In one breath they talk about investing but most of the article talks about them tendering for contracts. Unless they plan on bidding $3billion more than everyone else I can’t see where the gains are, if it’s just tenders ChCh will get the money whether this mob is involved or not.
“….if it’s just tenders ChCh will get the money whether this mob is involved or not.”
that is theproblem…..they arnt and wont….the appetite for investment in the ChCh rebuild has evaporated for a multitude of reasons, number one of which is the disastrous leadership(?) provided by Brownlee and his cabinet mates.
That was partly my point. Read down the article, ie;
“Rahme, a Guoxin founding partner, said several Christchurch projects had already been identified, but he would not name them.
Once projects went out for tender, Guoxin would submit bids for them.”
and…..
“Because of the company’s size, it could source materials from China and across the world at a cheaper cost, which could make projects more viable, Rahme said”
They’re talking there about projects which are going to be built whether this mob is in it or not. So where is the $3billion of investment?
the point is without the financing they may not be built, or at least not for some considerable time….you can say they are tendering for work that will happen anyway, but whether any of those tenders are accepted will depend on many factors….not least of which will be cost. The cost of construction currently does not allow a return in most instances from projected revenues and the Insurance monies are coming to an end and much is being redirected or sat on waiting for the inevitable fire sales
maybe we are going to try design build projects like used on the beautiful Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (Cooper River bridge) in South Carolina. In some ways I am a fan of such projects it puts all the responsibility to design and build on the firm doing the construction. If they get it wrong they carry the can.
And that “sourcing of materials” is going to impact on NZ steel manufacturers and building material providers (and resulting job losses) and trade workers.
These decisions are going to have more impact than the most immediate consideration of who can provide for the least cost – NZ company or overseas.
Tim Groser in Parliament yesterday delivered a totally mindless, utterly absurd speech following on from question time. Among other inanely rambling topics he discussed several examples of “why he thinks the number 7 is important”.
In keeping the spirit of mindless absurdity initiated by Groser (“if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em”), I’d like to add to his examples seven reasons why the people of NZ voted for a panda as PM of New Zealand in the last election:
1. Pandas believe that they do enough for their country merely by sitting around eating or by lying around on their backs all day. They don’t need to do any useful work nor have a long-term strategy or a vision for the the future of their country. They merely exist to be adored by the public and fed by the taxpayer. However they are expensive for the taxpayer to keep and maintain.
2. They are shorter in stature than a full-grown man when standing on their hind legs. However they have rather strong arms and can deliver an awesome side-swipe to anyone who gets too close and is foolish enough to say something they don’t like.
3. They have quite unnecessarily big heads, given their short stature.
4. They also have a big mouth – bigger than is required for their bland diet of Green fodder. And pandas have quite sharp teeth that can inflict serious damage on their opponents at close range. However they do have a leerish grin that some members of the public find attractive.
5. They have rather small beady eyes that stare unblinkingly whenever a camera is aimed in their general direction.
6. They have a characteristically quite large, long nose.
7. Pandas can be good money-spinners in the short term. However the voting public soon become bored with them as zoo exhibits, due in part to their gross inactivity.
In short, we couldn’t have done worse for the future of this country if we’d voted for a snake instead of a panda.
If Key wants a panda badly enough he can afford one and charge what he likes for people to see it. He can also stick a flag of his preference at the entrance of the panda enclosure.
and
A panda and a flag are priorities for Key, while state housing is in ruins and supported housing is desperately needed for those with complex housing needs.
Where is the logic in making someone homeless, (selling off state homes) then housing a homeless person, (social housing)?
Nothing has been done in 4 years, because Key’s grand social housing plan is RIDDLED with holes because it relies on stripping state housing of assets.
I think its a warning shot from the Greens to Labour, the flag probably won’t change so supporting Red Peak means nothing but it does tell Labour that the Greens don’t want to be seen as Labours doormat anymore and if Labour want the Greens support they (Labour) will have to negotiate with them
quite frankly we did not need another choice to make this ‘shambles’ ‘flag debacle’ ‘rubbish designs’ etc etc more palatable or to give the PM more leg to stand on his vanity project.
the greens could have just simply sat that one out. Oh well, i guess they will be known hence forward as the ‘Aquamarine’ brigade….to the rescue of the national party when ever they need help. Not that that would feed the kids, or help the envirnoment, but it sure does feel good.
the greens, the labour party should have both done nothing else but lean back and watch the trainwreck that is the “Flag Change”.
no, the GP are mediating a solution to the clusterfuck that is the flag change process, and they’re doing so in a way that will probably pick up votes for them.
let people vote on the choices presented to them by dear leader, and frankly if the feathers win, than it is becasue people voted for it.
if the old flag stays, its because people voted for it.
for once, sorry Weka, but the greens fucked up big time here.
I find the whole thing stupid and dumb. Key talking about Labour failing to get Red Peak on the ballot, then breathless admiration for the Greens who “came through the middle”…WHO CARES??? IT IS A SIDESHOW. Nothing happened.
A question for all those eagle eyed economics whizzes that visit TS. (With apologies for the boring nature of the question).
Apparently economists anticipate there will be another cut in the OCR before the end of the year. Anyone have ideas as to exactly when another cut would be announced?
I want to refix my mortgage if the OCR goes down again and banks respond by lowering their lending rates. Currently the best offers are 4.35% for one year fixed. Am hoping they will drop further so I can take advantage.
It’s unlikely that it will drop any more than it has (2.75% is getting down to quite low), but this is dependent on economic indicators. Eg; if business confidence decreases more than expected, then the OCR will be likely to decrease too. If you want to get a general indication of whether the OCR will be set higher or lower, the main indicators to watch are inflation rates, business & consumer confidence levels, and employment trends.
Thanks odot. I got the feeling that those three indicators you mention were flat, at the moment, but then it’s not my area of knowledge.
Despite the unknown I’m going to hang out till 29th October with my current fixed rate.
After all, dear Leader showed his lack of faith in his governments ability to lift the economy by saying that “we could see mortgage rates with a 3 in front of them”. Not that he is to be believed on any topic.
After all, dear Leader showed his lack of faith in his governments ability to lift the economy by saying that “we could see mortgage rates with a 3 in front of them”.
Generally speaking, bank mortgage rates are usually around 1.5 to 2% higher than the OCR. To get mortgage rates with a 3 in front you’d have to have the OCR drop to 2.25% at the minimum and even then it would take the banks a few weeks to drop their interest rates. Hell, they may not even drop them.
Got that thanks Drac, re the mortgage rates to OCR ratio.
I think last time the OCR dropped the banks did drop quickly, within a few days. I guess they’re thinking there has to be some semblance of competitiveness. They never lose though, they get people on their obscenely huge break fee’s, which you have to fight them to avoid paying.
It is unlikely that business confidence will have any reason to head north in the foreseeable future. There will be an increase in unemployment numbers and inflation will likely remain less than .05%.
The dairy giant said its net profit after tax came to $506 million in the year to July 31, up 183 per cent from the previous year’s profit, and raised its forecast payout for the current season.
Yep, it’s called neoliberalism, maximising short term profits to give applause and profits payouts to the CEO and management team, while leaving the workers with less jobs and more work and the company weaker in the long term. The farmers themselves have had less payouts for milk but ‘supported’ by the co-operative instead of giving them the money for milk they used to get. Make it complicated too, like the Natz, take with one hand, and then give a little with the other their own money and keep the rest for yourself.
What has Jacinda Ardern done to warrant replacing Annette King apart from losing to Nikki Kaye twice and putting on makeup and apperaring in some womans magazines?
Annette King is one of the (very few) mps the Labour party has that can match it with National
If National could swop some of their mps for Labours they’d probably pick Annette King, Kelvin Davis, Stuart Nash and thats about it, thats how bare the cupboard is for Labour
Why Labour would want to demote one of thier best, most experienced mps for someone that can’t even win an electorate seat is beyond me
If you can’t convince an electorate to vote for you how can you convice a country? It was a strange (to me anyway) decision to make Andrew Little the leader of Labour but i guess when you scrambling for purchase you’ll grab onto anything
Kelvin Davis comes across very well, competent man-of the-people type and hes even managed to avoid any fallout from his hits on Serco ref: deaths in corrections run prisons so hes doing something right
Which goes to show that the voters of New Plymouth were blind to the likelihood of having the countries next Prime Minister as their local MP.
Oh well New Plymouths loss, the countries gain.
Actually, Little didn’t do too badly in a decidedly Right-leaning Provincial City seat like New Plymouth.
Particularly so in 2011.
2011 Split Vote
(CV = Candidate Vote)
(GE = General Electorates as a whole)
Party Vote……CV for Lab candidate (GE)…..CV for Little in New Plymouth
Labour……………………….83%…………………………………91%
National………………………5%…………………………………..9%
NZF…………………………….43%…………………………………65%
Green…………………………45%…………………………………61%
Cons…………………………..12%…………………………………27%
ACT……………………………..7%………………………………….14%
UF………………………………18%…………………………………34%
In other words, Little was able to attract far greater support from the voters of rival parties (and, indeed, from Labour voters) compared to your average Labour candidate. Remember, this was the first time he’d ever stood so it was a remarkable performance for a newbie candidate. Only the long-time MPs in the Labour leadership (Goff, King, Mallard) (as well as Helen Clark in previous elections) had the same ability to pull in the voters of other parties.
True, 2014 wasn’t quite such a good performance, but Little was still attracting more voters of other parties than the average Labour candidate, even if not to the same extent as his debut in 2011.
But the fact is: he was on a hiding to nothing in such a conservative,
right-leaning seat. Meanwhile, your favourite PM makes sure he initially gets selected for one of the safest and Bluest seats in he Country.
Nah, generally been a Tory seat since the advent of the modern Party system. And the 2011 and 2014 Elections took place during a particularly Blue period (in more ways than one) in the electoral cycle.
The only reason Labour’s Duynhoven held on for as long as he did was that he was basically a political freak. He was winning support from National voters (ie National Party-voters) massively – and I mean massively – out of proportion to other Labour candidates, including the popular leadership old-timers like Clark, Goff, King, Mallard.
The fact that a newbie candidate like Little was able to emulate Duynhoven’s pulling power (albeit to a lesser degree) remains impressive. Little might not have quite been the political freak Duynhoven was, but he was still up there with the Clarks and Goffs when it came to his ability to attract rival parties’ voters.
Thats your view of the world but it’s not mine and many others I speak with. There is plenty of time for Little to further his popularity with voters and I have huge confidence in his abilities to present himself as a Prime Minister in waiting over the next 18 months two years.
Little’s charisma bypass works hugely against him. He comes across as passionless and humourless. Contrast that with all the other party leaders and he’s uniquely boring.
I’d agree with much of that Grindle But please lay off the scorched earth approach to Labour and Little. Give them a chance to grow without cutting down those tall poppies. Find something to praise, however little!
Yup. But there were differences. Goff wasn’t really given a chance and blew it with the stunt on a motorbike that looked too big for him. Shearer was a ditherer and used to seem as surprised as everyone else to hear what he had to say once he’d said it. Cunliffe just didn’t look or sound genuine. Little’s just bland and boring.
“There is plenty of time for Little to further his popularity with voters and I have huge confidence in his abilities to present himself as a Prime Minister in waiting over the next 18 months two years.”
Which basically sounds like the old he just needs more time refrain
No. It’s the reality highlighted by the polls. Little has failed to significantly shine thus far. How that gives you confidence he will improve going forward is unclear.
Andrew Little is concentrating on creating cohesion between all the different strands of the Labour Party (a big job given it’s diversity) and moving around the country getting a sense of what is really going on out there in voter-land. He’s playing the long game and ensuring the building blocks are in place before he starts the job of winning over voters.
Why do you think the blowhard Key and his cohorts have upped the ‘dirty political’ rhetoric on Andrew Little T.C.? Because they know that when the time comes, he’s going to be a much harder opponent to beat that’s why.
Josie Pagani says Labour needs to upset some people (I’m taking that means people on the left) and take some risk.
She’s right about that, but I doubt she recognises that it is she (and others of similar ilk) who are going to be upset. Both Paganis are way out of the Labour loop and have been for a long time. Josie reminds me of that third way Blairite who stood for the UK Labour leadership. Forgotten her name already but she only managed 4.5% of the vote. In a similar situation here I doubt Josie would get 0.5% of the vote.
I think he was “happy” with her starting up an independent Think Tank but be assured she and her mates were given the thumbs down about involving the Labour Party. It seems to have died a natural death because there’s been no mention of it since.
She probably does have the ear of a few within Labour but that is all. She’s highly unpopular because of the way she has sniped at – and run down – Labour at every opportunity. She’s been doing it for a long time under various leaders and my sense is: it’s a revenge thing because she and her husband have not been afforded the reverence and appreciation of the party hierarchy she thinks they deserve.
The fact the Party hasn’t publicly disowned her suggests she may have more support within than we both believe.
Don’t agree. She’s a publicity seeking type and they don’t intend to accommodate her… is the more likely reason they don’t publicly disown her. Best to ignore her.
She is very outspoken and given her media status, her input is far reaching.
Therefore, if she was going against the Party’s wishes (potentially harming their public image) surely they would distance themselves from her, setting the media and public right.
The fact that they haven’t speaks volumes, IMO.
Ignoring someone so outspoken, potentially damaging and with such public reach is an inconceivable strategy.
She seeks publicity – and money – through her engagements with RNZ “The Panel” and other similar programmes on TV, but she doesn’t get news coverage as such. Since the audience for the above is limited then I guess they think she’s best ignored. I know of no-one who bothers to read her occasional written diatribes – confused and irrational as they so often seem.
RNZ, “The Panel” and other similar programmes on TV are generally related to news or political coverage, thus her public reach is rather wide. Not to mention potentially damaging.
Moreover, allowing her to hog the limelight robs Labour from getting their genuine message out. Hence, when all is considered, the ignoring her strategy being put forward just doesn’t wash, IMO.
Of course, that won’t be clear until Little makes his move, then we’ll see which way he decides to go and how well that resonates with voters/supporters.
We’ve come to an agreement – sort of. I don’t think Labour has a lot of choice at present because the MSM are going to use her no matter what. But yeah, she’s damaging – dare I say it – the party brand, and I’d like to see her sent packing. Indeed I’ve considered writing to the Labour Council about her but as yet haven’t had the time to do so.
Publicly distancing themselves from her (while putting forward their own genuine spokesperson) would severely knee cap her current status as an associated Labour spokesperson or commentator of the left. Turning the media off seeking comment from her as it would largely be considered irrelevant.
Labour has this choice, but to date, have decided against it. Leaving me and others questioning why?
Joise Pagani is not and never has been a recognised spokesperson for Labour. What point is there in putting forward a genuine spokesperson when the MSM will simply ignore them. They wouldn’t want Labour’s choice whoever it might be. Madame J suits their agenda well enough. She puts the boot into Labour and that’s how they like it.
Not for the first time, I heard her on Mora’s panel a few days ago talking a load of confused and irrational bullshit. Mora and co. must know it’s bullshit yet they continue to invite her. There’s your problem – not Labour.
i think youre right anne i think hes more of a man than anyone else in the pack and personaly id prefer someone that wasnt always doing that grimacing thing somepeople call smiling anyway ! Timing is everything hopefully he will come through
By praising Annette King? Its not sexist to point out that Jacinda acts (via the medium of print media) like a pretty face but when it comes to the business of politics shes lost against Nikki Kaye and got smacked down by Paula Bennet
When people try and slag off Jacinda Ardern they always bring up the fact that she lost to Kaye, but the reality is she lost by 600 votes last year, and 700 the election before that. In an electorate with between 27-33k voters that is an incredibly slim margin both times…
That’s not quite true – they’d pick all of the ABCs who should be in National anyway.
Also, this is MMP, electorate seats are not as important as popularity nation-wide
They’d only pick the ABCs that were any good (which doesn’t leave alot to choose) and yes electorate seats arn’t as important as they used to be but as I said before how can you expect a country to vote for you if you can’t convice an electorate to vote for you
Because people are tired of old Third Way Labour. They want fresh ideas and young faces. They only reason Ardern lost Central Auckland is because some Green Party voters can’t figure out how to vote strategically, and the party can’t seem to figure this out either. And I know, I’m a party member. Maybe I’ll light a fire under it… Also, I think by the end of this term Ardern will have served 3 terms. That’s 9 years. Is that enough experience? Key became Prime Minister with only 6 years in parliament.
“They ALWAYS give them Maori names.”
Paul Henry channeled the late Paul Holmes this morning. PAUL HENRY, TV3, Thursday 24 September 2015
shallow /ˈʃaləʊ/ adj.1. of little depth; 2. not exhibiting, requiring, or capable of serious thought.
This program gets worse every day. I tuned in this morning just as the 8 o’clock news was finishing….
HILLARY BARRY: ….And the new Cook Strait ferry the Kaiarahi has arrived in Wellington. It has been blessed by iwi, and will start services next month.
Now for most people that would have been an uncontroversial, even boring, little news item. But for Paul Henry, like it was for another hateful multi-media pontificator, Paul Holmes, Māori culture is intolerable, an affront, its very existence a provocation. So, in the mind of Paul Henry, naming a ferry the Kaiarahi was “political correctness” gone mad.
Intolerable!
After a short silence, he made his assault…..
PAUL HENRY: Would it be so hard for them to give the ferry an ENGLISH name? They ALWAYS give them Maori names.
HILLARY BARRY: I think it’s LOVELY!
PAUL HENRY: Do you? It must be all right then, if Hillary likes it. But honestly….
Henry’s slave Jim Kayes looked troubled, but kept his own counsel….
Shortly after that, it was time for the daily “Panel”. Today it featured a particularly gruesome twosome: Christine (Spankin’) Rankin, the self-described “children’s advocate” who believes in hitting children, and Bill Ralston’s ghastly wife Janet Wilson. I had better things to do than listen to three vicious and vacuous people chuntering on at the intellectual level you’d expect at a golf club booze-up, but I did catch the tail-end of it just before 8:30….
JANET WILSON: See, here’s the thing: Len still thinks he’s going to win. Quelle horreur! He’s got a hide like an elephant. PAUL HENRY: Yeah, he has. JANET WILSON: The problem for Phil Goff is that he comes from the same end of the political spectrum as Len Brown. The thing is: who would want to run for mayor, when you get paid two and six for it? CHRISTINE SPANKIN’ RANKIN:[speaking slowly to emphasize how serious she is] He failed as the leader of the Labour Party, and he will fail as mayor of Auckland. JANET WILSON: Christine Rankin and Janet Wilson, thank you very much for coming on the Panel this morning. SPANKIN’ RANKIN: Best Panel ever! JANET WILSON: Ha ha ha ha! Yeah!
+1 – as I’m assuming most people on this site, can’t bear to watch this crap, (and from the falling ratings more and more of the public) great to have the opportunity to have it dissected.
That “two and six” the mayor gets paid is many times the average wage. Methinks Janet Wilson needs to live on the average wage for a while to get some perspective.
funnily enough as far as morning ‘news’ goes there are some segments of Henrys show I dont mind…his interview with Ruby Wax for example and I must begrudgingly admit his SOH is not without appeal.I expect this show to be a winner.
I must begrudgingly admit his SOH is not without appeal.
Yes, Henry can be very funny. I heard him on radio in December 2013 telling Dom and J.J. and Mike Puru about the passive-aggressive glares he gets from people whenever he goes out in public; he was simply hilarious. Some of his antics on his present television show are also quite amusing.
However, the funny bits are less and less apparent now. What might have seemed like irreverance has hardened into the most extreme intolerance and hatefulness, whether directed at refugees, or at the victims of bombs and bullets, or (as it was this morning) at Māori.
I expect this show to be a winner.
It’s not. The ratings are in free fall, as they were when he had a breakfast show in Melbourne three years ago….
By the way apparently Saudi Arabia are planning a crucifixion and execution of a man they arrested as a child.
Saudi are one of our hopeful trading partners that we fly sheep bribes to. Hard to believe this can be happening in the modern world with a country our government loves to suck up to.
Don’t worry our government will be ‘comfortable’ with that.
You say “apparently Saudi Arabia are planning a crucifixion”
Where do you get the bit about a crucifixion from?
I don’t see anything about it in the item you link to.
Here alwyn. Google the name of the young man the daily blog item mentions and you’ll get plenty of sites detailing his sentence to be executed by beheading, then crucifixion.
“Overall, six out of every ten children in care are Maori children.”
“Horrifying” statistics show children under the care of Child Youth and Family are struggling to break free from a cycle of continued abuse and re-victimisation, a major report has found.
IMO this has been a disgraceful situation through a number of governments – now rebstock has written her review and the ‘business case’ is/has been put. What will emerge from this ‘modernisation’, this righting of wrongs, this fucking clusterfuck of a way to help children, especially Māori children – what will happen???
a big nothing apart from more misery and more cutting – I thank the gnats, labour and greens for their contributions to this misery – well done – red reek that one!!!
What will emerge from this ‘modernisation’, this righting of wrongs, this fucking clusterfuck of a way to help children, especially Māori children – what will happen???
National will make things worse by putting in ideological BS as policy and then cut the budget.
I stomached Tolley on the radio for a few minutes and she seemed to me to be saying the government removes these children too late from abusive situations. The implication I assume is that they are too damaged at that point for any of these so called foster homes to provide any sort of stable environment.
She then went on to say that New Zealanders offered their homes to Syrian refugees, then asked why can’t they offer their homes to our own (child) refugees?
This is the sort of thinking which should be confined to some sort of bizarre brainstorming session to then be discarded as ludicrous, not the sort of thing a Minister should be voicing to the public.
These two “Tolley-thoughts” linked make you wonder whether her plan is to remove (Maori) children from disadvantaged and strained families at an ever decreasing age in order to make the children more palatable to ordinary NZ families who might happen to give a fuck.
Here she seems to want to not only shift the responsibility from the government to the private sector, but she goes further – she wants to shift the responsibility to the private individual!
I would have thought any major overhaul would focus on making the homes these children go to better, more stable, and capable of giving the kids an environment which ensured they maximised their learning at school.
I would have thought any major overhaul would focus on making the homes these children go to better, more stable, and capable of giving the kids an environment which ensured they maximised their learning at school.
You would have thought that but that would require taxes on the rich to up rather than down and so there’s no way that National would do that.
i bet theres a lot of people would like to wave their magic wand and make your last paragraph come true mutonbird but it would truely take a miracle .violence like when you wack your kids repeatedly begets violence makes you when you become an adolt wack youre kids too .I think its so deeply ingrained in some cultures it,le take generations to sort out .sue bradfords bill is a good start but theres not a few would like to repeal it an drag us back to the good ole days where a little tap did noone any harm !!
Of course the right has all the answers to these problems which is just to ignore it and say these people need to be individually responsible for their actions. That means no one has to do anything, no surprise then when they don’t offer any solutions to these complex problems and the situation gets gradually worse. Truly inspiring…
absolute racket in Sth Auck and Mangere…30% interest and penalties on over priced goods…non disclosure is rife as is doorstop selling.Seen $500 items =total contract $3700 on rent to own.Creating debt and then enforcing attachment orders on the unfortunate .
Media Alert! ” If National don’t walk away from the TPPA – petitioners will campaign for voters to ‘walk away’ from National!”
This morning, the following petition was presented at the Electoral Office of Nikki Kaye – the National MP for Auckland Central:
Petition wording:
“To the MP for Auckland Central – Nikki Kaye
We, the undersigned state:
That if this John Key led National Government does not ‘walk away’ from the secretive, undemocratic, pro-corporate ‘Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), then we pledge to campaign vigorously amongst our friends, families, neighbours and workmates, for the voting public to ‘walk away’ from National.”.
Nikki Kaye is a National Government Cabinet Minister – currently sitting on a 600 vote majority over Labour’s Jacinda Adern.
“AUCKLAND CENTRAL
Candidates Votes Received
ARDERN, Jacinda 11894
KAYE, Nikki 12494 ”
On the afternoons of Tuesday 22 September, and Wednesday 23 September, a tiny handful of determined ‘TPPA – WALK AWAY’ activists collected over 800 signatures for the above-mentioned petition, outside Auckland University (Symonds Street, Grafton Rd intersection), and on Ponsonby Rd.
Nikki Kaye is the Minister of Youth.
Most of whom signed this petition, were ‘youth’.
We look forward to citizens from all over New Zealand, who want to STOP this John Key led New Zealand National Government from signing the TPPA, to consider giving National Party MPs (particularly Cabinet Ministers) – this message which cannot be ignored.
Politicians understand ONE thing.
Votes.
We urge people to make your own version of this petition, address it to YOUR local National MP / Minister, and start collecting signatures!
This is a petition with sharp, pointy political teeth, which will help focus the minds of those to whom it is addressed, directly on the TPPA.
Thursday, 17 September 2015, 11:55 am
Press Release: Professor Jane Kelsey
” Last ditch TPPA Ministerial in 10 days – is Groser preparing to swallow the rat?
Canadian officials have confirmed rumours that the trade ministers from the twelve countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) plan to meet in Atlanta, US at the end of the month in a last ditch attempt to conclude the deal. The chief negotiators are set to meet on 26 September to try to clear the ground for the politicians. ….”
This petition will help to ‘hold the feet’ of National Party MPs ‘to the fire’ – regarding the potential political repercussions of signing the TPPA.
A beheading/crucifixion in the year of 2015, cause we are learned, and civilised and grown up and stuff.
I know, I know, some beheadings (inclusive post beheading crucifixation – a must have for shits n giggles or something) are just more equal and lawful then other beheadings.
“His punishment is a brutal one, even by Saudi Arabia’s standards. Not only was Mr Nimr, now 21, handed a death sentence, but the method of punishment was determined to be crucifixion, which rights groups say means he will be beheaded and then have his mutilated body displayed publicly.”
I was about to post this. Good to see Campbell hitting up the really important stories that actually matter. TV3’s loss is actually New Zealand’s loss.
“No apologies to you mate. And no apologies
for the fact your show has so few viewers.”
In 2012, on Channel 10’s doomed breakfast show, the disastrously unsuccessful host unwisely tried to bully a Melbourne trade union guy….
PAUL HENRY: Do you want to apologise to the taxpayers and the people of Melbourne who’d like to use that street and the taxpayers who’re funding the police activity there. Do you want to apologise to those people now?
DAVID NOONAN: Well you know Paul I think you’ve got a particular political view of the world. You were bought over in the last few months from New Zealand. Mate, construction workers in New Zealand earn a lot less than they do in Australia and the sort of right wing shock jock stuff you want to go on with really isn’t going to faze me. We have a right a right to peaceful protest. We’ve got an important issue here and cheap shots like that really aren’t going to impress anybody.
PAUL HENRY: Right, so no apologies. Thanks for joining us this morning, David.
DAVID NOONAN: So no apologies to you mate. And no apologies for the fact your show has so few viewers.
[An awkward pause follows, then the camera cuts away to a news headline update before Henry comes back onscreen]
PAUL HENRY: Alrighty. I disagree with almost everything he said with the exception of the too few viewers thing. That is a shame.
such a damned shame she didnt end up in parliment i know lprent gave us some of the reasons that didnt happen but its still a damn shame In a perfect world it ud be ALL HANDS ON DECK !!
Tomorrow afternoon, if things go really really badly, I may find myself down to one eye. People who used to sneer at me on Twitter will no doubt say So what's changed? Nothing, that's what, you one-eyed lefty.I don’t mean to be dramatic, it’s just a routine bit of cataract ...
A few weeks ago an invitation dropped into my email inbox to attend a joint Treasury/Motu seminar on recent, rather major, changes that had apparently been made to the discount rates used by The Treasury to evaluate proposals from government agencies. It was all news to me, but when ...
All your life is Time magazineI read it tooWhat does it mean?PressureI'm sure you'll have some cosmic rationaleBut here you are with your faithAnd your Peter Pan adviceYou have no scars on your faceAnd you cannot handle pressureSongwriter: Billy Joel.Christopher Luxon is under pressure from all sides. The reviews are ...
After seeing yet-more-months of political debate and policy decisions to ‘go for growth’ by pulling the same old cheap migration and cheap tourism levers without nearly-enough infrastructure, or any attempt to address the same old lack of globally conventional tax incentives for investment, I thought it would be worth issuing ...
The plans for the buildings that will replace the downtown carpark have been publicly notified giving us the first detailed glance at what is proposed for one of the biggest and best development sites in the city centre. The council agreed to sell the site to Precinct Properties for $122 ...
With the Reserve Bank expected today to return the Official Cash Rate to where it was in mid-2022 comes a measure of how much of a psychological impact the rate has. Federated Farmers has published its latest six-monthly farm confidence survey, which shows that profit expectations have fallen and risen ...
Kiwis Disallowed From Waiting Lists Based on Arbitrary MeasuresWellington hospital are now rejecting patients from specialist waiting lists due to BMI (body mass index).This article from Rachel Thomas for The Post says it all (emphasis mine):A group of Porirua GPs are sounding alarm bells after patients with body mass indexes ...
The Prime Minister says he's really comfortable with us not knowing the reoffending rate for his boot camp programme.They asked him for it at yesterday’s press conference, and he said, nah, not telling, have to respect people's privacy.Okay I'll bite. Let's say they release this information to us:The rate of ...
Warning 1: There is a Nazi theme at the end of this article related to the disabled community. Warning 2: This article could be boring!One day, last year, I excitedly opened up a Substack post that was about how to fight back, and the answer at the end was disappointing ...
This may be rhetorical but here goes: did any of you invest in the $Libra memecoin endorsed and backed by Argentine president and darling of the global Right Javier Milei (who admitted to being paid a fee for his promotion of the token)? You know, the one that soared above ...
Last week various of the great and good of New Zealand economics and public policy trooped off to Hamilton (of all places) for the annual Waikato Economics Forum, one of the successful marketing drives of university’s Vice-Chancellor. My interest was in the speeches delivered by the Minister of Finance and ...
The Prime Minister says the Government would be open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached. The government has announced a $30 million spend on tourism infrastructure and biodiversity projects, including $11m spent to improve popular visitor sites and further $19m towards biodiversity efforts. A New Zealand-born ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler “But what about when the sun doesn't shine?!” Ah yes, the energy debate’s equivalent of “The Earth is flat!” Every time someone mentions solar or wind power, some self-proclaimed energy expert emerges from the woodwork to drop this supposedly devastating truth bomb: ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
Now that the US has ripped up the Atlantic alliance, Europe is more vulnerable now than at any time since the mid-1930s. Apparently, Europe and Ukraine itself will not have a seat at the table in the talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin that will ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
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: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
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 guests and ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
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. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
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. ...
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 ...
There is certainly plenty of room for better police training for dealing with protest activity that starts with a rights-based approach to ensuring people can fully exercise their human rights. ...
“We are thrilled that this Bill is making its way through the House and looks set to become law,” said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University Gumbariya/Shutterstock The Reserve Bank’s decision to cut interest rates for the first time in four years has triggered a round of celebration. Mortgage holders are cheering the fact their monthly repayments are now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Housing supply in Australia will be a key battleground in the election campaign. With home ownership more and more out of reach for young and not so young Australians, red tape and low productivity are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Korolev, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, UNSW Sydney The United States and Russia agreed to work on a plan to end the war in Ukraine at high-level talks in Saudi Arabia this week. Ukrainian and European representatives were pointedly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University BaLL LunLa/Shutterstock Sleep is the holy grail for new parents. So no wonder many tired parents are looking for something to help their babies sleep. A TikTok trend claims ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ranjana Gupta, Senior Lecturer, Accounting Department, Auckland University of Technology Jirsak/Shutterstock The profit made on every breakfast bowl of weet-bix is tax exempt, giving Sanitarium Health Food Company, owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, an advantage over other breakfast food companies. ...
A closer look at some of the homegrown talent currently commanding television screens around the globe. The new season of The White Lotus hit our screens this week, and with it a familiar face in New Zealand actor Morgana O’Reilly. To secure a role in one of the world’s most ...
"This is a crisis of the Government’s own making and the unit is another sign of desperation," said PSA acting national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francesca Perugia, Senior Lecturer, School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University Australia’s housing crisis has created a push for fast-tracked construction. Federal, state and territory governments have set a target of 1.2 million new homes over five years. Increasing housing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ash Watson, Scientia Fellow and Senior Lecturer, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock When we’re uncomfortable we say the “vibe is off”. When we’re having a good time we’re “vibing”. To assess the mood we do a “vibe check”. And when the atmosphere in ...
What’s up with the man from Epsom? The leader of the Act Party has been in plenty of headlines in the last two weeks, ranging from a controversial letter to police on behalf of constituent Philip Polkinghorne (written before David Seymour was a minister) to an attempt to drive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Stephenson, Deputy Director, Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Australian National University Newly published research has found clear evidence that openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer+ (LGBTIQ+) Australian politicians were disproportionately targeted with personal abuse on social media at the ...
Gilmore Girls, Schitt’s Creek, even The Vampire Diaries – they’re all set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. So what is it like to actually know your neighbours? My favourite television shows are set in tight-knit neighbourhoods where everyone knows everyone. Characters attend town meetings where they debate local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yanyan Hong, PhD Candidate in Communication and Media Studies, University of Adelaide IMDB On the surface, Ne Zha 2: The Sea’s Fury (2025), the sequel to the 2019 Chinese blockbuster Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, is a high-octane, action-packed and ...
Wellington travellers say their buses are so hot they’re often forced to get off early and walk. Shanti Mathias explores the impact of non-functioning air conditioning on public transport. When Bella, a young professional living in Wellington, thinks about taking the bus, her first thought is “Ugh”. The bus might ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Annette Kroen, Research Fellow Planning and Transport, RMIT University The cleanup is underway in northern Queensland following the latest flooding catastrophe to hit the state. More than 7,000 insurance claims have already been lodged, most of them for inundated homes and other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Subha Parida, Lecturer in Property, University of South Australia Carl Oberg/Shutterstock Houses and fire do not mix. The firestorm which hit Los Angeles in January destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings and forced 130,000 people to evacuate. The 2019–20 Australian megafires destroyed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania Tasmania has been burning for more than two weeks, with no end in sight. Almost 100,000 hectares of bushland in the northwest has burned to date. This includes the Tarkine rainforest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Loosemore, Professor of Construction Management, University of Technology Sydney This week, the Productivity Commission released its much-awaited report into productivity growth in Australia’s housing construction sector. It wasn’t a glowing appraisal. The commission found physical productivity – the total number ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pascale Lubbe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology, University of Otago Royal spoonbills are among several new species that have crossed the Tasman and naturalised in New Zealand. JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA When people arrived on the shores of Aotearoa ...
Stats NZ’s head is stepping down over the agency’s failure to safeguard census data, and more officials may soon be in the firing line, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. An ‘absolutely unacceptable’ failure Stats NZ chief ...
Health NZ is under greater government scrutiny, with the new health minister setting up a unit he says will "drive greater accountability and performance". ...
Manurewa Marae acknowledges should have done better at handling completed census forms, following an inquiry into steps government agencies took to protect data. ...
Police failed to protect people from protesters at a high-profile rally and made unlawful arrests at another, the Independent Police Conduct Authority says. ...
Comment: Crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are making it easier for people to invest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum without having to handle digital wallets or private keys. These allow investors to buy and sell cryptocurrency through their regular brokerage accounts.This has opened the door for billions of dollars ...
Can anyone make sense of this….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/72324474/chinese-investors-plan-3-billion-fund-to-help-city-rebuild
In one breath they talk about investing but most of the article talks about them tendering for contracts. Unless they plan on bidding $3billion more than everyone else I can’t see where the gains are, if it’s just tenders ChCh will get the money whether this mob is involved or not.
“….if it’s just tenders ChCh will get the money whether this mob is involved or not.”
that is theproblem…..they arnt and wont….the appetite for investment in the ChCh rebuild has evaporated for a multitude of reasons, number one of which is the disastrous leadership(?) provided by Brownlee and his cabinet mates.
That was partly my point. Read down the article, ie;
“Rahme, a Guoxin founding partner, said several Christchurch projects had already been identified, but he would not name them.
Once projects went out for tender, Guoxin would submit bids for them.”
and…..
“Because of the company’s size, it could source materials from China and across the world at a cheaper cost, which could make projects more viable, Rahme said”
They’re talking there about projects which are going to be built whether this mob is in it or not. So where is the $3billion of investment?
the point is without the financing they may not be built, or at least not for some considerable time….you can say they are tendering for work that will happen anyway, but whether any of those tenders are accepted will depend on many factors….not least of which will be cost. The cost of construction currently does not allow a return in most instances from projected revenues and the Insurance monies are coming to an end and much is being redirected or sat on waiting for the inevitable fire sales
maybe we are going to try design build projects like used on the beautiful Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (Cooper River bridge) in South Carolina. In some ways I am a fan of such projects it puts all the responsibility to design and build on the firm doing the construction. If they get it wrong they carry the can.
And that “sourcing of materials” is going to impact on NZ steel manufacturers and building material providers (and resulting job losses) and trade workers.
These decisions are going to have more impact than the most immediate consideration of who can provide for the least cost – NZ company or overseas.
Tim Groser in Parliament yesterday delivered a totally mindless, utterly absurd speech following on from question time. Among other inanely rambling topics he discussed several examples of “why he thinks the number 7 is important”.
In keeping the spirit of mindless absurdity initiated by Groser (“if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em”), I’d like to add to his examples seven reasons why the people of NZ voted for a panda as PM of New Zealand in the last election:
1. Pandas believe that they do enough for their country merely by sitting around eating or by lying around on their backs all day. They don’t need to do any useful work nor have a long-term strategy or a vision for the the future of their country. They merely exist to be adored by the public and fed by the taxpayer. However they are expensive for the taxpayer to keep and maintain.
2. They are shorter in stature than a full-grown man when standing on their hind legs. However they have rather strong arms and can deliver an awesome side-swipe to anyone who gets too close and is foolish enough to say something they don’t like.
3. They have quite unnecessarily big heads, given their short stature.
4. They also have a big mouth – bigger than is required for their bland diet of Green fodder. And pandas have quite sharp teeth that can inflict serious damage on their opponents at close range. However they do have a leerish grin that some members of the public find attractive.
5. They have rather small beady eyes that stare unblinkingly whenever a camera is aimed in their general direction.
6. They have a characteristically quite large, long nose.
7. Pandas can be good money-spinners in the short term. However the voting public soon become bored with them as zoo exhibits, due in part to their gross inactivity.
In short, we couldn’t have done worse for the future of this country if we’d voted for a snake instead of a panda.
😀
Seven ticks. 🙂
Christine Lagarde gave a speech in 2014 with opening references to ‘why the number 7 is important’
If Key wants a panda badly enough he can afford one and charge what he likes for people to see it. He can also stick a flag of his preference at the entrance of the panda enclosure.
and
A panda and a flag are priorities for Key, while state housing is in ruins and supported housing is desperately needed for those with complex housing needs.
Where is the logic in making someone homeless, (selling off state homes) then housing a homeless person, (social housing)?
Nothing has been done in 4 years, because Key’s grand social housing plan is RIDDLED with holes because it relies on stripping state housing of assets.
Key likes Pandas because the are nearly All Black.
Can anyone tell me why the Greens backed National for the Red Peak?
Because apparently it was popular and liked by many people.
Personally I think it’s ugly, but if that’ what people want as our flag so be it.
I think its a warning shot from the Greens to Labour, the flag probably won’t change so supporting Red Peak means nothing but it does tell Labour that the Greens don’t want to be seen as Labours doormat anymore and if Labour want the Greens support they (Labour) will have to negotiate with them
Maybe
@ Nick The Greens were giving us one more option to vote for that clearly has some public support. What is the problem there?
Little should give Clare Curran a bollockling for (according to Morning report) tweeting against the Greens. When will she ever learn?
quite frankly we did not need another choice to make this ‘shambles’ ‘flag debacle’ ‘rubbish designs’ etc etc more palatable or to give the PM more leg to stand on his vanity project.
the greens could have just simply sat that one out. Oh well, i guess they will be known hence forward as the ‘Aquamarine’ brigade….to the rescue of the national party when ever they need help. Not that that would feed the kids, or help the envirnoment, but it sure does feel good.
the greens, the labour party should have both done nothing else but lean back and watch the trainwreck that is the “Flag Change”.
absolutely but new leader rashly keen to make his mark wow hes a real big deal
Steve Keen: Simple Complex Model of Great Moderation & Recession (Video)
A very important presentation DtB.
I’ve been following the details of this for some years now. (I even donated to Keen’s Kickstart to assist development of the software package.)
There is a bit to absorb, but the underlying concept makes complete engineering sense.
Ahhhh… I see, the Greens are voting for Red Peak
no, the GP are mediating a solution to the clusterfuck that is the flag change process, and they’re doing so in a way that will probably pick up votes for them.
and you know what,
they
don’t
need
to
do
this
they have no reason whatsoever to ‘mediate’.
let people vote on the choices presented to them by dear leader, and frankly if the feathers win, than it is becasue people voted for it.
if the old flag stays, its because people voted for it.
for once, sorry Weka, but the greens fucked up big time here.
Reinforcing our status as international laughing stock: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/anger-over-nazi-swastika-new-zealand-flag-entry-10514224.html
I find the whole thing stupid and dumb. Key talking about Labour failing to get Red Peak on the ballot, then breathless admiration for the Greens who “came through the middle”…WHO CARES??? IT IS A SIDESHOW. Nothing happened.
+1 – meanwhile TPP goes ahead with nothing meaningful done by opposition.
Tried to read what Audrey Young had to say about the Flag thingy but it won’t open. Wonder why?
Flag backdown won’t harm PM
A question for all those eagle eyed economics whizzes that visit TS. (With apologies for the boring nature of the question).
Apparently economists anticipate there will be another cut in the OCR before the end of the year. Anyone have ideas as to exactly when another cut would be announced?
I want to refix my mortgage if the OCR goes down again and banks respond by lowering their lending rates. Currently the best offers are 4.35% for one year fixed. Am hoping they will drop further so I can take advantage.
They have a schedule for OCR announcements ( http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/monetary_policy/ocr/ – on the right) but no idea what the chances are of an actual cut on those days.
Excellent. Thank you Editractor. Learnt something new today.
It’s unlikely that it will drop any more than it has (2.75% is getting down to quite low), but this is dependent on economic indicators. Eg; if business confidence decreases more than expected, then the OCR will be likely to decrease too. If you want to get a general indication of whether the OCR will be set higher or lower, the main indicators to watch are inflation rates, business & consumer confidence levels, and employment trends.
Thanks odot. I got the feeling that those three indicators you mention were flat, at the moment, but then it’s not my area of knowledge.
Despite the unknown I’m going to hang out till 29th October with my current fixed rate.
After all, dear Leader showed his lack of faith in his governments ability to lift the economy by saying that “we could see mortgage rates with a 3 in front of them”. Not that he is to be believed on any topic.
Generally speaking, bank mortgage rates are usually around 1.5 to 2% higher than the OCR. To get mortgage rates with a 3 in front you’d have to have the OCR drop to 2.25% at the minimum and even then it would take the banks a few weeks to drop their interest rates. Hell, they may not even drop them.
Got that thanks Drac, re the mortgage rates to OCR ratio.
I think last time the OCR dropped the banks did drop quickly, within a few days. I guess they’re thinking there has to be some semblance of competitiveness. They never lose though, they get people on their obscenely huge break fee’s, which you have to fight them to avoid paying.
It is unlikely that business confidence will have any reason to head north in the foreseeable future. There will be an increase in unemployment numbers and inflation will likely remain less than .05%.
HUH
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11518089
And slashed the milk price forecast to $3.85 per kilogram of milk solids.
Yep, it’s called neoliberalism, maximising short term profits to give applause and profits payouts to the CEO and management team, while leaving the workers with less jobs and more work and the company weaker in the long term. The farmers themselves have had less payouts for milk but ‘supported’ by the co-operative instead of giving them the money for milk they used to get. Make it complicated too, like the Natz, take with one hand, and then give a little with the other their own money and keep the rest for yourself.
You really need to learn how business works.
That was the last financial year.
“So they sack 750!!!”
Yep and apparently another 200 will lose their jobs, There are a lot of worried people out there.
Latest political poll has Jacinda Ardern out in front for the position of the party’s deputy
Jacinda Ardern – 33 per cent support.
The option of “don’t know/don’t care” received 28 per cent.
King came in third at 25 per cent.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/72322764/jacinda-ardern-favourite-for-labour-deputy–poll
Thoughts?
What has Jacinda Ardern done to warrant replacing Annette King apart from losing to Nikki Kaye twice and putting on makeup and apperaring in some womans magazines?
Annette King is one of the (very few) mps the Labour party has that can match it with National
If National could swop some of their mps for Labours they’d probably pick Annette King, Kelvin Davis, Stuart Nash and thats about it, thats how bare the cupboard is for Labour
Why Labour would want to demote one of thier best, most experienced mps for someone that can’t even win an electorate seat is beyond me
Little failed to win his electoral seat – and now is the Party leader.
They say Jacinda Ardern gives the perception of a new face.
Kelvin Davis received 11 per cent.
The option of “don’t know/don’t care” receiving 28 per cent should be of concern.
If you can’t convince an electorate to vote for you how can you convice a country? It was a strange (to me anyway) decision to make Andrew Little the leader of Labour but i guess when you scrambling for purchase you’ll grab onto anything
Kelvin Davis comes across very well, competent man-of the-people type and hes even managed to avoid any fallout from his hits on Serco ref: deaths in corrections run prisons so hes doing something right
Which goes to show that the voters of New Plymouth were blind to the likelihood of having the countries next Prime Minister as their local MP.
Oh well New Plymouths loss, the countries gain.
He lost in New Plymouth twice so the electorate has had a good chance to see what he was all about and have voted accordingly
Actually, Little didn’t do too badly in a decidedly Right-leaning Provincial City seat like New Plymouth.
Particularly so in 2011.
2011 Split Vote
(CV = Candidate Vote)
(GE = General Electorates as a whole)
Party Vote……CV for Lab candidate (GE)…..CV for Little in New Plymouth
Labour……………………….83%…………………………………91%
National………………………5%…………………………………..9%
NZF…………………………….43%…………………………………65%
Green…………………………45%…………………………………61%
Cons…………………………..12%…………………………………27%
ACT……………………………..7%………………………………….14%
UF………………………………18%…………………………………34%
In other words, Little was able to attract far greater support from the voters of rival parties (and, indeed, from Labour voters) compared to your average Labour candidate. Remember, this was the first time he’d ever stood so it was a remarkable performance for a newbie candidate. Only the long-time MPs in the Labour leadership (Goff, King, Mallard) (as well as Helen Clark in previous elections) had the same ability to pull in the voters of other parties.
True, 2014 wasn’t quite such a good performance, but Little was still attracting more voters of other parties than the average Labour candidate, even if not to the same extent as his debut in 2011.
But the fact is: he was on a hiding to nothing in such a conservative,
right-leaning seat. Meanwhile, your favourite PM makes sure he initially gets selected for one of the safest and Bluest seats in he Country.
Good job at polishing a turd but New Plymouth has had its fair share of left wing mps representing it
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Plymouth_(New_Zealand_electorate)
The fact is hes tried, twice, to win the seat and failed to convince the voters to vote for him
Why do you think he’ll be able to convince the rest of the country to vote for him instead?
Nah, generally been a Tory seat since the advent of the modern Party system. And the 2011 and 2014 Elections took place during a particularly Blue period (in more ways than one) in the electoral cycle.
The only reason Labour’s Duynhoven held on for as long as he did was that he was basically a political freak. He was winning support from National voters (ie National Party-voters) massively – and I mean massively – out of proportion to other Labour candidates, including the popular leadership old-timers like Clark, Goff, King, Mallard.
The fact that a newbie candidate like Little was able to emulate Duynhoven’s pulling power (albeit to a lesser degree) remains impressive. Little might not have quite been the political freak Duynhoven was, but he was still up there with the Clarks and Goffs when it came to his ability to attract rival parties’ voters.
Little has failed to significantly shine thus far.
Depth is a problem the Party faces (IMO)
Kelvin Davis had the Government on the back foot over the Serco debacle.
Word is Little favours a female deputy.
Thats your view of the world but it’s not mine and many others I speak with. There is plenty of time for Little to further his popularity with voters and I have huge confidence in his abilities to present himself as a Prime Minister in waiting over the next 18 months two years.
Little’s charisma bypass works hugely against him. He comes across as passionless and humourless. Contrast that with all the other party leaders and he’s uniquely boring.
I’d agree with much of that Grindle But please lay off the scorched earth approach to Labour and Little. Give them a chance to grow without cutting down those tall poppies. Find something to praise, however little!
The same thing was said about the Cunliffe, Shearer and Goff
Yup. But there were differences. Goff wasn’t really given a chance and blew it with the stunt on a motorbike that looked too big for him. Shearer was a ditherer and used to seem as surprised as everyone else to hear what he had to say once he’d said it. Cunliffe just didn’t look or sound genuine. Little’s just bland and boring.
True but I was more referring to this:
“There is plenty of time for Little to further his popularity with voters and I have huge confidence in his abilities to present himself as a Prime Minister in waiting over the next 18 months two years.”
Which basically sounds like the old he just needs more time refrain
@ Atiawa
No. It’s the reality highlighted by the polls. Little has failed to significantly shine thus far. How that gives you confidence he will improve going forward is unclear.
Andrew Little is concentrating on creating cohesion between all the different strands of the Labour Party (a big job given it’s diversity) and moving around the country getting a sense of what is really going on out there in voter-land. He’s playing the long game and ensuring the building blocks are in place before he starts the job of winning over voters.
Why do you think the blowhard Key and his cohorts have upped the ‘dirty political’ rhetoric on Andrew Little T.C.? Because they know that when the time comes, he’s going to be a much harder opponent to beat that’s why.
Playing the long-game is what they say, Anne.
However, I haven’t seen anything from Little that would have National overly concerned.
At this stage, National merely have to maintain voter confidence and they’ll probably sail through.
Can’t wait to see how Little plans to shift it up a gear and start winning over voters.
Josie Pagani says Labour needs to upset some people (I’m taking that means people on the left) and take some risk.
It will be interesting to see what Little actually decides to do.
She’s right about that, but I doubt she recognises that it is she (and others of similar ilk) who are going to be upset. Both Paganis are way out of the Labour loop and have been for a long time. Josie reminds me of that third way Blairite who stood for the UK Labour leadership. Forgotten her name already but she only managed 4.5% of the vote. In a similar situation here I doubt Josie would get 0.5% of the vote.
Josie Pagani was involved with setting up that Think Tank – and Little said he was happy with it.
Clearly she still has the ear of a few within Labour.
Lets hope you’re right, Anne.
I think he was “happy” with her starting up an independent Think Tank but be assured she and her mates were given the thumbs down about involving the Labour Party. It seems to have died a natural death because there’s been no mention of it since.
She probably does have the ear of a few within Labour but that is all. She’s highly unpopular because of the way she has sniped at – and run down – Labour at every opportunity. She’s been doing it for a long time under various leaders and my sense is: it’s a revenge thing because she and her husband have not been afforded the reverence and appreciation of the party hierarchy she thinks they deserve.
Died a natural death? Or merely keeping it on the down low? The launching isn’t till the end of the year.
My understanding was it’s independence is to enable it to make it easier to reach out to businesses.
The fact the Party hasn’t publicly disowned her suggests she may have more support within than we both believe.
The fact the Party hasn’t publicly disowned her suggests she may have more support within than we both believe.
Don’t agree. She’s a publicity seeking type and they don’t intend to accommodate her… is the more likely reason they don’t publicly disown her. Best to ignore her.
She is very outspoken and given her media status, her input is far reaching.
Therefore, if she was going against the Party’s wishes (potentially harming their public image) surely they would distance themselves from her, setting the media and public right.
The fact that they haven’t speaks volumes, IMO.
Ignoring someone so outspoken, potentially damaging and with such public reach is an inconceivable strategy.
She seeks publicity – and money – through her engagements with RNZ “The Panel” and other similar programmes on TV, but she doesn’t get news coverage as such. Since the audience for the above is limited then I guess they think she’s best ignored. I know of no-one who bothers to read her occasional written diatribes – confused and irrational as they so often seem.
RNZ, “The Panel” and other similar programmes on TV are generally related to news or political coverage, thus her public reach is rather wide. Not to mention potentially damaging.
Moreover, allowing her to hog the limelight robs Labour from getting their genuine message out. Hence, when all is considered, the ignoring her strategy being put forward just doesn’t wash, IMO.
Of course, that won’t be clear until Little makes his move, then we’ll see which way he decides to go and how well that resonates with voters/supporters.
We’ve come to an agreement – sort of. I don’t think Labour has a lot of choice at present because the MSM are going to use her no matter what. But yeah, she’s damaging – dare I say it – the party brand, and I’d like to see her sent packing. Indeed I’ve considered writing to the Labour Council about her but as yet haven’t had the time to do so.
Publicly distancing themselves from her (while putting forward their own genuine spokesperson) would severely knee cap her current status as an associated Labour spokesperson or commentator of the left. Turning the media off seeking comment from her as it would largely be considered irrelevant.
Labour has this choice, but to date, have decided against it. Leaving me and others questioning why?
Joise Pagani is not and never has been a recognised spokesperson for Labour. What point is there in putting forward a genuine spokesperson when the MSM will simply ignore them. They wouldn’t want Labour’s choice whoever it might be. Madame J suits their agenda well enough. She puts the boot into Labour and that’s how they like it.
Not for the first time, I heard her on Mora’s panel a few days ago talking a load of confused and irrational bullshit. Mora and co. must know it’s bullshit yet they continue to invite her. There’s your problem – not Labour.
That’s my last reply to this discourse.
i think youre right anne i think hes more of a man than anyone else in the pack and personaly id prefer someone that wasnt always doing that grimacing thing somepeople call smiling anyway ! Timing is everything hopefully he will come through
I’m more concerned about the policy package he plans to push.
Labour will need better policies if they want to get over the line.
effectively theyed have to promise to turn water into wine
Now now PR, your sexism is showing.
By praising Annette King? Its not sexist to point out that Jacinda acts (via the medium of print media) like a pretty face but when it comes to the business of politics shes lost against Nikki Kaye and got smacked down by Paula Bennet
maybe your troling was showing as well.
Disagreeing with something doesn’t make it trolling you know
I wasn’t commenting on your disagreement.
I can assure you that what I wrote isn’t trolling but my genuine thoughts on the matter
laugh of the day.
So genuine they have the stamp of approval from John Key himself.
Did Benefit sit on her?
When people try and slag off Jacinda Ardern they always bring up the fact that she lost to Kaye, but the reality is she lost by 600 votes last year, and 700 the election before that. In an electorate with between 27-33k voters that is an incredibly slim margin both times…
In the 2014 election, she lost by 600, but after the electorate was massively changed. The whole of Grey Lynn was excised and put into Mt Albert.
That’s not quite true – they’d pick all of the ABCs who should be in National anyway.
Also, this is MMP, electorate seats are not as important as popularity nation-wide
They’d only pick the ABCs that were any good (which doesn’t leave alot to choose) and yes electorate seats arn’t as important as they used to be but as I said before how can you expect a country to vote for you if you can’t convice an electorate to vote for you
Because people are tired of old Third Way Labour. They want fresh ideas and young faces. They only reason Ardern lost Central Auckland is because some Green Party voters can’t figure out how to vote strategically, and the party can’t seem to figure this out either. And I know, I’m a party member. Maybe I’ll light a fire under it… Also, I think by the end of this term Ardern will have served 3 terms. That’s 9 years. Is that enough experience? Key became Prime Minister with only 6 years in parliament.
‘Thoughts’
All polls can be rigged
People should consider what else they believe in also probably rigged
Politics
Economics / finance
Sport
etc
etc
etc
“They ALWAYS give them Maori names.”
Paul Henry channeled the late Paul Holmes this morning.
PAUL HENRY, TV3, Thursday 24 September 2015
shallow /ˈʃaləʊ/ adj. 1. of little depth; 2. not exhibiting, requiring, or capable of serious thought.
This program gets worse every day. I tuned in this morning just as the 8 o’clock news was finishing….
HILLARY BARRY: ….And the new Cook Strait ferry the Kaiarahi has arrived in Wellington. It has been blessed by iwi, and will start services next month.
Now for most people that would have been an uncontroversial, even boring, little news item. But for Paul Henry, like it was for another hateful multi-media pontificator, Paul Holmes, Māori culture is intolerable, an affront, its very existence a provocation. So, in the mind of Paul Henry, naming a ferry the Kaiarahi was “political correctness” gone mad.
Intolerable!
After a short silence, he made his assault…..
PAUL HENRY: Would it be so hard for them to give the ferry an ENGLISH name? They ALWAYS give them Maori names.
HILLARY BARRY: I think it’s LOVELY!
PAUL HENRY: Do you? It must be all right then, if Hillary likes it. But honestly….
Henry’s slave Jim Kayes looked troubled, but kept his own counsel….
Shortly after that, it was time for the daily “Panel”. Today it featured a particularly gruesome twosome: Christine (Spankin’) Rankin, the self-described “children’s advocate” who believes in hitting children, and Bill Ralston’s ghastly wife Janet Wilson. I had better things to do than listen to three vicious and vacuous people chuntering on at the intellectual level you’d expect at a golf club booze-up, but I did catch the tail-end of it just before 8:30….
JANET WILSON: See, here’s the thing: Len still thinks he’s going to win. Quelle horreur! He’s got a hide like an elephant.
PAUL HENRY: Yeah, he has.
JANET WILSON: The problem for Phil Goff is that he comes from the same end of the political spectrum as Len Brown. The thing is: who would want to run for mayor, when you get paid two and six for it?
CHRISTINE SPANKIN’ RANKIN: [speaking slowly to emphasize how serious she is] He failed as the leader of the Labour Party, and he will fail as mayor of Auckland.
JANET WILSON: Christine Rankin and Janet Wilson, thank you very much for coming on the Panel this morning.
SPANKIN’ RANKIN: Best Panel ever!
JANET WILSON: Ha ha ha ha! Yeah!
More on Janet Wilson….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22032013/#comment-607420
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17072013/#comment-664190
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-03082014/#comment-859688
More on Christine Spankin’ Rankin….
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0605/S00213.htm
+1 – as I’m assuming most people on this site, can’t bear to watch this crap, (and from the falling ratings more and more of the public) great to have the opportunity to have it dissected.
That “two and six” the mayor gets paid is many times the average wage. Methinks Janet Wilson needs to live on the average wage for a while to get some perspective.
funnily enough as far as morning ‘news’ goes there are some segments of Henrys show I dont mind…his interview with Ruby Wax for example and I must begrudgingly admit his SOH is not without appeal.I expect this show to be a winner.
I must begrudgingly admit his SOH is not without appeal.
Yes, Henry can be very funny. I heard him on radio in December 2013 telling Dom and J.J. and Mike Puru about the passive-aggressive glares he gets from people whenever he goes out in public; he was simply hilarious. Some of his antics on his present television show are also quite amusing.
However, the funny bits are less and less apparent now. What might have seemed like irreverance has hardened into the most extreme intolerance and hatefulness, whether directed at refugees, or at the victims of bombs and bullets, or (as it was this morning) at Māori.
I expect this show to be a winner.
It’s not. The ratings are in free fall, as they were when he had a breakfast show in Melbourne three years ago….
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/ten-farewells-paul-henry-hamster-wheel-highlight-video-ck-133297
You know Paul hates Len and bags him pretty much daily. Nothing new here.
That fuckwit hates anybody that’s not a National supporter.
“That fuckwit hates anybody that’s not a National supporter.”
That is the most honest bit of wisdom I have read for ages. Cant make up my mind which bit is the most honest, so I settle for fuckwit.
Why would we give it an English name when we’re not English?
“Why would we give it an English name when we’re not English?”
How True
By the way apparently Saudi Arabia are planning a crucifixion and execution of a man they arrested as a child.
Saudi are one of our hopeful trading partners that we fly sheep bribes to. Hard to believe this can be happening in the modern world with a country our government loves to suck up to.
Don’t worry our government will be ‘comfortable’ with that.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/09/24/execution-in-saudi-arabia/
You say “apparently Saudi Arabia are planning a crucifixion”
Where do you get the bit about a crucifixion from?
I don’t see anything about it in the item you link to.
Here alwyn. Google the name of the young man the daily blog item mentions and you’ll get plenty of sites detailing his sentence to be executed by beheading, then crucifixion.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/middle-east/72392125/young-saudi-man-ali-mohammed-alnimr-faces-crucifixion
Saudi Arabia, the country that does the most beheadings every year, has just been re appointed to the UN Human Rights panel. The US is ecstatic about this fundamental injustice.
Yeah, our world truly is that sick.
LORDS OF THE DANCE
No. 1: Rodney Hide
http://img.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/0605/bd0ebc1e64cf1a740e13.jpeg
Lords of the Dance is curated by Morrissey Breen, for Daisycutter Sports Inc.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/72363207/horrifying-outcomes-for-cyf-kids-warrant-a-whole-new-model–tolley
IMO this has been a disgraceful situation through a number of governments – now rebstock has written her review and the ‘business case’ is/has been put. What will emerge from this ‘modernisation’, this righting of wrongs, this fucking clusterfuck of a way to help children, especially Māori children – what will happen???
a big nothing apart from more misery and more cutting – I thank the gnats, labour and greens for their contributions to this misery – well done – red reek that one!!!
National will make things worse by putting in ideological BS as policy and then cut the budget.
I stomached Tolley on the radio for a few minutes and she seemed to me to be saying the government removes these children too late from abusive situations. The implication I assume is that they are too damaged at that point for any of these so called foster homes to provide any sort of stable environment.
She then went on to say that New Zealanders offered their homes to Syrian refugees, then asked why can’t they offer their homes to our own (child) refugees?
This is the sort of thinking which should be confined to some sort of bizarre brainstorming session to then be discarded as ludicrous, not the sort of thing a Minister should be voicing to the public.
These two “Tolley-thoughts” linked make you wonder whether her plan is to remove (Maori) children from disadvantaged and strained families at an ever decreasing age in order to make the children more palatable to ordinary NZ families who might happen to give a fuck.
Here she seems to want to not only shift the responsibility from the government to the private sector, but she goes further – she wants to shift the responsibility to the private individual!
I would have thought any major overhaul would focus on making the homes these children go to better, more stable, and capable of giving the kids an environment which ensured they maximised their learning at school.
You would have thought that but that would require taxes on the rich to up rather than down and so there’s no way that National would do that.
i bet theres a lot of people would like to wave their magic wand and make your last paragraph come true mutonbird but it would truely take a miracle .violence like when you wack your kids repeatedly begets violence makes you when you become an adolt wack youre kids too .I think its so deeply ingrained in some cultures it,le take generations to sort out .sue bradfords bill is a good start but theres not a few would like to repeal it an drag us back to the good ole days where a little tap did noone any harm !!
Of course the right has all the answers to these problems which is just to ignore it and say these people need to be individually responsible for their actions. That means no one has to do anything, no surprise then when they don’t offer any solutions to these complex problems and the situation gets gradually worse. Truly inspiring…
Massive spike in court-ordered debtor wage deductions
The number of people having money docked from their wage or benefits to repay debts has increased five-fold in the past year.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/72358546/massive-spike-in-courtordered-debtor-wage-deductions–commerce-commission
absolute racket in Sth Auck and Mangere…30% interest and penalties on over priced goods…non disclosure is rife as is doorstop selling.Seen $500 items =total contract $3700 on rent to own.Creating debt and then enforcing attachment orders on the unfortunate .
Vultures preying on the vulnerable, Les.
Seen this?
Media Alert! ” If National don’t walk away from the TPPA – petitioners will campaign for voters to ‘walk away’ from National!”
This morning, the following petition was presented at the Electoral Office of Nikki Kaye – the National MP for Auckland Central:
Petition wording:
“To the MP for Auckland Central – Nikki Kaye
We, the undersigned state:
That if this John Key led National Government does not ‘walk away’ from the secretive, undemocratic, pro-corporate ‘Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), then we pledge to campaign vigorously amongst our friends, families, neighbours and workmates, for the voting public to ‘walk away’ from National.”.
Nikki Kaye is a National Government Cabinet Minister – currently sitting on a 600 vote majority over Labour’s Jacinda Adern.
https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2014-au6200
“AUCKLAND CENTRAL
Candidates Votes Received
ARDERN, Jacinda 11894
KAYE, Nikki 12494 ”
On the afternoons of Tuesday 22 September, and Wednesday 23 September, a tiny handful of determined ‘TPPA – WALK AWAY’ activists collected over 800 signatures for the above-mentioned petition, outside Auckland University (Symonds Street, Grafton Rd intersection), and on Ponsonby Rd.
Nikki Kaye is the Minister of Youth.
Most of whom signed this petition, were ‘youth’.
We look forward to citizens from all over New Zealand, who want to STOP this John Key led New Zealand National Government from signing the TPPA, to consider giving National Party MPs (particularly Cabinet Ministers) – this message which cannot be ignored.
Politicians understand ONE thing.
Votes.
We urge people to make your own version of this petition, address it to YOUR local National MP / Minister, and start collecting signatures!
This is a petition with sharp, pointy political teeth, which will help focus the minds of those to whom it is addressed, directly on the TPPA.
Time is short.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1509/S00215/last-ditch-tppa-ministerial-in-10-days.htm
Last ditch TPPA Ministerial in 10 days
Thursday, 17 September 2015, 11:55 am
Press Release: Professor Jane Kelsey
” Last ditch TPPA Ministerial in 10 days – is Groser preparing to swallow the rat?
Canadian officials have confirmed rumours that the trade ministers from the twelve countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) plan to meet in Atlanta, US at the end of the month in a last ditch attempt to conclude the deal. The chief negotiators are set to meet on 26 September to try to clear the ground for the politicians. ….”
This petition will help to ‘hold the feet’ of National Party MPs ‘to the fire’ – regarding the potential political repercussions of signing the TPPA.
Contact details for MPs are available here:
http://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-nz/00InknoMPsContact1/97a7145b141fd9d6c62adcf0ec68ea22c7163ce2
_________________________________________________________
‘TPPA – WALK AWAY’ signature collectors, who delivered the petition forms to Nikki Kaye’s Electorate Office:
Penny Bright
….
Jacquelyne Taylor
……
A beheading/crucifixion in the year of 2015, cause we are learned, and civilised and grown up and stuff.
I know, I know, some beheadings (inclusive post beheading crucifixation – a must have for shits n giggles or something) are just more equal and lawful then other beheadings.
“His punishment is a brutal one, even by Saudi Arabia’s standards. Not only was Mr Nimr, now 21, handed a death sentence, but the method of punishment was determined to be crucifixion, which rights groups say means he will be beheaded and then have his mutilated body displayed publicly.”
http://www.smh.com.au/world/looming-crucifixion-sparks-global-calls-to-spare-life-of-young-saudi-ali-mohammed-alnimr-20150923-gjtlhk.html
John Campbell has a new podcast with Radio NZ. This is his first episode, which looks at the working struggle in Auckland.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/radionz/programmes/first-person/audio/201771768/first-person-with-john-campbell-'pay-day-is-broke-day‘
I was about to post this. Good to see Campbell hitting up the really important stories that actually matter. TV3’s loss is actually New Zealand’s loss.
“No apologies to you mate. And no apologies
for the fact your show has so few viewers.”
In 2012, on Channel 10’s doomed breakfast show, the disastrously unsuccessful host unwisely tried to bully a Melbourne trade union guy….
PAUL HENRY: Do you want to apologise to the taxpayers and the people of Melbourne who’d like to use that street and the taxpayers who’re funding the police activity there. Do you want to apologise to those people now?
DAVID NOONAN: Well you know Paul I think you’ve got a particular political view of the world. You were bought over in the last few months from New Zealand. Mate, construction workers in New Zealand earn a lot less than they do in Australia and the sort of right wing shock jock stuff you want to go on with really isn’t going to faze me. We have a right a right to peaceful protest. We’ve got an important issue here and cheap shots like that really aren’t going to impress anybody.
PAUL HENRY: Right, so no apologies. Thanks for joining us this morning, David.
DAVID NOONAN: So no apologies to you mate. And no apologies for the fact your show has so few viewers.
[An awkward pause follows, then the camera cuts away to a news headline update before Henry comes back onscreen]
PAUL HENRY: Alrighty. I disagree with almost everything he said with the exception of the too few viewers thing. That is a shame.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/ten-farewells-paul-henry-hamster-wheel-highlight-video-ck-133297
Fucking shit hot. It is a pity no one would or could tackle this prat on television like that in NZ.
Actually, Laila Harré did last year, on a couple of occasions.
such a damned shame she didnt end up in parliment i know lprent gave us some of the reasons that didnt happen but its still a damn shame In a perfect world it ud be ALL HANDS ON DECK !!
Ok. Had a 15 minute power cut. Anyone notice?
Both UPS worked well.
Didn’t notice it go down but the server seems to have picked up another hamster or two. The site is faster now than it has been for some time.