Recently, CV posted his predictions for the 2017 election – predictions, in my opinion, well off line. Unless . . .
So, here’s some reflections on the political year 2016 – from an observer, not a politician.
1. The most obvious conclusion to draw from the last year is that a massive and world-wide swing away from the failed policies of neo-liberalism is happening. Corbyn’s election as Labour Party leader and the huge numbers who joined, the Brexit vote, the ‘yuge’ support for the Democratic Socialist, Bernie Sanders and the election of the anti-establishment (at least, he said so) Donald Trump.
2. The efforts by the old elite / bankers to fight back were also marked. The continuing campaign by the MSM to discredit Jeremy and by the politicians to delay or derail Brexit, the shafting of Bernie by the DNC and the old elite/bankers etc taking most, if not all of the cabinet positions under Trump.
3. The centrist Hillary Clinton did not appeal enough to beat the least qualified candidate the USA has probably ever put up for election. If that isn’t an indictment of ‘third way’ policies – well, I don’t know what more convincing our Labour Party needs.
4. The NZ Labour Party is tobacco stained with the neo-liberal taint and they haven’t really been able to wash the marks away – yet. At a time when they should have been gaining traction against a bloody awful Nat. government, they have made little progress in the polls – languishing at around 30 – 35% for all of 2016.
The obvious conclusion to draw – from this overly simplistic summary – is that the Labour Party has to TURN LEFT! Jeremy and Bernie pointed the way – the NZLP must present a viable and appealing alternative to neo-liberalism. If they do a Clinton and mouth a few words about reform while not intending to do anything to upset the 1%ers – then CV’s predictions may well come true!
They should be promising to take this country by its collective collar and shake the hell out of it – so all the rich cockroaches fall to the ground and can be stomped on! [Figuratively, not literally!] God knows, the future looks precarious enough – some radical solutions are needed!
2017 – I would like it if the left got going in earnest this year – globally, but especially in NZ. Knock that orange atrocity off the front page of all the news platforms.
The issue is everyone has a different idea of ‘left’ and ‘ centre’. Personally I think Labour has turned left already, they said no to TPPA and they have the MoU with the Greens.
If they turn too far left then they start competing with the Greens and Mana and leave the centre open to National and NZ First….
Totally agree that Labour have been too far right or schizophrenic in their policy and too blindly supportive of neoliberalism in the past… but do feel they have turned the corner and now people have to stop bagging them and start supporting them and bagging National.
National are the ones doing horrendous damage to our country, environment and society.
There are pretty well defined definitions of Left> Center < Right.
The problem is that over the last 30 years Parties such as Labour have been selling Centrist Policies and passing them off as being Left wing. And I for one am struggling to see any sure well defined 'turning of the corner' from previous Labour policies.
My own thoughts are that 'The Centrist' labourites should just grow up and step up. State their position clearly and form their own Political Parties.
The perfect starting point would be the English Labour Party Centrists, whose obsession with destroying Corbyn is guaranteed to condemn the Party to oblivion for atleast the next Election cycle.
Nash and the crew could get things started here.
Though of course you answered this yourself, by pointing out that Labour ARE occupying the Centre position, and, like you say, its a position that can just as easily be filled by National.
In other words…National and Labour are pretty darned close to being interchangeable.
Is that really the Labour Party we want as we try and survive the current economic and social quagmire sweeping the World as Neo Liberalism and Free Market capitalism gives its last desperate death throes??
ps Andrew Little and Labour have NOT said NO to TPP..they want a ‘better’ TPP. Do we know what that actually means??
Labour HAS said No to TPP.
But we’re a trading nation so Labour would like to see some fair and reasonable trade agreements, not these trumped up multi-corp arrangements.
He says the same on the Labour Party website. That was my point.
Andrew Little is very vocal in supporting Free Trade, and, from reading his statement, is very proud of the deal Labour struck with the free trade deal with China. Which, while being great for the so called ‘economy’ is part and parcel with the destruction of our wages, employment rights, and some claim, housing situation. How many of us have gone from relatively secure employment to being ‘private contractors’, short term employees etc etc as our industries try to compete in a free for all with the Global Economy.
I think this is a great idea, that centrist split from Labour would probably get around 10% of the party vote and be a natural coalition partner for National.
I don’t see any downside in this, great for Labour, they can become the party of leftist purity it’s members so desperately seem to want and great for National, they can keep on running the country without having to deal with NZ First.
Win win for everyone.
Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster 1.2.1.1.2.1
NZF have some good MP’s and are making good progress throughout the country I believe they will pick up a percentage of the disillusioned National Party vote.
Likewise I believe a coalition between Labour Greens NZF is the most likely post Election arrangement, Winston has been in coalition with Labour and National.
The arrangement with National ended in a mess when Shipley overthrew Bolger and then proceeded to shaft Winston, hence I doubt whether Winston will trust National again, once bitten twice shy.
+ 100% saveNZ – time people stopped the bagging of Labour, read up on the policies, and Policy Platform, and started to help Labour get the word out –
Labour is returning to its roots.
@Jenny Kirk, I don’t agree that Labour is returning to it’s roots, or if it is, that memo must have passed me by.
Here is a quote from their own site, in regards to the housing disaster…
“Instead of fixing the problem, National is siding with property speculators. They are too focused on looking after those at the top rather than families in the middle.”
Not a mumbling word about poor and working families, they then go on to state that they will build ‘affordable’ houses in the $500,000-600,000 range
(in AKL), do you believe that families where the income is from full time cleaning, aged care work etc can afford a $500,000 home, no either do I…so again, I have to say Labour doesn’t look or sound like a party that is finding it’s Socialist roots to me.
@ Adrian Thornton
The housing situation in NZ is made up roughly of 1/3 renters, 1/3 homeowners with mortgages and 1/3 homeowners without mortgages.
So the centre of housing issues might not be where you think it is!
Although I do agree that Labour are too Nat Lite on housing and it is a joke to consider $500 -$600 k affordable on NZ wages. They will go bankrupt as soon as mortgages rise.
Many of the renters should be in secure state housing in my view and National should not be selling them off! That is where Labour are missing the boat.
The Auckland housing situation is driven by 166,000 working visas being issued to students and 70,000 new migrants per year coming. but nobody wants to mention it.
The government has so little imagination they think that selling land and dodgy degrees is a sustainable business for NZ and apparently we can’t stop now as who will fill the apartments being built.
I’m all for immigration but not at the levels and types of people that are coming all for the wrong reasons. I’d like to see more creative type of immigrants, professionals with new ideas and an exchange of minds and cultures, not more tilers, restaurant managers and fruit pickers. Nothing wrong with that but how about training some of our youth to do that as much of it can be taught in a quick course.
If you don’t think having one of the biggest self imposed immigration levels in the world per capita has an effect on property, services and the environment (especially with our current government polluters at the helm with wadable water and sell off state houses and get social bonds going) – you are in la la land.
Did I hear you say Labour’s going to restore basic benefit rates to a livable level, reinstate the special benefit, get rid of punitive welfare policies including the ones Labour introduced and/or voted with the nats on, ditch user pays in health and education, bring back a state housing system that abolishes homelessness with an emphasis on homeownership for everyone? Wow. That’s fantastic.
I like what you are saying very much Tony , but I fear that “Capital” ( or Deep State or whatever) is far more powerful and has what is pretty much a stranglehold. One good example is their ownership of the media and the ability to control the message.
All ‘uprisings’ for change just haven’t been able to get enough traction , even the huge overseas movements have basically floundered pretty rapidly because the game is so stacked.
Sadly for NZ we do not have a champion to lead in the need for change.
Personally I think we (humans) are frogs in a heating pot of water and are too stupid to do anything before it is too late.
Perhaps if Trump destroys the USA we may get change for the better? Now there’s a pipe dream! More likely to get WW3 instead.
Still no real actions over the elephant in the room (CC) either.
Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster 1.3.1
The message has to be so ‘radical’ that the MSM and Deep State simply cannot ignore it – a moderate message will simply get tucked away on page 17. It’s also got to offer some hope to those at the bottom so they will be encouraged to get out and vote.
Another pipe dream – wouldn’t it be lovely to have California secede from the union!
And yes, I agree – climate change will, literally, change everything!
Labour’s been captured and won’t be seeing freedom any time soon (if ever).
Shaw has kind of narrowed the distance between Labour and Green (bad thing).
The media are pants (pants thing).
I’m waiting for TOPS climate policy before punting them as a circuit breaker, but their policies so far aren’t too bad in comparison to Labour or Green policy… and I detected more than a whiff of sour grapes from the Greens in a piece linked to here the other day.
The fact that TOPS do not want to be in government (are going to occupy the cross benches) is a big plus in my book.
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP).
The trade pact – which was a linchpin of former President Barack Obama’s pivot to Asia – was signed by 12 nations, including New Zealand, and covered 40 percent of the world’s economy.
The directive was part of a series of executive orders planned for Monday to begin reshaping US trade policies.
Mr Trump had vowed to quit the TPP during his presidential campaign.
He has criticised the trade agreement as a “potential disaster for our country”, arguing it harmed the US manufacturing sector.
The massive trade deal was negotiated in 2015 by nations including New Zealand, the US, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, Canada and Mexico
New Zealand’s parliament passed a bill allowing it to ratify the TPP last year, but it had not yet been ratified by all the individual countries.
President Donald Trump moved to pull the United States out of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact today, fulfilling a campaign promise as he began his first full week in office.
“Great thing for the American worker that we just did,” Trump said as he signed a notice in the Oval Office..
I beg to differ because Trump’s move is based on all the wrong reasons. In any case, much of the legal groundwork for a (the) TPPA has already been done here in NZ and elsewhere and it appears that National/Bill English have not given up yet.
As a side note, unpredictability and uncertainty are on the increase, which coincidentally leads to a rise of pseudo-Nostradamus wannabees, and under such conditions the Precariat is unlikely to experience any real and sustainable improvement despite some political rhetoric (…) trying to convince us otherwise.
The TPP protests were useful at bringing people together, showing how to non-violently win, and educating the govt about what citizens would not accept. Those are all transferable to the next similar fight.
But seeing Sanders get traction off the back of slamming free trade and then hearing from potential voters who had lost good jobs and been plunged into uncertainty and poverty…
Or maybe he’s always been more of a protectionist. On that front, I simply don’t know.
The epic scale of political conflict in the US is fantastic theatre – so much so it risks making New Zealand’s problems seem trivial.
Donald Trump’s policies also have a big impact on us. Whether it is through trade or the extent to which he fires up the US economy – influencing currency, interest rates and inflation all over world.
But let’s face it, it makes turning back to the big domestic issues in New Zealand hard work.
“Hard work” , in this regard ,I suggedt you up your u tube hyper links postings and duplicate across threads, plus repeat the same posting on multiple days, Ooops sorry you are already doing that
Thanks for the interesting and informative links RTM …I find it’s always good to learn the fuller picture of what has brought us to the here and now …
At present we ‘benefit’ from a lot of modern slavery …. which like the old forms is built on abuse of power and injustice.
This is done through main stream media silence …… and outright Government propaganda, ….. such as this statement from mfat.govt.nz regarding the gangster nation Indonesia ….” since democracy was restored in 1998.”
Presumably mfat are referring to this ….. ” the Indonesian women’s movement, the entire trade union movement, intellectuals, teachers, and the ethnic Chinese, and also land reform advocates. So, within somewhere—within a year, somewhere between half a million and two-and-a-half million people were killed in what was really one of the very largest genocides in our history.
And it was reported in the United States as good news. It was reported in The New York Times and Time magazine fairly accurately in terms of the death tolls, but with headlines like “A Gleam of Light in Asia,”. https://www.democracynow.org/2013/7/19/the_act_of_killing_new_film
‘Old news’ someone like James would say ……..
But the problem is that the children of the murdered are presently being exploited in slave labor conditions ………. or cleared from their land again.
And if they should try and join a union …. or speak out for land rights, protecting the environment etc ..
They can be murdered with impunity ……….. just like their parents were.
Make no mistake…. Indonesia is a country which would have murdered and tortured our late and great Helen Kelly.
We should not be encouraging the Gangsters who currently run/own indonesia ….
“July 2016: Prime Minister John Key and Trade Minister Todd McClay traveled to Indonesia for an official visit along with a high-level business delegation.”
Tax havens like National made NZ into play a large roll in supporting enslavement, poverty and war in the world ….
BREAKING: Trump places hiring freeze on some federal workers, cuts off funding for international groups that perform abortions.— The Associated Press (@AP) January 23, 2017
Unsafe abortion accounts for 13% of all maternal deaths globally. Trump's reinstating the 'Global Gag Rule' will be deadly.— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) January 23, 2017
there has been a fair bit of talk about trolls on this site,
words and the evolution of meaning interest me
now troll has three meanings that precede its blog meaning
1 a nasty creature that lives under a bridge and grabs you as you try and cross
2 to systematically search an area
3 to tow a lure and hope some sucker grabs it
for me a (blog) troll brings images of the third , tow a lure and hope for a sucker
do some of you have an image of the first, nasty creature that jumps out?
or even the second, a systematic coverage of an area?
there are certainly elements of all three meanings in the use of (blog) troll
just interested cause words do matter but meaning is in the hearing
Pretty much all three. Blog trolls tend to lurk around the posts waiting for a flamewar to flare. Sometimes they will drop incendiary and usually diversionary statements out to start the fire. Sometimes they will reinterpret someone elses comments to provoke them and others.
Generally, moderators will tend to ignore a lot of the flaming because it fits under robust debate. It isn’t in the interests of the site of the commenters to shield people from the disagreements in society or from political debate. The only way to develop counters to arguments present in the wider society is to hear them expressed. However there is enough siloing of political debate already in both the media and other blogs.
We look at the behaviour patterns of commenters and if they actually contribute anything to the ongoing debates. If the patterns of behaviour are unthinkingly repetitive or seem to be designed to just take over debate to drown out the voices of others then we treat the perpetrators as trolls as a rapidly escalating response.
Which brings up the key attribute of trolls that you seem to have missed. They seem to have real problems both learning the boundaries of behaviour, and they usually hate their own behaviors and tactics being reflected back at themselves in nastier and more extreme forms. So you will see some moderators (mainly me at present) abbreviating the process by deliberately provoking them with exaggerated and very disdainful trolling behaviors aimed very personally at them in a demonstration of the net adage that there is always a bigger and better skilled arsehole on the net – they are often called sysops.
• Sample taken from Cox’s Creek near Cox’s Bay revealed E. coli levels of 590 cfu/100ml
• Sample taken at the head of Cox’s Creek just behind Kelmarna Ave found E. coli at 190,000 cfu/100mls – a level more than 1500 times the upper safe limit and a serious threat to human health.
• The limit for recreation should be below 126 per 100mls.
• Samples were collected last Thursday and tested by Watercare.
Little’s misreading the signals. The Mp must surely be set to ditch the nats. They’re coming home. The Mp has never been about right-wing policies. Going with the nats was a strategy to try to achieve “real” gains for Maori.
They now see the error in that “better to be inside the tent” strategy. This also coincides with a general belief that Labour’s been punished enough for the F&S, and that it’s now time now to unite for what’s best for all Maori. Hone would not be dealing with the Mp in any way whatsoever if it meant helping the Mp to provide support that puts the nats back in government.
If Little’s serious about winning the election then trying to chastise the Mp isn’t the way to go. He’s confusing the Mp’s beliefs with their strategy. There should be a far greater consistency between Labour and the Mp than the nats and the Mp. Little should not be afraid of Mana and the Mp taking the Maori seats, and if they do then at least work with those parties to achieve better outcomes for Maori, if not form the government with those parties.
Little and Labour must be pretty stupid or have short memories if they think the Mp going with the nats was because the Mp embraced nat ideology. They don’t. And with everything that’s going on now Labour is completely dumb to slag them off.
Labour should be bloody courting the Mp, not trying to alienate them. Heck, the party needs all the help it can get, especially when there’s no guarantee NZF won’t go with English.
But then again, strategy and common sense have never been strong points for Labour, so no surprises there.
More evidence that not all people in sports are meatheads and cowards
Sadly, we have recently seen the unedifying spectacle of cowardly coaches like Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin and the New Zealand Maoris’ Colin Cooper bullying their most thoughtful and intelligent players into dropping their political protests.
But there ARE some decent people in big-time sports. People like Gregg Popovich, the coach of the San Antonio Spurs….
Uber New Zealand Technologies paid $9397 in tax in 2014/15 despite earning revenue of more than $1 million from New Zealanders, we were confused. A person on $45,000 a year pays about $7800 in PAYE tax.
Trump and the endless reporting of his malapropisms, executive deductions, decision, etc will fill our media with Radionz or RNZ constantly reporting their tragedies and disasters and riots etc. (the other day there was a tornado over there did you know), don’t know what the private stations do. Perhaps ignore it and put on some romantic or rock.
Can we please have a Trump and USA permanent post and everything be done there. Otherwise we are accepting our own brain washing which is a public relations and social psychology triumph for the PR and mind-bending fraternity.
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The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
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. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
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. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
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. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
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. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
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 ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Recently, CV posted his predictions for the 2017 election – predictions, in my opinion, well off line. Unless . . .
So, here’s some reflections on the political year 2016 – from an observer, not a politician.
1. The most obvious conclusion to draw from the last year is that a massive and world-wide swing away from the failed policies of neo-liberalism is happening. Corbyn’s election as Labour Party leader and the huge numbers who joined, the Brexit vote, the ‘yuge’ support for the Democratic Socialist, Bernie Sanders and the election of the anti-establishment (at least, he said so) Donald Trump.
2. The efforts by the old elite / bankers to fight back were also marked. The continuing campaign by the MSM to discredit Jeremy and by the politicians to delay or derail Brexit, the shafting of Bernie by the DNC and the old elite/bankers etc taking most, if not all of the cabinet positions under Trump.
3. The centrist Hillary Clinton did not appeal enough to beat the least qualified candidate the USA has probably ever put up for election. If that isn’t an indictment of ‘third way’ policies – well, I don’t know what more convincing our Labour Party needs.
4. The NZ Labour Party is tobacco stained with the neo-liberal taint and they haven’t really been able to wash the marks away – yet. At a time when they should have been gaining traction against a bloody awful Nat. government, they have made little progress in the polls – languishing at around 30 – 35% for all of 2016.
The obvious conclusion to draw – from this overly simplistic summary – is that the Labour Party has to TURN LEFT! Jeremy and Bernie pointed the way – the NZLP must present a viable and appealing alternative to neo-liberalism. If they do a Clinton and mouth a few words about reform while not intending to do anything to upset the 1%ers – then CV’s predictions may well come true!
They should be promising to take this country by its collective collar and shake the hell out of it – so all the rich cockroaches fall to the ground and can be stomped on! [Figuratively, not literally!] God knows, the future looks precarious enough – some radical solutions are needed!
2017 – I would like it if the left got going in earnest this year – globally, but especially in NZ. Knock that orange atrocity off the front page of all the news platforms.
@Tony Veitch (not the partner-bashing 3rd rate broadcaster…
+1 Turn Labour Left!
The issue is everyone has a different idea of ‘left’ and ‘ centre’. Personally I think Labour has turned left already, they said no to TPPA and they have the MoU with the Greens.
If they turn too far left then they start competing with the Greens and Mana and leave the centre open to National and NZ First….
Totally agree that Labour have been too far right or schizophrenic in their policy and too blindly supportive of neoliberalism in the past… but do feel they have turned the corner and now people have to stop bagging them and start supporting them and bagging National.
National are the ones doing horrendous damage to our country, environment and society.
There are pretty well defined definitions of Left> Center < Right.
The problem is that over the last 30 years Parties such as Labour have been selling Centrist Policies and passing them off as being Left wing. And I for one am struggling to see any sure well defined 'turning of the corner' from previous Labour policies.
My own thoughts are that 'The Centrist' labourites should just grow up and step up. State their position clearly and form their own Political Parties.
The perfect starting point would be the English Labour Party Centrists, whose obsession with destroying Corbyn is guaranteed to condemn the Party to oblivion for atleast the next Election cycle.
Nash and the crew could get things started here.
Though of course you answered this yourself, by pointing out that Labour ARE occupying the Centre position, and, like you say, its a position that can just as easily be filled by National.
In other words…National and Labour are pretty darned close to being interchangeable.
Is that really the Labour Party we want as we try and survive the current economic and social quagmire sweeping the World as Neo Liberalism and Free Market capitalism gives its last desperate death throes??
ps Andrew Little and Labour have NOT said NO to TPP..they want a ‘better’ TPP. Do we know what that actually means??
Labour HAS said No to TPP.
But we’re a trading nation so Labour would like to see some fair and reasonable trade agreements, not these trumped up multi-corp arrangements.
“After being reluctant to make his party’s position clear, Mr Little has finally said Labour does not support the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) in its current form.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/295195/little-attempts-to-keep-lid-on-tpp-tensions
He says the same on the Labour Party website. That was my point.
Andrew Little is very vocal in supporting Free Trade, and, from reading his statement, is very proud of the deal Labour struck with the free trade deal with China. Which, while being great for the so called ‘economy’ is part and parcel with the destruction of our wages, employment rights, and some claim, housing situation. How many of us have gone from relatively secure employment to being ‘private contractors’, short term employees etc etc as our industries try to compete in a free for all with the Global Economy.
I think this is a great idea, that centrist split from Labour would probably get around 10% of the party vote and be a natural coalition partner for National.
I don’t see any downside in this, great for Labour, they can become the party of leftist purity it’s members so desperately seem to want and great for National, they can keep on running the country without having to deal with NZ First.
Win win for everyone.
BM – you are truly ‘BC.’
NZF have some good MP’s and are making good progress throughout the country I believe they will pick up a percentage of the disillusioned National Party vote.
Likewise I believe a coalition between Labour Greens NZF is the most likely post Election arrangement, Winston has been in coalition with Labour and National.
The arrangement with National ended in a mess when Shipley overthrew Bolger and then proceeded to shaft Winston, hence I doubt whether Winston will trust National again, once bitten twice shy.
+1 To a Labour/Green/NZ First coalition.
+ 100% saveNZ – time people stopped the bagging of Labour, read up on the policies, and Policy Platform, and started to help Labour get the word out –
Labour is returning to its roots.
@Jenny Kirk, I don’t agree that Labour is returning to it’s roots, or if it is, that memo must have passed me by.
Here is a quote from their own site, in regards to the housing disaster…
“Instead of fixing the problem, National is siding with property speculators. They are too focused on looking after those at the top rather than families in the middle.”
Not a mumbling word about poor and working families, they then go on to state that they will build ‘affordable’ houses in the $500,000-600,000 range
(in AKL), do you believe that families where the income is from full time cleaning, aged care work etc can afford a $500,000 home, no either do I…so again, I have to say Labour doesn’t look or sound like a party that is finding it’s Socialist roots to me.
Turn Labour Left.
@ Adrian Thornton
The housing situation in NZ is made up roughly of 1/3 renters, 1/3 homeowners with mortgages and 1/3 homeowners without mortgages.
So the centre of housing issues might not be where you think it is!
Although I do agree that Labour are too Nat Lite on housing and it is a joke to consider $500 -$600 k affordable on NZ wages. They will go bankrupt as soon as mortgages rise.
Many of the renters should be in secure state housing in my view and National should not be selling them off! That is where Labour are missing the boat.
The Auckland housing situation is driven by 166,000 working visas being issued to students and 70,000 new migrants per year coming. but nobody wants to mention it.
The government has so little imagination they think that selling land and dodgy degrees is a sustainable business for NZ and apparently we can’t stop now as who will fill the apartments being built.
I’m all for immigration but not at the levels and types of people that are coming all for the wrong reasons. I’d like to see more creative type of immigrants, professionals with new ideas and an exchange of minds and cultures, not more tilers, restaurant managers and fruit pickers. Nothing wrong with that but how about training some of our youth to do that as much of it can be taught in a quick course.
If you don’t think having one of the biggest self imposed immigration levels in the world per capita has an effect on property, services and the environment (especially with our current government polluters at the helm with wadable water and sell off state houses and get social bonds going) – you are in la la land.
Did I hear you say Labour’s going to restore basic benefit rates to a livable level, reinstate the special benefit, get rid of punitive welfare policies including the ones Labour introduced and/or voted with the nats on, ditch user pays in health and education, bring back a state housing system that abolishes homelessness with an emphasis on homeownership for everyone? Wow. That’s fantastic.
Bill English also agrees labour should go hard left
Who gives a fuck what Bill Engish thinks Labour should do?
Hard left to English means warm homes, full bellies and that kids go to school.
I like what you are saying very much Tony , but I fear that “Capital” ( or Deep State or whatever) is far more powerful and has what is pretty much a stranglehold. One good example is their ownership of the media and the ability to control the message.
All ‘uprisings’ for change just haven’t been able to get enough traction , even the huge overseas movements have basically floundered pretty rapidly because the game is so stacked.
Sadly for NZ we do not have a champion to lead in the need for change.
Personally I think we (humans) are frogs in a heating pot of water and are too stupid to do anything before it is too late.
Perhaps if Trump destroys the USA we may get change for the better? Now there’s a pipe dream! More likely to get WW3 instead.
Still no real actions over the elephant in the room (CC) either.
Garibaldi:
The message has to be so ‘radical’ that the MSM and Deep State simply cannot ignore it – a moderate message will simply get tucked away on page 17. It’s also got to offer some hope to those at the bottom so they will be encouraged to get out and vote.
Another pipe dream – wouldn’t it be lovely to have California secede from the union!
And yes, I agree – climate change will, literally, change everything!
+1
Turn Labour left.
+ 1 Turn Labour Left.
Funny isnt it – we all want the same things – but we expect different results from it.
Labour’s been captured and won’t be seeing freedom any time soon (if ever).
Shaw has kind of narrowed the distance between Labour and Green (bad thing).
The media are pants (pants thing).
I’m waiting for TOPS climate policy before punting them as a circuit breaker, but their policies so far aren’t too bad in comparison to Labour or Green policy… and I detected more than a whiff of sour grapes from the Greens in a piece linked to here the other day.
The fact that TOPS do not want to be in government (are going to occupy the cross benches) is a big plus in my book.
Guyon gets taught a lesson on TPP, by Jane Kelsey this morning on RNZ…hope he was taking notes….
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201830460
ha ha ha
Go Prof!
Espiner again shows he is a bagman for the neoliberal establishment. His tone, manner and bias seep through every question he asks.
Good news.
Trump executive order pulls United States out of TPP trade deal
Donald Trump signs memorandum to leave Trans-Pacific Partnership
And my Twitter feed says:
plus
Government for the people? Which people?
I beg to differ because Trump’s move is based on all the wrong reasons. In any case, much of the legal groundwork for a (the) TPPA has already been done here in NZ and elsewhere and it appears that National/Bill English have not given up yet.
As a side note, unpredictability and uncertainty are on the increase, which coincidentally leads to a rise of pseudo-Nostradamus wannabees, and under such conditions the Precariat is unlikely to experience any real and sustainable improvement despite some political rhetoric (…) trying to convince us otherwise.
The dismantling of the TPP is good news.
For these reasons.
So.. I was right about the TPP. Even when it was signed here in NZ I said it wouldn’t happen.
What a waste of time protesting.
GG.
The TPP protests were useful at bringing people together, showing how to non-violently win, and educating the govt about what citizens would not accept. Those are all transferable to the next similar fight.
Also, the corresponding opposition to it in the US, and the reasons for that opposition, won Trump the election.
“educating the govt about what citizens would not accept”
That should be about what SOME citizens would not accept.
There were a lot of us that were fine with it.
Actually – I think its a bad thing that it did not go ahead, but “hey” its dead and we just move on.
It’s always about some citizens, yes.
A lot, yes, but still a minority.
Funny that – most people seem to think it was the protests that prompted politicians to turn against the TPP.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201830460
It was plain obvious this shit wouldn’t pass. America was getting dicked. It was signaled a few years ago that a change in US govt would kill it.
Many thousands of people would disagree with your assessment.
But hey, what do they know?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/28/tpp-protests-mass-opposition-worked-trump-presidency
https://www.rt.com/usa/331356-tpp-signing-protests-usa/
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/17/germans-march-against-trade-deals-with-us-and-canada-stop-ceta-ttip.html
“America was getting dicked. ”
An interesting take on the nature of the agreement as negotiated, including all the kowtowing to US IP laws, but hey.
I don’t think the protestors influenced Trump at all
You would think that.
That’s a troll comment if ever there was 🙂
No, I think Trump was looking for ways to disparage Obama and Clinton and then it happened to coincide with others groups ideals
If Trump was specifically swayed by protestors, well he has enough protests to pick from at the moment
At least he thinks rather than cut and paste
Maybe not. Maybe even ‘probably not’ 😉
But seeing Sanders get traction off the back of slamming free trade and then hearing from potential voters who had lost good jobs and been plunged into uncertainty and poverty…
Or maybe he’s always been more of a protectionist. On that front, I simply don’t know.
Well those are good points
Well, it’s not political,however the day has finally dawned,
PJ Harvey plays tonight in Auckland.
Got tickets the day they came on sale.
One of the greats to come out of the 90s.
Let’s stick to NZ issues and not allow US issues to swamp our own pressing issues.
Liam Dann: Trump show risks swamping NZ’s big issues
“Hard work” , in this regard ,I suggedt you up your u tube hyper links postings and duplicate across threads, plus repeat the same posting on multiple days, Ooops sorry you are already doing that
You do realise that I take the fact you dislike my postings as evidence that they are of some use.
My posts must be really useful then 🙂
Credit to Otago Daily Times journalist Bruce Munro, who has exposed some of Otago’s links to the slave trade:
https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/chained-sorry-trade
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2017/01/sometimes-silence-screams-bruce-munro.html
Time for a memorial to the victims of NZ slavery?
National memorial…yeah I wouldn’t be opposed to that
Thanks for the interesting and informative links RTM …I find it’s always good to learn the fuller picture of what has brought us to the here and now …
At present we ‘benefit’ from a lot of modern slavery …. which like the old forms is built on abuse of power and injustice.
This is done through main stream media silence …… and outright Government propaganda, ….. such as this statement from mfat.govt.nz regarding the gangster nation Indonesia ….” since democracy was restored in 1998.”
Presumably mfat are referring to this ….. ” the Indonesian women’s movement, the entire trade union movement, intellectuals, teachers, and the ethnic Chinese, and also land reform advocates. So, within somewhere—within a year, somewhere between half a million and two-and-a-half million people were killed in what was really one of the very largest genocides in our history.
And it was reported in the United States as good news. It was reported in The New York Times and Time magazine fairly accurately in terms of the death tolls, but with headlines like “A Gleam of Light in Asia,”. https://www.democracynow.org/2013/7/19/the_act_of_killing_new_film
‘Old news’ someone like James would say ……..
But the problem is that the children of the murdered are presently being exploited in slave labor conditions ………. or cleared from their land again.
And if they should try and join a union …. or speak out for land rights, protecting the environment etc ..
They can be murdered with impunity ……….. just like their parents were.
Make no mistake…. Indonesia is a country which would have murdered and tortured our late and great Helen Kelly.
We should not be encouraging the Gangsters who currently run/own indonesia ….
“July 2016: Prime Minister John Key and Trade Minister Todd McClay traveled to Indonesia for an official visit along with a high-level business delegation.”
Tax havens like National made NZ into play a large roll in supporting enslavement, poverty and war in the world ….
Dismantling it should be a priority https://www.oxfam.org/en/even-it/inequality-and-poverty-hidden-costs-tax-dodging
No argument from me, reason. But Kiwis are so dislocated from any of this. Sad.
True words In Vino ……….. but we have been kept in the dark to a large extent, and I cant blame the average person for that.
I try and spread the word of the truth tellers …as I hope they and the truth will catch on
For the good of everyone
More great insight from Paulsky
[stop the trolling. Site-wide warning. – weka]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
67 trolls now.More interesting than the tripe you continually cut and paste.
You do seem to get swarmed by the dick pics that our trolls are Paul …
Attack of the rotten members club ….
I Always try and use them to further expand inform and educate on the subject I’m posting about ………… for the normal readers and people.
After all….. It’s only fitting that a dick pic should be used as a tool 🙂
here are some quotes and context from the julian assange live press conference last thursday
http://wearechange.org/assange-talks-brennan-cia-future-journalism/
The Chump fires his first shots as pres in his war on women.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-abortion-men_us_5886369be4b0e3a7356a7910?section=us_politics
Goes global.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-global-gag-rule_us_58822355e4b070d8cad1f774?2h0qxx9cl5edrc0udi
edit:
edit:
Indeed.
there has been a fair bit of talk about trolls on this site,
words and the evolution of meaning interest me
now troll has three meanings that precede its blog meaning
1 a nasty creature that lives under a bridge and grabs you as you try and cross
2 to systematically search an area
3 to tow a lure and hope some sucker grabs it
for me a (blog) troll brings images of the third , tow a lure and hope for a sucker
do some of you have an image of the first, nasty creature that jumps out?
or even the second, a systematic coverage of an area?
there are certainly elements of all three meanings in the use of (blog) troll
just interested cause words do matter but meaning is in the hearing
You forgot
4 someone who says something I don’t like and/or agree with
ahh that would be a new meaning specific to troll(blog). (but yes some do use it in that way here IMHO)
altho as ugly/nasty are subjective it really just a restatement of 1
(or is that just an example of 3. a lure!)
My lips are sealed 🙂
Pretty much all three. Blog trolls tend to lurk around the posts waiting for a flamewar to flare. Sometimes they will drop incendiary and usually diversionary statements out to start the fire. Sometimes they will reinterpret someone elses comments to provoke them and others.
Generally, moderators will tend to ignore a lot of the flaming because it fits under robust debate. It isn’t in the interests of the site of the commenters to shield people from the disagreements in society or from political debate. The only way to develop counters to arguments present in the wider society is to hear them expressed. However there is enough siloing of political debate already in both the media and other blogs.
We look at the behaviour patterns of commenters and if they actually contribute anything to the ongoing debates. If the patterns of behaviour are unthinkingly repetitive or seem to be designed to just take over debate to drown out the voices of others then we treat the perpetrators as trolls as a rapidly escalating response.
Which brings up the key attribute of trolls that you seem to have missed. They seem to have real problems both learning the boundaries of behaviour, and they usually hate their own behaviors and tactics being reflected back at themselves in nastier and more extreme forms. So you will see some moderators (mainly me at present) abbreviating the process by deliberately provoking them with exaggerated and very disdainful trolling behaviors aimed very personally at them in a demonstration of the net adage that there is always a bigger and better skilled arsehole on the net – they are often called sysops.
As promised, more from Abby Martin – This time the Washington’s Women’s March. Short video – just over a minute.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/nor-west-news/88673292/astonishing-first-ever-nz-sighting-of-redfooted-booby
Always a good day when you can spot a booby
define resisting 🙂
soon it my be a ‘hate crime’ to ‘resist’ arrest – at least in Louisianan if this goes through.
Mind i can see other follow suit, rejoice private prison complex, i can see a few cheques coming your way.
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/louisiana-police-chief-pushes-blue-lives-matter-law-to-make-resisting-arrest-a-felony-hate-crime/
They are.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-09/private-prison-stocks-are-surging-after-trump-s-win
Interview of Mark Ames by Abby Martin
Empire Files: Post-Soviet Russia, Made in the U.S.A.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/88710686/gareth-morgan-v-winston-peters–political-sledging-in-full-force-at-ratana
Well at least the election won’t be a complete snore fest
Clean green New Zealand.
Auckland’s water shock: Bacteria levels ‘dangerously high’
So it’s outdoor lakes, etc that are polluted? I always boil my drinking water in Auckland – no faith in the system.
I think both rural and urban areas have problems due to a lack of rules.
In other news dear leader’s election was prophesied by a moose and heralded with a new moon in the heavens and a National Day of Patriotic Devotion.
Bad move for Little to criticise the Mp like this:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/88703698/labour-leader-andrew-little-has-accused-the-maori-party-of-doing-nothing-for-their-people
Little’s misreading the signals. The Mp must surely be set to ditch the nats. They’re coming home. The Mp has never been about right-wing policies. Going with the nats was a strategy to try to achieve “real” gains for Maori.
They now see the error in that “better to be inside the tent” strategy. This also coincides with a general belief that Labour’s been punished enough for the F&S, and that it’s now time now to unite for what’s best for all Maori. Hone would not be dealing with the Mp in any way whatsoever if it meant helping the Mp to provide support that puts the nats back in government.
If Little’s serious about winning the election then trying to chastise the Mp isn’t the way to go. He’s confusing the Mp’s beliefs with their strategy. There should be a far greater consistency between Labour and the Mp than the nats and the Mp. Little should not be afraid of Mana and the Mp taking the Maori seats, and if they do then at least work with those parties to achieve better outcomes for Maori, if not form the government with those parties.
Little and Labour must be pretty stupid or have short memories if they think the Mp going with the nats was because the Mp embraced nat ideology. They don’t. And with everything that’s going on now Labour is completely dumb to slag them off.
Labour should be bloody courting the Mp, not trying to alienate them. Heck, the party needs all the help it can get, especially when there’s no guarantee NZF won’t go with English.
But then again, strategy and common sense have never been strong points for Labour, so no surprises there.
More evidence that not all people in sports are meatheads and cowards
Sadly, we have recently seen the unedifying spectacle of cowardly coaches like Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin and the New Zealand Maoris’ Colin Cooper bullying their most thoughtful and intelligent players into dropping their political protests.
But there ARE some decent people in big-time sports. People like Gregg Popovich, the coach of the San Antonio Spurs….
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jan/22/gregg-popovich-donald-trump-criticism-san-antonio-spurs-nba#comment-91696470
Uber NZ earns $1m, pays $9000 in tax
Uber New Zealand Technologies paid $9397 in tax in 2014/15 despite earning revenue of more than $1 million from New Zealanders, we were confused. A person on $45,000 a year pays about $7800 in PAYE tax.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/308581/uber's-'extremely-elaborate'-tax-arrangements
https://www.facebook.com/ActionStationNZ/photos/a.231204660335083.49804.194540734001476/1085764938212380/?type=3&theater
Can everyone have state houses for life – I’d like to put several on back order for my children and their children.
[Fuck off] – Bill
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Norman Finkelstein has been attacked by a dead sheep
Is there a stupider, more hapless politician anywhere in the world than Marco Rubio?
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2017/01/23/finkelstein-under-attack/
Trump and the endless reporting of his malapropisms, executive deductions, decision, etc will fill our media with Radionz or RNZ constantly reporting their tragedies and disasters and riots etc. (the other day there was a tornado over there did you know), don’t know what the private stations do. Perhaps ignore it and put on some romantic or rock.
Can we please have a Trump and USA permanent post and everything be done there. Otherwise we are accepting our own brain washing which is a public relations and social psychology triumph for the PR and mind-bending fraternity.