortion laws in New Zealand are likely to be liberalised, in the US abortion rights are being rolled back. This article from Feminist Current looks at the way the anti abortion movement is reframing its arguments. by Karen Jolly ...2 days ago
A selection of new climate related research articles is shown below. This post has separate sections for: Climate Change, Climate Change Impacts, Climate Change Mitigation, and Other Papers. Climate change An example of principal component analysis application on climate change ...2 days ago
by Sean Kearns It appears that even in Britain, where a lot of unions remain affiliated to Labour, the working class itself is less attached to Labour. The bureaucratic leaderships keep unions chained to Labour, the workers are just not ...3 days ago
In October 2013 I wrote about “Valuing Xero in one hour“, and (although it had a bug) came up with a forecast that justified the then $2.2 billion valuation of Xero with a Weighted Average Cost of Capital of 18%. ...3 days ago
Those with a progressive agenda (and yes, I count myself as one) have been frustrated by our own inability and reluctance to engage head-on in the most important argument in political discourse – the role, function and objective of government.read ...3 days ago
I love the National's Library's Papers Past archive. I've used it many times for work and sometimes just for fun. The one thing I never thought I'd be able to do is vanity-search on it. And yet, here it is: ...4 days ago
Bolton has never conceded that invading Iraq was a mistake, in fact he considers it to this day still as a roaring success. His history in public life is that of an unrepentant, ignorant thug of a politician, a persona ...5 days ago
(fire, California)Some time ago Jeanette Fitzsimons described our action on climate change like a car driving rapidly to a precipice while the occupants argue about whether they should maybe change down a gear. If we are to continue with this ...5 days ago
Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons headquarters in The Hague. Image credit: Prensa Latina Ready Syria to Cooperate with Organization Against Chemical Weapons Multinational bodies, like ... 6 days ago
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, May 5 through Sat, May 11, 2019 Editor's Pick Proposal to spend 25% of EU budget on climate change Schoolchildren ...1 week ago
Improving the safety of all road users is the focus of a new public consultation document on the issue of drug driver testing. Plans for public consultation on options to improve the drug driver testing process have been announced by ...4 days ago
The spectre of trout farming has reared up from the murky shadows of the previous National government’s treaty deals. Māori owners of Lake Rotoaira near Turangi are reported to be backing an attempt to allow trout farming. ...25 mins ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lucy Deng, Staff Specialist Paediatrician, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance; Clinical Associate Lecturer, Children’s Hospital Westmead Clinical School, University of Sydney About 4.1 million Australians are under-vaccinated, meaning they’ve received ...19 mins ago
A little-known piece of 1990s legislation should give the Zero Carbon Bill's doubters pause. ...20 mins ago
By RNZ Pacific Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare is coming under increasing pressure from his own MPs to switch the country’s political allegiance from Taiwan to China, report local news media. Solomon Islands is one of 17 nations ...49 mins ago
The legislation was introduced by the National government in May 2017 but has languished without progress ever since - it’s the oldest non-members bill yet to receive a first reading by a long way ...1 hour ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Cameron, Research Fellow, University of Sydney Polls had predicted a narrow win for Labor in this election, so what explains the Coalition victory? Data from the Australian Election Study (AES), based ...1 hour ago
The government has proposed further changes to the emissions trading scheme. ...1 hour ago
Medicinal cannabis firm Cannasouth is poised to become NZX's first initial public offering in two years. ...2 hours ago
3 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul McGreevy, Professor of Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare Science, University of Sydney In the first edition of On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin mentions dogs 54 times. He does so ...3 hours ago
After being lobbied to take a stand on scientific terms, the prime minister’s chief science adviser attempted to find out who makes the call on whether or not to approve an application by a majority-Malaysian-owned company to mine at the ...3 hours ago
A Taranaki couple threw in their high-flying careers to bring people together through the joys of good baking.Tucked down an alleyway off New Plymouth’s main street, just a stone’s throw from the famous Len Lye Centre, you’ll find Billow Bakery ...4 hours ago
The National Party is accusing the Environment Minister David Parker of washing his hands of investigations into firefighting foam contamination. ...4 hours ago
Broadcasting legend Elizabeth Alley reviews Loving Sylvie, the gorgeous, ephemeral new novel by Elizabeth Smither.A bride is rowed across a grey-green lake to her wedding. She rehearses her new name, “Sylvie Grace Taverner,” as the waters lap the boat. There’s ...4 hours ago
Kiwi Property has reported a strong full year underlying profit, as it continues to reinvest in its Auckland retail and office properties. ...4 hours ago
Tof Eklund reviews Lovestruck, a free-to-play treasure trove of romantic queer gaming content.Voltage’s Lovestruck does not, at first glance, look particularly queer-inclusive. Created in 2017 to unify four otome (‘women’s romance’) mobile games, this game hub now houses at least ...6 hours ago
Katie Meadows reviews Catch-22, George Clooney’s bleak and boring TV adaptation of the classic novel.Even if you are not familiar with Joseph Heller’s 1961 satirical novel, you will be familiar with its title — a catch-22 at its most technical is ...7 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen G Bosi, Senior Lecturer in Physics, University of New England Curious Kids is a series for children. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to ...7 hours ago
By Marija Taflaga of the Australian National University in Canberra The man that has “always believed in miracles” has just delivered one for the Liberal party. It’s not clear at the time of writing if the government will have ...9 hours ago
The New Zealand Bankers' Association is calling for a rethink of the Reserve Bank’s bank capital proposals to avoid hurting the economy. ...9 hours ago
The country's largest power company, Genesis Energy, is easing off its plan to stop using coal completely by 2030. ...10 hours ago
It's not building materials and labour costs making new homes cost so much in New Zealand. Bernard Hickey analyses a new report. ...10 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Brynn Hibbert, Emeritus Professor of Analytical Chemistry, UNSW We measure stuff all the time – how long, how heavy, how hot, and so on – because we need to for things ...11 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katinka van de Ven, Research Fellow, Drug Policy Modelling Program, SPRC, UNSW Most media reports would have you believe steroid users are predominantly young men suffering a “crisis of male ego” who ...11 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Green, Lecturer, UNSW Can the design of a climate change message change someone’s beliefs? Absolutely, and with a surprisingly powerful correlation. My research found climate change messages that spark fear and ...11 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karyn Healy, Researcher, The University of Queensland School bullying can have serious consequences for victims including depression, psychosis, self-harm and suicide. With increasing evidence of harm, a groundswell of school anti-bullying programs ...11 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Stanley, Adjunct Professor, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney Melbourne is growing faster than most cities of similar size in developed countries. Population ...11 hours ago
Anna Rawhiti-Connell gives her selection of the delights of the Auckland Writers' Festival. ...12 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Scott Morrison wins re-election in Australia, major boost in funding for sexual violence services, and stories around Alfred Ngaro party continue to swirl.Few saw it coming, but Australian PM Scott Morrison ...12 hours ago
Auckland today hosts delegations from Los Angeles and Guangzhou in its annual tripartite meeting for economic opportunities between the three cities - at a delicate time of division between the Chinese and US over trade. ...12 hours ago
Auckland's growth pains and urgent needs are well known. But, Rupert Hodson of Beca asks, are we responding as urgently and comprehensively as we should for such a 'crisis'? ...14 hours ago
While curbing the proliferation of extremism and terrorism through social media is understandably a priority, it is really the visible tip of a much larger regulatory iceberg, writes Dr Peter Thompson. ...14 hours ago
The Coalition win in Australia has dealt a blow to the hopes of more than 800 refugees stuck on Pacific Islands, writes RNZ Pacific’s Johnny Blades.Refugees in Australia’s offshore processing centres on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island had ...14 hours ago
In an under reported story of how our leaders are cravenly selling us out;
Free trade it seems, only works one way.
China puts tariff on NZ dairying despite free trade pact.
The government says no retaliatory protections are envisioned for NZ industry.
In other news the government of economic traitors favours Chinese train builders over the local rail industry.
So in practice under “Free Trade”, the bigger more powerful country gets all the advantage while the leaders of the small country get to prostrate our workforce and our economy before them.
But hasn’t this always been the way?
Even under the Brits in the 19th century when British imperialism was in it’s ascendency the struggle between the “Free Traders” and those in favour of “Tarriff Reform” was played out. Where the strong country Britain set the terms of trade for their dominions, which were then administered by local saptraps. (Just as in modern New Zealand).
By sucking up to the superpower of the day the local mercantile ruling elite benefit at the expense of the rest of the local population. As a result of this craven foreign trade policy, the local elite, get to lead lives of privilege while the rest of us are turned into unemployed or low paid serfs in our own land and the local Maharajas, (Jonkey and co.), working in with their foreign partners live it up.
Yep and that’s why we’re worse off now after three decades of neo-liberal policies. The economists even know that the smaller economy in the relationship will always be worse off.
Well, they’re kept in power and are reasonably well rewarded for selling out their country but they don’t do as well as the foreign over-lords.
China is smarter at playing the Free Trade game in their own interests than we are. In fact we are shit at it because we naively believe that there is such a thing as even playing field, everyone gets a fair go “free trade”.
Please wakeup and grow up NZ.
If you mean that they’re playing at free trade without actually allowing it you’d be right.
I always thought when Helen Clark was extolling the virtues of the free trade agreement that the Chinese would shit on us somewhere down the line.
Hone attempts to persuade Maori Party supporters to vote for Kelvin Davis.
It’s a funny old world when Ken Mair comes across as the voice of reason, but his description of Hone’s meltdown last night is spot on:
‘Mr Mair said the change in line-up wasn’t a “cover-up” and Mr Harawira had gone too far.
“Once again, that’s the style of Hone,” he said. “I was taken back by his rather aggressive style, his swearing. I don’t think it’s appropriate in this type of forum; in particular in front of children and some of our kuia [senior women].”‘
That nicely echoes my comment on the ‘Turia’ post that Hone will lose because of his unparalleled ability to annoy mature voters. The young will support him, but as they’re not on the roll, that’s no help to him now. Maybe, by November, his supporters will get the message and enrol, which could make the vote then closer, but for now, he’s toast.
That bullshitting poacher turned gamekeeper Ken Mair, Vice-President of the Maori Party, needn’t nut off about Hone Harawira using the words “bullshit Maori Party tactics” re Solomon’s failure to turn up at the Tai Tokerau education hui last night.
The very same Ken Mair of Moutoua Gardens fame, the menacing, shrill hacksaw voiced dork who had the gathered at Waitangi a few years ago pissing themselves at his self-centred “freestyle” haka.
The idiot who had violent insurgent written all over him, who didn’t give a stuff how many kuia of whatever stripe, or kids, were present when he got off his chain as it suited him.
Hone says “bullshit” and Mair’s clutching his pearls like some startled Edwardian dowager.
There’s none like the converted……….for rank hypocrisy that is.
Away with you Ken Mair…….you egg. You’re not a fraction of the fulla Hone is !
I met Ken Mair on Pakaitore (Moutoa Gardens) during the last days of the occupation in ’95. Despite the tension, the personal attacks he was under, the pressure from his own supporters, he was very welcoming to me and my whanau and took time out to show us around and explain the dispute from his perspective. He was rational, calm and forgiving of my limited understanding of their ties to the river I grew up next to. He was clearly not at all the person maligned in the media or indeed, by you, North.
But perhaps you know Mair better than me or maybe his comment last night just show how far he has come and how far Hone has to go?
Well right back at ya Voice Of Reason………my personal experience of Hone Harawira tells me, using your own words Voice, that Hone Harawira “…..is clearly not at all the person maligned in the media, or indeed by…….” you Voice or by Ken Mair.
Remains that Mair is hardly one to engage such piety over the word “bullshit”, particularly given that Harawira has never come within cooey of Mair’s excesses.
A double standard is hardly the voice of reason Voice of Reason.
“……Mair’s clutching his pearls like some startled Edwardian dowager” … best visual of the year so far ! Thank you for the laughter in the grey drear of it all !
Ah, yeah……..”Mr Out-West Machine Politician Aching To Be An MP” Greg……..
Well North don’t you agree it is not the best of looks for Hone?
I hope Solomon is okay – he deserves praise and he is a good man IMO. The voters will vote as they want to vote and that’s the way it should be.
I back Hone 110% as noted here http://thestandard.org.nz/turia-on-te-tai-tokerau/#comments
The guy’s 56 years old, and a grandfather FFS.
He really needs to grow up and act his age.
I really hope he loses this weekend.
Hey doofus I am 55 and am the proud father of a 5 week old, just because anyone is over 50 they are not dead. I applaud Tipene for standing up and probably doing something that is probably new to him. And all he gets is ” he’s a silly old man” yada yada yada. Hey Millsy come and say it to my face and I WILL show you where moses bought his beer. fucking tosser.
Jesus fucking christ Deadly, I was talking about Hone Hawawira, not Mr Tipene (who IMO come across as far more dignified than Mr Hawawira).
This is not the first time you have the wrong end of the stick.
It seems we are crossing swords more often than not on this blog.
Well maybe you should be a little more careful in some of the generalisations you are making ie he’s 56, he’s a grandfather And as PP can also attest that acting our age is one of the last things we want to do. So say he’s a racist shit head or a what ever and I will keep quiet call any other politician and depending on who they are and i may respond, and not nastily. What got my goat was the inference that at 56 everyone should sit back, and rock their grand children to sleep and act our age.
BTW how is a 56 year old supposed to act like ? what age should i act? you see the endless possibilities in a debate on that fact alone.
If I hurt your feelings I am sorry.
Feelings not hurt – I have had worse over the past 11 years of being online.
Point taken.
Still think Hone’s an idiot though.
56 year olds (or 16 year olds for that matter) should not go into a meeting mouthing off for a start. Anything else, I’m not really bothered.
Yes he is and getting more idiotic by the day.
Bloody hell! Im eighty and still chasing my lovely wife ,and sometimes catch her.
However it was Charlie Chaplin who squashed all the old wives tale about us old wrinklies. He was born just around the corner from where I was born so perhaps a bit has brushed off ? hopefully !
Good to see an old timer such as yourself getting to use the internet/world wide web.
Bet you never thought you would be using technology such as this when you were younger…
pink postman – Ooh this is good stuff. You can rely on The Standard for lively anecdotes and repartee with style (and pearls). But when it comes to DF it’s pearls before swine!
Reading that article and the party positions…what’s been happening with kohanga reo?
Bio fuels about to take off in the avaition industry..
That’s pretty encouraging. The production volumes they outlined, if achieved, will make a big difference to the viability of the industry come oil price shocks.
Climate of Denial
And the US does have rules and regulations that, supposedly, control lobbyists etc. I suppose the question now is, are we going to demand that our politicians put in place even stronger rules on transparency? Can’t really expect so from this government as the last time such transparency and regulation was tried we got a faux Democracy Under Attack meme from them that was supported by the MSM.
Goldman Sachs buys into MediaWorks
Yeah. You read that right. National and Goldman Sachs are just now completing their plans to steal the November New Zealand election.
I wonder who the lead IB in the sale of our state assets are going to be.
http://www.scoopit.co.nz/story.php?title=goldman-takes-13-mediaworks-stake&ScoopSrc=scoopit_latest
That $43.3 million ‘loan’ to bail out MediaWorks seems to have made it a great buy
My giddy aunt….
Interesting little confrontation on NewstalkZB this morning (23.6.11)
NewstalkZB, Thursday 23 June 2011, 7:40 a.m.
Mike Hosking and Alasdair Thompson vs. Helen Kelly
Catherine Delahunty’s new Equal Pay Bill has drawn the ire of two of the National government’s biggest supporters: the Employers and Manufacturers Association and NewstalkZB. Time to get one of those lefty pinko commies onto the programme and deal to her, tag-team fashion.
Whoops! Not only was it was a bad idea, and (as we shall see) badly executed, it never had a chance. Alasdair Thompson up against Helen Kelly? That’s a mis-match made in Employer Hell…
Helen Kelly begins the discussion by pointing out that the statistics are irrefutable, and show women get lower pay across the board. This prompts Thompson to launch into a windy tirade about the “unreliability of statistics” and the “myth” that women get lower pay. Whenever Kelly tries to talk, he shouts her down, and talks relentlessly. Thompson is aided and abetted in this strategy by Hosking, whose contribution consists of thoughtfully saying “Mmmm, yeah” to show he agrees with everything Thompson says.
But Helen Kelly is not one to be intimidated and shut down by such behaviour. Last year she faced down the bully-boys and girls from Peter Jackson Inc., South Pacific Pictures, Warner Bros. and the National government. So a windy and incoherent haranguing from somebody like Alasdair Thompson was never going to de-rail her. She finally insists on being heard, and makes him stop…
KELLY: You can try to talk over me and stop me from speaking, but you won’t succeed. If women and men are equal as you say, why are aged care workers, who do incredibly difficult and responsible work, paid minimum wage?
THOMPSON: That’s got NOTHING to do with them being women! It’s just an all-woman job, that’s why!
HOSKING: Mmm. yeah. You can’t argue with that!
THOMPSON: Look, you have to realize something. Women are different from men.
HOSKING: Mmmm, yeah.
THOMPSON: They get paid less than men do because once a month they, uh, they have, uh, well, they have “sick problems”.
HOSKING: Mmmm, yeah.
THOMPSON: They get pregnant, and have babies. And then they have to stay home and look after sick children.
HOSKING: Mmmm, yeah.
THOMPSON: I don’t like to say this, because it looks like I’m a sexist.
KELLY: Of course. I’m glad you said it, Alasdair. I let you go on and on with that one.
Silence. Even the insensitive and brusque Alisdair Thompson realises he has just been horribly and publicly owned.
HOSKING: Alasdair Thompson and Helen Kelly, thank you very much!
——————————————————–
But that’s not the end of it. Although he has been quite incapable of formulating any response to Helen Kelly while she was on air, Hosking has one more way of getting at her—he can read out any number of hateful texts and e-mails, purportedly from listeners…
HOSKING: “It seems like a bill rooted in feminist ideology”, says this text. This one says: “HELEN KELLY, WHAT A MUPPET!” And there are many more like this! It’s ten to eight!
Interesting fact: NewstalkZB’s slogan is “Fair and Balanced”.
Plus @ Anne 11.34am below:
I’ve noticed this tactic from Nats used alot by their MPs in media debates – they talk over their opponents, interrupt with any old argument they can throw out – which doesn’t matter to them because they don’t allow time for the opposition to respond to point out their factual errors and/or ideological slant.
Nikki Kaye has used it against Jacinda Ardern in the debates between them on Citizen A – at least, she used it in the first debate, but Jacinda (and Bomber) were wise to it. In the second debate, Jacinda was more proactive about getting her points across, including telling Kaye calmly but assertively not to interrupt when Kaye did so. Kaye looked a little put out and lost when she wasn’t able to bulldoze through with her lines.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1106/S00046/citizen-a-nikki-kaye-jacinda-ardern-debate-2.htm
Although, this didn’t stop Kaye by claiming, in her final word, that National had a better record and more committment to public transport in Auckland than Labour.
FFS, as a westie, I noticed the improvement under the Labour-led government in rail transport & station upgrades from the western areas into the city. And National is STILL more committed to their RONS than public transport. Nats think they can swear blue is red and no-one will notice if they talk louder & don’t let the opposition get a word in.
And as for Kaye repeatedly claiming that Nats were not ideologically-driven…..???!!
they talk over their opponents, interrupt with any old argument they can throw out – which doesn’t matter to them because they don’t allow time for the opposition to respond to point out their factual errors and/or ideological slant
The problem stems from the incompetence or bias of the host (in this case, Mike Hosking). A decent and impartial host would have kept the conversation on track. Hosking made no attempt at all to be fair or impartial; in fact, he slavishly endorsed everything Thompson said.
Nikki Kaye used it in the first debate, but Jacinda (and Bomber) were wise to it
I’m impressed by Jacinda Ardern. She’s tough, and regularly shows up Simon Bridges as shallow, vague and poorly prepared. On National Radio last year, Bomber politely but persistently challenged some false statements by Murray McCully’s vile ex-squeeze Michele Boag, reducing her to spluttering incoherence. Obviously Boag doesn’t come across many people brave enough to take her on.
This is blatant chauvinism and prejudice openly showing their real faces.
Can someone castrate this Thompson guy please ?
“Women earn less due to periods – EMA boss”
http://www.3news.co.nz/Women-earn-less-due-to-periods—EMA-boss/tabid/423/articleID/216183/Default.aspx
What are the grounds for filing a BSA complaint against Mike ‘Mmmm yeah’ Hosking who effectively encouraged the dissemination of such bad view and attitude by failing to poke and probe Thompson ?
You can file any BSA complaint you want, whether there are grounds or not. The BSA then review it and judge it.
I filed one against The Edge for promoting pot at 8:20am when I was driving to work. The authority said it was very close, but on balance they decided to reject the complaint.
I think if I had pointed out that they were exerting significant amounts of peer-pressure on a fellow radio worker to eat a cannabis muffin and that this was a bad example for children, that they probably would have upheld the complaint. Unfortunately I didn’t consider that angle until after I’d sent the form off.
Well, I’ve been wondering if I have to pray in the right words to the BSA.
http://www.bsa.govt.nz/general-complaint/
Complaint form
Cheers. I’m thinking that I would be better off posting my used tampon to Thompson, if only I were a menstruating woman.
Wow! And Thompson is now saying that
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/5182270/Womens-sick-day-comments-outrage
Wow! So Thompson doesn’t support a youth wage then?
The thing for Thompson to do … the thing for Thompson – who is a man who doesn’t have “sick problems”, doesn’t get pregnant and have babies, doesn’t have to stay at home and look after the sick – is to apologise for the statements he had made and resign.
Has Alasdair got the balls that he finds so superior for having as a man?
And now Alasdair Thompson provides an excellent demonstration in how not to really apologise:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/5182270/Womens-sick-day-comments-outrage
I didn’t breed and am well menopausal. Where is my pay rise then Mr Thompson??
This guy Thompson is a typical Right-Wing ignorant loud-mouth.For years now he has been calling for Youth rates , Lowering the mininum wage and attacking unions. Perhaps now is the time for workers to get even. Lets all demand his resignation and bar him from any simular position. Jim N you mention Michelle Boag well there’s the answer put him on a island with her and a diet of viagra . bloody hell just imagine being embraced by her ? Mind you imagine some poor woman being embraced by Thomson.
I loved Thompson at the Labour Conference last year saying that we should follow the example of Ireland and axe our company tax rates because Ireland had done so well from it, if you ignore the last few years.
He actually said that shit the dumb bastard.
In that scenario and if Boag is well over the reproductive age, the gene pool for the future is safe.
However, that means the gene pool would be more valuable and so please don’t tell John Key or he will sell that.
I would like to ask Thompson what research he has carried out regarding menstruation and productivity?
51 is the average age of menopause. I suppose he has a different comment for women over 50, slow due to declining reflex as a result of the ageing process.
Does anyone know if Thompson smokes, because smokers can be targeted as not being as productive as non smokers? Obese people have been targeted as well.
Thompson is a fucking douchebag who thinks he’s in 1911, not 2011.
The crap coming out of his mouth doesnt suprise me in the slightest. He (as well as his boyfriends Lowe and O’Reilly) think that all workers are somehow expendable, to be thrown away on a whim.
If Helen Kelly was even remotely her father’s daughter, she would have a picket line outside the studio (and his work) lickety split.
Helen Kelly certainly won that round. Women, all around New Zealand in Australia and globally will be sent this piece of information from any number of women who are appalled at the idiots Thompson and Hosking’ behaviour and who will now realise that while they were putting aside the feminist mantra thinking most men actually liked, respected and wanted them to have equal pay/pay equity, they now know that is, was and will always be a lie.
Women, if they don’t want to deserve the unproductive tag that these men have given them, will ensure that they think very carefully come election time knowing now as they do that Thompson and Hosking, not to mention John Campbell and Paul Holmes are on the side of John Key and Steven Joyce the two men of Hollow Men fame and with neo-conservative contacts globally and with their own agenda for taking away the few rights that women own at present, by reducing women’s safety through closing down refuges, reducing their children’s income which is what the benefit is directed at thereby forcing them to stay with violent partners and thereby having no independent voice to state their needs and to demand real equality.
By directly forcing women into unemployment, this government has a cheap, desperate, voiceless workforce at the mercy of conservative cruelties and and cruel treatment at home if they are unfortunate enough to be forced to stay in an unwanted relationship like that.
Once again we have a backlash against women; once again women are called upon to stand up and fight back.
Morrissey – NewstalkZB – fair and balanced? Interviewer has blonde hair and is a plonker who specialises in planking? Were you listening to Mary Wilson interviewing Thompson from the employers group? He is too grand to have his spiel interrupted to actually answer her question. And is affronted when she persists.
He repeated his comments and says he knows from his own, and others experiences, of women who have monthly time off. And of course they have a propensity to have children (my words). Mary wanted to know how many, what percentage, need extra time off monthly. He is a leader in the employers group and he doesn’t bloody well know. He has no personal, particular to NZ, or general statistics. I think such remarks are rich coming from people in good comfortable situations. They don’t want to recognise that having babies is part of life, creates future customers if that’s how they judge everything, and finally that once they, now enjoying the good things in life, were once babies themselves. And then women are generally being paid less than men, which could be argued was reasonable because of extra time off.
Morrissey – NewstalkZB – fair and balanced?
Another of their slogans is “Tune Your Mind”.
And that is not a joke.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/women-s-monthly-problems-reduce-productivity-ema-boss-4258057
/facepalm
It’s still discrimination when you use a person’s abilities to rule them out for getting paid the same for the same freaking work, even more so when there’s a majority of women who don’t have serious period problems. Plus, expecting females to always “take care of the kids” is likewise sexist, as it paints it as being a solely female role, instead of something guys can do just as well (if they actually get over teh stupid man myths and do it that is).
And the money quote:
Sheesh, just come out and admit it, instead of the usual pathetic “I’m not x, but…” that is used to oft in an attempt to excuses one inability to overcome ones racist/homophobic/sexists/feminazi*/transphopic biases.
But hey, it’s an old white dudely dude who heads up a club of mostly dudes, so how could he possibly be wrong?…
/sigh
________________________________________
*i.e. the feminists who treat trans, gays, bi’s and heterosexuals as crap, often with a side of treating sex workers as human scum. see “womyn born as womyn” for the keystone example along with the backing ideas. Doesn’t refer to the porn wars due to the fact that monolithic descriptions are failtastic due to the myriad real issues involved.
I’ve read that men think about sex every minute or so, and more often than women. I think their pay should be docked because they are just not keeping their minds on the job.
If Alasdair Thompson puts Michelle Boag on an aged care job, on the minimum wage, what are the chances that Boag will have the part of anatomy which Thompson values so much being docked?
LOL Carol
Hehehehe…
+ 1n hours pay docked for every porno-mail they send.
The use of the feminazi term in your post confuses issues. Not only is it invoking Godwin’s Law in respect of feminism failures and trans culture, but it’s a term used by the racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobics (that you refer to in the same sentence) as a way of undermining the good stuff that feminism does.
And you’re ignoring the major problems within feminism that lead me to re-appropriating that term for a slightly better use, then there’s the white, non-disabled, cis face of some of the more mainstream fractions of feminism, not that they’re as problematic as the feminazis, more varying shades of frustration. And while teh term is loaded, I’d rather re-purpose it to a much better end than let the anti-feminist fucktards lord over it
Mind you, I do have troll blood coursing through my veins, so yeah.
I’m not ignoring those problems (I think they need to be critiqued and sorted, although my strategies would be boldly different than yours), I just think appropriating the term in the way that you do creates confusion not clarity.
I do take your point about troll blood though.
Campaign to keep Public Libraries free:
http://kapitiindependentnews.net.nz/home/keep-libraries-free/
The campaign was launched by LIANZA — the New Zealand libraries’ national association — last month. It aims to raise the profile of the issue in the General Election campaign this year.
I definitely support this, especially because:
“Charges would be a personal barrier for many and would restrict libraries supporting all members of the public to be well informed.
“A well-informed, educated population brings economic benefits to the whole country, so it’s regressive to restrict libraries’ ability to support such a positive social outcome.
Yep. Same sort of thing happens most Wed. mornings with Steven Joyce and Annette King. King rarely gets a chance to finish what she’s saying before Joyce shouts over the top of her. More often than not she’s replying to a direct question from Hosking but does he intervene and shut Joyce up? No – hardly ever anyway. Just lets him get away with it.
It’s bully boy tactics and I believe part of the reason these Ministers (and their mates) get away with it is because todays crop of media types are scared of them… scared if they stray too far out of line they will lose their positions and prospects. I’m starting to pick up some real parallels with the Muldoon regime when journalists and reporters were overtly terrified of him. This time around though it’s not just one person, but a collective group of them.
oops: meant to be reply to Morrissey
Joyce is a very smooth and competent operator, and King handles herself well in those exchanges, I think. But Hosking really is a disgrace; he makes no attempt to be even-handed or even to ask probing questions.
The worst bullying, though, happens on Drivetime with Larry Williams. Compared to Williams, Hosking is indeed “fair and balanced”.
No, not really! Hosking’s terrible. There are some intelligent and hard-working presenters on NewstalkZB, but they are few and far between, and they do not have the prime spots. That’s no accident, it’s company policy. Former CEO Bill Francis said that he preferred extreme right wing hosts like Leighton Smith and Paul Holmes because they were “more entertaining” and “easier to understand”. Naturally, he gave no evidence to back up these statements.
The only way the RWNJs can win the debate is to try and drown out everybody else. If they left it to actual debate on merits and facts they know they wouldn’t have a leg to stand on as nothing they say is related to truth.
170,000 jobs = Aspirational or Bullshit? You’re spoilt for choice.
And, coming up next, even the military is losing jobs:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5182350/Hundreds-of-military-staff-face-redundancy
You would have thought that Christchurch needs help ?
Can this government see dots to join ? Any dots at all ? Hello HELLo ?
I like the way the Standard Icon looks in the address bar. To me, it looks like a hamburger. This makes me happy.
lol it does!
What do you reckon the Kiwiblog one looks like?
lol ahahaha – or is it just my warped mind?
Umm. A pile of shit?
So the Speaker has just ruled that Joyce is justified in using the term xenophobic in response to Labour’s questions about the rail engineers, asset sales, and not supporting Kiwi workers and businesses over foreign ones because, according to labour, foreign interests will shift profits overseas. The justification given by the speaker was that Labour used an equally emotive term in the question…. the term being privatisation.
51 minute company delay in raising Pike River alarm, Mine Rescue not allowed access
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10733977
Funny how this gets revealed on the same day as the Christchurch housing buyout package
To my fellow lefties out there I need a bit of infrormation regarding some statistics .What was the unemployment figures under the last labour government as against the Nats. Plus what was the sickness benifit figures.
No nutty replies from the Right please.
Not sure exactly what you’re after, so here are some good places to start looking.
Statistics NZ table builder quarterly unemployment figures from1990
Statistics NZ table builder Annual Household income from 1998 (select “govt transfers”)
Ministry of Social Development benefit stats page (the current one is only from 2000, but the sickness benefit sheet on the 2004 page has 10 year trends going to 1994.).
You might also want to match unemployment rate or benefit levels with quarterly gdp – it’s always looked like an interesting project to me, but I haven’t had the time. Doesn’t quite intersect with my current field 🙂
No Confidence
Steven Joyce was asked some hard questions today by Labour Minister of Communications and Information Technology David Cunliffe concerning Nationals Privatisation plans for New Zealand’s SOEs. Once again the speaker of the house Lockwood Smith came to National’s rescue. Lockwood argued that Joyce didn’t have to answer a question because the Minister disagreed with the word “Privatisation.” What utter Bullshit!
Lockwood equated privatisation with Joyce’s use of xenophobia, and said they were both emotive terms. But Joyce’s claim that opposing asset sales on sovereignty issues is xenophobic doesn’t wash… nevertheless, it’s the line NAct is peddling.
Bullshit right wing constraining of the English language.
The heart of the Left is in emotive rallying cries, and it makes sense that National would want the language of cold hard rational but false neoliberalism to rule instead.
Since when is the word Privatisation out of bounds… because National says so? Calling somebody xenophobic is entirely different, and Anette King rightly stood up for herself. If the Government can’t even get these simple facts right, it’s no wonder New Zealand is in such a mess.
Carol – Perhaps Lockwood should provide a list of words inappropriate because they have emotional contexts.
I can think of Beemer, babies, going forward, at the end of the day, sheepskin, exchange rate, oh lots just off the top of my head. I think there are 72,000 head words or such in my dictionary. Perhaps he should work through it alphabetically and produce a banned list of yucky words.
Exactly, jackal & prism. Saying privatisation is an (negatively) emotive word is totally (right wing) ideological on the part of the Speaker.
I’d also add, kicking the tyres, ambishoush for New Zild, mum and dad investors, more 100% pure than…….
FIFY
Carol Just another one. I can’t stand hearing people who boost themselves by saying they are ‘passionate’ about something. Sounds totally pseudo.
Asset Sales to foreignors under the radar?
Two news items, one from Commerce Commission and one showing the real owner’s details. Looks suspiciously like a sale to a foreign company of New Zealand assets owned by the people of Selwyn District and Christchurch City, 100% being sold off to an American company.
The Commerce Commission press release doesn’t mention it is a foreign company, knowing that Matariki sounds like a New Zealand business enterprise and doesn’t acknowledge that probably the Overseas Investment watchdog should be looking into it, unless the Commerce Commission can keep it quiet. Let’s not keep it quiet. Is this the work of CERA, selling off assets already, assets which could provide productive work for generations of Kiwis AND the dividends. Go figure.
‘Scoop >> Business Thursday, 23 June 2011, 9:48 am
1 – Press Release: Commerce Commission
Matariki Forests applies for clearance to acquire the Selwyn Plantation Board’s forestry assets
The Commerce Commission has received an application from Matariki Forests seeking clearance to acquire the forestry assets of the Selwyn Plantation Board.
Matariki Forests is New Zealand’s third largest forestry company and owns exotic forests throughout New Zealand. It is the largest forest owner in Canterbury.
The Selwyn Plantation Board owns exotic forests in Canterbury. It is owned by the Selwyn District Council (60 per cent) and Christchurch City Council (40 per cent).
The clearance application relates to both parties’ involvement in the supply of saw and pulp logs in the Canterbury region. In considering the application, the Commission’s role is to determine whether the acquisition has the effect of substantially lessening competition in a market.
A public version of the application will be available shortly on the Commission’s website:
http://www.comcom.govt.nz/clearances-register
2 – Matariki Forests, global forester Rayonier’s New Zealand arm, is seeking Commerce Commission permission to buy a swathe of Canterbury forest and farmland owned by the Christchurch City and Selwyn District councils.
Matariki, the country’s third-largest forest owner, lodged the application to buy the assets of the Selwyn Plantation Board, a council-controlled organisation, owned 61 per cent by Selwyn Investment Holdings and 39.3 per cent by Christchurch City Holdings.
Matariki is the New Zealand arm of Rayonier, a global forester based in Florida.
It is unclear whether Overseas Investment Office permission will be required, assuming the Commerce Commission rules the acquisition is not anti-competitive.
• Rayonier seeks clearance to buy Canterbury forests’
Good post Jum. I wonder if this sort of deal would get so far if Jim Anderton had been Mayor?
Prism,
Mmm. I hope lots of people are remembering the fact that Anderton was streets ahead of Parker before the first earthquake; now they know that Parker and his followers are simply following NAct’s instructions, just as they will with Auckland’s freed up asset portfolio in 2012 if they get back in.
Labour needs to return these assets back to a 75% required citizen agreement before selling.
*big loud sigh*
Let’s show this one again. New Zealand assets being stolen all over the place. And now the election.
‘Colonial Viper 5
23 June 2011 at 10:14 am
Goldman Sachs buys into MediaWorks
Yeah. You read that right. National and Goldman Sachs are just now completing their plans to steal the November New Zealand election.
I wonder who the lead IB in the sale of our state assets are going to be.
http://www.scoopit.co.nz/story.php?title=goldman-takes-13-mediaworks-stake&ScoopSrc=scoopit_latest
Reply
I see that Papandreou has succeeded in pushing austerity measures through the greek parliament. This looks bad for the greeks, though I’m not really qualified to judge whether default would have been worse. Bryan Gould seems think it would have been preferable.
“If I have to choose between the posturing of politicians and the greed of bankers on the one hand, and the decent lives of ordinary people on the other, there is no choice. The Greeks must default, abandon the euro and make a fresh start.”
http://www.bryangould.net/id162.html
Papandreaou is the inside man for the bankster occupiers of Greece.
I’m glad Gould has come to this conclusion. Greece is being asked to sell off all its real hard assets for pennies on the pound to gain less than 6 months worth of additional debt to pay its current debt.
The financial terrorists are in a race to see who can pick up the most valuable Greek assets at the cheapest price now, because a Greek default is virtually unavoidable.
Would be bad for the EU and the Euro(€) (both would probably collapse (Actually, this reminds me of what happened to the Gold Standard in the late 19th century)) but good for the Greeks. Guess why it’s being rammed down the Greeks throat.
When taking issue with Mr Thompson, employer spokesperson, why didn’t Hekia Parata, Minister of Women’s Affairs, put forward the stats that her department should have had to hand if she had bothered to ask them and do her job advocating and advancing women’s lives.
Asshole of the Week Award – Alasdair Thompson
Alasdair Thompson is clearly a fully fledged asshole! He typifies the chauvinistic old man, which is unfortunately a prevalent disease in this country. It’s mainly caught by older males who believe they’re somehow superior to woman, who they believe need to be subservient to the status quo.
I would love to post him my used tampon, if only I were menstruating.
You could always email him a picture: alasdair.thompson@ema.co.nz
I notice they have one “token” woman on the EMA board. One out of seven… I rest my case.
http://www.ema.co.nz/our_people.asp
The board should be revamped. Offer a seat to Helen Clark and a former Minister in charge of employment law.
They needed one to get the coffee.
Colonial Viper – Not if it was Dame Margaret Bazley. She would take her seat as one of the boys.
Jim Nald
If we could just get some more women scientists, you could get your wish…
Or I could get some from the supermarket, squirt some tom tom sauce,
put them in the mail to him and send him the tompons