Is it not also suspicious that bloggers widely thought to be in the direct employ of the National Party have been either calling for more exposure on the matter or whipping it up further?
Finally, has anyone noticed that there has been a sudden rise of opinion favoring the dismantling and privatizing of ACC in various commentary forums (from bulletin boards to Campbell Live last friday)?
What is it to bet that in the next year to 18 months an aggressive push toward the privatization of ACC is made citing various privacy breaches and client dissatisfaction?
Yes, I’ve noticed the incease in calls for privatisation. However, as an ACC client, it seems to me the problems go back to the NAct government trying to cut funding to ACC, not putting the necessary money into upgrading systems, and the related lack of real interest in rehabilitation.
I noticed this comment a the end of the Stuff article:
Brown said Paul had been treated appallingly by ACC. He claimed staff weren’t interested in rehabilitation, people, or their privacy. “In her criticisms of ACC, I don’t think [Pullar] was being over-the-top, I think she was being gentle. As one of my clients has told me, if he was a dog, the SPCA would have been prosecuted over his care.”
I agree with the lack of interest in rehabilitation in view of my on-going struggles to get further physiotherapy – something my specialist keeps recommending. My case manager seems quite interested in my rehabilitation, but it seems he/she can only go with the judgement of the advisor. Also, each time further physio is rejected, more than one ACC person I’ve talked to on the phone have said in defence of the advisor’s decision,”you’ve already had X amount of physio sessions and people don’t usually get much more”…. side-stepping the issue of how much my rehabilitation might need.
I can’t see privatisation improving access to rehabilitation, in fact, I’d fear the opposite as the private provider pushes for more profits.
Agreed.
Reminder of my wife’s experience of CRM who had no interest in rehabilitating her back to 40 hours per week because working part-time around our kids disabilities was a “lifestyle choice” and also breached privacy by giving her information about other people’s employers and wages pre-accident and also information regarding a co-worker undergoing psychiatric treatment.
By way of contrast we found ACC, under a Labour Government, extremely good to deal with. They clearly understood the legislation they were working under.
Yes, I’ve noticed the incease in calls for privatisation. However, as an ACC client, it seems to me the problems go back to the NAct government trying to cut funding to ACC, not putting the necessary money into upgrading systems, and the related lack of real interest in rehabilitation.
No, the problems go back to the last Labour government deciding ACC was an insurance scheme and needed to be fully funded.
This piece of nonsense gave National the excuse to claim it was broke, cut back on the quality of service etc.
ACC was designed before the neo liberal colonisation of the political elite and as such the principles behind it are total incomprehensible to the neo liberal National and Labour parties.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it Millhouse.
So maybe the Machivalian plan is to break it thoroughly at least in the Public mind.
Get the pet bloggers and compliant MSM to spread stories of failures and doubts, and elevate the sterling quality of Privatisation.
It worked for action against those pesky dole bludgers especially the promiscuous lazy men on DPBs and even some DPB women, didn’t it?
From this morning’s Media program it seems that the ever lurking Cameron Slater is the weapon of choice
In short Millhouse, I think you are right (from a leftish point of view.)
People might recall the attempts to sell the ACC as being ‘not economically viable’ using the lies the nact got caught out on….After a few years letting that die down, it certainly seems they have moved to another attack mode. The past weeks stories are starting to stink of strategy!
The privacy breaches should be a clear warning to all about the risks of information sharing between government departments.
Think of how much worse these leaks would be if the files contained all of the information on a individual held by Govt.
The onus is on the Nats to prove that the risks can be mitigated – the ACC incidents have shown us entrusting our privacy to the Government is a very risky proposition indeed.
And as for the shills calling for privatisation as a ‘solution’, this is plainly laughable as the private sector has absolutely no hesitation in selling whatever it can to the highest bidder – and the information that the state holds has the potential to be very valuable indeed – Insurance companies stand to save big $$$$ if they can manage their risks by accessing for example peoples complete medical histories, their families history of cancer, etc etc, or are able litigate their way out of payouts on the basis of non compliance with medical advice.
The privacy breaches should be a clear warning to all about the risks of information sharing between government departments.
No, really, it isn’t.
Think of how much worse these leaks would be if the files contained all of the information on a individual held by Govt.
Which they wouldn’t have done as each government department would only have access to the information that they need.
…the ACC incidents have shown us entrusting our privacy to the Government is a very risky proposition indeed.
Over the last few years I’ve heard of more such leaks from private businesses. All that’s needed is proper procedure that makes such accidental leaks highly unlikely.
Draco – I think you are missing my point – which is that a privacy breach should be generating discussion of how to avoid a repeat, not generating speculation about general unspecified mismanagement in ACC – I’m sure we can agree on that.
You will find that the privacy commission has also hightlighted the risks of info sharing and has proposed strategies to address these risks, ie case by case or category by category share between specific agencies on the basis of justified need (I have the links at home and will dig up for you later) …an approach which I support, but which the govt has not necessarily decided to adopt.
Wholesale info sharing has great potential for abuse and it is a concern that this is potentially still on the table with the proposed roll out of the so called e – govt interface.
You will find that the Law Commission has also highlighted the risks of info sharing and has proposed strategies to address these risks, ie case by case or category by category share between specific agencies on the basis of justified need
Interestingly the quoted comments from the Privacy Commissioner and the Chen Palmer article which highlights the downside to separate data bases (ie the difficulty of amending or accessing information) do not mention the fact that the physical and network independence of a data base acts as a natural privacy safeguard and actually ensures that any breach is not catastrophic…
See also the ‘i’m not policy’ policy which coincidentally endorses the highly controversial TPSEPA, also known as the P4 Free Trade Agreement or the TPPA:
The way I see it is that the government should just have a single database with everyone’s relevant information on it. Each government agency then has access to a subset of the data which is relevant to it. There would be no more sharing as such and unnecessary and expensive duplication is removed. This database would, of course, be maintained by a dedicated government IT department.
IMO, security is actually less of a concern as it reduces the number of possible breaches, the people maintaining the database are more likely to be permanent staff rather than consultants brought in on an ad hoc basis and processes for access would be identical across departments meaning that when someone transfers from one department to another they don’t have to learn entirely new processes.
Over the last few years I’ve heard of more such leaks from private businesses. All that’s needed is proper procedure that makes such accidental leaks highly unlikely.
Not strictly relevant – or maybe it is? I am having a plague of telemarketers atm, and one on Saturday, a low-grade moron by what she said, started the call by saying “Can I speak to Mrs Surname, First name”?
That told me two things. She was reading off her lead sheet and didn’t have the wit to understand which name comes first in addressing someone, and second, Telecom sell their directory information to telemarketers!
Oops. Another breach in today’s Dom.:
“The latest breach came about when ACC claimant Garth Paul asked to see his file – he had to make repeated requests to get the file as ACC sent only some documents. In the end, ACC sent him a file belonging to a different person. ” http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/6633720/ACC-tries-to-plug-another-breach
Incompetency or strategy?
I did wonder why Judith Collins very readily decided not to push to privatise ACC accounts. She probably thought a sneaky way would be more effective i.e. make ACC look bad through leaks get the Slater Farrar lapdogs to go ‘woof, woof privatise’ and hey presto a ready platform to plunder from.
Otago student events have had some bad coverage in the past. Yesterday’s Hyde Street Keg Party has had minimal news coverage after the event, which suggests few problems. It was uber organised, very well attended and hopefully was a good day for many.
ODT and TV1 reported that it was “shut down” and “forced to close” but the one way policy put in place mid afternoon was a planned strategy.
It’s a compilation of reports Kevin, it’s what blogs often do. It’s not the done thing to do a Penny and load a heap of stuff in someone else’s blog.
Do you have a point? Or have you been assigned the “keep drawing attention to PG” task this week? If so, thanks. So far most hits are coming from Facebook, unusual on a young person topic at this time on a Sunday morning.
Do you want to have another crack at writing that comment, Pete? It doesn’t make any sense and the links you provide don’t illustrate anything relevant.
Kevin is correct. Others, including myself, do occasionally put one sentence teasers and a link (eg. PB’s Finland link below). The difference is that I trust PB’s judgement, so clicking on his link is not likely to be a waste of time. That’s not the case with your self promotion, of course.
Are you suggesting a statement of trust with every external link? Not everyone has your history of reason here.
What you (and possibly Kevin) really mean without openly saying it is you only want things posted that you agree with and you want to shut down anyone you are hissy about by dissing them off, don’t you?
Otherwise you’d do what most people do, pick what they want and ignore the rest.
Boy, you’re having a bad day. Pete! All I was asking was for you to clarify your strange comment above, which seems to be based on your mis-reading of the following line:
you are not the only one on here who does it.
Then you go on to bizarrely repeat my point in your final sentence, as if I hadn’t just said it.
I rarely follow links when it’s not clearly stated what the link is to, and/or why I should follow it. It’s also why I never use a link code, but paste the URL directly into the comment. It usually makes the website clear & often adds the title of the article.
FireFox tells me where the link is going to before I click on it and URLs pasted direct into the editor don’t always work due to special characters or just being too long.
Pretty sure all internet browsers tell you where the link is going. Just hover over it and it will tell you down the bottom of the page what the destination is.
I’ve used 4 of the main browsers and from memory they all do this.
Kevin, I don’t know what your intention was here but I’ll explain mine. First some background.
Otago has had some major problems in the past with parties gone bad, big time. Some of the huge number of students in Dunedin make dicks of themselves. Outsiders also used to come in and deliberately cause trouble – many of the arrests were non-students (and non Dunedin residents).
This year it haas been proposed to make all of Dunedin North (the area around the Universiry and Polytechnic) alcohol free. That’s obviously controversial.
OUSA is working hard on finding better solutions. They are promoting a ‘no glass’ zone. They were heavily involved in then organisation of the Hyde Street party, trying to prove that students can have a heap of fun without draconian restrictions.
Personally I think New Zealand needs to address serious problems around our piss as chooks culture. I have experience, I have been pissed as a chook more than a few times in Dunedin North (rarely this century). I’ve learnt to drink much less, I’d like New Zealand to learn to drink much less too, but that’s only a peripheral issue with Hyde Street.
My blog posts on Hyde Street (and links to them) have been supporting the rights of students to organise a good rave, and promoting the positive aspects and what seems have worked very well.
I think this is a good change in the right direction for Otago culture so I have chosen to highlight it. Fun with responsibility is something a lot more people would be better for learning.
It’s got nothing to do with politics, most of what I do has nothing directly to do with politics.
Fun with responsibility is something a lot more people would be better for learning.
Fun with being watched like hawks and cornered like rats in a trap is something a lot more people would be better for learning.
FIFY.
Glad to see you’re down with the yoof of today, pg
Generally, and specifically on this, the response from the yoof of today has been very good. They are more open to what works rather than the same old failures and theoretical ideologies that never work in practice.
Feedback has been positive, eg
Richy Anderson: “Bloody good mate.”
Manea John: “The efforts of OUSA and all the other groups and organisations who contributed was soo worth the effort!”
Most Otago students, like most people, don’t like being shat on by people trying to stir up trouble. So what if it takes a bit of organisation to help things work and keep party poopers (campus crappers) out.
Five years of 24hr patrolling and ever-increasing punishments for students who do such things is not “a little bit of organisation”. But keep looking at things in isolation – saves having to come up with solutions yourself.
Thanks for the Hyde St info, PG. I was wondering how everything went as I’m opposed to the proposed liquor ban and didn’t want paternalistic wowsers being gifted more ammo for their ban crusade. I did a drive by with hubby yesterday in search of the zombie flat and while there were many pissed scarfies in little clothing, I saw no broken glass or grouchy cops 🙂
As a lifetime renter, who is happy to live in accommodation that is at the low end of the range and located out in the suburbs of Auckland’s west, I was appalled by this news item on TV3 news last night:
Renters are jostling for homes in a housing shortage that has deepened in central Auckland and is now spilling out to the suburbs.
Some areas have seen rents rise by up to $100 a week and more increase are on their way next month as new tax laws hit property owners.
…And the jostle for homes is now spilling to the suburbs: A Waterview property about 15 minutes from the city just had 30 applicants.
“With the lack of development funding and restriction on the supply of property the inevitability is there is simply not enough to go round and in an area where there is desirably, those prices will continue to rise,” says property investor Mark Withers.
So as people with the most money to spare keep paying higher rents for increasingly meagre properties where demand is far outstripping supply, what is going to happen to those who can only afford very meagre rents out in the burbs? More people living in garages, cramped into unsuitable accommodation, or camping out?
Cheers for the link. I never knew that Finland’s murder rate is double that of NZ. That it also has worse unemployment and health provision. Chuck in it’s privatization policy, it’s really grim reading.
I thought we were aspiring to be like Finland. What’s with that?
Sorry I didn’t realize we needed to aspire to countries that are in a worst position than us. I’m sure we can agree on a country that meets all of our aspirations?
Yep, simple really. We can learn of things that seem to work in other countries but the country to aspire to should be an improived version on New Zealand.
I imagine these revelations are going to cause some angst. It looks like Helen Clark and former police minister Annette King were hung out to dry by Solicitor General, David Collins. Q&A interview not online yet.
Annette King – “And so then to find that in fact the law we were told was incoherent and they weren’t able to proceed. and in fact much of the evidence was not able to be used, now that was a big disappointment.”
So…what’s that saying? We’re just pissed off we couldn’t pin the fuckers? What I want to know in all this is where all those white dude ‘survivalists’ fit in the scheme of things? Haven’t seen any of them and their guns and their camps jumped on.
Accordi ng to media watch this morning on RNZ Radio Rhema is now host to dumbell slater and it looks like he has God on his side now too.
The christians are overstepping their mandate but nobody will call them to account.
why is that?
Well, Media Watch has certainly called them to account, for one. What is needed now is a concerted writing campaign. Contact them via THIS site…. http://www.rhema.co.nz/index.php/contact-us
Or, even better you can write to them…
Private Bag 92-636
Symonds Street
Auckland
NEW ZEALAND
The christians are overstepping their mandate but nobody will call them to account.
why is that?
I don’t listen to Rhema, and never would, and I loathe Slater, but I would like to ask you to elaborate.
What mandate do you think ‘the Christians’ have, and in what way are they overstepping it? I suspect your thin king in something such as “Christians should be made to STFU and never express any opinions, ever”. I am sure you don’t even realise that there are Christians that would be and in fact are, completely opposed to Slater and his mob?
Bill, I think you will find she was referring to the Solicitor General’s assurance the night before the raid that the terrorsim act was the correct legislation to use in this case.(I had the impression he was closely questioned by both Helen Clark and Annette King.) One month later (and I paraphrase) he refused admittance of much of the evidence on the grounds that the police had acted under the wrong legislation. I might add, the police did not give them – nor did they seek -any knowledge of how the police proposed to carry out the raid.
Watch the interveiw when it’s up online. Fascinating stuff.
Edit: damm I forgot reply – again. Replying to Bill 5.1
Does anyone know the date of the Pullar, Boag ACC meeting in December 2011?
Boag has stated that ACC did not inform the ACC minister when ACC was told about the 6700 breaches of privacy in December 2011. I find this to be remarkable. I also believe that if ACC went to the PM’s office the PM would have had to have gone to the ACC minister. If Key was informed and the Boag, Pullar meeting was before the cabinet resuffle I think that Key would have dropped Smith and that he appointed Collin’s as she has legal expertise.
What Key actually knew about Smith writing to support Pullar would be interesting. I believe that Key knew about one of the support letters and this alone would have been enough for Key to not reappoint Smith as the ACC minister. (Wong and the other National MP could have told Key as they referred the letter onto Smith).
I think that Pullar’s name appearing in the media is minor compared to what the government are covering up about having knowledge of Smith’s supporting letters with his signature at least two). Key seems to think that one lapse was excusable but two were not.
Smith did the honourable thing and resigned to take the heat off Key when Smith’s letters became public. Key has not done the honourable thing and ordered an independent inquiry to establish that ACC knew that Smith had breached cabinet guidelines and if ACC informed anyone in the government? Were I Key I would push for an independent inquiry as I would want my name to be cleared of any manipulation e.g. keeping an experienced minister on until it became public who had breached cabinet rules.
If ACC informed the PM about Smith breaching cabinet guidelines and the PM did nothing this was a coverup. Either or both, the PM and ACC have covered up Smith’s letters.
I don’t know who I give 1st prize to this week, the Ports of Auckland Board or the ACC board when it comes to not being transparent or functional?
Might John Key have mislead Parliament in saying he knew nothing until the week of Smith’s resignation? If the re-shuffle in December was because of the pending storm then Key already did know.
I think Winston is onto this aspect and next week when the PM returns could be interesting
What is most likely to have happened: the pending storm contributed to the reshuffle in December and ensured that Nick Smith was divested of the ACC portfolio.
Cheney got a heart transplant.- Link
I didn’t know he had one. It must have been as black as the oil he coveted!
Where would you get another evil heart to replace it? Wall Street? Perhaps Halliburton has a subsidiary that engineers them. Lets hope it fails like their blowout preventers.
Still, the end of Cheney would be of little comfort to the hundreds of thousands of family members of dead Iraqis and US service personnel.
No doubt about it: Cheney was a coward and a draft dodger, a brutal and shameless liar, a hypocrite and a bully. But I don’t think you should personalize the destruction of Iraq to Cheney. Just as culpable are the Democrats who gave carte blanche to Cheney and his puppet, George W. Bush.
nah, that’s bullshit bro.You can argue that they share culpability, along with a shit load of other people, but the lion’s share of culpability for the shit Cheney did, lies with Cheney. I’d put it somewhere in the high 80%s
You can argue that they share culpability, along with a shit load of other people,
The Democratic Party “leadership” (profiles in courage such as Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid) could have demanded the Bush regime show some evidence to back their fantastic claims in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, and they could have demanded that Cheney appear before the 9/11 Commission by himself instead of in tandem with Bush. They lacked the courage to confront the regime at every step. Contrary to what you seem to be trying to say, there is no “argument” about that.
but the lion’s share of culpability for the shit Cheney did, lies with Cheney.
The lion’s share of what pops into Cheney’s head lies with Cheney; the lion’s share of culpability for his crimes lies with those who could have stopped him, or at least curbed some of his worst excesses. That was, and still is, the Democratic Party “leadership”.
“The test of a democracy is how you treat people incarcerated, people in jail, and especially so with minors”– Mark Regev, spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu
New Report: Palestinian children tortured and “systematically” ill-treated
A major new EU-funded study documents ‘a systematic pattern of ill-treatment, and in some cases torture’ of Palestinian children detained by Israel. Drawing on 311 sworn testimonies, collected over a period of four years, the report by Defence for Children International (DCI) finds that most children passing through Israel’s military detention system suffer multiple forms of ill-treatment and abuse, much of which amounts to ‘cruel, inhuman or degrading’ treatment as defined by the
UN Convention against Torture. It’s pretty long, but important, so I thought I’d post a condensed summary.
—
Most children are arrested in the middle of the night. Israeli civil law restricts the times when children can be interrogated, which in turn influence the times when they are arrested. But Palestinians are subject to military law, which contains no such provision. Most have their hands ‘painfully tied behind their backs and are blindfolded’, before being transported to an unknown location—usually neither children nor parents are informed where, or on what basis—for
interrogation. This process is ‘often’ accompanied by ‘verbal abuse and humiliation, threats as well as physical violence’. Palestinian children are not accompanied by a parent and are usually interrogated without legal advice or being informed of their right to silence.
Nearly a third of the children who testified to DCI reported experiencing violence during their arrest, usually punching, slapping or kicking. A former Israeli military commander, describing this
process to the BBC, confessed that after leaving the army, his dreams were haunted by children ‘screaming’:
“You take the kid, you blindfold him, you handcuff him, he’s really shaking… Sometimes you cuff his legs too. Sometimes it cuts off the circulation.
“He doesn’t understand a word of what’s going on around him. He doesn’t know what you’re going to do with him. He just knows we are soldiers with guns. That we kill people. Maybe they think we’re going to kill him…..
Israel lives in defiance of most humanitarian ideals, they thumb their nose at the peace process, keep settling in occupied territories and generally have a ‘screw you’ atitude.
Without the US behind it the arab nations would like to wipe if off the map, this is one reason why.
Netanyahu is a much more dangerous and inflammatory leader second time around who has a growing problem within his own state with the haredi but that doesn’t stop him opening it up on other fronts.
Do you mean the $1million in insurance over loss of income? That is separate from injury questions.
Perhaps you mean the publication of her details that is so bad? Not sure which bit you mean Muzza.
70 more jobs to go from a government department…..
Govt fishery observers told to get ready to pack up
Published: 6:23PM Sunday March 25, 2012 Source: ONE News
A leaked email from the Ministry of Fisheries reveals that observers on commercial fishing vessels will have their jobs outsourced by the end of the year.
The observers are stationed on commercial fishing vessels to monitor the catch and conditions on the boats.
The leaked email reveals that around 70 Ministry of Fisheries observers have been told their jobs are being outsourced by December.
Industry insiders say that the move will rob the watchdogs of their independence.
One former observer says that they play a vital role.
“No-one has questioned the quality of their information and it shouldn’t be compromised for money, and certainly not when the fisheries are under pressure.”
Critics argue that outsourcing will allow fishing companies to pick observers who are prepared to turn a blind eye in order to keep their jobs.
Currently observers are employed by the Ministry of Fisheries on short term contracts while they are at sea.
The Ministry recoups their pay and administration expenses from the fishing companies.
Glenn Simmons from the University of Auckland told ONE News he cannot see the logic in the change.
“I really can’t see any cost savings in it, so I really wonder what is driving this, particularly from the Ministry’s point of view.”
But documents show the fishing industry has been pushing for outsourcing for at least six years.
The Ministry of Fisheries would not be interviewed for this story, and refused to give an explanation of the benefits gained by outsourcing the observer roles.
The Minister of Fisheries, David Carter told ONE News that observers are not likely to be outsourced by December.
“At this stage there’s still a lot more work to be done as to how best to deliver observer services on foreign charter vessels and other vessels no decision has been made about outsourcing.”
Nevertheless, one former observer says that the decision seems fixed.
“They’ve already decided, it appears they’re not asking any questions here.”
71 and got a heart transplant. For a moment I though WTF. Cheney gets a heart transplant, there must have been younger people….
…but then I don’t know all the details, second hearts don’t necessarily last, they are second hand, and they are unlikely to have put a ???young heart in him???. i.e. they would not put a old person’s heart in a young person. There are certainly more older people who donate…
71 and got a heart transplant. For a moment I though WTF. Cheney gets a heart transplant, there must have been younger people….
That’s America! Where you can get whatever you want if you can pay for it. Larry Hagman, the man who carries a portable fan so he can harass smokers by blowing air in their faces, has had three liver transplants, although he’s ruined 3 livers through being an alkie…
In NZ, I am sasured, they’d say he wasn’t a candidate after wrecking the first transplanted one through refusing to stop drinking alcohol to excess.
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I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
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Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
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Does anyone find it slightly suspicious that a National Party “insider” and former National Party President have become the key figures in an ever widening privacy scandal?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/6633165/ACC-tries-to-plug-another-breach
Is it not also suspicious that bloggers widely thought to be in the direct employ of the National Party have been either calling for more exposure on the matter or whipping it up further?
Finally, has anyone noticed that there has been a sudden rise of opinion favoring the dismantling and privatizing of ACC in various commentary forums (from bulletin boards to Campbell Live last friday)?
What is it to bet that in the next year to 18 months an aggressive push toward the privatization of ACC is made citing various privacy breaches and client dissatisfaction?
Yes, I’ve noticed the incease in calls for privatisation. However, as an ACC client, it seems to me the problems go back to the NAct government trying to cut funding to ACC, not putting the necessary money into upgrading systems, and the related lack of real interest in rehabilitation.
I noticed this comment a the end of the Stuff article:
I agree with the lack of interest in rehabilitation in view of my on-going struggles to get further physiotherapy – something my specialist keeps recommending. My case manager seems quite interested in my rehabilitation, but it seems he/she can only go with the judgement of the advisor. Also, each time further physio is rejected, more than one ACC person I’ve talked to on the phone have said in defence of the advisor’s decision,”you’ve already had X amount of physio sessions and people don’t usually get much more”…. side-stepping the issue of how much my rehabilitation might need.
I can’t see privatisation improving access to rehabilitation, in fact, I’d fear the opposite as the private provider pushes for more profits.
Agreed.
Reminder of my wife’s experience of CRM who had no interest in rehabilitating her back to 40 hours per week because working part-time around our kids disabilities was a “lifestyle choice” and also breached privacy by giving her information about other people’s employers and wages pre-accident and also information regarding a co-worker undergoing psychiatric treatment.
http://thestandard.org.nz/more-christmas-surprises/#comment-282599
By way of contrast we found ACC, under a Labour Government, extremely good to deal with. They clearly understood the legislation they were working under.
No, the problems go back to the last Labour government deciding ACC was an insurance scheme and needed to be fully funded.
This piece of nonsense gave National the excuse to claim it was broke, cut back on the quality of service etc.
ACC was designed before the neo liberal colonisation of the political elite and as such the principles behind it are total incomprehensible to the neo liberal National and Labour parties.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it Millhouse.
So maybe the Machivalian plan is to break it thoroughly at least in the Public mind.
Get the pet bloggers and compliant MSM to spread stories of failures and doubts, and elevate the sterling quality of Privatisation.
It worked for action against those pesky dole bludgers especially the promiscuous lazy men on DPBs and even some DPB women, didn’t it?
From this morning’s Media program it seems that the ever lurking Cameron Slater is the weapon of choice
In short Millhouse, I think you are right (from a leftish point of view.)
People might recall the attempts to sell the ACC as being ‘not economically viable’ using the lies the nact got caught out on….After a few years letting that die down, it certainly seems they have moved to another attack mode. The past weeks stories are starting to stink of strategy!
The privacy breaches should be a clear warning to all about the risks of information sharing between government departments.
Think of how much worse these leaks would be if the files contained all of the information on a individual held by Govt.
The onus is on the Nats to prove that the risks can be mitigated – the ACC incidents have shown us entrusting our privacy to the Government is a very risky proposition indeed.
And as for the shills calling for privatisation as a ‘solution’, this is plainly laughable as the private sector has absolutely no hesitation in selling whatever it can to the highest bidder – and the information that the state holds has the potential to be very valuable indeed – Insurance companies stand to save big $$$$ if they can manage their risks by accessing for example peoples complete medical histories, their families history of cancer, etc etc, or are able litigate their way out of payouts on the basis of non compliance with medical advice.
No, really, it isn’t.
Which they wouldn’t have done as each government department would only have access to the information that they need.
Over the last few years I’ve heard of more such leaks from private businesses. All that’s needed is proper procedure that makes such accidental leaks highly unlikely.
Draco – I think you are missing my point – which is that a privacy breach should be generating discussion of how to avoid a repeat, not generating speculation about general unspecified mismanagement in ACC – I’m sure we can agree on that.
You will find that the privacy commission has also hightlighted the risks of info sharing and has proposed strategies to address these risks, ie case by case or category by category share between specific agencies on the basis of justified need (I have the links at home and will dig up for you later) …an approach which I support, but which the govt has not necessarily decided to adopt.
Wholesale info sharing has great potential for abuse and it is a concern that this is potentially still on the table with the proposed roll out of the so called e – govt interface.
Some links to peruse:
From the Law Commission:
http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/2011/03/chapter_x_-_information_sharing_v2.pdf
I dislike the title of this one but the summary of risks is still worth a read, and it contains comments from the Privacy Commissioner:
http://www.chenpalmer.com/news/publications-and-presentations/big-brother-is-here-to-help-the-privacy-information-sharing-bill/
From the US:
http://www.privacilla.org/releases/Government_Data_Merger.html
Edit:
You will find that the Law Commission has also highlighted the risks of info sharing and has proposed strategies to address these risks, ie case by case or category by category share between specific agencies on the basis of justified need
Interestingly the quoted comments from the Privacy Commissioner and the Chen Palmer article which highlights the downside to separate data bases (ie the difficulty of amending or accessing information) do not mention the fact that the physical and network independence of a data base acts as a natural privacy safeguard and actually ensures that any breach is not catastrophic…
See also the ‘i’m not policy’ policy which coincidentally endorses the highly controversial TPSEPA, also known as the P4 Free Trade Agreement or the TPPA:
http://www.ict.govt.nz/library/offshore-ICT-service-providers-april-2007.pdf
The way I see it is that the government should just have a single database with everyone’s relevant information on it. Each government agency then has access to a subset of the data which is relevant to it. There would be no more sharing as such and unnecessary and expensive duplication is removed. This database would, of course, be maintained by a dedicated government IT department.
IMO, security is actually less of a concern as it reduces the number of possible breaches, the people maintaining the database are more likely to be permanent staff rather than consultants brought in on an ad hoc basis and processes for access would be identical across departments meaning that when someone transfers from one department to another they don’t have to learn entirely new processes.
Wow. I had an almost visceral reaction against placing that much faith in any organisation, consultants or not.
Not strictly relevant – or maybe it is? I am having a plague of telemarketers atm, and one on Saturday, a low-grade moron by what she said, started the call by saying “Can I speak to Mrs Surname, First name”?
That told me two things. She was reading off her lead sheet and didn’t have the wit to understand which name comes first in addressing someone, and second, Telecom sell their directory information to telemarketers!
Actually, that’s more likely to be that the telemarketers have bought the electoral role or that they’re reading from the phone book.
Oops. Another breach in today’s Dom.:
“The latest breach came about when ACC claimant Garth Paul asked to see his file – he had to make repeated requests to get the file as ACC sent only some documents. In the end, ACC sent him a file belonging to a different person. ”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/6633720/ACC-tries-to-plug-another-breach
Incompetency or strategy?
Another hole in a leaky boat, no wonder smith said he would welcome an inquiry to clear his name.
I did wonder why Judith Collins very readily decided not to push to privatise ACC accounts. She probably thought a sneaky way would be more effective i.e. make ACC look bad through leaks get the Slater Farrar lapdogs to go ‘woof, woof privatise’ and hey presto a ready platform to plunder from.
I think you will find, should you bother to look, that the privatisation of ACC, as envisaged, has been cancelled.
Otago student events have had some bad coverage in the past. Yesterday’s Hyde Street Keg Party has had minimal news coverage after the event, which suggests few problems. It was uber organised, very well attended and hopefully was a good day for many.
ODT and TV1 reported that it was “shut down” and “forced to close” but the one way policy put in place mid afternoon was a planned strategy.
Hyde Street Keg Party 2012 – roundup.
So is this another link to your site PG or to the original stories?
It’s a compilation of reports Kevin, it’s what blogs often do. It’s not the done thing to do a Penny and load a heap of stuff in someone else’s blog.
Do you have a point? Or have you been assigned the “keep drawing attention to PG” task this week? If so, thanks. So far most hits are coming from Facebook, unusual on a young person topic at this time on a Sunday morning.
“It’s a compilation of reports Kevin, it’s what blogs often do.”
Indeed.
Then be a little more clear on where your links lead. I have no problem with what Penny does because her links clearly point to their source.
If I want to read your blog I will. I don’t need to be lead there with a blindfold on.
And to be fair, you are not the only one on here who does it. Its tiresome and doesn’t do you any favours.
you are not the only one on here who does it.
No. Eg
http://thestandard.org.nz/give-way/
http://thestandard.org.nz/wont-somebody-think-of-the-children-2/
It’s fairly normal not to “be a little more clear on where your links lead”.
If you don’t like following links I suggest you just don’t click on them.
Do you want to have another crack at writing that comment, Pete? It doesn’t make any sense and the links you provide don’t illustrate anything relevant.
Kevin is correct. Others, including myself, do occasionally put one sentence teasers and a link (eg. PB’s Finland link below). The difference is that I trust PB’s judgement, so clicking on his link is not likely to be a waste of time. That’s not the case with your self promotion, of course.
Are you suggesting a statement of trust with every external link? Not everyone has your history of reason here.
What you (and possibly Kevin) really mean without openly saying it is you only want things posted that you agree with and you want to shut down anyone you are hissy about by dissing them off, don’t you?
Otherwise you’d do what most people do, pick what they want and ignore the rest.
Boy, you’re having a bad day. Pete! All I was asking was for you to clarify your strange comment above, which seems to be based on your mis-reading of the following line:
you are not the only one on here who does it.
Then you go on to bizarrely repeat my point in your final sentence, as if I hadn’t just said it.
I rarely follow links when it’s not clearly stated what the link is to, and/or why I should follow it. It’s also why I never use a link code, but paste the URL directly into the comment. It usually makes the website clear & often adds the title of the article.
I sometimes use raw links but they can be a bit long and messy.
All you need to do is point at a link to see the website and title.
FireFox tells me where the link is going to before I click on it and URLs pasted direct into the editor don’t always work due to special characters or just being too long.
Pretty sure all internet browsers tell you where the link is going. Just hover over it and it will tell you down the bottom of the page what the destination is.
I’ve used 4 of the main browsers and from memory they all do this.
Was pretty sure that was the case but I’ve been exclusively using FF for the last few years and so was caging my bets 😀
Kevin, I don’t know what your intention was here but I’ll explain mine. First some background.
Otago has had some major problems in the past with parties gone bad, big time. Some of the huge number of students in Dunedin make dicks of themselves. Outsiders also used to come in and deliberately cause trouble – many of the arrests were non-students (and non Dunedin residents).
This year it haas been proposed to make all of Dunedin North (the area around the Universiry and Polytechnic) alcohol free. That’s obviously controversial.
OUSA is working hard on finding better solutions. They are promoting a ‘no glass’ zone. They were heavily involved in then organisation of the Hyde Street party, trying to prove that students can have a heap of fun without draconian restrictions.
Personally I think New Zealand needs to address serious problems around our piss as chooks culture. I have experience, I have been pissed as a chook more than a few times in Dunedin North (rarely this century). I’ve learnt to drink much less, I’d like New Zealand to learn to drink much less too, but that’s only a peripheral issue with Hyde Street.
My blog posts on Hyde Street (and links to them) have been supporting the rights of students to organise a good rave, and promoting the positive aspects and what seems have worked very well.
I think this is a good change in the right direction for Otago culture so I have chosen to highlight it. Fun with responsibility is something a lot more people would be better for learning.
It’s got nothing to do with politics, most of what I do has nothing directly to do with politics.
Fun with being watched like hawks and cornered like rats in a trap is something a lot more people would be better for learning.
FIFY.
Glad to see you’re down with the yoof of today, pg
Generally, and specifically on this, the response from the yoof of today has been very good. They are more open to what works rather than the same old failures and theoretical ideologies that never work in practice.
Feedback has been positive, eg
Richy Anderson: “Bloody good mate.”
Manea John: “The efforts of OUSA and all the other groups and organisations who contributed was soo worth the effort!”
Most Otago students, like most people, don’t like being shat on by people trying to stir up trouble. So what if it takes a bit of organisation to help things work and keep party poopers (campus crappers) out.
Five years of 24hr patrolling and ever-increasing punishments for students who do such things is not “a little bit of organisation”. But keep looking at things in isolation – saves having to come up with solutions yourself.
Glad to see you reacting without thought McFlunk! 😀
What on earth is wrong with responsible drinking?
Thanks for the Hyde St info, PG. I was wondering how everything went as I’m opposed to the proposed liquor ban and didn’t want paternalistic wowsers being gifted more ammo for their ban crusade. I did a drive by with hubby yesterday in search of the zombie flat and while there were many pissed scarfies in little clothing, I saw no broken glass or grouchy cops 🙂
As a lifetime renter, who is happy to live in accommodation that is at the low end of the range and located out in the suburbs of Auckland’s west, I was appalled by this news item on TV3 news last night:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Housing-shortage-leads-to-rent-hikes/tabid/423/articleID/247934/Default.aspx
So as people with the most money to spare keep paying higher rents for increasingly meagre properties where demand is far outstripping supply, what is going to happen to those who can only afford very meagre rents out in the burbs? More people living in garages, cramped into unsuitable accommodation, or camping out?
This issue needs urgent attention.
Gerry Brownlee eh.
http://t.co/BihdAtL4
Cheers for the link. I never knew that Finland’s murder rate is double that of NZ. That it also has worse unemployment and health provision. Chuck in it’s privatization policy, it’s really grim reading.
I thought we were aspiring to be like Finland. What’s with that?
Well, Finland on one side and Ireland on the other, take your choice.
Sorry I didn’t realize we needed to aspire to countries that are in a worst position than us. I’m sure we can agree on a country that meets all of our aspirations?
Yep, simple really. We can learn of things that seem to work in other countries but the country to aspire to should be an improived version on New Zealand.
John Key thinks we should be like Ireland. Makes it a tough choice.
I imagine these revelations are going to cause some angst. It looks like Helen Clark and former police minister Annette King were hung out to dry by Solicitor General, David Collins. Q&A interview not online yet.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/annette-king-solicitor-general-changed-mind-terror-act-4795583
Annette King – “And so then to find that in fact the law we were told was incoherent and they weren’t able to proceed. and in fact much of the evidence was not able to be used, now that was a big disappointment.”
So…what’s that saying? We’re just pissed off we couldn’t pin the fuckers? What I want to know in all this is where all those white dude ‘survivalists’ fit in the scheme of things? Haven’t seen any of them and their guns and their camps jumped on.
“All those”? How many are there?
Other than http://rwrnz.blogspot.co.nz/
Hi Bill… Q&A interview.
http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/solicitor-general-back-tracks-terror-act-king-video-4795700
Accordi ng to media watch this morning on RNZ Radio Rhema is now host to dumbell slater and it looks like he has God on his side now too.
The christians are overstepping their mandate but nobody will call them to account.
why is that?
Well, Media Watch has certainly called them to account, for one. What is needed now is a concerted writing campaign. Contact them via THIS site….
http://www.rhema.co.nz/index.php/contact-us
Or, even better you can write to them…
Private Bag 92-636
Symonds Street
Auckland
NEW ZEALAND
Or personally visit them at their HQ….
53 Upper Queen Street
Auckland
NEW ZEALAND
I don’t listen to Rhema, and never would, and I loathe Slater, but I would like to ask you to elaborate.
What mandate do you think ‘the Christians’ have, and in what way are they overstepping it? I suspect your thin king in something such as “Christians should be made to STFU and never express any opinions, ever”.
I am sure you don’t even realise that there are Christians that would be and in fact are, completely opposed to Slater and his mob?
Don,t tell me. he has seen the light.
He assumes it shines out of his arse.
Bill, I think you will find she was referring to the Solicitor General’s assurance the night before the raid that the terrorsim act was the correct legislation to use in this case.(I had the impression he was closely questioned by both Helen Clark and Annette King.) One month later (and I paraphrase) he refused admittance of much of the evidence on the grounds that the police had acted under the wrong legislation. I might add, the police did not give them – nor did they seek -any knowledge of how the police proposed to carry out the raid.
Watch the interveiw when it’s up online. Fascinating stuff.
Edit: damm I forgot reply – again. Replying to Bill 5.1
There was a cabinet resuffle on 12 December 2011.
Does anyone know the date of the Pullar, Boag ACC meeting in December 2011?
Boag has stated that ACC did not inform the ACC minister when ACC was told about the 6700 breaches of privacy in December 2011. I find this to be remarkable. I also believe that if ACC went to the PM’s office the PM would have had to have gone to the ACC minister. If Key was informed and the Boag, Pullar meeting was before the cabinet resuffle I think that Key would have dropped Smith and that he appointed Collin’s as she has legal expertise.
What Key actually knew about Smith writing to support Pullar would be interesting. I believe that Key knew about one of the support letters and this alone would have been enough for Key to not reappoint Smith as the ACC minister. (Wong and the other National MP could have told Key as they referred the letter onto Smith).
I think that Pullar’s name appearing in the media is minor compared to what the government are covering up about having knowledge of Smith’s supporting letters with his signature at least two). Key seems to think that one lapse was excusable but two were not.
Smith did the honourable thing and resigned to take the heat off Key when Smith’s letters became public. Key has not done the honourable thing and ordered an independent inquiry to establish that ACC knew that Smith had breached cabinet guidelines and if ACC informed anyone in the government? Were I Key I would push for an independent inquiry as I would want my name to be cleared of any manipulation e.g. keeping an experienced minister on until it became public who had breached cabinet rules.
If ACC informed the PM about Smith breaching cabinet guidelines and the PM did nothing this was a coverup. Either or both, the PM and ACC have covered up Smith’s letters.
I don’t know who I give 1st prize to this week, the Ports of Auckland Board or the ACC board when it comes to not being transparent or functional?
Might John Key have mislead Parliament in saying he knew nothing until the week of Smith’s resignation? If the re-shuffle in December was because of the pending storm then Key already did know.
I think Winston is onto this aspect and next week when the PM returns could be interesting
They have the excuse of “new government term” for the reshuffle, though, as well as exposing people to new challenges etc etc.
What is most likely to have happened: the pending storm contributed to the reshuffle in December and ensured that Nick Smith was divested of the ACC portfolio.
Does anyone know the date of the Pullar, Boag ACC meeting in December 2011
December 1st from memory.
Yep, December 1.
Cheney got a heart transplant.- Link
I didn’t know he had one. It must have been as black as the oil he coveted!
Where would you get another evil heart to replace it? Wall Street? Perhaps Halliburton has a subsidiary that engineers them. Lets hope it fails like their blowout preventers.
Still, the end of Cheney would be of little comfort to the hundreds of thousands of family members of dead Iraqis and US service personnel.
No doubt about it: Cheney was a coward and a draft dodger, a brutal and shameless liar, a hypocrite and a bully. But I don’t think you should personalize the destruction of Iraq to Cheney. Just as culpable are the Democrats who gave carte blanche to Cheney and his puppet, George W. Bush.
“Just as culpable…”
nah, that’s bullshit bro.You can argue that they share culpability, along with a shit load of other people, but the lion’s share of culpability for the shit Cheney did, lies with Cheney. I’d put it somewhere in the high 80%s
You can argue that they share culpability, along with a shit load of other people,
The Democratic Party “leadership” (profiles in courage such as Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid) could have demanded the Bush regime show some evidence to back their fantastic claims in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, and they could have demanded that Cheney appear before the 9/11 Commission by himself instead of in tandem with Bush. They lacked the courage to confront the regime at every step. Contrary to what you seem to be trying to say, there is no “argument” about that.
but the lion’s share of culpability for the shit Cheney did, lies with Cheney.
The lion’s share of what pops into Cheney’s head lies with Cheney; the lion’s share of culpability for his crimes lies with those who could have stopped him, or at least curbed some of his worst excesses. That was, and still is, the Democratic Party “leadership”.
Isn’t it ironic.
From Stuff: Agents reap quake bonus
“The test of a democracy is how you treat people incarcerated, people in jail, and especially so with minors”– Mark Regev, spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu
http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/blog_comments/new_report_palestinian_children_systematically_ill_treated_and_tortured
New Report: Palestinian children tortured and “systematically” ill-treated
A major new EU-funded study documents ‘a systematic pattern of ill-treatment, and in some cases torture’ of Palestinian children detained by Israel. Drawing on 311 sworn testimonies, collected over a period of four years, the report by Defence for Children International (DCI) finds that most children passing through Israel’s military detention system suffer multiple forms of ill-treatment and abuse, much of which amounts to ‘cruel, inhuman or degrading’ treatment as defined by the
UN Convention against Torture. It’s pretty long, but important, so I thought I’d post a condensed summary.
—
Most children are arrested in the middle of the night. Israeli civil law restricts the times when children can be interrogated, which in turn influence the times when they are arrested. But Palestinians are subject to military law, which contains no such provision. Most have their hands ‘painfully tied behind their backs and are blindfolded’, before being transported to an unknown location—usually neither children nor parents are informed where, or on what basis—for
interrogation. This process is ‘often’ accompanied by ‘verbal abuse and humiliation, threats as well as physical violence’. Palestinian children are not accompanied by a parent and are usually interrogated without legal advice or being informed of their right to silence.
Nearly a third of the children who testified to DCI reported experiencing violence during their arrest, usually punching, slapping or kicking. A former Israeli military commander, describing this
process to the BBC, confessed that after leaving the army, his dreams were haunted by children ‘screaming’:
“You take the kid, you blindfold him, you handcuff him, he’s really shaking… Sometimes you cuff his legs too. Sometimes it cuts off the circulation.
“He doesn’t understand a word of what’s going on around him. He doesn’t know what you’re going to do with him. He just knows we are soldiers with guns. That we kill people. Maybe they think we’re going to kill him…..
Read more of this horrifying report by clicking HERE….
http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/blog_comments/new_report_palestinian_children_systematically_ill_treated_and_tortured
Thanks, Morrissey…
Israel lives in defiance of most humanitarian ideals, they thumb their nose at the peace process, keep settling in occupied territories and generally have a ‘screw you’ atitude.
Without the US behind it the arab nations would like to wipe if off the map, this is one reason why.
Netanyahu is a much more dangerous and inflammatory leader second time around who has a growing problem within his own state with the haredi but that doesn’t stop him opening it up on other fronts.
There are some real messed up people in this country who have far too much say over our lives
I wonder what makes them believe their lives are better of for behaving this way
Do you mean the $1million in insurance over loss of income? That is separate from injury questions.
Perhaps you mean the publication of her details that is so bad? Not sure which bit you mean Muzza.
70 more jobs to go from a government department…..
Govt fishery observers told to get ready to pack up
Published: 6:23PM Sunday March 25, 2012 Source: ONE News
A leaked email from the Ministry of Fisheries reveals that observers on commercial fishing vessels will have their jobs outsourced by the end of the year.
The observers are stationed on commercial fishing vessels to monitor the catch and conditions on the boats.
The leaked email reveals that around 70 Ministry of Fisheries observers have been told their jobs are being outsourced by December.
Industry insiders say that the move will rob the watchdogs of their independence.
One former observer says that they play a vital role.
“No-one has questioned the quality of their information and it shouldn’t be compromised for money, and certainly not when the fisheries are under pressure.”
Critics argue that outsourcing will allow fishing companies to pick observers who are prepared to turn a blind eye in order to keep their jobs.
Currently observers are employed by the Ministry of Fisheries on short term contracts while they are at sea.
The Ministry recoups their pay and administration expenses from the fishing companies.
Glenn Simmons from the University of Auckland told ONE News he cannot see the logic in the change.
“I really can’t see any cost savings in it, so I really wonder what is driving this, particularly from the Ministry’s point of view.”
But documents show the fishing industry has been pushing for outsourcing for at least six years.
The Ministry of Fisheries would not be interviewed for this story, and refused to give an explanation of the benefits gained by outsourcing the observer roles.
The Minister of Fisheries, David Carter told ONE News that observers are not likely to be outsourced by December.
“At this stage there’s still a lot more work to be done as to how best to deliver observer services on foreign charter vessels and other vessels no decision has been made about outsourcing.”
Nevertheless, one former observer says that the decision seems fixed.
“They’ve already decided, it appears they’re not asking any questions here.”
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/govt-fishery-observers-told-get-ready-pack-up-4795996
71 and got a heart transplant. For a moment I though WTF. Cheney gets a heart transplant, there must have been younger people….
…but then I don’t know all the details, second hearts don’t necessarily last, they are second hand, and they are unlikely to have put a ???young heart in him???. i.e. they would not put a old person’s heart in a young person. There are certainly more older people who donate…
That’s America! Where you can get whatever you want if you can pay for it. Larry Hagman, the man who carries a portable fan so he can harass smokers by blowing air in their faces, has had three liver transplants, although he’s ruined 3 livers through being an alkie…
In NZ, I am sasured, they’d say he wasn’t a candidate after wrecking the first transplanted one through refusing to stop drinking alcohol to excess.