did anyone else go to ‘the spirit level’ lectures in ak this week..?
..takeaways..?
..and i wd urge those in regions south..
..to go and have defined for themselves..
..what actually needs to be done..
..(when they come to your town..1200 in ak is the target to beat..c’mon..!..you know you can see off the jafas..eh..?..
..i’m looking @ you..wellington..)
..as made by the authors..(to 1200 people in ak last nite..)..
..the case could not be clearer..
..(that was my takeaway..)
(..another sub-takeaway was the pointed comment from one of the authors..
..that the evidence clearly shows the last labour govt did virtually nothing to lessen the inequalites engendered by the rightwing-revolution/attack on the welfare state in the 1980’s..
..started by labour..and enthusiastically carried on by national..
..let’s hope they take all that blinding-evidence on board..
Had to have my nearly 20 year old dog put to sleep recently. I miss him so much. Dogs are wonderful companions and such trusting souls. Nice hearing about your dog Phil. Give Lucy a pat from me.
Armstrong praisies Labour & Cunliffe – sort of – as ong as they look like National Lite, and don’t, you know, return to its roots, advocate for the poor and struggling Kiwis. Cause according to Armstrong, there is no problem for those on low incomes.
A bit of a twist from Mr Armstrong. There is a positive mood shift. The announcement of Opposition Policies can now go ahead post-Budget and leaves National less time to counter any positive feedback that comes from those policies.
An old guy at a bus stop recently rambled on to me about the carelessness of young people today (litter in the streets). He then kind of back tracked and said his generation got criticised a lot by older people. then he said something about the hard times that are coming. I thought he was going to say something about an economic crash, and/or climate change. So I said, “Really?”. He then launched into a bit of a rant about the reports he’d read of conflict in an Avondale mosque, and how “those people” shouldn’t bring their fights to NZ.
First of all, do you mean anti-Muslim rhetoric in the sense of al-Qaeda etc, or anti-Muslim rhetoric against Muslim NZ citizens? I doubt they would the latter because there would be nothing to gained from it, and if you had regular contact with the NZ Muslim community you would soon find that, having minds of their own, and depending on whether they are Shia or Sunna, and depending on their country of origin, may very well agree with the newspaper article.
The author of the Daily piece seems to have an axe to grind with the NZMA that goes well beyond this single event.
Also I fail to see how desiring to keep foreign sectarian conflict out of New Zealand is in any way racist, prejudiced or even bad. It would be naive in the extreme to ignore what has happened in countries even more liberal than ours like Sweden and the Netherlands.
Well, it can often be hard to tell whether media beatups about (alleged) Muslim Jihads are motivated by Islamaphobia, but it does feed into fairly widely spread Islamophobia discourse.
The guy I talked to at the bus stop was explicitly anti-Islam.
Yes, that was the story I mentioned before which you had already posted. The author appears to have an agenda against the NZMA.
I doubt xenophobic old coots are indicative of much – they’ve been around forever.
. The present dominant affect of anxiety is also known as precarity. Precarity is a type of insecurity which treats people as disposable so as to impose control. Precarity differs from misery in that the necessities of life are not simply absent. They are available, but withheld conditionally.
For many young job-starters the lack of job security and unclear future careers must contribute to this precarity. Being on contracts where you only work when the manager needs you in the unholy name of “flexibility” must hurt.
Hooton believes that we only work well if scared. Well, that’s of course depends, if we are already wealthy then we do best being over paid. And if anyone says otherwise they are mean, raging, envious, and hate filled. So speaks the pure petulant voice of the right.
Thanks. It’s thought provoking, and I tend to agree with the basic premis: that capitalism stimulates resisistance, then capitalism reacts to neutralise the resistance…. then a new form of resistance forms.
However, I think the periodised labels for each phase of resistance is pretty superficial – and US-based. Bored people in the 60s, tended to be amongst the more middle classes – and white and male. As they also state, there was always anxiety around sexuality – well that would include most women, and anyone who didn’t conform to sexual norms.
Anxiety now, would be more likely to be those in the middle incomes/wealth brackets – the most precarious have lives of daily struggle.
For ages I’ve been trying to put into words what is going wrong with trying to taking any kind of group action – the paralysis of the current age that he describes and the reasons for it. His analysis of this state and how we find ourselves here is an outstanding overview.
The only collective action that I’ve been involved in that hasn’t been seriously infected with it has been something I’ve been doing with a group of very well off middle-class people who are mostly a long way off precarious compared to people like me (though of course they are affected, just not infected). I’ve felt such a sense of frustration at this project powering ahead while just about every other collective action I’ve tried has floundered or limped meekly along without achieving anything much beyond just continuing to exist. Treading water, yet important causes and outstanding people rendered powerless.
edit: Embarrassed by my unthinking sexism in ascribing the article a male writer.
On Kim Hill’s Saturday Morning show today Harriet Sergeant was pontificating about the significance of the UKIP vote in local government elections in Britain. It made me feel ill – the more so because of the sycophantic way Hill treated this rightwing ideologue.
On the RNZ website Sergeant’s self description from her website was reproduced verbatim –
“a journalist, author and Research Fellow of the Centre for Policy Studies, an independent Think Tank…”
Instead of simply repeating Sergeant’s self-description, they should have mentioned that the Centre for Policy Studies is a right wing, neoliberal policy think tank which claims to be non-partisan but which has strong historical links to the British Conservative Party.
Unless, of course, Hill was deliberately trying to present a well known rightwing ideologue as a politically neutral researcher/commentator.
I emailed RNZ about this and it was not read out but Hill did mention the fact that the CPS has historical links to the Tory Party – having been set up by Thatcher.
Acknowledgement of having been caught out on sloppy research at best and political bias at worst would have been good but at least the record was set straight to some extent.
Yes TWW I too thought that the fact that she was from a right wing think tank should have been made clear, though that became obvious when she gave her analysis.
She lumped Milliband in with Cameron and Clegg, where in fact he is not a public school toff like them but went to a comprehensive.
I also hated the way she dished public education in the UK (snotty), and the way she made out Farage, a right-wing populist, was a good guy. Show me the policies Farage.
She also failed to mention that if these poll results were replicated next year Labour would be likely to get elected without the need for a coalition partner. Like the rest of the Tory press she had written her analysis before Labour’s good results in London came in.
Was pleased to see Hammersmith and Fulham won back from the tories, the 11 seats won taking them to a 26 – 20 majority.
Now at least I have something to cheer about Fulham this year.
Cameron’s favourite, so I read. Can Imagine a few being sunk tonight on the broadways.
Enjoy the ride, ours got us a few minutes away from a penalty shoot out for the ueffa cup, and rid of that bizarre MJ statue.
I don’t care too much, just as long as Derby beat QPR. Looking forward to an easy six pointer next term 😉
Its common place to see moderate progressives of the left matched with right-wing revolutionary conservative types who peddle the extremism which their opponents have not the time or language to deconstruct. When growth was assured (cheap energy trending lower) the right got more extreme and stupid. It was easy living for parasites, to argue for more nothing and claim victory when achieved, and so much work kicking the poor, unions, communities.
We will have high taxes on the rich again, since we cannot afford to leave people in precarity where their time is spent getting by rather than growing the economy.
The rebuttal to the surgeon who is dealing with women who are facing ongoing and debilitating issues, was “Associate Professor Malcolm Frazer – The urogynaecology spokesperson for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the immediate past vice chair of the Urogynaecological Society of Australasia.”
No mention of the fact that he derives income from other sources such as:
“Declaration of interest
Malcolm Frazer holds contracts as a preceptor for Johnson & Johnson Gynecare as well as American Medical Systems mesh products for which he receives a fee. He has received financial support from both organisations to attend scientific conferences as an invited lecturer.”
This declaration of interest can be found on one of his articles on the benefits of surgical mesh that he continues to write, and get income from the company that is undergoing a class action suit.
That would provide clarity to the discussion. I haven’t listened to the whole interview, but understand that National Women’s have stopped using this mesh because of the complications, and are keeping on the QT. ACC is continuing to refuse payment and treatment to those who have had complications from these mesh implants.
In reference to the latest sensationalist article in the NZ Herald, no one declared ‘jihad’ at the security guard. What actually happened is that the security guard was smoking inside (which is against the law) and walking in the mosque with shoes on, something that is unacceptable in a mosque (similar to a marae). When someone told him that he shouldn’t be doing that, the security guard made up a story about threats of jihad to take attention away from him disrespecting the mosque
Meanwhile, as the Immigration Service ordered the deportation of all four nannies employed to look after the couple’s five children, dotcon says “”The nannies are crying. They are completely destroyed,”
Why did kim not employ NZ nannies? Maybe hone can help find some kiwi staff for the mega mansion as part of the keep it New Zealand campaign. That would be great move to reduce unemployment and show his coalition partner has a handle on poverty in his adopted (for a little bit longer at least) country.
“Or why not look after their own kids instead of paying someone else to bring them up.”
Indeed, or better still, government makes it an option to pay one parent to stay at home to raise babies while the other works.
“I think that the twins are autistic so they need extra care which is what less wealthy parents of autistic would desperately need and wish for.”
Sad indictment on this country if we don’t have suitably qualified staff to do that good work.
And right, less well off parents could do with the help. Hope the next government will grant the wish.
You don’t know that “local labour is more than capable of doing” the role at all – you just suppose it – for instance we (generally) only know one language (english) here – could it be that they may have wanted a german speaking nanny? I don’t know but i’d allow for the possibility, certainly before adding this tidbit to the stack of ammunition used to attack dotcom, Hone and Mana.
I also think that many kiwi nannies around the world wouldn’t be too fussed with your foreign labour angle.
No, not bitter, more a black comedy observation on the mismatch in interests here. Only nanny I ever knew was Mary Poppins and my nan, who in fact introduced me to her one Saturday movie matinee afternoon back in the early 70s.
As for my status, I don’t know for sure. I’ll cheer anything with a lion or a rose on it, but most of the time I’ve assimilated quite well. I bred with a local woman and got married and had a child born here, who holds a NZ passport in her name, just like her mother, her grandmother and her great grandmother.
Mostly I consider myself, after 13 years on the good waka Aotearoa as one of the crew, but sometimes it’s not just the flow of the ocean lapping at the hull where I find resistance.
Legally, my 10 year passport with my permanent residency silver dollar stickers ran out 4 years ago, I found out I was a shoe in for citizenship, and though a little affronted at not only being asked to pay near 5 hundy membership fee, despite 14 years of A ok service and going 50% in a fantastic little kiwi chick, I’m comfortable in the knowledge I didn’t sink 50 grand into Bank’s campaign fund after hearing from the horses mouth it was to keep it secret and anonymous, or if believed, 200k, I didn’t get it because I needed a little red box audio interface box of magic (though sadly it hasn’t made my cathatic musical musings any easier to listen to).
As for Hone, I mean him no ill, and though I’m no politician, robust debate should come as nothing new to him. He even built his career on it, so no harm done. That’s why I’, not bothered by the bitter thing. I wouldn’t read that much into it.
Happy to concede it could be the delivery and style.
You’re all good, Mars, eh. See, even talking like you lot now, though you’ll have to imagine it coming in a less put on Michael Caine sort of way).
Well I for one am pleased you are here adding your bit to the cause.
I probably am oversensitive with the comedy – my father was english and, well, to be truthful, we didn’t get on very well – coloured me rotten that did, tainted me.
Half lion heart, that’ll account for the being up for it bit 😆
Wrong person to speak to about tainted as I’m quite sure there are a few who’s opinion on my place of birth has altered for the negative through meeting me and not always with justification, but then that could say more about them than I. I’m too busy paddling and keeping one eye on the bailing bucket not the life raft to take it all to heart.
lol perhaps it does account for me being an obnoxious, argumentative bastard sometimes, perhaps not – we are all made up of many strands of whakapapa, many connections and that is common to every single one of us on this planet (not counting aliens of course)
If you really want to know why they didn’t employ NZ nannies, why not send him an email and ask? There could be any number of reasons.
I also don’t think that Hone acting as an employment agency for the mansion would do much at all to reduce unemployment. Did you make this stuff up yourself, or get it from WhaleSpew?
Thought of it myself and sadsack’s opinions have never interested me one bit. If anything I should be accused of envy politics about how money buys hired help while those without have sod all, and that’s hardly wo material.
Like stated, a black comedy observation on the bizarre nature of the political union.
And in an opinion dedicated forum of my peers. How dare I? lol
Hey Phil don’t judge Sue Morony by 5 minutes on the Nation, she is not the enemy my friend.
Compared to most of the LP MP’s, Sue has the lowest income earners firmly in mind. I’ve known her since we were in our early 20’s when she was fighting the fight as a young Union organiser. She has never faultered from that fight, not once. I credit Moroney for unseating Shearer as Leader and fighting to get Labour back Left. First you have to gain power to make the nessasary social changes. Like many I detest the ‘middle vote rhetoric’ however it’s all about mopping up soft votes. There is enough dog whistling to the low income group from Labour to attract the vote. Remember Matt McCarten is ‘monitoring the noise level.’
You sit back and relax as you do, the Red Dragon is steady on a Left course. Let us do the hard work and you reap the rewards of our hard toil.
..i am just expressing my dismay at no clear policies from labour to help the worst off..
..(and i am aware of moroneys’ placement in the ideological-rainbow that is labour..)
..and y’know..’once bitten etc..’..eh..?..( the last labour govt..they promised to end neo-liberalism to get elected..then did nothing..
..so..y’know..!..my concerns do have some grounding in fact/history..eh..?
..and i am just pointing out that there is a vacuum there..
..and with mana/internet party offering concrete-policies to deal to inequality/the gross-poverty-stricken society we have become..since that rightwing-revolution in the 80’s..
.it is to them those missing-million voters will turn..
..which..as a mana voter..suits me..
..but i have my commentary-hat on when i warn you of this..
Pity Brendon Who’s insipid smoking gun used against Winston this week was so lacking in substance ae Phillip, if there was a knotted noose evident anywhere in Brendon Who’s allegations we might have seen a repetition of 2008 for NZFirst which would have clarified ‘options’ greatly,
Specially If as i suspect, an alliance of Mana/Internet would produce a resultant 3–4% of the party vote for that entity…
Fair enough Phil. The problem is many Lefties like yourself and I turned off Labour in disgust, dating back to the treachery of Douglas & Prebble. It allowed the Right within the party to hold sway, reflected in their candidate/MP selections. The bottom straw was Goff taking the leadership, I walked in protest (after 4 years) and only came back after his dismissal. I realise you can only make change from within.
Referring to Mana, I believe they are about to make a huge mistake by aligning with The Inernet Party. Dotcom isstarting to look like the shady character that he is, and lets face it had he not got busted he would probably have been quite happy to be donating to the ACT party.
How do you defend a man who in a recent interview has the opinion that Government needs ‘less regulations.’ Now how can a political party like Mana entertain forming any arrangement with a Party that’s founder his this neo-liberal ideology.
Bradford has understandably balked at any suggestion of joining forces. What the heck is Minto thinking? And you for that matter? Hone having got to know him is a alpha male type fuckwit who I can see getting rolled by Kelvin Davis if the merger happens? Outside of Bradford, Annette Sykes I have a fair bit of time for, however she is weak by not fronting the their alpha ape Leader. Sykes has a great chance of unseating Favell, however Labour look like fucking that up by throat slitting the candidate vote. The Left fail to grasp howto play MMP, or should I say refuse to bend and work as a team.
And I’m with Bradford on being wary of the Internet Party – which is pretty much KDC’s baby. I need more than a few election-focused policies. I would need to see how the party operates if they gets any MPs.
My vote will go to the Greens – I have more of an idea of what I’m getting, and more info about the consistency of their underlying values – such values will inform how any MP operates when they are faced with new situations once in government.
This is my choice, others may make a different choice.
Bradford has string left principles – it’s not about getting votes by compromising on principles.
Bradford has also said that it takes longer to build a movement – as she sees Mana – not just as a party. She has said something about linking to the Internet Party as a short cut that, ultimately will not help build a strong movement.
I am surprised you cannot see the potential problems of being linked with the Internet Party if they don’t support left wing policies once in the House; that you can’t see the concerns about linking with a pretty unknown quantity politically.
But, whatever – I prefer to go with those with a track record that I feel I can trust.
What does that mean? – because it sounds quite offensive to me and if my interpretation is correct then you can get fucked you pretend-insider arsehole but I could have it wrong and if so then all the words after ‘because’ can be disregarded.
Tax cuts would do a fat load of good for those on low incomes. A lot less then a wage hike would be for? Plus it will leave less for things like health and education.
”My major claims are that 10% of those who have or do use tobacco products and have a Lung Cancer at any time is not a reliable statistic which shows cause and effect when 90% of the users of the same product never have a Lung Cancer at any time”,
And,
”IF 50% of those who have ever used tobacco products will die of either Cancer or Heart Disease, SO WHAT, even treated in the most kind manner the statistics show that 49% of people who have never used tobacco products will also die of a Cancer or Heart disease”,
The reply to the Moot:
”As i said, you’ve got no fucken evidence to refute decades of evidence from the actual people who know what they’re talking about”,
Now that is what i call a really compelling argument that 90% of those who have ever used tobacco products WILL NOT develop Lung Cancer therefor using tobacco products is the cause of 10% of such users developing Lung Cancer,
An unsustainable suspect ‘statistic i would suggest, and as for have ‘No evidence’, Pfft, theres this,
”The Welcome Trust Sanger Institutes cancer genome project is lead jointly by Professor Mike Stratton and Dr Peter Campbell”,
”All cancers occur due to abnormalities in the DNA sequence. Cancer affects people at all ages with risks for most cancer types increasing with age”
That to me simply says that the 10% those who develop Lung Cancer and have smoked have a specific genetic anomaly and the 90% who have smoked and never develop a Lung Cancer do not have that same genetic anomaly,
The proof of my little assertion there will be when the studies of the genome become advanced enough where they compare the genome of smokers who did not develop Lung Cancer with those that did,(i have yet to come across such a study but such research is still in its infancy),
Cancers occur when mistakes occur in cell replication at a genetic level, across all cancers, smokers/never smoked there is one point 60–70 years of age that is the commonality,
Contrary views are that as industrialized tobacco production and therefor higher rates of tobacco use occurred in the previous century rates of all cancers increased does not explain the increase in the rates of cancer for those who never smoked whereas the age at which we live to also increased during the latter part of the previous century,
In the future genetic science will identify exactly which gene(s) are at the center of the mistakes in cell reproduction which produce cancers and hopefully find a means of stopping those mistakes occurring…
According to the Dr Tashkin you linked us all to last week Phillip, your dope smoking has you well on the way to developing cancerous growths in your airways,
No need to switch to the ciggies my friend, just roll another spliff…
The Nation on TV3 today had a very good segment on Inequality fronted by the authors of the Spirit level. They are well spoken, fair and intelligent experts on the subject, in contrast to the ‘critic’ in the panel, Hooton, who pretends to be some sort of expert on everything with his pretty useless low level comments. Boring and completely biased commentator. Waste of time trying to listen to his ‘expert’ views!
Indeed. I mean the idea that CEO’s would notice some slashing to their incomes would effect
them, but their employees who could be paid more would not notice, was totally missed on him.
Despite being the whole point of inequality at its heart. Hooton is a very smart moron.
Hooton was totally shown up on the subject, and it showed by his usual ‘selective narrative’ I laughed as the interviewer/host quickly shot poor old ‘snake oil’ salesman Matthew down over his 20% company tax claim.
The highlight was the Hosts introduction of Hooton ‘former National Party staffer’ oh did you see Hooton wince, such pain being described as a ‘has been.’
I bet poor old Matty is currently sitting at a bar alone in Ponsonby Rd, on the sauce half sozzled by now, after making a nuisance of himself drunkenly rambling of better days gone by when he use to be someone within National.
So what does inequality look like? Well the richest
would be able to pay their taxes, who pay more of the
tax base as inequality grows. Housing would become
scarce as the poorest couldn’t afford new houses
(leave for OZ, live more to a home, rent in decaying homes), demand
for decades would fall, and housing prices would rise
further pushing more people out.
Let’s understand The Rich do not pay taxes, not the way trusts are set up in NZ. One of the highest on the Rich List is wont to boast he owns nothing, earns nothing … all safely taken care of by Queen Street accountants in family trusts. I think it is the greatest rort of them all, and should be challenged and changed.
Exactly yeshe! I bet a dollar that in spite of being very rich John Key would pay minimal tax. A wage/salary earner cannot avoid but Trusts of the wealthy hide billions.
crosby textors tactics against an nz milk brand revealled today by a whistleblower. stuff article very clearly states key and national use and have close links with crosby textor.
Edit: BTW, that article says Phillip Morris is one of the corporates that helps pay C-T’s bills. Apparently advising political parties doesn’t bring much money for them.
Edit: BTW, that article says Phillip Morris is one of the corporates that helps pay C-T’s bills. Apparently advising political parties doesn’t bring much money directly for them.
Just for accuracy.
A strong Tory neoliberal government will always lead to a more permissive environment for corporates and the 1% i.e. the CT client base.
Thus CT will be very busy advising corporates on how to effectively lobby government, lobby political parties and lobby MPs. In such activities CT can therefore also truthfully claim that they ‘don’t advise political parties very much.’
hopefully those who feel precious about our diarying, like judith collins (just joking), will see the strategy referred to here and assume they do the same for other clients like key and national. perhaps why fairfax wanted to water down the john key lies, article ahead of this one.
“those who feel precious about our dairying, like judith collins (just joking)”
I laughed on a couple of levels. The oravida politics bit and because Judith, more and more, looks like the hi-de-hi camp comedian’s butt of the joke, silly old cow mother-in-law.
Lighten’s a miserable Saturday afternoon with a two for one special.
At the crux of any prejudice is the idea that “I” am different, separate and, ultimately “superior”. To live with this delusion, we must keep ourselves apart from those we believe “inferior”.
Because it’s at the centre of the divide between rich and poor.
At the same time as the Abbott govt and it’s coalition partner are squabbling about how to dismantle the previous Labour govt intitiatives on climate change:
If Sydney’s balmy late autumn feels unusual, there’s a good reason.
If the mercury reaches at least 23 degrees on Saturday – 25 is forecast – Sydney will post its longest warm spell in records going back to 1910, says Sarah Perkins, a leading heatwave expert at the University of NSW.
Sydney’s 25.1 degrees on Friday matched the previous longest heatwave – defined as at least three consecutive days in the warmest 10 per cent for each date – of seven days set in August 1995. Including Saturday, that burst could stretch to at least 14 days.
”It’s actually quite scary, especially if it lasts for two weeks – that’s incredible,” Dr Perkins said.
”That’s blitzing records.”
Australia’s program to rein in pollution is losing momentum, the latest in a series of setbacks for the international effort to tackle global warming.
With the highest per-capita fossil fuel emissions among industrial countries, Australia’s participation in United Nations-led climate talks is seen as crucial to sway China and India to step up pollution controls even as conditions in developed nations worsen.
Now, Australia’s environmental stance is undergoing an about-face as the country’s new coalition government and its political opponents haggle over the best way to dismantle earlier regulations.
The shift in Australia comes just ahead of a series of global climate talks set for later this year. The UN is aiming to craft an agreement in 2015 that would include 190 nations.
The remarkable thing is how deeply unpopular Abbott has made himself in just 8 short months. It’s almost at the point where the backbench revolt is going to force Joe Hockey into a deeply embarrassing U-turn on some Budget measures.
But Abbott is a soft-target for my anger and despair. The truth is taking effect action against climate change is not the kind of thing democracies are good at imposing on an unenthusiastic population. If we thought telling them not to spank their kiddies was fraught – trying to take their cars off them (even if just symbolically), and all the other changes implied by real action – is going to be way, way harder.
JMG has taken a well-earned break from his series of remarkable essays, but the last two are to my mind the climax of the entire body of work:
We didn’t make that collective choice when it still could have made a difference: when peak oil was still decades in the future, anthropogenic climate change hadn’t yet begun to destabilize the planet’s ice sheets and weather patterns, and the variables that define the crisis of our age—depletion rates, CO2 concentrations, global population, and the rest of them—were a good deal less overwhelming than they’ve now become. As The Limits to Growth pointed out more than four decades ago, any effort to extract industrial civilization from the trap it made for itself had to get under way long before the jaws of that trap began to bite, because the rising economic burden inflicted by the ongoing depletion of nonrenewable resources and the impacts of pollution and ecosystem degradation were eating away at the surplus wealth needed to meet the costs of the transition to sustainability.
That prediction has now become our reality. Grandiose visions of vast renewable-energy buildouts and geoengineering projects on a global scale, of the kind being hawked so ebulliently these days by the prophets of eternal business as usual, fit awkwardly with the reality that a great many industrial nations can no longer afford to maintain basic infrastructures or to keep large and growing fractions of their populations from sliding into desperate poverty. The choice that I discussed in last week’s post, reduced to its hard economic bones, was whether we were going to put what remained of our stock of fossil fuels and other nonrenewable resources into maintaining our current standard of living for a while longer, or whether we were going to put it into building a livable world for our grandchildren.
The great majority of us chose the first option, and insisting at the top of our lungs that of course we could have both did nothing to keep the second from slipping away into the realm of might-have-beens. The political will to make the changes and accept the sacrifices that would be required to do anything else went missing in action in the 1980s and hasn’t been seen since. That’s the trap that was hidden in the crisis of our age: while the costs of transition were still small enough that we could have met them without major sacrifice, the consequences of inaction were still far enough in the future that most people could pretend they weren’t there; by the time the consequences were hard to ignore, the costs of transition had become too great for most people to accept—and not too long after that, they had become too great to be met at all. .
The remarkable thing is how deeply unpopular Abbott has made himself in just 8 short months. It’s almost at the point where the backbench revolt is going to force Joe Hockey into a deeply embarrassing U-turn on some Budget measures.
Sweet F.A. people wanted Abbott as PM, and that’s even including Coalition supporters. But Labour made themselves totally toxic, so that’s what you get.
The truth is taking effect action against climate change is not the kind of thing democracies are good at imposing on an unenthusiastic population
While true in many ways, Labor/Rudd got voted in on a clear carbon trading scheme/climate change action platform. Giving in to corporate and factional pressure fucked Australian Labor in the eyes of the electorate and their polls dived.
The lesson being – electorates are often far more progressive than politicians who sound brave and forward thinking on the campaign trail, but rapidly become risk averse and befuddled when under the sway of lobbyists and factional considerations after taking office.
It is really great to use the net to catch up on programs. This Native Affairs program is awesome and covers really interesting subjects that are important in this election year.
The titford stuff shows the underlying agenda of a few racist, big moneyed men and women. They have an agenda!!!!! It is the same agenda that they use for everything and it is designed to help them gain more influence and money. It is not a coincidence that a lot of them used to be and often still are, ‘in’ political parties. These moneyed people are trying both overtly and covertly to ‘own’ this country, set the agenda and, as I have said, gain influence and money – and with the election coming up they will be and are, up to their usual tricks. They are scum. They create illusion, distrust and division. They are working hard right now to implement their agenda. Be awake and aware – if not, they will trample you, your family and everything/everyone you believe in and hold dear, to make an extra dollar.
We had plenty of feedback about this story both for and against Allan Titford. However it’s the people behind him and their political agendas that have come under scrutiny.
Native Affairs was contacted by several supporters of Alan Titford about our story including Ross Baker from the One NZ Foundation.
When we invited him to appear this evening he declined because he lives in Australia. Muriel Newman, Mickael John Winkel, and Martin Doutre also declined.
Joining Mihingarangi Forbes to discuss this is Treaty gate blogger John Ansell and treaty lawyer and Mana Party President Annette Sykes.
”28.5 teaspoons of sugar in one jar of ”Chicken tonight” sweet and sour simmer sauce”, Source–Herald online,
At a time when we as a country are faced with an epidemic of type 2 diabetes the use of such obscene amounts of sugar in products should not be tolerated,
The world health organization has just lowered its recommended daily sugar intake to 6 teaspoons max and four people dining on a dinner containing the whole jar of the product highlighted by the Herald-online would be already over that recommendation without taking into account anything else any of them had ate during the rest of the day…
and four people dining on a dinner containing the whole jar
I seriously doubt if the whole jar would be used. Certainly not in any meal I make – I only use two desert spoons full in each serving of stir-fry that I make.
At a time when we as a country are faced with an epidemic of type 2 diabetes the use of such obscene amounts of sugar in products should not be tolerated,
Manufacturers use large amounts of salt, sugar and flavour enhancer (MSG) to disguise how poor quality and tasteless the base ingredients in their products are.
National’s policy of looking at whole of life spending is reaping huge benefits for those involved. A 20 year old on a benefit at age 20 currently spends another 20 years on a benefit. National have arranged mentors to assist young people to get off a benefit and into employment or training. This is expensive up front but well worthwhile in the long term. There is less crime and thus less imprisonment thus saving incarceration costs. Area by area the public service is looking at ways to reduce spending in future years. Compare this with the lolly scramble mentality of Labour that splashes money without regard to outcomes.
I haven’t mentioned Green or Mana policies. I don’t read joke books. The scary thing is that such nutbars would be Ministers in a Cunliffe led government. Sadly a collection of losers can trump the first place getter. That’s why first place has to be over 50%.
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, 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. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
did anyone else go to ‘the spirit level’ lectures in ak this week..?
..takeaways..?
..and i wd urge those in regions south..
..to go and have defined for themselves..
..what actually needs to be done..
..(when they come to your town..1200 in ak is the target to beat..c’mon..!..you know you can see off the jafas..eh..?..
..i’m looking @ you..wellington..)
..as made by the authors..(to 1200 people in ak last nite..)..
..the case could not be clearer..
..(that was my takeaway..)
(..another sub-takeaway was the pointed comment from one of the authors..
..that the evidence clearly shows the last labour govt did virtually nothing to lessen the inequalites engendered by the rightwing-revolution/attack on the welfare state in the 1980’s..
..started by labour..and enthusiastically carried on by national..
..let’s hope they take all that blinding-evidence on board..
..and do better next time..
..eh..?..)
apropos of not much..
..my 16 yr old dog..(her name is lucy..)..is lying on her foam squab…just behind me..(within arms’ reach..)..
..she is covered by her ‘banky’..and has her head resting on her pillow..
..and she is wagging her tail..
..as i drop pieces of toast smeared with peanut butter and jam – into her mouth..
..(it’s a thing we do..and that all cheers me no end..)
cheers me too, Phillip ! 🙂
Had to have my nearly 20 year old dog put to sleep recently. I miss him so much. Dogs are wonderful companions and such trusting souls. Nice hearing about your dog Phil. Give Lucy a pat from me.
@ belladonna..
..sorry to hear about yr dog..
..a dread i have to (not) look forward too..
..this is pretty cool..
..and will confirm what you already know..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/22/dogs-feelings_n_5374334.html
one of mine is in my lap and the other lies beside me with a paw on my thigh. i understand your bond.
Synthetic cannabis fuelling Yemen’s terrorism ? Some revealing stats in this story …
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/23/how-synthetic-weed-fuels-yemen-s-terrorism.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_morning&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_morning&utm_term=Cheat%20Sheet
Armstrong praisies Labour & Cunliffe – sort of – as ong as they look like National Lite, and don’t, you know, return to its roots, advocate for the poor and struggling Kiwis. Cause according to Armstrong, there is no problem for those on low incomes.
A bit of a twist from Mr Armstrong. There is a positive mood shift. The announcement of Opposition Policies can now go ahead post-Budget and leaves National less time to counter any positive feedback that comes from those policies.
The nats will also be talking up anti-Muslim rhetoric.
An old guy at a bus stop recently rambled on to me about the carelessness of young people today (litter in the streets). He then kind of back tracked and said his generation got criticised a lot by older people. then he said something about the hard times that are coming. I thought he was going to say something about an economic crash, and/or climate change. So I said, “Really?”. He then launched into a bit of a rant about the reports he’d read of conflict in an Avondale mosque, and how “those people” shouldn’t bring their fights to NZ.
First of all, do you mean anti-Muslim rhetoric in the sense of al-Qaeda etc, or anti-Muslim rhetoric against Muslim NZ citizens? I doubt they would the latter because there would be nothing to gained from it, and if you had regular contact with the NZ Muslim community you would soon find that, having minds of their own, and depending on whether they are Shia or Sunna, and depending on their country of origin, may very well agree with the newspaper article.
The author of the Daily piece seems to have an axe to grind with the NZMA that goes well beyond this single event.
Also I fail to see how desiring to keep foreign sectarian conflict out of New Zealand is in any way racist, prejudiced or even bad. It would be naive in the extreme to ignore what has happened in countries even more liberal than ours like Sweden and the Netherlands.
Well, it can often be hard to tell whether media beatups about (alleged) Muslim Jihads are motivated by Islamaphobia, but it does feed into fairly widely spread Islamophobia discourse.
The guy I talked to at the bus stop was explicitly anti-Islam.
Martyn Bradbury also has included in his post today, repsonses from someone else from the Muslim community. It certainly shows that there is a pretty one-sided view being presented in the MSM.
Yes, that was the story I mentioned before which you had already posted. The author appears to have an agenda against the NZMA.
I doubt xenophobic old coots are indicative of much – they’ve been around forever.
Hmm…
. The present dominant affect of anxiety is also known as precarity. Precarity is a type of insecurity which treats people as disposable so as to impose control. Precarity differs from misery in that the necessities of life are not simply absent. They are available, but withheld conditionally.
http://www.weareplanc.org/we-are-all-very-anxious/
For many young job-starters the lack of job security and unclear future careers must contribute to this precarity. Being on contracts where you only work when the manager needs you in the unholy name of “flexibility” must hurt.
Hooton believes that we only work well if scared. Well, that’s of course depends, if we are already wealthy then we do best being over paid. And if anyone says otherwise they are mean, raging, envious, and hate filled. So speaks the pure petulant voice of the right.
+1
The mindset of feudal lords, slave drivers and tyrants
Thanks. It’s thought provoking, and I tend to agree with the basic premis: that capitalism stimulates resisistance, then capitalism reacts to neutralise the resistance…. then a new form of resistance forms.
However, I think the periodised labels for each phase of resistance is pretty superficial – and US-based. Bored people in the 60s, tended to be amongst the more middle classes – and white and male. As they also state, there was always anxiety around sexuality – well that would include most women, and anyone who didn’t conform to sexual norms.
Anxiety now, would be more likely to be those in the middle incomes/wealth brackets – the most precarious have lives of daily struggle.
I agree karol – and thanks joe for the fabulous linky love as always.
I’m off to have a long read of that entire planc site. At first glance it’s the most intriuguing thing I’ve seen in ages.
Thanks Joe90
For ages I’ve been trying to put into words what is going wrong with trying to taking any kind of group action – the paralysis of the current age that he describes and the reasons for it. His analysis of this state and how we find ourselves here is an outstanding overview.
The only collective action that I’ve been involved in that hasn’t been seriously infected with it has been something I’ve been doing with a group of very well off middle-class people who are mostly a long way off precarious compared to people like me (though of course they are affected, just not infected). I’ve felt such a sense of frustration at this project powering ahead while just about every other collective action I’ve tried has floundered or limped meekly along without achieving anything much beyond just continuing to exist. Treading water, yet important causes and outstanding people rendered powerless.
edit: Embarrassed by my unthinking sexism in ascribing the article a male writer.
On Kim Hill’s Saturday Morning show today Harriet Sergeant was pontificating about the significance of the UKIP vote in local government elections in Britain. It made me feel ill – the more so because of the sycophantic way Hill treated this rightwing ideologue.
On the RNZ website Sergeant’s self description from her website was reproduced verbatim –
“a journalist, author and Research Fellow of the Centre for Policy Studies, an independent Think Tank…”
Instead of simply repeating Sergeant’s self-description, they should have mentioned that the Centre for Policy Studies is a right wing, neoliberal policy think tank which claims to be non-partisan but which has strong historical links to the British Conservative Party.
Unless, of course, Hill was deliberately trying to present a well known rightwing ideologue as a politically neutral researcher/commentator.
I emailed RNZ about this and it was not read out but Hill did mention the fact that the CPS has historical links to the Tory Party – having been set up by Thatcher.
Acknowledgement of having been caught out on sloppy research at best and political bias at worst would have been good but at least the record was set straight to some extent.
They do this the whole time.
Farrar is never described as a National Party pollster.
+1 Paul
“Farrar is never described as a National Party pollster.”
I’ll just leave these here…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503459&objectid=11254285
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5069779/Anti-MMP-plan-leaked
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2594442/political-observers-weigh-in-on-williamson-resignation
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8717357/Seriously-happy-to-upset-the-status-quo
(And there are many more, FYI)
Yes TWW I too thought that the fact that she was from a right wing think tank should have been made clear, though that became obvious when she gave her analysis.
She lumped Milliband in with Cameron and Clegg, where in fact he is not a public school toff like them but went to a comprehensive.
I also hated the way she dished public education in the UK (snotty), and the way she made out Farage, a right-wing populist, was a good guy. Show me the policies Farage.
She also failed to mention that if these poll results were replicated next year Labour would be likely to get elected without the need for a coalition partner. Like the rest of the Tory press she had written her analysis before Labour’s good results in London came in.
Was pleased to see Hammersmith and Fulham won back from the tories, the 11 seats won taking them to a 26 – 20 majority.
Now at least I have something to cheer about Fulham this year.
Yes TA great result in H and F-a Tory flagship council.
As a Burnley fan you will appreciate I’m cheering on two counts.
Cameron’s favourite, so I read. Can Imagine a few being sunk tonight on the broadways.
Enjoy the ride, ours got us a few minutes away from a penalty shoot out for the ueffa cup, and rid of that bizarre MJ statue.
I don’t care too much, just as long as Derby beat QPR. Looking forward to an easy six pointer next term 😉
Its common place to see moderate progressives of the left matched with right-wing revolutionary conservative types who peddle the extremism which their opponents have not the time or language to deconstruct. When growth was assured (cheap energy trending lower) the right got more extreme and stupid. It was easy living for parasites, to argue for more nothing and claim victory when achieved, and so much work kicking the poor, unions, communities.
We will have high taxes on the rich again, since we cannot afford to leave people in precarity where their time is spent getting by rather than growing the economy.
Similar story with the discussion on surgical mesh a couple of days ago – on Radio NZ.
The rebuttal to the surgeon who is dealing with women who are facing ongoing and debilitating issues, was “Associate Professor Malcolm Frazer – The urogynaecology spokesperson for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the immediate past vice chair of the Urogynaecological Society of Australasia.”
No mention of the fact that he derives income from other sources such as:
“Declaration of interest
Malcolm Frazer holds contracts as a preceptor for Johnson & Johnson Gynecare as well as American Medical Systems mesh products for which he receives a fee. He has received financial support from both organisations to attend scientific conferences as an invited lecturer.”
This declaration of interest can be found on one of his articles on the benefits of surgical mesh that he continues to write, and get income from the company that is undergoing a class action suit.
That would provide clarity to the discussion. I haven’t listened to the whole interview, but understand that National Women’s have stopped using this mesh because of the complications, and are keeping on the QT. ACC is continuing to refuse payment and treatment to those who have had complications from these mesh implants.
Dammit yes, she should have thrown tea cakes at him and set fire to herself in protest
Seems the NZH only told one side of the story and it appears they even got that wrong http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/24/the-truth-behind-the-avondale-mosque-stand-off/
I’m not sure that anti-NZMA screed is all that accurate either
This will be a litmus test of NZ’s clean green credentials.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/animals/news/article.cfm?c_id=500834&objectid=11257720
moroney seems to have just confirmed that labour will be doing nothing for many of the poorest..
..when asked specifically..
..she said that labour would give benificiary-families the $60 p.w tax credit..
..and raise minimum-wage to $15..
..nothing for the poorest/homeless/single unemployed..
..s.f.a…
..and for the very first time.. i had to agree with a part of a sentence from e.t.-impersonter colin craig..
..when he advocated tax cuts for the poorest..
.(.to end the bizarre ritual of taxing the unemployment-benefit..for starters..w.t.f. is the/any logic in that ..?..
..call taxing benefits for what it is..
..cutting benefits..)
..moroney shied away from that idea like a startled-horse..
Meanwhile, as the Immigration Service ordered the deportation of all four nannies employed to look after the couple’s five children, dotcon says “”The nannies are crying. They are completely destroyed,”
Why did kim not employ NZ nannies? Maybe hone can help find some kiwi staff for the mega mansion as part of the keep it New Zealand campaign. That would be great move to reduce unemployment and show his coalition partner has a handle on poverty in his adopted (for a little bit longer at least) country.
Or why not look after their own kids instead of paying someone else to bring them up.
Child neglect is common at both ends of town from the looks of it.
I think that the twins are autistic so they need extra care which is what less wealthy parents of autistic would desperately need and wish for.
“Or why not look after their own kids instead of paying someone else to bring them up.”
Indeed, or better still, government makes it an option to pay one parent to stay at home to raise babies while the other works.
“I think that the twins are autistic so they need extra care which is what less wealthy parents of autistic would desperately need and wish for.”
Sad indictment on this country if we don’t have suitably qualified staff to do that good work.
And right, less well off parents could do with the help. Hope the next government will grant the wish.
They were probably crying because he pays shit
200k offered to Banks, so that proves you get what you pay for.
“Why did kim not employ NZ nannies?”
My gods you sound bitter allen – got your wee jibes into Hone and Mana as well as Kim. How is your status here different to his?
It’s a fair point. Why import foreign labour to do what local labour is more than capable of doing?
You don’t know that “local labour is more than capable of doing” the role at all – you just suppose it – for instance we (generally) only know one language (english) here – could it be that they may have wanted a german speaking nanny? I don’t know but i’d allow for the possibility, certainly before adding this tidbit to the stack of ammunition used to attack dotcom, Hone and Mana.
I also think that many kiwi nannies around the world wouldn’t be too fussed with your foreign labour angle.
Hello Marty
No, not bitter, more a black comedy observation on the mismatch in interests here. Only nanny I ever knew was Mary Poppins and my nan, who in fact introduced me to her one Saturday movie matinee afternoon back in the early 70s.
As for my status, I don’t know for sure. I’ll cheer anything with a lion or a rose on it, but most of the time I’ve assimilated quite well. I bred with a local woman and got married and had a child born here, who holds a NZ passport in her name, just like her mother, her grandmother and her great grandmother.
Mostly I consider myself, after 13 years on the good waka Aotearoa as one of the crew, but sometimes it’s not just the flow of the ocean lapping at the hull where I find resistance.
Legally, my 10 year passport with my permanent residency silver dollar stickers ran out 4 years ago, I found out I was a shoe in for citizenship, and though a little affronted at not only being asked to pay near 5 hundy membership fee, despite 14 years of A ok service and going 50% in a fantastic little kiwi chick, I’m comfortable in the knowledge I didn’t sink 50 grand into Bank’s campaign fund after hearing from the horses mouth it was to keep it secret and anonymous, or if believed, 200k, I didn’t get it because I needed a little red box audio interface box of magic (though sadly it hasn’t made my cathatic musical musings any easier to listen to).
As for Hone, I mean him no ill, and though I’m no politician, robust debate should come as nothing new to him. He even built his career on it, so no harm done. That’s why I’, not bothered by the bitter thing. I wouldn’t read that much into it.
Happy to concede it could be the delivery and style.
You’re all good, Mars, eh. See, even talking like you lot now, though you’ll have to imagine it coming in a less put on Michael Caine sort of way).
Well I for one am pleased you are here adding your bit to the cause.
I probably am oversensitive with the comedy – my father was english and, well, to be truthful, we didn’t get on very well – coloured me rotten that did, tainted me.
Half lion heart, that’ll account for the being up for it bit 😆
Wrong person to speak to about tainted as I’m quite sure there are a few who’s opinion on my place of birth has altered for the negative through meeting me and not always with justification, but then that could say more about them than I. I’m too busy paddling and keeping one eye on the bailing bucket not the life raft to take it all to heart.
lol perhaps it does account for me being an obnoxious, argumentative bastard sometimes, perhaps not – we are all made up of many strands of whakapapa, many connections and that is common to every single one of us on this planet (not counting aliens of course)
Nah, how it works for al1ens too, and all the better for it.
If you really want to know why they didn’t employ NZ nannies, why not send him an email and ask? There could be any number of reasons.
I also don’t think that Hone acting as an employment agency for the mansion would do much at all to reduce unemployment. Did you make this stuff up yourself, or get it from WhaleSpew?
Thought of it myself and sadsack’s opinions have never interested me one bit. If anything I should be accused of envy politics about how money buys hired help while those without have sod all, and that’s hardly wo material.
Like stated, a black comedy observation on the bizarre nature of the political union.
And in an opinion dedicated forum of my peers. How dare I? lol
Hey Phil don’t judge Sue Morony by 5 minutes on the Nation, she is not the enemy my friend.
Compared to most of the LP MP’s, Sue has the lowest income earners firmly in mind. I’ve known her since we were in our early 20’s when she was fighting the fight as a young Union organiser. She has never faultered from that fight, not once. I credit Moroney for unseating Shearer as Leader and fighting to get Labour back Left. First you have to gain power to make the nessasary social changes. Like many I detest the ‘middle vote rhetoric’ however it’s all about mopping up soft votes. There is enough dog whistling to the low income group from Labour to attract the vote. Remember Matt McCarten is ‘monitoring the noise level.’
You sit back and relax as you do, the Red Dragon is steady on a Left course. Let us do the hard work and you reap the rewards of our hard toil.
@ skinny..
..i am not attacking moroney..
..i am just expressing my dismay at no clear policies from labour to help the worst off..
..(and i am aware of moroneys’ placement in the ideological-rainbow that is labour..)
..and y’know..’once bitten etc..’..eh..?..( the last labour govt..they promised to end neo-liberalism to get elected..then did nothing..
..so..y’know..!..my concerns do have some grounding in fact/history..eh..?
..and i am just pointing out that there is a vacuum there..
..and with mana/internet party offering concrete-policies to deal to inequality/the gross-poverty-stricken society we have become..since that rightwing-revolution in the 80’s..
.it is to them those missing-million voters will turn..
..which..as a mana voter..suits me..
..but i have my commentary-hat on when i warn you of this..
Pity Brendon Who’s insipid smoking gun used against Winston this week was so lacking in substance ae Phillip, if there was a knotted noose evident anywhere in Brendon Who’s allegations we might have seen a repetition of 2008 for NZFirst which would have clarified ‘options’ greatly,
Specially If as i suspect, an alliance of Mana/Internet would produce a resultant 3–4% of the party vote for that entity…
Fair enough Phil. The problem is many Lefties like yourself and I turned off Labour in disgust, dating back to the treachery of Douglas & Prebble. It allowed the Right within the party to hold sway, reflected in their candidate/MP selections. The bottom straw was Goff taking the leadership, I walked in protest (after 4 years) and only came back after his dismissal. I realise you can only make change from within.
Referring to Mana, I believe they are about to make a huge mistake by aligning with The Inernet Party. Dotcom isstarting to look like the shady character that he is, and lets face it had he not got busted he would probably have been quite happy to be donating to the ACT party.
How do you defend a man who in a recent interview has the opinion that Government needs ‘less regulations.’ Now how can a political party like Mana entertain forming any arrangement with a Party that’s founder his this neo-liberal ideology.
Bradford has understandably balked at any suggestion of joining forces. What the heck is Minto thinking? And you for that matter? Hone having got to know him is a alpha male type fuckwit who I can see getting rolled by Kelvin Davis if the merger happens? Outside of Bradford, Annette Sykes I have a fair bit of time for, however she is weak by not fronting the their alpha ape Leader. Sykes has a great chance of unseating Favell, however Labour look like fucking that up by throat slitting the candidate vote. The Left fail to grasp howto play MMP, or should I say refuse to bend and work as a team.
working backwards..
“..The Left fail to grasp howto play MMP, or should I say refuse to bend and work as a team..”
i agree..
“..Now how can a political party like Mana entertain forming any arrangement with a Party that’s founder his this neo-liberal ideology..”
..i understand that mana has no problems with the internet party policies..
..so they can’t be that ‘neo-iberal’..
“..Bradford has understandably balked at any suggestion of joining forces..”
an aspect of bradfords’ objections puzzles me..(in fact i have never heard/seen her actual objections detailed..)
..in that she was part of the alliance..a ,mix of 5 parties..including social credit..
..next to that..this hook-up looks simple..
..and i don’t agree with yr ‘mistake’ ..call..
..and i made a prediction this morning..and the reasons for..
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/come-my-revolution-the-apathetic-will-get-their-say-commentwhoar-what-percentage-of-the-vote-will-the-mana-partyinternet-party-get-i-make-a-call-and-for-why/
Interesting read Phil, 10% way out there on that one. 2.5% is a good result 3% outstanding.
skinny..they are getting that result now..
..before the campaigning has even started…
..you can’t see a good..nay..inspirational..campaign..
..(aimed at those non-voters/missing million voters..)
..piling 5% on top of that..?
..i can..
Really, phil? You haven’t looked very far if you haven’t seen/heard Sue Bradford state her objections.
And I’m with Bradford on being wary of the Internet Party – which is pretty much KDC’s baby. I need more than a few election-focused policies. I would need to see how the party operates if they gets any MPs.
My vote will go to the Greens – I have more of an idea of what I’m getting, and more info about the consistency of their underlying values – such values will inform how any MP operates when they are faced with new situations once in government.
This is my choice, others may make a different choice.
@ karol..
..i read yr link..
..and i am still left with the question..
..what are the logical/rational reasons why mana and internet parties should not do an alliance-lite deal to fight this election..?
..all i can see is that he is rich..has a criminal record from when young..
..that he gave banks some money..
..and i am surprised that bradford cannot see the possibilty of the internet party standing alone..getting..say..4.5% of the vote..
..and if that happened..those anti-govt votes would be wasted..
..i am puzzled that bradford cannot see this:..
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/original-whoar-cartoon-why-the-mana-party-and-the-internet-party-should-coalesce/
Bradford has string left principles – it’s not about getting votes by compromising on principles.
Bradford has also said that it takes longer to build a movement – as she sees Mana – not just as a party. She has said something about linking to the Internet Party as a short cut that, ultimately will not help build a strong movement.
I am surprised you cannot see the potential problems of being linked with the Internet Party if they don’t support left wing policies once in the House; that you can’t see the concerns about linking with a pretty unknown quantity politically.
But, whatever – I prefer to go with those with a track record that I feel I can trust.
“..Bradford has also said that it takes longer to build a movement ..”
yes..well..
it’s been how many years..?
..and the /movement’ wasn’t even registering 1% support..
..i feel the urgencies to fix what is broken/get rid of these rightwing bastards..
.. is more important than an individuals niceties about how it ‘should’ be done..
..especially when that way has been so glacial in growth/outcomes..
..we don’t have the luxury of that time to wait..
..seriously..!..i see no rational thought/logic in that argument..
..’tis a nonsense..
..i joined the mana party when it first started..because i saw the mana party as the best vehicle for the changes i want to see..
..i don’t want mana to be one percent..or less..
..i want them in parliament..kicking arse..
“by not fronting the their alpha ape Leader”
What does that mean? – because it sounds quite offensive to me and if my interpretation is correct then you can get fucked you pretend-insider arsehole but I could have it wrong and if so then all the words after ‘because’ can be disregarded.
No, there’s no logic in it but if you take that to it’s logical end then there’s no point in taxing any government employees income.
Tax cuts would do a fat load of good for those on low incomes. A lot less then a wage hike would be for? Plus it will leave less for things like health and education.
And does Craig really favour cutting the MW?
what can you mean..?
..a tax-free threshold of..say..$15-$20,000..as part of a multi-faceted ending-poverty program of legislation..
..will most certainly ‘help those on low incomes’..
..and how to pay for it..?
..for starters..treasury did research that showed that a small financial transaction tax on inter-bank interactions..
..would raise enough money to be able to do away with gst altogether..
..as i said..’for starters’..
..it’s all just a matter of changed/different priorities..
..eh..?
an episode of tv so bad it sets a new benchmark..
..the guy from the civilian..and gower..trying to do a comedy-routine..
..it is gobsmackingly awful…
‘hoots’ hooten sets his own new benchmark..
..after scoffing at/scorning any calls to end inequality..
..he pleads ‘to end the inequality of our companies paying a higher corporate tax than norway’..(!)
..(he seemed quite sincere..quivering lower-lip and all..
..he had me reaching for the tissues..on this/heir behalf..)’
homage to mathew hootON! graham chapman
http://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=X0DqEdaVEBg
Armed only with their bodily fluids, members of a rack Public Films commando unit attacked and successfully desecrated a right-wing monument in South Auckland yesterday:
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2014/05/honouring-obelisk.html
The Moot:
”My major claims are that 10% of those who have or do use tobacco products and have a Lung Cancer at any time is not a reliable statistic which shows cause and effect when 90% of the users of the same product never have a Lung Cancer at any time”,
And,
”IF 50% of those who have ever used tobacco products will die of either Cancer or Heart Disease, SO WHAT, even treated in the most kind manner the statistics show that 49% of people who have never used tobacco products will also die of a Cancer or Heart disease”,
The reply to the Moot:
”As i said, you’ve got no fucken evidence to refute decades of evidence from the actual people who know what they’re talking about”,
Now that is what i call a really compelling argument that 90% of those who have ever used tobacco products WILL NOT develop Lung Cancer therefor using tobacco products is the cause of 10% of such users developing Lung Cancer,
An unsustainable suspect ‘statistic i would suggest, and as for have ‘No evidence’, Pfft, theres this,
http://www.sanger.ac.uk/research/projects/cancergenome/
”The Welcome Trust Sanger Institutes cancer genome project is lead jointly by Professor Mike Stratton and Dr Peter Campbell”,
”All cancers occur due to abnormalities in the DNA sequence. Cancer affects people at all ages with risks for most cancer types increasing with age”
That to me simply says that the 10% those who develop Lung Cancer and have smoked have a specific genetic anomaly and the 90% who have smoked and never develop a Lung Cancer do not have that same genetic anomaly,
The proof of my little assertion there will be when the studies of the genome become advanced enough where they compare the genome of smokers who did not develop Lung Cancer with those that did,(i have yet to come across such a study but such research is still in its infancy),
Cancers occur when mistakes occur in cell replication at a genetic level, across all cancers, smokers/never smoked there is one point 60–70 years of age that is the commonality,
Contrary views are that as industrialized tobacco production and therefor higher rates of tobacco use occurred in the previous century rates of all cancers increased does not explain the increase in the rates of cancer for those who never smoked whereas the age at which we live to also increased during the latter part of the previous century,
In the future genetic science will identify exactly which gene(s) are at the center of the mistakes in cell reproduction which produce cancers and hopefully find a means of stopping those mistakes occurring…
well..that’s me convinced..!
..i’m off to buy a packet of marlboro..and an ashtray..
According to the Dr Tashkin you linked us all to last week Phillip, your dope smoking has you well on the way to developing cancerous growths in your airways,
No need to switch to the ciggies my friend, just roll another spliff…
The Nation on TV3 today had a very good segment on Inequality fronted by the authors of the Spirit level. They are well spoken, fair and intelligent experts on the subject, in contrast to the ‘critic’ in the panel, Hooton, who pretends to be some sort of expert on everything with his pretty useless low level comments. Boring and completely biased commentator. Waste of time trying to listen to his ‘expert’ views!
Indeed. I mean the idea that CEO’s would notice some slashing to their incomes would effect
them, but their employees who could be paid more would not notice, was totally missed on him.
Despite being the whole point of inequality at its heart. Hooton is a very smart moron.
Hooton was totally shown up on the subject, and it showed by his usual ‘selective narrative’ I laughed as the interviewer/host quickly shot poor old ‘snake oil’ salesman Matthew down over his 20% company tax claim.
The highlight was the Hosts introduction of Hooton ‘former National Party staffer’ oh did you see Hooton wince, such pain being described as a ‘has been.’
I bet poor old Matty is currently sitting at a bar alone in Ponsonby Rd, on the sauce half sozzled by now, after making a nuisance of himself drunkenly rambling of better days gone by when he use to be someone within National.
at antoines surely, for pre opening drinkies
Ha ha that sounds about right Tracey.
So what does inequality look like? Well the richest
would be able to pay their taxes, who pay more of the
tax base as inequality grows. Housing would become
scarce as the poorest couldn’t afford new houses
(leave for OZ, live more to a home, rent in decaying homes), demand
for decades would fall, and housing prices would rise
further pushing more people out.
Of course, no inequality in NZ say Key.
Let’s understand The Rich do not pay taxes, not the way trusts are set up in NZ. One of the highest on the Rich List is wont to boast he owns nothing, earns nothing … all safely taken care of by Queen Street accountants in family trusts. I think it is the greatest rort of them all, and should be challenged and changed.
+111
Exactly yeshe! I bet a dollar that in spite of being very rich John Key would pay minimal tax. A wage/salary earner cannot avoid but Trusts of the wealthy hide billions.
crosby textors tactics against an nz milk brand revealled today by a whistleblower. stuff article very clearly states key and national use and have close links with crosby textor.
read online at stuff
Thanks.
The links between Key National and Crosby Textor or have been in the public domain for a long time, and owned by key & National.
Evidence of this particular campaign is new – and it also reveals something of CT’s strategies.
Also written about in Aussie’s The Age.
Edit: BTW, that article says Phillip Morris is one of the corporates that helps pay C-T’s bills. Apparently advising political parties doesn’t bring much money for them.
Karol .. the CT/Phillip Morris link might explain the sudden emergence of those new Nat candidates freshly stinking from the smoking lobby.
Just for accuracy.
A strong Tory neoliberal government will always lead to a more permissive environment for corporates and the 1% i.e. the CT client base.
Thus CT will be very busy advising corporates on how to effectively lobby government, lobby political parties and lobby MPs. In such activities CT can therefore also truthfully claim that they ‘don’t advise political parties very much.’
It’s just more sophistry and spin of course.
didnt a well known professional lobbyist hautily write recently he doesnt work for political parties… as if stating he doesnt influence politics.
It’s like a parallel universe where these people think they are so smart and that the rest of us all came down in the last sun shower.
hopefully those who feel precious about our diarying, like judith collins (just joking), will see the strategy referred to here and assume they do the same for other clients like key and national. perhaps why fairfax wanted to water down the john key lies, article ahead of this one.
“those who feel precious about our dairying, like judith collins (just joking)”
I laughed on a couple of levels. The oravida politics bit and because Judith, more and more, looks like the hi-de-hi camp comedian’s butt of the joke, silly old cow mother-in-law.
Lighten’s a miserable Saturday afternoon with a two for one special.
the Minister for Dairies
And a play on words for the third, Judith’s dairy sells a range of illegal lows
Autism and Human Rights
This is the bit that stood out to me:
Because it’s at the centre of the divide between rich and poor.
And a large part of it is simply a moralistic, self righteous division of self-exaltation.
BTW both the Right and the Left do this.
At the same time as the Abbott govt and it’s coalition partner are squabbling about how to dismantle the previous Labour govt intitiatives on climate change:
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/climate-angst-rises-with-record-temperatures-20140523-38uek.html#ixzz32b0f78j3
Auckland’s autumn has been pretty balmy this year as well. Hardly need any heating at all, except maybe if I’m still up later at night/early hours.
Also, this from Bloomberg News, on Stuff.
The remarkable thing is how deeply unpopular Abbott has made himself in just 8 short months. It’s almost at the point where the backbench revolt is going to force Joe Hockey into a deeply embarrassing U-turn on some Budget measures.
But Abbott is a soft-target for my anger and despair. The truth is taking effect action against climate change is not the kind of thing democracies are good at imposing on an unenthusiastic population. If we thought telling them not to spank their kiddies was fraught – trying to take their cars off them (even if just symbolically), and all the other changes implied by real action – is going to be way, way harder.
JMG has taken a well-earned break from his series of remarkable essays, but the last two are to my mind the climax of the entire body of work:
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/the-time-of-seedbearers.html
Sweet F.A. people wanted Abbott as PM, and that’s even including Coalition supporters. But Labour made themselves totally toxic, so that’s what you get.
While true in many ways, Labor/Rudd got voted in on a clear carbon trading scheme/climate change action platform. Giving in to corporate and factional pressure fucked Australian Labor in the eyes of the electorate and their polls dived.
The lesson being – electorates are often far more progressive than politicians who sound brave and forward thinking on the campaign trail, but rapidly become risk averse and befuddled when under the sway of lobbyists and factional considerations after taking office.
Video of storm moving in across Dunedin Harbour.
Yeah it was quite something
Money creation and the nz economy
A slideshow showing the illogic and irrationality of our monetary system.
It is really great to use the net to catch up on programs. This Native Affairs program is awesome and covers really interesting subjects that are important in this election year.
The titford stuff shows the underlying agenda of a few racist, big moneyed men and women. They have an agenda!!!!! It is the same agenda that they use for everything and it is designed to help them gain more influence and money. It is not a coincidence that a lot of them used to be and often still are, ‘in’ political parties. These moneyed people are trying both overtly and covertly to ‘own’ this country, set the agenda and, as I have said, gain influence and money – and with the election coming up they will be and are, up to their usual tricks. They are scum. They create illusion, distrust and division. They are working hard right now to implement their agenda. Be awake and aware – if not, they will trample you, your family and everything/everyone you believe in and hold dear, to make an extra dollar.
http://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/native-affairs/S08E010/native-affairs
and the follow up
http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/national/native-affairs-tall-tales
”28.5 teaspoons of sugar in one jar of ”Chicken tonight” sweet and sour simmer sauce”, Source–Herald online,
At a time when we as a country are faced with an epidemic of type 2 diabetes the use of such obscene amounts of sugar in products should not be tolerated,
The world health organization has just lowered its recommended daily sugar intake to 6 teaspoons max and four people dining on a dinner containing the whole jar of the product highlighted by the Herald-online would be already over that recommendation without taking into account anything else any of them had ate during the rest of the day…
I seriously doubt if the whole jar would be used. Certainly not in any meal I make – I only use two desert spoons full in each serving of stir-fry that I make.
Manufacturers use large amounts of salt, sugar and flavour enhancer (MSG) to disguise how poor quality and tasteless the base ingredients in their products are.
National’s policy of looking at whole of life spending is reaping huge benefits for those involved. A 20 year old on a benefit at age 20 currently spends another 20 years on a benefit. National have arranged mentors to assist young people to get off a benefit and into employment or training. This is expensive up front but well worthwhile in the long term. There is less crime and thus less imprisonment thus saving incarceration costs. Area by area the public service is looking at ways to reduce spending in future years. Compare this with the lolly scramble mentality of Labour that splashes money without regard to outcomes.
Compare this with the lolly scramble mentality of Labour that splashes money without regard to outcomes.
Citations needed.
How about spending more money on health and getting less operations.
That’s not a citation. Try again.
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/record-numbers-elective-surgery
Open to debate. And Annette King adds to the criticism. And was behind recommendations that never got picked up.
And you still haven’t presented any citations about Labour’s policies with respect to getting people into jobs.
Here’s a clue.
And another.
And you haven’t mentioned the Greens or Mana policies, either.
I haven’t mentioned Green or Mana policies. I don’t read joke books. The scary thing is that such nutbars would be Ministers in a Cunliffe led government. Sadly a collection of losers can trump the first place getter. That’s why first place has to be over 50%.
No, you read delusional ones. That’s why a) you have no sense of humour and b) believe everything that National says.
Don’t bother DtB. fisi is a pet troll we keep around because it’s kind of cute how he cares enough to keep pestering us all these years …..