In late 1918, after the war had ended, New Zealand and Australian soldiers rounded up more than one hundred boys and men in the Palestinian village of Surafend, then methodically clubbed them to death. After that, the ANZAC soldiers burned the village to the ground/
General Allenby called these ANZAC troops “cowards and murderers”.
Far from apologizing for the massacre, the RSA ran poems in its magazine praising it.
Well done to those who attended Dawn parade. Those of you who did attend showed more respect than former PM Helen Clark who refused to attend dawn parade. It seemed that she could not be bothered getting out of bed early on that one day of the year. [r0b: Moved this comment from the Anzac day post to Open Mike. Also banned BB for a year on the charge of inappropriate politicisation and being a POS.]
Helen attended several ANZAC services on each ANZAC day while she was in parliament. I usually saw her at the Mt Albert one, starting in 1990 when I shifted back to that one. She routinely did several around Mt Albert, Mt Roskill, Avondale, Pt Chev and other local ones around her home.
She attended the War Memorial dawn service frequently… At least as frequently as I did, and I was a soldier.
Many of her family were soldiers in various of our wars.
FFS This can be found with a simple google. Why didn’t you do one? Rather than just lying.
You sound like another lazy armchair general. Too damn lazy to get off your arse to volunteer for anything. A critic of those who do. Playing the patriotic card to send other parents kids to fight for you. Basically a parasite on society and as r0b said, generally a piece of shit
BFD, i get up before dawn every fucking morning to go to work you moron. what pisses me off is the sheep who go to the dawn parades then go to the warehouse or malls or cafes feeling superior to us who refuse to be sucked in to celebrating & supporting military conflict, so fuck you you sanctimonious dick.
last one I went to was in Cambridge a few years back .When the local Nat MP/lance -Adams Schider used tyhe whole time telling us how we needed Nuclear Powered Ships.Never been since.Any way I do not have to attend such meetings to realise the horror of war.
Of course it was rot. RWNJs have to lie and put others down so as to put themselves up on a pedestal of their own delusion, to tell themselves how much better they are than everyone else.
This sort of censorship would make Kim Jong-un blush. It reflects very poorly on the site and your ideology. Though it is to be expected from a Clark apologist.
When people see this it drives them into JK’s arms, as the lessor of two evils.
I want a decent choice in the next election and if the left continues the way it is going, I will be denied that choice.
BB claimed Helen Clark never attended Dawn Services. This is a repeat of a common lie – a lie that can be readily shown for the smear it is with a few seconds googling.
BB is not expressing an honest opinion. He knows he is lying, and continues to do it over many years. This is not behaviour we are obliged to tolerate.
There is a difference between ideas and opinions – and behaviour. This site has long tolerated the expression of a very wide range of opinions, but does not allow repeated bad behaviour to disrupt the debate.
Then expose their lies. Surely that is a better approach. It also makes things much more interesting.
If JK told a lie you could expose, would you really want to hide the lie and stop him telling more lies ? With thinking like that, you must have been a Labour strategist in the past few elections.
The “behavior” argument is at best subjective and at worst unconvincing.
bb is well known here. For years he posted here in a similar vein. He’s said that lie many times before and been pointed to the correct information before. An honest person would accept the correct information and not repeat the mistake. There would be no problem this at all.
But knowingly repeating a lie is a different thing to expressing an honestly held opinion. Then it becomes bad behaviour.
I agree that this can be a subjective thing. I used to moderate here for years (I don’t have the time nor inclination to do it any more) and I know it is not easy deciding where the boundaries are. But there is no doubt that boundary exists, and the site owners are entitled to make up their minds as to where it lies.
The comment directly beneath BB’s refutes his lies.
What would be “interesting” about allowing disruptive tr*lls to ruin the discourse? There are plenty of live issues to pick over without resuscitating long dead zombies.
big bruv…my uncle never attended the RSA or ANZAC Day …let alone Dawn Parades… so disgusted was he with the futility and tragic waste of war….if it was good enough for him not to attend , it is good enough for any of the rest of us to remember in our own way….and hopefully we will simply remember their sacrifice … the tragedy that is war ….and resolve to strive for peace
my uncle, the navigator in the tail of a Lancaster, was shot down over Germany ( only he and one other survived)…ended up on a German forest….walked for a week at night trying to get into France and then back to the UK ….ended up in a POW camp and then towards the end of the war did the Long March in winter( he said they would not have survived without the Red Cross and their parcels)
…i remember him and those returned servicemen ( many of them scarred) of my childhood who did not want to talk about war but who wanted to live!…..and who loved life!…and believed fervently in PEACE
(incidentally he never said a bad word about the Germans because he was reasonably well treated and he recognised that we are all capable of war atrocities)
No doubt there were incidents similar to this in French and Belgian villages; petty thievery is universal. Yet it is unthinkable that New Zealand and Australian soldiers would have contemplated the mass murder of innocent civilians in a French or Belgian village. The Arabs in Palestine, on the other hand, were regarded with contempt by many of the soldiers; they were untermenschen on a level with the natives of Australia and New Zealand.
The New Zealand establishment has continued to refuse to apologize for this massacre—doggerel poems in the RSA magazine treated the murderers as heroes. It renders hollow this morning’s words by the Governor General, praising the “courage, compassion and mateship in adversity” and “moments of astonishing humanity”, and the Prime Minister’s words about those who “fought so gallantly for what we believe in.”
what is it with all the folk having to go to cafes, burger chains etc on this solemn morning.
i have long ranted about businesses that choose to open on anzac day and vowed not to darken their doors during the rest of the year.
it occurs to me the businesses are just doing as businesses do. meeting a demand.
couldnt we skip the trim flat white and bacon and eggs (not too hard please), and instead gather together at the local rsa, or at someones home and break bread together?
We stopped at a cafe this morning – as we always do, with my father-in-law and another resident from the retirement home, and enjoyed the morning coffee with them. It is the one regular visit out for one of them, and I’m glad that we did it.
I am one of those who commemorate the wastefulness of war and conflict with sadness and contemplation, and to be surrounded by others who seem to be celebrating is quite disconcerting.
I am finding the emphasis of the Gallipoli celebrations this year to be particularly disheartening, in light of the deployment of troops to Iraq. I don’t want to participate in this appropriation of loss by those who have their own agenda, or who “enjoy” this day. Our local MP used one ANZAC service to speak about his politics for over 20 minutes – a gross display of disrespect.
I don’t need a particular day to join with others in regretting our continued involvement in other people’s conflicts – without a decent strategy or exit plan. This is happening for me every day, the waste of human potential is always depressing.
hi molly, my experience of todays dawn service was far from celebratory.
two speakers, local high school boy, and returned soldier.
both eloquent, the veteran cited casualty numbers and gave context with the population of our town in 1915.
there was plenty of contemplation, solemnity, sacrifice (it was cold), coming together, reflection.
the experience with your mp electioneering, says more about that member than anzac service.
our mayor gave the g.g. address and that was the politics over with.
i do share your disheartedness re troops deployed.
i simply feel, surely some things are sacred.
maybe we could sacrifice by going without a visit to the cafe?
disclaimer- i work in hospitality.
i am curious, what was the atmosphere in the cafe this morning?
Very quiet in the cafe this morning. The realist in me thinks this is due to the carpark being empty because of the retail stores not being open, rather than attendance at ANZAC day or a recognition of sacrifice.
…”surely some things are sacred”…”
Strangely enough, I agree with you there. Except my heart and my mind recognise this sacredness every day, every time it is considered. To my oftentimes awkward realisation – I have never been someone who is entirely comfortable with requiring others to share my sentiments at “appropriate” times, so I find it difficult to do myself. If I observed this day in the way that you do, I would be assuming a persona specifically to say – to paraphrase Keri Hulme – “I wear my heart on my sleeve, mind you look at my sleeve”. The sincerity of the action would not be present. I consider this to be disrespectful in itself.
My thoughts on this topic are fairly constant. And if engaged on the thought of war and engagement, I will express my thoughts with anyone on any day of the year, in order to have a better understanding. This is how I personally recognise the “sacred” that you observe on this day. My approach can be contentious, and requires a lot of internal fortitude, particularly coming up to ANZAC day – but for me it is the only way I can see for myself to come to grips with past and present deployments of our troops, and the consequences for those that live in the countries where they are deployed. I am past the point where I need others to agree with me by the end of the discussion, so I am more adept at keeping discussions flowing, but the ego in me, does try to make them understand my point of view.
hi molly,
thanks for expanding on yr thoughts. a lot of it resonates with me.
especially “I am past the point where I need others to agree with me by the end of the discussion, so I am more adept at keeping discussions flowing, but the ego in me, does try to make them understand my point of view.”
for some there is just little meaning in this day, as they might not be New Zealanders by birth i.e. Tourists and the likes.
for some, they might not need a particular day to remember the death, especially in a world where on every other day we have no issue not only in forgetting the death, but often in blaming the death for their own demise…Gaza comes to mind, or Africa, or other parts of the world, where the dead are not ours.
for another lot, they might plant a tree instead, or go out and clean a river from pollution.
You could lobby the government to declare Anzac Day a day where no one but First Responders, Nurses and other medical staff at hospitals, and Police are allowed to work.
We are closed on Monday, but we are open today. First customer of the day a US American on a visit in NZ…all others were Kiwis coming back from the dawn service buying breakfast items to be shared at home with family.
My staff is off, but my Hubby and I are working.
We are one of those famous small Mum and Pop business, and keeping a day off is not really an option in these times general austerity.
So observance that doesn’t involve turning up to a sanctioned memorial isn’t ‘observance’? Righteous bullshit.
Never been to a dawn anything. Never will. You remember the dead in your way, I mine. But don’t tell me my grief isn’t the same as yours because you demanded businesses close.
Hi stephanie, molly, tigger,
The motive for my posting was twofold: testing the waters re anzac days
sacredness, and garner sympathy for some of the lesser paid, sometimes exploited work force.
Deputy P.M tries comedy–‘The Government has effectively left nothing “undone” to tackle sky-rocketing house prices in Auckland, Finance Minister Bill English says’
In less than surprising, but utterly sickening news from the UK….
The former Conservative deputy prime minister (Michael Heseltine) is being lined up by the shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna, to advise Labour in government.”
& (cause that’s not all folks!)
Labour also hopes to sign up the business secretary, Vince Cable, (Lib Dem)and his predecessor Lord Mandelson (Blairite).
Extraordinary, isn’t it. If there’s one thing UK Labour have conspicuously failed to do since the last Election, it’s win over 2010 Tory voters. They’ve won over a huge chunk of the 2010 Lib Dem vote and made inroads into the Non-vote but next to no Tories (most polls suggest about 3 or 4% of 2010 Conservatives have swung to Labour, representing at most 1.4% of all voters. The Tories have attracted roughly the same proportion – comprising about 1.0% of all voters – from Labour). Nothing suggests this is suddenly going to change over the next few weeks.
The reality is that if Labour manage to cobble together a Government after this Election (as seems more than likely) then – compared to the Blair regime – it will be far less dependent on keeping newly-won-over former Tory voters happy. It will be a Government firmly grounded in a social democratic support-base – voters who have stayed with Labour through thick and thin, voters who swung to Labour from the Lib Dems the moment the latter went into coalition with the Tories, decidedly Left-leaning SNP supporters, along with Greens, the communitarian-socialist Plaid Cymru, Ulster’s SDLP, not to mention the member for Bradford West (even if in some cases, we’re talking about informal/tacit/policy-by-policy support).
Unfortunately, the Blairites still hold some sway in the Party (even if their voice isn’t quite as dominant as it once was).
🙂 I take it you haven’t heard Sturgeon openly saying the SNP will court Labour’s left wing mps to kill austerity/Blairite/Tory lite policies?
I’m looking forward to the unofficial ‘grand alliance’ of Tory/Labour that’s going to come into being in order to push through unpopular policies. Well, the reaction to it from the voting public. 😉
I’m hoping at that point, people will realise that the labour party is the boot at the neck of working people.
It is good to see many Kiwis understand it here. Labour keeps worshipping at the altar of liberalism, and wonders why people don’t want a bar of them. Poll after poll and little or no movement for labour. When will they wake up and notice the wind change?
Plus their latest email with overview of the actions being taken. I’m starting to be quite impressed with this group (although I’m not sure I agree with using the “je suis…” line in situations like this)
More than 90,000 people like you signed petitions to save Campbell Live.
More than 3000 of you wrote emails to MediaWorks or sent messages to Campbell Live sponsor Mazda.
Campbell Live was TV3’s top rated show last night.
Hundreds of people showed up at rallies across the country today.
John Campbell and his team came out to meet and thank our campaigners today, saying: “Thank you so much to everyone involved, from petition organisers and signers, to video makers. Thank you all.”
All in all, as Bill Ralston said yesterday, this has been an amazing display of people power and it seems MediaWorks would prefer it if we went away quietly. When Laura showed up at the MediaWorks office today to deliver those 90,000 signatures, MediaWorks CEO Mark Weldon and Head of News Mark Jennings refused to meet her.
As you know, this petition was originally to be delivered via a crowdfunded television commercial:
More than 1100 of you chipped in to make this video explaining why Campbell Live matters to so many New Zealanders, but when Marianne tried to secure an advertising spot on TV3, they flat-out refused.
In other words, not only will TV3 bosses not meet with someone representing 90,000 fans of their top rated show, they also refuse to accept paid advertising from fans of the show. What they have done, however, is delay the announcement of the outcome of their review of Campbell Live for a few weeks, no doubt in the hope that we’ll all get bored, stop watching and go away. But we don’t give up that easily.
Our job for the next two weeks is to keep Campbell Live in the forefront of people’s minds. This beautiful video, made by people like you, is the perfect way to do it. So we are going to put this video all over the internet!
Will you chip in $10 to put our member-funded video all over the internet? Or if you can’t chip in right now, you can still help by watching and sharing the video with your friends and networks.
MediaWorks may refuse to meet us and refuse to air our ad, but they cannot ignore 90,000 of us, not when our video is all over the internet!
I wish to pay a tribute to my late uncle and the many others who served overseas today, He volunteered during WW2 and went off with the 1st Echelon to the Middle East and served for 4 years. His given peacetime occupation was a printer so he was placed with the Sappers. He defused bombs and set charges on important installations like bridges etc all of this time and escaped death twice from strafing while on land convoys in the desert. He was a cynic through and through and was knicknamed “why” for obvious reasons. He was a dynamic and delightful man but had no time for the military. On his return he and the other returned servicemen had to apply for their service medals (if they chose to) and he naturally told them to put them where the sun doesn’t shine. His thoughts were if they hadn’t the courtesy to take the trouble to send the medals personally they weren’t worth having. He never attended ANZAC Day services but always remembered his mates he served with with much affection and pride. He was above all a man with bravery in his heart and honour deep into his bones.
I, like him do not attend the ceremonies – there is a history world wide of veterans not being looked after like they should be and the grandstanding at these commemorations doesn’t do it for me one little bit. I salute my Uncle today and will have a drink or two and chat with him off and on throughout the day – he is one of the thousands of treasures we have in this country – Lest We Forget”.
i cant be leave how nasty the people on this site are calling the prime minister a pervert or worse where is your respect for the high office and your betters John key is leader of this nation and you should hold your noses and bow before him. just make sure your wearing protection hat or swimming cap
This comment is perfectly placed downthread from big bruv’s attempt to smear Helen Clark’s memory. The right do love to trot out the “respect your betters” line … as long as it’s the betters they personally agree with.
The Key is my harrasser; I shall not be silent.
He maketh me to let down my golden locks: he fondles my hair beside the till.
He violateth my locks: he grabbeth me on the way to serve for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk between the tables of the Tories of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art not near me; thy rod and thy staff they will not touch me.
I preparest a table before you in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with pudgy fingers; my bile runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and my story will live in the blog of the Bomber for ever.
I feel really uneasy at the whole glorfication of the whole ANZAC thing. I dont blame the vets or even the RSA though. Its the politicians and media who are milking the whole thing.
I think we can find way better ways of defining ourselves than by war and militarism.
Gallipoli – Memorial at Anzac Cove by Ataturk.
“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives…
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours…
You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace, after having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”
Ataturk, 1934
I was very moved to read these words at Anzac Cove ten years ago. Such generosity of spirit and a call to reconciliation.
How markedly different from our current crop of leaders.
John Armstrong in the Herald this morning is hilarious – sage advice against premature us of the “R” word re Trichy-Key. I take that as an apology for his bullshit outburst
over the 11 year old letter and Cunliffe. Even if not intended. His words today condemn his words of last year.
And, of course, just the previous year, NZ invaded Samoa and ruled it as a colony for the next near-50 years, carrying out the Black Saturday massacre, and caring so little for Samoan lives that thousands died during the influenza epidemic after the war: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/08/28/samoa-what-new-zealand-did/
I always understood Gallipoli as a catastrophe. My grandmother’s younger sister’s husband served right through WW1 and his War Diary – while constrained and understated – makes no bones of what an inglorious and disgraceful business it all was.
And this is the reason why Gallipoli ranked so highly in the minds of the New Zealanders who lived through it. Before Gallipoli most New Zealanders still regarded Britain as the mother country; and themselves as citizens of the Empire. The images of naive young farm-boys queuing up for conscription, loading their farm horses onto ships for an ‘adventure’ in Europe are bitter indeed.
After Gallipoli the monstrous, incompetent and catastrophic bungling of the British High Command was laid bare. Their unspoken, but palpable contempt for the lives to the ‘colonials’ they so culpably threw away in a futile, pointless campaign – was seared into the minds of many. It marked the critical turning point in the conciousness of this nation – and gave birth to a determination for New Zealand to grow as a nation with it’s own political agency.
To my generation and earlier I believe this was a widespread understanding. The Dawn Services I attended as a youth were sombre, solemn affairs. The still living returned servicemen in attendance would not tolerate much foolish jingoism or flag-waving. They were there to remember their mates. And to grieve for their own loss of innocence.
“The Dawn Services I attended as a youth were sombre, solemn affairs. The still living returned servicemen in attendance would not tolerate much foolish jingoism or flag-waving. They were there to remember their mates. And to grieve for their own loss of innocence.”
This reflects my experience too.
Have avoided the ANZAC parades since my son left the scouts many years ago, and the last I attended was the aforementioned one which was appropriated for a party political broadcast by our local National MP.
I watch the children decked out in the medals of their unmet ancestors and I wonder at their knowledge of what it truly means. I understand the need to make sense of the loss, I’m just not sure the current method of doing so will lead us in the right direction, but unfortunately I have no answers to what will.
To my generation and earlier I believe this was a widespread understanding. The Dawn Services I attended as a youth were sombre, solemn affairs. The still living returned servicemen in attendance would not tolerate much foolish jingoism or flag-waving. They were there to remember their mates. And to grieve for their own loss of innocence.
Mine too. They were grim people about what happened in war. And quiet about it. Incredibly staunch if they felt that something needed to be done. Very reluctant to put younger bodies on the line if they didn’t think it was required. Very inclined to get drunk after the remembrances. Especially the ones who cleared Europe in 1945.
It wasn’t until I went into the army in 1977 and ran across RF who’d been active in Vietnam, who would occasionally talk about it (usually when drinking), that I started to understand. Mind you, clearing the range of sheep with bren gun was a pretty graphic introduction.
It goes both ways.
Being a pacifist when you have conscienceless sociopathic arseholes around isn’t an option. At a local level, and just for an example, how on earth Cameron Slater got a gun license is an good example.
On the other hand you don’t want inexperienced parasites like John Key who appears to have no background in any activity that doesn’t directly benefit himself being able play the ‘patriotic card’. because he will screw it up by the numbers. I am thinking about bloody David Lange thinking that he could send the troops into Fiji during the first coup as an example.
The ideal would be to make sure that we have a counterbalance in the system that protects soldiers from the daft politicians, yet allows them to be used when they are useful. In the latter case East Timor comes to mind.
The question, that is, isn’t whether or not Key likes to characterise himself as a ‘joker’. Instead, it’s what he uses his ‘joking’ for?
If the waitress’ account is anything to go by, it seems his ‘banter’ had the effect on the waitress of dominating, demeaning and cowing her while, simultaneously, asserting his power in the situation.
As the research on humour makes clear, far from being entirely ‘innocent’ and ‘naive’ such “horsing around” may function primarily to aggress against and control others.
That would be my take on JK’s joking. He’s using it to show his power over others.
Hawkes Bay wedding photographer and syndicated columist Eva Bradley says in the Wairarapa Times Age today that New Zealanders didn’t die at Gallipoli so that we could worry about silly things like the Prime Minister repeatedly fondling a waitress’s hair.
anna stretton has penned something along those lines too, its online somewhere i really don’t want to look at it again. ‘its hardly a crime’ she opines.
we don’t want to bloody worry about it – she should send a text to John Key because he has let us and our ancestors down – he has disrespected everyone.
Did Hawkes Bay wedding photographer and syndicated columist Eva Bradley say in the Wairarapa Times Age today that New Zealanders didn’t die at Gallipoli so that we could have a Prime Minister who could take away our rights?
Did Hawkes Bay wedding photographer and syndicated columist Eva Bradley say in the Wairarapa Times Age today that New Zealanders didn’t die at Gallipoli so that we could have a Prime Minister who was a dicktator?
it’s not exactly what one might call an enlightened read.
And so this week in order to never be able to forget the sacrifice made by my forebears I have been making sure I know what there is to remember. I have been consuming the Gallipoli ‘‘special edition’’ sections of the various media, asking the odd old person in my life about what they knew about it as young tykes and soaking up history Hollywood-style with a couple of the flood of films timed to coincide with the anniversary.
little wonder her view of the PM’s actions are so submissive
“Thom discusses fast-track and the TPP with Rep. Alan Grayson and whether European officials are pushing for regime change in Greece with Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. In a special edition of Conversations with Great Minds, Thom talks with Constitution Society for Law and Policy’s Caroline Fredrickson, author of the new book ‘Under the Bus: How Working Women Are Being Run Over’….
When a group of pre-adolescent Chilean schoolgirls were leaving on a trip to Wellington, the president, Michelle Bachelet, was asked if she had any advice for them. With a completely straight face, she said “Don’t have lunch with the Prime Minister.”
Do you think anyone who jokes about FJK should be chastised? I’d hate to think it was just me. And while we’re at it, get whatever’s stuck up your bum surgically removed. You might develop a reasonable facsimile of a sense of humour after that.
Good to know you don’t like what I say. I don’t aim to please the site’s leading Tory apologist.
The thing that hits home to me is that we have learned that the man who is our PM has been acting in the same manner as a sexually aggressive 12 year old and almost no one has come out and said “John Key would never do that. I don’t believe it.” Apart from one or two, most people seemed to have expected reports of something like this sooner or later and are not at all surprised. How low has our society sunk when we get to this?
well i did NOT expect it from a New Zealand Prime Minister!
….however now that the waitress Amanda Bailey has come forward with her story I find it entirely believable and would not be surprised if there are other women who have been similarly harassed ( eg. Bill Clinton did not make an inappropriate pass at just one woman….generally these abuses of power are serial)
( and btw congratulations are due to Bomber for breaking the story so sensitively with Amanda’s own account)
“…almost no one has come out and said “John Key would never do that. I don’t believe it.”
Its not how low has our society sunk, but how low has John Key taken us Murray R.
And I personally think there has been so little surprise because we’ve been waiting for something to come out into the open ever since we learned about the “suppressed important NZer” indecent assault charges and the resultant buy-election. Something had to give : these things can’t be kept secret for ever in a small society like NZ – and the fact that there are now popping up on Facebook and other places many photos of the sleazy creepy PM fondling young girls’ hair indicates people have been keeping these pics in the wings, waiting for the right time to bring ’em out.
+100 agreed jenny kirk…there does seem to be a pattern of power abuse and corruption and hidden secrets and blatant, arrogant, cover ups with this Nact government led by John Key
….so it does conform to this pattern and therefore is not surprising at a subliminal level
We are a country of many secrets Jenny. You rightly made reference to this in respect of the Waikato Maori wrongly imprisoned at North Head during WW1 because they refused to fight for a crown who stole their land. How many NZer’s would be aware of that story do you think? An important part of asserting pakeha dominance and their laws.
I often wonder how many errant son’s were sent to these shores by their embarrassed family. This country grew up with secrets.
We wouldn’t know the half of it. We have an ingrained culture of turning a blind eye or sweeping under the carpet and silence. Don;t we?
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Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says the deal with China “complements, not replaces” the relationship with New Zealand after signing it yesterday. Brown said “The Action Plan for Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) 2025-2030” provides a structured framework for engagement between the Cook Islands ...
The government should not set military style academies into youth justice law, the children's commissioner says, despite its first bootcamp getting a glowing report. ...
The infamous over-the-suit T-shirt worn by the PM at a Parliament barbecue has gone on sale to raise funds for children living in poverty, in a TradeMe auction. ...
MONDAYSheriff Seymour rode slowly down the main street of Dodge on his faithful white horse Atlas Network.He liked what he saw.Children were being fed free lunches prepared by kind people who collected the scraps from an offal rendering plant.“Very strongly flavoured liver, such as ox liver, can be soaked overnight ...
Once upon a time it was all about being an astronaut, a firefighter or doctor; but these days kids have their sights set on becoming vloggers or YouTubers.That’s according to a 2019 study by Lego that surveyed 3000 children between the ages of eight to 12 from the US, the ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. From the moment I started high school and realised almost every other girl in my year was at least partially interested in what the boys were up to, I realised that I would be single for life. The feeling wasn’t one of ...
The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Selina Alesana Alefosio.All photos by Geoffery Matautia.On a bright Sunday morning from her grandparent’s home in Pito-one, I spoke with ...
The White Lotus star reflects on her life in TV, including the local ad reference that doesn’t work in Australia, and her bananas co-star on Neighbours.Morgana O’Reilly was scrolling her phone next to her sleeping son on an idle Saturday morning when she got the call confirming that she ...
Claire Mabey explores the pros and cons of puff quotes on book covers.In January, Publishers Weekly put out an article by Sean Manning – publisher of Simon & Schuster’s flagship US imprint – in which he said he’d “no longer require authors to obtain blurbs for their books”.The ...
New Zealand’s Entomological Society is hosting its annual bug of the year contest. Here are some of the insects in the running. For some reason – perhaps humans’ inherent competitiveness, the idealisation of democracy, the need to demarcate winners and losers – one of the best ways to get people ...
A journey along the border, with words and illustrations by Bob Kerr.The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous support of our members.The Sunset Limited leaves Union Station New Orleans on time at nine in the morning. We ...
Neville Peat is the 2024 recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in nonfiction. He’s written 56 books, mostly on natural history; this excerpt is from The Falcon and the Lark: A New Zealand High Country Journal, first published in 1992. The falcon wintering on the Rock and ...
It was a light-hearted gesture Greta Pilkington will be forever grateful for – thanks to an Aussie rival who jumped in when the Olympic sailor couldn’t be at her own graduation.Pilkington, then 20, had been leading a double life – while qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the ILCA ...
I was born in the back of my grandfather’s ute, by an overgrown windbreak in a remote place called Wahi-Rakauyou can’t find on a map. I was born a girl but given the man’s name Harvey, as my dad always wanted a violent-minded boy to one day help him ...
“We’re not here to interfere in people’s property rights,” Ngāi Tahu’s Te Maire Tau has told the High Court.Tau, a historian, Upoko (traditional leader) of Ngāi Tūāhuriri, and a university professor of history, is the lead witness in a case designed to force the Crown to recognise the tribe’s rangatiratanga ...
Pacific Media Watch Trump administration officials barred two Associated Press (AP) reporters from covering White House events this week because the US-based independent news agency did not change its style guide to align with the president’s political agenda. The AP is being punished for using the term “Gulf of Mexico,” ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific Presenter/Bulletin editor France’s top diplomat in the Pacific region says talks around the “unfreezing” of New Caledonia’s highly controversial electoral roll are back on the table. The French government intended to make a constitutional amendment that would lift restrictions prescribed under the Nouméa Accord, which ...
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Why you should NOT wear a red poppy
In late 1918, after the war had ended, New Zealand and Australian soldiers rounded up more than one hundred boys and men in the Palestinian village of Surafend, then methodically clubbed them to death. After that, the ANZAC soldiers burned the village to the ground/
General Allenby called these ANZAC troops “cowards and murderers”.
Far from apologizing for the massacre, the RSA ran poems in its magazine praising it.
http://alh-research.tripod.com/Light_Horse/index.blog?topic_id=1115959
http://www.theage.com.au/national/massacre-that-stained-the-light-horse-20090723-dv3o.html
Thanks Morrisey, from memory there is also an example of Kiwi troops war crime on display in the Auckland War Memorial museum.
War is an ugly and complex thing and I imagine that there are plenty of examples of this, fuelled by seeing one of your mates killed.
This is the Anzac tradition followed by FJK and Abbott. The Australian Light Horse machine gunning unarmed demonstrators in Egypt also plays a role.
Well done to those who attended Dawn parade. Those of you who did attend showed more respect than former PM Helen Clark who refused to attend dawn parade. It seemed that she could not be bothered getting out of bed early on that one day of the year. [r0b: Moved this comment from the Anzac day post to Open Mike. Also banned BB for a year on the charge of inappropriate politicisation and being a POS.]
Big bruv you are going to have to let it go. Helen has not been PM for 7 years now. We have an ex merchant banker hair fetishist in control now.
Besides it appears that what you say is not true.
It appears she attended a dawn ceremony in 2005 (http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00060.htm), and 2006 (https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=0d_QAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA55&lpg=PA55&dq=%22helen+clark%22+attends+anzac+dawn+parade&source=bl&ots=Ih2WMKgweW&sig=JuUefIPLjqgGmraJaI6edCG51Zk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8Ko6Ve6VEqi1mwXFnIHQAQ&ved=0CEoQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22helen%20clark%22%20attends%20anzac%20dawn%20parade&f=false). In fact Google suggests that she attended a huge number of ceremonies.
In 20 years time BB are you still going to have your obsession with Helen?
Helen attended several ANZAC services on each ANZAC day while she was in parliament. I usually saw her at the Mt Albert one, starting in 1990 when I shifted back to that one. She routinely did several around Mt Albert, Mt Roskill, Avondale, Pt Chev and other local ones around her home.
She attended the War Memorial dawn service frequently… At least as frequently as I did, and I was a soldier.
Many of her family were soldiers in various of our wars.
FFS This can be found with a simple google. Why didn’t you do one? Rather than just lying.
You sound like another lazy armchair general. Too damn lazy to get off your arse to volunteer for anything. A critic of those who do. Playing the patriotic card to send other parents kids to fight for you. Basically a parasite on society and as r0b said, generally a piece of shit
BFD, i get up before dawn every fucking morning to go to work you moron. what pisses me off is the sheep who go to the dawn parades then go to the warehouse or malls or cafes feeling superior to us who refuse to be sucked in to celebrating & supporting military conflict, so fuck you you sanctimonious dick.
+1
Never gone to a dawn service, probably never will.
last one I went to was in Cambridge a few years back .When the local Nat MP/lance -Adams Schider used tyhe whole time telling us how we needed Nuclear Powered Ships.Never been since.Any way I do not have to attend such meetings to realise the horror of war.
what’s a POS?
piece of shit.
ah. It was a good piece of moderation from r0b.
PIECE OF SHIT I believe;-)
😀
My recollection is that Helen went to Gallipoli and certainly spoke out about her uncle who died there if my memory serves me right.
What does POS stand for? Primeval Old Shit by any chance?
Oops… weka has already asked. Oh well, I wasn’t far out.
Probably more accurate though 😈
What rot! It was Helen Clark who solemnly unveiled the tomb of the unknown warrior in Wellington.
Of course it was rot. RWNJs have to lie and put others down so as to put themselves up on a pedestal of their own delusion, to tell themselves how much better they are than everyone else.
Can we please get some better trolls around here? The ones we have are getting far too predictable and boring.
This sort of censorship would make Kim Jong-un blush. It reflects very poorly on the site and your ideology. Though it is to be expected from a Clark apologist.
When people see this it drives them into JK’s arms, as the lessor of two evils.
I want a decent choice in the next election and if the left continues the way it is going, I will be denied that choice.
Oh, look at that. Another RWNJ telling lies.
but but, you could always vote for dear leader as the lesser of two evils, or the only evil left tugging 🙂
BB claimed Helen Clark never attended Dawn Services. This is a repeat of a common lie – a lie that can be readily shown for the smear it is with a few seconds googling.
BB is not expressing an honest opinion. He knows he is lying, and continues to do it over many years. This is not behaviour we are obliged to tolerate.
There is a difference between ideas and opinions – and behaviour. This site has long tolerated the expression of a very wide range of opinions, but does not allow repeated bad behaviour to disrupt the debate.
Then expose their lies. Surely that is a better approach. It also makes things much more interesting.
If JK told a lie you could expose, would you really want to hide the lie and stop him telling more lies ? With thinking like that, you must have been a Labour strategist in the past few elections.
The “behavior” argument is at best subjective and at worst unconvincing.
bb is well known here. For years he posted here in a similar vein. He’s said that lie many times before and been pointed to the correct information before. An honest person would accept the correct information and not repeat the mistake. There would be no problem this at all.
But knowingly repeating a lie is a different thing to expressing an honestly held opinion. Then it becomes bad behaviour.
I agree that this can be a subjective thing. I used to moderate here for years (I don’t have the time nor inclination to do it any more) and I know it is not easy deciding where the boundaries are. But there is no doubt that boundary exists, and the site owners are entitled to make up their minds as to where it lies.
The comment directly beneath BB’s refutes his lies.
What would be “interesting” about allowing disruptive tr*lls to ruin the discourse? There are plenty of live issues to pick over without resuscitating long dead zombies.
big bruv…my uncle never attended the RSA or ANZAC Day …let alone Dawn Parades… so disgusted was he with the futility and tragic waste of war….if it was good enough for him not to attend , it is good enough for any of the rest of us to remember in our own way….and hopefully we will simply remember their sacrifice … the tragedy that is war ….and resolve to strive for peace
my uncle, the navigator in the tail of a Lancaster, was shot down over Germany ( only he and one other survived)…ended up on a German forest….walked for a week at night trying to get into France and then back to the UK ….ended up in a POW camp and then towards the end of the war did the Long March in winter( he said they would not have survived without the Red Cross and their parcels)
…i remember him and those returned servicemen ( many of them scarred) of my childhood who did not want to talk about war but who wanted to live!…..and who loved life!…and believed fervently in PEACE
(incidentally he never said a bad word about the Germans because he was reasonably well treated and he recognised that we are all capable of war atrocities)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_March_%281945%29
….fuelled by seeing one of your mates killed.
No doubt there were incidents similar to this in French and Belgian villages; petty thievery is universal. Yet it is unthinkable that New Zealand and Australian soldiers would have contemplated the mass murder of innocent civilians in a French or Belgian village. The Arabs in Palestine, on the other hand, were regarded with contempt by many of the soldiers; they were untermenschen on a level with the natives of Australia and New Zealand.
The New Zealand establishment has continued to refuse to apologize for this massacre—doggerel poems in the RSA magazine treated the murderers as heroes. It renders hollow this morning’s words by the Governor General, praising the “courage, compassion and mateship in adversity” and “moments of astonishing humanity”, and the Prime Minister’s words about those who “fought so gallantly for what we believe in.”
More media on John Key – not sure if funny or more disturbing.
this is a bit funny
Indeed freedom that is just a bit funny.
but if you want disturbing go to facebook and look for
Ace Lady Network
and a little animation called #PONYPONY
😮 ONCE SEEN IT CANNOT BE UNSEEN 😮
i must get this off my chest.
what is it with all the folk having to go to cafes, burger chains etc on this solemn morning.
i have long ranted about businesses that choose to open on anzac day and vowed not to darken their doors during the rest of the year.
it occurs to me the businesses are just doing as businesses do. meeting a demand.
couldnt we skip the trim flat white and bacon and eggs (not too hard please), and instead gather together at the local rsa, or at someones home and break bread together?
come on folks, just for today.
We stopped at a cafe this morning – as we always do, with my father-in-law and another resident from the retirement home, and enjoyed the morning coffee with them. It is the one regular visit out for one of them, and I’m glad that we did it.
I am one of those who commemorate the wastefulness of war and conflict with sadness and contemplation, and to be surrounded by others who seem to be celebrating is quite disconcerting.
I am finding the emphasis of the Gallipoli celebrations this year to be particularly disheartening, in light of the deployment of troops to Iraq. I don’t want to participate in this appropriation of loss by those who have their own agenda, or who “enjoy” this day. Our local MP used one ANZAC service to speak about his politics for over 20 minutes – a gross display of disrespect.
I don’t need a particular day to join with others in regretting our continued involvement in other people’s conflicts – without a decent strategy or exit plan. This is happening for me every day, the waste of human potential is always depressing.
as it is, molly, exactly as it is.
hi molly, my experience of todays dawn service was far from celebratory.
two speakers, local high school boy, and returned soldier.
both eloquent, the veteran cited casualty numbers and gave context with the population of our town in 1915.
there was plenty of contemplation, solemnity, sacrifice (it was cold), coming together, reflection.
the experience with your mp electioneering, says more about that member than anzac service.
our mayor gave the g.g. address and that was the politics over with.
i do share your disheartedness re troops deployed.
i simply feel, surely some things are sacred.
maybe we could sacrifice by going without a visit to the cafe?
disclaimer- i work in hospitality.
i am curious, what was the atmosphere in the cafe this morning?
Hi gsays,
Very quiet in the cafe this morning. The realist in me thinks this is due to the carpark being empty because of the retail stores not being open, rather than attendance at ANZAC day or a recognition of sacrifice.
…”surely some things are sacred”…”
Strangely enough, I agree with you there. Except my heart and my mind recognise this sacredness every day, every time it is considered. To my oftentimes awkward realisation – I have never been someone who is entirely comfortable with requiring others to share my sentiments at “appropriate” times, so I find it difficult to do myself. If I observed this day in the way that you do, I would be assuming a persona specifically to say – to paraphrase Keri Hulme – “I wear my heart on my sleeve, mind you look at my sleeve”. The sincerity of the action would not be present. I consider this to be disrespectful in itself.
My thoughts on this topic are fairly constant. And if engaged on the thought of war and engagement, I will express my thoughts with anyone on any day of the year, in order to have a better understanding. This is how I personally recognise the “sacred” that you observe on this day. My approach can be contentious, and requires a lot of internal fortitude, particularly coming up to ANZAC day – but for me it is the only way I can see for myself to come to grips with past and present deployments of our troops, and the consequences for those that live in the countries where they are deployed. I am past the point where I need others to agree with me by the end of the discussion, so I am more adept at keeping discussions flowing, but the ego in me, does try to make them understand my point of view.
Perhaps after a few years, this too will pass.
hi molly,
thanks for expanding on yr thoughts. a lot of it resonates with me.
especially “I am past the point where I need others to agree with me by the end of the discussion, so I am more adept at keeping discussions flowing, but the ego in me, does try to make them understand my point of view.”
Never again.
Deeply moving ….
http://tewharewhero.blogspot.co.nz/
for some there is just little meaning in this day, as they might not be New Zealanders by birth i.e. Tourists and the likes.
for some, they might not need a particular day to remember the death, especially in a world where on every other day we have no issue not only in forgetting the death, but often in blaming the death for their own demise…Gaza comes to mind, or Africa, or other parts of the world, where the dead are not ours.
for another lot, they might plant a tree instead, or go out and clean a river from pollution.
You could lobby the government to declare Anzac Day a day where no one but First Responders, Nurses and other medical staff at hospitals, and Police are allowed to work.
We are closed on Monday, but we are open today. First customer of the day a US American on a visit in NZ…all others were Kiwis coming back from the dawn service buying breakfast items to be shared at home with family.
My staff is off, but my Hubby and I are working.
We are one of those famous small Mum and Pop business, and keeping a day off is not really an option in these times general austerity.
hi sabine,
i accept that anzac day aint for all.
it is an important part of our heritage, identity and culture.
i, too, work for a mom and pop business.
i fortunately have the ability to say i am not available today.
the rest of the staff arent.
oops.. last line wrong.
the rest of the staff will not.
So observance that doesn’t involve turning up to a sanctioned memorial isn’t ‘observance’? Righteous bullshit.
Never been to a dawn anything. Never will. You remember the dead in your way, I mine. But don’t tell me my grief isn’t the same as yours because you demanded businesses close.
hi tigger
So observance that doesn’t involve turning up to a sanctioned memorial isn’t ‘observance’? Righteous bullshit.
i have no comment on yr observance.
nor do i wish to comment on yr grief.
i simply fail to see the need to excercise my consumer rights on this day is all.
Funny how you’ve gone from complaining about what other people choose to do with their time to pretending it’s just about your ~personal preference~.
Hi stephanie, molly, tigger,
The motive for my posting was twofold: testing the waters re anzac days
sacredness, and garner sympathy for some of the lesser paid, sometimes exploited work force.
Third para strikes a chord…..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-sachs/the-path-to-happiness-les_b_7127124.html
+1
A must read.
Considering the ever increasing corruption in our government and businesses how much do we trust each other today?
EDIT: This applies
Deputy P.M tries comedy–‘The Government has effectively left nothing “undone” to tackle sky-rocketing house prices in Auckland, Finance Minister Bill English says’
‘The Government has effectively left nothing “done” to tackle sky-rocketing house prices in Auckland, Finance Minister Bill English says’
There fixed it for you.
In less than surprising, but utterly sickening news from the UK….
& (cause that’s not all folks!)
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/24/labour-to-call-on-michael-heseltine-if-it-wins-election
Tory lite…
Extraordinary, isn’t it. If there’s one thing UK Labour have conspicuously failed to do since the last Election, it’s win over 2010 Tory voters. They’ve won over a huge chunk of the 2010 Lib Dem vote and made inroads into the Non-vote but next to no Tories (most polls suggest about 3 or 4% of 2010 Conservatives have swung to Labour, representing at most 1.4% of all voters. The Tories have attracted roughly the same proportion – comprising about 1.0% of all voters – from Labour). Nothing suggests this is suddenly going to change over the next few weeks.
The reality is that if Labour manage to cobble together a Government after this Election (as seems more than likely) then – compared to the Blair regime – it will be far less dependent on keeping newly-won-over former Tory voters happy. It will be a Government firmly grounded in a social democratic support-base – voters who have stayed with Labour through thick and thin, voters who swung to Labour from the Lib Dems the moment the latter went into coalition with the Tories, decidedly Left-leaning SNP supporters, along with Greens, the communitarian-socialist Plaid Cymru, Ulster’s SDLP, not to mention the member for Bradford West (even if in some cases, we’re talking about informal/tacit/policy-by-policy support).
Unfortunately, the Blairites still hold some sway in the Party (even if their voice isn’t quite as dominant as it once was).
🙂 I take it you haven’t heard Sturgeon openly saying the SNP will court Labour’s left wing mps to kill austerity/Blairite/Tory lite policies?
I’m looking forward to the unofficial ‘grand alliance’ of Tory/Labour that’s going to come into being in order to push through unpopular policies. Well, the reaction to it from the voting public. 😉
I’m hoping at that point, people will realise that the labour party is the boot at the neck of working people.
It is good to see many Kiwis understand it here. Labour keeps worshipping at the altar of liberalism, and wonders why people don’t want a bar of them. Poll after poll and little or no movement for labour. When will they wake up and notice the wind change?
Some feel good from Action Station on Campbell Live http://www.actionstation.org.nz/video_campbell
Plus their latest email with overview of the actions being taken. I’m starting to be quite impressed with this group (although I’m not sure I agree with using the “je suis…” line in situations like this)
Refused to met them! Gutless wonders.
Bloody impressive action indeed.
I wish to pay a tribute to my late uncle and the many others who served overseas today, He volunteered during WW2 and went off with the 1st Echelon to the Middle East and served for 4 years. His given peacetime occupation was a printer so he was placed with the Sappers. He defused bombs and set charges on important installations like bridges etc all of this time and escaped death twice from strafing while on land convoys in the desert. He was a cynic through and through and was knicknamed “why” for obvious reasons. He was a dynamic and delightful man but had no time for the military. On his return he and the other returned servicemen had to apply for their service medals (if they chose to) and he naturally told them to put them where the sun doesn’t shine. His thoughts were if they hadn’t the courtesy to take the trouble to send the medals personally they weren’t worth having. He never attended ANZAC Day services but always remembered his mates he served with with much affection and pride. He was above all a man with bravery in his heart and honour deep into his bones.
I, like him do not attend the ceremonies – there is a history world wide of veterans not being looked after like they should be and the grandstanding at these commemorations doesn’t do it for me one little bit. I salute my Uncle today and will have a drink or two and chat with him off and on throughout the day – he is one of the thousands of treasures we have in this country – Lest We Forget”.
+100 Barbara
thank you barbara.
Tautoko Barbara.
i cant be leave how nasty the people on this site are calling the prime minister a pervert or worse where is your respect for the high office and your betters John key is leader of this nation and you should hold your noses and bow before him. just make sure your wearing protection hat or swimming cap
Ha! Full burqa to be really safe?
John Key may be “better” than someone but for the life of me I just can’t imagine who!!
Gerry Brownlee – makes Key look like a cross between Gandhi and Einstein…
C’mon Stuart. You cannot mention Brownlie in the same sentence as Einstein, and I don’t think he measures up ( sorry- down) to Gandhi’s somatic s.
This comment is perfectly placed downthread from big bruv’s attempt to smear Helen Clark’s memory. The right do love to trot out the “respect your betters” line … as long as it’s the betters they personally agree with.
I think keyman may be being sarcastic there but it’s hard to tell.
yep, parody.
his english is even better then mine, 🙂
The Key is my harrasser; I shall not be silent.
He maketh me to let down my golden locks: he fondles my hair beside the till.
He violateth my locks: he grabbeth me on the way to serve for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk between the tables of the Tories of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art not near me; thy rod and thy staff they will not touch me.
I preparest a table before you in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with pudgy fingers; my bile runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and my story will live in the blog of the Bomber for ever.
Very good. Some of us got it.
I feel really uneasy at the whole glorfication of the whole ANZAC thing. I dont blame the vets or even the RSA though. Its the politicians and media who are milking the whole thing.
I think we can find way better ways of defining ourselves than by war and militarism.
This interview on rnz/checkpoint is well worth a listen:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201751897
Former Aussie army officer and now historian, James Brown is saying what so many of us have been saying in the past week.
Gallipoli – Memorial at Anzac Cove by Ataturk.
“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives…
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours…
You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace, after having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”
Ataturk, 1934
I was very moved to read these words at Anzac Cove ten years ago. Such generosity of spirit and a call to reconciliation.
How markedly different from our current crop of leaders.
Though the sentiment is compassionate and statesmanlike, not all is as it seems.
jacina adern needs cover up with creepykey on the loose
Key on preys on women that don’t have power.
that whole troy shit pile preys on any group that doesn’t have power not just women horrible horrible people .
John Armstrong in the Herald this morning is hilarious – sage advice against premature us of the “R” word re Trichy-Key. I take that as an apology for his bullshit outburst
over the 11 year old letter and Cunliffe. Even if not intended. His words today condemn his words of last year.
A couple of plugs:
Gallipoli invasion – a dirty and bloody business: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/gallipoli-invasion-a-dirty-and-bloody-business/
The absurdity and obscenity of Gallipoli – three NZ writers accounts: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/the-absurdity-and-obscenity-of-gallipoli-three-new-zealand-writers-accounts/
And, of course, just the previous year, NZ invaded Samoa and ruled it as a colony for the next near-50 years, carrying out the Black Saturday massacre, and caring so little for Samoan lives that thousands died during the influenza epidemic after the war: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/08/28/samoa-what-new-zealand-did/
Then the NZ state compounded its disgraceful behaviour in relation to Samoa: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/depriving-samoans-of-immigration-and-citizenship-rights/
I always understood Gallipoli as a catastrophe. My grandmother’s younger sister’s husband served right through WW1 and his War Diary – while constrained and understated – makes no bones of what an inglorious and disgraceful business it all was.
And this is the reason why Gallipoli ranked so highly in the minds of the New Zealanders who lived through it. Before Gallipoli most New Zealanders still regarded Britain as the mother country; and themselves as citizens of the Empire. The images of naive young farm-boys queuing up for conscription, loading their farm horses onto ships for an ‘adventure’ in Europe are bitter indeed.
After Gallipoli the monstrous, incompetent and catastrophic bungling of the British High Command was laid bare. Their unspoken, but palpable contempt for the lives to the ‘colonials’ they so culpably threw away in a futile, pointless campaign – was seared into the minds of many. It marked the critical turning point in the conciousness of this nation – and gave birth to a determination for New Zealand to grow as a nation with it’s own political agency.
To my generation and earlier I believe this was a widespread understanding. The Dawn Services I attended as a youth were sombre, solemn affairs. The still living returned servicemen in attendance would not tolerate much foolish jingoism or flag-waving. They were there to remember their mates. And to grieve for their own loss of innocence.
“The Dawn Services I attended as a youth were sombre, solemn affairs. The still living returned servicemen in attendance would not tolerate much foolish jingoism or flag-waving. They were there to remember their mates. And to grieve for their own loss of innocence.”
This reflects my experience too.
Have avoided the ANZAC parades since my son left the scouts many years ago, and the last I attended was the aforementioned one which was appropriated for a party political broadcast by our local National MP.
I watch the children decked out in the medals of their unmet ancestors and I wonder at their knowledge of what it truly means. I understand the need to make sense of the loss, I’m just not sure the current method of doing so will lead us in the right direction, but unfortunately I have no answers to what will.
Mine too. They were grim people about what happened in war. And quiet about it. Incredibly staunch if they felt that something needed to be done. Very reluctant to put younger bodies on the line if they didn’t think it was required. Very inclined to get drunk after the remembrances. Especially the ones who cleared Europe in 1945.
It wasn’t until I went into the army in 1977 and ran across RF who’d been active in Vietnam, who would occasionally talk about it (usually when drinking), that I started to understand. Mind you, clearing the range of sheep with bren gun was a pretty graphic introduction.
It goes both ways.
Being a pacifist when you have conscienceless sociopathic arseholes around isn’t an option. At a local level, and just for an example, how on earth Cameron Slater got a gun license is an good example.
On the other hand you don’t want inexperienced parasites like John Key who appears to have no background in any activity that doesn’t directly benefit himself being able play the ‘patriotic card’. because he will screw it up by the numbers. I am thinking about bloody David Lange thinking that he could send the troops into Fiji during the first coup as an example.
The ideal would be to make sure that we have a counterbalance in the system that protects soldiers from the daft politicians, yet allows them to be used when they are useful. In the latter case East Timor comes to mind.
PMs just wanna have fun …
That would be my take on JK’s joking. He’s using it to show his power over others.
Yep that article is bang on and a great read thx.
Hawkes Bay wedding photographer and syndicated columist Eva Bradley says in the Wairarapa Times Age today that New Zealanders didn’t die at Gallipoli so that we could worry about silly things like the Prime Minister repeatedly fondling a waitress’s hair.
anna stretton has penned something along those lines too, its online somewhere i really don’t want to look at it again. ‘its hardly a crime’ she opines.
She’s wrong. Sexual harassment is a crime.
we don’t want to bloody worry about it – she should send a text to John Key because he has let us and our ancestors down – he has disrespected everyone.
Did Hawkes Bay wedding photographer and syndicated columist Eva Bradley say in the Wairarapa Times Age today that New Zealanders didn’t die at Gallipoli so that we could have a Prime Minister who could take away our rights?
Did Hawkes Bay wedding photographer and syndicated columist Eva Bradley say in the Wairarapa Times Age today that New Zealanders didn’t die at Gallipoli so that we could have a Prime Minister who was a dicktator?
it’s not exactly what one might call an enlightened read.
little wonder her view of the PM’s actions are so submissive
A foul colonisation of Anzac Day by Anna Stretton.
Todays war… financial and sovereignty takeover is more subtle and by stealth and subterfuge ?….corporate takeover via TPP?
‘Rep. Alan Grayson blasts TPP’
http://rt.com/shows/big-picture/252605-us-tpp-eu-greece/
“Thom discusses fast-track and the TPP with Rep. Alan Grayson and whether European officials are pushing for regime change in Greece with Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. In a special edition of Conversations with Great Minds, Thom talks with Constitution Society for Law and Policy’s Caroline Fredrickson, author of the new book ‘Under the Bus: How Working Women Are Being Run Over’….
When a group of pre-adolescent Chilean schoolgirls were leaving on a trip to Wellington, the president, Michelle Bachelet, was asked if she had any advice for them. With a completely straight face, she said “Don’t have lunch with the Prime Minister.”
lol
You have a reputable source for this story do you Murray?
Something better than your fertile imagination I hope?
Please provide a reference.
Loosen up alwyn. Read it again, reflect on the events of a recent NZ prison escapee, Key’s press interview comments that followed.
I suspect that these might have been the words the president might have said to the children if such a trip existed.
Thanks for the laugh. You never fail to meet my expectations.
Just what I expected. It’s old b.s Murray at work again.
It was so much better on this site when you were banned.
Do you think anyone who jokes about FJK should be chastised? I’d hate to think it was just me. And while we’re at it, get whatever’s stuck up your bum surgically removed. You might develop a reasonable facsimile of a sense of humour after that.
Good to know you don’t like what I say. I don’t aim to please the site’s leading Tory apologist.
alwyn is taking things seriously.
PM needs to do the same.
I’d be surprised if more women didn’t come forward before this is all finished.
yes i have been waiting for this too
The thing that hits home to me is that we have learned that the man who is our PM has been acting in the same manner as a sexually aggressive 12 year old and almost no one has come out and said “John Key would never do that. I don’t believe it.” Apart from one or two, most people seemed to have expected reports of something like this sooner or later and are not at all surprised. How low has our society sunk when we get to this?
well i did NOT expect it from a New Zealand Prime Minister!
….however now that the waitress Amanda Bailey has come forward with her story I find it entirely believable and would not be surprised if there are other women who have been similarly harassed ( eg. Bill Clinton did not make an inappropriate pass at just one woman….generally these abuses of power are serial)
( and btw congratulations are due to Bomber for breaking the story so sensitively with Amanda’s own account)
“…almost no one has come out and said “John Key would never do that. I don’t believe it.”
Its not how low has our society sunk, but how low has John Key taken us Murray R.
And I personally think there has been so little surprise because we’ve been waiting for something to come out into the open ever since we learned about the “suppressed important NZer” indecent assault charges and the resultant buy-election. Something had to give : these things can’t be kept secret for ever in a small society like NZ – and the fact that there are now popping up on Facebook and other places many photos of the sleazy creepy PM fondling young girls’ hair indicates people have been keeping these pics in the wings, waiting for the right time to bring ’em out.
In the age of the internet, nothing goes away.
+100 agreed jenny kirk…there does seem to be a pattern of power abuse and corruption and hidden secrets and blatant, arrogant, cover ups with this Nact government led by John Key
….so it does conform to this pattern and therefore is not surprising at a subliminal level
We are a country of many secrets Jenny. You rightly made reference to this in respect of the Waikato Maori wrongly imprisoned at North Head during WW1 because they refused to fight for a crown who stole their land. How many NZer’s would be aware of that story do you think? An important part of asserting pakeha dominance and their laws.
I often wonder how many errant son’s were sent to these shores by their embarrassed family. This country grew up with secrets.
We wouldn’t know the half of it. We have an ingrained culture of turning a blind eye or sweeping under the carpet and silence. Don;t we?