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.
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To Limit Another's Rights Is To Limit One's Own: Is it too much to expect senior members of our Government to be capable of explaining that we protect the rights of human-beings precisely because not even the most depraved act can cancel-out the fact that its perpetrator is also a ...
Going Down? Once truth and propaganda become fused in the minds of one’s followers, debate and discussion become redundant. If one’s opponents are all outrageous liars, then engaging with them in any way is pointless. Rather than waste its time, a political party should, instead, target all its messages at ...
This section builds on Part 1 of this series to provide a theoretical basis for the final instalment (part 3 – to come). Self-determination: law or resurgence — or both? International law promotes the principal of equal treatment and self-determination, which includes peoples’ rights to freely pursue their social, cultural and ...
Everyone was outraged yesterday to learn that the Christchurch shooting accused had been able to send mail from prison to his Nazi fans, apparently pushing more hate. "How could this possibly happen", people asked. Simple: because New Zealand is a civilised country, and so we let prisoners send and receive ...
If we are to avoid dangerous anthropogenic climate change, we need to rapidly decarbonise our transport fleet. The good news: its starting to happen:The number of electric vehicles on New Zealand's roads have nearly tripled in the past two years. There are currently 15,453 registered electric vehicles (EVs), up ...
We need to fundamentally reframe our systems settings to address the drivers causing and underpinning inequality; structural change in systems especially financial. The Equality Network Hui was held in Wellington on 27 June 2019. The hui covered important topics such as child poverty; a living wage; taxation; public health; mental ...
The views-per-page for some of my recent postings:Depressing, isn't it? Provide thoughtful and wise commentary on the mainstream of British politics and no-one notices. Make a passing reference to Tommy DICKHEAD Robinson in a thread title and you get hundreds of views. Write something about anti-Semitism and you get another ...
The government has announced plans to move the Treaty of Waitangi and other taonga to a new site. Great news! So where are they going? Right next to the old one:The new plan will see a new 22,000-square-metre archive built on the former site of Defence House - the former ...
Back in June, StatsNZ went public about a project to track population data on an hourly level by using people's cellphones. It wasn't as bad as it initially looked - they were receiving no individual data, only counts by suburb - but there was still a huge consent problem, so ...
Most economists agree that a currently slowing economy could do with some stimulus – and they would also agree that there is no shortage of infrastructure projects which could be brought to productive fruition with help from that stimulus. In view of the current practice of sub-contracting economic policy decisions ...
I did an interview on the TVNZ Breakfast Show about the situation in Hong Kong. I tried to frame the issue as a collective action problem between two sides with very different end games. The video is here. Because of time constraints we could not discuss the fact that the ...
Image Credit: Wild Rose College A new study reporting the ranges of values for kidney and liver parameters in a healthy population is being actively misrepresented by anti-fluoride campaigners. The Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) latest ...
Image Credit: Wild Rose College A new study reporting the ranges of values for kidney and liver parameters in a healthy population is being actively misrepresented by anti-fluoride campaigners. The Fluoride Action Network’s (FAN) latest ...
AN OPEN LETTER FOR SIGN ON BY ORGANISATIONS AND MOVEMENTS ACROSS THE WORLD, ALLIED IN THE FIGHT AGAINST INEQUALITY. This letter was released at the UN Political Forum on 9 July, where the Sustainable Development Goal on inequality was reviewed. The purpose of the letter is to call out the ...
We asked a young gay science student and critic of trans ideology and the trans activists’ assault on women’s and gay rights to outline his views on Redline. Thanks to him for his article. by Cian Ó Catháin Gender identity ideology (Gender ID) is ripping through western society at full ...
The Environment Committee is currently hearing submissions on the Zero Carbon Bill, and Stuff is reporting on the submissions. Today, they're covering yesterday they heard from "NZ" Steel:NZ Steel has told MPs it may be forced to close with the loss of thousands of jobs if changes aren't made to ...
Students are striking against climate change on September 27. And this time, they're asking everyone to join them:Students are taking to the streets, beaches and parks on 27 September, and we're inviting everyone to join us. That's right, this is an intergenerational issue, and you're all invited to put pressure ...
Peter McKenzie has a piece on Newsroom this morning about how local body politics is awash with property developer cash. 70% of all the donations in the 2016 Wellington mayoral election came from property developers. And its pretty obvious what they want in exchange:That’s particularly important in local government, according ...
Source: Unknown, twitter user Recently, I wrote a (relatively) short paper titled as above, to explore what self-determination could like in a practical sense. Maybe I’m a bit of an international trade truther or something, but I absolutely believe trade is at the heart of achieving peace and self-determination. Since ...
In the 1960s, after I had graduated with a first-class Oxford postgraduate law degree, I joined the British Foreign Office as the top entrant of my year. There, I worked for a couple of years on European affairs and was eventually posted to the Embassy in Brussels. After this exposure ...
Alone, Alone. All, All Alone: Will it be a good or a bad thing, when humanity’s bright blue spacecraft is stricken by the civilisation-destroying problem of Climate Change, that no Huston Control will be standing-by to rescue the crew?“WE HAVE A PROBLEM, HUSTON.” These were the words used by the ...
I heard a 45 minute interview with Monica Lewinsky talking to TED’s Chris Anderson on BBC Radio 4 over the weekend, and have listened to it another two times out walking. I recommend it. Highly. Man, I am so impressed with how this woman has integrated her life experiences and ...
Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, The Coddling of the American Mind: how good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure, London, Penguin, 2019, 352pp; reviewed by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff’s book The Coddling of the American Mind is a timely book, whose ...
When the Justice Committee reported back on the Administration of Justice (Reform of Contempt of Court) Bill, free speech advocates breathed a sigh of relief. As originally introduced, the Bill reitered the ancient offence of "scandalising the court" - basicly, a special sedition law protecting judges from criticism. The select ...
Eighteen months ago, the government promised to strengthen the Bill of Rights Act, by explicitly affirming the power of the courts to issue declarations of inconsistency and requiring Parliament to formally respond to them. Since then - crickets. Which raises the obvious question: are they actually going to do this, ...
Back in March, the Ministry of Justice conducted a public consultation exercise on whether to hold a review of the Official Information Act. 285 people submitted on it. Now, Stuff has trawled through those submissions, and the case for reform is strong:The Justice Ministry asked Kiwis what they thought was ...
National's prisoner voting ban has gone down as one of the worst laws in New Zealand history. Passed after a farcical debate (including this farcial speech from ACT MP Hilary Calvert), it has subsequently been found to be inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act by the High Court, Court ...
Divided Loyalties: Can the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, be relied upon? That’s what the boys and girls at Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon needed to be reassured about. Because, from the perspective of Washington, it’s looking more and more like Jacinda Ardern and her Labour Party comrades are getting ready ...
This handy Queer Theory Glossary is from thetranswidow.com In case you’ve had trouble keeping up with the spate of new queer theory terms, here’s a handy glossary for your reference. Queer – A straight person with an interesting haircut. Non-binary/genderqueer – A chubby young female, typically 16-28, who has ...
by Daphna Whitmore US social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt spoke on 1 August in Auckland to a crowd of around one thousand people. He is best known for his bookThe Coddling of the American Mind which examines the new climate of trigger warnings and acute sensitivity of Gen Z. ...
What an extraordinarily depressing experience it is to be compelled to watch, at 12,000 miles distance, the contortions and machinations of the British political class as they set about their determined attempt to overturn the decision taken by the British people that they wish to leave the European Union. The ...
The winter grazing issue is becoming a highly sensitised one that I hope will not become so politicised that it delays solutions and results in the suicides of some very stressed farmers.Winter grazing has hit the headlines after a determined campaign, including the release of a video of some very ...
by Don Franks Way back when British guitar virtuoso Joe Brown was a beginning session guy he got to back a visiting American artist. Young Joe was an able technician but had yet to learn some points of professionalism. Part way through “Five foot high and rising” Joe tired of ...
Since scientists started studying climate change, they have warned that it will reduce food production. And now, its happening:The climate crisis is damaging the ability of the land to sustain humanity, with cascading risks becoming increasingly severe as global temperatures rise, according to a landmark UN report compiled by some ...
The Abortion Legislation Bill just passed its first reading, 94-23. Its a far bigger margin than I expected, even allowing for the Winston factor, and it reflects the overwhelming support there is in this country for reform. but that support isn't a new thing - it has existed for literally ...
The Justice Committee has called for submissions on the Referendums Framework Bill. The Bill does what it says on the label - establishes a framework for referenda. Things you may want to address in your submission: Whether the bill should apply only at the 2020 election, or whether it should ...
The Thompson and Clark / MBIE spying scandal continues to result in fallout, this time in the form of a report on the implementation of MBIE's "Operation Exploration", its internal operation to enforce the infamous Anadarko Amendment which criminalised protests against the oil industry. MBIE's enforcement operation was tainted by ...
So, Winston Peters is defending his last-minute demand for a referendum on abortion by claiming he was "blindsided" by the bill. Really? The bill is a government bill. It has been working through the cabinet approval process since December last year. As part of that process, NZ First was consulted, ...
The Green Part has been accused of lack of transparency in two recent situations. The first was the claimed media lockdown during Green's annual conference and the second was Julie Ann Genter's refusal to release a letter she had sent to Phil Twyford.I do get frustrated when journalist's succumb to ...
The Green Part has been accused of lack of transparency in two recent situations. The first was the claimed media lockdown during Green's annual conference and the second was Julie Ann Genter's refusal to release a letter she had sent to Phil Twyford.I do get frustrated when journalist's succumb to ...
Last week, the ongoing democracy protests in Hong Kong saw a pro-Hong Kong student assaulted at the University of Auckland. The Chinese consulate in Auckland followed this up with a press release "express[ing] its appreciation to the students for their spontaneous patriotism" - effectively condoning the assault and inciting further ...
Only those who close their eyes and minds to the evidence can still be in any doubt that we are facing a climate change crisis. The evidence is conclusive that the world is not only getting inexorably hotter, but also that the rising temperatures are creating a number of other ...
Rural communities are wailing about forestry conversions "taking land out of production" and putting it into locking up carbon. Its driven purely by economics: there's more money and lower costs in carbon than in sheep or beef, and if carbon prices rise, there'll be more net money than dairy even. ...
This week, the government introduced its (underwhelming) Abortion Legislation Bill. And despite having negotiated the text of the bill through the coalition process, Winston Peters is now suggesting that he will demand a referendum on it:NZ First leader Winston Peters has hinted that his party may only support the Government's ...
Blowing-Up The House: Is Winston Peters planning to put himself at the head of all those New Zealanders who refuse to countenance the Coalition Government caving-in to the Ihumatao protesters? The most effective way of doing this would be to issue Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with an ultimatum. If she ...
Last night the police dramatically incresed their numbers at Ihumātao, shoving over protestors and threatening them with arrest. Despite police talk about the need to maintain "public order" and prevent a "breach of the peace", there appeared to be absolutely no justification for this: the protest camp is, was, and ...
A Cult, that many actors, politicians, and those with a low IQ are joining is sweeping across civilisation, with one main intention – ending humans reign on Earth. Starting as a well meaning though deeply flawed theory, that the Earth was warming due to mankind emitting greenhouse gasses, it was ...
Today's abortion reform announcement is just the latest in a long line of disappointing decisions or outright failures from the Labour government. The 90-day law. KiwiBuild. A capital gains tax. Climate change. Every time they make one of those decisions, we hope for better next time. No repeal of the ...
The Greens used their party conference over the weekend to push for a rent-to-own scheme, where people would be able to work towards home ownership by renting from the government. Its a sensible policy, and one which could make a real difference to home ownership rates. But its also basicly ...
by Daphna Whitmore Over the past fortnight, thousands of people have come to the Ihumātao land protest in South Auckland. On 23 July police prepared to evict a few dozen people who had maintained the encampment at Ihumātao for the past three years. As hundreds of supporters arrived the ...
The following article is translated from an article in Lutte de Classe (Class Struggle), the magazine of the French revolutionary workers’ organisation Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle). The United States’ blacklisting of the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, which took shape in Google’s ban on Huawei using its systems on its phones, marks a ...
There is a military phrase: “Full spectrum dominance”. It refers to the all-encompassing policy to dominate across all spheres of war. Lately, that has come to include the internet – in other words, cyberwarfare initiatives. That is in addition to land, sea, air and the like. Now, if ...
The IMF issued a Report on the state of the Economy as it is at present. Some of it points out significant issues that certainly warrant attention, but that we know already exist. Some of it is very much tied to the very obvious context of global concerns, that everyone ...
I'm glad to see the Lib Dems won.I had a moment of terror yesterday thinking that the Conservatives might cling on, due to a combination of Johnson's elevation to the premiership, the apparent uselessness of the Lib Dem candidate (who had failed to be elected in other constituencies) and the ...
Opportunities to dodge tax are shrinking with the completion of a new tax agreement with Switzerland, Revenue Minister Stuart Nash announced today. Mr Nash and the Swiss Ambassador David Vogelsanger have today signed documents to update the double tax agreement (DTA). The previous DTA was signed in 1980. “Double tax ...
Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says the report of the Small Business Council will help maintain the momentum for innovation and improvements in the sector. Mr Nash has thanked the members of the Small Business Council (SBC) who this week handed over their report, Empowering small businesses to aspire, succeed ...
Extra Police officers are being deployed from Northland to Southland with the graduation of a new wing of recruits from the Royal New Zealand Police College. “The graduation of 78 constables today means that 1524 new constables have been deployed since the government took office,” says Police Minister Stuart Nash. ...
The second national hui in the Māori-led Inquiry into Oranga Tamariki concluded yesterday ahead of schedule after a capacity audience formally ratified the terms of reference that determines the scope and purpose of the independent investigation ...
Forest & Bird says WWF-NZ's plan for protecting Māui dolphins is based on testing unproven methods on a species that is almost extinct, and is urging the Government to reject the proposal. ...
Primary and intermediate school principals have voted to accept a new settlement from the Ministry of Education, which includes entrenched pay parity with secondary principals. ...
Police acknowledge the findings of the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report into the 2014 search of a property belonging to Nicky Hager. ...
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that the Police's unlawful search of Nicky Hager's property in October 2014 resulted from an unwitting neglect of duty and did not amount to misconduct by any individual officer. Police policy at the ...
Tuesday, August 20: Greenpeace has labeled an overnight announcement by fishing company Sanford as a danger to Māui and Hector’s dolphins, and is calling on the Government to reject the ‘Sanford Plan’ immediately. ...
World Animal Protection describes an overnight announcement (19 August, embargoed until 6am 20 August), by fishing company Sanford as a cynical move to undermine growing support for full habitat protection for Māui and Hector’s dolphins. They called ...
When the combined tax on fuel hits over 50 percent in some parts of the country, it is hypocritical for the Government to blame corporates, says the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union . ...
A leading expert in suicide prevention has urged MPs not to confuse suicide with assisted dying as they consider the second reading of the End of Life Choice Bill. ...
Over the weekend Māoridom arrived in the Waikato for the annual Koroneihana Celebrations. Yesterday almost 300 attended a Hui in Hamilton to continue the Oranga Tamariki Review led by an independent Māori panel to coincide with the Koroneihana. The Hui confirmed ...
The Council of Licenced Firearm Owners (COLFO) says the newly issued ‘price list’ for compensation of banned firearms reveals that haste in preparing the ban has led to an underestimation of the number of affected firearms and their value. ...
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis has admitted parts of the prison system are “extremely racist” and says that’s why the Government is asking Māori to work with it to make changes. ...
Ongoing drug-test sanctions contradicts Government’s rhetoric on drugs Reports that two-thirds of beneficiaries who fail drug tests are still having their benefit sanctioned contradicts the Government’s so-called health approach to drugs. Auckland ...
An Auckland Homelessness Collective is optimistic extra government support for sustaining tenancies signals a commitment to a multi-pronged approach to tackling homelessness. ...
Wanaka-based trust ONE New Zealand will be hosting six days of talks, workshops and hands-on activities with local and national experts to educate, inspire and enable grassroots action towards a sustainable future. ...
In last week’s episode of Politics in Full Sentences, David, Brooke and Ruwan discussed why Jacinda Ardern has been lecturing our friends overseas, why Andrew Little called ACT's three strikes law “fascism”, whether he will give prisoners the right to ...
“Community safety must be the paramount consideration when releasing an offender, and the only way for that to be achieved is for the offender to acknowledge their crimes.” ...
“District Health Boards are failing to foster a culture of distributed clinical leadership, despite its demonstrated benefits to the sector,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). ...
Ratepayers around Auckland were spitting out their morning coffees listening to Phil Goff’s incredible claims on breakfast radio today that this election is about ‘honesty’ and that Aucklanders can trust him on his promises. Auckland Ratepayers’ ...
The Hōkai Rangi plan for reducing Māori reoffending announced today fails to fulfil the Waitangi Tribunal’s recommendations, says justice organisation People Against Prisons Aotearoa. Minister Kelvin Davis announced the plan this morning, which aims ...
Waatea News at the invitation of the North Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency will exclusively broadcast the next Māori-led Inquiry into Oranga Tamariki starting today at 1pm. ...
Staff at the Ministry of Social Development say they are enthusiastic about the government’s $54 million investment in housing the homeless, with many describing it as a welcome change. ...
Today posters have gone up outside ANZ branches across New Zealand to expose ANZ’s sponsorship of an exclusive oil industry group, ‘The Petroleum Club’. The satirical posters play on ANZ’s recent ad campaigns, replacing the banks’ tagline ‘healthy ...
Imagine a country where children look forward to walking or cycling to school, parents arrive home safely, and the journeys we take for work or pleasure do more than leave us alive or uninjured, they also improve our lives. This is happening now in countries ...
Sunday, 18 August, 2019 - Environmental groups and well known New Zealanders are preparing to deliver a 55,000 strong petition to the steps of Parliament tomorrow, calling on the Government to protect the world’s smallest dolphin. ...
The Government’s proposed rescue plan must be strengthened because it is the last chance to save Māui dolphins from extinction and secure the future for Hector’s dolphins, Forest & Bird says. ...
Simon Shepherd: Roads, schools, hospitals, prisons, the building blocks that keep society functioning. And we don't have enough. It's called the infrastructure deficit and will be the focus of a major conference this coming week. The man charged with ...
New Zealand has been issued a stark challenge from Pacific leaders to dramatically upscale its action to address climate breakdown, Oxfam says, after a clear rallying cry from nations at this week’s Pacific Islands Forum. ...
Support for Recreational Dope Going ‘Up in Smoke’ Family First NZ is welcoming yet another poll showing plummeting support for legalising cannabis in New Zealand. The Horizon Research poll shows support for legalising has plummeted from 60% last ...
The prospect of ending wider cannabis prohibition looks increasingly unlikely. Over the last nine months, the percentage of New Zealanders who would vote for legalising the personal use of cannabis has declined at a near linear rate of around 10% per ...
“It’s disappointing that news out of the United States of hospitalisations linked to illegal street drugs is somehow seen as relevant to the New Zealand vaping scene,” says Ben Pryor, Director of Alt New Zealand – the largest Kiwi-owned vaping company. ...
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) welcomes the successful passing of Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill through parliament, by the New Zealand Government. ...
Today’s news from the Electoral Commission has provided the party with the clarity it was seeking around use of the word “Coalition” being used as the brand name of the party. ...
A recently released Otago University study has provided further evidence that low-quality housing is a significant problem in Aotearoa. This has prompted the Chief Executive of the Association of Consulting Engineers (ACENZ) Paul Evans to question “why ...
With the BNZ-Business NZ PMI signaling manufacturing is contracting , the Government needs to seriously consider tax relief, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . ...
The New Zealand Maori Council has called for an overhaul of the Public Services executive ranks as the Corrections debacle shows mis-management and incompetence at the highest level. Matthew Tukaki, Executive Director of the New Zealand Maori Council has said ...
Findings from the 2018 New Zealand Consumer Survey have been released and the results are in; 48 per cent of respondents consider their purchases based on how ethically employees are treated. ...
The responsibility for the fact that Westland Milk Products is now in the hands of an overseas conglomerate 25% owned by the Chinese government can be laid fair and square at our government's doorstep. ...
As Fonterra is projecting multi million dollar losses for the second year in a row, it is clear the writing is on the wall for dairy as more and more Kiwis turn to plant milks. 22nd August is International Plant Milk Day and there is now a different plant ...
The $65,000 granted to Interislander so it can install electric vehicle chargers on its ferries is the most absurd waste of money yet to be delivered by the “Low Emissions” vehicle fund, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. ...
From tennis champions to dance craze inventors, Scratched celebrates New Zealand sporting heroes who never got their due – but whose legacies deserve to be in lights. This month, aerobics world champion and creator of Jump Jam, Brett Fairweather. Every New Zealander under the age of 30 knows at least one ...
Life in the wee hours could be made safer and better for business if New Zealand adopted the policies of cities such as Amsterdam, writes Natanael Rother.It would be insane to do the same thing over and over again and still expect different results. It’s a lesson those embroiled in ...
Stranger Things owns all the oxygen for period-piece teen TV, but Ireland’s impossibly charming Derry Girls deserves as much acclaim, writes Duncan Greive.There’s a reason why high school is the backdrop to so much fantastic television. That cusp between childhood and the adult world is ripe with dramatic possibility. Relationships ...
The Commerce Commission has released preliminary findings from its market study into the retail fuel market, finding it not as competitive as it could be. ...
We’ve become used to Samoan characters as peripheral bad guys. But from the tatau Sāmoa on his chest to his relationships with his aiga, Hobbs & Shaw showed us someone who is us. And he kicks arse.When I was growing up, there were hardly any Sāmoan or Polynesian faces on ...
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 content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Māori prison strategy, prisoner voting 1News: Kelvin Davis admits parts of prison system ‘extremely racist’ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Hopkins, Lecturer in conservation biology and microbial ecology, Edith Cowan University As most of the science community knows, the climate emergency is here now. Weather extremes such as droughts and heatwaves are increasing in frequency and intensity and are measurably exacerbated ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Krystian Seibert, Industry Fellow, Centre for Social Impact, Swinburne University of Technology Over the weekend, Prime Minister Scott Morrison launched a new assault on the campaigning group GetUp. At the Liberal Party’s state conference in Adelaide, he said GetUp needed to be ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Archana Koirala, Paediatrician and Infectious Diseases Specialist, University of Sydney If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au.How does our blood fight viruses like chicken pox, sickness and colds? – Teddy, 5, Oxfordshire, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Hemer, Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere, CSIRO The rise in sea levels is not the only way climate change will affect the coasts. Our research, published today in Nature Climate Change, found a warming planet will also alter ocean waves ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Owain Emslie, Associate, Grattan Institute Inheritances can have an enormous impact on finances and lives. Yet in Australia we know surprisingly little about who gets them and how big they are. New Grattan Institute research provides some answers. Inheritances are big and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Pitt, PhD candidate, UNSW In April 2020, Australia will mark 250 years since James Cook sailed into Kamay (later known as Botany Bay) on the Endeavour, kicking off a series of events that resulted in the British arriving and staying uninvited ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Law changes likely over prison mail system, sharp drops in Northland vaccinations, and PM still has no plans to visit Ihumātao.Law changes are looking likely over what mail prisoners can send and receive. One News has reported on the announcement made by ...
Is a second attempt at merging parts of Stuff and NZ Herald owner NZME planned, with a bid for political intervention to help the media industry? Tim Murphy reports. ...
How the NZ Superfund has drummed up $15 trillion to put pressure on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube giants over livestreaming following the Christchurch terror attacks. ...
Kiwi Jamie Greene has established herself as one of the fittest women on the globe in the fast-growing gruelling sport of CrossFit. And she wants to thank her runner sister for helping drive her. ...
Newsroom is delighted to welcome the University of Otago as our third university partner for the IdeasRoom section exploring issues of importance to society and the country’s future. ...
Who should decide how many more tourists fly into Queenstown and Wanaka? Journalist and former district councillor, Cath Gilmour, argues local residents should, not the airlines. ...
Phil Goff has kept a low profile compared with his headline-grabbing opponent in the early stages of the Auckland mayoral campaign. Hayden Donnell heads along to see if the mayor can win back the spotlight at his campaign launch.The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to ...
Backed by businessman Eric Watson and launched in a blaze of publicity, online trader Fashbae disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived. Now its founder is traversing the globe in a jeep. Business editor Maria Slade tries to keep up with events.It had it all. A suave multi-millionaire investor and ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Rioting broke out in Manokwari, West Papua, today as local people – mostly university students – protested against racial abuse of Papuan students in East Java, reports TheJakarta Post. The protesters blocked a number of major streets in the city this morning, cutting down ...
By Ben Bilua in Suva Multimedia skills and innovation are key to adapting to the changing media landscape, said US academic Professor Debora Wenger as newsmakers around the world continue to grapple with challenges arising from the transformation of technology and social media. Speaking to journalists at a regional ...
The new RBNZ seems to crave the limelight and be known for advocacy of new causes, and that has not impressed macroeconomics professor Robert MacCulloch. ...
The prime minister won't meet with Ihumātao protesters before Thursday - the deadline given by the group to stop them marching to her Auckland electorate office. ...
Cabinet ministers will discuss possible law changes to what mail can be received and sent by prisoners, after the accused Christchurch gunman was able to send mail to supporters. ...
The Catholic and Anglican churches are still considering quashing legal agreements that may prevent abuse survivors from giving evidence to the inquiry investigating historical abuse in care. ...
The new joint from the team behind one of Wellington’s favourite craft beer bars is dedicated to minimal-intervention, organic wine – and more exciting things are coming to the heritage building it’s housed in.Before the Cadbury factory opened in Dunedin in 1930, New Zealanders ate Cadbury chocolate made in England. ...
Alex Casey chats to Bree Tomasel about hosting Celebrity Treasure Island NZ, farting in the ZM studio and going viral on the regular. The most important thing you need to know about Bree Tomasel is not the fact that she peed her pants during Celebrity Treasure Island NZ, but the glee ...
Dr Bryce EdwardsAnalysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – The election race is on. The nominations process for local government positions has now closed, and the political campaign is officially underway. But does the public care? Will many of us even vote for any of the various mayoral or council ...
At Eden Park on Saturday night, the Wallabies were on the receiving end of a ruthless players’ revenge, writes Scotty StevensonThe rain came. It always seems to at Eden Park, just as the Wallabies warm up on the pitch, dreaming of ending a drought. It came from the west, the ...
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 content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Local government Michael Fallow (Stuff): Your council – what’s its job description? Dileepa Fonseka and ...
Protesters occupying land at Ihumātao will begin a four-hour hikoi to Mt Albert on Thursday to present a petition calling on the Prime Minister to visit the land. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jamie Walvisch, Lecturer, Monash University This morning an Extinction Rebellion protester was arrested after hanging from a rope over the William Jolly Bridge in Brisbane, blocking all lanes to peak hour traffic. And earlier this month in Brisbane, more than 70 climate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Jobson, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Monash University Many of us enjoy writing in a diary, reading autobiographies or nostalgically reflecting with others about past times. Why is remembering our past so important? Are there downsides? And what can we do ...
Roll Red Roll is a brutal, painfully illuminating documentary on the Steubenville High School rape case, a shocking crime that made headlines worldwide. Emily Writes reviews. This review discusses rape and sexual violenceAugust 11, 2012: two teenage boys rape an unconscious teenage girl as two of their peers watch and ...
By RNZ Pacific Tuvalu’s Prime Minister has condemned the Australian Prime Minister’s conduct at last week’s Pacific Islands Forum, calling Scott Morrison’s attitude “unfortunate” and “neo-colonial,” and questioning Australia’s future in the 18-member body. In an interview with RNZ on Sunday, Enele Sopoaga also threatened to pull Tuvaluan labour from ...
Open mike 23/06/2011 
Canada is having an election in the next few months, and (perhaps because their Prime Minister is so nice and reasonable) they have a party running on a platform of Trumpism and climate change denial. But there's a twist: the latter means that it will be illegal for anyone in ...2 hours ago
Everyone Wants To Be Fuhrer: When fascist groups are discussed, the image conjured-up in the minds of most New Zealanders is one of pathetic misfits. This negative impression is reinforced by the latter’s idiotic embrace of the swastika. Even in the second decade of the twenty-first century, the baleful legacy ...4 hours ago
by Philip Ferguson This weekend just past marks the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, the most famous of the great 1960s music festivals. It was held over the weekend (Friday-Monday) of August 15-18, 1969. Woodstock was a highpoint of the US ‘counter-culture’, and also the beginning of its end. When exploring the ...23 hours ago
In the previous two posts, I laid out the context and set the theoretical framework to answer a question: whether indigenous economies should take the LEAP. This final part outlines ways to conceive of practicing mana motuhake within the existing legal system by carving out special jurisdictions that enable Indigenous ...2 days ago
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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 /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