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.
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
It may have been a short week but there’s been no shortage of things that caught our attention. Here is some of the most interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at public transport ridership in 2024 On Thursday Connor asked some questions ...
The East Is Red: Journalists and commentators are referring to the sudden and disruptive arrival of DeepSeek as a second “Sputnik moment”. (Sputnik being the name given by the godless communists of the Soviet Union to the world’s first artificial satellite which, to the consternation and dismay of the Americans, ...
Hi,Back on inauguration day we launched a ridiculous RFK Jr. “brain worms” tee on the Webworm store, and I told you I’d be throwing my profits over to Mutual Aid LA and Rainbow Youth New Zealand. Just to show I am not full of shit, here are the receipts. I ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump over Gaza and Ukraine.Health expert and author David Galler ...
In an uncompromising paper Treasury has basically told the Government that its plan for a third medical school at Waikato University is a waste of money. Furthermore, the country cannot afford it. That advice was released this week by the Treasury under the Official Information Act. And it comes as ...
Back in November, He Pou a Rangi provided the government with formal advice on the domestic contribution to our next Paris target. Not what the target should be, but what we could realistically achieve, by domestic action alone, without resorting to offshore mitigation. Their answer was startling: depending on exactly ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest David Patman and ...
I don't like to spend all my time complaining about our government, so let me complain about the media first.Senior journalistic Herald person Thomas Coughlan reported that Treasury replied yeah nah, wrong bro to Luxon's claim that our benighted little country has been in recession for three years.His excitement rose ...
Back in 2022, when the government was consulting internally about proactive release of cabinet papers, the SIS opposed it. The basis of their opposition was the "mosaic effect" - people being able to piece together individual pieces of innocuous public information in a way which supposedly harms "national security" (effectively: ...
With The Stroke Of A Pen:Populism, especially right-wing populism, invests all the power of an electoral/parliamentary majority in a single political leader because it no longer trusts the bona fides of the sprawling political class among whom power is traditionally dispersed. Populism eschews traditional politics, because, among populists, traditional politics ...
I’ve spent the last week writing a fairly substantial review of a recent book (“Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race”) by a couple of Australian academic economists on Australia’s pandemic policies and experiences. For all its limitations, there isn’t anything similar in New Zealand. ...
Mr Mojo Rising: Economic growth is possible, Christopher Luxon reassures us, but only under a government that is willing to get out of the way and let those with drive and ambition get on with it.ABOUT TWELVE KILOMETRES from the farm on the North Otago coast where I grew up stands ...
You're nearly a good laughAlmost a jokerWith your head down in the pig binSaying, 'Keep on digging.'Pig stain on your fat chinWhat do you hope to findDown in the pig mine?You're nearly a laughYou're nearly a laughBut you're really a crySongwriter: Roger Waters.NZ First - Kiwi Battlers.Say what you like ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Climate denial is dead. Renewable energy denial is here. As “alternative facts” become the norm, it’s worth looking at what actual facts tell us about how renewable energy sources like solar and wind are lowering the price of electricity. As ...
SIR GEOFFREY PALMER is worried about democracy. In his Newsroom website post of 27 January 2025 he asserts that “the future of democracy across the world now seems to be in question.” Following a year of important electoral contests across the world, culminating in Donald Trump’s emphatic recapture of the ...
The Government hasn’t stopped talking about growth since the Prime Minister made his “yes” speech at the Auckland Chamber of Commerce last week. But so far, the measures announced would seem hardly likely to suddenly pitch New Zealand into the fast-growth East Asian league. The digital nomad announcement hardly deserved ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Someone defames you anonymously online. Can you find out who it is? Maybe. There are legal avenues to seek a court order that an internet host reveal the identity of the person. One of them is called a Norwich Pharmacal order, but as Hugh Tomlinson KC points out, it only ...
The results of the 2025 Mood of the Workforce survey have been released, with working people revealing deep concerns regarding their work lives, housing, health care, and perceptions of the coalition government in Aotearoa New Zealand.Christopher Luxon has signalled that National may campaign on asset sales in the next election, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
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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:
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.