Collins: she and Key are guilty and they have to be held to account. Keep up the good work Grant Robertson.
Dunne: allowing him to continue with the legal highs job while his son is making a fortune from the sales of the shit is not tolerable in this society. Key is failing in his role.
Jones? An oxygen thief not worth any further effort.
Totally agree there, Karol.
And so it continues. He just can’t help it, can he. It’s his overinflated ego and the imaginary hurt because the plebs haven’t figured out what a great leader he is.
I’m waiting for the term “naked ambition” to be applied to Jones – remember when it was used by the MSM regularly about Cunliffe? Compare and contrast.
Far from it. In fact the sentence “Labour has now got to find a way of appealing to its traditional blue collar workers” and variations on it, has been repeated like a mantra on this morning’s Morning Report, with David Shearer and Damien O’Connor among those quoted.
Never mind the fact that Jones offered such people nothing concrete – that whatever appeal he had rested on a smoko-room-anecdote way of talking. Never mind either that the whole sentence seems code for “the building contractor who owns several rentals and hires people from overseas, having judged the locals as bloody useless,” and others of similar persuasion.
The whole business looks more and more like an attempt by the right wing from both inside and outside of the Labour Party to subvert the will of left-voting people while pretending to heed it.
Well I for one am appalled at what’s been happening in the Labour Party. Jones? a minor distraction, blown out of all proportion by the MSM, and reinforced by dickheads in the Labour Party. Glad it happened now, so I can now look to another party that will WANT my vote (Greens, Mana). and not Labour saying we don’t care if you vote for us. Because that’s the message I am getting. That and ‘We can’t organise Sex in a brothel’.
Here in Wanaka people just laugh when I talk about Labour or Greens. Phrases like “a house divided cannot stand” and “country’s doing great” for Labour, and “ewwww!” And “ha hahaaa” for Greens.
Everyone’s income is addicted to real estate, tourism, and superannuation. Those in agriculture can’t get comprehensive irrigation fast enough.
The GP candidate in the Waitaki electorate is a well known Wanaka person and did quite well over there.
“Everyone’s income is addicted to real estate, tourism, and superannuation. Those in agriculture can’t get comprehensive irrigation fast enough.”
In other words, Wanaka is being turned into an industrial dairying cesspit like everywhere else. Will be interesting to see how the farmers get on with the tourism lobby and lifestyle block real estate agents in ten years time.
Ooops, didn’t see your comment here when i posted one on the same thing below, Slippery and un-Housing Minister Nick Smith must have picked up a sense of disquiet from among the voters in the ‘focus groups’ about the ripping apart of the HousingNZ estate to be using the media in what seems like a week long ‘charm offensive’ where they are spending time ‘highlighting’ what few new build HousingNZ complexes have been completed by this regime…
Nice to see that they were warmly received, and that the people were so happy with the truth they were being told by the TricKey one. Why they even donated eggs for his dinner. And still he moans.
Interesting framing for the first article to be posted on this in the Herald yesterday, which manages to insinuate Mana Party for staging it all: PM’s car egged during state housing protests.
Comments allowed on this article, unsurprisingly, and some live up to the quality of reporting.
”One, two, three, four, stop the war on the poor, Maraenui under attack, stand up and fight back”, so chanted the kids of Maraenui a Napier suburb with a heavy concentration of State housing as Slippery the Prime Minister arrived to gush over the opening of some new pensioner housing,
Having all the gastronomic fortitude of your average Rat the PM then tried to do a bunk out the back way to avoid the protest, unfortunately someone forgot to tell the driver of the limo of the change of plan and the local kids again had the pleasure of voicing their displeasure in the face of the PM along with tossing the occasional missile in the direction of the limo which eventually left bearing the scars,
Slippery later claimed that the kids, mostly 10 to 12 year old’s were ”saying things they didn’t understand” and i suppose to preserve His ego He has to think that, but, can assure the PM that subjecting HousingNZ estates to the forced evictions and demolitions of the current regime and its 20%– $2.5 billion HousingNZ sell off leaves those kids knowing full well what is in store for them,
While it is hard to oppose such actions in the face of the publicity stunts being organized by the current regime where the tame media are being lead around by the nose by the likes of the PM and un-Housing Minister Nick Smith ‘gushing’ over the few completed ‘new build’ HousingNZ complexes we have to remember that for all their worth, and in the future pensioner housing will be like gold with the growth of the aged population, with the proposed shrinking of the States Housing stock by 20% it will be those 10 and 12 year old’s protesting befor the Prime Minister who will be all the worse off in the future,
Poverty has not lessened in this country, the reverse is true, it is not 20% less State Houses that are needed now in our society, it is at least 20% more of such housing that is needed with urgency…
What a silly comment Pete. I thought you would be coming out with the “Labour is ignoring the working class” line that is being perpetrated right now. By all means do that but how about you do a bit of fact checking beforehand. Read the party’s policy platform and then try and argue the party is not interested in ordinary people.
I think it’s a fair question Greg, it’s something that’s being widely discussed. I understand that it’s the done thing in politics to stoically say everything is fine and a win is imminent, but when the chasm between reality is so wide then it is counter-productive.
The party’s policy is not the problem. The perception of the party is tending towards pathetic.
The party might be interested in ordinary people but it doesn’t show much. I’ve seen here and elsewhere since the loss in 2008 that the Labour caucus in particular is out of touch and doesn’t want to hear from ordinary people.
Ex Labour minister Michael Bassett may not be a party favourite but what he said on Radio New Zealand half an hour ago about Labour now are common sentiments.
It’s a difficult hole to get out of, but continuing to dig and deny won’t do it.
Labour looks out of touch with people and out of touch with reality. If they don’t turn this around very soon it could be terminal.
The first step is admitting the problems. It’s to far gone for stoic bullshit.
If the Labour totara uproots and crashes other parties will grow in the gap, but that takes time, and in the meantime Parliament will be significantly weakened.
No it is not a fair question Pete. It is fact free loaded spin. I thought you were trying to appear balanced.
Michael Basset reflecting common sentiments? Feck his party is now at less than 1% of the vote.
There may be a perception problem. It is because of a bunch of nodding heads reinforcing all the right wing spin that is fed to them and you should reflect on your comments in this regard.
Blame right wing spin.
Blame National.
Blame McCully.
Blame the media.
Blame Shane Jones.
Blame small party support that’s irrelevant.
Blame anyone pointing out the emperor’s clothes are in tatters here.
And see how you get on in September.
It may be that a million non-voters are suddenly attracted to a party fiddling while it’s Rome burns.
It’s not about the policies Greg. I can agree with most of most of Labour’s policies, and sure, some of them would help ‘ordinary people’ (although spending too much on policies could have negative effects for ordinary people too).
Very few voters read policies. Most people vote mostly on personalities and perceptions of competence.
Policies without power are paltry. If voters think a party doesn’t have the people or competence to win power and run a government then they won’t care what policies promise.
Cool. There’s more data there too of course that my be relevant to this discussion.
As I noted, the data isn” as good as we might like it, but it’s what we have, unless you have better data to share of course.
So, bearing in mind that:
“Fact checking isn’t a waste of time – it can help people perceive more accurately and not get fooled by party propaganda and ignorance.”
have a quick look at the following statements, and see if the facts revealed by that data can help clear up any propaganda or ignorance regarding what people think:
1) “Labour looks out of touch with people and out of touch with reality. If they don’t turn this around very soon it could be terminal.”
2) ” The perception of the party is tending towards pathetic.”
3) “Ex Labour minister Michael Bassett may not be a party favourite but what he said on Radio New Zealand half an hour ago about Labour now are common sentiments”
If this question is for me – none. The election isn’t being held today. The parties and politicians haven’t put all their offerings and abilities on show yet.
If I vote I’ll decide who for close to or on election day.
But I’ll give you a possibility – if Labour are at 20% in the polls just before the election I’d consider voting for them to help keep them alive, if I thought they deserved it.
“If an election is held today, which party would get your party vote?”
Pete, you know full well it is a hypothetical question.
Now if you do not want to share who you vote for that is your choice, just stand up tall and proud and say that you prefer not to share such intimate secret knowledge of your deepest soul. People would respect that. But to hide behind such pitiful reasoning when discussing a hypothetical situation is even more bizarre than you being Editor in Chief of a fact checking site.
But I’ll give you a possibility – if Labour are at 20% in the polls just before the election I’d consider voting for them to help keep them alive, if I thought they deserved it.
So basically it seems that you will decide who to vote for near election day based on their polices, but you will not be voting for Labour unless they need you to “save them”.
In other words, it seems that you have a rather strong disdain for Labour, as you will not consider voting for them on the merits of their actual policies. This is also evident in many other comments you post: whether or not you will admit to it, many of your comments here are strongly anti-Labour in tone or message.
Given this bias against Labour, I fail to see how your position as an independent “fact-checker” is tenable.
The has been Petty George trying to tell other parties how they should do their bizz, having helped make His own political vehicle United Future a political irrelevancy has to be the joke of the day,
A piece of toilet paper while not being as ”transparent’ as Petty George is a 100 times more useful, and this 🙄 …
So what is the definition of “ordinary people”? Because according to the 2012 New Zealand Social Survey just 21% of New Zealanders reported satisfactory results across all four of the surveyed areas of health, money, relationships and housing.
Now relationships generally isn’t the domain of government policy (unless it’s to keep abusive behaviour in check), but Labour is putting in the effort to address the other three areas. I know people who have been helped enormously by Working For Famiilies. Kiwisaver helped me buy my home and plan for my future. And interest free student loans has saved me thousands. By contrast over the past 5 years National has done nothing that it can point to that benefits the people of New Zealand, aside from not rolling back those Labour programmes in the first place. Further, Michael Cullen’s stewardship laid the foundations to weather the GFC better than most countries, although I think he could have done more to keep the housing bubble in check.
Let me ask you a question, Pete. What do you think is the legacy of this government? How do you think history will remember John Key’s administration? Because I’m really struggling to see any area at all where Key has improved New Zealand social wellbeing.
Any improvements have been modest and you have to look hard.
Key’s nearly two terms is best known for minimising things getting worse over the course of a New Zealand recession (started under Labour), a Global financial crisis, and major disasters in Christchurch.
Many people see that as a creditable achievement, and probably at least as good as any alternative government could have managed.
It’s been unusual circumstances of economic survival that the country seems to have come through better than expected.
If the National government survives into another term then we will get to see the Key legacy – if it’s any more than a cautious conservative treading water or not when we are expected to recover and grow.
Oh FFS Petey can’t you just answer the fucking questions.
What do you think is the legacy of this government? A: The Blatant Corruption,
How do you think history will remember John Key’s administration? A:For the Corruption and deals for the Boys.
See that’s how it’s done Question. Answer. Simple.. And none of your useless bullshit waffling and link whoring!. And no one screaming at you for being a useless T 🙄
Oh pete – labour are the forest not the tree and (even as a non-labour person I can see) that forest is an ecosystem that is complete – until the chainsaws arrive and start cutting – are you a chainsaw pete? Do you want the forest cut down? If a tree is old or diseased a big gust of Mcgully-wind can blow it down – that tree is uprooted. The forest remains, ever changing.
.I would like to see what the new tree Kelvin Davis has to offer and what he stands on….get to know him….a guest post/interview ?…. or a statement from him on open mike would be much appreciated
…particularly on where he stands on Charter Schools and Standards testing…there does seem to be a bit of confusion on where exactly he does stand on these issues
…the sooner we get to know him the sooner Jones will recede into the past
NZ also needs to hear Labour’s clearly stated views on the new EDUCANZ group.
We currently have a Minister of Education who says that Teachers need to lead the charge whilst not wanting teachers involved in deciding where that charge is headed.
Labour’s caucus righties still don’t get how strong the base of the party is. We have comprehensively outplayed them. Jones simply figured that the path to leadership is now determined not by caucus factions, but by the whole.
Goff and King and Mallard will see caucus slowly tilt away from factions, and towards merit alone demonstrated to us all.
This PG bullshit is getting tedious, I wish he would advise on how the TS site should be run…
[lprent: ummm… I’m not sure how I feel about people trying to encourage push people into the propeller blades. Perhaps you should desist so I don’t find out how I feel about it. ]
PG just Fuck Off, you are nothing but a waste of Oxygen.
[lprent: If you don’t put a point or even some wit to go with the abuse, then don’t make the comment. Otherwise I’ll eventually get irritated and start banning repeat offenders. ]
So Jones sells out for a few pieces of silver.
The Noise Jones made over the Countdown super market chain
Was obviously designed to up his transfer fees.
The snide flipant attitude over shower flow rates prior to 2008 election were designed to unseat Labour so Hey could have a tilt at leading labour.
Now all chances of becoming leader have gone.
Sabotage is his payback for not getting what He wants .
For all his intellect.
Jones is just a self centered highly egotistical dickhead.
I think what came up about Shane Jones donors supports the arguement for the Trust account DC set up. He didn’t know the donors, so could not be influence by them. That was the intention. Shows integrity.
Jones knew whos his donors were and what a surprize! not. Anti green, pro mining and secret meetings with National about a job………….Shane “what’s in it for me” Jones.
I seem to remember him saying about DC after the leadership contest that he lost, “I offer DC my unstinting loyalty”…………..Yeah right.
Dover Samuels, John Tamihere, Bassett, all has been’s, yesterday’s men, all trumpeting the right wing framing of Jones having tossed His toys, class traitors in other words,
Shane Who, has been a waste of space in both the Labour Government and the Labour Opposition, His quitting is the only positive in a career that has been singularly damaging to the Party,
Jones touted as the ‘champion’ of the blue collar workers by the media and the ever growing list of political commentators is a joke, and those touting Him as such an even worse joke,
Good riddance is what the left should be shouting back at the fools touting Jones as any champion of the working class,
The sooner Labour clean out the old gaurd right wingers from the Caucus the better, Jones wont be missed past the next ‘frenzy item’ seized upon by what is an obviously bored media…
i don’t usually bother addressing your comments BM, that is probably because conversing with the dumb while having its amusing moments is really an exercise in futility,
Take your current comment for instance, ”Labour winning the election” is the thinking of the Neanderthal,
Labour has No chance of winning the election, in 2014 though, the Left has every chance of doing just that….
Employees must once again unionise and organise in order to exercise collective bargaining power over employers, particularly larger and corporate employers.
Even better, co-ops of workers need to start taking over and democratically running their own work places, instead of taking orders from some faraway Man who doesn’t even understand the business.
I think all businesses need to become cooperatives with the present shareholders becoming either bond or loan holders and no say in the running of the company. Only those who work there would have any say in the direction of the company.
Why don’t workers just set up businesses like this? There’s nothing to stop them.
Yes there is. Several things in fact:
1.) Finances (this is systemic – our entire system is against it)
2.) Improper education
3.) Raised in an abusive and dysfunctional family (admittedly, 2 & 3 tend to go together)
and more that I just can’t think of right now.
How many workers want to take on the responsibility of running the business they work for?
Are you just thick or a complete idiot? The Labour party was formed for the betterment of the people and the country by the workers who were exploited by the wealthy. In the modern world, workers come from innumerable professions, not just miners etc that helped form the party in its beginning days. It is the Labour party principles, policies and programmes that has made New Zealand a better place for everyone, men and women, children and the elderly, employees and the employers, the unemployed and the poor, and even the rich pricks that now infest the greedy ungrateful right wing parties such as National and ACT that are spitting on the poor and the ordinary people with their unfair, unjust, selfish policies, while happily copying many of the great social policies of the last Labour government.
But for the Labour’s socialist principles, you would be on pittance wages languishing on 12 hour days, women’s rights would be pretty much non existent like in some middle east countries, homophobia and discrimination would continue unabated etc, etc. Innumerable progress has been made and lots more needs to be done for justice, environment, equity, freedom, true prosperity etc
“Jones touted as the ‘champion’ of the blue collar workers by the media and the ever growing list of political commentators is a joke, and those touting Him as such an even worse joke,”
He’d only be a class traitor if he was a blue collar worker. But he never was blue collar. Groomed as a future leader from a very early age, wasn’t he?
Anyway as far as I’m concerned it’s a clean out out of the Labour right, who contradict L(l)abour ideals anyway.
It’s a class war BM and you know that because you are one of its participants. An ongoing class war that the 1% who hold the largest share of capital wealth wages every day against the 99% who do not.
You’re on a site with many who are well versed in political economics, so have some respect and please don’t treat the rest of us as ignorant.
It is not a class war, there will never be a class war in NZ.
If you picked out 100 random people in the street and then told them we’re fighting a class war, they’d think you’re a complete lunatic that should be locked in a padded cell.
“It is not a class war, there will never be a class war in NZ.”
ROFL why are you still trying it on? When you are one of the participants in this very class war?
Perhaps you should learn about NZ history, check out the great strike of 1913, also how the Liberal Government broke up all the large land holdings of the richest families in the 1890’s. And of course, the dispossesion of the entire working class in the 1980’s and 1990’s due to Rogernomics and Ruthanasia.
Class traitor, phfft what a load of shit, you’re not Pomgolia now, we don’t do classes down here.
Really, and I could have sworn that we just had a couple of high-class bludgers go through NZ at our expense.
This hang up you lefties have on putting people in boxes/classes is the reason why you’re failing.
That has got to be psychological projection. It’s the left that are trying to break down the class barriers while the RWNJs always seem to be trying to build them up.
Yes there are. there’s the rich, the middle class, the poor and now the precariat. Just because you want to deny reality and insist these classes don’t exist doesn’t make them any less true.
I’ve already given you the broad categories, look it up for yourself. Not your research service.
And I’ll add one more: deliberately reduced and declining income share of labour (i.e. workers) with respect to GDP, with the difference siphoned off to corporations and capitalist owners.
In their book on inequality The Spirit Level, British researchers Wilkinson and Pickett devote a whole chapter to showing the different ways that entrenched inequality reduces social mobility.
But you have researched this more of course by reading Slater’s opinion and then repeating it.
“if you want to make the effort …. the opportunity is there.”
Ever play video games BM?
I ask coz there’s this thing on many of them in ‘settings’ where you can dial things up and down, and make the game easier.
You know?
Your dude might have more hit points, or it might make the enemies a bit dumber, or fewer, that sort of thing.
Imagine that in a multi-player game, and some folks get their settings set, by society, a bit easier on most of the settings. They will find it easier, and if they don;t get that are playing at an advantage, they are gonna think they are shit hot at this game.
It’s in the interest of the Tories to pretend that they are not waging war against the under class and working class – stealth is the only way they can get away with it.
That is ridiculous. The Government (I assume the “Tories” is some unheard of label you have for the New Zealand Government. Funny I thought it was some ancient English political faction) presides over a $27 billion welfare safety net. You are seriously deluded.
Hey Shitlands. All you’ve pointed out is that the Tories have some remnant electoral self preservation instinct. They know that they cannot dismantle the NZ welfare state expeditiously and have to instead dismantle it bit by bit, while demonising the vulnerable and the poor on the way. And your point is?
You are seriously deluded.
What’s a servant of the power elite like you who has never voted in NZ care anyway?
SSpylands, I have serious concerns about your memory. Your confusion about the word “tory” sounded familiar, and less that 30sec using the search box says you were taught about that word last September, and again in October. Try reading those comment branches again before (once again) removing all doubt as to your stupidity.
I’m especially concerned that such a stupid fucking idiot, as you obviously must be, claims to be/have been involved in formulation of government policy.
Perhaps that would explain why you are obviously unaware that the nats are destroying the $27bil welfare safety net loop by “application declined” loop.
Or maybe you think it’s a sophisticated distraction to plead ignorance about a two-syllable word and then argue that the fact the government hasn’t completely destroyed something means that the government must be actively preserving it. Well, an idiot feels compelled to double down on his own idiocy, I guess.
Politics is hard mistress. I just watched the David Cunliffe interview on the Paul Henry Show from Tuesday night. Respect! Respect! David was very calm despite the best efforts of that psychotic arse. I’ll bathe in Dettol!
Education
The US middle class income falling faster than any OECD country WHy.
Education has been identified as the cause of decline.
Decline in Pisa scores directly related to decline in income.
And we are adopting the same policies that have lead to this decline.
Yes as Kelvin Davis is a teacher …i would like to see/hear his views on Charter Schools and Standards Testing enunciated here for all to see/hear…just so we can have confidence in him.
On the surface he looks like a very fortunate replacement for Shane
btw….why is Morning Report bringing out Bassett….of ACT to criticise the Labour Party and Cunliffe….Bassett is an old ‘has been’ Rogernom….he is the last person who should be critiquing Labour and Cunliffe….he was part of the cabal that just about destroyed Labour
….what is Morning Report doing?…is it now a mouthpiece for ACT?
….that said I thought John Tamihere was very good ….cant he be brought back into the Labour Party fold?…he has done his time for his ‘crime’ insensitivity to women ( a crime many others have committed on the Left) ….and he was very popular on radio …he could be a big draw card for Neathandral Man …Labour working men.
What did you really expect when they put Espiner in there the other week. I have listened only once to Morning Report since he took over, it took me about 40 mins of Espiner to change the channel to something reasonable, like Radio Live.
The US middle class income falling faster than any OECD country WHy.
Education has been identified as the cause of decline.
Decline in Pisa scores directly related to decline in income.
Uh, you’re incorrect on this count, unfortunately. You’ve mistaken cause and effect.
What getting a higher education means today in the USA is being highly qualifiedand stacking shelves or flipping burgers on the minimum wage, with a massive and unrepayable student loan.
The true cause of the collapse of the US middle class is far more complex – and has to do with the power elite exporting all solid working class jobs out of the nation and then systematically destroying the value of peoples property and pension funds.
ONE News headline ” Labour in damage control “:National a safe pair of hands “.
“Labour party has definately been hurt”- Corinn Dann.
yet “Jones often acted as a wedge between Labour and the Greens” , refused to work with Norman – Michael Parkin with a side order of Pagani spin, “it’s a warning sign”
Gower- “…risks being punished in the polls.”
Plenty of balance there was, Not!
Further to the harms of fructose, The WHO new recommendations for daily sugar intake, 5% of total daily food intake. Equals about 6 teaspoons.
If cut back, takes about four days of unsettling withdrawals.
That doesn’t quite make sense, the WHO 5% of daily food intake that is, i would have to weigh my total food intake for a day,(which is probably a good idea to do for a week), but, am pretty sure that if liquids are included then the daily intake is over ‘ a kilo’,
Me thinks i will do that starting next Monday, weighing both solid food and liquid intake to see what my normal diet weighs,(weekends are now the ‘fasting diet’ to keep the kilo’s falling off),
Dieting is interesting, i have found that even the vege and fruit diet can add body weight, which suggests weight loss is more a matter of ‘how much’ of ‘anything’ is the key,
Still think unless a ‘scientific case’ can be made for adding sugar to food can be made then Legislation is needed to have it removed from food items that are not classed specifically as sweets,or at the least, a large label being a requirement to show the number of spoons of sugar a serving of the product contains per serving,
Last nights Third Degree was a shallow look at the other side of the health issue ‘fats’, i wasn’t impressed at all,
Obviously the body ‘needs’ some fat/oil so as to be able to transport vital nutrients around the body which otherwise would simply be discharged via the liver down the toilet, i am though sticking with the view of good fats/bad fats…
Dieting is interesting, i have found that even the vege and fruit diet can add body weight, which suggests weight loss is more a matter of ‘how much’ of ‘anything’ is the key,
Weight loss is more a question of getting some exercise.
Exercise is important of course but it is just one factor. For instance, Dr Lustig’s presentation on how large quantities of sugar in the modern diet screws up energy-behaviour metabolism at the brain level is instructive.
Agree and disagree Draco, for those able to ‘up’ the amount of physical activity to burn off the calories its not bad advice,
However, if like me a person has bone or muscle issues which prohibit the ‘upping’ of physical exercise then it has to be diet alone which can be used as the weight loss mechanism…
molasses can be a good substitute for sugar cravings…this is all the minerals /vits etc left over from sugar refining…it is very strong but it can be put in gravies and cakes or on porridge..or just a tsp as a tonic…Red Seal Black Strap Molasses has for a few dollars… manganese( lots), magnesium(lots), iron, calcium( lots), sodium
…a good book to get is : ‘Stay Healthy by Supplying Whats lacking in Your Diet’ by David Coorey….for $25..(NZ publishing House .Private Bag 12029, Tauranga…(Tel: 0800 140 141)
( it gives an index of health symptoms/deficiencies /foods that supply essential vits/minerals for these deficiences eg …advice for weight loss, diabetes, alcohol cravings ,eye sight , dementia, gout, migraines , chloresterol, osteoporosis, gum disease, chronic fatigue, tinnitus….etc.etc.).. you can be your own doctor before your symptoms get out of control…it is very budget friendly …i hardly ever see a doctor!..nor does my family)
Lolz thanks Chooky, but, spending 25 bucks on a book here isn’t an option, i have tho Google as a friend and can find it all out from the basic to the uni studies online,
Molasses sounds quite interesting and i will check out the cost on my next food forage in the supermarket, still sugar tho,(even tho it contains a good amount of those essential minerals), and, i have to watch total intake,
That sugar craving at a certain point as you cut down is quite an acute one, psychological more than physical,(for me anyway), i have cut down from 2 teaspoons in my tea mug all the time to 1 teaspoon and then onto 1 teaspoon every fourth cuppa,
My fruit intake has tho tripled from what has been the lifelong (bad) habit and there are plenty of sugars in fruit, weight has dropped to 95 kilo from 110 kilo at Christmas, i am tho doing mini crash diets on weekends to make up for my bad habit of making big yummy veg and fish meals and then scoffing the lot…
Political junkie question of the day.
What do Dunedin North, Mangere Maungakiekie, Mt Albert, Rongotai, and the 7 Maori electorates have in common and why is this grim news for Labour?
No party has been the sole inhabitant of government for more than 20 years – National may have the numbers to be sole inhabitant in September but John Key will share government with willing support parties as he plans to win in 2017 and 2021 assuming we have a 4 year term by then.
National don’t like sharing power – that was why they took over Act. Sure, they still had to get UF and the mP on board but they knew that they’d be able to buy them up quite easily and that, once bought, they’d stay bought as the mP just proved.
Sure, I think davis is better than jones by a country mile but…
“It gives me a platform and the resources of an MP to campaign. Otherwise, I would have just been an unemployed bum trying to be a candidate. So it helps my profile and there are more opportunities to get in the media.”
…yes Davis needs to be open about what he stands for ..we need to get statements from him so he is on record
Shane chose him…this is a worry!…also that he worked for the Ministry of Education, which has been hopelessly compromised by its Minister and ACT private company lobbyists for Charter Schools
We dont want another new Trojan Horse in the Labour Party
Cunliffe’s job is hard enough as it is….. with all the old Rogernomes guard still unretired
Has labour got so desperate that they have to have children protest.
Can they no longer find any adults to do their protesting.
Perhaps they are getting ready with twelve year olds to try and win the 2022 election.
Just saying.
I am a pensioner and this time my vote is with national.
[lprent: Looking at your email address, I’d have been surprised if you’d ever voted for anyone apart from National and/or Act.
In my experience, Labour and the left usually manages to turn out thousands for their larger protests when the right and National can usually turn out mere handfuls. So I’d suspect that the reason that children were turning out would probably have something to do with how whatever it is affects them.
However, putting a link or even a reference into the story you’re talking about would probably help people with understanding what you are indignant about. I currently have no idea and your comment gives no hint. Please try to do better next time.
Jim47 seems to believe from this article that it was a Labour Party – day out holiday activity for the kiddies. Reading comprehension levels shown by his comment indicate that it is probably fairly unlikely that any written comment “helping him out” will do much to change his mind.
Well put Molly, Jim47 is obviously an idiot by design or genetic irresponsibility on the part of other’s,
The kids involved in giving Slippery the Prime Minister ‘the message’ were all locals who fully understand what is happening as the PM and un-Housing Minister Smith re-arrange the deck chairs of the HousingNZ estate using the publicity of the mass media to mask the 20%–42.5 billion dollar asset sale they are attempting by flogging off the housing of the poorest in our communities,
The State Houses bowled over to make way for the ‘pensioner housing’ would have previously housed their cousins and friends so on whatever level they understand what is occurring understand it they do,
The only visible political presence at this protest,was that of the Mana Party…
Lolz the Bank Robbery of the century, with inflation at a miserly 1.5% the Reserve Bank Governor in an act of ”kill it befor it grows” kneecaps the economy and acts to profit the Trading Banks with windfall profits of billions of dollars in added interest payments…
Even if some people aren’t concerned by the rise in interest rates, Stuff’s website shows one of its notorious polls, just putting its foot in the water for the elite, as it knows damn well that people struggling to pay their mortgages is electoral poison. http://www.stuff.co.nz/
BTW The wording of these polls is appalling.
Will higher interest rates hurt you?
Yes, I’m not happy
No, I planned for them
Bring them on, I’m a saver
I disagree there Draco, assuming you are talking about NZ printing our own cash not continuing to borrow from the Central Banks.
If a 1% interest rate was levied on all loans from the Government to home owners, new business ventures etc, then that is another stable resource for making contributions to the UBI fund. Of course this is in addition to the % taken by the Robin hood Tax when the loan is made operational.
You’re still working with the false assumption that the government needs a source of income. It doesn’t. The repayment of a loan is nothing more than the removal of money that has been injected into the economy so as to maintain the apparent value of money.
Not sure I am completely clear on your endgame there Draco.
No taxes of any sort?
How does Government function without an income? Do Governments just print money with no controls at all? That is what the central Banks do now and look where that has gotten us.
How do roads get built?
How does Healthcare function?
Education?
Civil Defence?
Police and the Military ?? (if we still have to have them 🙂 )
I must be missing something obvious …
(no-job stress has me missing sleep, I know that much )
Yes money is a lie and interest compounds that lie.
Yes together they are a powerful force but it does not have to be a destructive force.
As I said, maybe I have misunderstood what you mean.
How does Government function without an income? Do Governments just print money with no controls at all?
It’s not a question of functioning without an income but realising that taxes are solely the destruction of money already created and spent into the economy by government. And, yes, there would be rules.
How do roads get built?
How does Healthcare function?
Education?
Civil Defence?
Police and the Military ?
The same way that they do now – by paying the people doing them.
(excuse the delay in responding Draco, I had stuff to do)
Originally you were talking about interest not being needed.
“When there’s no reason for them to have interest rates on at all. No loans should have interest on them.”
“The repayment of a loan is nothing more than the removal of money that has been injected into the economy so as to maintain the apparent value of money.”
You then seemed to shift the same idea onto taxes.
“realising that taxes are solely the destruction of money already created and spent into the economy by government”
In any economy, taxes and interest are not really the same thing.
“You’re still working with the false assumption that the government needs a source of income.” Taxes are Government income. As much as created or borrowed funds are.
The not repaying loans idea is pretty out there, I just do not see how an economy functions that way. Governments supply new money, check. It gets distributed into the economy via bank loans, mortgages etc, check. . . .and then what?
It just doesn’t get repaid ?
In any economy, taxes and interest are not really the same thing.
Good job I didn’t treat them as being the same then. Repayment of the loan does not include interest – that’s added on top in the present system and I’ve specifically said that loans won’t have interest.
The not repaying loans idea is pretty out there, I just do not see how an economy functions that way. Governments supply new money, check. It gets distributed into the economy via bank loans, mortgages etc, check. . . .and then what?
It just doesn’t get repaid ?
Well, you certainly didn’t get that from me either. Nowhere did I say that the money wouldn’t be removed from the system afterwards. All, I’ve said is that there was no need of interest and that there shouldn’t be any interest charged. In fact, you even quoted the bit where I said it would be returned/removed/destroyed.
When Interest Rates are low, Key/English trumpet their clever stewardship.
When Interest Rates rise it is the independent Reserve Bank’s work.
Funny that?
Can’t recall Labour ever boasting about low interest rates but I can remember them saying that the interest rates weren’t up to them due to the RBNZ being independent and the rates were the result of the market. I don’t think many people bought it though as most were already starting to realise that the market was code for the rich getting richer at everyone else’s expense.
The OCR increasing 3% won’t just hurt those who already have mortgages, it will lock many middle income home buyers out of the market. Also, the amount of mortgagee auctions will likely continue to increase under this regime.
People having less money to spend will assuredly slow the economy, which is only showing signs of recovery because commodity prices have increased. Increased spending is a result of things costing more, not because people are buying more. A lack of competition in the retail sector will also effect the housing bubble in a bad way because people won’t be able to save for a deposit on their first home.
Along with the 20% lending criteria, an already slowing market and unprecedented overinflation, now is clearly not the right time to be locked into a mortgage. Such assets will not be liquid because many thousands of Kiwis will be trapped renting forever.
If some better policies aren’t implemented soon, homeowners and investors will start to lose equity and our housing stock will be further degraded. In the long run that won’t benefit anybody, not even the speculators.
“policies” have a very limited role in halting climate change when a centuries worth of built economic and logistical infrastructure of your entire country is predicated on fossil fuels.
I wonder what the rest of the Labour MPs are thinking about Jones leaving, I mean it must be pretty gutting knowing that National think that Jones is such a big threat that they create a job for him but for every other Labour MP theres nothing 🙂
Of course he was a threat, waitakere man and all that. He was smart, spoke well and appealed to a cross-section of people and National took out one of Labours weapons
That’d be another plus for labour but I doubt if he will. He actually seems to want to do something about poverty unfortunately he still thinks capitalism can.
Drivel, 5 and a half years of Opposition and all Jones has come out with is a rave about supermarkets which the Commerce Commission is likely to have the final say of ”nothing to see here folks”, on,
Jones is gone, good riddance, a waste of space in every sense of the word…
Revisiting the Fossil Fuel company contributions to global warming printed by the Guardian some months ago (noted by a Standardista), and thought to have a look at what other graphics may have been produced.
They were working on an Open Corporates map, one that shows the complex web of company ownership and control on a global scale. One problem is that small countries often were the best locations for companies to operate from, and so would have too much overlap when plotting companies. Their solution: to upscale the country in a honeycomb fashion to indicate the company’s presence there.
I had a look at Goldman Sachs – on their live version which was produced in UK summer of 2013, and was surprised to the relative size of NZ.
(To see the chain of ownership, just hover over one of the companies (circles) on the map)
We discover now that ACC, Collins, thinks people having accidents is a choice. We’ve understood for sometime now that Bennett believes people choose unemployment and under-employment. How
long is it before Key believes, like ACT, that proportionality is wrong in sentencing, and retrospective laws are all okay.
It beggars belief that any liberty loving citizen could vote for this far right government and not vomit in shame.
Referring to Jones, Mr Cunliffe stated that when a totara falls, other totara will grow in its place. Mr Parekura Horamia was a true totara. To me, Jones is no totara. In my opinion he has instead just shown himself to be a farterer creating bad stink.
I asked my uncle about the first world war and he talked about the horses.
I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it was along the lines that they shot horses who were stuck or could no longer pull the guns and he thought it was wrong that animals who had nothing to do with the war were made to suffer and die, while men who could choose did the goading and the killing.
I don’t remember him going to Anzac Day Parades or wearing the red poppy, and he never showed me his medals.
Yep. Let us remember…the sheer brutality and utter inhumanity of outright warfare, where it is virtually always the civilians and the children who suffer the most egregious crimes.
My post was not about Le Quesnoy, it was about something altogether different: the rounding up and murder of more than one hundred unarmed men and boys in the village of Surafend. And the fact that the RSA’s magazine ran poems PRAISING the massacre.
Courage takes many forms , being a keyboard warrior isn’t one of them.
And rounding up civilians and battering them to death certainly is not courageous.
Or perhaps “Blue” thinks those Anzac murderers and the others who said nothing were courageous?
Blair’s anti-democratic tirade
by SEUMAS MILNE, The Guardian
Wednesday 23 April 2014
The neocons are back. That toxic blend of messianic warmongering abroad and McCarthyite witch-hunting at home – which gave us Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo and the London bombings – is coursing through our public life again. Yesterday the liberal interventionists’ hero, Tony Blair, was once more demanding military action against the “threat of radical Islam”.
Reprising the theme that guided him and George Bush through the deceit and carnage of the “war on terror”, the former prime minister took his crusade against “Islamism” on to a new plane. The west should, he demanded, make common cause with Russia and China to support those with a “modern” view against the tide of political Islam.
But he also demanded military intervention against Syria – backed by Russia – along with more “active measures” to help the armed opposition, which is dominated by Islamists and jihadists. It’s a crazy combination with an openly anti-democratic core: the Middle East peace envoy also warmly endorsed the Egyptian dictatorship, along with the repressive autocracies of the Gulf.
Quite why the views of a man whose military interventions in the Muslim world have been so widely discredited, who has been funded by the Kazakhstan dictator and is regarded by up to a third of the British public as a war criminal, should be treated with such attention by the media isn’t immediately obvious. But one reason is that they chime with those of a powerful section of the political and security establishment.
In Britain, the campaign against Islamist “extremism” is once again in full flow. In fact, it is open season on the Muslim community. For the past few weeks reports have multiplied about an alleged “Islamic plot”, code-named Operation Trojan Horse, to take control of 25 state schools in Birmingham and run them on strict religious principles.
The education secretary, Michael Gove, a long-time neoconservative supporter of Blair’s wars and Islamist witchfinder general, responded by sending in an army of inspectors to hunt down extremists and appointing….
So Jones is off to help the Pacific Islands exploit the fish that swim in “their” waters.
When is this organism – homo sapiens – going to understand that it does not have domain over
and automatic right to gather the creatures of the sea?
No problem with people catching fish off the rocks but once they put to sea in boats …
I look forward to viewing your link showing where any cetacean comes ashore to pillage the land!
🙄
Just looking at ministerial expenses. Thanks No right turn. Why on earth doesn’t the NZ government have a blanket no alcohol policy. If you want to drink, you pay for it yourself. I’m sure other governments would be delighted to get their people back alcohol free.
For example Tim Grosser went to the Atlantic on the 9th Oct 13 for a “working dinner” food was $678 and drinks $433 the bulk of which was alcohol.How much much work was likely to be done when drinking.
And in New York he appears to be spending about $300 for three bottles of wine. And in July his P/S ( private secretary ) had lunch at the Circa Foggy Bottom. Near headquarters perhaps?
Apologies if it’s has already been noted (I haven’t been around for the last two days since the news of Jone’s departure has hit) but aren’t the right getting all frothy about it?
The RWNJ’s have come out from under their damp logs en masse to comment here, the media are spinning so hard that they could collectively, if connected to a generator power a large city (Just one example among many, from yesterday: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9968055/Jones-job-offer-not-shot-at-Labour-PM ) and the real life righties are agog.
The real life examples:
Discussion with visitor, a former ACT Party member and National voter on the topic of Shane Jone’s decision to leave, their view: ” I’m really disappointed, Shane Jones was the only decent down to earth one among the lot of them”…………Fine if you like misogynist corporate lobbyists, oh, right, you do………
And this little gem seen one an outdoor cafe blackboard in the Ohariu electorate: “Shane Jones: A loss to us all”. This guys’ not taking the piss. Its the same business owner that had “The jury is always right” written on his blackboard the day after Clint Rickards was not found guilty of rape in 2006 and once had a sign saying “if you don’t want to pay the surcharge on public holidays turn around and leave now”. (Touching that Jone’s inspired such sorrow in such a RWNJ’s heart)
What’s got them so ruffled? The prospect of a Labour Green led government advancing forward after 20th September, unencumbered by Jones, no longer there to “keep the Greenies in check”? I guess they are scared………….
I am very scared at the thought of the Greens anywhere near finance books. Labour near the books is not so bad but the Greens will wreck this country quicker then you can say green economy
Lol you PR. If you’re scared (of your imagination telling you “the Greens will wreck this country…) does that mean you have reason to expect that there will be a win for the Left and the Natz will be out?
“does that mean you have reason to expect that there will be a win for the Left and the Natz will be out?”
I expect National regain power (in fact I’d bet on it but most of the people on here are gutless so no one would take it) however a Labour/greens win is of course always a possibility
I’d be more worried by these jokers remaining in power.
Gradually indebting the country to foreign interests.
And yet you slavishly support them pr.
Pathetic, really.
“Government debt has reached $60 billion, having climbed $27 million a day since John Key became prime minister – and forecasts show it will rise for years to come.
Despite tax revenue being higher than expected and expenses lower in recent months, Treasury figures show net Crown debt reached the highest yet at $60,015,000,000 at the end of September.
It already equates to 28 per cent of New Zealand’s economic output, is more than $13,000 for every person in New Zealand and is forecast to climb by another $10b by 2017.
When National took control of the Beehive in 2008, debt was just over $10b.”
…because an approach of winning on merit just wouldn’t work for crap-policies-and-no-friends-National
….and spreading dissent is the only way they can get votes -that is by creating disharmony amongst us is it not?
‘Vote for National and have an increasingly divided country.’
National in power is whats best for NZ so National will do what it needs to do to win, Labour will attempt to do what it needs to do to win (it will fail though)
“its the right trying to spread dissent so that less people will vote for Labour”
Aha! Which comes back to being scared. Or at least a bit anxious and uncomfortable about the possibility of a Left win, which you do admit above, could happen.
I expect it could happen too, especially if UF, ACT and Maori fail to prop up the Natz.
The earth has warmed rapidly over the past century due mainly to human activity, and especially over the past few decades. The increased greenhouse effect has warmed the land and air and melted ice, but most of it (about 90%) has gone into heating the oceans. Several Skeptical Science contributors worked together to publish a scientific paper1 which combined the land, air, ice, and ocean warming data. It found that for recent decades the earth has been heating at a rate of 250 trillion Joules per second.
“Joules per second” is a difficult unit of measure to appreciate, and is especially foreign to people who are unfamiliar with science. This widget attempts to put that heating into terms that are easier to visualize. 250 trillion Joules per second is equivalent to:
Detonating four Hiroshima atomic bombs per second
Experiencing two Hurricane Sandys per second
Enduring four 6.0 Richter scale earthquakes per second
Being struck by 500,000 lightning bolts per second
Exploding more than eight Big Ben towers, with every inch packed full of dynamite, per second
Is “joules per second” too hard for you, Fisiani? That why they make picture books and widgets. Now remember to use your manners and say thank you.
sorry, couldnt reply to BM above. not all of us want to be rich, some of us like working for a wage, i enjoy my job. but that doesn’t mean i should get shit wages &/or job insecurity. there’s got to be a better way of structuring wealth & work, so people can earn decent wages & the bosses still get to buy their convertables for their latest barbie girl etc…
Yeah and it’s a curious one that the establishment applies to the teaching profession, particularly primary level. Apparently the meme is that individuals enter teaching for the love of it and not for the money. This has been twisted to, “We don’t have to pay them much because they do it for love.”
same with the aged care workers, & nurses i imagine, where a lot of work gets done not because they get paid for it but because they care, they will go the extra mile & help each other out. must run into the millions this unpaid work ppl do.
It’s pretty much across every sector. If you love you’re work you’ll get paid less and no employer will hire anybody who doesn’t love the work and they won’t hire you if you show no enthusiasm for working for the company either.
I sent an email to David Cunliffe and am interested in his reply. I wanted to know what his motives are for repairing the Gisborne/Napier rail if elected. There are concerns among the locals in Gisborne that Labour are using this to get Napier votes. Many locals here feel he wants to take a piece of Gisborne’s booming forestry to create opportunities for Napier. Unfortunately for us, this means making Napier Port busy, creating large volumes of logs for them. It seems a cynical move by Labour, compounded by the fact Mr Cunliffe and Ms Mackey are silent on the issue, declaring they want to open up the Gisborne to Napier rail line without properly explaining how it will benefit Gisborne. I am a Labour voter but personally I agree with National (which I have never done before) that it is not viable enough and will cost millions to repair the damaged line. It also hits home as we are employees in the forestry industry here, the good wages help us enjoy a reasonable quality of life and we can give our kids opportunities. I hope Mr Cunliffe can assure us that our jobs and our Eastland Port are not at threat and will not be impacted by diverting logs directly to Napier, affecting employees whom service those logs here.
Napier port has far superior log handling and storage facilities than Gisborne. Major shipping lines actually stop in Napier. The rail line is no threat to the jobs from the forests.
The alternative of no rail line is all those logging trucks going onto the highway on High Volume trailer trucks – which is dangerous and expensive. That highway maintenance and safety cost falls on us taxpayers. By rail that cost falls where it should onto the logging companies.
Remember when there was a rail station and jobs in Gisborne? Time to bring those jobs back.
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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 ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
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 arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
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. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
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 ...
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 ...
Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan resistance leader has condemned the United Nations role in allowing Indonesia to “integrate” the Melanesian Pacific region in what is claimed to be an “egregious act of inhumanity” on 1 May 1963. In an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A key part of the Albanese government’s political strategy is to fill the news cycle with its presence and messaging. Ministers are deployed to the maximum, even when they’ve little to say. This week ...
Recent extreme weather events showed the importance of a well-functioning insurance system, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly. ...
By Jo Moir, RNZ News political editor, and Craig McCulloch, deputy political editor New Zealand’s Labour Party is demanding Winston Peters be stood down as Foreign Minister for opening up the government to legal action over his “totally unacceptable” attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. In an interview on RNZ’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Brakenridge, Postdoctoral research fellow at Swinburne University, Centre for Urban Transitions, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute The Conversation, Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock People have a pretty intuitive sense of what is healthy – standing is better than sitting, exercise is great for overall ...
The Wellington-based Reserve Force soldier is now almost three years into his New Zealand Army career with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. ...
"The Government needs to release the review immediately as this reckless approach to change risks disjointed decision making and creates more distress and uncertainty for staff," Fitzsimons said. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Jeremiah Manele has been elected Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, polling 31 votes to 18 over rival candidate and former opposition leader Mathew Wale with one abstention. The final result of the election by secret ballot was announced by the Governor-General, Sir David Vunagi, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priestley Habru, PhD candidate, public diplomacy, University of Adelaide Former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele has been elected the next prime minister of Solomon Islands, defeating the opposition leader, Matthew Wale, in a vote in parliament. The result is a mixed bag for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shaun Eaves, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Jamey Stutz, CC BY-SA How often do mountains collapse, volcanoes erupt or ice sheets melt? For Earth scientists, these are important questions as we try ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Flood, Professor of Sociology, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Most young adult men in Australia reject traditional ideas of masculinity that endorse aggression, stoicism and homophobia. Nonetheless, the ongoing influence of those ideas continues to harm men and the people ...
The NZQA proposal released to staff today would involve a net loss of 35 roles. There are 66 roles being disestablished with 13 of those currently vacant, and 31 new roles proposed, said Fleur Fitzsimons Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga ...
Alex Casey talks to Loren Taylor, the writer, director and star of new film The Moon is Upside Down, about assembling her dream ensemble cast, toilet paper pads and turning literal dreams into reality. There’s a moment in The Moon is Upside Down where frazzled anaesthetist Briar (Loren Taylor) gets ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassy Dittman, Senior Lecturer/Head of Course (Undergraduate Psychology), Research Fellow, Manna Institute, CQUniversity Australia With winter sports swinging into action, adults around the country have volunteered or been volunteered by others (humorously known as being “volun-told”) to coach junior sports teams. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University richardernestyap/Shutterstock Parents are often advised to burp their babies after feeding them. Some people think burping after feeding is important to reduce or prevent discomfort crying, or to ...
Workers at a major ASB contact centre in Auckland have voted to take strike action and withdraw their labour following disappointing pay negotiations with the employer and an "offer" to workers that would leave them worse off than the previous year. ...
As the government tries to get the country back on track with a school phone ban, Tara Ward has an idea for where they should turn their attention to next.New Zealand students returned to school on Monday morning, but their cellphones did not. The government’s new phone ban began ...
The Labour Party is demanding Peters be stood down, saying "he's embarrassed the country" with a "totally unacceptable" attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. ...
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance, whose members were victims of a China-backed cyber attack, is discussing forming a standing committee to deal with foreign influence. ...
The PSA is concerned that the voluntary redundancies being offered to staff by Stats NZ will impact on the agency’s ability to deliver on its core functions. ...
Results ranged from surprisingly yum to soul-destroying. I love cooking. The kitchen is a hearth of culinary creation, of sensory delights, of gastronomic poetry. I also can’t afford anything nice. Why does a pack of instant noodles and some milk cost ten bucks? I love you, Aotearoa, but I miss ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Police in Solomon Islands are on high alert ahead of the election of the prime minister today. The two candidates for the top job are former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele at the head of the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation, which is ...
He’s fine but it feels like I’m losing a friend and it’s making me bitter. How do I say ‘enough is enough’? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzHey Hera,I’ve recently moved in with a girlfriend, her partner Steve, and his friend. We all live in a lovely little house. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Chartres, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Sydney shutterstockAhmet Misirligul/Shutterstock You go to the gym, eat healthy and walk as much as possible. You wash your hands and get vaccinated. You control your health. This is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqueline Hendriks, Research Fellow and Lecturer, Curtin University Children and young people may be seeing news headlines about men murdering women or footage of people rallying to call for action. Perhaps they or their friends have even gone to the protests. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Balanzategui, Senior Lecturer in Media, RMIT University ABC “Bluey mania” shows no sign of abating. Bluey’s season finale, The Sign, was the most viewed ABC program of all time on iView. A “hidden” follow-up episode, aptly named The Surprise, created ...
Labour market figures came in softer than the Reserve Bank had forecast, but they won’t be enough to move the needle on interest rates, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Unemployment ...
The campaign will engage the community and encourage submissions on the bill to the New Zealand government by the closing submission deadline of Friday 31st of May 2024 4pm. ...
The paper raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand's political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency plays in that. ...
The Urban Habitat Collective was an attempt to built an innovative new form of apartment building in Wellington. Here’s why it failed, and why the idea could still work, writes co-founder Bronwen Newton. When we started the Urban Habitat Collective in November 2018, we thought we were starting a revolution, ...
Two decades ago this week, a controversial law that attempted to define ownership of the foreshore and seabed prompted a formidable display of outrage and kōtahitanga as 15,000 marched to parliament. Jamie Tahana looks back.‘Hīkoi, hīkoi,” they chanted by the thousands as the biggest Māori march in a generation ...
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Collins: she and Key are guilty and they have to be held to account. Keep up the good work Grant Robertson.
Dunne: allowing him to continue with the legal highs job while his son is making a fortune from the sales of the shit is not tolerable in this society. Key is failing in his role.
Jones? An oxygen thief not worth any further effort.
Pam Corkery had a go at the Dunne father and son connection yesterday.
Jones afraid that a Labour-Green government was a real possibility?
Mr Jones, ask not what your party can do for you: ask what you can do for your party.
Left politics are not helped by politicians more focused on their own career ambitions than the good of the country.
Totally agree there, Karol.
And so it continues. He just can’t help it, can he. It’s his overinflated ego and the imaginary hurt because the plebs haven’t figured out what a great leader he is.
Seriously, Shane, can’t you just STFU?
I’m waiting for the term “naked ambition” to be applied to Jones – remember when it was used by the MSM regularly about Cunliffe? Compare and contrast.
Far from it. In fact the sentence “Labour has now got to find a way of appealing to its traditional blue collar workers” and variations on it, has been repeated like a mantra on this morning’s Morning Report, with David Shearer and Damien O’Connor among those quoted.
Never mind the fact that Jones offered such people nothing concrete – that whatever appeal he had rested on a smoko-room-anecdote way of talking. Never mind either that the whole sentence seems code for “the building contractor who owns several rentals and hires people from overseas, having judged the locals as bloody useless,” and others of similar persuasion.
The whole business looks more and more like an attempt by the right wing from both inside and outside of the Labour Party to subvert the will of left-voting people while pretending to heed it.
Shearer has been a bit more of a dick over the past few days.
Well said Olwyn.
+1
“..“Labour has now got to find a way of appealing to its traditional blue collar workers”..”
there is a simple three word answer/solution to that:..
..policy..policy..policy..
@ olwyn..+ 1…
Well I for one am appalled at what’s been happening in the Labour Party. Jones? a minor distraction, blown out of all proportion by the MSM, and reinforced by dickheads in the Labour Party. Glad it happened now, so I can now look to another party that will WANT my vote (Greens, Mana). and not Labour saying we don’t care if you vote for us. Because that’s the message I am getting. That and ‘We can’t organise Sex in a brothel’.
Here in Wanaka people just laugh when I talk about Labour or Greens. Phrases like “a house divided cannot stand” and “country’s doing great” for Labour, and “ewwww!” And “ha hahaaa” for Greens.
Everyone’s income is addicted to real estate, tourism, and superannuation. Those in agriculture can’t get comprehensive irrigation fast enough.
Quite bracing. Pour me a Pinot.
you need to get to know more local Wanaka families, and fewer recent (last 10 years) imports from Auckland, Wellington and overseas.
lolz, nice on CV.
The GP candidate in the Waitaki electorate is a well known Wanaka person and did quite well over there.
“Everyone’s income is addicted to real estate, tourism, and superannuation. Those in agriculture can’t get comprehensive irrigation fast enough.”
In other words, Wanaka is being turned into an industrial dairying cesspit like everywhere else. Will be interesting to see how the farmers get on with the tourism lobby and lifestyle block real estate agents in ten years time.
Is that where they truck in cheap labour,oh thats QTN.your next though.
John Key in denial as he visits the front line for the war on the poor.
He’s talking up the better state houses on offer, and fails to mention the cut backs in amount of state housing, while communtiies are destroyed.
Ooops, didn’t see your comment here when i posted one on the same thing below, Slippery and un-Housing Minister Nick Smith must have picked up a sense of disquiet from among the voters in the ‘focus groups’ about the ripping apart of the HousingNZ estate to be using the media in what seems like a week long ‘charm offensive’ where they are spending time ‘highlighting’ what few new build HousingNZ complexes have been completed by this regime…
Nice to see that they were warmly received, and that the people were so happy with the truth they were being told by the TricKey one. Why they even donated eggs for his dinner. And still he moans.
It’s nice to know the poor aren’t so badly off that they can’t afford to waste eggs… our brighter future
Interesting framing for the first article to be posted on this in the Herald yesterday, which manages to insinuate Mana Party for staging it all: PM’s car egged during state housing protests.
Comments allowed on this article, unsurprisingly, and some live up to the quality of reporting.
Molly. I notice that a lot of the comments have disappeared, and there are only 13 left. WTF.
Herald comments are bizarre – never really know what is going on there…
so..jones and mccully have been talking about this ‘job’ for jones since 2009..
..key sez that national ‘has had good dialogue with jone..for a long time’..
..basically..jones has been nationals’ mole/man within labour..
..since at least 2009…
..yeah..some ‘loss’ for labour he’s now surfaced/broken cover..and returned to his paymasters…
..and walk like a traitor..quack like a traitor..
..you probably are nothing more that a traitor..
..(jones gone is good news for labour..
..the braying/bought-fool will bray no more..
..but he still stays ‘bought’..
..forever..
..what a shabby ending to a political-career..eh..?
..by his ongoing treachery jones has guaranteed himself a small historical-footnote..
..but we are told..he ‘coulda been a contender!’…
..a man sunk by his hubris/ignorances/for sale sign around his neck..
..when you look at jones..
..he was/is pretty much on ‘the wrong side’ of everything..
..his latest move just confirms that long pattern..
..jones sells out to the planet-fuckers..
..those really on ‘the wrong side’..)
”One, two, three, four, stop the war on the poor, Maraenui under attack, stand up and fight back”, so chanted the kids of Maraenui a Napier suburb with a heavy concentration of State housing as Slippery the Prime Minister arrived to gush over the opening of some new pensioner housing,
Having all the gastronomic fortitude of your average Rat the PM then tried to do a bunk out the back way to avoid the protest, unfortunately someone forgot to tell the driver of the limo of the change of plan and the local kids again had the pleasure of voicing their displeasure in the face of the PM along with tossing the occasional missile in the direction of the limo which eventually left bearing the scars,
Slippery later claimed that the kids, mostly 10 to 12 year old’s were ”saying things they didn’t understand” and i suppose to preserve His ego He has to think that, but, can assure the PM that subjecting HousingNZ estates to the forced evictions and demolitions of the current regime and its 20%– $2.5 billion HousingNZ sell off leaves those kids knowing full well what is in store for them,
While it is hard to oppose such actions in the face of the publicity stunts being organized by the current regime where the tame media are being lead around by the nose by the likes of the PM and un-Housing Minister Nick Smith ‘gushing’ over the few completed ‘new build’ HousingNZ complexes we have to remember that for all their worth, and in the future pensioner housing will be like gold with the growth of the aged population, with the proposed shrinking of the States Housing stock by 20% it will be those 10 and 12 year old’s protesting befor the Prime Minister who will be all the worse off in the future,
Poverty has not lessened in this country, the reverse is true, it is not 20% less State Houses that are needed now in our society, it is at least 20% more of such housing that is needed with urgency…
David Cunliffe on Shane Jones “When a totara falls in the forest another totara grows to take it’s place”.
How rooted is the Labour totara?
🙄 , Not near as rooted as the United Future Party which you obviously helped along the way with your ”contribution” George,
Your comment is obviously designed to inflame ‘Open Mike’ this morning and deserves nothing more then this, 🙄 , this 🙄 ,and this, 🙄 …
What a silly comment Pete. I thought you would be coming out with the “Labour is ignoring the working class” line that is being perpetrated right now. By all means do that but how about you do a bit of fact checking beforehand. Read the party’s policy platform and then try and argue the party is not interested in ordinary people.
I think it’s a fair question Greg, it’s something that’s being widely discussed. I understand that it’s the done thing in politics to stoically say everything is fine and a win is imminent, but when the chasm between reality is so wide then it is counter-productive.
The party’s policy is not the problem. The perception of the party is tending towards pathetic.
The party might be interested in ordinary people but it doesn’t show much. I’ve seen here and elsewhere since the loss in 2008 that the Labour caucus in particular is out of touch and doesn’t want to hear from ordinary people.
Ex Labour minister Michael Bassett may not be a party favourite but what he said on Radio New Zealand half an hour ago about Labour now are common sentiments.
It’s a difficult hole to get out of, but continuing to dig and deny won’t do it.
Labour looks out of touch with people and out of touch with reality. If they don’t turn this around very soon it could be terminal.
The first step is admitting the problems. It’s to far gone for stoic bullshit.
If the Labour totara uproots and crashes other parties will grow in the gap, but that takes time, and in the meantime Parliament will be significantly weakened.
🙄 absolute drivel George, 🙄 🙄 🙄 …
No it is not a fair question Pete. It is fact free loaded spin. I thought you were trying to appear balanced.
Michael Basset reflecting common sentiments? Feck his party is now at less than 1% of the vote.
There may be a perception problem. It is because of a bunch of nodding heads reinforcing all the right wing spin that is fed to them and you should reflect on your comments in this regard.
“..a bunch of nodding heads reinforcing all the right wing spin that is fed to them and you should reflect on your comments in this regard..”
given he is one of those (albeit less literate examples of) rightwing nodding-heads..
..that is a bit of an ask..
..and quoting/citing rabid-rightwinger michael ‘just walk on the poor!’ bassett..?
..as the voice of ‘the common man’..?
..heh..!
..that’s funny..!
I didn’t expect a sudden emergence from denial.
Blame right wing spin.
Blame National.
Blame McCully.
Blame the media.
Blame Shane Jones.
Blame small party support that’s irrelevant.
Blame anyone pointing out the emperor’s clothes are in tatters here.
And see how you get on in September.
It may be that a million non-voters are suddenly attracted to a party fiddling while it’s Rome burns.
getting a bit tetchy there Pete!
hey, don’t you have a Budget for Poor People to be working on?
or have you decided it is in the too-hard basket and Politicheck won’t be doing any fact-checking articles on poverty in New Zealand?
Still waiting for the facts Pete. Go on. Have a look at Labour’s policies and tell me which ones will not help ordinary people.
It’s not about the policies Greg. I can agree with most of most of Labour’s policies, and sure, some of them would help ‘ordinary people’ (although spending too much on policies could have negative effects for ordinary people too).
Very few voters read policies. Most people vote mostly on personalities and perceptions of competence.
Policies without power are paltry. If voters think a party doesn’t have the people or competence to win power and run a government then they won’t care what policies promise.
So reality does not matter and perception is all important? So I guess fact checking is a waste of time.
Both reality and perception matter, because people can perceive disconnects from reality.
People can be fooled to perceive things that aren’t real some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.
Fact checking isn’t a waste of time – it can help people perceive more accurately and not get fooled by party propaganda and ignorance.
pg..
..you fool none of the people…all the time..
(and..)
“..Fact checking isn’t a waste of time..”
..when are ya gonna go and do some..?
..how is that poverty-fact-check coming along.?
(and..)
“..and not get fooled by party propaganda and ignorance..?..”
but that is yr oxygen..there..petey..
..’party propaganda and ignorance’..
..eh..?
..that is what you peddle here..
Isn’t it important for a fact checker to put aside perception and determine matters on what is actually occurring?
Ok, can you say what is actually occurring in Labour? Like, actually, and not party spin?
I get it that they are gradually releasing policies.
What is Cunliffe achieving? and What is Labour achieving? You can set the record straight.
“..It’s not about the policies Greg…”
fucken bullshit..
..national promised tax cuts as their way to office..
..an agreement on working towards a guaranteed minimum income from the progressive parties..
..would get many of that million to the ballot-box..
..and surely by now labour must realise this is their path to power..?
..and labour may well have some good policy..
..maybe now the jones-circus/obstacle has left town..
..they can focus on selling that policy..
..talking directly to those ‘blue-collar-workers’..
..telling ‘blue-collar workers’ how a progressive coalition will improve their day-to-day life..
Here’s some data Pete, it’s not as good as we might like, but if you know of better, please share.
What does this data say about who people think “Is out of touch with ordinary people”?
http://www.reidresearch.co.nz/TV3+POLL+RESULTS.html
fact check yo’self Pete.
“Is out of touch with ordinary people”
National leader – 52%
Labour leader – 22%
Estimated from chart January 2014 (a bit outdated).
Cool. There’s more data there too of course that my be relevant to this discussion.
As I noted, the data isn” as good as we might like it, but it’s what we have, unless you have better data to share of course.
So, bearing in mind that:
“Fact checking isn’t a waste of time – it can help people perceive more accurately and not get fooled by party propaganda and ignorance.”
have a quick look at the following statements, and see if the facts revealed by that data can help clear up any propaganda or ignorance regarding what people think:
1) “Labour looks out of touch with people and out of touch with reality. If they don’t turn this around very soon it could be terminal.”
2) ” The perception of the party is tending towards pathetic.”
3) “Ex Labour minister Michael Bassett may not be a party favourite but what he said on Radio New Zealand half an hour ago about Labour now are common sentiments”
If an election is held today, which party would get your party vote?
If this question is for me – none. The election isn’t being held today. The parties and politicians haven’t put all their offerings and abilities on show yet.
If I vote I’ll decide who for close to or on election day.
But I’ll give you a possibility – if Labour are at 20% in the polls just before the election I’d consider voting for them to help keep them alive, if I thought they deserved it.
Save your pity vote Pete, it’s not needed.
“If an election is held today, which party would get your party vote?”
Pete, you know full well it is a hypothetical question.
Now if you do not want to share who you vote for that is your choice, just stand up tall and proud and say that you prefer not to share such intimate secret knowledge of your deepest soul. People would respect that. But to hide behind such pitiful reasoning when discussing a hypothetical situation is even more bizarre than you being Editor in Chief of a fact checking site.
http://thesaurus.com/browse/hypothetical
So basically it seems that you will decide who to vote for near election day based on their polices, but you will not be voting for Labour unless they need you to “save them”.
In other words, it seems that you have a rather strong disdain for Labour, as you will not consider voting for them on the merits of their actual policies. This is also evident in many other comments you post: whether or not you will admit to it, many of your comments here are strongly anti-Labour in tone or message.
Given this bias against Labour, I fail to see how your position as an independent “fact-checker” is tenable.
The has been Petty George trying to tell other parties how they should do their bizz, having helped make His own political vehicle United Future a political irrelevancy has to be the joke of the day,
A piece of toilet paper while not being as ”transparent’ as Petty George is a 100 times more useful, and this 🙄 …
Hey Bad that’s how Petey gets his answers. If the shit soaks thru then…
Only according to the RWNJs and their pets in the MSM.
So what is the definition of “ordinary people”? Because according to the 2012 New Zealand Social Survey just 21% of New Zealanders reported satisfactory results across all four of the surveyed areas of health, money, relationships and housing.
Now relationships generally isn’t the domain of government policy (unless it’s to keep abusive behaviour in check), but Labour is putting in the effort to address the other three areas. I know people who have been helped enormously by Working For Famiilies. Kiwisaver helped me buy my home and plan for my future. And interest free student loans has saved me thousands. By contrast over the past 5 years National has done nothing that it can point to that benefits the people of New Zealand, aside from not rolling back those Labour programmes in the first place. Further, Michael Cullen’s stewardship laid the foundations to weather the GFC better than most countries, although I think he could have done more to keep the housing bubble in check.
Let me ask you a question, Pete. What do you think is the legacy of this government? How do you think history will remember John Key’s administration? Because I’m really struggling to see any area at all where Key has improved New Zealand social wellbeing.
Any improvements have been modest and you have to look hard.
Key’s nearly two terms is best known for minimising things getting worse over the course of a New Zealand recession (started under Labour), a Global financial crisis, and major disasters in Christchurch.
Many people see that as a creditable achievement, and probably at least as good as any alternative government could have managed.
It’s been unusual circumstances of economic survival that the country seems to have come through better than expected.
If the National government survives into another term then we will get to see the Key legacy – if it’s any more than a cautious conservative treading water or not when we are expected to recover and grow.
Oh FFS Petey can’t you just answer the fucking questions.
What do you think is the legacy of this government? A: The Blatant Corruption,
How do you think history will remember John Key’s administration? A:For the Corruption and deals for the Boys.
See that’s how it’s done Question. Answer. Simple.. And none of your useless bullshit waffling and link whoring!. And no one screaming at you for being a useless T 🙄
🙄
@ pg..
..are you using ‘rooted’ in its’ conjugal-sense/meaning..?
He’s not using any of the words in any of their senses to convey any meaning, and he’ll probably cry if you ascribe any.
😈 😆
Oh pete – labour are the forest not the tree and (even as a non-labour person I can see) that forest is an ecosystem that is complete – until the chainsaws arrive and start cutting – are you a chainsaw pete? Do you want the forest cut down? If a tree is old or diseased a big gust of Mcgully-wind can blow it down – that tree is uprooted. The forest remains, ever changing.
in this case the ‘mccully-wind’..
..has proven for labour the axiom that ‘it’s an ill wind that bows nobody any good’…
..the diseased-totara has fallen..
..quick may it rot..
marty mars +100.. very good analogy
.I would like to see what the new tree Kelvin Davis has to offer and what he stands on….get to know him….a guest post/interview ?…. or a statement from him on open mike would be much appreciated
…particularly on where he stands on Charter Schools and Standards testing…there does seem to be a bit of confusion on where exactly he does stand on these issues
…the sooner we get to know him the sooner Jones will recede into the past
NZ also needs to hear Labour’s clearly stated views on the new EDUCANZ group.
We currently have a Minister of Education who says that Teachers need to lead the charge whilst not wanting teachers involved in deciding where that charge is headed.
Yep Chooky. Especially “…the sooner we get to know him (Davis) the sooner Jones will recede into the past.” Hear hear.
Kelvin Davis’ statement on FB. Well worth a read.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=776801432351706&id=776784779020038&fref=nf
Labour’s caucus righties still don’t get how strong the base of the party is. We have comprehensively outplayed them. Jones simply figured that the path to leadership is now determined not by caucus factions, but by the whole.
Goff and King and Mallard will see caucus slowly tilt away from factions, and towards merit alone demonstrated to us all.
Get back under your bridge, the Gruff family is due any minute.
united future..not so much a ‘totora’..
..as a twig of ti-tree…
Trying to be clever? Beneath even you Pete 🙄
The Petty George Show roll(eye)s on.
Yesterday he was offering his “support” to The Greens. Today he’s on a ring-barking mission, and he keeps his little bag of poison handy just in case.
This PG bullshit is getting tedious, I wish he would advise on how the TS site should be run…
[lprent: ummm… I’m not sure how I feel about people trying to encourage push people into the propeller blades. Perhaps you should desist so I don’t find out how I feel about it. ]
Don’t argue with an idiot like PG. Onlookers might not be able to tell the difference. Just eye-roll him and he will go away. 🙄
Sure lprent I’ll “desist” from advising PG, cos he always takes my advice 🙄
PG just Fuck Off, you are nothing but a waste of Oxygen.
[lprent: If you don’t put a point or even some wit to go with the abuse, then don’t make the comment. Otherwise I’ll eventually get irritated and start banning repeat offenders. ]
Sorry just got sick of the continual negativity.
David Cunliffe on Shane Jones “When a totara falls in the forest another totara grows to take it’s place”
Is that a quote Pete? Can you please attribute it?
So you see him ( as I do ) as a “Jonesling”, Phillip.
without doubt..
..and the further we get from these revelations of this ongoing treachery/double-dealing of/by jones…
..the stronger the stench will be..
..(i wonder if he/jones realises this yet..?..his guaranteed place in the halls of political infamy..?..)
..now..imagine were this a national party ‘high-flyer’..
..who had been in ‘good dialogue’ with the labour party ‘for a long time’..
..and had now left national..at a crucial pre-election moment..(designed to do the most harm to ‘his’ party..)..
..to ‘work for labour’..in a plum/created/troughing-‘job’..
..i wonder how our corporate/access-media wd handle that scenario..?
..differently from how they are handling this breaking from cover of jones..?
..i’m betting it wouldn’t be ‘national in disarray’..
..it’d likely be all about ‘the treachery/undemocratic-practices of labour’..
..eh..?..
Shane Who???…
They’d be saying how great it is for National now that a cuckoo had left.
I wonder if Murray allowed for Jones 5 knuckle shuffle, when over seas on the company credit card.
So Jones sells out for a few pieces of silver.
The Noise Jones made over the Countdown super market chain
Was obviously designed to up his transfer fees.
The snide flipant attitude over shower flow rates prior to 2008 election were designed to unseat Labour so Hey could have a tilt at leading labour.
Now all chances of becoming leader have gone.
Sabotage is his payback for not getting what He wants .
For all his intellect.
Jones is just a self centered highly egotistical dickhead.
At least Shane Jones told us who donated to his challenge
I think what came up about Shane Jones donors supports the arguement for the Trust account DC set up. He didn’t know the donors, so could not be influence by them. That was the intention. Shows integrity.
Jones knew whos his donors were and what a surprize! not. Anti green, pro mining and secret meetings with National about a job………….Shane “what’s in it for me” Jones.
I seem to remember him saying about DC after the leadership contest that he lost, “I offer DC my unstinting loyalty”…………..Yeah right.
Shane Jones……………good for Tui adds.
Countdown’s proxies will be called on by National for donations. Ralph Norris will be very pleased.
LOL Trotter and Bassett on RNZ morning report commenting on Labour and Jones, no agendas there…
Dover Samuels, John Tamihere, Bassett, all has been’s, yesterday’s men, all trumpeting the right wing framing of Jones having tossed His toys, class traitors in other words,
Shane Who, has been a waste of space in both the Labour Government and the Labour Opposition, His quitting is the only positive in a career that has been singularly damaging to the Party,
Jones touted as the ‘champion’ of the blue collar workers by the media and the ever growing list of political commentators is a joke, and those touting Him as such an even worse joke,
Good riddance is what the left should be shouting back at the fools touting Jones as any champion of the working class,
The sooner Labour clean out the old gaurd right wingers from the Caucus the better, Jones wont be missed past the next ‘frenzy item’ seized upon by what is an obviously bored media…
Yes what labour needs right now is a public purging of people such as Goff,Shearer,Cosgrove,O’Conner.
If Cunliffe is any leader, he’ll start wielding his sword today.
Their destabilizing influence is destroying labour and must be removed before labour can win this years election.
Thanks for your concern, T.R.O.L.L.
Just agreeing with Bad12. 😉
🙂
i don’t usually bother addressing your comments BM, that is probably because conversing with the dumb while having its amusing moments is really an exercise in futility,
Take your current comment for instance, ”Labour winning the election” is the thinking of the Neanderthal,
Labour has No chance of winning the election, in 2014 though, the Left has every chance of doing just that….
As a right wing supporter, why do you post as a Labour party well-wisher?
The post to Bad12 was purely a piss-take of his ridiculous ramblings.
I’m predominantly right wing but would have no issue voting labour, if they had decent people and policies.
I hope one day labour ditches the unions,their last century thought process and becomes a decent party again.
Employees must once again unionise and organise in order to exercise collective bargaining power over employers, particularly larger and corporate employers.
Even better, co-ops of workers need to start taking over and democratically running their own work places, instead of taking orders from some faraway Man who doesn’t even understand the business.
I think all businesses need to become cooperatives with the present shareholders becoming either bond or loan holders and no say in the running of the company. Only those who work there would have any say in the direction of the company.
Why don’t workers just set up businesses like this? There’s nothing to stop them.
How many workers want to take on the responsibility of running the business they work for?
Yes there is. Several things in fact:
1.) Finances (this is systemic – our entire system is against it)
2.) Improper education
3.) Raised in an abusive and dysfunctional family (admittedly, 2 & 3 tend to go together)
and more that I just can’t think of right now.
I suspect more than most people realise.
PG’s comments are those of someone completely ignorant of the power of corporate forces and big banking in our economy.
If he was serious about supporting small community owned businesses he would have more to offer us than “get to it then.”
FTFY
You’ll never vote anything other than radical right which means National or Act.
Are you just thick or a complete idiot? The Labour party was formed for the betterment of the people and the country by the workers who were exploited by the wealthy. In the modern world, workers come from innumerable professions, not just miners etc that helped form the party in its beginning days. It is the Labour party principles, policies and programmes that has made New Zealand a better place for everyone, men and women, children and the elderly, employees and the employers, the unemployed and the poor, and even the rich pricks that now infest the greedy ungrateful right wing parties such as National and ACT that are spitting on the poor and the ordinary people with their unfair, unjust, selfish policies, while happily copying many of the great social policies of the last Labour government.
But for the Labour’s socialist principles, you would be on pittance wages languishing on 12 hour days, women’s rights would be pretty much non existent like in some middle east countries, homophobia and discrimination would continue unabated etc, etc. Innumerable progress has been made and lots more needs to be done for justice, environment, equity, freedom, true prosperity etc
Don’t bad mouth the Labour party, you nitwit.
“Jones touted as the ‘champion’ of the blue collar workers by the media and the ever growing list of political commentators is a joke, and those touting Him as such an even worse joke,”
He’d only be a class traitor if he was a blue collar worker. But he never was blue collar. Groomed as a future leader from a very early age, wasn’t he?
Anyway as far as I’m concerned it’s a clean out out of the Labour right, who contradict L(l)abour ideals anyway.
Class traitor, phfft what a load of shit, you’re not Pomgolia now, we don’t do classes down here.
This hang up you lefties have on putting people in boxes/classes is the reason why you’re failing.
It’s a class war BM and you know that because you are one of its participants. An ongoing class war that the 1% who hold the largest share of capital wealth wages every day against the 99% who do not.
You’re on a site with many who are well versed in political economics, so have some respect and please don’t treat the rest of us as ignorant.
It is not a class war, there will never be a class war in NZ.
If you picked out 100 random people in the street and then told them we’re fighting a class war, they’d think you’re a complete lunatic that should be locked in a padded cell.
“It is not a class war, there will never be a class war in NZ.”
ROFL why are you still trying it on? When you are one of the participants in this very class war?
Perhaps you should learn about NZ history, check out the great strike of 1913, also how the Liberal Government broke up all the large land holdings of the richest families in the 1890’s. And of course, the dispossesion of the entire working class in the 1980’s and 1990’s due to Rogernomics and Ruthanasia.
Really, and I could have sworn that we just had a couple of high-class bludgers go through NZ at our expense.
That has got to be psychological projection. It’s the left that are trying to break down the class barriers while the RWNJs always seem to be trying to build them up.
There are no classes to break down, do you not understand this?
Yes there are. there’s the rich, the middle class, the poor and now the precariat. Just because you want to deny reality and insist these classes don’t exist doesn’t make them any less true.
But the poor can become middle class and the middle class can become rich.
Where are the barriers?
Debt peonage
Lack of cheap credit to start/expand your own business
Economic rentier behaviour from the 0.1% and corporatocracy
An economic and social system which inherently advantages white property owning males
Debt peonage
Examples?
Lack of cheap credit to start/expand your own business
last thing we need is under capitalized businesses starting up, fast way to the poor house
Economic rentier behaviour from the 0.1% and corporatocracy
Examples?
An economic and social system which inherently advantages white property owning males
it’s all the fault of white males, seriously?
I’ve already given you the broad categories, look it up for yourself. Not your research service.
And I’ll add one more: deliberately reduced and declining income share of labour (i.e. workers) with respect to GDP, with the difference siphoned off to corporations and capitalist owners.
“But the poor can become middle class and the middle class can become rich.
Where are the barriers?”
Oh BM, I didn’t realise you were quite this lost. How do you think you’ll ever be rich without poor people?
But there’s no barriers if you want to make the effort, you may not succeed but the opportunity is there.
No barriers at all.
Of course not BM
In their book on inequality The Spirit Level, British researchers Wilkinson and Pickett devote a whole chapter to showing the different ways that entrenched inequality reduces social mobility.
But you have researched this more of course by reading Slater’s opinion and then repeating it.
https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/wolfson.institute/events/Wilkinson372010.pdf
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2010/05/inequality-and-social-mobility.html
BM, would you like to address my question please?
How will you manage to be rich without poor people?
“if you want to make the effort …. the opportunity is there.”
gee thanks BM,
I never knew the only reason I am poor, is I am lazy
In your world no rich person has ever actively worked against poor people doing better
know what?
for a guy who no-doubt imagines his initials stand for Big Man,
you sure do have a tiny mind.
There will always be poor people, it’s always been that way and always will.
How much money I make is irrelevant.
[my emphasis]
lol
So even if you make an effort, you might remain poor? But there are no barriers?
Fuck you’re a slippery liar.
“if you want to make the effort …. the opportunity is there.”
Ever play video games BM?
I ask coz there’s this thing on many of them in ‘settings’ where you can dial things up and down, and make the game easier.
You know?
Your dude might have more hit points, or it might make the enemies a bit dumber, or fewer, that sort of thing.
Imagine that in a multi-player game, and some folks get their settings set, by society, a bit easier on most of the settings. They will find it easier, and if they don;t get that are playing at an advantage, they are gonna think they are shit hot at this game.
Aren’t they?
Absolutely.
Many people have busted their nuts and never succeeded, that’s just how the game goes.
Maybe their idea was shit, maybe people didn’t want their product, maybe they ran out of money or the timing was wrong.
No one is ever guaranteed success.
So the poor can become middle class and the middle class can become rich, but even if the poor do everything right they might not succeed, in which case through no fault of their own they can’t become middle class / rich.
Are you suffering from severe cognitive dissonance, or are you just a shit liar?
Ooh ooh I know this one, he’s a shit liar McF.
He still won’t answer my q either: How can he be rich without poor people?
Who does he think is going to do the shit jobs? The other rich people? Good luck getting them to work for peanuts.
Fucking idiot liar.
Cool BM will support 100% death duties and the law that makes it illegal to transfer your personal wealth to anyone else.
That way we all start with nothing and only the sum of our personal endeavors will get us anywhere.
“Who does he think is going to do the shit jobs? ”
The failures. If we get rich enough the guest workers. You are being stupid.
Nope sryass, BM said the poor will become middle class, and then rich. So no more poor people.
You can’t have it both ways, dicks.
It’s in the interest of the Tories to pretend that they are not waging war against the under class and working class – stealth is the only way they can get away with it.
I know.
That is ridiculous. The Government (I assume the “Tories” is some unheard of label you have for the New Zealand Government. Funny I thought it was some ancient English political faction) presides over a $27 billion welfare safety net. You are seriously deluded.
Hey Shitlands. All you’ve pointed out is that the Tories have some remnant electoral self preservation instinct. They know that they cannot dismantle the NZ welfare state expeditiously and have to instead dismantle it bit by bit, while demonising the vulnerable and the poor on the way. And your point is?
What’s a servant of the power elite like you who has never voted in NZ care anyway?
SSpylands, I have serious concerns about your memory. Your confusion about the word “tory” sounded familiar, and less that 30sec using the search box says you were taught about that word last September, and again in October. Try reading those comment branches again before (once again) removing all doubt as to your stupidity.
I’m especially concerned that such a stupid fucking idiot, as you obviously must be, claims to be/have been involved in formulation of government policy.
Perhaps that would explain why you are obviously unaware that the nats are destroying the $27bil welfare safety net loop by “application declined” loop.
Or maybe you think it’s a sophisticated distraction to plead ignorance about a two-syllable word and then argue that the fact the government hasn’t completely destroyed something means that the government must be actively preserving it. Well, an idiot feels compelled to double down on his own idiocy, I guess.
Oh god so stupid.
could be useful here
a suggested sign-language-for-deaf ‘sign’ for ‘shane jones’:
..a rhythmic half-closed-fist hand-motion should do it/the trick..
Politics is hard mistress. I just watched the David Cunliffe interview on the Paul Henry Show from Tuesday night. Respect! Respect! David was very calm despite the best efforts of that psychotic arse. I’ll bathe in Dettol!
Education
The US middle class income falling faster than any OECD country WHy.
Education has been identified as the cause of decline.
Decline in Pisa scores directly related to decline in income.
And we are adopting the same policies that have lead to this decline.
Yes as Kelvin Davis is a teacher …i would like to see/hear his views on Charter Schools and Standards Testing enunciated here for all to see/hear…just so we can have confidence in him.
On the surface he looks like a very fortunate replacement for Shane
btw….why is Morning Report bringing out Bassett….of ACT to criticise the Labour Party and Cunliffe….Bassett is an old ‘has been’ Rogernom….he is the last person who should be critiquing Labour and Cunliffe….he was part of the cabal that just about destroyed Labour
….what is Morning Report doing?…is it now a mouthpiece for ACT?
….that said I thought John Tamihere was very good ….cant he be brought back into the Labour Party fold?…he has done his time for his ‘crime’ insensitivity to women ( a crime many others have committed on the Left) ….and he was very popular on radio …he could be a big draw card for Neathandral Man …Labour working men.
What did you really expect when they put Espiner in there the other week. I have listened only once to Morning Report since he took over, it took me about 40 mins of Espiner to change the channel to something reasonable, like Radio Live.
Uh, you’re incorrect on this count, unfortunately. You’ve mistaken cause and effect.
What getting a higher education means today in the USA is being highly qualifiedand stacking shelves or flipping burgers on the minimum wage, with a massive and unrepayable student loan.
The true cause of the collapse of the US middle class is far more complex – and has to do with the power elite exporting all solid working class jobs out of the nation and then systematically destroying the value of peoples property and pension funds.
+1111
ONE News headline ” Labour in damage control “:National a safe pair of hands “.
“Labour party has definately been hurt”- Corinn Dann.
yet “Jones often acted as a wedge between Labour and the Greens” , refused to work with Norman – Michael Parkin with a side order of Pagani spin, “it’s a warning sign”
Gower- “…risks being punished in the polls.”
Plenty of balance there was, Not!
Further to the harms of fructose, The WHO new recommendations for daily sugar intake, 5% of total daily food intake. Equals about 6 teaspoons.
If cut back, takes about four days of unsettling withdrawals.
That doesn’t quite make sense, the WHO 5% of daily food intake that is, i would have to weigh my total food intake for a day,(which is probably a good idea to do for a week), but, am pretty sure that if liquids are included then the daily intake is over ‘ a kilo’,
Me thinks i will do that starting next Monday, weighing both solid food and liquid intake to see what my normal diet weighs,(weekends are now the ‘fasting diet’ to keep the kilo’s falling off),
Dieting is interesting, i have found that even the vege and fruit diet can add body weight, which suggests weight loss is more a matter of ‘how much’ of ‘anything’ is the key,
Still think unless a ‘scientific case’ can be made for adding sugar to food can be made then Legislation is needed to have it removed from food items that are not classed specifically as sweets,or at the least, a large label being a requirement to show the number of spoons of sugar a serving of the product contains per serving,
Last nights Third Degree was a shallow look at the other side of the health issue ‘fats’, i wasn’t impressed at all,
Obviously the body ‘needs’ some fat/oil so as to be able to transport vital nutrients around the body which otherwise would simply be discharged via the liver down the toilet, i am though sticking with the view of good fats/bad fats…
Weight loss is more a question of getting some exercise.
Exercise is important of course but it is just one factor. For instance, Dr Lustig’s presentation on how large quantities of sugar in the modern diet screws up energy-behaviour metabolism at the brain level is instructive.
Agree and disagree Draco, for those able to ‘up’ the amount of physical activity to burn off the calories its not bad advice,
However, if like me a person has bone or muscle issues which prohibit the ‘upping’ of physical exercise then it has to be diet alone which can be used as the weight loss mechanism…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T'ai_chi_ch'uan
Lolz stop it, next you will be advising me how to prepare mung beans and lentils…
Boil until dead and then throw it in the garden as compost 😛
If you’re dead you can’t throw it in the garden.
@ bad 12
molasses can be a good substitute for sugar cravings…this is all the minerals /vits etc left over from sugar refining…it is very strong but it can be put in gravies and cakes or on porridge..or just a tsp as a tonic…Red Seal Black Strap Molasses has for a few dollars… manganese( lots), magnesium(lots), iron, calcium( lots), sodium
…a good book to get is : ‘Stay Healthy by Supplying Whats lacking in Your Diet’ by David Coorey….for $25..(NZ publishing House .Private Bag 12029, Tauranga…(Tel: 0800 140 141)
( it gives an index of health symptoms/deficiencies /foods that supply essential vits/minerals for these deficiences eg …advice for weight loss, diabetes, alcohol cravings ,eye sight , dementia, gout, migraines , chloresterol, osteoporosis, gum disease, chronic fatigue, tinnitus….etc.etc.).. you can be your own doctor before your symptoms get out of control…it is very budget friendly …i hardly ever see a doctor!..nor does my family)
Lolz thanks Chooky, but, spending 25 bucks on a book here isn’t an option, i have tho Google as a friend and can find it all out from the basic to the uni studies online,
Molasses sounds quite interesting and i will check out the cost on my next food forage in the supermarket, still sugar tho,(even tho it contains a good amount of those essential minerals), and, i have to watch total intake,
That sugar craving at a certain point as you cut down is quite an acute one, psychological more than physical,(for me anyway), i have cut down from 2 teaspoons in my tea mug all the time to 1 teaspoon and then onto 1 teaspoon every fourth cuppa,
My fruit intake has tho tripled from what has been the lifelong (bad) habit and there are plenty of sugars in fruit, weight has dropped to 95 kilo from 110 kilo at Christmas, i am tho doing mini crash diets on weekends to make up for my bad habit of making big yummy veg and fish meals and then scoffing the lot…
And here’s me thinking that was just the lack of coffee.
Political junkie question of the day.
What do Dunedin North, Mangere Maungakiekie, Mt Albert, Rongotai, and the 7 Maori electorates have in common and why is this grim news for Labour?
2 hours and no one got it.
These are the only constituencies where National lost the Party Vote.
New Zealand is blue and will get even bluer.
Nope, you don’t get it – it’s no longer a two horse race an no party will be the sole inhabitant of government ever again.
No party has been the sole inhabitant of government for more than 20 years – National may have the numbers to be sole inhabitant in September but John Key will share government with willing support parties as he plans to win in 2017 and 2021 assuming we have a 4 year term by then.
National don’t like sharing power – that was why they took over Act. Sure, they still had to get UF and the mP on board but they knew that they’d be able to buy them up quite easily and that, once bought, they’d stay bought as the mP just proved.
Sure, I think davis is better than jones by a country mile but…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11243097
yeah don’t want to be an ‘unemployed bum’ do we – not for the ‘headhunted by jones’ davis who wants to be the electorate mp by beating Hone.
Sure, I think davis is better than jones by a country mile but…
…yes Davis needs to be open about what he stands for ..we need to get statements from him so he is on record
Shane chose him…this is a worry!…also that he worked for the Ministry of Education, which has been hopelessly compromised by its Minister and ACT private company lobbyists for Charter Schools
We dont want another new Trojan Horse in the Labour Party
Cunliffe’s job is hard enough as it is….. with all the old Rogernomes guard still unretired
My view, Davis stands for the Labour Party that represents the New Zealand middle class, full stop…
Has labour got so desperate that they have to have children protest.
Can they no longer find any adults to do their protesting.
Perhaps they are getting ready with twelve year olds to try and win the 2022 election.
Just saying.
I am a pensioner and this time my vote is with national.
[lprent: Looking at your email address, I’d have been surprised if you’d ever voted for anyone apart from National and/or Act.
In my experience, Labour and the left usually manages to turn out thousands for their larger protests when the right and National can usually turn out mere handfuls. So I’d suspect that the reason that children were turning out would probably have something to do with how whatever it is affects them.
However, putting a link or even a reference into the story you’re talking about would probably help people with understanding what you are indignant about. I currently have no idea and your comment gives no hint. Please try to do better next time.
Could someone help this guy out. ]
I don’t know whether anyone could help Jim47, given that he has obviously had 65 years to sort himself out, and this is the best he can do.
However, I think he is referring to the story mentioned above by both karol and bad12, regarding the egging of the PM’s car in Maraenui.
Jim47 seems to believe from this article that it was a Labour Party – day out holiday activity for the kiddies. Reading comprehension levels shown by his comment indicate that it is probably fairly unlikely that any written comment “helping him out” will do much to change his mind.
After all, his vote is with National.
Well put Molly, Jim47 is obviously an idiot by design or genetic irresponsibility on the part of other’s,
The kids involved in giving Slippery the Prime Minister ‘the message’ were all locals who fully understand what is happening as the PM and un-Housing Minister Smith re-arrange the deck chairs of the HousingNZ estate using the publicity of the mass media to mask the 20%–42.5 billion dollar asset sale they are attempting by flogging off the housing of the poorest in our communities,
The State Houses bowled over to make way for the ‘pensioner housing’ would have previously housed their cousins and friends so on whatever level they understand what is occurring understand it they do,
The only visible political presence at this protest,was that of the Mana Party…
Real important news as opposed to the Jones beat up.
Wonder what people think of Key and his crew as their mortgages rise.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11243323
Lolz the Bank Robbery of the century, with inflation at a miserly 1.5% the Reserve Bank Governor in an act of ”kill it befor it grows” kneecaps the economy and acts to profit the Trading Banks with windfall profits of billions of dollars in added interest payments…
Meh, mortgage rates rise and mortgage rates fall
When there’s no reason for them to have interest rates on at all. No loans should have interest on them.
+1
Even if some people aren’t concerned by the rise in interest rates, Stuff’s website shows one of its notorious polls, just putting its foot in the water for the elite, as it knows damn well that people struggling to pay their mortgages is electoral poison.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/
BTW The wording of these polls is appalling.
Will higher interest rates hurt you?
Yes, I’m not happy
No, I planned for them
Bring them on, I’m a saver
I disagree there Draco, assuming you are talking about NZ printing our own cash not continuing to borrow from the Central Banks.
If a 1% interest rate was levied on all loans from the Government to home owners, new business ventures etc, then that is another stable resource for making contributions to the UBI fund. Of course this is in addition to the % taken by the Robin hood Tax when the loan is made operational.
You’re still working with the false assumption that the government needs a source of income. It doesn’t. The repayment of a loan is nothing more than the removal of money that has been injected into the economy so as to maintain the apparent value of money.
Not sure I am completely clear on your endgame there Draco.
No taxes of any sort?
How does Government function without an income? Do Governments just print money with no controls at all? That is what the central Banks do now and look where that has gotten us.
How do roads get built?
How does Healthcare function?
Education?
Civil Defence?
Police and the Military ?? (if we still have to have them 🙂 )
I must be missing something obvious …
(no-job stress has me missing sleep, I know that much )
Yes money is a lie and interest compounds that lie.
Yes together they are a powerful force but it does not have to be a destructive force.
As I said, maybe I have misunderstood what you mean.
No, there’d still be taxes.
It’s not a question of functioning without an income but realising that taxes are solely the destruction of money already created and spent into the economy by government. And, yes, there would be rules.
The same way that they do now – by paying the people doing them.
(excuse the delay in responding Draco, I had stuff to do)
Originally you were talking about interest not being needed.
“When there’s no reason for them to have interest rates on at all. No loans should have interest on them.”
“The repayment of a loan is nothing more than the removal of money that has been injected into the economy so as to maintain the apparent value of money.”
You then seemed to shift the same idea onto taxes.
“realising that taxes are solely the destruction of money already created and spent into the economy by government”
In any economy, taxes and interest are not really the same thing.
“You’re still working with the false assumption that the government needs a source of income.” Taxes are Government income. As much as created or borrowed funds are.
The not repaying loans idea is pretty out there, I just do not see how an economy functions that way. Governments supply new money, check. It gets distributed into the economy via bank loans, mortgages etc, check. . . .and then what?
It just doesn’t get repaid ?
Good job I didn’t treat them as being the same then. Repayment of the loan does not include interest – that’s added on top in the present system and I’ve specifically said that loans won’t have interest.
Well, you certainly didn’t get that from me either. Nowhere did I say that the money wouldn’t be removed from the system afterwards. All, I’ve said is that there was no need of interest and that there shouldn’t be any interest charged. In fact, you even quoted the bit where I said it would be returned/removed/destroyed.
When Interest Rates are low, Key/English trumpet their clever stewardship.
When Interest Rates rise it is the independent Reserve Bank’s work.
Funny that?
You mean like Clark and Cullen when the global market was booming? Its what politicians do on both sides
Can’t recall Labour ever boasting about low interest rates but I can remember them saying that the interest rates weren’t up to them due to the RBNZ being independent and the rates were the result of the market. I don’t think many people bought it though as most were already starting to realise that the market was code for the rich getting richer at everyone else’s expense.
The OCR increasing 3% won’t just hurt those who already have mortgages, it will lock many middle income home buyers out of the market. Also, the amount of mortgagee auctions will likely continue to increase under this regime.
People having less money to spend will assuredly slow the economy, which is only showing signs of recovery because commodity prices have increased. Increased spending is a result of things costing more, not because people are buying more. A lack of competition in the retail sector will also effect the housing bubble in a bad way because people won’t be able to save for a deposit on their first home.
Along with the 20% lending criteria, an already slowing market and unprecedented overinflation, now is clearly not the right time to be locked into a mortgage. Such assets will not be liquid because many thousands of Kiwis will be trapped renting forever.
If some better policies aren’t implemented soon, homeowners and investors will start to lose equity and our housing stock will be further degraded. In the long run that won’t benefit anybody, not even the speculators.
If you prefer discussing the continuing evidence of climate change and our governments failure to amend our policies to avoid this, read this
http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/9973720/Taupo-sized-iceberg-B-31-on-the-move
Or you could talk to Pete about totaras..,..
“policies” have a very limited role in halting climate change when a centuries worth of built economic and logistical infrastructure of your entire country is predicated on fossil fuels.
I wonder what the rest of the Labour MPs are thinking about Jones leaving, I mean it must be pretty gutting knowing that National think that Jones is such a big threat that they create a job for him but for every other Labour MP theres nothing 🙂
Apparently, They didn’t think Jones was a big threat – they thought, and still think, of him as a good friend.
Of course he was a threat, waitakere man and all that. He was smart, spoke well and appealed to a cross-section of people and National took out one of Labours weapons
Well played National
Mostly to Labour as far as I could tell from his screwups.
Yeah of course because Jones was responsible for:
The baby bonus debacle
The power generation announcement dogs breakfast
Keys leafy suburb botch up
Cunliffes secret trusts
Nigella Lawson
Just as an example
National tr*lls for Shane Jones. You should make a T-shirt.
at this stage..p.r..
..it wd seem jones was the only(?) labour mp..in their pocket..
..’their’ man/mole in labour….
..and i am sure many labour mp’s are glad this embarassment has sprayed his way off the stage..
Wouldn’t be surprised if Shearer exits stage right.
Maybe sometime in June?
That’d be another plus for labour but I doubt if he will. He actually seems to want to do something about poverty unfortunately he still thinks capitalism can.
The only Labour MP deemed a threat, he probably could have gone toe to toe with Key in the debates but we’ll never know now
jones wouldn’t have gone ‘toe to toe’ with key..
..it’d be more lips (attached firmly) to arse…
..with key as the receiver..
Drivel, 5 and a half years of Opposition and all Jones has come out with is a rave about supermarkets which the Commerce Commission is likely to have the final say of ”nothing to see here folks”, on,
Jones is gone, good riddance, a waste of space in every sense of the word…
“The only Labour MP deemed a threat”
Yeah, but weirdly the govt and the PM’s office spend all their time attacking Cunliffe and the Greens.
🙄
Revisiting the Fossil Fuel company contributions to global warming printed by the Guardian some months ago (noted by a Standardista), and thought to have a look at what other graphics may have been produced.
They were working on an Open Corporates map, one that shows the complex web of company ownership and control on a global scale. One problem is that small countries often were the best locations for companies to operate from, and so would have too much overlap when plotting companies. Their solution: to upscale the country in a honeycomb fashion to indicate the company’s presence there.
I had a look at Goldman Sachs – on their live version which was produced in UK summer of 2013, and was surprised to the relative size of NZ.
(To see the chain of ownership, just hover over one of the companies (circles) on the map)
that’s an important/must-read link you have posted there molly…
We discover now that ACC, Collins, thinks people having accidents is a choice. We’ve understood for sometime now that Bennett believes people choose unemployment and under-employment. How
long is it before Key believes, like ACT, that proportionality is wrong in sentencing, and retrospective laws are all okay.
It beggars belief that any liberty loving citizen could vote for this far right government and not vomit in shame.
Referring to Jones, Mr Cunliffe stated that when a totara falls, other totara will grow in its place. Mr Parekura Horamia was a true totara. To me, Jones is no totara. In my opinion he has instead just shown himself to be a farterer creating bad stink.
Tumbleweed will never be totara..
Why you should NOT wear a red poppy
Far from apologizing, the RSA ran poems in its magazine praising this….
In late 1918, after the war had ended, New Zealand and Australian soldiers rounded up more than one hundred boys and men in the Palestinian village of Surafend, then methodically clubbed them to death…..
http://alh-research.tripod.com/Light_Horse/index.blog?topic_id=1115959
This is one of many reasons people should wear a red poppy.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/le-quesnoy/the-liberation-of-le-quesnoy.
Courage takes many forms , being a keyboard warrior isn’t one of them.
I asked my uncle about the first world war and he talked about the horses.
I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it was along the lines that they shot horses who were stuck or could no longer pull the guns and he thought it was wrong that animals who had nothing to do with the war were made to suffer and die, while men who could choose did the goading and the killing.
I don’t remember him going to Anzac Day Parades or wearing the red poppy, and he never showed me his medals.
Yep. Let us remember…the sheer brutality and utter inhumanity of outright warfare, where it is virtually always the civilians and the children who suffer the most egregious crimes.
Something calling itself “Blue” seemed just a tad bewildered the day before Anzac Day.
This is one of many reasons people should wear a red poppy.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/le-quesnoy/the-liberation-of-le-quesnoy.
My post was not about Le Quesnoy, it was about something altogether different: the rounding up and murder of more than one hundred unarmed men and boys in the village of Surafend. And the fact that the RSA’s magazine ran poems PRAISING the massacre.
Courage takes many forms , being a keyboard warrior isn’t one of them.
And rounding up civilians and battering them to death certainly is not courageous.
Or perhaps “Blue” thinks those Anzac murderers and the others who said nothing were courageous?
Blair’s anti-democratic tirade
by SEUMAS MILNE, The Guardian
Wednesday 23 April 2014
The neocons are back. That toxic blend of messianic warmongering abroad and McCarthyite witch-hunting at home – which gave us Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo and the London bombings – is coursing through our public life again. Yesterday the liberal interventionists’ hero, Tony Blair, was once more demanding military action against the “threat of radical Islam”.
Reprising the theme that guided him and George Bush through the deceit and carnage of the “war on terror”, the former prime minister took his crusade against “Islamism” on to a new plane. The west should, he demanded, make common cause with Russia and China to support those with a “modern” view against the tide of political Islam.
But he also demanded military intervention against Syria – backed by Russia – along with more “active measures” to help the armed opposition, which is dominated by Islamists and jihadists. It’s a crazy combination with an openly anti-democratic core: the Middle East peace envoy also warmly endorsed the Egyptian dictatorship, along with the repressive autocracies of the Gulf.
Quite why the views of a man whose military interventions in the Muslim world have been so widely discredited, who has been funded by the Kazakhstan dictator and is regarded by up to a third of the British public as a war criminal, should be treated with such attention by the media isn’t immediately obvious. But one reason is that they chime with those of a powerful section of the political and security establishment.
In Britain, the campaign against Islamist “extremism” is once again in full flow. In fact, it is open season on the Muslim community. For the past few weeks reports have multiplied about an alleged “Islamic plot”, code-named Operation Trojan Horse, to take control of 25 state schools in Birmingham and run them on strict religious principles.
The education secretary, Michael Gove, a long-time neoconservative supporter of Blair’s wars and Islamist witchfinder general, responded by sending in an army of inspectors to hunt down extremists and appointing….
Read more….
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/23/war-islamism-hatred-violence-blair-cameron-toxic
this blair/putin cartoon is on the money..
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-daily-cartoon-8117874.html?origin=internalSearch
So Jones is off to help the Pacific Islands exploit the fish that swim in “their” waters.
When is this organism – homo sapiens – going to understand that it does not have domain over
and automatic right to gather the creatures of the sea?
When are we going to realise that we can’t extract wealth from the environment without consequences?
The Treaty of Waitangi begs to differ
So you’ll be wanting to ban dolphins then?
No problem with people catching fish off the rocks but once they put to sea in boats …
I look forward to viewing your link showing where any cetacean comes ashore to pillage the land!
🙄
Roflcopter, what makes you think dolphins don’t have domain over
and automatic right to gather the creatures of the sea?
What a bizarre thing to suggest.
Just looking at ministerial expenses. Thanks No right turn. Why on earth doesn’t the NZ government have a blanket no alcohol policy. If you want to drink, you pay for it yourself. I’m sure other governments would be delighted to get their people back alcohol free.
For example Tim Grosser went to the Atlantic on the 9th Oct 13 for a “working dinner” food was $678 and drinks $433 the bulk of which was alcohol.How much much work was likely to be done when drinking.
And in New York he appears to be spending about $300 for three bottles of wine. And in July his P/S ( private secretary ) had lunch at the Circa Foggy Bottom. Near headquarters perhaps?
+1. MPs should lead then spread it right through government. They’re always looking to save money. Here’s an idea.
Apologies if it’s has already been noted (I haven’t been around for the last two days since the news of Jone’s departure has hit) but aren’t the right getting all frothy about it?
The RWNJ’s have come out from under their damp logs en masse to comment here, the media are spinning so hard that they could collectively, if connected to a generator power a large city (Just one example among many, from yesterday: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9968055/Jones-job-offer-not-shot-at-Labour-PM ) and the real life righties are agog.
The real life examples:
Discussion with visitor, a former ACT Party member and National voter on the topic of Shane Jone’s decision to leave, their view: ” I’m really disappointed, Shane Jones was the only decent down to earth one among the lot of them”…………Fine if you like misogynist corporate lobbyists, oh, right, you do………
And this little gem seen one an outdoor cafe blackboard in the Ohariu electorate: “Shane Jones: A loss to us all”. This guys’ not taking the piss. Its the same business owner that had “The jury is always right” written on his blackboard the day after Clint Rickards was not found guilty of rape in 2006 and once had a sign saying “if you don’t want to pay the surcharge on public holidays turn around and leave now”. (Touching that Jone’s inspired such sorrow in such a RWNJ’s heart)
What’s got them so ruffled? The prospect of a Labour Green led government advancing forward after 20th September, unencumbered by Jones, no longer there to “keep the Greenies in check”? I guess they are scared………….
“I guess they are scared………….”
I am very scared at the thought of the Greens anywhere near finance books. Labour near the books is not so bad but the Greens will wreck this country quicker then you can say green economy
Lol you PR. If you’re scared (of your imagination telling you “the Greens will wreck this country…) does that mean you have reason to expect that there will be a win for the Left and the Natz will be out?
“does that mean you have reason to expect that there will be a win for the Left and the Natz will be out?”
I expect National regain power (in fact I’d bet on it but most of the people on here are gutless so no one would take it) however a Labour/greens win is of course always a possibility
“..I am very scared..”
i hope you make sure to check under yr bed before retiring of an evening..
..just to be sure..!
I’d be more worried by these jokers remaining in power.
Gradually indebting the country to foreign interests.
And yet you slavishly support them pr.
Pathetic, really.
“Government debt has reached $60 billion, having climbed $27 million a day since John Key became prime minister – and forecasts show it will rise for years to come.
Despite tax revenue being higher than expected and expenses lower in recent months, Treasury figures show net Crown debt reached the highest yet at $60,015,000,000 at the end of September.
It already equates to 28 per cent of New Zealand’s economic output, is more than $13,000 for every person in New Zealand and is forecast to climb by another $10b by 2017.
When National took control of the Beehive in 2008, debt was just over $10b.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9380846/Public-debt-climbs-by-27m-a-day
I think it’s because they know that Labour is more electable without Jones in it.
Its not ruffled, its the right trying to spread dissent so that less people will vote for Labour with the end effect being National regaining power.
…because an approach of winning on merit just wouldn’t work for crap-policies-and-no-friends-National
….and spreading dissent is the only way they can get votes -that is by creating disharmony amongst us is it not?
‘Vote for National and have an increasingly divided country.’
Sounds about Right.
Great stuff National.
National in power is whats best for NZ so National will do what it needs to do to win, Labour will attempt to do what it needs to do to win (it will fail though)
Thats politics
‘Vote National – for a divided society’
“its the right trying to spread dissent so that less people will vote for Labour”
Aha! Which comes back to being scared. Or at least a bit anxious and uncomfortable about the possibility of a Left win, which you do admit above, could happen.
I expect it could happen too, especially if UF, ACT and Maori fail to prop up the Natz.
Yep Drax, they know and we know it. The brakes are off.
+100 DTB
Why does the side banner record the amount of sunshine? Seems banal.
Monkey clicky linky?
Is “joules per second” too hard for you, Fisiani? That why they make picture books and widgets. Now remember to use your manners and say thank you.
Odd – comment disappeared: wordpress says “looks like you’ve already said that” but still no sign of it.
In any case, click through the link in the banner for the explanation Fisi.
Or, the short explanation: that “joules/second” is too hard for some monkeys to grasp so we made this widget to help them.
sorry, couldnt reply to BM above. not all of us want to be rich, some of us like working for a wage, i enjoy my job. but that doesn’t mean i should get shit wages &/or job insecurity. there’s got to be a better way of structuring wealth & work, so people can earn decent wages & the bosses still get to buy their convertables for their latest barbie girl etc…
Yeah and it’s a curious one that the establishment applies to the teaching profession, particularly primary level. Apparently the meme is that individuals enter teaching for the love of it and not for the money. This has been twisted to, “We don’t have to pay them much because they do it for love.”
same with the aged care workers, & nurses i imagine, where a lot of work gets done not because they get paid for it but because they care, they will go the extra mile & help each other out. must run into the millions this unpaid work ppl do.
It’s pretty much across every sector. If you love you’re work you’ll get paid less and no employer will hire anybody who doesn’t love the work and they won’t hire you if you show no enthusiasm for working for the company either.
The ways and means of control are numerous.
I sent an email to David Cunliffe and am interested in his reply. I wanted to know what his motives are for repairing the Gisborne/Napier rail if elected. There are concerns among the locals in Gisborne that Labour are using this to get Napier votes. Many locals here feel he wants to take a piece of Gisborne’s booming forestry to create opportunities for Napier. Unfortunately for us, this means making Napier Port busy, creating large volumes of logs for them. It seems a cynical move by Labour, compounded by the fact Mr Cunliffe and Ms Mackey are silent on the issue, declaring they want to open up the Gisborne to Napier rail line without properly explaining how it will benefit Gisborne. I am a Labour voter but personally I agree with National (which I have never done before) that it is not viable enough and will cost millions to repair the damaged line. It also hits home as we are employees in the forestry industry here, the good wages help us enjoy a reasonable quality of life and we can give our kids opportunities. I hope Mr Cunliffe can assure us that our jobs and our Eastland Port are not at threat and will not be impacted by diverting logs directly to Napier, affecting employees whom service those logs here.
Napier port has far superior log handling and storage facilities than Gisborne. Major shipping lines actually stop in Napier. The rail line is no threat to the jobs from the forests.
The alternative of no rail line is all those logging trucks going onto the highway on High Volume trailer trucks – which is dangerous and expensive. That highway maintenance and safety cost falls on us taxpayers. By rail that cost falls where it should onto the logging companies.
Remember when there was a rail station and jobs in Gisborne? Time to bring those jobs back.