Hijinks and hilarity in Epsom yesterday. The Herald reports:
“ Mr Peters told the crowd that he knew one Beijing-based property investor who owned 55 houses in Auckland. “Don’t blame the Chinese. They are renowned for not being stupid. They are renowned for being bright academically. They are renowned for long-term planning. “Don’t blame them, when they see a bunch of fools running the country, saying, ‘Come over here, you can make a fortune’.” ”
So Peters told his audience that they shouldn’t harbour dumb cultural stereotypes and (maybe even racist) attitudes toward the Chinese… they can’t help being subject to greedy instinctual predatory urges… because they’re Chinese!
Meanwhile, Cliff Lyon said Labour had lost touch with their working class roots:
“If you have a look at their supporters they are really gays, lesbians, the unemployed who they throw heaps of money at, and what I might call the loony intelligent left who sit up in Auckland University.”
Someone needs to ask Cliff which year it is now. I want to hear him say 1995. Hmm, let’s see if we can find out who was in the audience of NZ First supporters yesterday by inventing cultural opposites for those “demographics”.
NZ First supporters in Epsom are really Hetero men, spinsters of unproved sexual orientation, people who gift all their income to the taxman, and the stupid unintelligent right who never went to school and now sit in the vacant basements of old office buildings. The place must have been packed out.
Sometimes the ignorant venal malicious stupid goes so far into noise without intended effect that it becomes hilarious. By eclipsing National’s bizarre definition of low-income first home buyers and Labour’s almost honest but cute admission of support for “modest” incomes, NZ First have won the hilarity prize today – they will probably hold it for the rest of the week.
He was saying that some party’s spending plans were not acceptable to NZ First. Susan Wood repeatedly asked him if he was referring to the Greens. As always he would not answer the question but it was clear that is indeed who he was referring to.
If Winston holds the balance of power he will do one of two things.
Go with the Nats.
Go with Labour on the condition the Greens are locked out.
But, hang on BM. I thought that the whole point of voting National (with its huge support) was to ensure that any coalition partners it needed would have little ‘clout’.
But now you say that NZ First would have a lot of ‘clout’. Which is it?
@crocodill…actually I thought Winston Peters was rather good…anyone who has spent any time really travelling in China would agree with him!
ie “ Mr Peters told the crowd that he knew one Beijing-based property investor who owned 55 houses in Auckland. “Don’t blame the Chinese. They are renowned for not being stupid. They are renowned for being bright academically. They are renowned for long-term planning. “Don’t blame them, when they see a bunch of fools running the country, saying, ‘Come over here, you can make a fortune’.” ”
From doorknocking the last few weekends, I can see that the only European men over 45 voting Labour are all on this site. Because there’s fuck-all of them anywhere else.
“If you have a look at their supporters they are really gays, lesbians, the unemployed who they throw heaps of money at, and what I might call the loony intelligent left who sit up in Auckland University.”
Bigoted, ignorant and thinks everyone else is too. Ugh.
our dirty/filthy/polluting dairy-industry is a sunset-industry..
..(and in the long run..for us..and for the planet..this is a good thing..)
..the twofer of a forseeable global-gut in that white-death for the next five years..
..plus the soon-to-be-introduced ‘milk’ made from yeast..(of all things!)..that will taste/be the same..
..be able to do everything milk from cows does..(cheeses..etc..)..
..that does not need to be chilled..and will cost a fraction of the costs of cows-milk to produce/needs no land/dirty-waterways..will be ‘clean’..environmentally..
..but just on price..it will kill the global marketthe/our dirty cow-milk industry..
..it’s gonna be a financial bloodbath..the transition…
..it will be britain joins e.u/stops buying our farm product redux..but worse..)
..(and of all people..james cameron is showing the way forward..with his purchases of big dairy-holdings..and his conversion of them back into farms growing real food..
..i guess that cameron is a vegan is at least a part-driver of that..)
..and the aspect of all this that really concerns me at the moment..
..is how so many iwi are pouring their treaty-settlement monies into what will be/end up a total financial disaster..
no definately NOT….i actually thought Lyon was talking about you!
Peters is a poker player ….but imho he will join a coalition with Labour ….all his policies agree with Labour ….all his criticisms have been directed against National…and he cant stand John key or NACT!
@ PU….nyb… the GREENS will probably get my vote this time …but I am sorely tempted by MANA/INT ….and Winnie is wonderful…and so is David Cunliffe!…so I am happy …i have plenty of choice
…you dont seem happy …..who are you voting for? ….are you a closet NACT?…or just disillusioned Labour?…you attack Labour at every opportunity and Winnie…..the NACTs absolutely hate Peters….this could explain your attitude to him!
“@ allen – It is IMP not mip – not that hard to get the name correct”
You mean like Al1en, not al1en?
But no and somewhat incredulous having to answer such a weak whine, to me it’s always been mip ‘mana internet party’, but if you want to get all arseholey about it, all the better 😉
“maybe the big letters are confusing you.”
You’ll have to remind me why you’re acting butt hurt, again, but if it’s going to be a long list, which it probably might well be, you’re better off saving the poison from your pen for someone willing to play the victim, rather than waste it on me.
You and your utu (the seeking of revenge) 🙄
You’re still raging, yet I shat you out ages ago.
The mirth of it all. 😆
@phillip ure
I think Chooky is assessing Winston’s likely choice of coalition if he gets that far, while you are arguing that he doesn’t deserve to be there because of low integrity and commitment to the people, only to himself. Both are relevant separate points which can’t be argued against each other.
I’d vote for Peters in a contest on fashion style on the catwalk. But in politics his style changes with the wind. Labour would have to do an Alamein Kopu with him, and have a chat with him each morning to gauge his direction for the day.
Voting IMP, Green, Lab means little chance of a wasted vote. They all grow the left bloc.
Winston First is a major chance of a wasted vote if you want not just a change of government but a left as possible one. He is so likely to go with the GodKey.
ACT, Colon, MP and Hairdo are definitely wasted votes in any event and moreso if Epsom, Ohariu and Māori electorate left voters get strategic.
Don’t vote Winston. Let someone else get him to 4.9%.
It’s the delusional rubbish pumped out by National saying that John Key has theistic qualities, that he’s a god. Whereas the truth is he’s a flakey wee rich man liar who’s produced not a thing in his entire life save immense wealth for himself. It’s all part of the dark stuff we see in Dirty Politics.
Don’t overlook the fact that we have it on no less an authority than St. Lloyd Blankfein of that well-known altruistic institution the Church of the Holy Goldman Sachs.
“We’re very important,” Blankfein said in an interview with The Times of London. “We help companies to grow by helping them to raise capital. Companies that grow create wealth. This, in turn, allows people to have jobs that create more growth and more wealth. It’s a virtuous cycle. We have a social purpose.”
St. Blankfein said that he understood, however, that people were angry with bankers’ actions: “I know I could slit my wrists and people would cheer.” But he is, he told The Times, just a banker “doing God’s work.”
Yes well strictly speaking in my view Blankfein is somewhat correct.
The nature of god and all that. A man-made one. He’s also right that most of us would be happy if he slit his wrist. But of course he is completely and utterly wrong about his social purpose (which is to create more wealth for the bankers). But he would lie about that. He’s also putting the cart before the horse when he talks of capital. Which probably means that he’s thick.
Wish I was thick enough to earn US$23 million as Blankfein did last year – and that was a bad year for him.
If he did slit his wrists he’d only be replaced by another parasite (of the genus common shameless money-grubbing pestis), so what would there be to be happy about?
For a complete demolition of Blankfein’s claim to Divine sanction I recommend:
Ha ha. Sorry I don’t use the heads any more, so we will leave it as a gentleman’s bet.
I will vote Green, but it’s tricky as there are elements of Labour and IMP policies that I would prefer. For instance Labour’s using Kiwisaver to control interest rates and exchange rates, and IMP’s focus on poverty.
it is the internet/mana focuses on the seemingly so different/disparate areas of ending poverty and economic-innovation/transition that draw me to them..
..and for those of a progressive bent it must be clear that the better the result for both internet/mana and the greens..
..the more the chances of them being able to demonstrate to labour..
..the mandate for those poverty-ending etc policies..
..and a ‘left’-coalition containing peters..i see more and more as being a trainwreck..
..especially in the area of getting any real progressive polices enacted..
..it will likely just limp along..doing not very much..
..and liable to be thrown out of office after just one term..
And yet I’d argue that the only chance of there actually being a Left Government after this Election is with Winnie’s support. Unfortunate – deeply unfortunate – but true. The Left Bloc just aint gonna make it by itself. And no amount of Pollyanna wishful thinking will change that fact.
I agree, though, that on balance he’s a little more likely to go with Key. But nothing cut and dried as yet.
BG +100 “I think he will go with Labour”….. Winnie worked very well with Helen Clark….and once upon a time he was way to the Left of both Labour and National….Winnie would destroy himself for posterity if he went with the NACTS this time
and that awful time he went with National and we all got so mad at him ( what year ?) ? Turns out, and it’s verified, that Jim Anderton refused to work with him in any coalition deal — Winston had absolutely no option but to turn to National or leave us with no government at all.
this was supposed to a reply to Chooky .. can’t work out what;s happening today and LPrent said he maybe couldn’t fix it from his laptop … Sudoku on The Standard !!
@ yeshe ……no Jim Anderton refused to work with Labour in any coalition deal
( remember Anderton was mad with Rogernomics and Labour…the Alliance was out to destroy Labour , even although his friend Helen Clark was leading Labour at the time?)
…and Winnie had no choice but to go with National because a Labour coalition govt without the Alliance in just didnt have the numbers. ..
Winnie was faced with the option of a new Election being called , where he may have had a backlash, or of going into coalition with National and seeing what he could get out of it…his bottom line was no asset sales
…In the end Winnie (despite choosing to go with National) brought down the National govt over more proposed privitisation of state assets
the NACTS have never for given him….and still want him destroyed …they also succeeded when they conducted a year long vendetta over the funding by Owen Glen
Thx Chooky fr your corrections .. and I can’t see him going to Nats this time … unless it is to pull them asunder from inside.
I trust Winston’s integrity .. many will laugh at that, but I have supported and believed him ( not voted necessarily) since the Winebox. He has always put NZ first, as far as I’m concerned.
Speaking of which .. where has Ms Boag disappeared to in all this ?? I did read one scurrilous line about her in the whaledump, but she was quiet before that .. not been heard or seen since Dirty Politics was published !
and I see the independent candidate in Epsom, Grace Haden, is doing some good private eye work on the money laundering capacities of NZ … the intro is so badly written along with the headline at first I thought she was in trouble. Kudos to her for this.
Here is an analysis from Selwyn Manning on John Key’s credibility and state of play in the NACTIONAL Party:
“A Matter of Whether John Key is Credible’
By Selwyn Manning / August 23, 2014
“In reality, John Key is the last man standing, he speaks directly to the reasonably minded New Zealand voter. From this platform they will be asked to judge for themselves whether their Prime Minister is credible… or not. Game on, or game over, they will be the judge…
This is the problem uncommitted voters such as myself face. I don’t trust either ‘main’ party with a majority in Parliament. “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
I’ve a lot of time for Winnie going right back to the Winebox, and IMHO a Labour or a National Government forced to deal with NZF as a strong coalition partner is probably going to be the most honest Government we could hope for at the present time. I was even considering giving my party vote to NZF on this occasion but unless Peters comes right out and declares that NZF would not go into Government with a National Party still including proven sleaze-balls like Key, Collins, Brownlee et all I can’t risk voting for it.
unless Peters comes right out and declares that NZF would not go into Government with a National Party still including proven sleaze-balls like Key, Collins, Brownlee et all I can’t risk voting for it
I heard on rnz this morning that he wanted to join the Maori Party as they are only party working with Government to benefit Maori. (my paraphrasing). I was quite surprised to hear it as his world view doesn’t align with the Right.
I recall that when the Maori Party have been criticised for being sell outs they have said in their defence that is was “better to be at the table, than on the floor getting the crumbs”, meaning they were willing to compromise their own values in order to progress their agenda. For them it was purely a matter of practicalities. I wonder if this is simply how Tame Iti see’s it too.
The goal of the Maori Party is to create a new aristocratic layer of tribal bearaucrats who will have their “people” under their control through iwi-owned state housing and charter schools.
Apologies if this has already been discussed. No surprises but horrifying all the same, it happens that Patrick Gower is in Slater’s contacts in his phone. (Dirty Politics, Nicky Hager) Is this not a real worry that a “journalist” is happy to compromise his credibility by being connected with such a despicable person?
As we know, (and several Standardista’s have made formal complaints about it) Gower has been on a mission to destroy Cunliffe for a long time. Are tv3 willing puppets for Slater’s agenda? How can the connections and influences be investigated?
Come Rosie you should know by now that Patrick (I make shit up) Gower is a right wing stooge. That became very clear, when he attacked Cunliffe at the Labour Conference about mounting a challenge to Shearer. Hence I take everything he says with a huge pinch of salt.
Exactly David, that’s why he needs to be called out on it – and all the others in the contacts in Slaters phone.
They need to do the decent thing, it’s not too late, and say they will disassociate themselves from him, but they never will because such an admission of association shows them up as having a questionable moral compass all along.
It looks to me as if, for political journalists, Slater has for some time been the prime source of information – I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them have his number. Basically, to get copy you have to be in the information loop, and the inner circle around Slater appear to largely control that loop.
Gower fancies himself as a bit of a master of the universe……SlaterPorn is psychotically into the same notion. Not surprising that they would circle one another warily and trade phone numbers.
David Cunliffe:
Labour believes in a clean, transparent political system. The revelations in Mr Hager’s book raise serious and disturbing questions about how the National Party has been conducting politics. The way to clean up the system is to change the government. Party vote Labour.
On Stuff live chat.
What a rubbish answer. No Royal Commission of Inquiry? No Serious Fraud Office probe?
‘Why the Secret Intelligence Service feeding Cameron Slater information is so very, very, very serious’
By Martyn Bradbury / August 25, 2014
“Folks, it doesn’t matter if you are Right or Left, the issue of the Secret Intelligence Service being forced to feed a far right hate speech merchant like Cameron Slater with sensitive information is an ‘us’ issue…
The SIS are ‘deep State’. We ‘trust’ in them to use the vast powers they have for the protection of NZ. I think we can all see, regardless of how we vote, that getting them to release information to a blogger with the ethical standards of a drug cartel are well outside what is acceptable.
We know that the guidelines for the release of such information from the SIS requires consultation between Key, Ede and Eagleson for several days. The PM has stated in his video answer that he was briefed, he has since claimed that when he said “I was briefed’ he means something completely different, and that when public servants Tucker and Wakem both said he was briefed, they also meant something completely different.
So that’s 3 people saying the same thing but all meaning something completely different, and this is the tissue thin defence being erected to shrug off handing Cameron Slater of all people information sensitive within one of our spy agencies?
This just isn’t fucking good enough. This defence of “when I say me and I, I actually mean some faceless and anonymous ‘office’ where blame and responsibility can’t actually be established” isn’t a defence, it’s a declaration of incompetence that if true simply means all of them, the whole office, needs to go.
The Prime Minister is either incompetent or lying through his front teeth. Neither of which helps explain why someone as toxic as Slater was given access to SIS information.
Using the state spy apparatus to embarrass and smear political opponents is a dark and frighteningly dangerous moment in our political history, it can’t just be shrugged off with ‘my office was briefed’ as an answer.
The Prime Minister is neither incompetent nor lying through his teeth. He is brazenly corrupt and openly challenging us to prove it, confident that we cannot.
Thanks anker. We do have people from outside the electorate leafleting, as it’s in everyone’s interests that Dunne goes! We welcome anyone who can help out in any way 🙂
And yes, baby Eliza is adorbz. It seems Ginny has put a lot of effort into meeting parents and women, very family focused, which is entirely appropriate for such a family orientated area. She would be a huge asset to Ohariu if she were the MP.
Whether or not it is a “rubbish answer” depends upon what follows from a “change in government” that will lead to cleaning up the system.
A prerequisite to the implementation of any processes to ‘clean things up’ may well be a change in government because the present government (a) is compromised and has a conflict of interest in investigating the allegations and (b) the PM has already shown a distinct lack of interest in following any of this up.
I’m reposting this so it gets ‘noticed’. Put it on late last night and have to resurrect it I think. This Nicky Hager event is this Thursday if you are in Auckland and have time.
PUBLIC NOTICE
Nicky Hagar [Hager] – Auckland Public Meeting
A public meeting meeting with Jesson Prize winner Nicky Hagar will be held
Wednesday 27th August, 7.30pm,
at the Mt Eden War Memorial Hall (Cnr Dominion Rd & Balmoral Rd).
Chaired by Sir Edmund Thomas
Hosted by the Human Rights Foundation & Equal Justice Project.
Dotcom denies he’s the hacker behind Dirty Politics, but at the party’s campaign launch today said this.
“I hacked our German credit rating system and put our Prime Minister’s credit rating to zero because I didn’t like the guy,” said Dotcom. “You have all figured by now there’s another Prime Minister I don’t like.”
But he didn’t want to talk about his comments afterwards.
Heres the thing, I’m ok with National in power with anyone (Conservatives last) I’m also ok with Labour in power as long the GIMPs are out so basically Labour/NZFirst in power is ok by me (not my first choice of course but the best of a bad situation)
PR he is just baiting you guys winding you up !
Giving you something to hold onto!
Whaledump is playing with the Corruptors of our democracy letting them think they have got away with their treasonous crime and exposing the lengths these corrupt cronies will go to to usurp democratic processes in our country!
The more Key Collins and Slater Deny the Worse they look!
They were told before hand that KDC wouldn’t be giving interviews so WTF did they go in there pestering for interviews? The whole thing comes across as the MSM looking for a distraction from the IMP campaign launch. Trying hard not to cover the news.
I no longer respect John Key. Not even a bit. And that’s why John Key’s problem is Waikato voters’ dilemma.
National’s election strategy has long depended on Key’s immense popularity. That’s why his face is on every billboard just as big as your local candidate’s. The visual message is compelling. You’re voting for Key, you see. The nice man. The smiler. The good bloke, the one you’d drink a beer with, and all the usual banalities that I’m so sick of and which should be, by now, unmasked as the untruths they’ve always been..
A strong economy the envy of many, crime down, employment up, navigating the country through very trying times and more kiwis coming home from Australia is something many kiwis consider a good thing
The economy is crashing despite what National and their sycophants want to believe, poverty is worse and the reason why people are returning from Australia is because their economy is crashing as well.
If we get a National government after this election then we are going to be well and truly fucked because they really haven’t got a clue as to what to do under such circumstances which means that they’ll fall back on their default position of tax cuts and corruption.
Who says workers are thick, unable to organise and need to be led?
An old IWW cartoon came to mind when reading the link where there are workers gathered outside two doors. One is marked “union” and the other marked “boss”. The question the workers are asking among themselves is “Which one do we negotiate with first?”
And how about this brand new gem! DJ Pups with “At the end of the day”, Guyon Espiners legendary interview with John Key last Monday sampled into a dance track. Ha! Didn’t I say someone needed to do that!
Both songs getting airplay on Radio Active, one of the stations that was sent a warning from the electoral commission about playing Planet Key by Darren Watson.
A COPY OF THE DRAFT LETTER I HAVE WRITTEN TO TVNZ BELOW…………….OTHERS MAY WANT TO DO THE SAME. HO
RE: Mike Hoskings moderating the Leaders Debates.
I wrote to you about this issue on 24 July. To date I have received no response. This is unacceptable.
This needs a bit of editing, but below is my draft letter to TVNZ re Mike Hosking moderating.
Would encourage others to do same
“Mike Hoskings moderating the leaders debates is unacceptable and frankly a disgraceful display of our tax payer funded broadcaster showing unacceptable levels of bias.
You will be aware of the recent disclosures in Nicky Hager’s book, Dirty Politics, clearly illustrating the links between Cameron Slater and the National Party, that goes to the highest level, the Prime Minister in running on-going smears against the past Labour Leader, Phill Goff. Hager also produces strong evidence of Slater being involved in the attempt to smear David Cunliffe over the Dong Liu letter
Mike Hoskings recently hosted an item on 7 Sharpe about Cameron Slater. This item is mentioned in Dirty Politics (refer page 134 – 5). To quote from the book “the item ended with the host Mike Hoskings saying (about Slater) “Love it”. Hosking adds,” I do note he (Slater) quotes from my editorials quite a lot, so clearly a man of taste”. Clearly Mike Hoskings, Cameron Slater and the Prime Minister (who is in contact with Slater regularly, are aligned in their (right wing) political beliefs.
I am requesting that you replace Mr Hoskings as mediator on the Leaders debate, if you havenot already done so given the relevations in Dirty Politics. I suggest someone who appears less biased (possibly Rachel Smalley). Please advise me as soon as you have done this.”
@ anker +100….That is a very good letter.!..i would like to protest and use it too…Kim Hill would be far better than the shallow , NACT biased , Slater friend, ‘fruit and vege reporter’ Mike Hoskings….a choice for political chair which is a disgrace to TVNZ editorial and management! ( there must be a review and cleanout after Labour/Left wins the Election)
Is there any way it could be a petition /form letter ?…(so i just have to sign it and press a button)?
…if not , what is the address to write to ….and I will use your letter as a basis
LPrent …problems ? have tried six or seven times to post re TPPA … will not let me post. It defaults to this #17 and the replies below do not belong to my post which I have deleted and replaced with the test#117 above. Thx !
It happens after a reply is posted to a comment that is deleted. If I give people long edit times and include an ability to delete, then there is a structural issue if they delete as someone is adding.
There is a process that runs about every 20 minutes to clean them up the unparented comments that get left over. Obviously not running at present.
I don’t think that I have the tools to fix this remotely on this laptop. Umm I downloading them.
Pam Corkery popping her cork at the IMP launch deserves a gold star. Sure it wasn’t helpful, but at least it was honest. Good to see she has mellowed with age. Can’t say the same for KDC, though. He gets Worst Timing Ever Award for getting up on stage and admitting to personal hacking vendettas. In the absence of IMP leadership making sure he never speaks publicly again until after the election, they could track down Jamie McDonald, Senior Press Officer (The Crossest Man in Scotland) and have him discuss the basics with him.
. But when I started writing stories on issues which went against Slater’s interests, I became someone he wanted to “smash”. At that point, I was away from the tent and out in the wilderness.
He launched a personal assault with what I believed were threats of violence and created an atmosphere in which I was personally and professionally denigrated. Those who post comments on his website made awful slurs. It is as horrible an online environment as you will find anywhere.
Among the slurs were claims my behaviour showed I was suffering withdrawal symptoms associated with alcohol and drug addiction. On one occasion, when I rang a minister’s spouse for comment on an issue he was involved in, he ranted at me that I was “a drug addict” and would not talk to me. The only place such an idea had been floated was on Slater’s Twitter feed.
In almost two years, he has published about 120 posts in which I am featured. Some are extremely unpleasant. I am called a “shill” in the context of being a corrupt reporter.
Slater has invented nicknames for me. He called me “Gurnard”, then sent me pictures of dead “Gurnard”. He called me “Tainted” in relation to my coverage of the Kim Dotcom affair.
This article by David Fisher is very enlightening and hopefully will appear in the print section of the Herald and not just online. Interesting that Fisher says that John Key kept Slater at arms length until April 2012. Did Key just get careless or had he realised he needed Slater’s support and that would only happen if he fed Slater’s ego with much closer contact?
@ joe90 …that article by David Fisher is REALLY SHOCKING!
…and Slater won the Canon journalist award?…given to Slater by the judge Deborah Cone-Hill?( who was winner for a BNZ creative fiction writing award) …and Slater has the support of the Israeli Embassy (Slater is a “spiritual person”?)…. and Slater was invited to Israel? ( for what?)…and Slater was a good friend of John Key’s ?( see the lovely smiling photos, along with David Farrer’s smiling visage)…and Slater had many friends including Cactus Kate ( who is also a shocker)
David Fisher stands above many journalists. He is fair and evenhanded and reports facts rather than wild Paddy type fantasies. Sent an email to David last week telling him of my respect for his work. (He replied to acknowledge.)
Interesting listening to Michele Vogue attack David Fisher on Radionz this afternoon, Michele and Co won’t be very happy with ‘their paper’ at the moment going with the whaledump scoop etc and basically doing their job, Michele may be a little disappointed at finding her friends are only fair weather ones I guess, get over it Shell it’s only business baby!
Yes, she just couldn’t resist engaging in a bit of dirty politics herself. She’s basically implied Fisher’s involvement in the book on no evidence other than a comment apparently on The Nation to the effect of “as we said in the Hager book”.
I haven’t found the clip but can imagine it may have been a bit of ‘mishearing’ on Boag’s part. Less a Freudian slip from Fisher than a case of hearing what she wanted to hear from Boag. (e.g., perhaps mishearing “as was said in the Hager book”.)
Turned it off as soon as I heard Lady Boag was on the show. Guessed what was coming. It’s part of the panic reaction to [Hager’s] book. We can expect all manner of wild accusations from the “hard right” through to election day.
Btw, interesting that she and Brian Edwards are no longer appearing together on that programme.
Although some of the material has been covered in Dirty Politics, significant chunks refer to matters yet to be reported. Hager concluded a nexus existed between Slater, Graham and Food and Grocery Council chief executive Katherine Rich, that was used to surreptitiously attack opponents of corporate members of the council. New evidence shows:
An email from Slater in January 2014 in which the blogger wrote “December hits coin” and invoiced Facilitate Communication $6555.
A series of emails the same month from Graham to Slater, headed “Hit” and sometimes including “KR,” including draft posts savagely critical of council members’ commercial rivals or political opponents. Shortly afterwards Slater posted articles – nearly identical to Graham’s draft – on Whale Oil.
An unreported email exchange between Graham, Slater and Rich discussing the political leanings of the Generation Zero climate-change lobby group, concluding with Graham saying: “That’s our job. They’re on the target list.”
Countdown,the subject of more than a dozen critical blog postsin the months following the hack, was concerned but guarded when approached for comment. Following a wave of negative publicity earlier this year, the supermarket giant is now the subject of a Commerce Commission investigation into its business practices.
Countdown managing director Dave Chambers said of the hacked emails: “If these claims are correct this is not only disappointing but very disturbing given the subsequent impact on our business.”
(Been trying to post this all day .. apologies in advance if it intrudes somewhere by accident !)
The TPPA is one of the biggest battles we will ever need to win imho. Please take some moments to read this and follow through if you can .. we are literally done for otherwise; we will be 100% owned by US corporates ( well, more than we are now even!) This is the dirtiest of politics.
Laila Harre has committed to the Good Cause as she promised yesterday, saying:
“I tell you that after Sep 20, your work will not stop because everyone in this hall, led by Internet Mana, and with communities around the country, will be launching a campaign on the 21st of Sep to stop the TPPA”
“Join It’s Our Future at the ‘March against the Government” in Auckland, 30 August, 1pm, Aotea Square. Bring your placards and voices to tell the government: No TPPA – No Way!”
TPPA Trans Pacific Partnership is not a free trade agreement.
It is a signing over of part of our sovereignty to large corporations.
We cannot allow this to happen.
I want to hear the Labour party saying that they will not commit to any agreement which includes an investor-state dispute settlement system. ISDS
Read the following- it will make your hair stand on end. http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_gallery/investor-state-dispute-settlement-isds/
ISDS stands for INSIDIOUS!!
on nat-rad there was a discussion about our national anthem..
..and a txtr has suggested ‘anchor me’ at as a new anthem..
..i think that is a great idea..
..if only bcause how cool wd it be to have a national anthem that citizens of other countries wd like to sing/grove along to..?
..instead of the neo-militaristic/pompous bullshit most are..
.and if not ‘anchor me’..(which would be perfectly adequate..)..how about an online ballot to draw up a shortlist of contenders..and then a final vote..?..
..i wd like to nominate the underdogs:..’sitting in the rain’..
Just heard that delightful Michele Boag attack David Fisher on the Panel. She said that he was a left wing non journalist who only looked at the faults in the Right wing.
The she made a huge leap. She says that on the Nation David said in relation to Nicky Hager’s book that “We wrote…!” Aha. She reckons David was involved in the writing of the book. “We.”
There was no one to balance her spite. Not Jim. Not Duncan ??
Smear anyone?
I think Michelle claimed David Fisher used the words “What we said in the Hager book…” and then goes onto to infer that because Fisher has written about Dotcom then that means Dotcom is involved in the material in Hager’s book. Crazy stuff.
I haven’t had time to review the Nation interview but my suspicion is that Fisher said “What we see…”
I suspect Boag is trying to blacken David Fisher’s name after his piece today in the Herald today. Hopefully he will take this up with Radio NZ.
Where’s Ms Boag ? She’s on Mora’s panel on RNZ now and the unctuous Mora has made it a benefit for her and the National Party the whole last hour. Including shutting down a guy from Demographia ready to give some solid stuff about the puffery of National’s housing policy. Sickmaking.
Yet the whack jobs insist that generating electricity using nuclear fission is a safe and viable alternative.
.
Three and a half years after the most devastating nuclear accident in a generation, Fukushima Daiichi is still in crisis. Some 6,000 workers, somehow going about their jobs despite the suffocating gear they must wear for hours at a time, struggle to contain the damage. So much radiation still pulses inside the crippled reactor cores that no one has been able to get close enough to survey the full extent of the destruction. Every 2½ days, workers deploy a new giant storage tank to house radioactive water contaminated after passing through the damaged reactors. We wander past a forest of some 1,300 of these tanks, each filled with 1,000 tons of toxic water, some of which was used to cool the reactors.
Six years of mismanagement ….. ‘Rock star no more?’
This is what happens when you don’t have a plan.
‘NZ economy could hit the rocks – economists
Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens said New Zealand’s recent growth had been fuelled by the Canterbury earthquake rebuild, low interest rates and a surge in net migration, which hit a 10-year high in the year to June.
”When the Canterbury rebuild ends people will be quite surprised by the size of the downturn,” he said.
Stephens said the strong net migration, which has been largely due to fewer New Zealanders moving to Australia and greater numbers returning from across the Tasman, is unlikely to continue at current levels for long.
”Australia will one day make a comeback. We are forecasting zero net migration for 2018. And one day interest rates will get big enough to crush the housing market,” he said.
”My fear is all three of those things will happen at the same time.”’
The NZ Herald asked its readers their views on the Nats housing policy.
Seems like the only people who like it are the Nat MPs and their media puppets…..
Here’s a sample of the most popular comments…
“So, after years of telling us that there is no housing crisis, here comes National at election time telling us how they can fix the ‘problems’ that exist in the housing market.
Their solution is laughable. Making a little more credit available will just increase prices. And besides, the top amount you can get – if you meet all their criteria – is $550K. That gets you two-thirds of sod all in the Auckland housing market.
New ‘starter’ homes at the much-heralded Hobsonville Point development start at $770K.
Why don’t they just promise to do what Labour is promising – to actually build affordable new homes.
This policy is a lot of noise with no promise of real results. Fail.”
“It wont address the issue. It will just push the house prices up, and still be a haven for property speculators. Once again, this government is just tinkering around pretending to do something to address the real issue.”
“It is a typical answer from a market/growth driven Government. This solution is still avoiding the market driven problem of overvaluation that has caused finance collapse all around the world – of course it is good for banks and merchant bankers – another boost to ponzi economics.”
Interesting stuff about Cactus Kate — who sounds about as pleasant an individual as Slater — and her motivation for wanting Hager to feel some serious heat from a few Chinese she knows:
Nah, not brave, simply a man of integrity who refuses to back down to Whaleoil’s threats. Lots of people will stand by him just as they will stand by Hager.
Somewhat surprisingly, it’s Rodney Hide who has supplied by far the best description of Cameron Slater I’ve read so far (and he should know). Hide says Slater is “like a pig in mud”. Damn, that’s spot on.
I think that’s very unkind to pigs. They are quite intelligent and can be trained. One of my friends had a Captain Cooker that he’d raised from a piglet after shooting its mum 🙁 It would do anything most dogs do, except for not being very good at jumping or climbing over things. It guarded his section, often bailing up the poaka at the gate. He went off it a bit after it moved a concrete slab and ate the pound of heads he’d hidden underneath it, but it survived that. In the end it started killing his neighbour’s chooks and he turned it into roast pork 🙁
The latest attack on John Key by a contemporary musician is what he deserves, any one in public office who has been found to have spent the country’s money and time promoting the shite that has turned up in Hager’s book has laid himself open for all that comes his way and he is not entitled to any more legal protection than the rest of us
He, who thinks he can do what hes done over the years he has been in politics in this country deserves to be held up in public by whatever the public feel individually or collectively that is democracy
Cameron Slater was roundly condemned by his hateful comments about a youth being “feral”, and the world was better off him,. “Dirty Politics” reveals Slater’s description of a call you made referring to the dead boy’s mother as being a woman who screamed at you at Pike meetings. You told the public today you rang Slater at this time just to say ‘” recognised her”.
Yeah fucking right. You total bare faced liar! Do you think for one moment ANYONE would believe you rang Slater at this time just to say ‘I know here” that and nothing else.
What sort of PM rings Slater at any time let alone this time. There’s no reason to believe Slater’s reporting of the essence of your call was anything but accurate.
What a deceitful horrid man you are John Key. My god what you must be like behind the bullshit image scares me.
You told the public today you rang Slater at this time just to say ‘” recognised her”.
Does anyone have a link or reference to Key making this statement today?
I’m strongly in agreement with the sentiments above; that this incident alone – regardless of what Key actually said to Slater in that conversation – should be the cause of Key’s resignation at 8:30am tommorrow morning.
He’s previously confirmed the call, including that he told Slater Jo Hall was at Pike meetings. It’s the one issue on which he’s been citing Hager for support from the day after the story broke, because Hager did not agree with Slater’s characterisation of the phone call.
I don’t know why it hasn’t had more attention. He’s abused his position in order to give Slater context about the family who had been attacked on the WO blog.
The next commenter threw me off the thread a little because I’m not living in NZ at the moment and I’m not up to speed with things. But now it’s clear Key did have a conversation with Slater to support and validate what he had done – it’s game over.
Think about it. There is absolutely no context in which Key can have made that call and remain Prime Minister. None.
And yet our media and commentators remain compliant lapdogs, perhaps going so far as to say that it’s “not a great look” but missing the point that Key remaining as PM finally turns NZ into the South Pacific equivalent of a banana republic.
The only thing John Key could have legitimately done over Slater’s actions – was to publicly condemn him and privately insist that his Office, staff and all National Party figures cease all contact with him immediately. Anything less would have been an unacceptable validation and support.
But what Key actually did was phone Slater personally (remarkable in any context) and pass on more details about Slater’s victim.
Is the New Zealand media ALL so compromised that they cannot see what is wrong here?
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
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The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
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TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
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Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
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Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
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The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
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Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
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You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Hijinks and hilarity in Epsom yesterday. The Herald reports:
“ Mr Peters told the crowd that he knew one Beijing-based property investor who owned 55 houses in Auckland. “Don’t blame the Chinese. They are renowned for not being stupid. They are renowned for being bright academically. They are renowned for long-term planning. “Don’t blame them, when they see a bunch of fools running the country, saying, ‘Come over here, you can make a fortune’.” ”
So Peters told his audience that they shouldn’t harbour dumb cultural stereotypes and (maybe even racist) attitudes toward the Chinese… they can’t help being subject to greedy instinctual predatory urges… because they’re Chinese!
Meanwhile, Cliff Lyon said Labour had lost touch with their working class roots:
“If you have a look at their supporters they are really gays, lesbians, the unemployed who they throw heaps of money at, and what I might call the loony intelligent left who sit up in Auckland University.”
Someone needs to ask Cliff which year it is now. I want to hear him say 1995. Hmm, let’s see if we can find out who was in the audience of NZ First supporters yesterday by inventing cultural opposites for those “demographics”.
NZ First supporters in Epsom are really Hetero men, spinsters of unproved sexual orientation, people who gift all their income to the taxman, and the stupid unintelligent right who never went to school and now sit in the vacant basements of old office buildings. The place must have been packed out.
Sometimes the ignorant venal malicious stupid goes so far into noise without intended effect that it becomes hilarious. By eclipsing National’s bizarre definition of low-income first home buyers and Labour’s almost honest but cute admission of support for “modest” incomes, NZ First have won the hilarity prize today – they will probably hold it for the rest of the week.
and on a more serious note..
..those on the ‘left’ considering voting for peters should note he also said this at that epsom meeting:
“..NZ First would hold the balance of power after the election – Mr Peters said.
When one man asked him to not support National –
‘It’s not going to be an easy decision..”
..are you clear on that..?..
..peters will decide who he will support..after the election..and could well go with national/key..
..wd it be too strong to call those on the left who consider peters a ‘safe’ vote for them..
..to call them totally-in-denial-dumbarses..?
..i don’t think so..
Peters will go National, it’s not a tough choice
It’s ether making up the numbers with labour and the greens or having quite a bit of clout with National.
It’s also works with his “Keeping the buggers honest” theme he likes to push.
for once..bm..i agree with you..
Yeah he almost said as much on Q & A yesterday.
He was saying that some party’s spending plans were not acceptable to NZ First. Susan Wood repeatedly asked him if he was referring to the Greens. As always he would not answer the question but it was clear that is indeed who he was referring to.
If Winston holds the balance of power he will do one of two things.
Both options are a disaster.
Acksully if he goes with Labour and the Greens are locked then thats quite acceptable
Labour and the Green’s could go with InternetMana and not need Winston.
But, hang on BM. I thought that the whole point of voting National (with its huge support) was to ensure that any coalition partners it needed would have little ‘clout’.
But now you say that NZ First would have a lot of ‘clout’. Which is it?
If Key can’t get over the line with Act,Dunne, Maori party but he could with only Peters, I’d say Peters has a lot of clout.
Peters can then say, no Act,no Maori party, no Dunne, you want the numbers you deal with me and me alone.
@crocodill…actually I thought Winston Peters was rather good…anyone who has spent any time really travelling in China would agree with him!
ie “ Mr Peters told the crowd that he knew one Beijing-based property investor who owned 55 houses in Auckland. “Don’t blame the Chinese. They are renowned for not being stupid. They are renowned for being bright academically. They are renowned for long-term planning. “Don’t blame them, when they see a bunch of fools running the country, saying, ‘Come over here, you can make a fortune’.” ”
…however Cliff Lyon is way off the mark
From doorknocking the last few weekends, I can see that the only European men over 45 voting Labour are all on this site. Because there’s fuck-all of them anywhere else.
And even the ones on this site are dodgy 🙂
“If you have a look at their supporters they are really gays, lesbians, the unemployed who they throw heaps of money at, and what I might call the loony intelligent left who sit up in Auckland University.”
Bigoted, ignorant and thinks everyone else is too. Ugh.
Milk prices due to plummet because of Russian sanctions and massive increases in production world
wide!
Russian sanctions ( either against Russia or from Russia) do not apply to NZ….the smart solution is to make Russia our number one trading partner !
our dirty/filthy/polluting dairy-industry is a sunset-industry..
..(and in the long run..for us..and for the planet..this is a good thing..)
..the twofer of a forseeable global-gut in that white-death for the next five years..
..plus the soon-to-be-introduced ‘milk’ made from yeast..(of all things!)..that will taste/be the same..
..be able to do everything milk from cows does..(cheeses..etc..)..
..that does not need to be chilled..and will cost a fraction of the costs of cows-milk to produce/needs no land/dirty-waterways..will be ‘clean’..environmentally..
..but just on price..it will kill the global marketthe/our dirty cow-milk industry..
..it’s gonna be a financial bloodbath..the transition…
..it will be britain joins e.u/stops buying our farm product redux..but worse..)
..(and of all people..james cameron is showing the way forward..with his purchases of big dairy-holdings..and his conversion of them back into farms growing real food..
..i guess that cameron is a vegan is at least a part-driver of that..)
..and the aspect of all this that really concerns me at the moment..
..is how so many iwi are pouring their treaty-settlement monies into what will be/end up a total financial disaster..
..i see all that only ending in tears..
o hell
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/10419124/State-of-emergency-after-Californias-6-0-quake
no definately NOT….i actually thought Lyon was talking about you!
Peters is a poker player ….but imho he will join a coalition with Labour ….all his policies agree with Labour ….all his criticisms have been directed against National…and he cant stand John key or NACT!
how..?..you are the resident peters-booster..
..would you vote for him..?..have you voted for him in the past..?
@ PU….nyb… the GREENS will probably get my vote this time …but I am sorely tempted by MANA/INT ….and Winnie is wonderful…and so is David Cunliffe!…so I am happy …i have plenty of choice
…you dont seem happy …..who are you voting for? ….are you a closet NACT?…or just disillusioned Labour?…you attack Labour at every opportunity and Winnie…..the NACTs absolutely hate Peters….this could explain your attitude to him!
internet/mana..greens..labour..
..are my parties of choice..in descending order..
..i thought i couldn’t have been more clear about that..
..and you are in la-la land with yr ‘winnies’ wonderful’…
..no he’s not..he’s a con-man..
..just running his schtick for the final time..
..doing a classic ‘bait and switch’..
..(and the reply-function has had another meltdown..)
They keep giving you oxygen and you keep wasting it. More fool them.
Peter’s won’t go with national unless the left vote splitting mip are somehow in the frame post election.
To be sure you get a red/green government, you have to vote red/green. Don’t mess about with the minimal munters.
@ the Allen…you have to say who yu are addressing your comments to because the order of the threads are not working
@Chooky… I see that now, ta.
@ allen – It is IMP not mip – not that hard to get the name correct although maybe the big letters are confusing you.
I agree that people should vote for the party they want but relying on winnie – nah too risky.
“@ allen – It is IMP not mip – not that hard to get the name correct”
You mean like Al1en, not al1en?
But no and somewhat incredulous having to answer such a weak whine, to me it’s always been mip ‘mana internet party’, but if you want to get all arseholey about it, all the better 😉
“maybe the big letters are confusing you.”
You’ll have to remind me why you’re acting butt hurt, again, but if it’s going to be a long list, which it probably might well be, you’re better off saving the poison from your pen for someone willing to play the victim, rather than waste it on me.
You and your utu (the seeking of revenge) 🙄
You’re still raging, yet I shat you out ages ago.
The mirth of it all. 😆
@phillip ure
I think Chooky is assessing Winston’s likely choice of coalition if he gets that far, while you are arguing that he doesn’t deserve to be there because of low integrity and commitment to the people, only to himself. Both are relevant separate points which can’t be argued against each other.
I’d vote for Peters in a contest on fashion style on the catwalk. But in politics his style changes with the wind. Labour would have to do an Alamein Kopu with him, and have a chat with him each morning to gauge his direction for the day.
no warbler..i am saying a vote for peters is not a ‘safe’ vote..
..for anyone wanting a change of govt..
..it’s as simple as that…
(wow..!..reply-function really has gone sth..this is reply to 8.1.2.1…)
Voting IMP, Green, Lab means little chance of a wasted vote. They all grow the left bloc.
Winston First is a major chance of a wasted vote if you want not just a change of government but a left as possible one. He is so likely to go with the GodKey.
ACT, Colon, MP and Hairdo are definitely wasted votes in any event and moreso if Epsom, Ohariu and Māori electorate left voters get strategic.
Don’t vote Winston. Let someone else get him to 4.9%.
What’s this GodKey stuff?
It’s the delusional rubbish pumped out by National saying that John Key has theistic qualities, that he’s a god. Whereas the truth is he’s a flakey wee rich man liar who’s produced not a thing in his entire life save immense wealth for himself. It’s all part of the dark stuff we see in Dirty Politics.
…
Don’t overlook the fact that we have it on no less an authority than St. Lloyd Blankfein of that well-known altruistic institution the Church of the Holy Goldman Sachs.
“We’re very important,” Blankfein said in an interview with The Times of London. “We help companies to grow by helping them to raise capital. Companies that grow create wealth. This, in turn, allows people to have jobs that create more growth and more wealth. It’s a virtuous cycle. We have a social purpose.”
St. Blankfein said that he understood, however, that people were angry with bankers’ actions: “I know I could slit my wrists and people would cheer.” But he is, he told The Times, just a banker “doing God’s work.”
As is the Holier-than-thou John Key.
Mugabe was lucky to have such forward-looking people to bankroll the beautiful new Zimbabwe.
/
http://mg.co.za/article/2012-08-10-00-the-investor-who-saved-mugabe
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-21/mugabes-bailout-och-ziff-investment-linked-to-zimbabwe-despot#p1
Yes well strictly speaking in my view Blankfein is somewhat correct.
The nature of god and all that. A man-made one. He’s also right that most of us would be happy if he slit his wrist. But of course he is completely and utterly wrong about his social purpose (which is to create more wealth for the bankers). But he would lie about that. He’s also putting the cart before the horse when he talks of capital. Which probably means that he’s thick.
…
Wish I was thick enough to earn US$23 million as Blankfein did last year – and that was a bad year for him.
If he did slit his wrists he’d only be replaced by another parasite (of the genus common shameless money-grubbing pestis), so what would there be to be happy about?
For a complete demolition of Blankfein’s claim to Divine sanction I recommend:
http://www.voxeu.org/article/what-contribution-financial-sector
from the Bank of England’s Andrew Haldane, no less.
Posted before – but I’m posting again.
To have a look at how entrenched Goldman Sachs is in NZ, have a look at the size of NZ in this OpenCorporates Map.
Kiln is the company that did the graphics for the article in the Guardian last year, Which companies caused global warming?
(Edit: Reply to ManInABarrel 11.24am)
Thanks Molly. You wouldn’t know the timeframe for this interest in NZ would you?
Yes I’ve always wondered where he got his money from, a week on here and I figure that I’ve worked it out. He stole it.
Why that’s the Nats election campaign right there.
I’m dreaming of NZF 4.8, Colonservatives 4.8, ACT 1.5 with Goldsmith taking Epsom.
Not such a bad dream.
Keep on dreaming then
“I’m dreaming of NZF 4.8, Colonservatives 4.8, ACT 1.5 with Goldsmith taking Epsom.”
You do know that would mean that the Nats would only need around 44% to govern alone ?
yep..he’s got u well and truly suckered in…eh..?
..have you forgotten how the last time that peers went with national..
..polling afterwards showed some 70% of those who had voted for him..
..had done so..because of their fervent belief..going on his attacks on national etc.. that he wd go with labour..
..were you one of them then..?
..peters has run this con before..he knows how well it works..and what to say to make it work..
..how to suck in the gullible..
..fool you twice..more fool you…eh..?
Anyone from the Left who votes for Peters needs their head examined.
But Phillip you say Peters will go with Key. I think he will go with Cunliffe.
A small wager,say a bottle of our fine Central Otago Pinot Noir, on this?
i don’t use alcohol b.g…
..but a bag of stinking-heads vs. a bottle of plonk..
..i’d be up for that bet..
..(if you don’t know where/how to get it..just ask the next teenager you see..
..they’ll be able to point you in the right direction..eh..?..)
Ha ha. Sorry I don’t use the heads any more, so we will leave it as a gentleman’s bet.
I will vote Green, but it’s tricky as there are elements of Labour and IMP policies that I would prefer. For instance Labour’s using Kiwisaver to control interest rates and exchange rates, and IMP’s focus on poverty.
it is the internet/mana focuses on the seemingly so different/disparate areas of ending poverty and economic-innovation/transition that draw me to them..
..and for those of a progressive bent it must be clear that the better the result for both internet/mana and the greens..
..the more the chances of them being able to demonstrate to labour..
..the mandate for those poverty-ending etc policies..
..and a ‘left’-coalition containing peters..i see more and more as being a trainwreck..
..especially in the area of getting any real progressive polices enacted..
..it will likely just limp along..doing not very much..
..and liable to be thrown out of office after just one term..
..whereas a lab/grn/int/mana govt..
..wd see some real ‘progress’ being made..
..to me..all that couldn’t be clearer..
@ Phillip Ure (9:36am comment) (damn reply button’s gone AWOL)
And yet I’d argue that the only chance of there actually being a Left Government after this Election is with Winnie’s support. Unfortunate – deeply unfortunate – but true. The Left Bloc just aint gonna make it by itself. And no amount of Pollyanna wishful thinking will change that fact.
I agree, though, that on balance he’s a little more likely to go with Key. But nothing cut and dried as yet.
@ swordfish..
..at the launch yesterday..and i presume going on internal-polling as he was so precise..dotcom said 7.8% wd be the election-outcome..
..(i have for some time picked just sth of 10%..that from more reading runes/straw-in-the-wind than internal-polling..)
..so my ideal is lab 25-27%..grns 15%..int/mana just sub-ten..
..and there you have it..
..home and hosed…
..and eminently do-able..
@ swordfish..
..and don’t forget we still have the greenwald/dotcom spook-dump five days before polling day to look forward to..
..and the fallout for key/national..and to a certain/lesser degree labour..is hard to predict from here..
..but the conclusion can be that it will be good for neither of them..
..and as that shitstorm goes down..there stand int/mana..and the greens..
..promising to clean up all that..and presenting a new future..
..instead of just more of what we have got here..from national..(and to a certain/lesser degree labour..)
..and i can’t see that spook-dump hurting the int.mana and green vote-outcomes..can you..?
BG +100 “I think he will go with Labour”….. Winnie worked very well with Helen Clark….and once upon a time he was way to the Left of both Labour and National….Winnie would destroy himself for posterity if he went with the NACTS this time
and that awful time he went with National and we all got so mad at him ( what year ?) ? Turns out, and it’s verified, that Jim Anderton refused to work with him in any coalition deal — Winston had absolutely no option but to turn to National or leave us with no government at all.
Just my two cents worth ..
this was supposed to a reply to Chooky .. can’t work out what;s happening today and LPrent said he maybe couldn’t fix it from his laptop … Sudoku on The Standard !!
Interesting.
I’d be keen to read a link to that.
@ yeshe ……no Jim Anderton refused to work with Labour in any coalition deal
( remember Anderton was mad with Rogernomics and Labour…the Alliance was out to destroy Labour , even although his friend Helen Clark was leading Labour at the time?)
…and Winnie had no choice but to go with National because a Labour coalition govt without the Alliance in just didnt have the numbers. ..
Winnie was faced with the option of a new Election being called , where he may have had a backlash, or of going into coalition with National and seeing what he could get out of it…his bottom line was no asset sales
…In the end Winnie (despite choosing to go with National) brought down the National govt over more proposed privitisation of state assets
the NACTS have never for given him….and still want him destroyed …they also succeeded when they conducted a year long vendetta over the funding by Owen Glen
@ yeshe ( edit) ….should read Nats “almost” succeeded in destroying Winnie over Owen Glenn
@ kiwiri….the documentary on Helen Clark has all this in it
http://documentaryedge.org.nz/2014/wgtn/film/helen
http://www.3news.co.nz/politics/doco-gives-rare-insight-into-helen-clark-2013072408
if we can ever get these numbers sorted out !
Thx Chooky fr your corrections .. and I can’t see him going to Nats this time … unless it is to pull them asunder from inside.
I trust Winston’s integrity .. many will laugh at that, but I have supported and believed him ( not voted necessarily) since the Winebox. He has always put NZ first, as far as I’m concerned.
Speaking of which .. where has Ms Boag disappeared to in all this ?? I did read one scurrilous line about her in the whaledump, but she was quiet before that .. not been heard or seen since Dirty Politics was published !
lol…maybe she is sunning herself in the Bahamas or some other tax free haven….Cook Islands?
😀
and I see the independent candidate in Epsom, Grace Haden, is doing some good private eye work on the money laundering capacities of NZ … the intro is so badly written along with the headline at first I thought she was in trouble. Kudos to her for this.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/small-business/10416451/Fake-reception-prompts-probe
+100 yeshe ….and good work by Grace Haden!
Here is an analysis from Selwyn Manning on John Key’s credibility and state of play in the NACTIONAL Party:
“A Matter of Whether John Key is Credible’
By Selwyn Manning / August 23, 2014
“In reality, John Key is the last man standing, he speaks directly to the reasonably minded New Zealand voter. From this platform they will be asked to judge for themselves whether their Prime Minister is credible… or not. Game on, or game over, they will be the judge…
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20147007
oh no, @Cnr Joe .. thought we had managed to lose her !! Did you listen and care to summarise ? thx
…
This is the problem uncommitted voters such as myself face. I don’t trust either ‘main’ party with a majority in Parliament. “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
I’ve a lot of time for Winnie going right back to the Winebox, and IMHO a Labour or a National Government forced to deal with NZF as a strong coalition partner is probably going to be the most honest Government we could hope for at the present time. I was even considering giving my party vote to NZF on this occasion but unless Peters comes right out and declares that NZF would not go into Government with a National Party still including proven sleaze-balls like Key, Collins, Brownlee et all I can’t risk voting for it.
+100 man in barrel….and for your previous comments on 13.1.2.3
(btw… there is something wrong with the reply functions and also if one wants to start a new topic)
unless Peters comes right out and declares that NZF would not go into Government with a National Party still including proven sleaze-balls like Key, Collins, Brownlee et all I can’t risk voting for it
+1
for moderator..f.y.i..
..the reply-function is not working..
Working now Phillip
Tama Iti standing for The Maori Party. Could be quite the vote winner
It’s Tame.
And yes, he’s very influential, carries a huge amount of mana and might just revive a dying coalition partner. Damn.
Not sure where he’s standing as yet.
His influence however might swing the Maori Party away from the Nat’s however. I can’t see Iti working with National
I heard on rnz this morning that he wanted to join the Maori Party as they are only party working with Government to benefit Maori. (my paraphrasing). I was quite surprised to hear it as his world view doesn’t align with the Right.
I recall that when the Maori Party have been criticised for being sell outs they have said in their defence that is was “better to be at the table, than on the floor getting the crumbs”, meaning they were willing to compromise their own values in order to progress their agenda. For them it was purely a matter of practicalities. I wonder if this is simply how Tame Iti see’s it too.
Huh? Iti has been working closely with Chris Finlayson, and with National.
Not standing in an electorate – just the List.
ta ianmac.
that is a great pity …Tama Iti should be standing for Mana…the Maori Party are sellouts and have no mana
Would he convince anyone new to vote Maori rather than Mana? I doubt it.
The goal of the Maori Party is to create a new aristocratic layer of tribal bearaucrats who will have their “people” under their control through iwi-owned state housing and charter schools.
Key was interesting on Morning Report today. One mention of Judith Collins and he GTFO. That’s going to be a festering wound for a while.
Apologies if this has already been discussed. No surprises but horrifying all the same, it happens that Patrick Gower is in Slater’s contacts in his phone. (Dirty Politics, Nicky Hager) Is this not a real worry that a “journalist” is happy to compromise his credibility by being connected with such a despicable person?
As we know, (and several Standardista’s have made formal complaints about it) Gower has been on a mission to destroy Cunliffe for a long time. Are tv3 willing puppets for Slater’s agenda? How can the connections and influences be investigated?
Come Rosie you should know by now that Patrick (I make shit up) Gower is a right wing stooge. That became very clear, when he attacked Cunliffe at the Labour Conference about mounting a challenge to Shearer. Hence I take everything he says with a huge pinch of salt.
Exactly David, that’s why he needs to be called out on it – and all the others in the contacts in Slaters phone.
They need to do the decent thing, it’s not too late, and say they will disassociate themselves from him, but they never will because such an admission of association shows them up as having a questionable moral compass all along.
It looks to me as if, for political journalists, Slater has for some time been the prime source of information – I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them have his number. Basically, to get copy you have to be in the information loop, and the inner circle around Slater appear to largely control that loop.
Do the decent thing? Why that concept is totally alien to them.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Whale Oil had a whole load of journalists telephone numbers
Indeed, presumably because they were well aware that he was getting leaks and considerable ‘help’ from inside the PM’s office and from Judith Collins.
One of the things you learn from the Whaledump is that there are plenty of MSM people circling Slater likes flies around shit.
None of them seem to have any scruples about it.
@ blue..+ 1..
Gower fancies himself as a bit of a master of the universe……SlaterPorn is psychotically into the same notion. Not surprising that they would circle one another warily and trade phone numbers.
On Stuff live chat.
What a rubbish answer. No Royal Commission of Inquiry? No Serious Fraud Office probe?
‘Why the Secret Intelligence Service feeding Cameron Slater information is so very, very, very serious’
By Martyn Bradbury / August 25, 2014
“Folks, it doesn’t matter if you are Right or Left, the issue of the Secret Intelligence Service being forced to feed a far right hate speech merchant like Cameron Slater with sensitive information is an ‘us’ issue…
The SIS are ‘deep State’. We ‘trust’ in them to use the vast powers they have for the protection of NZ. I think we can all see, regardless of how we vote, that getting them to release information to a blogger with the ethical standards of a drug cartel are well outside what is acceptable.
We know that the guidelines for the release of such information from the SIS requires consultation between Key, Ede and Eagleson for several days. The PM has stated in his video answer that he was briefed, he has since claimed that when he said “I was briefed’ he means something completely different, and that when public servants Tucker and Wakem both said he was briefed, they also meant something completely different.
So that’s 3 people saying the same thing but all meaning something completely different, and this is the tissue thin defence being erected to shrug off handing Cameron Slater of all people information sensitive within one of our spy agencies?
This just isn’t fucking good enough. This defence of “when I say me and I, I actually mean some faceless and anonymous ‘office’ where blame and responsibility can’t actually be established” isn’t a defence, it’s a declaration of incompetence that if true simply means all of them, the whole office, needs to go.
The Prime Minister is either incompetent or lying through his front teeth. Neither of which helps explain why someone as toxic as Slater was given access to SIS information.
Using the state spy apparatus to embarrass and smear political opponents is a dark and frighteningly dangerous moment in our political history, it can’t just be shrugged off with ‘my office was briefed’ as an answer.
Such casual fascism must be challenged.
The Prime Minister is neither incompetent nor lying through his teeth. He is brazenly corrupt and openly challenging us to prove it, confident that we cannot.
+1 to this
He strikes me like a successful mugger..
and now hes giving the county a big fat
“F**k you New Zealand, Ive all ready beaten you senseless, now im going to rifle you pockets and take all your shit”
I have to agree OAB. I think there needs to be a Royal Commission of Enquiry.
After Election as a Labour Party member, I will be in touch with him/them once he is (hopefully) PM.
There needs to be something. If Blip is correct Cheryl Gwen and Ben Keith have serious conflicts of interest.
OAB………..I have a great deal of confidence if Cunliffe is PM there will be a Royal Commission.
Oh hi anker. Reply to your helpful and kind offer on Yesterdays Open Mike. Sorry for the lateness.
Rosie @8.2.2
Thanks I will check it out. We are not in your electorate, doing work for Central, but husband has some time now and particularly dislikes Dunne!
BTW I would vote for that cute baby if he or she was standing. Showing pics of the baby must increase Ginny’s chances.
Thanks anker. We do have people from outside the electorate leafleting, as it’s in everyone’s interests that Dunne goes! We welcome anyone who can help out in any way 🙂
And yes, baby Eliza is adorbz. It seems Ginny has put a lot of effort into meeting parents and women, very family focused, which is entirely appropriate for such a family orientated area. She would be a huge asset to Ohariu if she were the MP.
And heads need to roll.
Winston is calling for a communion of enquiry.
He makes a good point insofar as that his ministerial role cannot be delegated to members of the national party (his parliamentery office)
Hooton on 9-12 said that his questioning of senior officials in both the Bolger and Clark administration had never seen that occur.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1408/S00367/the-words-mean-what-i-say-they-mean.htm
Whether or not it is a “rubbish answer” depends upon what follows from a “change in government” that will lead to cleaning up the system.
A prerequisite to the implementation of any processes to ‘clean things up’ may well be a change in government because the present government (a) is compromised and has a conflict of interest in investigating the allegations and (b) the PM has already shown a distinct lack of interest in following any of this up.
I’m sure it requires a change of government to clean things up. If that is the only thing that changes it won’t be enough.
Agreed.
I’m reposting this so it gets ‘noticed’. Put it on late last night and have to resurrect it I think. This Nicky Hager event is this Thursday if you are in Auckland and have time.
PUBLIC NOTICE
Nicky Hagar [Hager] – Auckland Public Meeting
A public meeting meeting with Jesson Prize winner Nicky Hagar will be held
Wednesday 27th August, 7.30pm,
at the Mt Eden War Memorial Hall (Cnr Dominion Rd & Balmoral Rd).
Chaired by Sir Edmund Thomas
Hosted by the Human Rights Foundation & Equal Justice Project.
Also here is link to Nicky Hager’s 2012 text http://www.brucejesson.com/?p=394#comment-305
for his lecture to Bruce Jesson Foundation audience
and Sir Edmund Thomas 2013 lecture http://www.brucejesson.com/?p=475.
I’ve got something on moderation 9.31am. Could it be released please.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10418392/Tame-Iti-to-stand-for-Maori-Party
Dotcom denies he’s the hacker behind Dirty Politics, but at the party’s campaign launch today said this.
“I hacked our German credit rating system and put our Prime Minister’s credit rating to zero because I didn’t like the guy,” said Dotcom. “You have all figured by now there’s another Prime Minister I don’t like.”
But he didn’t want to talk about his comments afterwards.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11313619
morning talking-points/briefing a bit late this morn..there..p.r..?
..and do try a bit harder to ‘keep up’..eh..?
..you are so far off the mark..you aren’t even in the stadium..
John Key will do another 3 way hand shake with the Maori Party!
Heres the thing, I’m ok with National in power with anyone (Conservatives last) I’m also ok with Labour in power as long the GIMPs are out so basically Labour/NZFirst in power is ok by me (not my first choice of course but the best of a bad situation)
PR he is just baiting you guys winding you up !
Giving you something to hold onto!
Whaledump is playing with the Corruptors of our democracy letting them think they have got away with their treasonous crime and exposing the lengths these corrupt cronies will go to to usurp democratic processes in our country!
The more Key Collins and Slater Deny the Worse they look!
They were told before hand that KDC wouldn’t be giving interviews so WTF did they go in there pestering for interviews? The whole thing comes across as the MSM looking for a distraction from the IMP campaign launch. Trying hard not to cover the news.
The facade is cracking.
I no longer respect John Key. Not even a bit. And that’s why John Key’s problem is Waikato voters’ dilemma.
National’s election strategy has long depended on Key’s immense popularity. That’s why his face is on every billboard just as big as your local candidate’s. The visual message is compelling. You’re voting for Key, you see. The nice man. The smiler. The good bloke, the one you’d drink a beer with, and all the usual banalities that I’m so sick of and which should be, by now, unmasked as the untruths they’ve always been..
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/opinion/10420033/PMs-nice-guy-image-gone-forever
What the fuck is wrong with New Zealanders?
This is scary how many people turned out yesterday in Manukau after the last 2 weeks…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/10418981/Washing-away-the-grime
A strong economy the envy of many, crime down, employment up, navigating the country through very trying times and more kiwis coming home from Australia is something many kiwis consider a good thing
The economy is crashing despite what National and their sycophants want to believe, poverty is worse and the reason why people are returning from Australia is because their economy is crashing as well.
If we get a National government after this election then we are going to be well and truly fucked because they really haven’t got a clue as to what to do under such circumstances which means that they’ll fall back on their default position of tax cuts and corruption.
“A strong economy the
Current debt clock
NZ$ 85,468,689,394
P R You, Key, English, and all your minders wouldn’t know what an economy was if you fell over it!
And while we are are at – answer this simple question.
“Just what do you think the economy is for anyway?”
Wow. Fairfax needs more writers like Joshua Drummond.
Is there a link?
@ Rich
http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/opinion/10420033/PMs-nice-guy-image-gone-forever
thanks Chooky.
Cunliffe and Twyford seriously need to relaunch their housing policy this week. Got to gain back the momentum on housing fast.
Relaunch – and up the ante.
And what is all this rubbish about cutting back on Labour commitments to spending. Spending needs to go up, not down.
Kim Dotcom – “I’m on my final final warning”
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/mnr/mnr-election2014-20140825-0725-kim_dotcom_live-048.mp3
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/20146934/kim-dotcom-live
…
This might stir a few hearts amongst Standard readers:
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/08/the-good-kings-return
Who says workers are thick, unable to organise and need to be led?
An old IWW cartoon came to mind when reading the link where there are workers gathered outside two doors. One is marked “union” and the other marked “boss”. The question the workers are asking among themselves is “Which one do we negotiate with first?”
How did I miss this brilliant song from 2011?
John Key Pack Your Things by Trillion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiPbw_q5uUA
And how about this brand new gem! DJ Pups with “At the end of the day”, Guyon Espiners legendary interview with John Key last Monday sampled into a dance track. Ha! Didn’t I say someone needed to do that!
https://soundcloud.com/dj-pups/at-the-end-of-the-day-bassnectar-version
Both songs getting airplay on Radio Active, one of the stations that was sent a warning from the electoral commission about playing Planet Key by Darren Watson.
A COPY OF THE DRAFT LETTER I HAVE WRITTEN TO TVNZ BELOW…………….OTHERS MAY WANT TO DO THE SAME. HO
RE: Mike Hoskings moderating the Leaders Debates.
I wrote to you about this issue on 24 July. To date I have received no response. This is unacceptable.
This needs a bit of editing, but below is my draft letter to TVNZ re Mike Hosking moderating.
Would encourage others to do same
“Mike Hoskings moderating the leaders debates is unacceptable and frankly a disgraceful display of our tax payer funded broadcaster showing unacceptable levels of bias.
You will be aware of the recent disclosures in Nicky Hager’s book, Dirty Politics, clearly illustrating the links between Cameron Slater and the National Party, that goes to the highest level, the Prime Minister in running on-going smears against the past Labour Leader, Phill Goff. Hager also produces strong evidence of Slater being involved in the attempt to smear David Cunliffe over the Dong Liu letter
Mike Hoskings recently hosted an item on 7 Sharpe about Cameron Slater. This item is mentioned in Dirty Politics (refer page 134 – 5). To quote from the book “the item ended with the host Mike Hoskings saying (about Slater) “Love it”. Hosking adds,” I do note he (Slater) quotes from my editorials quite a lot, so clearly a man of taste”. Clearly Mike Hoskings, Cameron Slater and the Prime Minister (who is in contact with Slater regularly, are aligned in their (right wing) political beliefs.
I am requesting that you replace Mr Hoskings as mediator on the Leaders debate, if you havenot already done so given the relevations in Dirty Politics. I suggest someone who appears less biased (possibly Rachel Smalley). Please advise me as soon as you have done this.”
Wah wah wah, how about you quit yer whining and see how the debate plays out?
PR pathetic again. Attack the man not the ball.
If Hoskings as half way decent we’d give him a chance, but again and again he has proven he is a twit. An ideological racist tool.
But please PR keep living in lala land – it suits you.
@ anker +100….That is a very good letter.!..i would like to protest and use it too…Kim Hill would be far better than the shallow , NACT biased , Slater friend, ‘fruit and vege reporter’ Mike Hoskings….a choice for political chair which is a disgrace to TVNZ editorial and management! ( there must be a review and cleanout after Labour/Left wins the Election)
Is there any way it could be a petition /form letter ?…(so i just have to sign it and press a button)?
…if not , what is the address to write to ….and I will use your letter as a basis
testing .. my post keeps defaulting to a #17 !!
LPrent …problems ? have tried six or seven times to post re TPPA … will not let me post. It defaults to this #17 and the replies below do not belong to my post which I have deleted and replaced with the test#117 above. Thx !
It happens after a reply is posted to a comment that is deleted. If I give people long edit times and include an ability to delete, then there is a structural issue if they delete as someone is adding.
There is a process that runs about every 20 minutes to clean them up the unparented comments that get left over. Obviously not running at present.
I don’t think that I have the tools to fix this remotely on this laptop. Umm I downloading them.
thx .. will try again … appreciate all you do us here.
Wonder how long until we see this here in NZ ?
‘Panic Selling’ In London Drives Fear That The UK Housing Bubble Is About To Burst
UK homeowners start to panic sell in the face of house price uncertainty
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/constructionandproperty/11015301/UK-homeowners-start-to-panic-sell-in-the-face-of-house-price-uncertainty.html
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/panic-selling-in-london-and-uk-housing-bubble-2014-8
Looks like you might have been right after all, Karol, re: National tax-cuts before the election: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10421122/Nationals-tax-cut-mixed-message
Pam Corkery popping her cork at the IMP launch deserves a gold star. Sure it wasn’t helpful, but at least it was honest. Good to see she has mellowed with age. Can’t say the same for KDC, though. He gets Worst Timing Ever Award for getting up on stage and admitting to personal hacking vendettas. In the absence of IMP leadership making sure he never speaks publicly again until after the election, they could track down Jamie McDonald, Senior Press Officer (The Crossest Man in Scotland) and have him discuss the basics with him.
David Fisher: My history with Cameron Slater.
.
But when I started writing stories on issues which went against Slater’s interests, I became someone he wanted to “smash”. At that point, I was away from the tent and out in the wilderness.
He launched a personal assault with what I believed were threats of violence and created an atmosphere in which I was personally and professionally denigrated. Those who post comments on his website made awful slurs. It is as horrible an online environment as you will find anywhere.
Among the slurs were claims my behaviour showed I was suffering withdrawal symptoms associated with alcohol and drug addiction. On one occasion, when I rang a minister’s spouse for comment on an issue he was involved in, he ranted at me that I was “a drug addict” and would not talk to me. The only place such an idea had been floated was on Slater’s Twitter feed.
In almost two years, he has published about 120 posts in which I am featured. Some are extremely unpleasant. I am called a “shill” in the context of being a corrupt reporter.
Slater has invented nicknames for me. He called me “Gurnard”, then sent me pictures of dead “Gurnard”. He called me “Tainted” in relation to my coverage of the Kim Dotcom affair.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11313962
This article by David Fisher is very enlightening and hopefully will appear in the print section of the Herald and not just online. Interesting that Fisher says that John Key kept Slater at arms length until April 2012. Did Key just get careless or had he realised he needed Slater’s support and that would only happen if he fed Slater’s ego with much closer contact?
@ joe90 …that article by David Fisher is REALLY SHOCKING!
…and Slater won the Canon journalist award?…given to Slater by the judge Deborah Cone-Hill?( who was winner for a BNZ creative fiction writing award) …and Slater has the support of the Israeli Embassy (Slater is a “spiritual person”?)…. and Slater was invited to Israel? ( for what?)…and Slater was a good friend of John Key’s ?( see the lovely smiling photos, along with David Farrer’s smiling visage)…and Slater had many friends including Cactus Kate ( who is also a shocker)
David Fisher is a brave man!
David Fisher stands above many journalists. He is fair and evenhanded and reports facts rather than wild Paddy type fantasies. Sent an email to David last week telling him of my respect for his work. (He replied to acknowledge.)
Interesting listening to Michele Vogue attack David Fisher on Radionz this afternoon, Michele and Co won’t be very happy with ‘their paper’ at the moment going with the whaledump scoop etc and basically doing their job, Michele may be a little disappointed at finding her friends are only fair weather ones I guess, get over it Shell it’s only business baby!
Yes, she just couldn’t resist engaging in a bit of dirty politics herself. She’s basically implied Fisher’s involvement in the book on no evidence other than a comment apparently on The Nation to the effect of “as we said in the Hager book”.
I haven’t found the clip but can imagine it may have been a bit of ‘mishearing’ on Boag’s part. Less a Freudian slip from Fisher than a case of hearing what she wanted to hear from Boag. (e.g., perhaps mishearing “as was said in the Hager book”.)
Turned it off as soon as I heard Lady Boag was on the show. Guessed what was coming. It’s part of the panic reaction to [Hager’s] book. We can expect all manner of wild accusations from the “hard right” through to election day.
Btw, interesting that she and Brian Edwards are no longer appearing together on that programme.
Also this one from the SST;
http://t.co/qNUAU5BV8K
I wonder if this explains why Sealord Jones was so happy to begin a campaign against Countdown?
(Been trying to post this all day .. apologies in advance if it intrudes somewhere by accident !)
The TPPA is one of the biggest battles we will ever need to win imho. Please take some moments to read this and follow through if you can .. we are literally done for otherwise; we will be 100% owned by US corporates ( well, more than we are now even!) This is the dirtiest of politics.
http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=2af728ed394d2e3c92f383cd5&id=b359144860&e=0663fc3518
Take heart.
Laila Harre has committed to the Good Cause as she promised yesterday, saying:
“I tell you that after Sep 20, your work will not stop because everyone in this hall, led by Internet Mana, and with communities around the country, will be launching a campaign on the 21st of Sep to stop the TPPA”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f19D0jnM-N4
at 4:20 – 4:43
@Kiwiri .. thx for your post on Laila Harre and TPPA … thank goodness !
Let’s hope there is a good showing at this march.
“Join It’s Our Future at the ‘March against the Government” in Auckland, 30 August, 1pm, Aotea Square. Bring your placards and voices to tell the government: No TPPA – No Way!”
TPPA Trans Pacific Partnership is not a free trade agreement.
It is a signing over of part of our sovereignty to large corporations.
We cannot allow this to happen.
I want to hear the Labour party saying that they will not commit to any agreement which includes an investor-state dispute settlement system. ISDS
Read the following- it will make your hair stand on end. http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_gallery/investor-state-dispute-settlement-isds/
ISDS stands for INSIDIOUS!!
Top lawyers urge the rejection of ISDS in an open letter:
http://tpplegal.wordpress.com/open-letter/
Hi Tautoko Viper, yeshe and all
There are events taking place at the same time in other centres (looks like more info posted on Facebook):
Wellington
Saturday 30 August, 1pm, Te Papa Museum (55 Cable Street, Wellington)
Christchurch
Saturday 30 August, 1pm, Hagley Park (Corner of Riccarton Road & Deans Avenue, Christchurch City)
Dunedin
Saturday 30 August, 1pm, The Octagon (Dunedin)
on nat-rad there was a discussion about our national anthem..
..and a txtr has suggested ‘anchor me’ at as a new anthem..
..i think that is a great idea..
..if only bcause how cool wd it be to have a national anthem that citizens of other countries wd like to sing/grove along to..?
..instead of the neo-militaristic/pompous bullshit most are..
.and if not ‘anchor me’..(which would be perfectly adequate..)..how about an online ballot to draw up a shortlist of contenders..and then a final vote..?..
..i wd like to nominate the underdogs:..’sitting in the rain’..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoxAc7gXtT0
..(i know john mayall wrote it..but i’m sure a deal cd be done with him..)
imagine footage of our sports-people/officials etc..at international forums/w.h.y..
..grooving along to what wd be the coolest-national-anthem-in-the-world..
(f.y.i…moderator..i attempted to post this at the end of the thread..it ended up here..)
What do we do when automation takes all the jobs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU&feature=share
@ draco..maybe we cd return to what i view as an almost idyllic time..
..and this was the life of the early european settlers in northern nsw…
..they were all sustained by the potato-economy..they all grew potatoes..
..and the cycle of the potato..namely plant…then go back and dig up..
..some time later..
..meant that as a society..they had an inordinate amount of spare time..
..and what grew up around that was a vibrant social life..involving much partying/sports-tournaments..and all things cultural..
..the arrival of sheep and the like..ended that idyll..
..but it has been done before..
..and as long as people are fed and housed..and able to live a life..(a universal basic income of sorts..?..perchance..?
..what’s to be afraid of..?
..life is meant to be lived..not to be a fucken wage-slave..
.to an ever-increasing age..
..bring on the automation..!
..and of course society will have to work differently than it does now..
..but that is not insurmountable..
Just heard that delightful Michele Boag attack David Fisher on the Panel. She said that he was a left wing non journalist who only looked at the faults in the Right wing.
The she made a huge leap. She says that on the Nation David said in relation to Nicky Hager’s book that “We wrote…!” Aha. She reckons David was involved in the writing of the book. “We.”
There was no one to balance her spite. Not Jim. Not Duncan ??
Smear anyone?
I think Michelle claimed David Fisher used the words “What we said in the Hager book…” and then goes onto to infer that because Fisher has written about Dotcom then that means Dotcom is involved in the material in Hager’s book. Crazy stuff.
I haven’t had time to review the Nation interview but my suspicion is that Fisher said “What we see…”
I suspect Boag is trying to blacken David Fisher’s name after his piece today in the Herald today. Hopefully he will take this up with Radio NZ.
Where’s Ms Boag ? She’s on Mora’s panel on RNZ now and the unctuous Mora has made it a benefit for her and the National Party the whole last hour. Including shutting down a guy from Demographia ready to give some solid stuff about the puffery of National’s housing policy. Sickmaking.
@ north..comment 26..
..yep..!..it was particularly gag-inducing..
..when she started doing her white-persons’-burden number pontifications/handwringings on the woes in the middle east..
..i was outta there..off to the park with the dogs..
..and yep..!..mora just lets her run..no matter how batshit-loony it gets..
Yet the whack jobs insist that generating electricity using nuclear fission is a safe and viable alternative.
.
Three and a half years after the most devastating nuclear accident in a generation, Fukushima Daiichi is still in crisis. Some 6,000 workers, somehow going about their jobs despite the suffocating gear they must wear for hours at a time, struggle to contain the damage. So much radiation still pulses inside the crippled reactor cores that no one has been able to get close enough to survey the full extent of the destruction. Every 2½ days, workers deploy a new giant storage tank to house radioactive water contaminated after passing through the damaged reactors. We wander past a forest of some 1,300 of these tanks, each filled with 1,000 tons of toxic water, some of which was used to cool the reactors.
http://time.com/worlds-most-dangerous-room/
Jim Mora’s panel on RNZ
Time to start a movement to get Bryan Gould on there as a regular guest?
Yes, please. I would tune in to listen then.
Six years of mismanagement ….. ‘Rock star no more?’
This is what happens when you don’t have a plan.
‘NZ economy could hit the rocks – economists
Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens said New Zealand’s recent growth had been fuelled by the Canterbury earthquake rebuild, low interest rates and a surge in net migration, which hit a 10-year high in the year to June.
”When the Canterbury rebuild ends people will be quite surprised by the size of the downturn,” he said.
Stephens said the strong net migration, which has been largely due to fewer New Zealanders moving to Australia and greater numbers returning from across the Tasman, is unlikely to continue at current levels for long.
”Australia will one day make a comeback. We are forecasting zero net migration for 2018. And one day interest rates will get big enough to crush the housing market,” he said.
”My fear is all three of those things will happen at the same time.”’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/10421920/NZ-economy-could-hit-the-rocks-economists
The NZ Herald asked its readers their views on the Nats housing policy.
Seems like the only people who like it are the Nat MPs and their media puppets…..
Here’s a sample of the most popular comments…
“So, after years of telling us that there is no housing crisis, here comes National at election time telling us how they can fix the ‘problems’ that exist in the housing market.
Their solution is laughable. Making a little more credit available will just increase prices. And besides, the top amount you can get – if you meet all their criteria – is $550K. That gets you two-thirds of sod all in the Auckland housing market.
New ‘starter’ homes at the much-heralded Hobsonville Point development start at $770K.
Why don’t they just promise to do what Labour is promising – to actually build affordable new homes.
This policy is a lot of noise with no promise of real results. Fail.”
“It wont address the issue. It will just push the house prices up, and still be a haven for property speculators. Once again, this government is just tinkering around pretending to do something to address the real issue.”
“It is a typical answer from a market/growth driven Government. This solution is still avoiding the market driven problem of overvaluation that has caused finance collapse all around the world – of course it is good for banks and merchant bankers – another boost to ponzi economics.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11313862
Interesting stuff about Cactus Kate — who sounds about as pleasant an individual as Slater — and her motivation for wanting Hager to feel some serious heat from a few Chinese she knows:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/08/new-zealand-prime-minister-john-key-the-whale-oil-blog-and-international-organized-crime.html
David Fisher is a brave man. Who else stand with him?
Kim dot com
Nah, not brave, simply a man of integrity who refuses to back down to Whaleoil’s threats. Lots of people will stand by him just as they will stand by Hager.
Somewhat surprisingly, it’s Rodney Hide who has supplied by far the best description of Cameron Slater I’ve read so far (and he should know). Hide says Slater is “like a pig in mud”. Damn, that’s spot on.
I think that’s very unkind to pigs. They are quite intelligent and can be trained. One of my friends had a Captain Cooker that he’d raised from a piglet after shooting its mum 🙁 It would do anything most dogs do, except for not being very good at jumping or climbing over things. It guarded his section, often bailing up the poaka at the gate. He went off it a bit after it moved a concrete slab and ate the pound of heads he’d hidden underneath it, but it survived that. In the end it started killing his neighbour’s chooks and he turned it into roast pork 🙁
The latest attack on John Key by a contemporary musician is what he deserves, any one in public office who has been found to have spent the country’s money and time promoting the shite that has turned up in Hager’s book has laid himself open for all that comes his way and he is not entitled to any more legal protection than the rest of us
He, who thinks he can do what hes done over the years he has been in politics in this country deserves to be held up in public by whatever the public feel individually or collectively that is democracy
‘
One thing I’d love to see put to Key:
Cameron Slater was roundly condemned by his hateful comments about a youth being “feral”, and the world was better off him,. “Dirty Politics” reveals Slater’s description of a call you made referring to the dead boy’s mother as being a woman who screamed at you at Pike meetings. You told the public today you rang Slater at this time just to say ‘” recognised her”.
Yeah fucking right. You total bare faced liar! Do you think for one moment ANYONE would believe you rang Slater at this time just to say ‘I know here” that and nothing else.
What sort of PM rings Slater at any time let alone this time. There’s no reason to believe Slater’s reporting of the essence of your call was anything but accurate.
What a deceitful horrid man you are John Key. My god what you must be like behind the bullshit image scares me.
You told the public today you rang Slater at this time just to say ‘” recognised her”.
Does anyone have a link or reference to Key making this statement today?
I’m strongly in agreement with the sentiments above; that this incident alone – regardless of what Key actually said to Slater in that conversation – should be the cause of Key’s resignation at 8:30am tommorrow morning.
It’s completely unconscionable on every level.
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/pike-families-dissatisfied-with-pms-visit-2014082618
He’s previously confirmed the call, including that he told Slater Jo Hall was at Pike meetings. It’s the one issue on which he’s been citing Hager for support from the day after the story broke, because Hager did not agree with Slater’s characterisation of the phone call.
I don’t know why it hasn’t had more attention. He’s abused his position in order to give Slater context about the family who had been attacked on the WO blog.
Thanks ER.
Yesterday I wrote this.
The next commenter threw me off the thread a little because I’m not living in NZ at the moment and I’m not up to speed with things. But now it’s clear Key did have a conversation with Slater to support and validate what he had done – it’s game over.
Think about it. There is absolutely no context in which Key can have made that call and remain Prime Minister. None.
And yet our media and commentators remain compliant lapdogs, perhaps going so far as to say that it’s “not a great look” but missing the point that Key remaining as PM finally turns NZ into the South Pacific equivalent of a banana republic.
The only thing John Key could have legitimately done over Slater’s actions – was to publicly condemn him and privately insist that his Office, staff and all National Party figures cease all contact with him immediately. Anything less would have been an unacceptable validation and support.
But what Key actually did was phone Slater personally (remarkable in any context) and pass on more details about Slater’s victim.
Is the New Zealand media ALL so compromised that they cannot see what is wrong here?