Just in case your shadenfreude levels are getting low, here is part 1 of 3 parts, Andrea Vance looking at the recent train crash that was the National election campaign.
It's very personality based, and pays little attention policy impacts on the public. It misunderstands Covid too – Labour and the health officials made a credible go of the Covid crisis, which earned them some support – but National's support collapsed when they went full attack on Covid handling without any suggestion of a workable alternative policy. Bridges went full Star Chamber with his committee, and though never impressive before, he went nowhere but down after that. Tova got a bit of the same thing as the daily briefings brought a little sunshine into media behaviour and showed the country what a nasty little rabbit she is.
Yeah, she didn't tell us anything we didn't know before apart from a few tid-bits like the campaign manger working from home in the last week, etc. It was a merely summing up exercise which has become the thing to do these days championed by so called political analyst, Bryce Edwards.
She got nowhere near what people really want to know (including the Nats themselves) which is what role Bridges and his allies had in all this. She only once touched lightly on the core reason for this unravelling which was Bridges' perverse, self-promoting response to the government's handling of Covid.
Anyone looking for enlightenment from Vance will be disappointed. Hope she can do better in parts 2 and 3.
"The roots of this go back three years, when the caucus was shaken by Winston Peters’ decision to eschew the popular vote and support a Labour-led Government over National."
Winston agreed to join a coalition that was backed by a majority of the public vote. He didn't eschew anything.
(If Winston had said nice things in the campaign about the coalition partners, rather than attack them, he might still be in parliament.)
Vance's epic failure to see her own and the msm role in this.
The Covid 19 laid bare for all NZ ders to see that in fact Labour and Jacinda were highly competent governing for all NZ's interests when we really needed it. People in lockdown only had to compare our response to what was happening and any one of most countries, take your pick, UK, Italy, US or would you care for a bit of Brazil (excuse the attempt at humour here). No matter how the msm attempted to spin it with the ratty little questions at the end of the daily press conferences and Nationals absurd "Its a shambles! Open the boarders! No close them, Bubble with Oz response",
NZders could see with their own eyes, could feel it that we had highly competent people doing what govt meant to do…………
So time for the msm to look in the mirror at how they try to influence things (think the Key years, where that slimy ar…hole got a free pass every time.
Winston agreed to join a coalition that was backed by a majority of the public vote. He didn't eschew anything.
Winston/NZF could have gone either way, which is why he/they were called “the Kingmaker”. National never got over it, never mounted an effective Opposition based on agonistic & positive politics, and never put effort into a competitive policy platform that is essential to present a realistic government-in-waiting. ACT, or should I say Seymour, filled the vacuum, with a referendum even, and still National did nothing. When the numbers (polls) didn’t go their way, National lost the plot completely but the seeds were sown in 2017, IMO.
Peters was fully telegraphing what his preference was before the election in 2017. I heard him address Grey Power at its AGM and in an electorate meeting. I am no NZF voter but I was surprised by the visceral dislike of National that he evidenced in both meetings.
It was no surprise to me what he chose to do in 2017 in supporting Labour. I have written of this before in the Standard.
It's a bit revisionist of writers to believe that Peters had not clearly stated his dislike of National's corporate capitalism, and its failed social policies, to mention two areas of concern to him.
Why did he lose in 2020? He was a handbrake on social progress and both he and National wore the consequences of having poor candidates, unpopular policies and for making stupid attacks on a popular and competent government and PM.
While in the quote below, in a meme echoed across the media, is that the voters belong to National, but were voting 'tactically'.
Alternatively they were voting. Collins is reviled within National and has no great or consistent philosophy, but doesn't distance far from Trump. The National rump have had scandals, disloyalty and chaos. On covid they've zig-zagged with the day.
Looking then at Labour who have not done anything unpopular, but also didn't say- what smoke? That could have been anything! on climate change. When you start growing bananas something is happening…
It's not tactical voting to pick the team most likely to preserve your health and job, and also who acknowledge climate change. That's just voting! No one wants Sandra Goudie PM.
Watkin's quote
"RNZ's Tim Watkin wrote: "With the wisdom of the crowd, centre-right voters have seen National's internal problems, looked around for a handbrake on a Labour-Greens transformative government, and landed on a fascinating champion – Labour itself."
Or alternatively just that Labour is a better choice for health and well being. Not all of the country aspires to be NZ First. Why is a handbrake needed? The question is who’s best for the job. Jacinda has lead impressively.
"The roots of this go back three years, when the caucus was shaken by Winston Peters’ decision to eschew the popular vote and support a Labour-led Government over National."
Winston agreed to join a coalition that was backed by a majority of the public vote. He didn't eschew anything.
(If Winston had said nice things in the campaign about the coalition partners, rather than attack them, he might still be in parliament.)
Tim Watkin wrote: "With the wisdom of the crowd, centre-right voters have seen National's internal problems, looked around for a handbrake on a Labour-Greens transformative government, and landed on a fascinating champion – Labour itself
I think Watkin is talking bollocks.
The reason why? Let's reverse the situation and say the polling is Nat 46 Lab 32 Green 8 ACT 8.
How many Standardista's are going to vote National to keep ACT out of government in this situation? Precisely None.
People voted for Labour because they love Jacinda and did not see Labour policies as detrimental to the economy, farmers etc
I think the election was a vote on how j.a./labour handled the covid thing…(it doesn't take much to realise the dire situation we would currently be in..had the establishment/business toadies that are national been in power when the virus arrived…)…the election was a carry-on! message from national voters dismayed at the clown-circus national had become ..this is why they voted for j.a….this hindsight-creation of a mass act of political-nuance on the part of national voters to hobble the greens by voting labour…is a big pile of steaming horseshit I.m.h.o..
Ruining our economy for many years because of … a psychological quirk. Does anyone disagree? Climate Change, a slightly little off disaster that kills everything which is undermined because of the eccentricity of democracy for addressing immediate 'problems' over serious problems.
We need the rich talk of people who believe in their ideas rather than the thin laver of forever dealing with what focus groups tell you.
BG noted: Tim Watkin wrote: "With the wisdom of the crowd, centre-right voters have seen National's internal problems, looked around for a handbrake on a Labour-Greens transformative government, and landed on a fascinating champion – Labour itself
I no longer believe in the wisdom of the masses. I think that Labour was elected on feelings of satisfaction about controlling Covid-19.
And as for National voters making balanced, reasoned judgments about controlling government, they would have been hard-pressed to think of changing to Labour, hence ACT. The votes did go up to Labour though and I suppose someone has done the figures and posited which came from NZF, and which portion from National centrists.
someone has done the figures and posited which came from NZF, and which portion from National centrists.
NZ does not have exit polling on election day, so for that sort of detail we need to wait for the NZ Election Survey polling to be run and analysed – won't be out until next year.
Bridges confirmed their new strategy yesterday on the AM show, which is to frame the huge increase in Labour's vote as 'National voters on loan'. Watkin and others are tasked with re-enforcing this fallacy.
Voters don't belong to anyone and any politician who thinks otherwise will be punished.
Yes and the core Nats voters still voted for them – that's why they got 26%. Given their shambolic effort it shows how loyal some voters are. Just as Labour's core delivered them 25% in 2014. The soft centrist voters who backed Helen Clark then John Key clearly did not – the great majority of them did not do any tactical voting but weighed up the options, the world around them, and voted for the the most competent, safest, trustworthy, decent and forward-looking option on offer. Those voters (plus avoiding complacency amongst your own core constituencies) are the key to achieving percentages in the mid-40s plus.
If we are to believe some commentators then NZ has just seen the most massive exercise in tactical voting in any democracy in decades. That wasn’t what happened.
At this stage it is it wishful thinking and idle speculation, but the meme has to be cultivated before the facts come in. And after a while, some ex-National voters might start to believe the meme too and change their reasoning for their swing vote to something more ‘interesting’. Even more so, when they think they were not alone in this.
Tim Watkin has often been an intelligent and incisive commentator. Sadly, however, his penchant for being "nice" and "jolly" at all times means that he has sometimes allowed himself to be manipulated by very unsavoury people. Here he is back in 2011, eager to agree with the hostile and implacable right winger Michael Bassett….
MORA: Uhhhhhh. We don’t know what to believe. The Japanese government says that Greenpeace readings can’t be believed, and from this distance, uhhhhh, you don’t know who to believe.
SOPHIE WRIGHT: The authorities are being transparent.
BASSETT: People accuse the Japanese government of playing politics when in fact it is GREENPEACE that is playing politics! Greenpeace is jumping ALL OVER this. You have to weave your way between competing agendas.
WATKIN: Mmmmmm, mmmmmm.
MORA: Yes. Ahhhhh, Ten microcivets per hour. There are nearly seven THOUSAND microcivets from a chest X-ray.
BASSETT: Precisely.
MORA: Sophie Wright. She’s in Tokyo. Thank you very much for coming on The Panel! It’s 28 minutes past four. Let’s talk briefly about LIBYA! The humanitarian intervention by the United Nations—uhhhh, don’t we also have to intervene in Syria, the Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe?
WATKIN: And Rwanda. They did nothing there.
BASSETT: Zimbabwe. The international community hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory, has it?
WATKIN: There’s blood on our hands!
BASSETT: We need to remember, though, that Rwanda and Burundi were TRIBAL wars. But when there is mass slaughter, like in Libya, it’s hard to stomach from the other side of the world.
WATKIN: Mmmmmm, mmmmmm.
Note:Watkin did not have the nerve to bring it up, but during another mass slaughter of civilians, in Gaza in 2008-9, Bassett found it exceedingly EASY to stomach. In fact, he applauded and vociferously justified the slaughter. Mora, like Watkin, forbears from mentioning that. ….
The topic was Tim Watkin's credibility, or lack thereof. I pointed out that he is an intelligent journalist who has allowed himself to be misused by the likes of cynical actors such as Sophie Wright and Michael Bassett, and provided evidence that that has been happening for a considerable time.
Of course Watkin is credible. He's a serious and intelligent commentator who has unfortunately allowed himself at times to be bullied by less intelligent people on radio, such as Cameron Slater and Larry Williams.
And often that writer, i.e. toi, is the messenger who is criticised, and feels he has to fend off the intellectual headens who are attacking him personally as if they are doubting his personal integrity.
Should be someone out there countering this view. The leadership's emphasis on Key's legacy, fiscal responsibility, and governing for first time voters plays into this. It allows another version of centre to come along, flank on the left with a PR policy and then the campaign is they're all the same, get the original.
Well this does raise the question . What percentage of the never greens vote normally see national as the best way to achieve a no greens outcome.
It is very likely that the combination of the Greens campaign of calling labour "national lite" and collins campaign of "the greens will steer labour" together with the collapse of the national vote drove these people towards labour.
It is also possible that Ardern can hold these votes thru 2023
no actually i dont believe the green framing of labour. rather I accept Jacindas position that for real change we need to take the people with us. …… but dont for one minute think i forgive rogernomics or the failure of labour to reverse. I just dont believe the Greens have a fricking clue how to move forward!
Right now Masha Gesson is pointing out that the Russian interference in the election was unsophisticated, and she's impatient with the ridiculous obsession with it by the Democratic leadership and media—including the likes of True Believer Hill.
Hill is clearly uncomfortable. Right now Masha Gesson is pointing out how incompetent Robert Mueller was. How she must wish she had on someone amenable to her cosy conspiracy theories instead of an intelligent journalist like Gesson, who has just corrected Hill in the most embarrassing manner: "You know, I wouldn't call Trump benign."
Could you explain what you mean, please, Shark? Are you offended by my failure to endorse the Russiagate conspiracy theory peddled by the DNC? Then you must also have been offended by Masha Gessen this morning as she pointed out to Kim Hill how exaggerated and foolish the whole campaign was.
Kinda hard to look past the factors of russian intelligence honey-trapping trump when he was in moscow.. and that he was bailed out by russia(ns) when he was going down the financial gurgler in the 80's…plus his laundering of russian oligarch/mob money by flogging them his properties since then…would have to make him the nearest to a manchurian candidate america has seen…you'd think..?
You were doing well until you got to the batshit "Manchurian candidate" nonsense. Unless you’ve smoked too much of that Hokianga Hydroponic, you don't actually believe that hogwash, so why make out like you're some hapless staffer in Nancy Pelosi's office?
Staffers in Nancy Pelosi's office at least have the excuse of having to do it as a condition of their employment; they fall in line or they don't have a job. You have no such excuse for indulging in such foolishness.
Is Hokianga Hydroponic the sort of stuff which would have me listening to someone say hundreds of thousands of words, find a couple from the flow of a busy morning like 'their book' and subject it to forensic analysis?
Ms. Hill's foolish exercise in language abuse occurred in a brief (five seconds max) promo for her show. Where do you get the idea I listened to "hundreds of thousands of words" to find that example of foolishness?
Ms. Hill's ridiculous exercise in language abuse occurred in a brief (five seconds max) promo for her show. Where do you get the idea I listened to "hundreds of thousands of words" to find that example of foolishness?
Getting one word wrong hardly is an “exercise in language abuse” and your ‘suffering’ cannot have been longer than the five seconds the promo lasted although it may felt like eternity to you. I’m quite sure that Kim Hill did not embark on her ‘abusive tirade’ to hurt you personally. You could send her another e-mail to confirm. Please get over this and move on.
Trump has long held ambitions to be president…back in the 1980's he was a regular on the late-nite talks show's .(letterman et.al…). .and back then he often beat the presidential-ambitions drum..he was laughed at/humoured…but that is also what 'the apprentice' was all about ..him showing the american people/his future base that he was a strong leader ..and him becoming a household name..it was all part of the plan..
The other thread to trump is his connections to/long record of working with the mafia/mob..back in the 80's again he built skyscrapers in Manhatten…using undocumented/illegal workers..now you don't get to do such things in Manhatten unless you are in tight with the teamsters union..who control the building and garbage collection industries in Manhatten..and the teamsters are the union wing of the mob..and of course casinos in Atlantic City were a major means of money-laundering…trump is so bent ..he is like a human paperclip…
Just to pour some oil of pedantry upon the fires of controversy, 'their' is not a pronoun. It is a possessive adjective. The pronoun is 'theirs', as in, "Our book is better than theirs," 'Theirs' can stand by itself, as a pronoun should be able to.
'Their' is only a possessive adjective, and needs the noun 'book' with it.
I think I have figured out what biden is good at…gape-mouthed goldfish impersonations..he has it nailed..I’d also like to see his take on kermit the frog .
Anxiety outside the USA. I have wondered whether music might offer us a road out of our mind-prison under fascist neoliberal rule. Maybe this guy can advise us.
Anxiety inside the USA – the flow of money to rich men's pockets is being strangled. This from Gordon Campbell on Scoop featuring the famous Koch Brothers. Dah dah. They recently featured in something else being done along with some other rich person. Funny how some names keep coming up, like yesterday's dinner.
Herd immunity has recently bounced back into the headlines as a tool for managing Covid-19, and as a supposed alternative to lockdowns. In the US, a group of scientists was recently brought together in the town of Great Barrington, Massachusetts by a think tank funded by the Koch brothers. The assembled scientists signed the so called Barrington Declaration, which promotes herd immunity as a rational means of re-opening US public schools and the economy at large..
…The Declaration has found a receptive ear at the White House where Dr Scott Atlas has become Donald Trump’s most trusted health advisor on the pandemic, and Trump’s main scientific advocate against lockdowns.
Atlas is a neurologist, and has no expertise in infectious diseases.
(If he is a neurologist, then he might be able to keep an eye on Mr T-rump's condition, and prevent his prime excesses.)
In the US the death toll has reached 224,000. By the end of the year this figure could double. Daily infections are nearly at the same rate as in March with the first wave. Aljazeera reported this today. It would be hard to be a health worker in the heavily infected countries. The pace would be exhausting and time out is required to recharge. With the flu season approaching there is going to be a shortage of beds and staff.
The waiting list is growing for other health related matters.
Is herd immunity the answer in the US and how would the care of those infected be managed?
I think the President adopts the 'don't look at it and it might go away' response. As for herd immunity I have read professionals that sound informed saying that there isn't going to be any such thing with this virus. We will have to try and preserve our system as long as we can and try and become a fairer society, and look after our front line staff in particular. I don't know if we can get fixes for things now, new problems will keep rolling along and people switch off or get stuck on one point and get obsessed; just do our best and be resigned to change.
As suspected, right wing white supremacists exploited legitimate protest. But BLM bad.
/
In the wake of protests following the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a member of the “Boogaloo Bois” opened fire on Minneapolis Police Third Precinct with an AK-47-style gun and screamed “Justice for Floyd” as he ran away, according to a federal complaint made public Friday.
A sworn affidavit by the FBI underlying the complaint reveals new details about a far-right anti-government group’s coordinated role in the violence that roiled through civil unrest over Floyd’s death while in police custody.
Ivan Harrison Hunter, a 26-year-old from Boerne, Texas, is charged with one count of interstate travel to incite a riot for his alleged role in ramping up violence during the protests in Minneapolis on May 27 and 28. According to charges, Hunter, wearing a skull mask and tactical gear, shot 13 rounds at the south Minneapolis police headquarters while people were inside. He also looted and helped set the building ablaze, according to the complaint, which was filed Monday under seal.
[…]
Two hours after the police precinct was set on fire, Hunter texted with another Boogaloo member in California, a man named Steven Carrillo.
“Go for police buildings,” Hunter told Carrillo, according to charging documents.
“I did better lol,” he replied. A few hours earlier, Carrillo had killed a Federal Protective Services Officer in Oakland, Calif., according to criminal charges filed against him in California.
Off topic here. Have just come in from a 2 hour trip- – out with a friend op shopping and generally looking in different shops and timeout for lunch. This is Auckland North Shore and I can tell you the attitude of our residents here is total apathy towards masks, using tracer apps and using the hand sanitiser left out by shop owners. Young and old just ignoring common sense. It was so mind boggling we ended up quite pissed off excuse the language.
I even asked one retailer if he could move his stand with the hand sanitiser, app icon and board for entering your name etc with a pen further out into the doorway so patrons couldn't miss the darned thing. We are such an ungrateful ignorant lot we don't deserve to be virus almost-free as we are right now.
We both have loved ones overseas in hot spots – South America and US and both are trapped in their homes and have people dying everywhere around them and its heartbreaking that we are using and abusing our privileged status here with so many pig-ignorant people ignoring what they need to do. Sorry folks but this incoming Government and poor St. Ashley have their jobs cut out. Enough kindness. We outlawed non-belt wearing in cars and we now need emergency powers brought in for the duration of this virus outbreak and have it mandated that mask wearing, hand sanitising and app using is to be applied. We obviously are simple minded and need to be trained like children.
… its heartbreaking that we are using and abusing our privileged status here with so many pig-ignorant people ignoring what they need to do.
I don't know where on the Shore you live but in the Devonport/Belmont area the wearing of masks and hand sanitising has been excellent. Yes, people are not wearing masks to the same extent since we dropped to level 1, but I think most people wash their hands and sanitise before leaving home and then do it again when they return. I also carry antiseptic wet cloths in my car as I suspect many other people do. In our local supermarket people are using the apps all the time or signing in, but I have noticed some retailers are no longer leaving forms for people to sign.
I think you are being a bit unfair to many "simple minded" adults. When we dropped to level 1 we were no longer expected to wear masks all the time when away from home. I've stopped wearing them because I don't go anywhere that might be considered unsafe and the same probably goes for most older people anyway.
What community outbreaks we have experienced were confined to specific circumstances and small groups which did not affect the vast majority of the population. If another community outbreak does occur, mask wearing will immediately become mandatory at all times again – at least in the region or regions that are affected.
Whispering Kate I agree that people will have to be forced by regulation, we just aren't a concerned society, except for a short time, or on special occasions. I have to force myself to comply, forget so often. But I keep trying to get into the habit – I see the numbers overseas shooting up. And the effect on the people, the strain on the funeral/burial system, and on the culture generally is not reported much here.
The point I'm making greywarshark : it is unfair to claim the attitude in my part of the country (the North Shore) is one of total apathy. And the NS would be typical of any other place.
It is precisely because the vast majority of NZers complied with the rules at each level that we are in a superior position now than most of the rest of the world.
We're at level 1 now. To assume people are not taking precautions by washing their hands and using sanitiser etc. is a step too far imo. If you're going direct to a store or supermarket and you have already 'washed and sanitised' then you don't have to do it again. Sure, some people need to be reminded every now and then but the government and MoH have already got that well in hand.
Sorry didn't get back to this. It is easy to generalise but as I sanitise my hands at the supermarket I don't see others, not the men going past. And yet sometimes i think I have just washed mine so don't do it. But I do like the freedom to get out and about and I think too many are taking it for granted. I haven't got an ap but if I did it prob wouldn't work on my phone. What's best to do. .. I must practice wearing my mask though.
I'm in two minds about this. None of those things are compulsory under L1. It doesn't make sense for the whole country to be doing all those things all of the time. Down south people certainly aren't (there was no social distancing and no-one seemed to be using the handsanitiser, and def no masks when I voted on election day).
While I can see the case for being more careful the closer one is to a hot spot (and during public holidays where people travel a lot), there is also the issue of maintaining such behaviour for the long haul and indefinitely (bearing in mind we don't know if/when a vaccine will be available). It's hard to get compliance when people perceive the risk as small, and it's better that we are socialised in to acting when the situation is more urgent so that if we have widespread community transmission again people will do the right thing more quickly and more thoroughly.
Mostly it's an odds game rather than a black and white one.
The govt already has the power to mandate actions during a pandemic. I for one and glad they are not using those unless necessary, all sorts of good reasons for the govt to not over use those powers.
One thing I'd like to see is more limits in travel between areas when there is potential community transmission. But I'm not sure it's warranted yet, and there are the same compliance and fatigue issues. I'm also not sure if it is fair to places like Auckland which will have a higher risk because of population.
Not wearing masks gets us thinking we are on our own planet. Then we start complaining because precautions still have to be taken, then the government becomes a whipping boy. We take so many things for granted in NZ – the complacency towards others with problems is amazing, and particularly to the needy in NZ.
However the government can keep the mask thing in their back pocket and when someone is putting pressure on to open our borders for this or that, they can say well everyone will have to start wearing masks. It is so easy for the transmission to occur – they will have to become mandatory when travelling, in groups etc.
mask wearing seems reasonable with increased population density, and prolonged contact. On a bus that will take 20 mins to get to its destination for instance.
People walking down Queens St at lunch time vs the main street of Gore mid afternoon.
If we don't take things like into account people will get intolerant and less willing.
Right. So we can see the droplet spread there, but the odds game is whether any of those mannequins have covd, what the viral load is, whether they cough into their arm or not and so on. Is it reasonable to expect 5m people to wear a mask when around other humans because there is one case of community transmission in NZ? I don't think so. The public health approach to containment is working with the odds, not the absolutes, and the various strategies are designed to catch and limit spread as quickly as possible without crashing the economy or driving people crazy.
Newton Central School stopped its walking bus three years ago after several near misses and after abuse was hurled at children by some cyclists on the northwestern cycleway.
"We've actually had one or two children being hit. We've had members of our community that have had serious injuries. It's a really dangerous place – children and bicycles don't mix," he said.
"No one wants to have a child get hurt or injured. This is an accident waiting to happen…
A parent at the school, Phoebe Greenbrook-Held, said Auckland Transport tried to educate cyclists about using their bell and giving children a wide berth, but this was not treating the root problem….
“Unfortunately all those fixes are just short term – within a few months cyclist behaviour reverts. We really need the cycleway to be broadened, so children are safe to walk, cycle and scoot while adults do their commute to work.”
She said adult cyclists are the main culprits."
Obvious – the two modes of mobility are incompatible, and it's a 'loss of commons' to put cycles on footpaths, without a fence or something physical separating and providing safety for pedestrians and clear pathway for the others – and not just a line on the path!
That 'lifestyle choice' is the grind the right came out with in the 1980s – haven't they thought of anything since then? They must show the acolytes and newbies a propaganda video, and teach them some phrases to utter like parrots. When certain words come on they’ll have a Pavlovian reaction. Woof woof the tui (see on google) looked bright and beady-eyed and handsome and had a better vocabulary. Use him or her as a mascot for a young left movement!
(The Baillie mentioned is a teacher of sorts in Nelson, by the way.)
I was just doing my job that morning and the interview did not happen in a vacuum. Journalists all over the world have been calling out lies relating to Covid-19, especially when they’re adopted by powerful figures attempting to legitimise falsehoods.
They are the journalists who have inspired me my entire career – journalists who know that sometimes balanced reporting isn’t just about providing both sides of the story. It is simply about the facts – the truth.
Ross came into the studio for the interview, sat down and said to me: “You’re going to be nice to me aren’t you Tova? You have to be nice to losers.” I was familiar with this entitled, cloying tone from Ross.
No, I replied. I largely tore up the prepared questions.
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TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from 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 public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
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’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
"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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Just in case your shadenfreude levels are getting low, here is part 1 of 3 parts, Andrea Vance looking at the recent train crash that was the National election campaign.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300137917/election-2020-the-complete-disarray-of-nationals-campaign-that-led-to-electoral-slaughter
It's very personality based, and pays little attention policy impacts on the public. It misunderstands Covid too – Labour and the health officials made a credible go of the Covid crisis, which earned them some support – but National's support collapsed when they went full attack on Covid handling without any suggestion of a workable alternative policy. Bridges went full Star Chamber with his committee, and though never impressive before, he went nowhere but down after that. Tova got a bit of the same thing as the daily briefings brought a little sunshine into media behaviour and showed the country what a nasty little rabbit she is.
Worth a read but yes, Vance can only focus on people and what they said. Other writers will apply the missing analysis.
Yeah, she didn't tell us anything we didn't know before apart from a few tid-bits like the campaign manger working from home in the last week, etc. It was a merely summing up exercise which has become the thing to do these days championed by so called political analyst, Bryce Edwards.
She got nowhere near what people really want to know (including the Nats themselves) which is what role Bridges and his allies had in all this. She only once touched lightly on the core reason for this unravelling which was Bridges' perverse, self-promoting response to the government's handling of Covid.
Anyone looking for enlightenment from Vance will be disappointed. Hope she can do better in parts 2 and 3.
Vance's epic failure to understand MMP.
"The roots of this go back three years, when the caucus was shaken by Winston Peters’ decision to eschew the popular vote and support a Labour-led Government over National."
Winston agreed to join a coalition that was backed by a majority of the public vote. He didn't eschew anything.
(If Winston had said nice things in the campaign about the coalition partners, rather than attack them, he might still be in parliament.)
Vance's epic failure to see her own and the msm role in this.
The Covid 19 laid bare for all NZ ders to see that in fact Labour and Jacinda were highly competent governing for all NZ's interests when we really needed it. People in lockdown only had to compare our response to what was happening and any one of most countries, take your pick, UK, Italy, US or would you care for a bit of Brazil (excuse the attempt at humour here). No matter how the msm attempted to spin it with the ratty little questions at the end of the daily press conferences and Nationals absurd "Its a shambles! Open the boarders! No close them, Bubble with Oz response",
NZders could see with their own eyes, could feel it that we had highly competent people doing what govt meant to do…………
So time for the msm to look in the mirror at how they try to influence things (think the Key years, where that slimy ar…hole got a free pass every time.
Ah, she's still parroting National's lie that the biggest party needs to be in government.
Winston/NZF could have gone either way, which is why he/they were called “the Kingmaker”. National never got over it, never mounted an effective Opposition based on agonistic & positive politics, and never put effort into a competitive policy platform that is essential to present a realistic government-in-waiting. ACT, or should I say Seymour, filled the vacuum, with a referendum even, and still National did nothing. When the numbers (polls) didn’t go their way, National lost the plot completely but the seeds were sown in 2017, IMO.
Peters was fully telegraphing what his preference was before the election in 2017. I heard him address Grey Power at its AGM and in an electorate meeting. I am no NZF voter but I was surprised by the visceral dislike of National that he evidenced in both meetings.
It was no surprise to me what he chose to do in 2017 in supporting Labour. I have written of this before in the Standard.
It's a bit revisionist of writers to believe that Peters had not clearly stated his dislike of National's corporate capitalism, and its failed social policies, to mention two areas of concern to him.
Why did he lose in 2020? He was a handbrake on social progress and both he and National wore the consequences of having poor candidates, unpopular policies and for making stupid attacks on a popular and competent government and PM.
Plus of course..shane jones…
He is included in the category of poor candidates………
Tim Watkin likes baiting us huh?
While in the quote below, in a meme echoed across the media, is that the voters belong to National, but were voting 'tactically'.
Alternatively they were voting. Collins is reviled within National and has no great or consistent philosophy, but doesn't distance far from Trump. The National rump have had scandals, disloyalty and chaos. On covid they've zig-zagged with the day.
Looking then at Labour who have not done anything unpopular, but also didn't say- what smoke? That could have been anything! on climate change. When you start growing bananas something is happening…
It's not tactical voting to pick the team most likely to preserve your health and job, and also who acknowledge climate change. That's just voting! No one wants Sandra Goudie PM.
Watkin's quote
"RNZ's Tim Watkin wrote: "With the wisdom of the crowd, centre-right voters have seen National's internal problems, looked around for a handbrake on a Labour-Greens transformative government, and landed on a fascinating champion – Labour itself."
Or alternatively just that Labour is a better choice for health and well being. Not all of the country aspires to be NZ First. Why is a handbrake needed? The question is who’s best for the job. Jacinda has lead impressively.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/429050/week-in-politics-tactical-voting-could-have-helped-labour-s-landslide-win
[link added. If you’re going to cut and paste a quote then please cut and post the URL as well, thanks – weka]
Link please.
mod note for you newsense.
Vance's epic failure to understand MMP.
"The roots of this go back three years, when the caucus was shaken by Winston Peters’ decision to eschew the popular vote and support a Labour-led Government over National."
Winston agreed to join a coalition that was backed by a majority of the public vote. He didn't eschew anything.
(If Winston had said nice things in the campaign about the coalition partners, rather than attack them, he might still be in parliament.)
Tim Watkin wrote: "With the wisdom of the crowd, centre-right voters have seen National's internal problems, looked around for a handbrake on a Labour-Greens transformative government, and landed on a fascinating champion – Labour itself
I think Watkin is talking bollocks.
The reason why? Let's reverse the situation and say the polling is Nat 46 Lab 32 Green 8 ACT 8.
How many Standardista's are going to vote National to keep ACT out of government in this situation? Precisely None.
People voted for Labour because they love Jacinda and did not see Labour policies as detrimental to the economy, farmers etc
I think the election was a vote on how j.a./labour handled the covid thing…(it doesn't take much to realise the dire situation we would currently be in..had the establishment/business toadies that are national been in power when the virus arrived…)…the election was a carry-on! message from national voters dismayed at the clown-circus national had become ..this is why they voted for j.a….this hindsight-creation of a mass act of political-nuance on the part of national voters to hobble the greens by voting labour…is a big pile of steaming horseshit I.m.h.o..
100% Phillip
Ruining our economy for many years because of … a psychological quirk. Does anyone disagree? Climate Change, a slightly little off disaster that kills everything which is undermined because of the eccentricity of democracy for addressing immediate 'problems' over serious problems.
We need the rich talk of people who believe in their ideas rather than the thin laver of forever dealing with what focus groups tell you.
BG noted: Tim Watkin wrote: "With the wisdom of the crowd, centre-right voters have seen National's internal problems, looked around for a handbrake on a Labour-Greens transformative government, and landed on a fascinating champion – Labour itself
I no longer believe in the wisdom of the masses. I think that Labour was elected on feelings of satisfaction about controlling Covid-19.
And as for National voters making balanced, reasoned judgments about controlling government, they would have been hard-pressed to think of changing to Labour, hence ACT. The votes did go up to Labour though and I suppose someone has done the figures and posited which came from NZF, and which portion from National centrists.
NZ does not have exit polling on election day, so for that sort of detail we need to wait for the NZ Election Survey polling to be run and analysed – won't be out until next year.
Bridges confirmed their new strategy yesterday on the AM show, which is to frame the huge increase in Labour's vote as 'National voters on loan'. Watkin and others are tasked with re-enforcing this fallacy.
Voters don't belong to anyone and any politician who thinks otherwise will be punished.
Voters don't belong to anyone and any politician who thinks otherwise will be punished. I think we have observed that this is not absolute truth.
Yep.
Some National voters really do belong to National. That's how National gets to tell their Epsom voters to vote ACT and have it work.
Yes and the core Nats voters still voted for them – that's why they got 26%. Given their shambolic effort it shows how loyal some voters are. Just as Labour's core delivered them 25% in 2014. The soft centrist voters who backed Helen Clark then John Key clearly did not – the great majority of them did not do any tactical voting but weighed up the options, the world around them, and voted for the the most competent, safest, trustworthy, decent and forward-looking option on offer. Those voters (plus avoiding complacency amongst your own core constituencies) are the key to achieving percentages in the mid-40s plus.
If we are to believe some commentators then NZ has just seen the most massive exercise in tactical voting in any democracy in decades. That wasn’t what happened.
At this stage it's all opinion
Here's another from a more credible source(in my view anyway)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300138283/election-2020-there-is-no-evidence-national-voters-backed-labour-to-keep-the-greens-out
At this stage it is it wishful thinking and idle speculation, but the meme has to be cultivated before the facts come in. And after a while, some ex-National voters might start to believe the meme too and change their reasoning for their swing vote to something more ‘interesting’. Even more so, when they think they were not alone in this.
And useful idiots like Mr Watkin are.. useful in that process.
Tim Watkin has often been an intelligent and incisive commentator. Sadly, however, his penchant for being "nice" and "jolly" at all times means that he has sometimes allowed himself to be manipulated by very unsavoury people. Here he is back in 2011, eager to agree with the hostile and implacable right winger Michael Bassett….
Please stay on the present topic, thanks.
The topic was Tim Watkin's credibility, or lack thereof. I pointed out that he is an intelligent journalist who has allowed himself to be misused by the likes of cynical actors such as Sophie Wright and Michael Bassett, and provided evidence that that has been happening for a considerable time.
I did not see anyone claiming Watkin was credible. The word 'like' may help you understand what I was saying.
Of course Watkin is credible. He's a serious and intelligent commentator who has unfortunately allowed himself at times to be bullied by less intelligent people on radio, such as Cameron Slater and Larry Williams.
Agreed Morrissey…you are on-topic….and Watkin is a little too Jose Pagani-like for my taste.
Morrissey is either attacking or defending the messenger. It’s so tedious.
And sometimes this writer, i.e. moi, is the messenger who is attacked, or defended.
And often that writer, i.e. toi, is the messenger who is criticised, and feels he has to fend off the intellectual headens who are attacking him personally as if they are doubting his personal integrity.
Can we now go back to the topic, again?
Also applies to Vance: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/eleanor_roosevelt_385439
Excellent rebuttal and now we can go back to the topic at hand, yes?
Fair enough, my friend.
http://gif-free.com/uploads/posts/2018-02/1519648251_kissing-rabbits.gif
He's a good commentator and producer, who does a fair bit of trolling standardists.
Should be someone out there countering this view. The leadership's emphasis on Key's legacy, fiscal responsibility, and governing for first time voters plays into this. It allows another version of centre to come along, flank on the left with a PR policy and then the campaign is they're all the same, get the original.
Yep, can't let the facts get in the way of what National wants.
Well this does raise the question . What percentage of the never greens vote normally see national as the best way to achieve a no greens outcome.
It is very likely that the combination of the Greens campaign of calling labour "national lite" and collins campaign of "the greens will steer labour" together with the collapse of the national vote drove these people towards labour.
It is also possible that Ardern can hold these votes thru 2023
So Xanthe, in the scenario I describe above, if National were being labelled "Labour light" would you vote for National? I think not.
no actually i dont believe the green framing of labour. rather I accept Jacindas position that for real change we need to take the people with us. …… but dont for one minute think i forgive rogernomics or the failure of labour to reverse. I just dont believe the Greens have a fricking clue how to move forward!
Agree, Flower.
James Shaw needs to shine this term and take environmentalism to those red/blue electorates.
and replace marama with a person who has integrity ,charisma and is Green!
Could you give some examples of how Marama lacks integrity and is not Green? No, thought not.
can't see the wood for the trees.
so you are not disputing that she has no charisma?
I think such a judgement is more subjective. To me she does. Now, can you answer my question? No, thought not.
Russiagate True Believer Kim Hill delivers the absurd P.C. moment of the week
RNZ, Friday 23 Oct. 2020, 4:10 p.m. (station promo between news and weather)
KIM HILL: Tomorrow morning I'm talking to Russian author Masha Gesson on their book Surviving Autocracy.
????!!!??? Their book?
Well, we have to allow for the case of Masha being schizophrenic…
Well, we have to allow for the case of Masha being schizophrenic…
Ha ha ha! She has just said, perhaps in jest, that Trump was possibly foisted on the American people by Russia. Poor old Kim Hill didn't even demur.
She lives in Dumbo—Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. Another nice place name along with Soweto, Tribeca, and SoHo.
Right now Masha Gesson is pointing out that the Russian interference in the election was unsophisticated, and she's impatient with the ridiculous obsession with it by the Democratic leadership and media—including the likes of True Believer Hill.
Hill is clearly uncomfortable. Right now Masha Gesson is pointing out how incompetent Robert Mueller was. How she must wish she had on someone amenable to her cosy conspiracy theories instead of an intelligent journalist like Gesson, who has just corrected Hill in the most embarrassing manner: "You know, I wouldn't call Trump benign."
please fix your name with your next comment.
Thanks weka!
Morrisseye' – take your pills now.
Could you explain what you mean, please, Shark? Are you offended by my failure to endorse the Russiagate conspiracy theory peddled by the DNC? Then you must also have been offended by Masha Gessen this morning as she pointed out to Kim Hill how exaggerated and foolish the whole campaign was.
Kinda hard to look past the factors of russian intelligence honey-trapping trump when he was in moscow.. and that he was bailed out by russia(ns) when he was going down the financial gurgler in the 80's…plus his laundering of russian oligarch/mob money by flogging them his properties since then…would have to make him the nearest to a manchurian candidate america has seen…you'd think..?
You were doing well until you got to the batshit "Manchurian candidate" nonsense. Unless you’ve smoked too much of that Hokianga Hydroponic, you don't actually believe that hogwash, so why make out like you're some hapless staffer in Nancy Pelosi's office?
I can hear an ad homming bee buzzing around
Do I believe that Putin has a firm grip on trumps' gonads..?..yes..I do…(heh..!..if that makes me a 'staffer in Nancy pelosis' office’.?..so be it..)
Staffers in Nancy Pelosi's office at least have the excuse of having to do it as a condition of their employment; they fall in line or they don't have a job. You have no such excuse for indulging in such foolishness.
Sure, he just owes some foreign oligarchs some favours, no harm in that.
Big difference between that, which is no doubt true, and the insane and evidence-free theory that he is a Russian asset.
Well, he's no liability to them. If they got him cheap, bully for them.
As has been said of Mitch McConnell, Trump is not an asset to anyone.
The suggestion that Putin would scruple to exploit a vulnerable person like Trump to further his nefarious ends however, is laughable.
Is Hokianga Hydroponic the sort of stuff which would have me listening to someone say hundreds of thousands of words, find a couple from the flow of a busy morning like 'their book' and subject it to forensic analysis?
P is a terrible thing.
Ms. Hill's foolish exercise in language abuse occurred in a brief (five seconds max) promo for her show. Where do you get the idea I listened to "hundreds of thousands of words" to find that example of foolishness?
Ms. Hill's ridiculous exercise in language abuse occurred in a brief (five seconds max) promo for her show. Where do you get the idea I listened to "hundreds of thousands of words" to find that example of foolishness?
Getting one word wrong hardly is an “exercise in language abuse” and your ‘suffering’ cannot have been longer than the five seconds the promo lasted although it may felt like eternity to you. I’m quite sure that Kim Hill did not embark on her ‘abusive tirade’ to hurt you personally. You could send her another e-mail to confirm. Please get over this and move on.
Kim was a great hero during the many dark years of rich-rule after our social democracy. Why RNZ had to admit Richard whatisname.
Hill did not get the word wrong. Quite deliberate, ruffling some who are set in their ways.
Sinking lid approach does work best when done in subtle ways.
Trump has long held ambitions to be president…back in the 1980's he was a regular on the late-nite talks show's .(letterman et.al…). .and back then he often beat the presidential-ambitions drum..he was laughed at/humoured…but that is also what 'the apprentice' was all about ..him showing the american people/his future base that he was a strong leader ..and him becoming a household name..it was all part of the plan..
The other thread to trump is his connections to/long record of working with the mafia/mob..back in the 80's again he built skyscrapers in Manhatten…using undocumented/illegal workers..now you don't get to do such things in Manhatten unless you are in tight with the teamsters union..who control the building and garbage collection industries in Manhatten..and the teamsters are the union wing of the mob..and of course casinos in Atlantic City were a major means of money-laundering…trump is so bent ..he is like a human paperclip…
Pronouns, Breen. Not a hard concept.
their comment suggests it might be for them.
Was Kim Hill confused, you think? Did she think Masha Gesson was possibly a male?
There is only one confused person here.
You're quite right there, Sacha. Every one of yous.
Well, there’s Masha Gesson and there’s Masha Gessen so I can see why one would be confused. Perhaps you could ask Professor Longhair.
Thanks for the correction, Mr. Cognito. You're on to as usual.
https://media1.tenor.com/images/2b6138c8abd50d00965e784d948a88df/tenor.gif?itemid=4733491
Just to pour some oil of pedantry upon the fires of controversy, 'their' is not a pronoun. It is a possessive adjective. The pronoun is 'theirs', as in, "Our book is better than theirs," 'Theirs' can stand by itself, as a pronoun should be able to.
'Their' is only a possessive adjective, and needs the noun 'book' with it.
So
theirthere.Careful, In Vino: although of course you are correct, there are some around here who are unhappy with using simple words like his or her.
Things have moved on beyond Northcote's sepia bounds.
You're welcome to slip within Northcote Point's sepia bounds at any time, Sacha.
https://media1.tenor.com/images/aedf0a83eba45622947b6c988131ded1/tenor.gif?itemid=4731328
Lest We Forget: R.I.P. Journalism in the United States and Britain
Ten years since WikiLeaks and Julian Assange published the Iraq War Logs…
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/10/23/pers-o23.html
A dog and a scraped plate…
https://twitter.com/MelissaWrites22/status/1319464593287204864
Did you like the follow-up explanation?
https://twitter.com/jenxliberty/status/1319689356785774592
The better the blow, the greater the urge, apparently.
That is very funny…that clip..
I think I have figured out what biden is good at…gape-mouthed goldfish impersonations..he has it nailed..I’d also like to see his take on kermit the frog .
Anxiety outside the USA. I have wondered whether music might offer us a road out of our mind-prison under fascist neoliberal rule. Maybe this guy can advise us.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/429085/i-am-how-music-helped-a-young-tongan-lawyer-with-anxiety
Anxiety inside the USA – the flow of money to rich men's pockets is being strangled. This from Gordon Campbell on Scoop featuring the famous Koch Brothers. Dah dah. They recently featured in something else being done along with some other rich person. Funny how some names keep coming up, like yesterday's dinner.
Herd immunity has recently bounced back into the headlines as a tool for managing Covid-19, and as a supposed alternative to lockdowns. In the US, a group of scientists was recently brought together in the town of Great Barrington, Massachusetts by a think tank funded by the Koch brothers. The assembled scientists signed the so called Barrington Declaration, which promotes herd immunity as a rational means of re-opening US public schools and the economy at large..
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2010/S00134/on-why-herd-immunity-isnt-a-valid-option-and-whats-with-our-reluctance-to-wear-masks.htm
…The Declaration has found a receptive ear at the White House where Dr Scott Atlas has become Donald Trump’s most trusted health advisor on the pandemic, and Trump’s main scientific advocate against lockdowns.
Atlas is a neurologist, and has no expertise in infectious diseases.
(If he is a neurologist, then he might be able to keep an eye on Mr T-rump's condition, and prevent his prime excesses.)
In the US the death toll has reached 224,000. By the end of the year this figure could double. Daily infections are nearly at the same rate as in March with the first wave. Aljazeera reported this today. It would be hard to be a health worker in the heavily infected countries. The pace would be exhausting and time out is required to recharge. With the flu season approaching there is going to be a shortage of beds and staff.
The waiting list is growing for other health related matters.
Is herd immunity the answer in the US and how would the care of those infected be managed?
There is no quick fix.
I think the President adopts the 'don't look at it and it might go away' response. As for herd immunity I have read professionals that sound informed saying that there isn't going to be any such thing with this virus. We will have to try and preserve our system as long as we can and try and become a fairer society, and look after our front line staff in particular. I don't know if we can get fixes for things now, new problems will keep rolling along and people switch off or get stuck on one point and get obsessed; just do our best and be resigned to change.
Today just after 7am on RNZ a Professor McClean an expert microbiologist on Covid.
Mc Lean a molecular immunologist.
As suspected, right wing white supremacists exploited legitimate protest. But BLM bad.
/
In the wake of protests following the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a member of the “Boogaloo Bois” opened fire on Minneapolis Police Third Precinct with an AK-47-style gun and screamed “Justice for Floyd” as he ran away, according to a federal complaint made public Friday.
A sworn affidavit by the FBI underlying the complaint reveals new details about a far-right anti-government group’s coordinated role in the violence that roiled through civil unrest over Floyd’s death while in police custody.
Ivan Harrison Hunter, a 26-year-old from Boerne, Texas, is charged with one count of interstate travel to incite a riot for his alleged role in ramping up violence during the protests in Minneapolis on May 27 and 28. According to charges, Hunter, wearing a skull mask and tactical gear, shot 13 rounds at the south Minneapolis police headquarters while people were inside. He also looted and helped set the building ablaze, according to the complaint, which was filed Monday under seal.
[…]
Two hours after the police precinct was set on fire, Hunter texted with another Boogaloo member in California, a man named Steven Carrillo.
“Go for police buildings,” Hunter told Carrillo, according to charging documents.
“I did better lol,” he replied. A few hours earlier, Carrillo had killed a Federal Protective Services Officer in Oakland, Calif., according to criminal charges filed against him in California.
https://www.startribune.com/charges-boogaloo-bois-fired-on-mpls-precinct-shouted-justice-for-floyd/572843802/
Off topic here. Have just come in from a 2 hour trip- – out with a friend op shopping and generally looking in different shops and timeout for lunch. This is Auckland North Shore and I can tell you the attitude of our residents here is total apathy towards masks, using tracer apps and using the hand sanitiser left out by shop owners. Young and old just ignoring common sense. It was so mind boggling we ended up quite pissed off excuse the language.
I even asked one retailer if he could move his stand with the hand sanitiser, app icon and board for entering your name etc with a pen further out into the doorway so patrons couldn't miss the darned thing. We are such an ungrateful ignorant lot we don't deserve to be virus almost-free as we are right now.
We both have loved ones overseas in hot spots – South America and US and both are trapped in their homes and have people dying everywhere around them and its heartbreaking that we are using and abusing our privileged status here with so many pig-ignorant people ignoring what they need to do. Sorry folks but this incoming Government and poor St. Ashley have their jobs cut out. Enough kindness. We outlawed non-belt wearing in cars and we now need emergency powers brought in for the duration of this virus outbreak and have it mandated that mask wearing, hand sanitising and app using is to be applied. We obviously are simple minded and need to be trained like children.
Here endeth the lesson.
Not off-topic at all and +1000. Clearly the lesson hasn't sunk in yet 🙁
I don't know where on the Shore you live but in the Devonport/Belmont area the wearing of masks and hand sanitising has been excellent. Yes, people are not wearing masks to the same extent since we dropped to level 1, but I think most people wash their hands and sanitise before leaving home and then do it again when they return. I also carry antiseptic wet cloths in my car as I suspect many other people do. In our local supermarket people are using the apps all the time or signing in, but I have noticed some retailers are no longer leaving forms for people to sign.
I think you are being a bit unfair to many "simple minded" adults. When we dropped to level 1 we were no longer expected to wear masks all the time when away from home. I've stopped wearing them because I don't go anywhere that might be considered unsafe and the same probably goes for most older people anyway.
What community outbreaks we have experienced were confined to specific circumstances and small groups which did not affect the vast majority of the population. If another community outbreak does occur, mask wearing will immediately become mandatory at all times again – at least in the region or regions that are affected.
Whispering Kate I agree that people will have to be forced by regulation, we just aren't a concerned society, except for a short time, or on special occasions. I have to force myself to comply, forget so often. But I keep trying to get into the habit – I see the numbers overseas shooting up. And the effect on the people, the strain on the funeral/burial system, and on the culture generally is not reported much here.
The point I'm making greywarshark : it is unfair to claim the attitude in my part of the country (the North Shore) is one of total apathy. And the NS would be typical of any other place.
It is precisely because the vast majority of NZers complied with the rules at each level that we are in a superior position now than most of the rest of the world.
We're at level 1 now. To assume people are not taking precautions by washing their hands and using sanitiser etc. is a step too far imo. If you're going direct to a store or supermarket and you have already 'washed and sanitised' then you don't have to do it again. Sure, some people need to be reminded every now and then but the government and MoH have already got that well in hand.
Sorry didn't get back to this. It is easy to generalise but as I sanitise my hands at the supermarket I don't see others, not the men going past. And yet sometimes i think I have just washed mine so don't do it. But I do like the freedom to get out and about and I think too many are taking it for granted. I haven't got an ap but if I did it prob wouldn't work on my phone. What's best to do. .. I must practice wearing my mask though.
I'm in two minds about this. None of those things are compulsory under L1. It doesn't make sense for the whole country to be doing all those things all of the time. Down south people certainly aren't (there was no social distancing and no-one seemed to be using the handsanitiser, and def no masks when I voted on election day).
While I can see the case for being more careful the closer one is to a hot spot (and during public holidays where people travel a lot), there is also the issue of maintaining such behaviour for the long haul and indefinitely (bearing in mind we don't know if/when a vaccine will be available). It's hard to get compliance when people perceive the risk as small, and it's better that we are socialised in to acting when the situation is more urgent so that if we have widespread community transmission again people will do the right thing more quickly and more thoroughly.
Mostly it's an odds game rather than a black and white one.
The govt already has the power to mandate actions during a pandemic. I for one and glad they are not using those unless necessary, all sorts of good reasons for the govt to not over use those powers.
One thing I'd like to see is more limits in travel between areas when there is potential community transmission. But I'm not sure it's warranted yet, and there are the same compliance and fatigue issues. I'm also not sure if it is fair to places like Auckland which will have a higher risk because of population.
Not wearing masks gets us thinking we are on our own planet. Then we start complaining because precautions still have to be taken, then the government becomes a whipping boy. We take so many things for granted in NZ – the complacency towards others with problems is amazing, and particularly to the needy in NZ.
However the government can keep the mask thing in their back pocket and when someone is putting pressure on to open our borders for this or that, they can say well everyone will have to start wearing masks. It is so easy for the transmission to occur – they will have to become mandatory when travelling, in groups etc.
mask wearing seems reasonable with increased population density, and prolonged contact. On a bus that will take 20 mins to get to its destination for instance.
People walking down Queens St at lunch time vs the main street of Gore mid afternoon.
If we don't take things like into account people will get intolerant and less willing.
Helluva game.
https://twitter.com/CTVNews/status/1319926610238205957
what are the different colour droplets?
"Helluva game."
Right. So we can see the droplet spread there, but the odds game is whether any of those mannequins have covd, what the viral load is, whether they cough into their arm or not and so on. Is it reasonable to expect 5m people to wear a mask when around other humans because there is one case of community transmission in NZ? I don't think so. The public health approach to containment is working with the odds, not the absolutes, and the various strategies are designed to catch and limit spread as quickly as possible without crashing the economy or driving people crazy.
Excellent response @10.3 and 10.3.2.2. Thank-you weka.
100% Whispering Kate.
Newton Central School stopped its walking bus three years ago after several near misses and after abuse was hurled at children by some cyclists on the northwestern cycleway.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/429096/it-s-a-really-dangerous-place-school-s-plea-for-cycleway-upgrade
"We've actually had one or two children being hit. We've had members of our community that have had serious injuries. It's a really dangerous place – children and bicycles don't mix," he said.
"No one wants to have a child get hurt or injured. This is an accident waiting to happen…
A parent at the school, Phoebe Greenbrook-Held, said Auckland Transport tried to educate cyclists about using their bell and giving children a wide berth, but this was not treating the root problem….
“Unfortunately all those fixes are just short term – within a few months cyclist behaviour reverts. We really need the cycleway to be broadened, so children are safe to walk, cycle and scoot while adults do their commute to work.”
She said adult cyclists are the main culprits."
Obvious – the two modes of mobility are incompatible, and it's a 'loss of commons' to put cycles on footpaths, without a fence or something physical separating and providing safety for pedestrians and clear pathway for the others – and not just a line on the path!
ACT's an arsehole magnet #eleventy seven.
https://twitter.com/lachlandcp/status/1319768605530025987
That 'lifestyle choice' is the grind the right came out with in the 1980s – haven't they thought of anything since then? They must show the acolytes and newbies a propaganda video, and teach them some phrases to utter like parrots. When certain words come on they’ll have a Pavlovian reaction. Woof woof the tui (see on google) looked bright and beady-eyed and handsome and had a better vocabulary. Use him or her as a mascot for a young left movement!
(The Baillie mentioned is a teacher of sorts in Nelson, by the way.)
People can not be trusted with a benefit, but will be trusted with an Education Grant?
Wow!! some disconnect there!!
How Tova sees her famed JLR encounter: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/24/tova-obrien-my-feral-interview-with-covid-19-denier-jami-lee-ross
boom
that was a super interesting read. Perhaps TO and other journos should explain what they do more often.