1. Team New Zealand sounds like a spoilt brat who will take his toys to another sandpit if he doesn’t get his way.
2. For how much longer are New Zealanders going to fall for the lie of trickledown? Mike Hosking and his fellow medi liars would have us believe this. Don’t.
You don’t live in Auckland do you Ed?
You have not witnessed first hand the swarm of activity that occurs for several years prior to and then during the cup.
The marine industry, hospitality, tourism, retail etc. benefit massively from this event.
The problem is Alan that these big accounting firms that cost potential benefits prior to a sporting event almost always over state it. It is enormously difficult to quantify but easy to over state.
Exactly – take for instance the Super V8 race that was initially proposed for Auckland City (Banks was Mayor at the time and all for it!) – and where the residents protested sufficiently, and were able to show that the so called cost benefit analysis of the organisers was just plain hype and were able to shut it down. The race organisers then convinced Hamilton as to its mavellousness, and the race was run there – until the true costs of running it and the meager benefits were so poor that the Council eventually said enough is enough! More fool Hamilton.
The marine industry, hospitality, tourism, retail etc. benefit massively from this event.
It is a pity that the beneficiaries of such activities don’t pay for it eh?
It causes me additional traffic jams, a strong need to avoid the idiots downtown, an inability to get accommodation for people coming here for business, and an effective rise in rates or diminished services before the event to pay for all of the crap that the sailors hold their hand out for.
Perhaps it’d be worth it if the hospitality industry went off and paid an additional tax for discombobulating the entire rest of the residents of Auckland.
But that pack of bastards really don’t like even a minor tax to cover the effects that their freeloading industry cost the rest of us.
Basically you are a fool. One who doesn’t appear to live in Auckland or is one of the freeloading parasites
This so correct – I wonder if the organisers of the resistance to the Super V8 Race are still around? They were able to show the flimsy analysis of the cost-benefits to Auckland were so much hype that the council over-turned Bank’s wish to run the race.
Perhaps it’d be worth it if the hospitality industry went off and paid an additional tax for discombobulating the entire rest of the residents of Auckland.
But that pack of bastards really don’t like even a minor tax to cover the effects that their freeloading industry cost the rest of us.
Yes, for such supporters of user pays they seem rather recalcitrant when being asked to pay for their usage.
Yep – some people will benefit, the majority will see no benefit and some will be harmed. Those harmed would be businesses whose customers (shoppers, diners) are dragged away from other parts of the city down to the waterfront.
So to say it is good for Auckland is a misconception – because (to steal from Margaret Thatcher) there is no such thing as ‘Auckland’.
1. Team New Zealand sounds like a spoilt brat who will take his toys to another sandpit if he doesn’t get his way.
Thats just a bullshit:
“However, Team NZ chief operations officer Kevin Shoebridge told the Herald even though their preferred option would not happen, they would be working with the options available and there would be no moves to take the America’s Cup away from the city”
Don’t worry about it. At the moment Dunedin households are being delivered around 40 tonnes of Christmas junk mail a week into letter boxes. This might actually increase closer to Christmas.
And I suppose that means Auckland is distributing about 500 tonnes of junk mail a week.
Bear in mind the majority of this goes straight into the garbage without even being read for one nanosecond.
You can’t stop the machine, and 40 years of moaning about it since the Club of Rome has done nothing but waste time and emotional effort.
During the last election I delivered a few hundred flyers to letter boxes. I was surprised at the number with NO JUNK MAIL HERE signs. (I put them in anyway.) My estimate is that two thirds of letter boxes rejected junk mail. Seems to be more tucked inside newspapers though.
Hi ianmac. Surprised you weren’t given the heads up on the legal situation here.
The only letter boxes where you can’t – by law – deliver material are those with the instruction ” Addressed Mail Only” on them.
The only letter boxes where you can’t – by law – deliver material are those with the instruction ” Addressed Mail Only” on them.
Mailboxes like mine which are in the apartment lobby which requires a card to get into. The PO has a card to do it, so the ONLY junk mail we get now comes via the mail person. We moved the mailboxes inside after someone broke into most of the 60 mailboxes – presumably looking for checks when they were still a thing – wrecking most of them. The joy of getting rid of 90% of the junk mail was immense.
Similarly a former Labour Party activist mate of mine simplify classifies election flyers as “democracy participation information sheets” not junk mail, and slides them right in 😀
…all letterboxes regardless of whether they have signs asking for no junk mail, circulars or addressed mail only, can receive election material two months before the election until the day before polling day. This aligns with the Electoral Act.
Interesting to learn that ‘addressed mail only’ is no barrier: the times I’ve delivered election material we were told to leave those ones alone.
to DTB at 2.1.1.2.1.1.: Don’t think would lose votes as no complainer would be voting for the party complained about anyway. The complaining is just to involve nuisance waste of time for those delivering or their electorate office.
Interesting to learn that ‘addressed mail only’ is no barrier:
We were told it is unlawful to deliver non-addressed material into an “addressed mail only” letter box. Political parties and other organisations get around it by acquiring addresses from public lists eg. electoral roll, and either posting or delivering on foot. Either way its more expensive and delivering targeted mail is a nightmare.
Unless there’s been a law change in the last few years.
I was prepared to defend my postings should anyone complain, by apologising for not “noticing” the sign. And our local MP had just 2 phone calls complaining, from the whole Electorate.
Actually I have doubts anyway that the flyers help anyone except the employees of printers.
“Very few dissatisfied customers complain, making this a meaningless measure of customer satisfaction.”
Very few customers will complain directly to you, but that does not mean that they won’t complain to other people. In fact in reality it’s quite the opposite! Let’s think back to the restaurant example I gave at the beginning of this article. Realistically, how many people would you tell if you thought a restaurant was offering bad food and service?
My wife (English is her second, third, or fourth language depending on how one categorises dialects) loves the junk mail. It helped her with handy phrases like Blowout Sale! and Discount Days.
That’s one of the very few positives to junk mail.
Hahaha true, reminds me of the junkyard Transformer robot from the old 90s cartoon movie who only talked in TV ad speak because that’s how he learnt his English
Yes! Many years ago when I was teaching immigrant women English, I would use supermarket junk mail. It had pictures and was relevant to their need to shop for food.
Is anyone going to do a proper post on the America’s Cup facilities ?
It’s a classic environment v economic benefit v social utility v public subsidy v filthy rich capitalists v good for Auckland v binge-purge-cycle v did-we-learn-anything-last-time …. kind of debate.
Worth about $200m in capex from us ratepayers and taxpayers.
A good thing about the America Cup development is those building monuments on other peoples’ coin will move their aspirations from a billion dollar waterfront stadium for a year or two.
I guess a successful Cup event and Aucklanders warming to the precinct all over again will see a renewed stadium push. Fortunately most Aucklanders that own their homes freehold are millionaires, they’re loaded.
It seems like the Democratic Party hierarchy has decided once and for all to dump the Clintons and make them politically radioactive.
Obama Cabinet member/HHS Sec Kathleen Sebelius says women who came forward about Bill Clinton were systematically re-victimised by the Clintons
This was in a CNN interview between former Obama chief advisor and campaign manager David Axelrod, and Sebelius.
These Axelrod and Sebelius are well connected Democratic Party insiders and heavy hitters.
“Not only did people look the other way, but they went after the women who came forward and accused him,” Sebelius stunningly detailed. Keep in mind this is a fact that the alternative media has reported on literally hundreds and hundreds of times while being attacked as right-wing conspiracy theorists for doing so.
“And so it doubled down on not only bad behavior but abusive behavior. And then people attacked the victims,” Sebelius continued.
Damn you beat me to posting it. What’s that they said about not more to come on this? Brazile’s intervention was just the start. Now that the Chicago camp is making a move, momentum will continue to build.
It’s actually a really interesting interview. You should listen to it.
I also can’t help thinking that if the republicans hadn’t made up so many stories about bill clinton, the real one would have stood out. Not that it would have changed much in the 1990s.
Having recently been listening to a marathon run of Christopher Hitchens interviews from the C-Span 90s period, I’d have to say you’re right about the second part of that – there really was no alternative for the electorate to seriously consider. I mean, Bob fucking Dole? Even for the Republicans that was dumb.
During the 1990s the repubs were all about the clinton scandals, fixating especially on a relationship that was actually consensual. But there was also whitewater, and Vince Foster’s suicide. Even republican investigations said Foster committed suicide.
I mean, I’d like to say that in the absence of all those lies and in today’s environment Clinton being accused of sexual assault would kick him out of contention in the party primaries, but even post-Weinstein it’s 50/50.
Well you say lies; there was genuine suspicion and grounds for it around the circumstances of Foster’s death – as there would be in any DC insider who knows where the bodies are buried in the President’s political and personal past turning up having committed such an unusually timed and placed suicide.
A more interesting take on it would be, what did the Clintons do to piss the guy off so much that not only did he take his own life, but seemed to have done it in such method and circumstance that conspiracy theories about his erstwhile employers were virtually guaranteed. Of course there are opponents who will continue to flog a dead horse when there’s that kind of innuendo on hand.
Again, think your right about the difficulties of gauging his chances even in times like his own. There’s no denying his charisma with the wider electorate, and he apparently lit a room right up when present, that’s gold dust in politics. And the Clintons do seem to be very serious networkers. I’d say if the opponent was formidable enough, they’d probably pick him even with a dozen sex scandals around his neck. Much like Trump, or Key, Slick Willie seems to have that knack for being really quite scandal-proof in the eyes of someone who’d vote for him.
There were suspicions, few (if any) of those were genuine, and rumours were outright fabricated by republicans wanting to encourage idiot conspiracists. Well, now they’re reaping the whirlwind with trump.
Indeed, an odd choice of place – and an odd choice of time given when he was found, and the appointments he still had to make in the day ahead of him. Like I say, the more interesting ‘conspiracy’ side of it to me is that if he bore the Clintons no ill will, he sure went through with it in a way which seemed designed to embarrass them.
Let’s face it, it’s not just because he worked for a recently appointed president. That kind of beltway suicide (god that’d be a great name for a punk band) will always attract suspicion. Imagine if Eagleson did something like that right after Ponytail-gate, for instance. Or if something like it happened to someone from David Cameron’s office right after Pig-gate. No way there wouldn’t be questions asked or innuendo spread.
Yeah, actually there are choices which are odd even in such extreme circumstances, and Foster’s was a good example. You can be as obtuse as you like about it, it’s simply obvious to most of us that given who he was and who he worked for, how and when he went was indeed definitively odd.
As to the Republicans, I’m quite capable of separating a lack of surprise that they looked closely at it when it happened from the idea that some among them might persist in bringing it up long after it became apparent that doing so would make them look like conspiracy theorists.
Wasn’t a national park though was it? I mean, taking a long drive out into the wilderness to end it in Yellowstone park, or out to the desert to admire Window Rock, or perhaps at the foot of a majestic redwood or something. But I remember the spot where Foster was found from a documentary a way back. It looked like bloody Myers park or something.
Remember, we’re not trying to prove here whether or not it was dodgy. The point is simply that given who he was, who he worked for, and the scandal he had been a part of it’s simply unsurprising that Clinton’s political opponents made hay with the potential innuendo. There was enough not to find it surprising – we’re talking about the 1990s Republicans here…
Meh. Looks ok to me, with trees and streams and other nature shit, but each to their own.
The thing is, he could have died of cancer diagnosed by three different doctors and a pathologist who took samples, and if the documentary you saw was one funded by the repubs the doctors would have been called drunkards and claims made they were paid off by the clintons.
There are reasonable suspicions, and then there are lies. In the late 80s and early 90s, conservative republicans chose to ignore the truth and just say whatever was convenient at the time. So now we have trump as the culmination of that decision.
I’d say Trump is the culmination of all kinds of decisions, some from politicians, others from business & banking, and some of course from the MIC – who continue to do as well out of him as any other president in my lifetime.
Charitable view of the working class you’ve got there, sir. Let’s tell them wrong-thinking herp-a-derps how dumb they are for not believing what we tell them & valuing things that we don’t.
It’s a fact. The same exit polls that gave CV his “ten point majority” showed Trumps popularity was inversely proportionate to the voter’s level of educational attainment, their ethinicity’s population as a proportion of the total population, and even whether they had a vagina. That’s why CV had to restrict it to “white women” rather than “women”. The majority of women voted for Clinton.
A bit like how the majority of electoral votes went to trump, even though the majority of actual votes went to Clinton.
I’m glad you felt the need to remind me of the electoral vote – popular vote ratio in that election. It’s quite probable that there’s someone out there who didn’t know, and to whom this highly obscure piece of information might be news.
As to your deflective rundown of details everyone is perfectly familiar with (you aren’t an avid Vox reader by any chance? Distinct tonal similarity), it changes nothing. You don’t like working class people, it’s clear as day. No need to respond to the accusation by throwing around some excuses to emphasize that it’s a data driven dislike. Just be cool with who you are, my dude: someone morally and intellectually better suited than they to determine who should be in charge.
No amount of Russian facebook memes will go half as far in explaining how Trump won.
I suspect the difference is between talking about things and actually doing things.
Trump was stupid for talking about grabbing women but as far as I know he was never proven of actually sexually assaulting anyone or misusing a position of power.
Clinton on the other hand (and the long list of Hollywood hypocrites) were all about physically committing sexual offending.
Makes me laugh that the Hollywood elite who for years have pontificated about society’s short comings (and excused Clinton’s sins) have been found to be worse offenders than those they have pointed an accusatory finger at.
Morally corrupt, inept, and without a smidge of shame or regret – the fakery they practice in their occupation has become their reality.
This time last year they were all chanting for Hillary and demonizing Trump and it turns out that they (and her) are far worse than Trump was every portrayed as being.
He called students, male and female both, “my dear” and “my child.” Beautiful, brilliant students surrounded him. He was a vortex of power and intellectual charisma. [….] Bloom agreed to meet with me weekly. [….] The others eventually left and—finally!—I thought we could discuss my poetry manuscript. I set it between us. He did not open it. He did not look at it. He leaned toward me and put his face inches from mine. “You have the aura of election upon you,” he breathed. [….] I hoped he was talking about my poetry. I moved back and took the manuscript and turned it around so he could read.
The next thing I knew, his heavy, boneless hand was hot on my thigh. …
“GROPERS” is presented by GroperWatch, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
More gropers. Collect the series!…
No.1 George Herbert Walker Bush; No. 2 Bill O’Reilly; No. 3 Al Franken; No. 4 Robin Brooke; No. 5 Lester Beck; No. 6 Arnold Schwarzenegger; No. 7 Joe Biden; No. 8 Rolf Harris
I heard Todd McClay prattling on earlier on Morning Report about the CPTTP saying it needed to be concluded before Christmas as basically otherwise countries other than the current four holdouts will want to re-negotiate aspects of it. I assume he said this with a straight face.
So this really good “trade” agreement needs to be signed NOW otherwise everyone will want to fix aspects of it they are not happy with or want to improve for themselves.
So maybe it can’t be such a great agreement after all Todd. But I suspect he already knows that.
Glad to hear that Grant Robertson dismissed this sillly man’s notion as it really came from the ultimate villian of all behind the hollow man Mclay eh?
Fascinating article in the Guardian about bullshit management speak, amongst otger things
” At the very point when work seemed to be withering away, we all became obsessed with it. To be a good citizen, you need to be a productive citizen. There is only one problem, of course: there is less than ever that actually needs to be produced. As Graeber pointed out, the answer has come in the form of what he calls “bullshit jobs”. These are jobs in which people experience their work as “utterly meaningless, contributing nothing to the world”. In a YouGov poll conducted in 2015, 37% of respondents in the UK said their job made no meaningful contribution to the world. But people working in bullshit jobs need to do something. And that something is usually the production, distribution and consumption of bullshit. According to a 2014 survey by the polling agency Harris, the average US employee now spends 45% of their workingday doing their real job ”
Bureaucrats and technocrats need to make it look and sound like they know more than everyone else. What better way than impenetrable layers of jargon. As the old saying goes ‘bullshit baffles brains.’
As factories producing goods in the west have been dismantled, and their work outsourced or replaced with automation, large parts of western economies have been left with little to do. In the 1970s, some sociologists worried that this would lead to a world in which people would need to find new ways to fill their time.
I seem to recall an article that said that the politicians and business people were worried to. They were concerned that if all the small people had more time they might get involved in politics and then the politicians and business people would be out of a job telling people what to do.
Moving forward or going forward is usually redundant anyway. What the fuck else would you be doing unless you had the power to make ‘the fullness of time’ stand still.
A very poor effort of journalism by John Sergeant Taranaki Daily News.
“A (sic) Issue of Neglect not always Poverty”
What a poorly researched piece of paid work. Trotting out the usual right wing rubbish for the clickbaiters in their readership.
Apparently, by feeding poor children we teach them it is someone else’s problem that they are hungry, and they will grow up to hold their hand out.
He makes a weak connection that it is neglect by parent/s not poverty which causes hungry children.
Solo parents beneficiaries widows and widowers plus the ill and others struggling to provide for their children will be even more depressed with their struggle reading that mean minded piece.
The usual band waggon “yes yes mob” was in evidence in the stuff comments, though some excellent rebuttals as well.
Editors should wake up. We see through this agenda. Political lies to embarrass a new P.M.
+ 1000 Patrica bremner these people are not intelligent enough to fathom that we can see there dum ass motives for there un logical articles . The state sets the systems up not the people If one has no money and no knowledge on how to make money in one situation than the state is to take the blame this is fact national set the system up for the wealthy and who loses well everyone that’s not wealthy.Kia Kaha
Stuff like this is what makes me wonder whether I’ll regret party voting Labour instead of NZF. This guy, who has never had any real regard for social democratic principle and always seems to simply follow the herd, finally sticks his neck out on something, and it’s just the usual $2 Store Marcusianism:
He couldn’t ever have considered being brave and standing up for NZ in the arena of economic sovereignty perhaps instead of winding up old people about Jesus and the Queen?
The National Party had demanded the Speaker reinstate the old parliamentary prayer and properly consult with MPs before removing mentions of the Queen and Jesus Christ for good.
Typical of authoritarians. They first look to the hierarchy.
Shouldn’t it be up to the people to decide?
The National Party’s issue with the changes is that the monarch of New Zealand “is our constitutional head of state” and the reference to Jesus Christ is an “important part of the our parliament’s history and holds meaning to members”.
But do the people want it to remain so?
National Party leader Bill English is a practising Catholic and a number of MPs chose to swear their allegiance on a bible during the swearing in ceremony earlier this month.
And yet Bill English lies and twists and spins to the people of NZ. It obviously doesn’t what he swears on – he still can’t be trusted.
Possibly, but Trevor Mallard is not the people, and if you’re going to let the people decide, then you’d make those changes once they’ve decided. I can’t stand National, but they’re at least correct to state that Mallard is way out of line. Personally, I look to little things like this as indicators of what’s going on beneath the surface. And it stinks of a government elected to deal with poverty, housing, employment and solid social democratic basics somehow being more interested in $2 Store Marcusian tinkering now that they’re in.
“And yet Bill English lies and twists and spins to the people of NZ. It obviously doesn’t what he swears on – he still can’t be trusted.”
I can’t think of a National leader in my lifetime who that sentence wouldn’t apply to! Feeling a bit shit about party voting Labour instead of NZF =/= ever considering National as an alternative.
And it stinks of a government elected to deal with poverty, housing, employment and solid social democratic basics somehow being more interested in $2 Store Marcusian tinkering now that they’re in.
The big problem with that is that you’re not talking about the actions of the government but the actions of The Speaker.
I have thought for considerable time that use of Christian prayer absolutely not suitable for ethnically and/or of differing religion participants…including viewers/listeners.
How is it not suitable? I’m an atheist and I don’t find traditions inappropriate, or distressing, or unsuitable. It’s just a quaint anachronism which reminds us of the past. Some choose to see only bad things in the past. I see a mixed picture which for better or for worse saw us evolve the best systems of government, which is why people of ethnically and/or differing religions who’ve seen some of the alternatives love living in places with Westminster systems, and will even risk their lives to get there.
We are all encouraged to construct a story of our own (relative) success that leans heavily on our own individual effort and hard work. That is the founding myth of capitalism, work hard and you too can be a success.
The reality is that we all rely on luck, good fortune and being born to the right parents. And there’s also simply the absence of bad luck: illness, an accident or other random events that prevent or limit our economic independence.
You can almost feel the sharp intake of wingnut breath, as they prepare to illustrate MacDonald’s point.
Aussie households have racked up record private debts and aren’t getting the pay rises to help service them. That’s a core concern for the RBA and frequently cited as a deterrent for hiking interest rates. Macquarie Bank has said such debt levels mean any hikes will have triple the impact on consumers than tightening cycles in the mid-1990s. With retail sales looking grim and wage growth near record lows, debt will likely vex policy makers for years.
Yep. Sounds like NZ all too much. Raising interest rates in NZ will put many under water.
It’s a strange article. It headlines with “The party is finally winding down for Australia’s housing market” but nothing in the article actually supports this. If you follow a link, you finally get to the basis for this claim, which is just a nil increase in mean house (sale?) prices from Sep to Oct 2017. Not enough to convince me that the boom has ended…
“Society is constantly branding all men by the actions of the few who do wrong. That kind of attitude comes at a cost and is hurting your grandfathers, your fathers, your brothers, and – most of all – your sons.”
Stop sending these people out to the farm as I will name and shame them and this will ruffle a lot of peoples feathers thanks for the Mana and the escorts ka pai
My truck is running like new after I changed the water pump the viscous fan was stuffed and was making the motor work to hard. I always buy Manual vehicles because the motors last longer they are cheaper to run than a automatic car the motor last longer because a automatic car motor is always under load were as a manual car every time you change gear the load comes off the motor many other good reasons to buy manual’s a back yard mechanic can change a clucth in a manual car if you have a problem with automatics big bucks to fix PS been busy with my Moko .Kia Kaha
The Stupidest People in The World
Exhibit A: TUCKER CARLSON
Carlson is notoriously dumb, even for a Fox News host. Here he is trying to foot it with one of America’s smartest guys. The result is, to say the least, embarrassing. The “highlight” (actually, the nadir) comes at the 6:00 mark, when Carlson says, with deadly earnestness, widening his eyes for full effect: “So stop lecturing me about Rosa Parks, right?”
Global warming is the biggest threat to US humans I think a lot of people dont get it. Sea level rising is not the biggest threat in my view the biggest threat is the warming of our mother earth it’s basic science. The four states of matter 1 solid 2 liquid 3 gas 4 plasma. It won’t take much warning to cause our worlds soils to become disfunctional I.E all the water that our soils hold will turn to gas and with no water in our soils we can’t grow the food to feed all the people of our world.
Sure we could use hydroponic to grow our food but that won’t be enough to feed all OUR people in our world. This phenomenon will create Wars as every one goes to control the higher cooler soils to grow there food. I see how easy our soils dry out in summer and all the plants go to seed. We are also destroying our humus in our soil buy cheating the nutrients cycle by using chemical fertiliser that don’t directly feed the plant they just break down our humus faster so they release there nutrient faster and we destroying our humus which is what holds water in our soils.
So in my view we need to farm our soil and build up the humus so our soils can hold more water when it gets warmer the more humus the more water that’s held in our soils this is fact. At the minute we are doing the exact opposite of what we should be doing to have a long and prosperous future for OUR Moko. Ka pai
The logical thing to do is not to wait and put the ambulance at the bottom of OUR cliff. The logical thing to do is to act now so we don’t need the________ ambulance at all come on people get with it I have been studying global warming on the net for many years and it is easy to see the bullshit artists article as they go against most of OUR scientist Kia kaha
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Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
Tree sap can be a sticky, unsightly mess on your car’s exterior. It can be difficult to remove, but with the right techniques and products, you can restore your car to its former glory. Understanding Tree Sap Tree sap is a thick, viscous liquid produced by trees to seal wounds ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Lee’s recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Lee’s “forensic” and “nuanced” application of law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
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Two things about the America’s CUP.
1. Team New Zealand sounds like a spoilt brat who will take his toys to another sandpit if he doesn’t get his way.
2. For how much longer are New Zealanders going to fall for the lie of trickledown? Mike Hosking and his fellow medi liars would have us believe this. Don’t.
200%
See https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-14112017/#comment-1414082
You don’t live in Auckland do you Ed?
You have not witnessed first hand the swarm of activity that occurs for several years prior to and then during the cup.
The marine industry, hospitality, tourism, retail etc. benefit massively from this event.
The problem is Alan that these big accounting firms that cost potential benefits prior to a sporting event almost always over state it. It is enormously difficult to quantify but easy to over state.
Exactly – take for instance the Super V8 race that was initially proposed for Auckland City (Banks was Mayor at the time and all for it!) – and where the residents protested sufficiently, and were able to show that the so called cost benefit analysis of the organisers was just plain hype and were able to shut it down. The race organisers then convinced Hamilton as to its mavellousness, and the race was run there – until the true costs of running it and the meager benefits were so poor that the Council eventually said enough is enough! More fool Hamilton.
Yup.
Doesn’t Auckland have enough swarming activity already?- see LPrent – on Auckland catching up.
It is a pity that the beneficiaries of such activities don’t pay for it eh?
It causes me additional traffic jams, a strong need to avoid the idiots downtown, an inability to get accommodation for people coming here for business, and an effective rise in rates or diminished services before the event to pay for all of the crap that the sailors hold their hand out for.
Perhaps it’d be worth it if the hospitality industry went off and paid an additional tax for discombobulating the entire rest of the residents of Auckland.
But that pack of bastards really don’t like even a minor tax to cover the effects that their freeloading industry cost the rest of us.
Basically you are a fool. One who doesn’t appear to live in Auckland or is one of the freeloading parasites
This so correct – I wonder if the organisers of the resistance to the Super V8 Race are still around? They were able to show the flimsy analysis of the cost-benefits to Auckland were so much hype that the council over-turned Bank’s wish to run the race.
Yes, for such supporters of user pays they seem rather recalcitrant when being asked to pay for their usage.
@Iprent
“It is a pity that the beneficiaries of such activities don’t pay for it eh?”
exactly!
Yep – some people will benefit, the majority will see no benefit and some will be harmed. Those harmed would be businesses whose customers (shoppers, diners) are dragged away from other parts of the city down to the waterfront.
So to say it is good for Auckland is a misconception – because (to steal from Margaret Thatcher) there is no such thing as ‘Auckland’.
Socialism for the rich, eh?
Trickldown is a lie.
But you knew that……
It is The Hobbit Syndrome
1. Team New Zealand sounds like a spoilt brat who will take his toys to another sandpit if he doesn’t get his way.
Thats just a bullshit:
“However, Team NZ chief operations officer Kevin Shoebridge told the Herald even though their preferred option would not happen, they would be working with the options available and there would be no moves to take the America’s Cup away from the city”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11947323
What about the earlier articles james when they indeed threw in hosting it somewhere else?
I wish that they would.
HC 300% well said Ed,
“Team them selves” more like.
God they want us to stroke their vain arses with gold and glitter eh!!!!!!
Bugger off Team NZ!!!
We cant afford Auckland getting all the ‘infrustructure’ public funding already! but now these rich bitches want our last remaining blood!!!!
Time to call it quits with the rich set games they are playing.j
Consumerism is killing us.
https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/22/black-friday-consumption-killing-planet-growth
Yet we continue to burn the planet, egged on by the Herald and the rest of our ghastly corporate media.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11947249
https://adclick.stuff.co.nz/adclick?v=1&c=5905&p=mobileweb&s=/&l=/NZ
Don’t worry about it. At the moment Dunedin households are being delivered around 40 tonnes of Christmas junk mail a week into letter boxes. This might actually increase closer to Christmas.
And I suppose that means Auckland is distributing about 500 tonnes of junk mail a week.
Bear in mind the majority of this goes straight into the garbage without even being read for one nanosecond.
You can’t stop the machine, and 40 years of moaning about it since the Club of Rome has done nothing but waste time and emotional effort.
During the last election I delivered a few hundred flyers to letter boxes. I was surprised at the number with NO JUNK MAIL HERE signs. (I put them in anyway.) My estimate is that two thirds of letter boxes rejected junk mail. Seems to be more tucked inside newspapers though.
Hi ianmac. Surprised you weren’t given the heads up on the legal situation here.
The only letter boxes where you can’t – by law – deliver material are those with the instruction ” Addressed Mail Only” on them.
Mailboxes like mine which are in the apartment lobby which requires a card to get into. The PO has a card to do it, so the ONLY junk mail we get now comes via the mail person. We moved the mailboxes inside after someone broke into most of the 60 mailboxes – presumably looking for checks when they were still a thing – wrecking most of them. The joy of getting rid of 90% of the junk mail was immense.
Similarly a former Labour Party activist mate of mine simplify classifies election flyers as “democracy participation information sheets” not junk mail, and slides them right in 😀
That’s standard practice.
Interesting to learn that ‘addressed mail only’ is no barrier: the times I’ve delivered election material we were told to leave those ones alone.
And I suspect delivering it probably counts against the party so I would suggest that the volunteers don’t do that.
to DTB at 2.1.1.2.1.1.: Don’t think would lose votes as no complainer would be voting for the party complained about anyway. The complaining is just to involve nuisance waste of time for those delivering or their electorate office.
Interesting to learn that ‘addressed mail only’ is no barrier:
We were told it is unlawful to deliver non-addressed material into an “addressed mail only” letter box. Political parties and other organisations get around it by acquiring addresses from public lists eg. electoral roll, and either posting or delivering on foot. Either way its more expensive and delivering targeted mail is a nightmare.
Unless there’s been a law change in the last few years.
Yep, about time we defined the advertising that comes in our mailboxes as spam and ban it. It’s simply a waste of resources for minimal benefit.
I was prepared to defend my postings should anyone complain, by apologising for not “noticing” the sign. And our local MP had just 2 phone calls complaining, from the whole Electorate.
Actually I have doubts anyway that the flyers help anyone except the employees of printers.
http://marketresearchworld.net/content/view/1617/74/
My wife (English is her second, third, or fourth language depending on how one categorises dialects) loves the junk mail. It helped her with handy phrases like Blowout Sale! and Discount Days.
That’s one of the very few positives to junk mail.
Hahaha true, reminds me of the junkyard Transformer robot from the old 90s cartoon movie who only talked in TV ad speak because that’s how he learnt his English
https://youtu.be/XrMbkbTPrPA?t=208
Yes! Many years ago when I was teaching immigrant women English, I would use supermarket junk mail. It had pictures and was relevant to their need to shop for food.
Is anyone going to do a proper post on the America’s Cup facilities ?
It’s a classic environment v economic benefit v social utility v public subsidy v filthy rich capitalists v good for Auckland v binge-purge-cycle v did-we-learn-anything-last-time …. kind of debate.
Worth about $200m in capex from us ratepayers and taxpayers.
A good thing about the America Cup development is those building monuments on other peoples’ coin will move their aspirations from a billion dollar waterfront stadium for a year or two.
I guess a successful Cup event and Aucklanders warming to the precinct all over again will see a renewed stadium push. Fortunately most Aucklanders that own their homes freehold are millionaires, they’re loaded.
It seems like the Democratic Party hierarchy has decided once and for all to dump the Clintons and make them politically radioactive.
Obama Cabinet member/HHS Sec Kathleen Sebelius says women who came forward about Bill Clinton were systematically re-victimised by the Clintons
This was in a CNN interview between former Obama chief advisor and campaign manager David Axelrod, and Sebelius.
These Axelrod and Sebelius are well connected Democratic Party insiders and heavy hitters.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-11-23/they-went-after-women-who-came-forward-former-obama-hhs-secretary-exposes-clintons
About time.
Damn you beat me to posting it. What’s that they said about not more to come on this? Brazile’s intervention was just the start. Now that the Chicago camp is making a move, momentum will continue to build.
It’s actually a really interesting interview. You should listen to it.
I also can’t help thinking that if the republicans hadn’t made up so many stories about bill clinton, the real one would have stood out. Not that it would have changed much in the 1990s.
Having recently been listening to a marathon run of Christopher Hitchens interviews from the C-Span 90s period, I’d have to say you’re right about the second part of that – there really was no alternative for the electorate to seriously consider. I mean, Bob fucking Dole? Even for the Republicans that was dumb.
During the 1990s the repubs were all about the clinton scandals, fixating especially on a relationship that was actually consensual. But there was also whitewater, and Vince Foster’s suicide. Even republican investigations said Foster committed suicide.
I mean, I’d like to say that in the absence of all those lies and in today’s environment Clinton being accused of sexual assault would kick him out of contention in the party primaries, but even post-Weinstein it’s 50/50.
Well you say lies; there was genuine suspicion and grounds for it around the circumstances of Foster’s death – as there would be in any DC insider who knows where the bodies are buried in the President’s political and personal past turning up having committed such an unusually timed and placed suicide.
A more interesting take on it would be, what did the Clintons do to piss the guy off so much that not only did he take his own life, but seemed to have done it in such method and circumstance that conspiracy theories about his erstwhile employers were virtually guaranteed. Of course there are opponents who will continue to flog a dead horse when there’s that kind of innuendo on hand.
Again, think your right about the difficulties of gauging his chances even in times like his own. There’s no denying his charisma with the wider electorate, and he apparently lit a room right up when present, that’s gold dust in politics. And the Clintons do seem to be very serious networkers. I’d say if the opponent was formidable enough, they’d probably pick him even with a dozen sex scandals around his neck. Much like Trump, or Key, Slick Willie seems to have that knack for being really quite scandal-proof in the eyes of someone who’d vote for him.
The guy shot himself in a park.
There were suspicions, few (if any) of those were genuine, and rumours were outright fabricated by republicans wanting to encourage idiot conspiracists. Well, now they’re reaping the whirlwind with trump.
Indeed, an odd choice of place – and an odd choice of time given when he was found, and the appointments he still had to make in the day ahead of him. Like I say, the more interesting ‘conspiracy’ side of it to me is that if he bore the Clintons no ill will, he sure went through with it in a way which seemed designed to embarrass them.
Let’s face it, it’s not just because he worked for a recently appointed president. That kind of beltway suicide (god that’d be a great name for a punk band) will always attract suspicion. Imagine if Eagleson did something like that right after Ponytail-gate, for instance. Or if something like it happened to someone from David Cameron’s office right after Pig-gate. No way there wouldn’t be questions asked or innuendo spread.
Especially if people really want to think there’s such a thing as an “odd choice” made by someone in extremis.
Do you really want to excuse republicans for paying people to publish lies about the guy’s death?
Yeah, actually there are choices which are odd even in such extreme circumstances, and Foster’s was a good example. You can be as obtuse as you like about it, it’s simply obvious to most of us that given who he was and who he worked for, how and when he went was indeed definitively odd.
As to the Republicans, I’m quite capable of separating a lack of surprise that they looked closely at it when it happened from the idea that some among them might persist in bringing it up long after it became apparent that doing so would make them look like conspiracy theorists.
He wrote a resignation letter, tore it up, drove to a park, and shot himself.
There is even a forest in Japan known for its suicides. A lot of people seem to like a decent view before capping themselves.
Comparing the cultural traditions of suicide in Japan to that of the USA? Surely you jest?
OK, US then: Suicide uptick in US national parks every summer, mostly men, firearm most common method for men.
Foster killed himself in July. Summer.
Wasn’t a national park though was it? I mean, taking a long drive out into the wilderness to end it in Yellowstone park, or out to the desert to admire Window Rock, or perhaps at the foot of a majestic redwood or something. But I remember the spot where Foster was found from a documentary a way back. It looked like bloody Myers park or something.
Remember, we’re not trying to prove here whether or not it was dodgy. The point is simply that given who he was, who he worked for, and the scandal he had been a part of it’s simply unsurprising that Clinton’s political opponents made hay with the potential innuendo. There was enough not to find it surprising – we’re talking about the 1990s Republicans here…
Meh. Looks ok to me, with trees and streams and other nature shit, but each to their own.
The thing is, he could have died of cancer diagnosed by three different doctors and a pathologist who took samples, and if the documentary you saw was one funded by the repubs the doctors would have been called drunkards and claims made they were paid off by the clintons.
There are reasonable suspicions, and then there are lies. In the late 80s and early 90s, conservative republicans chose to ignore the truth and just say whatever was convenient at the time. So now we have trump as the culmination of that decision.
I’d say Trump is the culmination of all kinds of decisions, some from politicians, others from business & banking, and some of course from the MIC – who continue to do as well out of him as any other president in my lifetime.
Most of them are thinking they over-egged it this time.
Hasnt Trump had multiple accusations of sexual impropriety made against him and he still made Pres in 2016
Yes, because somehow hillary was so much worse than him.
That’s what white women decided in the election; they voted for Trump by a clear ten point majority over Hillary.
Yup, the whiter they were and the lower educated they were, the more they voted for trump.
Charitable view of the working class you’ve got there, sir. Let’s tell them wrong-thinking herp-a-derps how dumb they are for not believing what we tell them & valuing things that we don’t.
It’s a fact. The same exit polls that gave CV his “ten point majority” showed Trumps popularity was inversely proportionate to the voter’s level of educational attainment, their ethinicity’s population as a proportion of the total population, and even whether they had a vagina. That’s why CV had to restrict it to “white women” rather than “women”. The majority of women voted for Clinton.
A bit like how the majority of electoral votes went to trump, even though the majority of actual votes went to Clinton.
I’m glad you felt the need to remind me of the electoral vote – popular vote ratio in that election. It’s quite probable that there’s someone out there who didn’t know, and to whom this highly obscure piece of information might be news.
As to your deflective rundown of details everyone is perfectly familiar with (you aren’t an avid Vox reader by any chance? Distinct tonal similarity), it changes nothing. You don’t like working class people, it’s clear as day. No need to respond to the accusation by throwing around some excuses to emphasize that it’s a data driven dislike. Just be cool with who you are, my dude: someone morally and intellectually better suited than they to determine who should be in charge.
No amount of Russian facebook memes will go half as far in explaining how Trump won.
I don’t like morons who vote for nazi sympathisers, that’s for damned sure.
edit: because if they knew who they were voting for, I dislike those individuals even less than if they voted for him just because they were stupid.
I suspect the difference is between talking about things and actually doing things.
Trump was stupid for talking about grabbing women but as far as I know he was never proven of actually sexually assaulting anyone or misusing a position of power.
Clinton on the other hand (and the long list of Hollywood hypocrites) were all about physically committing sexual offending.
Makes me laugh that the Hollywood elite who for years have pontificated about society’s short comings (and excused Clinton’s sins) have been found to be worse offenders than those they have pointed an accusatory finger at.
Morally corrupt, inept, and without a smidge of shame or regret – the fakery they practice in their occupation has become their reality.
This time last year they were all chanting for Hillary and demonizing Trump and it turns out that they (and her) are far worse than Trump was every portrayed as being.
GROPERS
No. 9: Professor Harold Bloom
“GROPERS” is presented by GroperWatch, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc.
More gropers. Collect the series!…
No.1 George Herbert Walker Bush; No. 2 Bill O’Reilly; No. 3 Al Franken; No. 4 Robin Brooke; No. 5 Lester Beck; No. 6 Arnold Schwarzenegger; No. 7 Joe Biden; No. 8 Rolf Harris
I heard Todd McClay prattling on earlier on Morning Report about the CPTTP saying it needed to be concluded before Christmas as basically otherwise countries other than the current four holdouts will want to re-negotiate aspects of it. I assume he said this with a straight face.
So this really good “trade” agreement needs to be signed NOW otherwise everyone will want to fix aspects of it they are not happy with or want to improve for themselves.
So maybe it can’t be such a great agreement after all Todd. But I suspect he already knows that.
Todd Mclay can go to hell.
Glad to hear that Grant Robertson dismissed this sillly man’s notion as it really came from the ultimate villian of all behind the hollow man Mclay eh?
Phil O’riellly”
http://www.iron-duke.com/people/phil-oreilly/
Fascinating article in the Guardian about bullshit management speak, amongst otger things
” At the very point when work seemed to be withering away, we all became obsessed with it. To be a good citizen, you need to be a productive citizen. There is only one problem, of course: there is less than ever that actually needs to be produced. As Graeber pointed out, the answer has come in the form of what he calls “bullshit jobs”. These are jobs in which people experience their work as “utterly meaningless, contributing nothing to the world”. In a YouGov poll conducted in 2015, 37% of respondents in the UK said their job made no meaningful contribution to the world. But people working in bullshit jobs need to do something. And that something is usually the production, distribution and consumption of bullshit. According to a 2014 survey by the polling agency Harris, the average US employee now spends 45% of their workingday doing their real job ”
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/23/from-inboxing-to-thought-showers-how-business-bullshit-took-over?CMP=fb_gu
Bureaucrats and technocrats need to make it look and sound like they know more than everyone else. What better way than impenetrable layers of jargon. As the old saying goes ‘bullshit baffles brains.’
I seem to recall an article that said that the politicians and business people were worried to. They were concerned that if all the small people had more time they might get involved in politics and then the politicians and business people would be out of a job telling people what to do.
Of course
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Moving forward. Why not just say ” in the future”…
Moving forward or going forward is usually redundant anyway. What the fuck else would you be doing unless you had the power to make ‘the fullness of time’ stand still.
A very poor effort of journalism by John Sergeant Taranaki Daily News.
“A (sic) Issue of Neglect not always Poverty”
What a poorly researched piece of paid work. Trotting out the usual right wing rubbish for the clickbaiters in their readership.
Apparently, by feeding poor children we teach them it is someone else’s problem that they are hungry, and they will grow up to hold their hand out.
He makes a weak connection that it is neglect by parent/s not poverty which causes hungry children.
Solo parents beneficiaries widows and widowers plus the ill and others struggling to provide for their children will be even more depressed with their struggle reading that mean minded piece.
The usual band waggon “yes yes mob” was in evidence in the stuff comments, though some excellent rebuttals as well.
Editors should wake up. We see through this agenda. Political lies to embarrass a new P.M.
+ 1000 Patrica bremner these people are not intelligent enough to fathom that we can see there dum ass motives for there un logical articles . The state sets the systems up not the people If one has no money and no knowledge on how to make money in one situation than the state is to take the blame this is fact national set the system up for the wealthy and who loses well everyone that’s not wealthy.Kia Kaha
Stuff like this is what makes me wonder whether I’ll regret party voting Labour instead of NZF. This guy, who has never had any real regard for social democratic principle and always seems to simply follow the herd, finally sticks his neck out on something, and it’s just the usual $2 Store Marcusianism:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99170336/national-party-up-in-arms-about-changes-to-the-parliamentary-prayer
He couldn’t ever have considered being brave and standing up for NZ in the arena of economic sovereignty perhaps instead of winding up old people about Jesus and the Queen?
Typical of authoritarians. They first look to the hierarchy.
Shouldn’t it be up to the people to decide?
But do the people want it to remain so?
And yet Bill English lies and twists and spins to the people of NZ. It obviously doesn’t what he swears on – he still can’t be trusted.
“Shouldn’t it be up to the people to decide?”
Possibly, but Trevor Mallard is not the people, and if you’re going to let the people decide, then you’d make those changes once they’ve decided. I can’t stand National, but they’re at least correct to state that Mallard is way out of line. Personally, I look to little things like this as indicators of what’s going on beneath the surface. And it stinks of a government elected to deal with poverty, housing, employment and solid social democratic basics somehow being more interested in $2 Store Marcusian tinkering now that they’re in.
“And yet Bill English lies and twists and spins to the people of NZ. It obviously doesn’t what he swears on – he still can’t be trusted.”
I can’t think of a National leader in my lifetime who that sentence wouldn’t apply to! Feeling a bit shit about party voting Labour instead of NZF =/= ever considering National as an alternative.
The big problem with that is that you’re not talking about the actions of the government but the actions of The Speaker.
Beltway AF to assume people think of it that way.
I have thought for considerable time that use of Christian prayer absolutely not suitable for ethnically and/or of differing religion participants…including viewers/listeners.
How is it not suitable? I’m an atheist and I don’t find traditions inappropriate, or distressing, or unsuitable. It’s just a quaint anachronism which reminds us of the past. Some choose to see only bad things in the past. I see a mixed picture which for better or for worse saw us evolve the best systems of government, which is why people of ethnically and/or differing religions who’ve seen some of the alternatives love living in places with Westminster systems, and will even risk their lives to get there.
I bet the comments section will be a doozy.
You can almost feel the sharp intake of wingnut breath, as they prepare to illustrate MacDonald’s point.
Oh my…. oh my oh my.
The party is over for Australia’s %5.6 trillion housing frenzy.
You can almost substitute the name “New Zealand” for the word “Australia” throughout the entire article:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-23/australia-faces-housing-hangover-twice-size-of-u-s-subprime-era
Yep. Sounds like NZ all too much. Raising interest rates in NZ will put many under water.
It’s a strange article. It headlines with “The party is finally winding down for Australia’s housing market” but nothing in the article actually supports this. If you follow a link, you finally get to the basis for this claim, which is just a nil increase in mean house (sale?) prices from Sep to Oct 2017. Not enough to convince me that the boom has ended…
A.
Antoine
This investors page says quite a bit about the comming storm.
https://www.shareinvestor.com/news/news.html?source=sg_btbn&nid=158542
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/life/98942078/being-a-male-teacher-was-my-dream–until-i-was-falsely-accused
“Society is constantly branding all men by the actions of the few who do wrong. That kind of attitude comes at a cost and is hurting your grandfathers, your fathers, your brothers, and – most of all – your sons.”
I wonder if he is white too, and middle class..
“I wonder if he is white too, and middle class..”
Burn the witch !
Like they do with
Beneficiaries
Disabled
Maori
Etc…
+1
Generalisations happen all the time and almost always have negative consequences.
Yup.
Interesting stats out of UK and Europe about murder from domestic violence and not just women are the victims.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/nov/23/england-wales-police-record-highest-number-violent-sexual-crimes-eu?CMP=fb_gu
Stop sending these people out to the farm as I will name and shame them and this will ruffle a lot of peoples feathers thanks for the Mana and the escorts ka pai
My truck is running like new after I changed the water pump the viscous fan was stuffed and was making the motor work to hard. I always buy Manual vehicles because the motors last longer they are cheaper to run than a automatic car the motor last longer because a automatic car motor is always under load were as a manual car every time you change gear the load comes off the motor many other good reasons to buy manual’s a back yard mechanic can change a clucth in a manual car if you have a problem with automatics big bucks to fix PS been busy with my Moko .Kia Kaha
The Stupidest People in The World
Exhibit A: TUCKER CARLSON
Carlson is notoriously dumb, even for a Fox News host. Here he is trying to foot it with one of America’s smartest guys. The result is, to say the least, embarrassing. The “highlight” (actually, the nadir) comes at the 6:00 mark, when Carlson says, with deadly earnestness, widening his eyes for full effect: “So stop lecturing me about Rosa Parks, right?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbLYTeKtAg4
The Stupidest People in the World is curated by M. Breen, for Daisycutter Sports Inc.
Global warming is the biggest threat to US humans I think a lot of people dont get it. Sea level rising is not the biggest threat in my view the biggest threat is the warming of our mother earth it’s basic science. The four states of matter 1 solid 2 liquid 3 gas 4 plasma. It won’t take much warning to cause our worlds soils to become disfunctional I.E all the water that our soils hold will turn to gas and with no water in our soils we can’t grow the food to feed all the people of our world.
Sure we could use hydroponic to grow our food but that won’t be enough to feed all OUR people in our world. This phenomenon will create Wars as every one goes to control the higher cooler soils to grow there food. I see how easy our soils dry out in summer and all the plants go to seed. We are also destroying our humus in our soil buy cheating the nutrients cycle by using chemical fertiliser that don’t directly feed the plant they just break down our humus faster so they release there nutrient faster and we destroying our humus which is what holds water in our soils.
So in my view we need to farm our soil and build up the humus so our soils can hold more water when it gets warmer the more humus the more water that’s held in our soils this is fact. At the minute we are doing the exact opposite of what we should be doing to have a long and prosperous future for OUR Moko. Ka pai
The logical thing to do is not to wait and put the ambulance at the bottom of OUR cliff. The logical thing to do is to act now so we don’t need the________ ambulance at all come on people get with it I have been studying global warming on the net for many years and it is easy to see the bullshit artists article as they go against most of OUR scientist Kia kaha