There has been a lots of reports recently about how the oceans have been acting as a heat sink for all the excess heat in the atmosphere caused by global warming. This heat sink effect has slowed the rise in temperature of the atmosphere. But what has been the affect in the oceans?
Warmer water holds less oxygen. The tropics are actually extreme environments for fish. Though tropical waters support many brilliant and exotic species, When it comes to actual biomass. The biomass density of the tropics are not anything like the huge marine biomass supported by the oxygen rich cold waters of the temperate and polar regions.
A study carried out by the Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia and published in the prestigious Nature magazine, has revealed that fish are on the move, away from warmer waters, to colder waters.
French Scientist Daniel Pauly, project leader for the study is interviewed by Kathryn Ryan.
In the past the problem of overfishing has been addressed by all sorts of complicated international agreements and treaties. But the movement of fish stocks is creating all sorts of political problems for the management of fisheries which could see the collapse of all previous agreements.
In the North Atlantic, between Norway and Iceland for example, there was an agreement to share the mackerel fishery, in what was called a “straddling stock” fishery. What happened was that the mackerel moved into the waters of Iceland and the sharing agreement didn’t apply anymore. (8:00 minutes)
It looks likely that this kind of thing will happen more and more. This is creating a temptation to tear up all international agreements over fish stock management and strip mine the fishery before it moves to your neighbors territory.
In West Africa. In Senegal the fishery is moving to the north and into the waters of Mauritania. The temptation for Senegal is to take as much as they can before they lose it.
The management of global fish stocks are being affected.
In the North Pacific the stock of pollock, (which is the biggest fishery in the world). The US Alaskan pollock fishery is moving gradually towards Russia. (9:00 minutes)
The question is, What will the US do, when their fishery moves into the waters of another country, and a political rival at that?
Some fish of course, are so adapted to their local environment, salinity, certain types of reef, or food source, of a certain kind, that they can’t move, these sorts of fisheries are just simply in decline. (7:00 minutes in.)
Many fish species will not make the change. In the tropics fisheries are moving away and won’t be replaced. As with other, effects of climate change, sea level rise, and storm surges, the cruelty of climate change will impact many people in the third world already hard hit by the other effects of climate change particularly hard.
Of course as well as absorbing the excess heat, the seas have also been absorbing a lot of the excess CO2, leading to acidification of the oceans. But that is a whole other kettle of fish.
In gwyn dyers book ‘climate wars’ he details the department of the US govt, created under bush the elder i think, that runs scenarios on the land version of this which would see huge population shift across borders in search of workable land and food.
The CIA has said for some time that climate change is the greatest threat to stability (i.e., no wars). Of course, whether that filters down into constructive political action is a roll of the dice.
As is my habit I don’t like to just lay out the problem. Though it may get me into trouble, I like to suggest solutions.
Climate Change is not something that will happen in the far future. It is happening now.
As we begin to witness the destruction and cruelties visited by climate change.
New Zealand has a role to play, maybe a major one.
The problems are obvious the need to act is immediate.
This requires leadership. As in 1939 as the world witnessed the cruelties visited by fascism. It required just one island country to stand up and say, “no more”. “We will fight”.
In France which had one of biggest armies in Europe and would have well been able to stop the Nazis. There was not that same leadership. French Prime MinisterPetain who had been a military hero in the First world war, capitulated to the Nazis without a fight.
We are a global witness to the cruelties visited by climate change. We need a Churchill and not a Petain. We don’t need a leader who was a hero in the UN but is now a silent calculating political collaborator with the supporters of climate change. Preparing to surrender over deep sea oil drilling and major coal mine expansion.
To face the threat of climate change the country needs a Churchill not a Petain. Could David Cunliffe be that Churchill?
Maybe.
So far David Cunliffe is the only Labour parliamentarian to properly address the threat posed by climate change.
Like Churchill, Cunliffe has been banished to the back seats for his pains.
He should not let this silence him.
The leader is not the one who has the title, the leader is the one who gives the lead.
If he wants to lead, he needs to show it. David Cunliffe needs to start speaking out now on the biggest threat humanity has faced since fascism.
Churchill spent 10 years in the wilderness. He never shut up about the dangers of fascism. Hopefully Cunliffe will only spend months on the back benches. But he needs to start speaking up now.
Responding to the lack of leadership at the top of his party, Winstone Churchill led from the back benches, David Cunliffe should start doing the same.
Cunliffe should not see his demotion from official leadership position as a setbback but as an opportunity to speak freely.
“Churchill’s efforts through the wilderness years had shown the importance of independent voices in a highly controlled political environment” (p8). Churchill, through his position, was able to bring concerns into the public arena that might otherwise have been drowned out in the mood of appeasement and pacifism of 1930s Britain.
(Dumped into moderation again, I see. I wonder if the censor will let me out?)
Jenny
So far it seems not. Oh well. Off to work. It is raining and dreary. I hope the rest of my day goes better and the censor has relented by the time I get back.
For those interested. The comment held back, is on leadership and climate change.
Climate change wars date back to 1967, probably much earlier.
Israeli government documents have been released that show the June 1967 Six Day War had been in the planning stages for years. Its goal was to control the Jordan River, Israel’s source of fresh water.
The Golan Heights are the source of the Jordan. Taking the West bank from Jordan gave them control of both sides of the river.
At the time there tons of propaganda about how the Arabs were threatening Israel and theirs were preventive first strikes. All pure b.s. It was planned as a war to secure water. They achieved their objective.
“It is understood Mr Shearer had been looking for a suitable political adviser for some time, and asked Mold to return because of concerns Labour was struggling with its political management since her departure.”
Has David Shearer got a mirror. “Labour was struggling with its political management since her departure….” This stubborn fool fails to have the self awareness that he is fucking up the hopes of the Left of getting rid of this abysmal John Key government. Clearly National have 3 strategies for growth 1) Earthquakes 2) Dairy farming (Commodities, no control) 3)Now they seem to have added Auckland Housing (this should eventually create a bubble that NZ managed to avoid in the first GFC).
You have to admit that although Shearer is absolutely hopeless he must be mentally tough because if I’d read as much criticism about myself has he has had to endure, I would be balling my eyes out lying in the fetal position. He is either mentally tough or he has John Keys narcissism and self confidence without his political ability…
This stubborn fool fails to have the self awareness that he is fucking up the hopes of the Left of getting rid of this abysmal John Key government.
Actually, he’s not – the people who still support Labour are. Yes, Shearer isn’t changing Labour but it’s the continued support for the party that keeps Shearer there.
Clearly National have 3 strategies for growth
4) Dig up and sell our scarce energy resources ASAP
John Key is at his lying best again, saying yesterday on morning tele regarding the Chch and Wgtn earthquakes and buildings ……. “akshully, if you look at Christchurch and the building code, the vast majority of buildings came through it well”
John Key is a lying pig.
In Christchurch CBD about 80% of the buildings have come down. That leaves 20% that have come through it well, far from a “vast majority”.
He just keeps making shit up as he goes. And the dipshits on the tele and radio keep letting him get away with these lies. They are useless.
vto, that statement of Key’s is just plain offensive. What do your fellow Cantabrian’s think of him?
Every time he addresses the nation with what is meant to be soothing sounds and reflective thoughts on life changing disaster (Pike River, CHCH earthquakes) he’s so insincere that he makes me want to vomit.
And recently when he spoke about the 6.5 here in Wellington, and Marlborough his face was saying “I couldn’t give a flying fuck, and Wellington, you’d be better off slipping into the sea anyway, your city is dying” and all that came out of his mouth was blah blah blah.
Man, I really wanted to throw a brick at the tele.
What do Cantabrians think of him? If you are in the west and blue-voting areas you will think he is grand. Your houses tiny wee cracks got repaired first (while the worst ones waited), your roads and infrastructure are fine, your house value is rising and there is employment coming out your ears.
If you are in the east you have simply given up completely on him and this government. Key doesn’t even come into ti anymore – the vote decision is already made for these people. The arsehole is gone-burger
The point of the building code is to save lives during an earthquake. We had two serious collapses, and lots of deaths from masonry and facades that didn’t meet the building code. It seems that the two buildings that collapsed didn’t properly meet the building code…
After everyone has evacuated safely, the building has done it’s job.
Um, that’s not what he was referring to Lanthanide.
That buildings stayed upright and allowed people to escape as per the building code is not the same matter as John Key stating that most buildings came through it well i.e. they are useable and safe post-earthquake. 80% of Chch CBD buildings are down because they are no longer useable or safe.
John Key plastered a deception on the country as it nervously looks at every single building in the land.
Hope all those building owners are out there securing their facades and verandahs today ……….
You’re saying John Key is deliberately deceiving everyone by claiming that buildings performed well in the sense that they didn’t fall over, when it is really quite obvious that a lot of buildings did fall over.
My suggestion is:
1. Key is conflating the idea of performing well as in not killing people with performing well as in not falling over.
2. Key is an idiot to do the above.
Don’t ascribe to malice that which is easily attributed to incompetence.
“Don’t ascribe to malice that which is easily attributed to incompetence.”
I think that’s generally a good rule of thumb but it does overlook the fact that much incompetence is the result of malice/disdain/complacency (over the interests of others)/negligence (of the interests of others)/etc.
The distinction is not that sharp. And that’s why people can say something misleading while claiming no deliberate lying.
The building code is performance based. IF buildings have performed tot he minimum standards of A to G or however many there are, then the Code has not “worked” rather the building has “performed” tot he minimum requirements of the Code.
People need to stop viewing codes and laws as setting the maximum standard of behaviour, it’s setting the minimum and people can construct buildings in excess of that if they choose. Strange in commercial buildings they rarely do.
There is a lot of construction in Christchurch that is in excess of code going on. It is driven by owners who do not want to have to deal with it all again – they want a building that will handle a quake and be useable again. These parts of a building are relatively small and easy to take above code.
It is driven by owners who do not want to have to deal with it all again
And a lot of them probably decided that after the quake and not before it. Beforehand they would have been building to minimum code and probably taking shortcuts to save money.
People need to stop viewing codes and laws as setting the maximum standard of behaviour, it’s setting the minimum and people can construct buildings in excess of that if they choose. Strange in commercial buildings they rarely do.
Which is why standards should be set at present maximum capabilities and increase as capabilities do.
yep but remember vto, Gerry Brownlee always had a scorched Earth policy – turn it into a carpark and start again. Demolish demolish demolish to a level ground – then get the developers in.
You’ll remember a couple of places were sacrosanct (eg the Arts Centre). Other than that – knock it ALL down – start again (City first).
None of ya try and preserve any sort of history (such as demolish to safe level and let something evolve where its on safe turf). He’d probably have let Fulton Hogan tarseal the lot if he could have got a reasonable price and his insurance mates had seen an earn it it all.
I wonder what’s he going to try and do with Wellington now. The approach won;t work here.
akshully, if you look at Christchurch and the building code, the vast majority of buildings came through it well
Well that’s fair enough insofar as the vast majority of buildings did not collapse and kill their occupants in the face of extremely large ground accelerations. Well beyond what the codes required and what they largely achieved. I’d call that “coming through it well”. The same quake in most other cities around the world would have resulted a death toll in the 10’s of thousands.
Of course you are also right that huge numbers of buildings were damaged beyond economic repair. That’s a related but largely different issue. No building code anywhere required or anticipated that.
The real problem has been the failure of the EQC, originally set up in 1945 in the wake of a number of major quakes, Napier, Buller, Masterton. The lesson learnt from this experience was that the private insurance industry is inherently unable to cope with events of this scale. A lesson subsequent governments proceeded to completely forget.
Why shouldn’t he? Hes a born and bred NZer as much as anyone here and if thats how he thinks then thats his choice, don’t like then wait another 4 years and you’ll be able to change it.
Santi would be saying the same thing about cunliffe if the vote had gone the other way. Anything to make the chicken littles flutter and squawk in a delightful way…
No, McFlock, I wouldn’t.
I know David Shearer is the leader who will make victory possible next year. More time and eloquence is all he needs. I just know.
Skanky is a broken record – can see him/her guffawing his/her tits off every time the same masterSTROKE is delivered – “I just LOVE David Shearer ” – (thinks……) “Ha……fucked them up again…….my cunning plan is working !”
It’s the basic authoritarianism in him. Authoritarians look up to people with titles such as King and Queen. I read an article many years ago about how surprisingly much USians were in awe of the British royal family – this was especially noted in richer families. The richer families were even going out and buying British titles.
The sickening rush of fawning over this birth of one who will spend a life of luxury paid for off of the backs of the working people of Britain has my TV on the endangered species list,
At the least there should be ‘naming rights’ given to the people who will pay for this ones life long idyll of excess by dint of the luck of being born into that particular family,
For the Princely(spit) little fella i pick the name Sponge, arise Sir Sponge to take your un-earned place of wealth and fame paid for off of the backs of British labor…
Primitive Primate Bullying again John Key is an atheist by his own admission!
Felix is saying is Key got his hand up from our welfare state (which is a reflection of kiwis caring and sharing team playing egalitarian society)!
Now after taking all the advantages of our society he is in charge of helping destroy our heritage!
Hitlers mother was a jew as well as Austrian!
As for not belonging, I mean he doesn’t appear to share the values usually credited to the NZ way of life (broad though they may be.)
He left this country as soon as he could, and only came back to live in a walled palace. He leaves whenever he has the chance and spends as much time overseas as he can in the places he feels at more at home.
When he is here – and this is the important bit – he spends his time trying to transform NZ into a place more like those places he has chosen to spend most of his life.
He continually negotiates away our independence and sovereignty in favour of the interests of foreign and international capital.
He is not on our side of anything. His needs are not our needs. His problems are not our problems. His goals are not our goals.
That’s what I mean. Alternately I could have just meant he’s a Jew.
From your original bile spit, one could only assume that the reason that you thought the Royals didn’t belong here was because they are British thus it was a natural inference to believe that your objection to John Key being here was race based as well.
Did you belong in New York, monkeyboy? No. Because you trashed the place. Even if you’d been born in the NYC zoo, you’d still have trashed the place. You obviously didn’t belong there.
I googled stuff.co.nz just now (I admit that is not a very scientific analysis of the veracity of the claim) and just found the reporting on English and the finger pointing.
I Emailed the Editor about it And he said it was Untrue. So I did comment that I then expected to see an honest critique of Professor Wades Lectures/Speeches. And to that, there was no reply, and I haven’t seen anything anywhere else either, maybe I’m not looking in the right places.
Good on you David H. Though I’m not surprised you didn’t hear back from the stuffed editor, and your second point. They come across as quite arrogant if challenged or questioned about their ‘work’. Thanks for the tip about the non destructive brick!
Hi Rosie. My Pleasure, if you cant get a brick I do know they make a Hammer with the sound effects, My son gets annoyed when I pinch it to hit the TV with, but he’s learning that when ever Key is on TV, bang there goes his little Hammer.
Have just had a read of the Mana Party Housing Policy being put forward by John Minto, it ticks all the boxes with policy to drive out of the housing market all the Speculators/Investors which is where fully 50% of present ‘demand’ in the Auckland housing market lies,
Along with such moves which would guarantee a large reduction on the demand side of ‘the market’ Mana is also proposing ‘fixing’ the amount of rent that can be charged on any particular dwelling,along with having the building of 20,000 Council owned rental units well under way in the first term of a Mana Mayoralty,
As far as a comprehensive housing policy goes,(there’s a lot more of it than i have mentioned above), this so far from all political party’s on a national level would be the most comprehensive and ensure affordable rental accommodation for all those unable to ever afford home ownership,
i hope the Mana candidate John Minto does well in the Auckland Mayoralty contest, although i would have to stretch my imagination by an extreme extent,(unfortunately), to suggest that He could triumph in this contest,
Mana tho has recently broached the 1% party vote to figure in the Roy Morgan Poll and i am now re-considering where my party vote will go in 2014 as 1.2% of the party vote may be all that Mana need to gain another MP via their party list…
i am afraid that as usual you don’t have a clue what your talking about, have i suggested anywhere that i will be voting in the Auckland Mayoral elections,
i would have to be really ‘spethul’ should i be allowed to do such as you obviously havn’t noticed that i reside in Wellington,
i would pick John Minto gaining 2-3000 votes in the Auckland Mayoral election and a lot of extra publicity for the Mana Party simply by dint of having stood in that particular contest,
The Mana Party’s share of the party vote after the recent by election in Parekura’s old stomping ground has risen to 1% and the Auckland Mayoral election will raise their profile further, thus a strong campaign by John Minto may just be the impetus at the 2014 election to push Mana over 1.2% of the party vote and allow Minto to enter the Parliament on the Mana Party list…
I was referring to your vote in the next general election. Minto is a no-show with little chance.
That’s democracy: go ahead and waste your vote. New Zealand will thank you.
Nice ‘slither’ sideways, i wont bother making any accusation that your a liar, support of Slippery the current Prime Minister tho is tantamount to an admission…
Santi you are a great motivator of the left.Minto is a firebrand personality at least he bring issues to the fore while he may not get many votes other candidates will benefit from his activism!
um, by your “logic” anyone who doesn’t vote for the “winning team” has wasted their vote? Do you really see the future of our country as a game to be won and lost. Your na-na-na-na-na attitude is scarey.
A good point, here in the Otaki electorate there is a dearth of votable stock I have absolutely no clue who even sat here in 08, I just ticked the usual red boxes. Well not this time, Maybe a mp vote Legalise Cannabis, and Party vote Mana. I do like what they are saying on a wide range of things.
i am picking the 2014 election to be as ‘tight’ as 2011, it may well come down to 1 or 2 MP’s and i also pick the Maori Party not to be present in the next Parliament,
My heart says i should stick with the Green Party, BUT, my head says that if Mana can maintain it’s 1% of polling in the Roy Morgan into 2014 AND the Green Party holds it’s present level of support then a vote for Mana is DEFINTELY NOT wasted,
It will only take 1.2% of support for Mana to gain a list MP off of the back of Hone Harawira holding onto Te Tai Tokerau AND, i pick Te Ururoa Flavell’s Waiariki seat to be 50/50 between Labour and the Mana Party,
To me the numbers say there is a good chance of having in the next Parliament a 3 seat bloc of Mana Party MP’s and a ‘strategic’ party vote or two for that party could be the difference in who forms the next Government…
I think Mana are poised well at this stage of the cycle. The key will be to overcome the innate fear that some have that it is a narrow focus party and sadly I think that fear comes from people’s personal prejudice and distrust (because they believe the memes, think they know the history of this country and have bought into the othering of Māori). I’m hopeful that that will be overcome for many because the truth is that poverty and deprivation can, and do, affect anyone regardless of their supposed ‘colour’. Equality, leadership and principles are what we need and those qualities are human qualities not based upon ethnicity.
Aha, i am not sure of the strength of Mana in Wellington, among young Maori i know that the Maori Party ‘sellout’ has retarded their political development,
i will, this afternoon after i have done my stint in the garden have a look online with a view to offering Mana a bit of on the ground support going into 2014…
You might be right about the support level of Mana, but could you see Shearer forming a working relationship with Mana? I can’t. He’d rather coalesce with National. In fact I can see that coming quite easily if there is no other majority (one that doesn’t include Mana).
If you think labour could “coalesce with national”, they’ve a much bigger identity issue than shearer. And I don’t just mean a couple of other mps in caucus.
There are plenty of people in Mana that would be totally opposed to their party doing any sort of a deal with the right wing Labour Party under any circumstances simply because there is no reason to suppose a Labour government would be an improvement on the present lot.
Unless you count having a nicer flavour of rhetoric and murmuring sweet nothings to the people at the bottom as they put the boot into them as being an improvement.
Thats unless they are different to every Labour govt since 1984 of course.
Augustus, i will assume you are a National Party voter,(Lolz if so i expect your next comment to be along the lines of a ‘wasted vote’),
Mana has and does support Labour in it’s voting pattern in the House, until today when i read the Mana Party housing policy i had yet to see Mana proposing anything much that was not Labour policy until 1984 and is Green party policy at present,
Mana have no time as far as i can ascertain for grandiose neo-housing schemes that target pathways for the children of today’s middle class to climb upon the ‘property ladder’ thus becoming tomorrow part of what has caused the housing un-affordability of today,
Mana appear to favor the housing solution that stood our parents in good stead and provided affordable housing to a generation of kiwi-kids,(including Slippery the Prime minister), HousingNZ rentals rented to tenants on the basis of the most Need and not the most Greed,
These are the 3 policy areas i would expect a strengthened Mana party to base it’s negotiations with Labour upon after the 2014 election,
(1), 5000 new state houses a year for every year of coalition with Labour,
(2), The ‘living wage’ to be achieved in the first term of such a coalition, and, a rise in that living wage to be negotiated every year after that,
(3), the children of beneficiaries to be included in the working for families tax scheme and/or a comprehensive food in schools program,
That’s hardly an over the top wish list, to me it’s simply practical workable socialism which as it’s grown into being middle class along with it’s voter base Labour seems to have forgotten,
LOLZ, the Labour Party in coalition with National, your wet dream is it???…
Short explaination is that a baby was born premmy (just 27 weeks!) in China.
– her parents are not allowed to visit more than once a day
– parents pay for all her needs (I assume that means doctors as well…Dr’s in China are cheaper, but they are not free!)
– they don’t speak Chinese so I imagine this is very distressing
– they are asking for donations to get her flown home.
– baby is a girl. Will this mean she is given lower priority? I don’t know.
Worse than that, it will take the NZ embassy 2 months (!) to process the documentation for this NZ Citizen to be allowed into NZ. There is no reason for this, bring her back, get her treated here where the family is and sort out the details later.
Its only as mental as the wank fest autonomous collective that you chaps espouse
[lprent: Yes we do pride ourselves on being independent. I am glad that you understand that at least.
But we know that slavish little mouthpieces for the great coalition of the stupid like yourself would view autonomy as being something to denigrate.
In other words you would have been particularly moronic today. However your cellphone or tablet is more intelligent than the monkey trying to “run” it. ]
Since you have been telling us what a great leader Shearer is to lead Labour to victory, I want to make my recommendations for National.
Gerry Brownlee is the ideal replacement when Key retires. To smash Labour’s grip on so many Maori voters and get lots of women’s votes, put Hekia Parata as deputy. If not Hekia, try Anne Tolley. Anne is fantastic! I guarantee you she will be a great vote getter.
What a packet of assorted nuts you have produced there Mr Blomfield. You do have some voting options though. Maybe the Libertarian Party if they’re still around, ACT comes to mind. On the other hand if you want to see GST gone, as I do, you can always vote Mana, but somehow I don’t think it will be your style.
Corporates won’t rule the world, most corporates are dying on the vine. Sears, International Harvester. As the population is impoverished so are all real businesses.
Truth Is Corporates will rule the world real soon but you guys will think it was on ‘Your Terms”
It does not say much about your sanity, Rosie.
What woman in control of her own faculties would ever vote Mana, the party of the hopeless loser, the violent Harawhira? No way, Jose.
Lol you panties. Where did you see me say I was voting Mana? It was my suggestion to the commenter above seeing as he wants to see GST abolished, but as I suspected it wasn’t his style.
I’m a Green voter but I like Mana too, so who knows, by next year I might even end up voting for them. Anything can happen.
And my faculties are doing just fine thanks. Not sure about yours though, thinking that Shearer is safe (at 11.1)
Not only safe, but without doubt the Labour leader at the next election, who will lead to victory. The Labour Caucus will see to it.
As per the Greens, their radical influence has damaged David S. Norman was too close, but wait over the coming weeks for the efforts to distance Labour from the Green Party. It will pay off.
[lprent: Yes we all know after weeks of it that one of the nuttiest of the RWNJ’s is purportedly David Shearers biggest supporter on this site, and that you have the ability to repeat yourself endlessly like a small child. However I’m bored with this trolling now – it has long since degenerated into astroturfing.
If I see you even hint at it again then you won’t be commenting here until AFTER the election. Now I realise this will cramp your style a bit because you will now have to think and even imagine on every comment how I could possibly construe it as a RWNJ supporting David Shearer because they want another government of the right. But that was why I let this go on for so long. It is going to be amusing seeing how good your atrophied imagination can regenerate… 😈 ]
A better option (just as a start) would be to repeal every piece of legislation since October 2008. Then begin from there.
Oh – hang on …. ONE News – YOUR news has just started. I’ll get back to you. I need a laugh
“Labour are losing votes to National, and they’ve lost them during the period of time in which the GCSB bill was introduced and the Sky-City deal signed off. They should be winning, not losing. Shearer has responded by replacing his Chief of Staff with Fran Mold, his former press secretary, and Labour’s MPs are leaking to the gallery that his leadership is under threat if he doesn’t reverse this downward trend.”
An incomplete analysis.
David S.’s staff change will reverse the trend and lead to shore up his position. He is safe.
He might feel safe , except that a lot of New Zealanders won’t vote for him , no matter what his support staff….(See Chris Trotter on Shearer’s massive PR and media campaign build up…way more than Cunliffe’s and way more than any other Labour MPs….makes you suspicious.)
It is not that Shearer lacks support…..It is that he is not up to inspiring the ordinary NZ voter to vote for him….
The only Labour leader who can face Key in the ring and beat him is David Cunliffe…..
The rank and file Labour members should rise up and demand a real democratic grassroots vote on the leadership of the Labour Party. It is their party …not David Shearer’s..
(.And the Labour Party does not belong to any of the other Rogernom failures, plotters or ‘boy’s club’ contender, wanna bes…
Key says it’s not a matter of a U-Turn of convenience, courting Peters, but a matter of principle – because, according to Mr Slippery, Kiwis don’t want a Labour-Green government.
What’s so sad is not that Key is behaving entirely in character (principles? ha!) but that so many people believed him before … and will now perform gymnastics to justify his lies now.
Got to go, got a million quotes to dig up from the last 5 years …
So key is all over the news. Being spoonfed by P. . rick Gower. In the street looking like a …….world leader….not! Telling NZ what he thinks they should be thinking. One thing about it, he’s certainly getting uglier. And Shearer gets a to speak for about 5 seconds. We all know that who is in the news the most, especially always in a positive light is the one getting the most traction in peoples minds. It happened in the last election and will happen again in the next election unless Labour can get decent honest coverage. I don’t necessarily think that Cunliffe is the answer. It’s bad enough key shouting and screaming in Parliament without Labour lowering themselves to keys level.
I read that the Maori translation for John is Hone. So that would be HoneKey
so 24 million for the novapay debacle and 38 million for that strange boat race….hmmm what could this country do with 62 million?????? oh yes then we have that money spent on private schools especially special ed funding so that rich kids get help with their exams that others don’t….feeling incrediably pissed off @#$%^^&&
Note: It takes a privately owned TV station to produce a documentary about one of our most famous NZers (and former PM) while the state sponsored station ignores her completely in favour of dumbed down crap and mock current affairs programmes fronted by ego-stroking Nat. Party biased half-wits.
I know what Key does when hes quietly pissed , he gets a rubberband and sees how far he can stretch it and when he gets sober he’ll lie that he was doing something else
To win the next election Labour will have to stick the boot into national everyday because that is what it will take to get rid of 5yrs of fascism which is what this national govt is
The Gormless Fool Formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrel 19.1
KK always reverting to primitive instincts!
civilized behavior has passed a Neanderthal like completely by!
Given your size King Kong that makes you the worlds biggest Dick!
Better to pay NZ workers and keep the money going round within the system, ‘trickling down’ or expanding the multiplier effect in the country, than to pay imported workers and have money draining out of NZ.
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
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There has been a lots of reports recently about how the oceans have been acting as a heat sink for all the excess heat in the atmosphere caused by global warming. This heat sink effect has slowed the rise in temperature of the atmosphere. But what has been the affect in the oceans?
Warmer water holds less oxygen. The tropics are actually extreme environments for fish. Though tropical waters support many brilliant and exotic species, When it comes to actual biomass. The biomass density of the tropics are not anything like the huge marine biomass supported by the oxygen rich cold waters of the temperate and polar regions.
A study carried out by the Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia and published in the prestigious Nature magazine, has revealed that fish are on the move, away from warmer waters, to colder waters.
French Scientist Daniel Pauly, project leader for the study is interviewed by Kathryn Ryan.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2563045/fish-move-as-oceans-warm
In the past the problem of overfishing has been addressed by all sorts of complicated international agreements and treaties. But the movement of fish stocks is creating all sorts of political problems for the management of fisheries which could see the collapse of all previous agreements.
In the North Atlantic, between Norway and Iceland for example, there was an agreement to share the mackerel fishery, in what was called a “straddling stock” fishery. What happened was that the mackerel moved into the waters of Iceland and the sharing agreement didn’t apply anymore. (8:00 minutes)
It looks likely that this kind of thing will happen more and more. This is creating a temptation to tear up all international agreements over fish stock management and strip mine the fishery before it moves to your neighbors territory.
In West Africa. In Senegal the fishery is moving to the north and into the waters of Mauritania. The temptation for Senegal is to take as much as they can before they lose it.
The management of global fish stocks are being affected.
In the North Pacific the stock of pollock, (which is the biggest fishery in the world). The US Alaskan pollock fishery is moving gradually towards Russia. (9:00 minutes)
The question is, What will the US do, when their fishery moves into the waters of another country, and a political rival at that?
Some fish of course, are so adapted to their local environment, salinity, certain types of reef, or food source, of a certain kind, that they can’t move, these sorts of fisheries are just simply in decline. (7:00 minutes in.)
Many fish species will not make the change. In the tropics fisheries are moving away and won’t be replaced. As with other, effects of climate change, sea level rise, and storm surges, the cruelty of climate change will impact many people in the third world already hard hit by the other effects of climate change particularly hard.
Of course as well as absorbing the excess heat, the seas have also been absorbing a lot of the excess CO2, leading to acidification of the oceans. But that is a whole other kettle of fish.
In gwyn dyers book ‘climate wars’ he details the department of the US govt, created under bush the elder i think, that runs scenarios on the land version of this which would see huge population shift across borders in search of workable land and food.
And the US response? A massive homeland security apparatus.
The CIA has said for some time that climate change is the greatest threat to stability (i.e., no wars). Of course, whether that filters down into constructive political action is a roll of the dice.
As is my habit I don’t like to just lay out the problem. Though it may get me into trouble, I like to suggest solutions.
Climate Change is not something that will happen in the far future. It is happening now.
As we begin to witness the destruction and cruelties visited by climate change.
New Zealand has a role to play, maybe a major one.
The problems are obvious the need to act is immediate.
This requires leadership. As in 1939 as the world witnessed the cruelties visited by fascism. It required just one island country to stand up and say, “no more”. “We will fight”.
In France which had one of biggest armies in Europe and would have well been able to stop the Nazis. There was not that same leadership. French Prime MinisterPetain who had been a military hero in the First world war, capitulated to the Nazis without a fight.
We are a global witness to the cruelties visited by climate change. We need a Churchill and not a Petain. We don’t need a leader who was a hero in the UN but is now a silent calculating political collaborator with the supporters of climate change. Preparing to surrender over deep sea oil drilling and major coal mine expansion.
To face the threat of climate change the country needs a Churchill not a Petain. Could David Cunliffe be that Churchill?
Maybe.
So far David Cunliffe is the only Labour parliamentarian to properly address the threat posed by climate change.
http://www.labour.org.nz/news/speech-the-dolphin-and-the-dole-queue
Like Churchill, Cunliffe has been banished to the back seats for his pains.
He should not let this silence him.
The leader is not the one who has the title, the leader is the one who gives the lead.
If he wants to lead, he needs to show it. David Cunliffe needs to start speaking out now on the biggest threat humanity has faced since fascism.
Churchill spent 10 years in the wilderness. He never shut up about the dangers of fascism. Hopefully Cunliffe will only spend months on the back benches. But he needs to start speaking up now.
Responding to the lack of leadership at the top of his party, Winstone Churchill led from the back benches, David Cunliffe should start doing the same.
Cunliffe should not see his demotion from official leadership position as a setbback but as an opportunity to speak freely.
(Dumped into moderation again, I see. I wonder if the censor will let me out?)
So far it seems not. Oh well. Off to work. It is raining and dreary. I hope the rest of my day goes better and the censor has relented by the time I get back.
For those interested. The comment held back, is on leadership and climate change.
Censorship? You kid yourself about the responses of a machine.
Jenny, I think it is the amount of coffee you drink in the morning – it is hard to compete and puts us – mere mortals – in the shade.
Who was it that said brevity is the soul of wit ?
Polonius in Hamlet – giving advice to Hamlet.
The irony is that Polonius was in the midst of a long exposition.
He [the character] had other good quotes: “Neither a lender nor a borrower be”; “To thine own self be true”.
You must be referring to that well-known Tudor propagandist who was trying to forestall a Plantagenet revival ..
That would be the one 🙂
Jenny the use of the word that describes the ruling party in Germany during the second world war causes the machine to dump you into moderation.
+ 1 Jenny Thanks
Cunliffe is the only one with the intellect and the integrity
I tend to agree ..
Climate change wars date back to 1967, probably much earlier.
Israeli government documents have been released that show the June 1967 Six Day War had been in the planning stages for years. Its goal was to control the Jordan River, Israel’s source of fresh water.
The Golan Heights are the source of the Jordan. Taking the West bank from Jordan gave them control of both sides of the river.
At the time there tons of propaganda about how the Arabs were threatening Israel and theirs were preventive first strikes. All pure b.s. It was planned as a war to secure water. They achieved their objective.
“It is understood Mr Shearer had been looking for a suitable political adviser for some time, and asked Mold to return because of concerns Labour was struggling with its political management since her departure.”
Excerpt from Claire Trevett this morning.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10902145
Has David Shearer got a mirror. “Labour was struggling with its political management since her departure….” This stubborn fool fails to have the self awareness that he is fucking up the hopes of the Left of getting rid of this abysmal John Key government. Clearly National have 3 strategies for growth 1) Earthquakes 2) Dairy farming (Commodities, no control) 3)Now they seem to have added Auckland Housing (this should eventually create a bubble that NZ managed to avoid in the first GFC).
You have to admit that although Shearer is absolutely hopeless he must be mentally tough because if I’d read as much criticism about myself has he has had to endure, I would be balling my eyes out lying in the fetal position. He is either mentally tough or he has John Keys narcissism and self confidence without his political ability…
“he must be mentally tough”
All politicians are made of stern stuff, they have to be, because they’re never going to please everyone all the time.
Also, he probably just doesn’t read any of it; he claims not to read blogs remember.
Actually I think they were struggling while she was still there too… 2011 result and all.
That roof painter thing was a PR masterstroke
I thought that came from John Pagani.
I know its a crappy Herald online poll but even so 71% of people say that changing Shearer’s chief of staff won’t make any difference. (Today’s NZH)
Actually, he’s not – the people who still support Labour are. Yes, Shearer isn’t changing Labour but it’s the continued support for the party that keeps Shearer there.
4) Dig up and sell our scarce energy resources ASAP
John Key is at his lying best again, saying yesterday on morning tele regarding the Chch and Wgtn earthquakes and buildings ……. “akshully, if you look at Christchurch and the building code, the vast majority of buildings came through it well”
John Key is a lying pig.
In Christchurch CBD about 80% of the buildings have come down. That leaves 20% that have come through it well, far from a “vast majority”.
He just keeps making shit up as he goes. And the dipshits on the tele and radio keep letting him get away with these lies. They are useless.
vto, that statement of Key’s is just plain offensive. What do your fellow Cantabrian’s think of him?
Every time he addresses the nation with what is meant to be soothing sounds and reflective thoughts on life changing disaster (Pike River, CHCH earthquakes) he’s so insincere that he makes me want to vomit.
And recently when he spoke about the 6.5 here in Wellington, and Marlborough his face was saying “I couldn’t give a flying fuck, and Wellington, you’d be better off slipping into the sea anyway, your city is dying” and all that came out of his mouth was blah blah blah.
Man, I really wanted to throw a brick at the tele.
What do Cantabrians think of him? If you are in the west and blue-voting areas you will think he is grand. Your houses tiny wee cracks got repaired first (while the worst ones waited), your roads and infrastructure are fine, your house value is rising and there is employment coming out your ears.
If you are in the east you have simply given up completely on him and this government. Key doesn’t even come into ti anymore – the vote decision is already made for these people. The arsehole is gone-burger
Buy a Kiddies stuffed brick, it’s quite soothing to throw it at the TV. if your lucky it will have sound effects ie glass breaking.
Man, in my dreams I really want to throw a brick at Key. A large one with very sharp edges. 🙂
[lprent: Don’t care if it is in your dreams or not – keep your more violent fantasies to yourself. 😈 ]
Apologies. A rather silly quip.
Um, he’s actually right, vto.
The point of the building code is to save lives during an earthquake. We had two serious collapses, and lots of deaths from masonry and facades that didn’t meet the building code. It seems that the two buildings that collapsed didn’t properly meet the building code…
After everyone has evacuated safely, the building has done it’s job.
That’s bullshit.
If your house had been knocked down would you say it had “come through it well”?
If I had happened to be in it at the time, I’d be glad it didn’t collapse on my head, yes.
Ideally the building remains structurally sound, even after a 6.5 magnitude.
Um, that’s not what he was referring to Lanthanide.
That buildings stayed upright and allowed people to escape as per the building code is not the same matter as John Key stating that most buildings came through it well i.e. they are useable and safe post-earthquake. 80% of Chch CBD buildings are down because they are no longer useable or safe.
John Key plastered a deception on the country as it nervously looks at every single building in the land.
Hope all those building owners are out there securing their facades and verandahs today ……….
You’re saying John Key is deliberately deceiving everyone by claiming that buildings performed well in the sense that they didn’t fall over, when it is really quite obvious that a lot of buildings did fall over.
My suggestion is:
1. Key is conflating the idea of performing well as in not killing people with performing well as in not falling over.
2. Key is an idiot to do the above.
Don’t ascribe to malice that which is easily attributed to incompetence.
To Key I ascribe incompetence, slackness and malice. In equal proportions.
“Don’t ascribe to malice that which is easily attributed to incompetence.”
I think that’s generally a good rule of thumb but it does overlook the fact that much incompetence is the result of malice/disdain/complacency (over the interests of others)/negligence (of the interests of others)/etc.
The distinction is not that sharp. And that’s why people can say something misleading while claiming no deliberate lying.
Exactly.
I can’t believe people are still falling for Key’s style of non-specific lying.
The building code is performance based. IF buildings have performed tot he minimum standards of A to G or however many there are, then the Code has not “worked” rather the building has “performed” tot he minimum requirements of the Code.
People need to stop viewing codes and laws as setting the maximum standard of behaviour, it’s setting the minimum and people can construct buildings in excess of that if they choose. Strange in commercial buildings they rarely do.
There is a lot of construction in Christchurch that is in excess of code going on. It is driven by owners who do not want to have to deal with it all again – they want a building that will handle a quake and be useable again. These parts of a building are relatively small and easy to take above code.
And a lot of them probably decided that after the quake and not before it. Beforehand they would have been building to minimum code and probably taking shortcuts to save money.
Which is why standards should be set at present maximum capabilities and increase as capabilities do.
My sentiments, exactly.
yep but remember vto, Gerry Brownlee always had a scorched Earth policy – turn it into a carpark and start again. Demolish demolish demolish to a level ground – then get the developers in.
You’ll remember a couple of places were sacrosanct (eg the Arts Centre). Other than that – knock it ALL down – start again (City first).
None of ya try and preserve any sort of history (such as demolish to safe level and let something evolve where its on safe turf). He’d probably have let Fulton Hogan tarseal the lot if he could have got a reasonable price and his insurance mates had seen an earn it it all.
I wonder what’s he going to try and do with Wellington now. The approach won;t work here.
akshully, if you look at Christchurch and the building code, the vast majority of buildings came through it well
Well that’s fair enough insofar as the vast majority of buildings did not collapse and kill their occupants in the face of extremely large ground accelerations. Well beyond what the codes required and what they largely achieved. I’d call that “coming through it well”. The same quake in most other cities around the world would have resulted a death toll in the 10’s of thousands.
Of course you are also right that huge numbers of buildings were damaged beyond economic repair. That’s a related but largely different issue. No building code anywhere required or anticipated that.
The real problem has been the failure of the EQC, originally set up in 1945 in the wake of a number of major quakes, Napier, Buller, Masterton. The lesson learnt from this experience was that the private insurance industry is inherently unable to cope with events of this scale. A lesson subsequent governments proceeded to completely forget.
Governments seem real good at forgetting lessons learned from the past if doing so benefits their corporate benefactors.
Yeah mate its about time someone took the little shit out the back for a good thrashing, thats about what he deserves
“Future King of New Zealand”?
Get fucked John Key, you don’t even belong here yourself.
Why not, number 2 ?
And he couldn’t help himself be a smarmy prick by welcoming the “future king of New Zealand”: yesterday.
Where did our child of an Austrian immigrant get such royalist sycophancy from?
The realisation that 50mil just dosent cut it in the circles ,Sir John Key wants to move in.
I never got a clear answer on this, its NZ$50M, or is it US$50M?
If its the former its a bit weak, if its the latter, its maybe middling
The figure 50m, was chosen as part of the back story, and is a fabrication!
Why shouldn’t he? Hes a born and bred NZer as much as anyone here and if thats how he thinks then thats his choice, don’t like then wait another 4 years and you’ll be able to change it.
4 years? 4 long, long years? I despair.
I’m counting on David Shearer to be the next PM. Go David, go.
I really love your optimistic outlook on life.
Santi would be saying the same thing about cunliffe if the vote had gone the other way. Anything to make the chicken littles flutter and squawk in a delightful way…
No, McFlock, I wouldn’t.
I know David Shearer is the leader who will make victory possible next year. More time and eloquence is all he needs. I just know.
I congratulate you. Your wall of sarcasm is impenetrable. You haven’t let it slip in ages.
Christ Santi!!! it’s almost like the hero worship is getting to sugar-daddy level
Skanky is a broken record – can see him/her guffawing his/her tits off every time the same masterSTROKE is delivered – “I just LOVE David Shearer ” – (thinks……) “Ha……fucked them up again…….my cunning plan is working !”
Yawn yawn Skanky.
He even remembered the prince on the lawn with a buzzy bee but cant for the life of himself recall if he was pro or anti springbok tour…
I just wondered how a child of his background became so royalist
It’s the basic authoritarianism in him. Authoritarians look up to people with titles such as King and Queen. I read an article many years ago about how surprisingly much USians were in awe of the British royal family – this was especially noted in richer families. The richer families were even going out and buying British titles.
+1. He’d better hope he gets that knighthood before there’s a change in government.
The sickening rush of fawning over this birth of one who will spend a life of luxury paid for off of the backs of the working people of Britain has my TV on the endangered species list,
At the least there should be ‘naming rights’ given to the people who will pay for this ones life long idyll of excess by dint of the luck of being born into that particular family,
For the Princely(spit) little fella i pick the name Sponge, arise Sir Sponge to take your un-earned place of wealth and fame paid for off of the backs of British labor…
You may find this interesting
The True Cost of the Royal Family Explained:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyYgnhhKFw
So what???, does the average unemployed Brit get 40 million pound a year, free world travel and various other perks,
Shove the whole bludging lot of them into some flats in the tower blocks of an English housing estate and pay them all the dole,
The Soprano’s of great Britain living off of the proceeds of the families previous crimes is as kind as what i can get…
Sorry, but if you had the people of the UK vote on your proposal, it would be defeated 3:1.
Dont follow the royals at all, dont care either way, but arent the two boys in the military.
There better be more to this story Brett. Come on, don’t leave us hanging.
I mean they’re not just hanging around the palace, eating big chicken wings, cutting their wifes heads off, like the old days.
Arent they actually working, like I said I dont follow the royals much.
But i wouldnt like to be one, to have no privacy etc etc.
So do you reckon everyone who manages to not cut their spouse’s head off should be getting 40 million a year on the dole?
Or everyone who serves a few years in the air force gets a palace?
I can’t see that working out.
on the dole?
If the Royals charged the State for everything they earned the State they would get three times as much ‘support” as they do now.
Royalty is a massive industry.
lols. If they’re such a profit centre then privatise them.
The state has no reason to be in the royalty business.
They do pretty well on their own by this account:
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/entertainment-articles/royal-family-uk-taxpayers/
Right on Felix. Fucking Jews, eh?
(I presume thats what you were referring to when you said John Key doesn’t belong here. I can’t think of any other reason)
Primitive Primate Bullying again John Key is an atheist by his own admission!
Felix is saying is Key got his hand up from our welfare state (which is a reflection of kiwis caring and sharing team playing egalitarian society)!
Now after taking all the advantages of our society he is in charge of helping destroy our heritage!
Hitlers mother was a jew as well as Austrian!
KK I should get the Iron cross for my services to irony
Why do you presume that and why would you even be thinking it?
I love it when bigots out themselves by assuming everyone thinks they way they do.
Why does KK think it makes sense to say someone doesn’t belong here if they’re Jewish?
Is Key actually Jewish? Does it matter? Does anyone (apart from n@zis) care if he is?
What a strange thing for a monkey to be concerned with.
I don’t like Key’s politics either but I don’t know what you meant by your comment about him not belonging here ?
Perhaps you should clarify to calm the baboon down.
I’m not responsible for the emotions of baboons.
As for not belonging, I mean he doesn’t appear to share the values usually credited to the NZ way of life (broad though they may be.)
He left this country as soon as he could, and only came back to live in a walled palace. He leaves whenever he has the chance and spends as much time overseas as he can in the places he feels at more at home.
When he is here – and this is the important bit – he spends his time trying to transform NZ into a place more like those places he has chosen to spend most of his life.
He continually negotiates away our independence and sovereignty in favour of the interests of foreign and international capital.
He is not on our side of anything. His needs are not our needs. His problems are not our problems. His goals are not our goals.
That’s what I mean. Alternately I could have just meant he’s a Jew.
See, there you go. It may have taken 24 hours but you thought of something in the end.
🙄 It wasn’t me who leapt to the conclusion that Jews don’t belong in NZ you horrible bigot.
I was never in any doubt about what I said, and I’m still in no doubt that you won’t understand it.
KK I’m not surprised you can’t think of any other reason. You stopped at the reason that makes sense to you.
It’s not one that even crossed my mind.
From your original bile spit, one could only assume that the reason that you thought the Royals didn’t belong here was because they are British thus it was a natural inference to believe that your objection to John Key being here was race based as well.
Being Jewish isn’t a racial characteristic. Silly Monkey.
“From your original bile spit, one could only assume that the reason that you thought the Royals didn’t belong here was because they are British”
If you were a complete thickie – which seems to be the case – that might well be the only reason you could come up with.
“thus it was a natural inference to believe that your objection to John Key being here was race based as well.
Yes, that piece of idiocy follows perfectly from your first piece of idiocy. Doesn’t make it true though.
Have an apple.
I notice you still haven’t mentioned what it was you were basing your eviction order on yet.
Just saying.
Did you belong in New York, monkeyboy? No. Because you trashed the place. Even if you’d been born in the NYC zoo, you’d still have trashed the place. You obviously didn’t belong there.
Is it because I is black?
Not according to the demographic data of NYC.
Well if we are going to start making lists of reprobates who should be kicked out of the country based on poor behaviour, let me fetch my pen.
Your pen is in Australia
[quick, someone cancel all return flights!]
“I notice you still haven’t mentioned what it was you were basing your eviction order on yet.
Just saying.”
Ah, I love it. “I didn’t understand anything you said so I assumed you were thinking like me (a racist idiot) and worked backward from there.”
Fucking moron.
Still nothing, eh
Nothing you seem to be able to grasp, no.
Have some grapes.
Number 2 we still need a good cover as to why John Key doesn’t belong here.
Once we’ve got him out of the way we can start part 3 of the plan.
KonKing @ 5.5.3.1 – specious, criminally specious. You thick or something ?
Thick as ape shit.
why not?
You are beginning to sound like the sewer did in ’06-’08 re Clark
Key doesn’t want to be King. That would mean it would have to retire in this backwater hick country.
Did anyone else see the tweet alleging that Fairfax had banned its reporters from writing about Professor Wade’s visit to NZ?
http://fearfactsexposed.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/fairfax-bans-reporters-from-covering-inequality/
I googled stuff.co.nz just now (I admit that is not a very scientific analysis of the veracity of the claim) and just found the reporting on English and the finger pointing.
I Emailed the Editor about it And he said it was Untrue. So I did comment that I then expected to see an honest critique of Professor Wades Lectures/Speeches. And to that, there was no reply, and I haven’t seen anything anywhere else either, maybe I’m not looking in the right places.
I hear you. I guess there’s just so many more inter sting things to report on…
Good on you David H. Though I’m not surprised you didn’t hear back from the stuffed editor, and your second point. They come across as quite arrogant if challenged or questioned about their ‘work’. Thanks for the tip about the non destructive brick!
Hi Rosie. My Pleasure, if you cant get a brick I do know they make a Hammer with the sound effects, My son gets annoyed when I pinch it to hit the TV with, but he’s learning that when ever Key is on TV, bang there goes his little Hammer.
Have just had a read of the Mana Party Housing Policy being put forward by John Minto, it ticks all the boxes with policy to drive out of the housing market all the Speculators/Investors which is where fully 50% of present ‘demand’ in the Auckland housing market lies,
Along with such moves which would guarantee a large reduction on the demand side of ‘the market’ Mana is also proposing ‘fixing’ the amount of rent that can be charged on any particular dwelling,along with having the building of 20,000 Council owned rental units well under way in the first term of a Mana Mayoralty,
As far as a comprehensive housing policy goes,(there’s a lot more of it than i have mentioned above), this so far from all political party’s on a national level would be the most comprehensive and ensure affordable rental accommodation for all those unable to ever afford home ownership,
i hope the Mana candidate John Minto does well in the Auckland Mayoralty contest, although i would have to stretch my imagination by an extreme extent,(unfortunately), to suggest that He could triumph in this contest,
Mana tho has recently broached the 1% party vote to figure in the Roy Morgan Poll and i am now re-considering where my party vote will go in 2014 as 1.2% of the party vote may be all that Mana need to gain another MP via their party list…
Minto will be lucky to get 500 votes. He has no hope at all. None whatsoever.
I’m afraid your vote will be wasted.
i am afraid that as usual you don’t have a clue what your talking about, have i suggested anywhere that i will be voting in the Auckland Mayoral elections,
i would have to be really ‘spethul’ should i be allowed to do such as you obviously havn’t noticed that i reside in Wellington,
i would pick John Minto gaining 2-3000 votes in the Auckland Mayoral election and a lot of extra publicity for the Mana Party simply by dint of having stood in that particular contest,
The Mana Party’s share of the party vote after the recent by election in Parekura’s old stomping ground has risen to 1% and the Auckland Mayoral election will raise their profile further, thus a strong campaign by John Minto may just be the impetus at the 2014 election to push Mana over 1.2% of the party vote and allow Minto to enter the Parliament on the Mana Party list…
I was referring to your vote in the next general election. Minto is a no-show with little chance.
That’s democracy: go ahead and waste your vote. New Zealand will thank you.
Nice ‘slither’ sideways, i wont bother making any accusation that your a liar, support of Slippery the current Prime Minister tho is tantamount to an admission…
Santi you are a great motivator of the left.Minto is a firebrand personality at least he bring issues to the fore while he may not get many votes other candidates will benefit from his activism!
“Minto is a firebrand personality”.
Really? Who said satire and sarcasm were dead in New Zealand?
maybe it was Dr Bertram lol what do your memories tell you?
um, by your “logic” anyone who doesn’t vote for the “winning team” has wasted their vote? Do you really see the future of our country as a game to be won and lost. Your na-na-na-na-na attitude is scarey.
Skanky @ 7.1……..you want a sizeable wager on that 500 votes thing you just tossed out re Minto…….let me see, $3K ? Even money ?
No you say ? Oh OK then. That was just a figure of speech to convey you don’t fancy Minto’s chances ?
Right you are ! Entirely permissible !
A valid device which just by happenchance has saved you performing and me reading the perennial troll wank – “Fuck……I just LOVE David Shearer !
[lprent: I got tired of that meme. ]
So in other words we can just wait with baited breath for the attacks to start, similar to the attacks on the Greens, and Labour.
A good point, here in the Otaki electorate there is a dearth of votable stock I have absolutely no clue who even sat here in 08, I just ticked the usual red boxes. Well not this time, Maybe a mp vote Legalise Cannabis, and Party vote Mana. I do like what they are saying on a wide range of things.
i am picking the 2014 election to be as ‘tight’ as 2011, it may well come down to 1 or 2 MP’s and i also pick the Maori Party not to be present in the next Parliament,
My heart says i should stick with the Green Party, BUT, my head says that if Mana can maintain it’s 1% of polling in the Roy Morgan into 2014 AND the Green Party holds it’s present level of support then a vote for Mana is DEFINTELY NOT wasted,
It will only take 1.2% of support for Mana to gain a list MP off of the back of Hone Harawira holding onto Te Tai Tokerau AND, i pick Te Ururoa Flavell’s Waiariki seat to be 50/50 between Labour and the Mana Party,
To me the numbers say there is a good chance of having in the next Parliament a 3 seat bloc of Mana Party MP’s and a ‘strategic’ party vote or two for that party could be the difference in who forms the next Government…
Good stuff bad.
I think Mana are poised well at this stage of the cycle. The key will be to overcome the innate fear that some have that it is a narrow focus party and sadly I think that fear comes from people’s personal prejudice and distrust (because they believe the memes, think they know the history of this country and have bought into the othering of Māori). I’m hopeful that that will be overcome for many because the truth is that poverty and deprivation can, and do, affect anyone regardless of their supposed ‘colour’. Equality, leadership and principles are what we need and those qualities are human qualities not based upon ethnicity.
Aha, i am not sure of the strength of Mana in Wellington, among young Maori i know that the Maori Party ‘sellout’ has retarded their political development,
i will, this afternoon after i have done my stint in the garden have a look online with a view to offering Mana a bit of on the ground support going into 2014…
You might be right about the support level of Mana, but could you see Shearer forming a working relationship with Mana? I can’t. He’d rather coalesce with National. In fact I can see that coming quite easily if there is no other majority (one that doesn’t include Mana).
Ahh, its been a long time since we had a Grand Coalition ruling the nation. No more need for elections after that.
Well, while CV’s winning an emmy for melodrama, anyone recall reading about forbes & coates?
Opened the way for Labour in the first place.
If you think labour could “coalesce with national”, they’ve a much bigger identity issue than shearer. And I don’t just mean a couple of other mps in caucus.
There are plenty of people in Mana that would be totally opposed to their party doing any sort of a deal with the right wing Labour Party under any circumstances simply because there is no reason to suppose a Labour government would be an improvement on the present lot.
Unless you count having a nicer flavour of rhetoric and murmuring sweet nothings to the people at the bottom as they put the boot into them as being an improvement.
Thats unless they are different to every Labour govt since 1984 of course.
Augustus, i will assume you are a National Party voter,(Lolz if so i expect your next comment to be along the lines of a ‘wasted vote’),
Mana has and does support Labour in it’s voting pattern in the House, until today when i read the Mana Party housing policy i had yet to see Mana proposing anything much that was not Labour policy until 1984 and is Green party policy at present,
Mana have no time as far as i can ascertain for grandiose neo-housing schemes that target pathways for the children of today’s middle class to climb upon the ‘property ladder’ thus becoming tomorrow part of what has caused the housing un-affordability of today,
Mana appear to favor the housing solution that stood our parents in good stead and provided affordable housing to a generation of kiwi-kids,(including Slippery the Prime minister), HousingNZ rentals rented to tenants on the basis of the most Need and not the most Greed,
These are the 3 policy areas i would expect a strengthened Mana party to base it’s negotiations with Labour upon after the 2014 election,
(1), 5000 new state houses a year for every year of coalition with Labour,
(2), The ‘living wage’ to be achieved in the first term of such a coalition, and, a rise in that living wage to be negotiated every year after that,
(3), the children of beneficiaries to be included in the working for families tax scheme and/or a comprehensive food in schools program,
That’s hardly an over the top wish list, to me it’s simply practical workable socialism which as it’s grown into being middle class along with it’s voter base Labour seems to have forgotten,
LOLZ, the Labour Party in coalition with National, your wet dream is it???…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8956951/Fight-to-bring-premature-baby-Lily-home
Short explaination is that a baby was born premmy (just 27 weeks!) in China.
– her parents are not allowed to visit more than once a day
– parents pay for all her needs (I assume that means doctors as well…Dr’s in China are cheaper, but they are not free!)
– they don’t speak Chinese so I imagine this is very distressing
– they are asking for donations to get her flown home.
– baby is a girl. Will this mean she is given lower priority? I don’t know.
Can you help? My heart really goes out to them.
Worse than that, it will take the NZ embassy 2 months (!) to process the documentation for this NZ Citizen to be allowed into NZ. There is no reason for this, bring her back, get her treated here where the family is and sort out the details later.
oh, we have far more important things on our minds, like what to call a baby in a country half a world away…
How to FIX NEW ZEALAND
Remove GST number 1
Gert rid of resource Management Act and all by laws by lunch time.
Remove Building permit by requirement
Sell Off all Government SOES
Sell all Road, Land owned by Govt
Volunteer Tax System to pay for a basic Volunteer Welfare System
Write Constitution
Allow any Currency by LAw ( Recommend Aussie Dollar as Default)
Allow any and all immigration except Violent Criminal offenders
Army / Police/ paid by basic Goverment Fees,
Allow for civilians to form Private Government from their own Collective and organise their own tax’s and international agreements and treaties.
fify
Colonial Viper. Well I do believe it would all Help New Zealand my self
alas that is what I would want for the country.
But it seems majority does not so I have the beautiful freedom to move to Beautiful America.
“Gert rid of …all by laws by lunch time. ”
cool – so you happy if i come round, steal all your stuff and then maybe a bit of casual murder?
didnt think that particular bullshit session through very much did you
your (ahem) “fix” is so full of holes that its actually pathetic
The freedom of the plutocrats. 49 million on food stamps and rising
when you say “beautiful”, you must be talking about some gated compound in San Diego with private armed security guards
good luck to you
1 out of every 100 adult Americans will sleep in prison tonight (and every night).
Anthony Bloomfield, are you white and rich?
LOLZ, bring on the doctor in charge, the ‘fix’ in the states pyschiatric institution obviously didn’t ‘stick’ for this particular individual,
It’s above comment makes me wonder if i havn’t been viewing the efficacy of electric shock therapy all these years from an errant perspective,
It would be entirely inappropriate for me to suggest that ‘it’ be given a couple of nails and directed to the nearest wall socket…
Its only as mental as the wank fest autonomous collective that you chaps espouse
[lprent: Yes we do pride ourselves on being independent. I am glad that you understand that at least.
But we know that slavish little mouthpieces for the great coalition of the stupid like yourself would view autonomy as being something to denigrate.
In other words you would have been particularly moronic today. However your cellphone or tablet is more intelligent than the monkey trying to “run” it. ]
Your abuse is undeserving of any reply other than to point out that your next ‘banning’ is long overdue,
Keep it up to make it happen and make us all just that little bit more happy…
All excellent suggestions. Motion passed.
fify
lol
Hey, Santi, nice to see you back again.
Since you have been telling us what a great leader Shearer is to lead Labour to victory, I want to make my recommendations for National.
Gerry Brownlee is the ideal replacement when Key retires. To smash Labour’s grip on so many Maori voters and get lots of women’s votes, put Hekia Parata as deputy. If not Hekia, try Anne Tolley. Anne is fantastic! I guarantee you she will be a great vote getter.
What a packet of assorted nuts you have produced there Mr Blomfield. You do have some voting options though. Maybe the Libertarian Party if they’re still around, ACT comes to mind. On the other hand if you want to see GST gone, as I do, you can always vote Mana, but somehow I don’t think it will be your style.
http://mana.net.nz/policy/
Hey thanks Rosie.
I was a member of Act for a while, Friends are Libertarian.
Sure was a glimmer of hope there when Don Brash was in.
But um nah – I feel voting is just supporting the system.
So sweet asse have fun- burgers
Truth Is Corporates will rule the world real soon but you guys will think it was on ‘Your Terms”
Not really a even playing field.
Truth is corporate’s DO rule the world Anthony and it is purely on their terms alone and no one elses. We’re already there.
Corporates won’t rule the world, most corporates are dying on the vine. Sears, International Harvester. As the population is impoverished so are all real businesses.
So you’re an authoritarian fascist. Figures.
Jam is good on Toast Colonial .
It does not say much about your sanity, Rosie.
What woman in control of her own faculties would ever vote Mana, the party of the hopeless loser, the violent Harawhira? No way, Jose.
Lol you panties. Where did you see me say I was voting Mana? It was my suggestion to the commenter above seeing as he wants to see GST abolished, but as I suspected it wasn’t his style.
I’m a Green voter but I like Mana too, so who knows, by next year I might even end up voting for them. Anything can happen.
And my faculties are doing just fine thanks. Not sure about yours though, thinking that Shearer is safe (at 11.1)
Not only safe, but without doubt the Labour leader at the next election, who will lead to victory. The Labour Caucus will see to it.
As per the Greens, their radical influence has damaged David S. Norman was too close, but wait over the coming weeks for the efforts to distance Labour from the Green Party. It will pay off.
[lprent: Yes we all know after weeks of it that one of the nuttiest of the RWNJ’s is purportedly David Shearers biggest supporter on this site, and that you have the ability to repeat yourself endlessly like a small child. However I’m bored with this trolling now – it has long since degenerated into astroturfing.
If I see you even hint at it again then you won’t be commenting here until AFTER the election. Now I realise this will cramp your style a bit because you will now have to think and even imagine on every comment how I could possibly construe it as a RWNJ supporting David Shearer because they want another government of the right. But that was why I let this go on for so long. It is going to be amusing seeing how good your atrophied imagination can regenerate… 😈 ]
What a purposeless existence there is to be spent indulging cynicism and snide bad faith. Sad but true.
Oh the irony.
A better option (just as a start) would be to repeal every piece of legislation since October 2008. Then begin from there.
Oh – hang on …. ONE News – YOUR news has just started. I’ll get back to you. I need a laugh
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10902041
On the way to recovery since changes were needed. The next polls will reflect the impact of the new team behind the Labour leader David Shearer.
Danyl is smart:
http://dimpost.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/more-noise/
“Labour are losing votes to National, and they’ve lost them during the period of time in which the GCSB bill was introduced and the Sky-City deal signed off. They should be winning, not losing. Shearer has responded by replacing his Chief of Staff with Fran Mold, his former press secretary, and Labour’s MPs are leaking to the gallery that his leadership is under threat if he doesn’t reverse this downward trend.”
An incomplete analysis.
David S.’s staff change will reverse the trend and lead to shore up his position. He is safe.
Reply Santi
He might feel safe , except that a lot of New Zealanders won’t vote for him , no matter what his support staff….(See Chris Trotter on Shearer’s massive PR and media campaign build up…way more than Cunliffe’s and way more than any other Labour MPs….makes you suspicious.)
It is not that Shearer lacks support…..It is that he is not up to inspiring the ordinary NZ voter to vote for him….
The only Labour leader who can face Key in the ring and beat him is David Cunliffe…..
The rank and file Labour members should rise up and demand a real democratic grassroots vote on the leadership of the Labour Party. It is their party …not David Shearer’s..
(.And the Labour Party does not belong to any of the other Rogernom failures, plotters or ‘boy’s club’ contender, wanna bes…
Key says it’s not a matter of a U-Turn of convenience, courting Peters, but a matter of principle – because, according to Mr Slippery, Kiwis don’t want a Labour-Green government.
Meanwhile Peters is playing hard to get.
What’s so sad is not that Key is behaving entirely in character (principles? ha!) but that so many people believed him before … and will now perform gymnastics to justify his lies now.
Got to go, got a million quotes to dig up from the last 5 years …
So key is all over the news. Being spoonfed by P. . rick Gower. In the street looking like a …….world leader….not! Telling NZ what he thinks they should be thinking. One thing about it, he’s certainly getting uglier. And Shearer gets a to speak for about 5 seconds. We all know that who is in the news the most, especially always in a positive light is the one getting the most traction in peoples minds. It happened in the last election and will happen again in the next election unless Labour can get decent honest coverage. I don’t necessarily think that Cunliffe is the answer. It’s bad enough key shouting and screaming in Parliament without Labour lowering themselves to keys level.
I read that the Maori translation for John is Hone. So that would be HoneKey
so 24 million for the novapay debacle and 38 million for that strange boat race….hmmm what could this country do with 62 million?????? oh yes then we have that money spent on private schools especially special ed funding so that rich kids get help with their exams that others don’t….feeling incrediably pissed off @#$%^^&&
TV3 @9:30pm tonight:
Helen Clark – Road to Power (Part One).
Note: It takes a privately owned TV station to produce a documentary about one of our most famous NZers (and former PM) while the state sponsored station ignores her completely in favour of dumbed down crap and mock current affairs programmes fronted by ego-stroking Nat. Party biased half-wits.
Something about living within ones means nothing about it applying to all nzers lenore
I will be watching something called Devious Maids on TV2 at 9:30 tonight. I encourage you all to do likewise.
I will be watching something called Devious Maids on TV2 at 9:30 tonight. I encourage you all to do likewise.
Must…force….history……down….memoryhole
Hagiography.
Must…eliminate….all….doubleplusbad…perspectives
I know what Key does when hes quietly pissed , he gets a rubberband and sees how far he can stretch it and when he gets sober he’ll lie that he was doing something else
To win the next election Labour will have to stick the boot into national everyday because that is what it will take to get rid of 5yrs of fascism which is what this national govt is
Dick.
+6″
KK always reverting to primitive instincts!
civilized behavior has passed a Neanderthal like completely by!
Given your size King Kong that makes you the worlds biggest Dick!
I keep hearing, from both Labour and National, that imported workers don’t take away work from NZers but in Christchurch:
That’s exactly the purpose of the imported workers. Apparently, having to pay NZ workers enough to cover their costs is too much.
Better to pay NZ workers and keep the money going round within the system, ‘trickling down’ or expanding the multiplier effect in the country, than to pay imported workers and have money draining out of NZ.