“My Member’s Bill drawn today [23 September 2021] will crack down on gangs and illegal firearms use,” says ACT’s Justice Spokesperson Nicole McKee.
“Gang numbers have exploded under this soft on crime Government. With more gang members comes an increase in their confidence … we’ve seen shootings in our communities … only a matter of time before an innocent member of the public gets caught in the cross fire.
Nicole says her Bill, the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) (Definition of Significant Criminal Activity) Amendment Bill will deliver police the tools to crack down on gangs and illegal firearm use.
“The Bill increases the power of police to seize assets connected with gang activity and illegal firearms owned by gang members by introducing a new threshold for Police to seize assets. Under the definitions put in place in this Bill, the threshold to seize assets would now be triggered if a gang member was found with an illegal firearm therefore committing an offence.
“This is a tool to hit the gangs where it hurts, their wallets. Parliament has a duty and a responsibility to keep New Zealanders safe. My Bill will do that.
She says: “Neither the Government’s new gun legislation, nor the buyback, has made a difference to the number of illegal firearms in circulation. Law abiding members of the firearms community have handed back their guns, but violent gang members were never going to.
“This Bill adds a new tool to crackdown on the criminal activity gangs inflict on New Zealanders.”
I loathe the gangs. For their illegal drug involvement, for their members’ (or prospects’) ongoing commission of other crimes, for their brutality & the fear & intimidation they bring to our towns & communities, for their gang-on-gang violence, which seems to be increasing, & especially – for the continual damage they do to Māori-Pākehā relations in this country. Gezza
– Where is the analysis of the actual effect of the bill?
A: Dunno. Do you know where I could typically find one?
– What does the Police Association think?
A: No idea. Will see if I can find any comment from Police on it. It’s new. There may be nothing yet.
– Why is the Act Party assaulting property rights so much? The Proceeds of Crime Act is an exceedingly aggressive bill as it is.
A. I assume they are not particulary concerned about the property rights of anti-society crims. Also, they probably see “law n order” as a vote-winner among those who’ve been (or feel) intimidated by gangstas, or have been victims of crime by mobstas or prospects.
– Will farmers and hunters be reasonaby worried?
A. Can’t why they should. If any have got a sideline in criminal activity, gang on gang “warfare” or arms dealing, those persons might encounter some difficulties with the constabulary?
– Which weapons does it cover? Will my Dad’s old air rifle mean Police can stomp in and take the house?
A. I doubt it. There used to be some extra-high-powered airguns on the market. If they’re still for sale, MAYBE some of those might be covered.
– Which societal ill will this property seizure extension cure?
A. I reckon they (like Bridges) are out to make the worst gangsta’s lives as difficult as possible. To try & counter gang recruitment, which is burgeoning.
Well, must admit I’m really off the gangs at the moment.
Some prospects recently broke the 1/4 light windows of 5 cars – including mine, trying to get in, hot-wire, & steal them. They succeded with the 5th car. My neighbours’. We’re in Tawa. The Police found it abandoned in Johnsonville. It was written off.
I never heard a thing. My car’s got an alarm & an imobiliser. So did my neighbour’s. Seems maybe that if they can “pop” your 1/4 light with a screwdriver (you can see where they inserted it at the seals) & can then unlock a back door, it doesn’t set off your car alarm.
The policewoman who came to dust all the cars for fingerprints said: “They’ll go to Youth Court, get a slap on the wrist, & be back doing it again within a week.”
Just to be clear Gezza, do you have evidence that it was series of gang related incidents? This being as opposed to someone who has been labeled a gang member because of his appearance or demeanor.
4 of them (all neighbours) were done in one afternoon.
The remaining one was done a week later, at about 7 pm, while the owner was parked in the other neighbour's visitors parking space, just next door to mine. They managed to pull out the ignition barrel, but couldn't start the car.
The police caught the culprits, that's how we know they were MMM prospects. In my neck of the woods, Mongie prospects sometimes wear red bandanas, or have them hanging thru their belt loops.
With respect, how many gang members have been dropped on our communities by Australia in the last 4 years? Ans LOTS!!
Since the lock down over 300 criminals have been sent here. Not all are gang members, but they are mostly already antisocial, and build on the numbers.
Looking at The Gold Coast News gangs are rife.
In a time of high employment in NZ this is by choice.
Sorry, forgot to add, this is to infer the Government is soft on crime.
What a hoot, there have been more high powered crooks facing the courts under this Government, more crimes uncovered, but we find an antiquated set of attitudes in the judiciary have real bias.
Like many areas of Public service years of underfunding patching and poor co-ordination between Police and Courts have led to gangs choosing "areas with friendly courts"
This law would not deal with any of the causes or bias in the system, instead make an almost vigilante attitude in Police and the courts almost mandatory.
Meanwhile the gun runners dealers and printers? what about them… is it going to be "By association?" Asinine idea imo.
You've just shown who this kind of bill is aimed at, simple thinking to complex problems. Gangs suck, but to think they'll ever go away is bizarre, they're outlaws, literally. As long as there is poverty & prison, there will be gangs. And stupid opportunist politicians too & lazy thinkers.
ACT is going for the low-hanging fruit; they obviously consider there are probably some votes in it for them. National's Bridges is on the same anyi-gang warpath & wavelength.
I'm personally happy enuf to see the Parliamentary Bills process kick & sort out whether this is a practical move or not. If it's got massive holes or foreseeable problems in it – it won't get passed. Not with the Labour & Greens & Te Pāti Māori MP numbers.
As long as there is poverty & prison, there will be gangs. And stupid opportunist politicians too & lazy thinkers.
With gang recruitment on the rise, there's now a chicken & egg element to think about. Some lazy thinkers seem to not want to do this. Mantras like "No more poverty. No more prisons" aren't the simple solutions they might sound or seem to some.
Those joining up to gangs (from my North Welly perspective anyway) are mostly tane rangatahi who haven't done well or have failed in school. They may come from "broken" homes. And / or homes where nowadays, grandparents, and mum & dad (or the current partner of either one) are gang associates or patched mobstas, or living with one.
There is unlikely to be any whanau in NZ that doesn't now have gang members or associates in it.
For teenage boys (& some girls, in all likliehood) with little prospect of getting a good qualification and/or a decent, respectable job, they are faced with too much time on their hands when they do exit school.
Right at the time of their lives when they most desperately want to figure out who they are, who they should look up to & seek to emulate, and how they fit in the world. To "be someone", also to belong to a supportive peer group, and to be respected as having value.
For those not strongly connected with the Māoritanga of their hapu's marae, the gangs offer very potent attraction. And they exploit this ruthlessly.
These lost young men get to join a "tribe". They get a uniform. If they can't work, they get given "things to do" by the gang to fit in – & they think they gain "mana" by now becoming someone who (at least when with other gangstas if not on their own) is feared – and thus "respected". They are "outlaws" a sexy kind of person to be for some young people enjoying the pull of rebelliousness.
I hung around at every opportunity with a bullshit bikie gang for six months before I left school. And looking back, some of these factors were reasons I did so. But they were going nowhere & spending weekend daya riding around Taranaki & the nights working my way thru a dozen beer eventually lost its appeal.
But I 'm a Pākehā & I had options. And help. My dad, a low-level public servant, got me an interview with another government department & my miserable UE results (compared to my older & younger brothers') & general affability were just sufficient for the local manager to take me on & try me out.
I ended up transferring to another Dept in Wellington a year later. Head Office looked like the place to be, where the opportunities for promotion were more often available than in provincial District Offices. And I had a 34.5 year career in the public service, eventually working my way up to a pretty generous salary by continuing to learn new skills & get along with people.
These gang prospects don't get those opportunities. Nor probably can they look around & see something better to do witb their lives.
What they see is that belonging to a gang gives them status, "employment", girls, & the prospect of, who knows, if they play their cards right, important ranking in the upper echelons of the gang hierarchy, with the desirable properties, swanky cars, harley hogs, & the great wealth that they can see goes with that dream.
So, my current thinking is that it is important that NZ tackles the gang problem from several different directions.
One being to make it unattractive as a potential long-term occupation, by ensuring that those senior members clearly profiting off the crime & intimidation visibly don't get to keep & enjoy the fruits of their functionary members' labours & their drug-related & other criminal enterprises. (I was told a few years ago by a local mechanic that the mongies or black power had the stolen car chop shop market in Wellington. Running to order. Dunno if that's right, never checked it out, but certainly open to the possibility it is – or was – true.)
Unemployed Māori youths need something better, more productive, more community-supported & approved to do. They need hope. They need better role models than gangsta super-crims. They need education. They need to actually experience being really appreciated & valued for what they contribute to the community, rather than what they take from it. They need skills. And training. It's bloody tragic how many of these of these young folk are having wasted lives.
And they especially need help to avoid getting sucked into gang-run soul & mind-destroying effects of doing daily dope & P. And then having to sell it to meet their own needs.
So how we tackle these other issues is where I think we also need to be getting lots of minds together – including strong hapu iwi & marae input – and I don't see enuf of this happening yet.
Anyway, that's how I'm looking at this issue at the moment. I sure don't have all the answers. I want some. I'm talking about it here because there are a lot of folk posting here who I think genuinely care about these issues deeply & I'm hoping to get others' perspectives & see what else I can – or need – to learn.
This could be fun to watch, essentially McKee is saying the prohibition on semi autos and the buy back was good thing as it's given police the power to differentiate between 'good' and 'bad' firearm owners.
We'll see how good a politician and leader she is as she squares that one away with her constituency. I know a few of them and they certainly do't see it that way.
I'd also be wary of any reduction of the reach of PCA slipped into this, as it applies to the good people in business, like the guy who engaged a cheap contractor to do some welding on his wast oil tank, launching the welder into the next block, and life.
I'd like to see the courts get the ability to declare gangs proscribed organisations, and criminalise membership of the gangs. You could, for example, sentence someone convicted of membership of a proscribed criminal organisation to up to five years in prison, suspended with the use of compulsory electronic monitoring via a GPS tracker.
The danger there is that opposition political parties could in future be declared "a proscribed criminal organisation" … particularly by any party in power with a majority mandate … for instance. Think of how toxic US politics had become and how history does confirm this possability … nay certainty.
Ken Loach shows us why he is not only the greatest living English film director, but also an excellent political analyst as well…which is of course unsurprising.
He rightly observes that the centre "left" are the greatest threat to progressive change in current politics in the UK (as well as New Zealand) and that mass media (including liberal media like The Guardian) is public enemy #1, and will always defend power and class first and foremost.
Kier Starmer is basically turning the UK Labour party backwards and inwards and into the last bastion of neoliberal orthodoxy, as the Tories transform themselves into a big-state English nativist party. It is a path to catastrophe, because he’ll end up presiding over an elite cadre party of the liberal urban class that is no longer supported much by anyone outside the opinion writers of the Guardian.
The Labour party here hasn't been "challenged" yet by a true left movement as UK Labour was. NZ Labour are still sitting comfortably in third-way neoliberalism, continuing the same old free-market policies from the 1980s, governing for the benefit of the wealthy few.
UK Labour:
1980s lurch to the right
Corbyn – shift to the left?
Today – Corbyn defeated, Labour firmly back to the right.
NZ Labour:
1980s lurch to the right
Today – no change.
No The Greens here are the Freeloading Left who get carried by Labour.
The True Left are those who are always there, always kind, always good, always perfect, don't exist in material form, and will raise us all from the dead – something like Jesus for Evangelical Christians.
Yea right how many home less, how many hungry kids, how many struggle to pay the rent, how many can't get a hospital appointment.It was started as a party of the left to look after the workers and there families not the rich bastards that it does know.
Most popular Labour Party in the world, 4% unemployed, repositioned economy away from imported labour, solved a nationwide crisis twice, smashed opposition, due for 3rd term easily.
I think you will find the imported labour will flood back in ASAP when the border restrictions lift. They haven't changed their beliefs (i.e. use imported labour to suppress wages)
I'm as interested as anyone in how this pandemic restructures our economy. I have a sneaking suspicion we are driving straight into a 3.5% headline unemployed. My company is already having to pull people out of parole to get enough staff. Functioning arms and legs, drug free, and the ability to get to work at 7am every working day is the thing.
"Because we already run the country….Successfully"…haven't you noticed that we cannot open our fucking boarders because your successful Labour govt has been along with National (just two sides of the same coin) underfunding and running our Public Health care system into the ground for the past 30 years, so now surprise, surprise it can't cope with even the smallest number of Covid cases in one hit?…haven't you noticed that none of our children will be able to own their own houses now, and if they do will slaves to the banks for most of their lives…successfully…are you being fucking serious or just taking the piss?
We're not opening our borders because there is a worldwide pandemic on. And the government is scrupulously following the scientific and logistical advice that ensures least harm. It's been on the news.
Why is is necessary to own houses?'….if you have to even ask that absolutely inane qeustion then it is obvious you don't know shit about what it is like to rent in New Zealand (and especially with a family) and you should probably never comment on this subject ever again because whatever you have to say is meaningless.
No – we just need to take our party back from the deleted expletives who no longer hold Left values, but love the baubles of power. Let them form a new party – "The NeoLiberals" hasn't been taken yet. They'll be less popular than ACT.
Come along to the next Labour Party conference and change it from within to your own revolutionary standards if you like. Put up remits supported by an LEC, like democratic adults do.
Aaahh Ad you really are like our very own version of the Guardian rolled into one yucky package aren't you, and just like the Guardian every now and then you sound reasonable..that is until something comes along that is actually really Left Wing and actually progressive..then the knives come out..every time.
But yeah someones gotta do something different ( i know that is scary to you) because Covid has proven once and for all that freemarket liberal centrism as a controlling and hegemonic ideology is one of the most short term and selfish political ideologies to ever spew out of man's ugly mind..and as if we needed any more proof, it will never have any answers to battle climate change…so Ad you keep on going ahead doing what you do, sitting there and shooting out your funny little one liners at the Left, blithely shooting down the only western politicians who ever had a chance at really turning the ship off it's course of destruction…and then just like nearly the entire western political class (centre left/Right) of the past 30 years you will be remembered (if you are remembered at all?) by future generations with the contempt and disgust they justly deserve.
I don't drink…funnily enough I don't feel the need to block out reality with drugs or alcohol…but it seems like it is doing a really good job on that front for you pal.
Oh and by the way the problem isn't that people like me rage when the world is burning around us..the problem is that people like you don’t, infact as it turns the liberal class will do nothing…ever.
Here is one of the very founders of your New Zealand Labour’s free market ideology even admitting that it is a flawed ideology…think that would given cause for reflection from you guys..not even for a moment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkLDdQ3HORo
Yes, given the abject failure of “Roger’n’Ruth’s” legacy, it is way past time to replace the hardwiring of the NZ neo liberal State; e.g. State Sector Act, Reserve Bank Act, penetration of public infrastructure by private capital, outsourcing, managerialism, free in and outflow of capital, bent OIO…
The fifth columnists at the top of the public sector should have to reapply for their positions and WINZ/MSD retired forthwith and a Basic Income paid to all citizens via IRD.
The NZ Labour Party needs to turn it’s power relationships around too. The minority numbers of the “Parliamentary wing” and Caucus have long held sway over the ordinary members views.
Well put. By their posts ye shall know them!–it is easy enough to realise who the centre line huggers, (and veerers over the line to the right side of the road) are.
Corbyn, Sanders, Palestine, Russia, China, US Imperialism, are classic territory for determining where people stand.
Ken Loach is a treasure all right. Have seen many of his films over the years–and shared “I Daniel Blake” with some older guys and they totally got it after their dealings with WINZ/MSD here.
“Spirit of ’45” makes Blairism and Rogernomics look very sick indeed.
The British Labour Party is stranded basically run by class collaborationist weasels and sell outs.
Lol – he's a pussycat compared to the aggressive carry-ons of the gulls and oystercatchers in the estuary near my place in the north. And don't even get me started on the tui who knows he has sole rights to the flowering pohutakawa up the drive way. Last year I thought he was on his way to a nervous breakdown!
I put out bowls of sugar-water to attract the tuis. Unfortunately, the pukekos soon discovered the sugar-water & were drinking the lot.
Boss Tui got fed up with them stealing HIS sugar-water. One morning I looked out my kitchen window and Bluey Pook was getting in to Boss Tui’s sugar-water – again!
For the next 5 minutes or so I was amazed to see the Tui running sideways along the fence-top at him, flapping his wings. And when that didn’t deter Bluey, who just carried on sipping, Boss Tui started flying in to him, body slamming him. From up in the tree, from both sides of the fence, from down on the ground.
Was amazing to watch. I think I might have even got the last minute on cellvidcam somewhere. Eventually Bluey wandered off, looking rather puzzled, along the fence, & flew back down to stream.
Who is this guy being trotted out to attack the COVID modeling? Seems like a political hit job flying under the cover of being scientific criticism. If it’s a genuine criticism it’s being used to generate headlines to support the assumptions of people who are anti-vax and suspicious of the health authorities.
It is absolutely valid to put modeling out there to respond to the just open up calls. There definitely haven’t been these kind of numbers made available and it is important to have it out there. Most media is reporting the controversy and not making a judgement on the validity or not of claims, or even fully explaining the original model.
All the RWNJ messaging has been about not giving in to fear and now this rebuttal pops up. Maybe it’s a coincidence.
I think you're right newsense. Heard him rabbiting on TV last evening and formed the same view. Hadn't heard of him before and suspect he's got the pip because he's been ignored so decided to go on a vengeful rampage.
According to Victoria University, unless I have the wrong guy,
Rodney Jones is a Principal of Wigram Capital Advisors, an Asian-based macro advisory firm that provides economic analysis and advice to leading global investment funds on developments in Asia. Rodney has been based in Beijing since 2010, where Wigram Capital Advisors has a representative office.
Rodney has been working as an economist and analyst in Asia for the last 28 years. His focus in that time has on the interaction between banks, the financial system and real economies across Asia. Most recently Wigram Capital Advisors has been a leader in understanding changes in the Chinese banking system, and how that has interacted with broader economic changes.
Prior to establishing Wigram Capital Advisors in Hong Kong in 2001, he was a Managing Director and Partner with Soros Fund Management, heading up the research office in Hong Kong from 1994-2000. During this time Rodney was responsible for providing macro analysis and advice on Japan, China and Non-Japan Asia for the Quantum group of funds.
Prior to joining Soros Fund, Rodney was an Economist with Bankers Trust Company (1992-93), and Kim Eng Securities (1990-92), both in Singapore.
He is a graduate of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, with a MA (Hons) in Economics and a BCom.
Yes Riffer…they don't say on Stuff that Jones is an epidemiologist, they simply say that he is a Covid modeller. The kind of thing an economist could do that wanted NZ to open its borders.
The business establishment is desperate to ignore the deaths and long-term Covid effects of opening those borders. What they don't talk about is that the UK is currently running at Covid deaths of 52,000 annually in Summer. When Winter arrives this will doubtless double. The same approach in NZ would probably lead to 5-7000 deaths annually.
Hendys model forecasts the scale of a single outbreak which is eventually contained. The scale of multiple outbreaks would be much worse, which is where the UK is at right now.
The thing about stats is that lots of tools are used by lots of different disciplines: economics, physics, epidemiology, social sciences, etc.
But knowing how to use a CNC machine doesn't mean that you know whether a part you cut out will actually hold or be uitable for the application you want.
I suspect Jones (as an economist) should know and understand about modelling a range of outcomes as different assumptions vary – pareto fronts come to mind as an example. This is what Hendy's reports do: show a range of outcomes according to different values for inputs (disease control methods, vaccine efficacy, etc).
To argue that one value is unrealistic is farcical. Are the assumptions realistic, even if unlikely? From recollection, Hendy has co-authors with medical training. This lis like me, as CNC operator, having an engineer telling me why copper will fail if used instead of steel because copper will take the strain initially but work-harden and fail more quickly. Maybe Jones is missing a specialist who can say why Hendy's assumptions are plausible, rather than just pointing to an extreme on the continuum and saying "this is just unrealistic".
But this is what a lot of tories have been doing: pointing to one figure along a range of possible outcomes and saying the entire report is bunk because they, personally, don't believe so many people will die. With no explanation about which assumptions are falling down, or how the methodology is flawed.
Rodney has done alot of work for govt with regards Covid he's also pretty damn clever with models and numb and been pretty consistent in his message around alarmist models including the early 80000 dead models. I think the criticism is valid he made the point that models like this will be compared to actuals say Singapore actually giving space for people to say w models are junk etc etc.
Rodney Jones and Professor Shaun Hendy have been appointed as Special Advisors to the [strategic public health advisory] Group to assist with any modelling work that’s required.
The criticism by Jones was pathetic and no more than expressing some kind of gut feeling with a lot of hand waving. As so many, he got bogged down in and by the numbers, which are merely outputs of model simulations that depend on many assumptions and caveats as pointed out in the actual study report, and completely ignored and overlooked the guiding messages from these model runs. As a modeller himself, Jones should have known better. A major fail, in my not so humble opinion; he reminds me of similar Plan B failures.
It appeared to be an attempt to prevent public discussion about the consequences of community spread.
Is Jones saying such modelling should not be done, or that the public should not know about it?
The inference is that we should be managed to a tolerance for death by degree, until we have the rates overseas. Classic think of the interests of Global Capital …
Did feel very much like that SPC.
A less political take would have questioned the model rather than used a number of buzz words associated with the current deniers and rejectionists.
The way Cricklewood used the word alarmist above for example.
If there are unvaccinated groups of people and we get several outbreaks among those populations where we’ve seen delta spread very quickly with an Rnumber of 4-5 and the fax it can still be transmitted by vaccinated people…
It seems rather credible given what we’ve seen overseas to date and the way the virus has at least twice got into our hospitals, with the barest of escapes.
Australia committing itself so deeply to submarine attack capacity starts to answer some of the belligerence coming from Xi Jinping in his big July speech.
What will be ignored by all the marxist apologists here is the extraordinary rhetoric, the open belligerence, military build up, and weaponised trade that Xi Xinping has thrown at us. Their denial flies completely in the face of this reality.
An actual war with China would be utterly devastating, but in my view it will only happen if Xi Xinping thinks he can start one and win with minimal cost. That's the brutal calculus we face in the short-term.
A very good link that explores the issue well – there are a lot aspects to this – and none of them good.
What we get is the usual scary music and a rant from a war mongering US general and an "analyst" from ASPI who are funded by the US State Dept, and weapons manufacturers. Anybody talking up a Chinese invasion of Australia is living in lala land. Even Taiwan, now that the US has left Afghanistan and put all its eggs in the Pacific basket, China can just patiently wait for the next "incident". Time is showing that the US is not capable of cooperation and is fast loosing allies. The EU will soon be looking for more independent contact with China. They are none too happy with the ramped up US belligerence.
I'm none too happy with the belligerence of China towards Taiwan either. Hasn't worked out well for Hong Kong this year.
60 Minutes is a good representative of mainstream media thinking, and what it had to say was much darker in tone than we would ever admit in New Zealand. Simply for understanding that it was worthwhile.
Except that in NZ we've already had the scary music treatment from Guyon Espiner. And what did that amount to? Fear that China was being too generous in it's loan terms to a Far North Maori broadband provider. I mean it's kind of unbelievable really. Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tibet are deeply tied up in Chinese identity. Australia is not. Taiwan is still not settled but to somehow propose that the way Taiwan resolves will impact on the integrity of Australia is madness. Belligerence is something that large powerful states seem to do but to propose that Chinese belligerence towards Australia in their trade war requires the beating of war drums but US belligerence towards Cuba, Iran, Venezuela etc in the form of sanctions does not is quite ridiculous and exposes the hypocrisy of the supposed rules based US system. I've yet to read of deaths in Australia caused by Chinese trade sanctions but could supply you with many reports on deaths caused by the inability of the above sanctioned countries to secure vital medicine and food. In Lebanon at present, Hezbollah has had to arrange for tankers from Iran to supply fuel because of US sanctions that wont even let hospitals generate electricity. At present they get a mere two hours of electricity per day and their whole grid is expected to collapse by the end of this month. This is real life and death stuff. People have been dying from these sanctions for quite some time, They died yesterday, they are dying today and some more will die tomorrow.
"Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tibet are deeply tied up in Chinese identity. Australia is not." About 6% of Australians say they are of Chinese origin.
If we defend people based on their ethnicity, we have no value left except race. That may be how we started this country but it's not the way we are now.
I sure don't condone a march to war: I'm suggesting we watch what Australia is doing very, very closely because it is in our interests to do so.
The reference to identity was more to suggest that while China is interested in Taiwan, it is not interested in Australia for anything other than trade. The identity being alluded to is far more than ethnicity. It includes place and history. It also includes a small matter of an unfinished civil war. And then for the US to step in and dictate to who and what certain parts of Taiwan may trade is more fuel to the fire. They may believe that they have everything nicely under control but there is much evidence around the world that if they are wrong in this assumption and Taiwan and vicinity ends up as charred ruins then this will be a close second best in their eyes. For a non cooperating entity, if its not there's, the only alternative is destruction. Thats what zero sum means and thats what confrontation involves and thats why situations such as the dead half miliion Iraqi children and the collapse of the Lebanese grid are "worth it"
Yes. The US is a ruthless great power – and Xi Xinping aspires for China to be one as well. In the current world we live in this kind of contest is going to be a zero sum game. No-one likes this, but it's true.
If I stop pretending that either the US or the PRC are are standing on any moral high ground and simply make a choice based on logical outcomes the debate becomes a lot clearer.
We could side with China. Well this makes AU/NZ an enemy of the USA, and given what you believe of the US, does anyone here think this a smart choice?
Maybe the Chinese get lucky and win. Given how regional hegemons operate does anyone for an instant imagine that the PRC will not interfere in our sovereignty in any number of horrible ways? The US has a plenty shabby track record of just this, and the PRC shows no lack of compunction about interfering with other nations either – just ask any number of their neighbours. Tibet, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam and not to mention Taiwan.
Indeed they seem to be just getting started judging by the massive military that has being built up and being told by their President for Life to prepare for imminent war.
So it really just comes down to a 'least bad choice' and we're going to go with the USA. Pretending we can sit on the fence and still trade with China, while expecting the USA to provide security for our trade is a delusion.
There is one major difference between the US and the Chinese approach to foreign policy and that is the extraordinarily massive infrastructure build that is the BRI. It is on a scale that has not been seen before in the world and is forecast to cost more than a trillion dollars. The US doesnt do infrastructure building on any scale. It makes no sense in a world that may require trashing the very country that you have built the infrastructure in. A country that operates on a cooperative model of win win is happy to build infrastructure. They are unlikely to then turn around and destroy what they have just spent billions helping to build. You say it is always zero sum and historically this is so. Zero sum is a stable system that can beat individual or isolated attempts at cooperation. But analysis of iterated prisoners dilemma interactions shows that even a small group of cooperative players will establish and beat zero sum players to the extent that zero sum will become extinct. Of course this analysis assumes that the environment reamains a prisoners dilemma environment. War changes the environment and gives zero sum a new chance to dominate by destroying the cooperative groups viability. Proposing that the Chinese BRI is some kind of act of war is thus ridiculous and choices over who to support are childishly simple. Supporting someone proposing to build infrastructure is always preferable to someone proposing to build military bases and military hardware.
There is one major difference between the US and the Chinese approach to foreign policy and that is the extraordinarily massive infrastructure build that is the BRI. It is on a scale that has not been seen before in the world and is forecast to cost more than a trillion dollars.
Nope. This analysis omits a number of elements.
First of all it erases the fact of the US providing for the past 70yrs the single most crucial piece of 'infrastructure' of all – security. Without this everything else is pointless. It was done this in three main ways – first of all it took war between all the other nations off the table. Secondly it's massive navy explicitly guaranteed Freedom of Navigation for everyone – even Soviet merchant vessels during the Cold War.
Thirdly it played a central role in first containing and then crushing not one four authoritarian, mass murdering imperial regimes – Nazi Germany, North Korea, the Stalinist Soviets and the Maoist PRC. (In my book the the only important difference between fascism and marxism is the latter replaces a totalitarianism energised by race and identity – with an intellectual wank based on class.)
In this post-WW2 environment much of the world has developed beyond all human precedent. This is a fact beyond dispute. The only exceptions were those nations geographically so poor that development was always going to be hard – and those stupid enough not to be on the side of the US.
Yet WW2 US never acted as an imperial power in the classic territorial meaning. With few exceptions they don't claim the territories and waters of other nations for themselves, and they don't mass migrate their people into displacing local populations either economically or demographically. Nor are they all that big on disrupting and displacing the indigenous economic activity with trillons of dollars of physical infrastructure.
The pattern of the US hegemon was this – provide the political, security and commercial infrastructure to the world – and let everyone get on with becoming rich as best they could. And all the evidence tells us this has worked as never before in human history. There was just one rule they were very ruthless about – be on their side against totalitarianism. Given the history of the 20th century it's obvious why.
And up until Xi Xinping becoming President for Life, setting the PRC on a retrograde totalitarian path to cement both his own meglomaniac ambition and the eternal power of the CCP – everyone was reasonably OK with the idea of the PRC taking it's place in this order of things. But now all the soothing words about 'co-operation' mean nothing if the actions of the PRC speak to an absolutist crushing of internal dissent, diplomatic rhetoric intended to intimidate it's neighbours, and an expansionist military that can serve only one purpose – to invade, occupy and consume independent nations across the whole of Eurasia and the Pacific.
When Xi Xinping orders the PRC military to 'prepare for war' – there is every reason to believe him.
The US doesnt do infrastructure building on any scale.
Cite?
Conclusion
Based on the foregoing comparative analysis of US and Chinese aid programs, several observations can be made. First, both China and the US have actively used their foreign aid and official finance activities to advance their perceived geostrategic and economic interests. Foreign aid has been used by both donor states to foster political influence in recipient governments in ways that can eventually benefit their interests. Both the US and China formally started their foreign aid programs during their respective periods of ascent as economic powerhouses, and their market expansion and wealth accumulation initiatives have been facilitated by the foreign aid conditions imposed on recipient countries. Second, while Washington has been transparent and specific in classifying its various aid programs, Beijing has yet to further institutionalise its foreign aid bureaucracy and to organise its taxonomy of official development aid schemes so that they are comparable to those of other OECD donor states. Third, the legitimation discourses of Chinese and US aid programs are different. While Beijing legitimises its aid interventions by highlighting South-South cooperation, non-conditional altruism and a state-centred development model, Washington justifies its interventionist aid by framing market economies, democratic governance and human rights as quintessential principles for development. This marked difference in legitimation discourses is also reflected in the nature of their aid recipients: Beijing considers states its key recipients; Washington provides aid to a wide variety of states and non-state actors. Finally, foreign aid is not only the most visible and concrete form of influence that a powerful state deploys in weaker countries; it is also one of the most enduring features of the international system. No matter how destructive or beneficial foreign aid can be for a recipient country, the United States and China, as status quo and challenger powers respectively, deploy various legitimation discourses in order to galvanise political support in their own domestic constituencies and the people in recipient countries.
The USA, the UK and Australia all recognise Taiwan is part of the one China.
For decades after 1949 the government in exile claimed to be the government of China, not the island of Taiwan. After end of international recognition of its government as the government of China, it had to establish legitimacy for itself on the island of Taiwan – this lead to democratic reforms in the 1980's, then its first Presidential election in 1996.
Put it this way, the UNSC is expected to prove a collective security guarantee to member states. Taiwan has no such status.
New Zealand is well known for multilateralism and due regard for international law.
This informed our decisions in 1950 (Korea) and 1991 (Kuwait) and again in 2003, when we did not join in the regime change operation in Iraq.
Your opine on Taiwan, is frankly irrelevant, they see themselves as part of China and have stated no intent to ever declare independence from the one China.
There seems to be a presumption among some here that AUKUS has something to do with Chinese asserting dominion over the territory of the one China by flying over it from time to time etc.
No, AUKUS is something sought by Oz to commit the US to its territorial integrity and provide itself with some greater deterrent (offshore sea defence and missile capability). This has more to do with the atoll based aircraft carriers China recently created and their related rejection of the Permanent Court of Arbitration decision. It's about a longer game than Taiwan.
And a lot of people have a negative view of Wellington, but their capital is there all the same.
Put it another way, how many nations in the ME agreed with US policy in support of Israel, yet the USA did what they did in that region all the same. Then there were the dictatorships in the America’s supported by the USA, so long as they were anti-commie. Nations asserting hegemony are what they are.
My point is that our regional security is not synonymous with the matter of the one China.
they see themselves as part of China and have stated no intent to ever declare independence from the one China.
A fiction that everyone played along with as the price paid to maintain a relationship with the PRC.
After 1949 the PRC and ROC each laid a legitimate claim to both territories. For their part the ROC recognised that the civil war between the two govts was over for all practical purposes some decades ago and set aside their claim to the mainland.
By contrast the PRC has only intensified their claim over Taiwan. The degree of diplomatic pressure they bring to bear is astonishing. Recently a school mural in Queensland had on one small part of it a Taiwanese flag – and the Chinese govt insisted that it be painted over. A schoolkids painting in another country – FFS.
The whole 'one country, two systems' farce was tolerable as long as everyone played along with it. Now Xi Xinping has declared that Taiwan will be re-taken by armed force; the game is over and no-one is pretending anymore.
The next big intensity uptick will be the Olympics – will the Biden Administration decide to boycott the ‘Genocide Games’?
If Australia was to maintain a ‘long standing policy’ that because NZ is still formally a potential part of the Australian Federal Constitution and that for this reason if we were to declare our independence this would mean war – you would see what was going on quite clearly.
"On January 1, 1979, the United States established official diplomatic relations with China, formally recognizing the government of the PRC as the sole legitimate government of China and Taiwan as a part of China and, at the same time announcing the cessation of "diplomatic relations" with the Taiwan authorities, the annulment of the "Mutual Defense Treaty" and the withdrawal of all its military personnel from Taiwan. In these historical conditions, the Chinese government, out of consideration for the interests and future of the whole nation, put forward the principle of "peaceful reunification of the country, and one country, two systems" in accordance with the principle of respecting history and reality, seeking truth from facts and taking into account the interests of both sides."
Does the US recognise the One China Policy?
Does the US have an Embassy in Taiwan?
You're so ignorant it's laughable
The fact that the BBC spew propaganda that confirms your bias is not a good enough reason for anyone to take their 'clip' seriously.
That Australia is minion to the biggest global state sponsor of terror, and has convinced itself that China is an enemy irrespective of any evidence, doesn't bode well regarding your safety
The Maoist apologists would also have us believe Chinese rule wouldn’t be that bad as there is no evidence of Uighur being persecuted, tibet is historically chains and hong kong is a fine example of when Chinese government takes over from western style government.
i personally look forward to not seeing effeminate men on television. Mark richardson will be long gone
Are those who quibble with Enzed participation in Cold War, really Marxists?
For mine, that's a reprise of the "with the US or a fellow traveller with commies", or siding with the USA or siding with terrorists post 2001.
As for weaponised trade, Trump trashed the WTO and Biden has yet to give any indication he will do anything about it (not appointing judges for arbitration)
The nuclear question is simple – all conventional wars between major powers will escalate to nuclear because the weaker side is left with no other good options.
Understood – there are multiple ways to analyse this. Obviously the PRC would have an immense advantage in terms of proximity to the immediate battlefield, but it's my sense that very quickly almost the entire world would be drawn into this conflict. No-one would even get the choice of 'sitting it out'.
And in that event the PRC would cease to exist. Which is a measure of Xi Xinping's folly.
Aukus is inventing a war that isn't there. A repeat of the call to arms on flimsy evidence in 2001 as referenced above.
Australia has to be the dimmest nation on earth. Why create such animosity with your major trading partner. I suspect the staggering egos of their conservative government has a lot to do with it.
A good piece – but I don't think it really got into the mechanics of how an incident might start or escalate. As it stands, Taiwan looks like a costly adventure for China, much depends on what resources or pretexts could be marshalled to make any such move a fait accompli as soon as possible. A vassal state like North Korea might well trigger an incident for example.
Submarines on a twenty year order cycle don't present much of an obstacle, and, if China were to nuke Oz, NZ would be drawn into the conflict willing or not. A trained anti- bushfire task force could find plenty of peacetime use, and a stock of CBW gear and medical capacity would be prudent. Some of it could find use as a Covid reserve for the moment.
"The finger to the land of the chains
What? The land of the free?
Whoever told you that is your enemy?
Yes I know my enemies
They’re the teachers who taught me to fight me
Compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission
Ignorance, hypocrisy, brutality, the elite
All of which are American dreams (8 times)"
As someone who has been made redundant twice(##$$$fletcher forestry bunch of #$$%##) this would have made a massive difference to my life rather than it being just being thrown into disarray,!
While I'm unlikely to get laid off again (unless you plant all our farms in trees😉) I'd gladly pay 1% of my income to set up an acc type scheme for layoffs.
No surprises there, much of what poses for the left nowadays wouldn't recognise the working class if they turned up in work gear at their union office.
And a bloke from the moneyed, middle-class part of Melbourne whose parents could afford to pass up a scholarship to an exclusive school and send him to another even more exclusive school, with double the fees, more to their liking. A bloke who helped a Labor Right aligned faction to take over a Young Labor branch from the Socialist Left . A bloke credibly accused of neck-deep involvement in good, old fashioned Aussie union corruption.
Would that bloke recognise the working class if they turned up in work gear at their union office?
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
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After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
NEW BILL WILL HIT GANGS WHERE IT HURTS
“My Member’s Bill drawn today [23 September 2021] will crack down on gangs and illegal firearms use,” says ACT’s Justice Spokesperson Nicole McKee.
“Gang numbers have exploded under this soft on crime Government. With more gang members comes an increase in their confidence … we’ve seen shootings in our communities … only a matter of time before an innocent member of the public gets caught in the cross fire.
Nicole says her Bill, the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) (Definition of Significant Criminal Activity) Amendment Bill will deliver police the tools to crack down on gangs and illegal firearm use.
“The Bill increases the power of police to seize assets connected with gang activity and illegal firearms owned by gang members by introducing a new threshold for Police to seize assets. Under the definitions put in place in this Bill, the threshold to seize assets would now be triggered if a gang member was found with an illegal firearm therefore committing an offence.
“This is a tool to hit the gangs where it hurts, their wallets. Parliament has a duty and a responsibility to keep New Zealanders safe. My Bill will do that.
She says: “Neither the Government’s new gun legislation, nor the buyback, has made a difference to the number of illegal firearms in circulation. Law abiding members of the firearms community have handed back their guns, but violent gang members were never going to.
“This Bill adds a new tool to crackdown on the criminal activity gangs inflict on New Zealanders.”
https://www.act.org.nz/bill_will_hit_gangs_where_it_hurts
………………………………….
Good one. Hope it gets enuf support to pass.
I loathe the gangs. For their illegal drug involvement, for their members’ (or prospects’) ongoing commission of other crimes, for their brutality & the fear & intimidation they bring to our towns & communities, for their gang-on-gang violence, which seems to be increasing, & especially – for the continual damage they do to Māori-Pākehā relations in this country. Gezza
A couple of random questions:
– Where is the analysis of the actual effect of the bill?
– What does the Police Association think?
– Why is the Act Party assaulting property rights so much? The Proceeds of Crime Act is an exceedingly aggressive bill as it is.
– Will farmers and hunters be reasonaby worried?
– Which weapons does it cover? Will my Dad's old air rifle mean Police can stomp in and take the house?
– Which societal ill will this property seizure extension cure?
Cheers Ad
– Where is the analysis of the actual effect of the bill?
A: Dunno. Do you know where I could typically find one?
– What does the Police Association think?
A: No idea. Will see if I can find any comment from Police on it. It’s new. There may be nothing yet.
– Why is the Act Party assaulting property rights so much? The Proceeds of Crime Act is an exceedingly aggressive bill as it is.
A. I assume they are not particulary concerned about the property rights of anti-society crims. Also, they probably see “law n order” as a vote-winner among those who’ve been (or feel) intimidated by gangstas, or have been victims of crime by mobstas or prospects.
– Will farmers and hunters be reasonaby worried?
A. Can’t why they should. If any have got a sideline in criminal activity, gang on gang “warfare” or arms dealing, those persons might encounter some difficulties with the constabulary?
– Which weapons does it cover? Will my Dad’s old air rifle mean Police can stomp in and take the house?
A. I doubt it. There used to be some extra-high-powered airguns on the market. If they’re still for sale, MAYBE some of those might be covered.
– Which societal ill will this property seizure extension cure?
A. I reckon they (like Bridges) are out to make the worst gangsta’s lives as difficult as possible. To try & counter gang recruitment, which is burgeoning.
Gezza if you really support this bill, you might want to get a few answers first.
Most people hate hangs. So what?
Well, must admit I’m really off the gangs at the moment.
Some prospects recently broke the 1/4 light windows of 5 cars – including mine, trying to get in, hot-wire, & steal them. They succeded with the 5th car. My neighbours’. We’re in Tawa. The Police found it abandoned in Johnsonville. It was written off.
Fully respect that, and this government has not stopped a simply massive growth in criminal gangs.
I never heard a thing. My car’s got an alarm & an imobiliser. So did my neighbour’s. Seems maybe that if they can “pop” your 1/4 light with a screwdriver (you can see where they inserted it at the seals) & can then unlock a back door, it doesn’t set off your car alarm.
The policewoman who came to dust all the cars for fingerprints said: “They’ll go to Youth Court, get a slap on the wrist, & be back doing it again within a week.”
Just to be clear Gezza, do you have evidence that it was series of gang related incidents? This being as opposed to someone who has been labeled a gang member because of his appearance or demeanor.
4 of them (all neighbours) were done in one afternoon.
The remaining one was done a week later, at about 7 pm, while the owner was parked in the other neighbour's visitors parking space, just next door to mine. They managed to pull out the ignition barrel, but couldn't start the car.
The police caught the culprits, that's how we know they were MMM prospects. In my neck of the woods, Mongie prospects sometimes wear red bandanas, or have them hanging thru their belt loops.
With respect, how many gang members have been dropped on our communities by Australia in the last 4 years? Ans LOTS!!
Since the lock down over 300 criminals have been sent here. Not all are gang members, but they are mostly already antisocial, and build on the numbers.
Looking at The Gold Coast News gangs are rife.
In a time of high employment in NZ this is by choice.
Getting a bit dated (24 Feb 2021)
…but not as many as some might think, it seems:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/02/australian-deportees-make-up-minuscule-amount-of-new-zealand-s-gang-explosion.html
Sorry, forgot to add, this is to infer the Government is soft on crime.
What a hoot, there have been more high powered crooks facing the courts under this Government, more crimes uncovered, but we find an antiquated set of attitudes in the judiciary have real bias.
Like many areas of Public service years of underfunding patching and poor co-ordination between Police and Courts have led to gangs choosing "areas with friendly courts"
This law would not deal with any of the causes or bias in the system, instead make an almost vigilante attitude in Police and the courts almost mandatory.
Meanwhile the gun runners dealers and printers? what about them… is it going to be "By association?" Asinine idea imo.
You've just shown who this kind of bill is aimed at, simple thinking to complex problems. Gangs suck, but to think they'll ever go away is bizarre, they're outlaws, literally. As long as there is poverty & prison, there will be gangs. And stupid opportunist politicians too & lazy thinkers.
ACT is going for the low-hanging fruit; they obviously consider there are probably some votes in it for them. National's Bridges is on the same anyi-gang warpath & wavelength.
I'm personally happy enuf to see the Parliamentary Bills process kick & sort out whether this is a practical move or not. If it's got massive holes or foreseeable problems in it – it won't get passed. Not with the Labour & Greens & Te Pāti Māori MP numbers.
As long as there is poverty & prison, there will be gangs. And stupid opportunist politicians too & lazy thinkers.
With gang recruitment on the rise, there's now a chicken & egg element to think about. Some lazy thinkers seem to not want to do this. Mantras like "No more poverty. No more prisons" aren't the simple solutions they might sound or seem to some.
Those joining up to gangs (from my North Welly perspective anyway) are mostly tane rangatahi who haven't done well or have failed in school. They may come from "broken" homes. And / or homes where nowadays, grandparents, and mum & dad (or the current partner of either one) are gang associates or patched mobstas, or living with one.
There is unlikely to be any whanau in NZ that doesn't now have gang members or associates in it.
For teenage boys (& some girls, in all likliehood) with little prospect of getting a good qualification and/or a decent, respectable job, they are faced with too much time on their hands when they do exit school.
Right at the time of their lives when they most desperately want to figure out who they are, who they should look up to & seek to emulate, and how they fit in the world. To "be someone", also to belong to a supportive peer group, and to be respected as having value.
For those not strongly connected with the Māoritanga of their hapu's marae, the gangs offer very potent attraction. And they exploit this ruthlessly.
These lost young men get to join a "tribe". They get a uniform. If they can't work, they get given "things to do" by the gang to fit in – & they think they gain "mana" by now becoming someone who (at least when with other gangstas if not on their own) is feared – and thus "respected". They are "outlaws" a sexy kind of person to be for some young people enjoying the pull of rebelliousness.
I hung around at every opportunity with a bullshit bikie gang for six months before I left school. And looking back, some of these factors were reasons I did so. But they were going nowhere & spending weekend daya riding around Taranaki & the nights working my way thru a dozen beer eventually lost its appeal.
But I 'm a Pākehā & I had options. And help. My dad, a low-level public servant, got me an interview with another government department & my miserable UE results (compared to my older & younger brothers') & general affability were just sufficient for the local manager to take me on & try me out.
I ended up transferring to another Dept in Wellington a year later. Head Office looked like the place to be, where the opportunities for promotion were more often available than in provincial District Offices. And I had a 34.5 year career in the public service, eventually working my way up to a pretty generous salary by continuing to learn new skills & get along with people.
These gang prospects don't get those opportunities. Nor probably can they look around & see something better to do witb their lives.
What they see is that belonging to a gang gives them status, "employment", girls, & the prospect of, who knows, if they play their cards right, important ranking in the upper echelons of the gang hierarchy, with the desirable properties, swanky cars, harley hogs, & the great wealth that they can see goes with that dream.
So, my current thinking is that it is important that NZ tackles the gang problem from several different directions.
One being to make it unattractive as a potential long-term occupation, by ensuring that those senior members clearly profiting off the crime & intimidation visibly don't get to keep & enjoy the fruits of their functionary members' labours & their drug-related & other criminal enterprises. (I was told a few years ago by a local mechanic that the mongies or black power had the stolen car chop shop market in Wellington. Running to order. Dunno if that's right, never checked it out, but certainly open to the possibility it is – or was – true.)
Unemployed Māori youths need something better, more productive, more community-supported & approved to do. They need hope. They need better role models than gangsta super-crims. They need education. They need to actually experience being really appreciated & valued for what they contribute to the community, rather than what they take from it. They need skills. And training. It's bloody tragic how many of these of these young folk are having wasted lives.
And they especially need help to avoid getting sucked into gang-run soul & mind-destroying effects of doing daily dope & P. And then having to sell it to meet their own needs.
So how we tackle these other issues is where I think we also need to be getting lots of minds together – including strong hapu iwi & marae input – and I don't see enuf of this happening yet.
Anyway, that's how I'm looking at this issue at the moment. I sure don't have all the answers. I want some. I'm talking about it here because there are a lot of folk posting here who I think genuinely care about these issues deeply & I'm hoping to get others' perspectives & see what else I can – or need – to learn.
This could be fun to watch, essentially McKee is saying the prohibition on semi autos and the buy back was good thing as it's given police the power to differentiate between 'good' and 'bad' firearm owners.
We'll see how good a politician and leader she is as she squares that one away with her constituency. I know a few of them and they certainly do't see it that way.
I'd also be wary of any reduction of the reach of PCA slipped into this, as it applies to the good people in business, like the guy who engaged a cheap contractor to do some welding on his wast oil tank, launching the welder into the next block, and life.
What’s the PCA ?
Proceeds of Crime Act
👍🏼 Cheers
I'd like to see the courts get the ability to declare gangs proscribed organisations, and criminalise membership of the gangs. You could, for example, sentence someone convicted of membership of a proscribed criminal organisation to up to five years in prison, suspended with the use of compulsory electronic monitoring via a GPS tracker.
The danger there is that opposition political parties could in future be declared "a proscribed criminal organisation" … particularly by any party in power with a majority mandate … for instance. Think of how toxic US politics had become and how history does confirm this possability … nay certainty.
Ken Loach shows us why he is not only the greatest living English film director, but also an excellent political analyst as well…which is of course unsurprising.
He rightly observes that the centre "left" are the greatest threat to progressive change in current politics in the UK (as well as New Zealand) and that mass media (including liberal media like The Guardian) is public enemy #1, and will always defend power and class first and foremost.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVP6PlX_UUA
Kier Starmer is basically turning the UK Labour party backwards and inwards and into the last bastion of neoliberal orthodoxy, as the Tories transform themselves into a big-state English nativist party. It is a path to catastrophe, because he’ll end up presiding over an elite cadre party of the liberal urban class that is no longer supported much by anyone outside the opinion writers of the Guardian.
As intended…sir Rodney delivers for his peers.
Thank you Adrian, that should be compulsory viewing for anyone who claims to be a leftie , and everyone else as well !
Thanks. Ken Loach is dead right.
Hats off to Ken Loach. Starmer OUT!
Looks like the Labour party here is going down the same path.
The Labour party here hasn't been "challenged" yet by a true left movement as UK Labour was. NZ Labour are still sitting comfortably in third-way neoliberalism, continuing the same old free-market policies from the 1980s, governing for the benefit of the wealthy few.
UK Labour:
1980s lurch to the right
Corbyn – shift to the left?
Today – Corbyn defeated, Labour firmly back to the right.
NZ Labour:
1980s lurch to the right
Today – no change.
You guys on the True Left should all join together and get a party going for the 2023 elections. The proletariat will rise as one for you.
I thought that's who the greens are?
No The Greens here are the Freeloading Left who get carried by Labour.
The True Left are those who are always there, always kind, always good, always perfect, don't exist in material form, and will raise us all from the dead – something like Jesus for Evangelical Christians.
bwaghorn, that should read were, not are.
NO why should we it's are party those who want a central party should fuck off and form there own party.
Because we already run the country.
Successfully.
Yea right how many home less, how many hungry kids, how many struggle to pay the rent, how many can't get a hospital appointment.It was started as a party of the left to look after the workers and there families not the rich bastards that it does know.
Most popular Labour Party in the world, 4% unemployed, repositioned economy away from imported labour, solved a nationwide crisis twice, smashed opposition, due for 3rd term easily.
Keep the critical eye going, it's good for them.
As I said how many home less, how many hungry kids, how many struggle to pay the rent, how many can't get a hospital appointment.
keep believing the bullshit because I bet you are not one of the above.
I think you will find the imported labour will flood back in ASAP when the border restrictions lift. They haven't changed their beliefs (i.e. use imported labour to suppress wages)
I'm as interested as anyone in how this pandemic restructures our economy. I have a sneaking suspicion we are driving straight into a 3.5% headline unemployed. My company is already having to pull people out of parole to get enough staff. Functioning arms and legs, drug free, and the ability to get to work at 7am every working day is the thing.
"Because we already run the country….Successfully"…haven't you noticed that we cannot open our fucking boarders because your successful Labour govt has been along with National (just two sides of the same coin) underfunding and running our Public Health care system into the ground for the past 30 years, so now surprise, surprise it can't cope with even the smallest number of Covid cases in one hit?…haven't you noticed that none of our children will be able to own their own houses now, and if they do will slaves to the banks for most of their lives…successfully…are you being fucking serious or just taking the piss?
We're not opening our borders because there is a worldwide pandemic on. And the government is scrupulously following the scientific and logistical advice that ensures least harm. It's been on the news.
Why is is necessary to own houses?
Why is is necessary to own houses?'….if you have to even ask that absolutely inane qeustion then it is obvious you don't know shit about what it is like to rent in New Zealand (and especially with a family) and you should probably never comment on this subject ever again because whatever you have to say is meaningless.
No – we just need to take our party back from the deleted expletives who no longer hold Left values, but love the baubles of power. Let them form a new party – "The NeoLiberals" hasn't been taken yet. They'll be less popular than ACT.
or the PMC party
Come along to the next Labour Party conference and change it from within to your own revolutionary standards if you like. Put up remits supported by an LEC, like democratic adults do.
Why? I don't vote for them.
I was merely brainstorming a more accurate name.
Aaahh Ad you really are like our very own version of the Guardian rolled into one yucky package aren't you, and just like the Guardian every now and then you sound reasonable..that is until something comes along that is actually really Left Wing and actually progressive..then the knives come out..every time.
But yeah someones gotta do something different ( i know that is scary to you) because Covid has proven once and for all that freemarket liberal centrism as a controlling and hegemonic ideology is one of the most short term and selfish political ideologies to ever spew out of man's ugly mind..and as if we needed any more proof, it will never have any answers to battle climate change…so Ad you keep on going ahead doing what you do, sitting there and shooting out your funny little one liners at the Left, blithely shooting down the only western politicians who ever had a chance at really turning the ship off it's course of destruction…and then just like nearly the entire western political class (centre left/Right) of the past 30 years you will be remembered (if you are remembered at all?) by future generations with the contempt and disgust they justly deserve.
Labour Prime Minister Ardern is the most effective social democrat Prime Minister in the southern hemisphere, and one of the best in the world.
Clearly that makes you feel really really bad.
Your rage isn't good for your health. I recommend Penfold's Bin 47.
407
I don't drink…funnily enough I don't feel the need to block out reality with drugs or alcohol…but it seems like it is doing a really good job on that front for you pal.
Oh and by the way the problem isn't that people like me rage when the world is burning around us..the problem is that people like you don’t, infact as it turns the liberal class will do nothing…ever.
Here is one of the very founders of your New Zealand Labour’s free market ideology even admitting that it is a flawed ideology…think that would given cause for reflection from you guys..not even for a moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkLDdQ3HORo
Yes, given the abject failure of “Roger’n’Ruth’s” legacy, it is way past time to replace the hardwiring of the NZ neo liberal State; e.g. State Sector Act, Reserve Bank Act, penetration of public infrastructure by private capital, outsourcing, managerialism, free in and outflow of capital, bent OIO…
The fifth columnists at the top of the public sector should have to reapply for their positions and WINZ/MSD retired forthwith and a Basic Income paid to all citizens via IRD.
The NZ Labour Party needs to turn it’s power relationships around too. The minority numbers of the “Parliamentary wing” and Caucus have long held sway over the ordinary members views.
Well put. By their posts ye shall know them!–it is easy enough to realise who the centre line huggers, (and veerers over the line to the right side of the road) are.
Corbyn, Sanders, Palestine, Russia, China, US Imperialism, are classic territory for determining where people stand.
Ken Loach is a treasure all right. Have seen many of his films over the years–and shared “I Daniel Blake” with some older guys and they totally got it after their dealings with WINZ/MSD here.
“Spirit of ’45” makes Blairism and Rogernomics look very sick indeed.
The British Labour Party is stranded basically run by class collaborationist weasels and sell outs.
Ken Loach recently expelled from the Labour Party for not "disowning" those expelled from the party before him.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/aug/14/director-ken-loach-expelled-labour-party
For any nature lovers:
Ivan The Terrible
https://vimeo.com/286723774
Lol – he's a pussycat compared to the aggressive carry-ons of the gulls and oystercatchers in the estuary near my place in the north. And don't even get me started on the tui who knows he has sole rights to the flowering pohutakawa up the drive way. Last year I thought he was on his way to a nervous breakdown!
I believe you about the Tui, Jan.
I put out bowls of sugar-water to attract the tuis. Unfortunately, the pukekos soon discovered the sugar-water & were drinking the lot.
Boss Tui got fed up with them stealing HIS sugar-water. One morning I looked out my kitchen window and Bluey Pook was getting in to Boss Tui’s sugar-water – again!
For the next 5 minutes or so I was amazed to see the Tui running sideways along the fence-top at him, flapping his wings. And when that didn’t deter Bluey, who just carried on sipping, Boss Tui started flying in to him, body slamming him. From up in the tree, from both sides of the fence, from down on the ground.
Was amazing to watch. I think I might have even got the last minute on cellvidcam somewhere. Eventually Bluey wandered off, looking rather puzzled, along the fence, & flew back down to stream.
Found a gif I made of it. (All I had on me at the time was a small 3G mobile, with a 2 megapixel camera.)
Tui attacks pukeko:
https://i.imgur.com/IdT8JRI.gif
Who is this guy being trotted out to attack the COVID modeling? Seems like a political hit job flying under the cover of being scientific criticism. If it’s a genuine criticism it’s being used to generate headlines to support the assumptions of people who are anti-vax and suspicious of the health authorities.
It is absolutely valid to put modeling out there to respond to the just open up calls. There definitely haven’t been these kind of numbers made available and it is important to have it out there. Most media is reporting the controversy and not making a judgement on the validity or not of claims, or even fully explaining the original model.
All the RWNJ messaging has been about not giving in to fear and now this rebuttal pops up. Maybe it’s a coincidence.
I think you're right newsense. Heard him rabbiting on TV last evening and formed the same view. Hadn't heard of him before and suspect he's got the pip because he's been ignored so decided to go on a vengeful rampage.
According to Victoria University, unless I have the wrong guy,
Rodney Jones is a Principal of Wigram Capital Advisors, an Asian-based macro advisory firm that provides economic analysis and advice to leading global investment funds on developments in Asia. Rodney has been based in Beijing since 2010, where Wigram Capital Advisors has a representative office.
Rodney has been working as an economist and analyst in Asia for the last 28 years. His focus in that time has on the interaction between banks, the financial system and real economies across Asia. Most recently Wigram Capital Advisors has been a leader in understanding changes in the Chinese banking system, and how that has interacted with broader economic changes.
Prior to establishing Wigram Capital Advisors in Hong Kong in 2001, he was a Managing Director and Partner with Soros Fund Management, heading up the research office in Hong Kong from 1994-2000. During this time Rodney was responsible for providing macro analysis and advice on Japan, China and Non-Japan Asia for the Quantum group of funds.
Prior to joining Soros Fund, Rodney was an Economist with Bankers Trust Company (1992-93), and Kim Eng Securities (1990-92), both in Singapore.
He is a graduate of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, with a MA (Hons) in Economics and a BCom.
Yes Riffer…they don't say on Stuff that Jones is an epidemiologist, they simply say that he is a Covid modeller. The kind of thing an economist could do that wanted NZ to open its borders.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300414401/covid19-nz-rodney-jones-says-shaun-hendys-7000death-vaccine-model-doesnt-pass-plausibility-test
Then there is this article today that also strongly supports, by implication, NZ opening its borders.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/126468067/ireland-and-covid19-more-than-1000-cases-every-day-but-normality-looms
The business establishment is desperate to ignore the deaths and long-term Covid effects of opening those borders. What they don't talk about is that the UK is currently running at Covid deaths of 52,000 annually in Summer. When Winter arrives this will doubtless double. The same approach in NZ would probably lead to 5-7000 deaths annually.
Hendys model forecasts the scale of a single outbreak which is eventually contained. The scale of multiple outbreaks would be much worse, which is where the UK is at right now.
Thanks Nic-that makes sense. The crazed border openers I talk about above do not.
lols "covid modeller".
Like "drone enthusiast".
Gets him on telly, I guess.
'Covid modeller'
I know about excel ss
lol
I was possibly a bit harsh on Jones.
The thing about stats is that lots of tools are used by lots of different disciplines: economics, physics, epidemiology, social sciences, etc.
But knowing how to use a CNC machine doesn't mean that you know whether a part you cut out will actually hold or be uitable for the application you want.
I suspect Jones (as an economist) should know and understand about modelling a range of outcomes as different assumptions vary – pareto fronts come to mind as an example. This is what Hendy's reports do: show a range of outcomes according to different values for inputs (disease control methods, vaccine efficacy, etc).
To argue that one value is unrealistic is farcical. Are the assumptions realistic, even if unlikely? From recollection, Hendy has co-authors with medical training. This lis like me, as CNC operator, having an engineer telling me why copper will fail if used instead of steel because copper will take the strain initially but work-harden and fail more quickly. Maybe Jones is missing a specialist who can say why Hendy's assumptions are plausible, rather than just pointing to an extreme on the continuum and saying "this is just unrealistic".
But this is what a lot of tories have been doing: pointing to one figure along a range of possible outcomes and saying the entire report is bunk because they, personally, don't believe so many people will die. With no explanation about which assumptions are falling down, or how the methodology is flawed.
Good comment Mc
"Wigram Capital Advisors"
Say no more.
self interest?
Rodney has done alot of work for govt with regards Covid he's also pretty damn clever with models and numb and been pretty consistent in his message around alarmist models including the early 80000 dead models. I think the criticism is valid he made the point that models like this will be compared to actuals say Singapore actually giving space for people to say w models are junk etc etc.
The Singapore model ( ie the reality of observations) is different from what Jones (an economist) is suggesting.
Fatalities are in the realm of arbitrary axioms,so extrapolation of deaths would be best fit (to the curves ) from most European countries.eg
Germany 1085 p/m
Netherlands 1052p/m
Sweden 1449p/m
France 1646 p/m
Singapore at present has 1504 cases and 2 deaths in latest release,it also has 1120 in Hospital with around 10% on oxygen and 23 in ICU
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/covid-19-sep-23-new-cases-record-number-2-deaths-2196891
The Singapore model (forecast) also suggests by dec 2021
Worst case 3299 deaths (1394.4-5255.16)
Current projection 794 deaths (282.47-2019.64)
https://covid19.govt.nz/alert-levels-and-updates/latest-updates/independent-experts-to-advise-government-on-post-vaccination-future/
Make of that what you will.
Andrew getting people to work together. Bloomfield presenting Hendy by Zoom? Jones a tad miffed?
The criticism by Jones was pathetic and no more than expressing some kind of gut feeling with a lot of hand waving. As so many, he got bogged down in and by the numbers, which are merely outputs of model simulations that depend on many assumptions and caveats as pointed out in the actual study report, and completely ignored and overlooked the guiding messages from these model runs. As a modeller himself, Jones should have known better. A major fail, in my not so humble opinion; he reminds me of similar Plan B failures.
It appeared to be an attempt to prevent public discussion about the consequences of community spread.
Is Jones saying such modelling should not be done, or that the public should not know about it?
The inference is that we should be managed to a tolerance for death by degree, until we have the rates overseas. Classic think of the interests of Global Capital …
Did feel very much like that SPC.
A less political take would have questioned the model rather than used a number of buzz words associated with the current deniers and rejectionists.
The way Cricklewood used the word alarmist above for example.
If there are unvaccinated groups of people and we get several outbreaks among those populations where we’ve seen delta spread very quickly with an Rnumber of 4-5 and the fax it can still be transmitted by vaccinated people…
It seems rather credible given what we’ve seen overseas to date and the way the virus has at least twice got into our hospitals, with the barest of escapes.
Anyhou tomorrow being another day
3 days ago, Australia's 60 Minutes did a full debate on the consequences of war with China over Taiwan, and the impact of that on Australia.
There were 5 main debaters – all specialists – and none of them were optimistic. Including whether a US-led defence of Taiwan would prevail.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA2KaEKs1LA
Australia committing itself so deeply to submarine attack capacity starts to answer some of the belligerence coming from Xi Jinping in his big July speech.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57648236
The 60 Minutes debate is a rare MSM open debate on defence issues pertaining to Australia, so it's worth your 41 minutes on that alone.
What will be ignored by all the marxist apologists here is the extraordinary rhetoric, the open belligerence, military build up, and weaponised trade that Xi Xinping has thrown at us. Their denial flies completely in the face of this reality.
An actual war with China would be utterly devastating, but in my view it will only happen if Xi Xinping thinks he can start one and win with minimal cost. That's the brutal calculus we face in the short-term.
A very good link that explores the issue well – there are a lot aspects to this – and none of them good.
" the open belligerence, military build up, and weaponised trade that Xi Xinping has thrown at us."
Care to elaborate?
It's all detailed pretty closely in the range of experts provided by 60 Minutes in the link I provided for you.
What we get is the usual scary music and a rant from a war mongering US general and an "analyst" from ASPI who are funded by the US State Dept, and weapons manufacturers. Anybody talking up a Chinese invasion of Australia is living in lala land. Even Taiwan, now that the US has left Afghanistan and put all its eggs in the Pacific basket, China can just patiently wait for the next "incident". Time is showing that the US is not capable of cooperation and is fast loosing allies. The EU will soon be looking for more independent contact with China. They are none too happy with the ramped up US belligerence.
I'm none too happy with the belligerence of China towards Taiwan either. Hasn't worked out well for Hong Kong this year.
60 Minutes is a good representative of mainstream media thinking, and what it had to say was much darker in tone than we would ever admit in New Zealand. Simply for understanding that it was worthwhile.
Except that in NZ we've already had the scary music treatment from Guyon Espiner. And what did that amount to? Fear that China was being too generous in it's loan terms to a Far North Maori broadband provider. I mean it's kind of unbelievable really. Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tibet are deeply tied up in Chinese identity. Australia is not. Taiwan is still not settled but to somehow propose that the way Taiwan resolves will impact on the integrity of Australia is madness. Belligerence is something that large powerful states seem to do but to propose that Chinese belligerence towards Australia in their trade war requires the beating of war drums but US belligerence towards Cuba, Iran, Venezuela etc in the form of sanctions does not is quite ridiculous and exposes the hypocrisy of the supposed rules based US system. I've yet to read of deaths in Australia caused by Chinese trade sanctions but could supply you with many reports on deaths caused by the inability of the above sanctioned countries to secure vital medicine and food. In Lebanon at present, Hezbollah has had to arrange for tankers from Iran to supply fuel because of US sanctions that wont even let hospitals generate electricity. At present they get a mere two hours of electricity per day and their whole grid is expected to collapse by the end of this month. This is real life and death stuff. People have been dying from these sanctions for quite some time, They died yesterday, they are dying today and some more will die tomorrow.
"Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tibet are deeply tied up in Chinese identity. Australia is not." About 6% of Australians say they are of Chinese origin.
If we defend people based on their ethnicity, we have no value left except race. That may be how we started this country but it's not the way we are now.
I sure don't condone a march to war: I'm suggesting we watch what Australia is doing very, very closely because it is in our interests to do so.
The reference to identity was more to suggest that while China is interested in Taiwan, it is not interested in Australia for anything other than trade. The identity being alluded to is far more than ethnicity. It includes place and history. It also includes a small matter of an unfinished civil war. And then for the US to step in and dictate to who and what certain parts of Taiwan may trade is more fuel to the fire. They may believe that they have everything nicely under control but there is much evidence around the world that if they are wrong in this assumption and Taiwan and vicinity ends up as charred ruins then this will be a close second best in their eyes. For a non cooperating entity, if its not there's, the only alternative is destruction. Thats what zero sum means and thats what confrontation involves and thats why situations such as the dead half miliion Iraqi children and the collapse of the Lebanese grid are "worth it"
Thanks Subliminal, you said a whole bunch of stuff that I reckon but lack the eloquence and energy to state.
This whole UKUSA, or USUK A as some wag has already pointed out, is no more than willy waving writ large.
While a welcome relief from COVID…! it feels like the flailings of a failing empire.
All good gsays. I have also appreciated many of your well argued posts.
Gsays, if you can get hold of a copy of Robert Axelrods "The Evolution of Cooperation", its a mind blowing read!
Yes. The US is a ruthless great power – and Xi Xinping aspires for China to be one as well. In the current world we live in this kind of contest is going to be a zero sum game. No-one likes this, but it's true.
If I stop pretending that either the US or the PRC are are standing on any moral high ground and simply make a choice based on logical outcomes the debate becomes a lot clearer.
We could side with China. Well this makes AU/NZ an enemy of the USA, and given what you believe of the US, does anyone here think this a smart choice?
Maybe the Chinese get lucky and win. Given how regional hegemons operate does anyone for an instant imagine that the PRC will not interfere in our sovereignty in any number of horrible ways? The US has a plenty shabby track record of just this, and the PRC shows no lack of compunction about interfering with other nations either – just ask any number of their neighbours. Tibet, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam and not to mention Taiwan.
Indeed they seem to be just getting started judging by the massive military that has being built up and being told by their President for Life to prepare for imminent war.
So it really just comes down to a 'least bad choice' and we're going to go with the USA. Pretending we can sit on the fence and still trade with China, while expecting the USA to provide security for our trade is a delusion.
There is one major difference between the US and the Chinese approach to foreign policy and that is the extraordinarily massive infrastructure build that is the BRI. It is on a scale that has not been seen before in the world and is forecast to cost more than a trillion dollars. The US doesnt do infrastructure building on any scale. It makes no sense in a world that may require trashing the very country that you have built the infrastructure in. A country that operates on a cooperative model of win win is happy to build infrastructure. They are unlikely to then turn around and destroy what they have just spent billions helping to build. You say it is always zero sum and historically this is so. Zero sum is a stable system that can beat individual or isolated attempts at cooperation. But analysis of iterated prisoners dilemma interactions shows that even a small group of cooperative players will establish and beat zero sum players to the extent that zero sum will become extinct. Of course this analysis assumes that the environment reamains a prisoners dilemma environment. War changes the environment and gives zero sum a new chance to dominate by destroying the cooperative groups viability. Proposing that the Chinese BRI is some kind of act of war is thus ridiculous and choices over who to support are childishly simple. Supporting someone proposing to build infrastructure is always preferable to someone proposing to build military bases and military hardware.
There is one major difference between the US and the Chinese approach to foreign policy and that is the extraordinarily massive infrastructure build that is the BRI. It is on a scale that has not been seen before in the world and is forecast to cost more than a trillion dollars.
Nope. This analysis omits a number of elements.
First of all it erases the fact of the US providing for the past 70yrs the single most crucial piece of 'infrastructure' of all – security. Without this everything else is pointless. It was done this in three main ways – first of all it took war between all the other nations off the table. Secondly it's massive navy explicitly guaranteed Freedom of Navigation for everyone – even Soviet merchant vessels during the Cold War.
Thirdly it played a central role in first containing and then crushing not one four authoritarian, mass murdering imperial regimes – Nazi Germany, North Korea, the Stalinist Soviets and the Maoist PRC. (In my book the the only important difference between fascism and marxism is the latter replaces a totalitarianism energised by race and identity – with an intellectual wank based on class.)
In this post-WW2 environment much of the world has developed beyond all human precedent. This is a fact beyond dispute. The only exceptions were those nations geographically so poor that development was always going to be hard – and those stupid enough not to be on the side of the US.
Yet WW2 US never acted as an imperial power in the classic territorial meaning. With few exceptions they don't claim the territories and waters of other nations for themselves, and they don't mass migrate their people into displacing local populations either economically or demographically. Nor are they all that big on disrupting and displacing the indigenous economic activity with trillons of dollars of physical infrastructure.
The pattern of the US hegemon was this – provide the political, security and commercial infrastructure to the world – and let everyone get on with becoming rich as best they could. And all the evidence tells us this has worked as never before in human history. There was just one rule they were very ruthless about – be on their side against totalitarianism. Given the history of the 20th century it's obvious why.
And up until Xi Xinping becoming President for Life, setting the PRC on a retrograde totalitarian path to cement both his own meglomaniac ambition and the eternal power of the CCP – everyone was reasonably OK with the idea of the PRC taking it's place in this order of things. But now all the soothing words about 'co-operation' mean nothing if the actions of the PRC speak to an absolutist crushing of internal dissent, diplomatic rhetoric intended to intimidate it's neighbours, and an expansionist military that can serve only one purpose – to invade, occupy and consume independent nations across the whole of Eurasia and the Pacific.
When Xi Xinping orders the PRC military to 'prepare for war' – there is every reason to believe him.
Cite?
Conclusion
Based on the foregoing comparative analysis of US and Chinese aid programs, several observations can be made. First, both China and the US have actively used their foreign aid and official finance activities to advance their perceived geostrategic and economic interests. Foreign aid has been used by both donor states to foster political influence in recipient governments in ways that can eventually benefit their interests. Both the US and China formally started their foreign aid programs during their respective periods of ascent as economic powerhouses, and their market expansion and wealth accumulation initiatives have been facilitated by the foreign aid conditions imposed on recipient countries. Second, while Washington has been transparent and specific in classifying its various aid programs, Beijing has yet to further institutionalise its foreign aid bureaucracy and to organise its taxonomy of official development aid schemes so that they are comparable to those of other OECD donor states. Third, the legitimation discourses of Chinese and US aid programs are different. While Beijing legitimises its aid interventions by highlighting South-South cooperation, non-conditional altruism and a state-centred development model, Washington justifies its interventionist aid by framing market economies, democratic governance and human rights as quintessential principles for development. This marked difference in legitimation discourses is also reflected in the nature of their aid recipients: Beijing considers states its key recipients; Washington provides aid to a wide variety of states and non-state actors. Finally, foreign aid is not only the most visible and concrete form of influence that a powerful state deploys in weaker countries; it is also one of the most enduring features of the international system. No matter how destructive or beneficial foreign aid can be for a recipient country, the United States and China, as status quo and challenger powers respectively, deploy various legitimation discourses in order to galvanise political support in their own domestic constituencies and the people in recipient countries.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03932729.2020.1855904
@joe
In the context of the comment I'm comparing the US track record in physical infrastructure development – to that of the BRI.
@RL
ta, looking forward to it
Pay attention. Maybe even watch the 60 Minutes clip – it covers the basics well.
Are you prepared to sit back and do nothing when the PRC takes Taiwan by force? An independent and democratic nation just like NZ?
And do you for one instant imagine the immense military build up of PRC forces this past decade is not intended for this exact purpose?
Taiwan is not recognised as a nation state, nor does it claim to be one.
The ROC has maintained an independent govt since 1949. It has been a democracy since the 70's.
Pretending otherwise is not an argument.
The USA, the UK and Australia all recognise Taiwan is part of the one China.
For decades after 1949 the government in exile claimed to be the government of China, not the island of Taiwan. After end of international recognition of its government as the government of China, it had to establish legitimacy for itself on the island of Taiwan – this lead to democratic reforms in the 1980's, then its first Presidential election in 1996.
Put it this way, the UNSC is expected to prove a collective security guarantee to member states. Taiwan has no such status.
Whether Taiwan is recognised as worth defending by the United Nations is depressingly irrelevant.
Taiwan is a liberal, tolerant, open-minded, capitalist, high-functioning state that is also a relatively recent and high-functioning democracy.
Were Xi Jinping to make good on his threats, the region and indeed the world would lose one more state which is almost exactly like us.
So we might ask ourselves, as Australia clearly is, whether we want to help defend those qualities by helping to defend Taiwan.
New Zealand is well known for multilateralism and due regard for international law.
This informed our decisions in 1950 (Korea) and 1991 (Kuwait) and again in 2003, when we did not join in the regime change operation in Iraq.
Your opine on Taiwan, is frankly irrelevant, they see themselves as part of China and have stated no intent to ever declare independence from the one China.
There seems to be a presumption among some here that AUKUS has something to do with Chinese asserting dominion over the territory of the one China by flying over it from time to time etc.
No, AUKUS is something sought by Oz to commit the US to its territorial integrity and provide itself with some greater deterrent (offshore sea defence and missile capability). This has more to do with the atoll based aircraft carriers China recently created and their related rejection of the Permanent Court of Arbitration decision. It's about a longer game than Taiwan.
Taiwanese have a very negative view of China.
https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/05/12/in-taiwan-views-of-mainland-china-mostly-negative/
I haven't mentioned AUKUS. I have mentioned the Quad meeting coming up tomorrow. That's India, Japan, Australia, United States.
The threats against Taiwan by CHina are also being felt by Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
China needs to figure out how to make more friends. Everyone around them has.
China has heaps of friends. You for one, who is no doubt using a device made by them.
I’m using a PC made stateside, but I think their foreign policy sucks.
And a lot of people have a negative view of Wellington, but their capital is there all the same.
Put it another way, how many nations in the ME agreed with US policy in support of Israel, yet the USA did what they did in that region all the same. Then there were the dictatorships in the America’s supported by the USA, so long as they were anti-commie. Nations asserting hegemony are what they are.
My point is that our regional security is not synonymous with the matter of the one China.
they see themselves as part of China and have stated no intent to ever declare independence from the one China.
A fiction that everyone played along with as the price paid to maintain a relationship with the PRC.
After 1949 the PRC and ROC each laid a legitimate claim to both territories. For their part the ROC recognised that the civil war between the two govts was over for all practical purposes some decades ago and set aside their claim to the mainland.
By contrast the PRC has only intensified their claim over Taiwan. The degree of diplomatic pressure they bring to bear is astonishing. Recently a school mural in Queensland had on one small part of it a Taiwanese flag – and the Chinese govt insisted that it be painted over. A schoolkids painting in another country – FFS.
The whole 'one country, two systems' farce was tolerable as long as everyone played along with it. Now Xi Xinping has declared that Taiwan will be re-taken by armed force; the game is over and no-one is pretending anymore.
The next big intensity uptick will be the Olympics – will the Biden Administration decide to boycott the ‘Genocide Games’?
@Redlogix.
I don't have the time or energy to search for where he said this. Could you please provide a quote and a link?
And apologies to @SPC. My reply at 8:28pm last night was to Ad's typically pithy comment at 8:19pm.
China making foreign friends? That's all they've done for the last 30 years on the back of maltreated domestic labour.
It's longstanding Chinese policy to warn Taiwan that declaring independence (from the one China) means war.
(PS Muttonbird, I realised that while trying to make some sort of reply).
If Australia was to maintain a ‘long standing policy’ that because NZ is still formally a potential part of the Australian Federal Constitution and that for this reason if we were to declare our independence this would mean war – you would see what was going on quite clearly.
"the PRC takes Taiwan by force"?
Hilarious
"On January 1, 1979, the United States established official diplomatic relations with China, formally recognizing the government of the PRC as the sole legitimate government of China and Taiwan as a part of China and, at the same time announcing the cessation of "diplomatic relations" with the Taiwan authorities, the annulment of the "Mutual Defense Treaty" and the withdrawal of all its military personnel from Taiwan. In these historical conditions, the Chinese government, out of consideration for the interests and future of the whole nation, put forward the principle of "peaceful reunification of the country, and one country, two systems" in accordance with the principle of respecting history and reality, seeking truth from facts and taking into account the interests of both sides."
Does the US recognise the One China Policy?
Does the US have an Embassy in Taiwan?
You're so ignorant it's laughable
The fact that the BBC spew propaganda that confirms your bias is not a good enough reason for anyone to take their 'clip' seriously.
I understand your concern, I do.
That Australia is minion to the biggest global state sponsor of terror, and has convinced itself that China is an enemy irrespective of any evidence, doesn't bode well regarding your safety
That you chose not to answer my question is obvious.
What is it exactly that we should focus on in this graph?
Obviously China.
The Maoist apologists would also have us believe Chinese rule wouldn’t be that bad as there is no evidence of Uighur being persecuted, tibet is historically chains and hong kong is a fine example of when Chinese government takes over from western style government.
i personally look forward to not seeing effeminate men on television. Mark richardson will be long gone
Lets compare how many countries has the USA invaded, overthrown, bombed,
how many innocents have they murdered over the last 40 years.
the yanks would sell us down the river for 2 cents
Are those who quibble with Enzed participation in Cold War, really Marxists?
For mine, that's a reprise of the "with the US or a fellow traveller with commies", or siding with the USA or siding with terrorists post 2001.
As for weaponised trade, Trump trashed the WTO and Biden has yet to give any indication he will do anything about it (not appointing judges for arbitration)
No well reds obviously only referring to marxists, not reasonable folk who recognise the depravity of yankistani foreign policy.
The nuclear question is simple – all conventional wars between major powers will escalate to nuclear because the weaker side is left with no other good options.
If a war over Taiwan drew in the United States, Korea and Japan, it is not clear who would be the weaker side.
Understood – there are multiple ways to analyse this. Obviously the PRC would have an immense advantage in terms of proximity to the immediate battlefield, but it's my sense that very quickly almost the entire world would be drawn into this conflict. No-one would even get the choice of 'sitting it out'.
And in that event the PRC would cease to exist. Which is a measure of Xi Xinping's folly.
This kind of discussion is going to get really noisy next week as we start to digest the outcome of tomorrow's Quad Meeting.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/23/asia/us-china-india-australia-japan-quad-intl-hnk/index.html
Aukus is inventing a war that isn't there. A repeat of the call to arms on flimsy evidence in 2001 as referenced above.
Australia has to be the dimmest nation on earth. Why create such animosity with your major trading partner. I suspect the staggering egos of their conservative government has a lot to do with it.
A good piece – but I don't think it really got into the mechanics of how an incident might start or escalate. As it stands, Taiwan looks like a costly adventure for China, much depends on what resources or pretexts could be marshalled to make any such move a fait accompli as soon as possible. A vassal state like North Korea might well trigger an incident for example.
Submarines on a twenty year order cycle don't present much of an obstacle, and, if China were to nuke Oz, NZ would be drawn into the conflict willing or not. A trained anti- bushfire task force could find plenty of peacetime use, and a stock of CBW gear and medical capacity would be prudent. Some of it could find use as a Covid reserve for the moment.
Ad, at near 80 I have lived through so many bogey men.
What were the real issues?
Racial attitudes- Financial collapse- Biodiversity loss -terrorism and a pandemic.
Over riding all of this is climate change.
We do not need to find weapons of mass destruction all over again, as we have enough life threatening situations already.
We need to co-operate. Extreme positions are dangerous. Rule of Law always.
Bugger, I thought, for a moment there, I was a Marxist.
Thanks for yr benefit and wisdom of years walking this planet.
Sharing and cooperation IS the forward. Anything else is your enemy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAPfNPIvWkM
"The finger to the land of the chains
What? The land of the free?
Whoever told you that is your enemy?
Yes I know my enemies
They’re the teachers who taught me to fight me
Compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission
Ignorance, hypocrisy, brutality, the elite
All of which are American dreams (8 times)"
None of that is at you Patricia.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/126472402/how-social-insurance-could-provide-a-safety-net-for-nzs-most-vulnerable-workers
As someone who has been made redundant twice(##$$$fletcher forestry bunch of #$$%##) this would have made a massive difference to my life rather than it being just being thrown into disarray,!
Robertson has been going on about this for over a term.
We've had it implemented nationwide in a very strong form on a company bases over the COVID outbreaks.
Why is he so slow on this?
While I'm unlikely to get laid off again (unless you plant all our farms in trees😉) I'd gladly pay 1% of my income to set up an acc type scheme for layoffs.
I would rather the government did their job and made ACC simply expand their existing provisions. Can't do worse than MSD.
Yes, ACC helps recovery and preserves income.
A similar scheme for the loss of employment would stop fractured lives.
Just saw simon bridges say hes getting a haircut tomorrow, some said here recently that that's the sign the coup is a go. !
Perhaps it's a precursor to getting a real job.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w7CrxLj36I
food for thought .
Feels like he's remodelling himself on John Keys again. He's having a second go at the, "aw-shucks, me?" regular bloke style.
This in attempt to contrast with Jacinda Ardern's sincere, compassionate earnestness.
"Key" not Keys"
But get it is hard for you to get this stuff right.
– Bill Shorten, on the Melbourne protesters.
There's a bloke who should be Prime Minister.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/21/what-do-we-know-about-the-protests-in-melbourne-and-how-did-the-numbers-grow
No surprises there, much of what poses for the left nowadays wouldn't recognise the working class if they turned up in work gear at their union office.
lol – so fucking true.
And a bloke from the moneyed, middle-class part of Melbourne whose parents could afford to pass up a scholarship to an exclusive school and send him to another even more exclusive school, with double the fees, more to their liking. A bloke who helped a Labor Right aligned faction to take over a Young Labor branch from the Socialist Left . A bloke credibly accused of neck-deep involvement in good, old fashioned Aussie union corruption.
Would that bloke recognise the working class if they turned up in work gear at their union office?