Watched ShonKey try very hard to explain his security council mtg, just did his yeah, nah, she’ll be right mate. He’s really good at filling up airtime with nothing but blah blah.
Coming our way with the National government – having to compete with multinationals to buy our own water…
“A small town in Ontario, Canada, has prompted fresh scrutiny of the bottled-water industry after its attempt secure a long-term water supply through the purchase of a well was outbid by the food and drinks multinational Nestlé.
When authorities in Centre Wellington, population of about 30,000, learned that Nestlé had put a bid on a spring water well in their region, they scrambled over the summer to counter with a competing bid. The goal was to safeguard a water supply for the township’s fast-growing population, Kelly Linton, the mayor, told the Guardian. “By 2041, we’ll be closer to 50,000 so protecting our water sources is critical to us.”
wtf. Farmer groups want to be able to use wayer, gm, etc, to make money, it does not matter other frmers aquifers dry up, or gm escapes, as long as the corp farmer can make profit oblivious of effects… ..just like shitty rivers.
why would any farmer lobby argue for gm and against regional efforts to grow value? Is the farming lobby a talk fest for big corp?
This is already happening in the north, unfortunately.
A small iwi is battling the Northland Regional Council to retain its long-held rights in the Poroti Springs which the NRC is busily selling off water rights to overseas companies – including Nestles which has been looking at Poroti Springs too. I’m not sure how far along Nestles has got with its resource consent application to withdraw water from the Springs.
There is the Freshwater site set up by Forest and Bird. Maybe it could be expanded to be an advocacy site for local water rights as so many are being hawked off by the National government and clueless councils around the country.
@b waghorn – name and shame. There has already been a case in the US where the judge ruled, water is not a human right. NZ needs to get active to nip water selloffs in the bud before there is no drinkable water left. It’s no coincidence corporates are buying up water. Everyone needs water – very profitable – especially when sold so cheaply in NZ with the help of the cronies.
Food for thought (I think some of it applies across the spectrum).
The left now suffer from closed minds and moral smugness. They are moribund and backward-looking.
They run from ideas. Opposing philosophies distress them.
They pillory dissenters as stupid or immoral and often both. There’s no debating or explaining, just abuse for those who step outside received wisdom.
The left have taken to social media with gusto. It only takes 140 characters to abuse and attack.
They fill Twitter and blogs with their righteousness and smugness, puffed up by their own perceived moral and intellectual superiority.
There’s no allowance that a person with a differing view might offer an opportunity to learn and to strengthen your ideas and perhaps, just perhaps, to change them.
That’s never allowed as a possibility.
Their minds are closed and they gasp and take offence at any idea or opinion different to their own.
Indeed, ganging up against dissenters on social media is what binds them. Their attacks on others proves to them their correctness and superiority.
The left are puzzled about why they’re politically marginalised but never trouble themselves to listen to those who have turned away from them. They look down on them and despise them.
The left view their political failure as the fault of voters who must be hoodwinked, stupid, selfish, or suffering some other ethical or intellectual shortcoming. Why else would they not be supporting the left when they are so good and true?
The problem is never with the left or their doctrine.
They are a self-reinforcing sect who in their wretchedness and anger are becoming ever smaller. Their narrow and insular outlook prevents them reaching out. Little wonder it’s not attractive to new recruits.
Labour is the narrow party that has shut itself off from the great bulk of New Zealanders.
Rodney Hides opinion? Fuck off.
I have just read through yesterdays Open Mike…. wow. Well done all the contributors , esp CV and Paul and Adrian, for ably fending off the narrow minded, ignorant defenders of ‘ pax Americana ‘ or , to put it more bluntly, those who are basically backing Zionism.
For me all the hypocrisy of the USA can be summed up in one word….. Vietnam.
Yes, we can really listen to Rodney – ACT last election getting less than 1% of votes. Bit like at the amount of voters who actually take ACT seriously and soon to be the amount of people who take the Herald seriously.
Even die hard Natz supporters know that Granny is not really a news organisation anymore and you can’t trust news from Granny – sponsor-an-article cum crony-alert-reporting style. Have MR less than 1% Hide as a commentator just reinforces their dying readership.
Yep – and revolutionary as the idea might seem to the likes of Pete George, a country with 300 000 children in poverty and an entire generation consigned to homelessness has no particular need to slide further to the right. It has significant and pressing pragmatic problems that paying lip service to the bloody idols of neoliberalism will not address.
and an entire generation consigned to homelessness has no particular need to slide further to the right.
Labour will have the first affordable $600,000 homes ready by 2019. So the Aucklanders priced out of the housing market today only need to put their lives on hold until then.
(By which time the prices of the “affordable” homes will be more like $700,000).
It is of course optimistic, but the hope is that when they get their paws on the reins of power they will begin to govern, part of which will necessarily include addressing such problems. Better that they have a local Corbynist lobby to encourage them probably, or a community housing initiative to show them the way.
One of the outcomes of the last election for Labour was to notice that the Gnats produced no policy. The Gnats have no intention of being lampooned in public for their gross dishonesty and manifest stupidity. This is a lesson Labour has learned. We will only see a general picture of what they might do – but if you want genuine growth and reform that will need to come from a community base. Produce a working model & Labour might be very happy to fund and proliferate it. But thus far it doesn’t seem to be how they choose to fight their corner.
One of the outcomes of the last election for Labour was to notice that the Gnats produced no policy. The Gnats have no intention of being lampooned in public for their gross dishonesty and manifest stupidity. This is a lesson Labour has learned.
Labour has been facing off against the National tories since the 1930s.
You can’t tell me that they’ve only just figured out how Tories think.
The Tories changed their presentation. Under Bill English they represented themselves honestly as the crooked and unambiguously backward set of chumps they actually are. Key brought in the Crosby Textor thing – and the MSM decided they could embrace bias without any proximate prospect of comeuppance. Now the media are locked in – they will be reformed when the Gnats leave power and they know it.
Nevertheless a strong press is believed to be one of the pillars of a healthy democracy – and I think we are feeling the lack. But yes, the LP isn’t setting speed records. Partly this is that feature of organisations that they grow to do the opposite of what they were established for. This is where a large activist membership is supposed to apply corrective feedback.
There are some curiosities in reform movements in that they require a receptive environment to develop new ideas – an incubator or as the trolls would have it an echo chamber. The Beijing student uprising resembled nothing so much as a magnetron – the ring of university campuses acting as the circulating amplifying chambers feeding the centre.
If you react badly to that you may well be proving Rodney’s point.
Pete George is moribund and backward-looking. He suffers from a closed mind and moral smugness. He runs from ideas and opposing philosophies distress him.
If he reacts badly to that he may well be proving my point.
The good thing about Rodders is. He’s full of shit and everyone knows it.
Aucklander’s want his testicles danglin from the sky tower in recognition of his superb super city idea.
I imaging stepping out in public is wonderful for him. Wondering if someone will dent his face.
As for the article. It’s actually a reflection of their own closed minds, they(people like him) think everyone else is behaving like they do themselves.
Rodney telling the left they have closed minds is more so outrageous that it will click bait people into A reading his article,. B push up ratings at the Herald which thankfully is diving like a Stuka!
I used to read the Herald, now it’s a third rate click bait celebrity mag. They lost the plot. If the Herald doesn’t turn it around soon it’ll be gone.
Sacking Rodney and actually reporting news would help.
As for the article. It’s actually a reflection of their own closed minds, they(people like him) think everyone else is behaving like they do themselves.
Yep, pure bloody projection and we see it from the RWNJs all the time as they use their own actions to justify keeping things the way they are and even to make things worse instead of making things better.
“Willem Wiskerke, a spokesman for Greenpeace Netherlands said: “He is a climate denier like Donald Trump, nothing more, nothing less, a rightwing, fact-free populist who denies the climate crisis and will not put any effort into solving it.”
“You will like me very much” – the Don to fossil fuel execs:
“The same day as a new report highlighted the carbon emissions calamity that would accompany new fossil fuel extraction, Donald Trump promised an audience of fossil fuel executives that is the very agenda he would pursue if elected to the White House.
” “Oh, you will like me so much,” the Republican presidential candidate said in his address to the Shale Insight conference in Pittsburgh on Thursday.
“He promised to lift regulations, open up more federal lands for fossil fuel extraction—including coal and fracking—and ease the way for new fossil fuel infrastructure projects including pipelines.
From your Stuff link:
“A large chunk of Canterbury’s coast will again be offered up for oil and gas exploration, under a Government proposal described as “lunacy” by Christchurch’s deputy mayor.
“The Government wants to set aside nearly 300,000 square kilometres of New Zealand’s east coast for oil and gas companies as part of its 2017 block offer.
“The annual block offer allows companies to compete for exploration permits.
“This year’s proposed offer would open up the largest area near Canterbury yet.
“It includes a space near the Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Reserve, home to the endangered Hector’s dolphin.”
“Last year’s offer was deeply unpopular with the Christchurch City Council and environmental groups.
“They argued that deep-sea drilling could threaten the region with a catastrophic oil spill for little economic gain.”
“Under Hide’s leadership, the vote in the September 2005 elections severely reduced ACT’s party parliamentary representation. ACT’s share of the party vote dropped from over 7% of the total in 2002 to around 1.5%; its representation in Parliament fell from nine MPs to two. Despite this reduction, the party remained in parliament due to Hide winning the Epsom seat. As a consequence of its reduced share of the vote, ACT received a significant cut in taxpayer-funded Parliamentary resourcing and Hide shifted his electorate office in Remuera to Newmarket, the same location as that of ACT’s head office”
wiki
now that Rodney’s (and by extension, ACT’s) popularity/support has been bought up it occurs to me if you want to measure the publics appetite for neoliberal theory you only need to examine the level of support for ACT, which I believe peaked at around 7% and now languishes within the MoE
It is quite amazing that ACT got 7% as we always beleived that there were only 5% intelligent enough to vote ACT. Now some 4% are looking elsewhere …. NZF ?
Sorry that is trolling but I couldn’t resist 🙂
I was showing that ‘save nz’ is wrong, Hide has had many people voting for him in an electorate, especially when compared to Little.
I said nothing about ‘his popularity alone’, it was more complex than that but Hide worked hard in Epsom. I don’t think anyone gets all their votes on popularity alone.
In 2008 ACT got 85,496 votes, that had little to do with National and quite a lot to do with Hide’s efforts.
@Peter George – save the spin. We all know that they were National voters told to vote for him to prop up the Natz. Not many people would willingly vote for Hide. He’s a joke, as is his ideology.
You’re claiming that 78% of Epsom voters acted under instruction from National. Confirmation your comment wasn’t ‘a colloquial euphemism’, you were making thing things up.
In the old Newspaper days letters to the editor would have curtailed them from posting to much of fringe politicians crap like Rodney.
The complaints and stinging letters he received would have told him that. The editors letters would have also put the dickhead back where he belongs, talking fringe politics to nutters in a mental health ward.
Take this little fact in, someone born since 1980 doesn’t know truth or proper politics like us older people. They have never heard dissention. They have never seen proper protests(springboks tour someone born 1980 ain’t going to remember) They don’t know what unions can do, all they know is wall street, greed is good, consumerism and having the latest phone and trainers is important.
” talking fringe politics to nutters in a mental health ward.”
By this I assume you mean the way a senile old fool like Geoffrey Palmer on his ideas for a written Constitution?
Now there is someone who really should be ignored.
alwyn the list of people who enter representative politics with completely the wrong mental attitude, and who have not been scarred in some way by their nurture is tiny. Most of them who seek the halls of power, do it for fame, and ego.
It’s the one field I think psychological evaluation should be completed on, that is anyone seeking public office. IMHO.
Start with John Key, and many questions about his mum, and how long he breast fed for. Did he find it comforting gently pulling her hair whilst he was feeding on the nipple at 10, or did he think it felt a little strange at that age.
That’s what the media tells us, Richard Rawshark, but I do keep coming across young people who are thinking about other things – not just worried about not being able to own a home, but worried about climate change, dirty waters, oil drilling, and NZ (their home) being taken over by multitudes of others.
I just hope there are enough of these younger people to carry on dissension and protests when the time comes for those things.
sadly I did the one thing there I hate most, I stereo typed. Sorry. Their are a lot of good youth out there don’t get me wrong. barring the stereotyping i’m sure you all get the gist of what I said though.
I consider the youth of the greens Genter etc, an example of youth excelling beyond what we could back in my day. But they seem fewer.
US RWNJ’s doing the Trumps going to win thing when Hillary will clearly pass the post, is an old trick they employ when it’s looking bad for their guy. In that it’s to stop the rot and keep voters and try to gain the undecided.
Hope i’m right on that, even though Hillarys donkey deep in it too(war mongering), Trumps scarier and a big gamble. Better the devil you know.
Good to see the latest attempt to spread CCOs and forced local government amalgamations has been shelved.
Glad to have helped.
Seen this?
‘Activists – get things done’
Unlike ALL the other Auckland Mayoral candidates – I successfully petitioned Parliament for an urgent inquiry into Auckland Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs).
The following information I made available to Mayors in other parts of NZ to assist in their fight back against the continued corporate takeover of our local democracy, our assets and our public property.
The following proves that I already have an effective working relationship with central government.
Petition 2014/33 of Penelope Mary Bright and 55 others, and Report from the Controller and Auditor-General, Governance and accountability of council- controlled organisations
Nuclear Power and Climate Change – excerpt:
“Overall, the idea that atomic power is “clean” or “carbon free” or “emission free” is a very expensive misconception, especially when compared to renewable energy, efficiency, and conservation. Among conservation, efficiency, solar and wind power technologies, there are no global warming analogs to the heat, carbon, and radioactive waste impacts of nuclear power. No green technology kills anywhere near the number of marine organisms that die through reactor cooling systems.
“Rooftop solar panels do not lose ten percent of the power they generate to transmission, as happens with virtually all centralized power generators. S. David Freeman, former head of numerous large utilities and author of All Electric America: A Climate Solution and the Hopeful Future, says: “Renewables are cheaper and safer. That argument is winning. Let’s stick to it.”
Financially it seems pretty clear that renewables are the cheapest option for utility-scale new builds, even without a carbon tax. So worldwide I doubt we’ll see many more nuclear new builds, at least in western countries.
But it seems to me the appropriate comparison for nuclear is against fossil fuels. In that comparison, nuclear still looks pretty favourable to coal/gas/oil (and actually even hydro) in terms of land area ruined and human health/mortality footprints, even considering the worst case projections from Chernobyl, Fukushima etc. So to me, it looks like an environmental setback when a nuclear plant is closed prematurely while fossil plants feeding the same grid are still running and polluting.
Current production is far from ideal, but it’s still a lot better than fossil fuels. Most of the problems with current production are fairly easy to manage and eliminate, if the producers are incentivised to actually do it.
Interesting comments by Rodney Hide on the left in the herald this morning, expresses much commentary you see on this site
“The left view their political failure as the fault of voters who must be hoodwinked, stupid, selfish, or suffering some other ethical or intellectual shortcoming. Why else would they not be supporting the left when they are so good and true?
The problem is never with the left or their doctrine.
They are a self-reinforcing sect who in their wretchedness and anger are becoming ever smaller. Their narrow and insular outlook prevents them reaching out. Little wonder it’s not attractive to new recruits.
It’s astonishing that National is now the vibrant party looking to the future and open to diverse views.
Labour is the narrow party that has shut itself off from the great bulk of New Zealanders.”
He does have point Paul no matter how much you may not like it, the lefts failure can’t be all externally afflicted, ie msm, dumb voters and other conspiracies
““The left view their political failure as the fault of voters who must be hoodwinked, stupid, selfish, or suffering some other ethical or intellectual shortcoming. Why else would they not be supporting the left when they are so good and true?
The problem is never with the left or their doctrine.”
meanwhile – if you talk to people on the left you quickly find the above assertion to be based on a deliberate over simplification of actual arguments made
We had a wander around MOTAT on Friday and came across a potted history of Radio in New Zealand. This is what I read –
“On New Year’s Day in 1932 the Government took over the responsibility of the Radio Broadcasting Company in providing a national service. This was done under a three man Broadcasting Board who was also given the power to impose restrictions on the private stations. By 1937 most of the private stations had been bought by the New Zealand Government. Two distinct systems were then set up – one NATIONAL and one COMMERCIAL.
The first Director of Broadcasting was Professor James Shelley. He saw radio as an instrument of real democracy based on a sympathetic understanding of all points of view.
In 1946 the commercial and non-commercial branches of the national radio system were amalgamated under the name New Zealand Broadcasting Service.”
My words – the poor sod Professor Shelley will be turning in his grave at the state of our airways these days – so much for “a sympathetic understanding of all points of view.” There isn’t one jot of balance in anything we listen to on Radio or TV – just adoration for a corrupt Government which is sickening.
Tend to agree nutters on both sides of the phone , the medium attracts them like moths to a flame Albeit I do find Paul Henry entertaining you just need to take him with a grain of salt
I didn’t realise they went right through to Holyoake’s time in the early 1960s. If it was early in his second term that he got rid of it, it would seem that he didn’t approve of the practice. He was only there for about 3 months in 1957 before the election and he wouldn’t really have time to change very much.
Was Nash also doing it? From what you say it sounds as if he must have been.
Actually I can tolerate Fraser if it was about anything to do with the war.
However I highlighted Savage because he was the PM when Shelley was primarily involved in broadcasting and it was Shelley that WK was talking about.
As per your link – in 1947 things were relaxed to allow controversial broadcasts to be aired but Prime Ministerial approval was required until restrictions were abolished in 1962.
If you want to hear an out of touch ex pollie who actually dislikes democracy making a complete fool of himself, tune in to Natrad and listen to doddery old Geoffrey Palmer play with his constitutional toy soldiers.
Well said. He would tie us up in expensive knots for years trying to nut out a constitution. The main benefits of the monarchy are its distance and saving us from yet another self-important ex-pollie (like Geoffrey?) pretending to be our head of state.
It’s a esotreic academic law professors hobby horse, law lecturers blather on about it in 101 law since the the beginning of time The rest of us don’t really give a monkeys, status quo is fine, bigger issues to deal with
+100 rhino…lol…we live in a time of profound bullshit, trivia …and wasted time and white collar technological trickery and bankster fraud and usury…driven by materialism and venal mindless greed
“President Barack Obama used a pseudonym when communicating with then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by email, while her IT company referred to her email deleting as a “cover-up”, new FBI documents reveal….
During the interview with Huma Abedin, who served as deputy chief of staff under Clinton, the FBI reportedly presented her with an email exchange between Clinton and a person she did not recognize. The FBI then revealed the unknown person’s name was believed to be a pseudonym used by Obama. Abedin reacted by saying, “How is this not classified?”
This exchange could expose Obama as having mislead the public on the issue, given his 2015 statement that he found out about Clinton’s use of a private email server “the same time everybody else learned it, through news reports.”…
Cops, a lot of talk about cops lately, underfunded, understaffed, ignoring things, skewing stats..
If Key remained PM lets say for another decade god forbid, how long do the standardista”s think it will be before a police surcharge to come out, comes along.
What was it 25 police stations to close, but a little while ago they close a load down too.
Why do we pay tax under national, they have pretty much driven everything under.
Anyone can talk about moving left of the centre; where is the left wing action, the left wing policy and the left wing personnel from Labour to back it up?
He would be silly to show all his cards to early , but going on clarkes performance on the tpp and praising of shit key, having Little publicly slap her down speaks volumes.
He is the right man for the next pm.
More crap neoliberal advice from last century. Thanks but no thanks Aunty Helen. Little was right to distance himself from Helen’s divisive legacy.
Anyway, Key currently rules the “centre” and won’t be budged. Labour’s only chance to get it back is if FJK makes a huge ballsup like David Cameron, but I reckon Key is more self aware
John Key is an exceptional politician. As cunning as Fraser, as likable as Lange. But his set piece, 'statesman' speeches are bloddy shite— Morgan Godfery (@MorganGodfery) September 21, 2016
Aunty Helen was right and is always right. She was smart to quickly dump any left-wing policies unpalatable to the centre so that she could appeal to the ‘middle’ voters.
Wrong, she lost the 2008 election because she wasted her political capital on pet social policies that alienated most voters. And she failed to address inequality and the growing housing bubble.
I respect her as a well-intentioned and highly intelligent person, her government was excellent on foreign policy, but she bought into the “Third Way” Blairite bullshit on economic matters, a betrayal of all workers & class struggles of the last century
In the next election I will be voting Green Party(not Labour ) for the first time in what will be my 12th election.
The last time I voted National was for Muldoon, and I honestly believe that was the last time a National Party leader gave a shit for the ordinary kiwi.
Key spoke as if he were more interested in his own speech rather than any solution for the Syrian people.
That neither the US nor Russia batted an eyelid at Key’s weak pleas to ‘hold hands’ over the matter, and indeed doubled their strikes immediately says a lot about how the rest of the world views him.
I’m loving the DPRK News Service. (yes, it’s a parody account)
As expected, oily cave troll Ted Cruise offers endorsement of shouting rotting papaya Donald Trump, to applause of idiot racists across US. pic.twitter.com/5PyU7G1l2g— DPRK News Service (@DPRK_News) September 23, 2016
I Imagine Clinton’s heard about Gennifer Flowers’ appearance at the first debate so I guess she’s out and about organising a front row seat for Trump’s former mistress.
A well written rant, shame Trotter didn’t get his facts straight, some reactions from Spinoff/GenZero author here (the whole thread on twitter is longer)
Never seen anyone get this pissed over a b-. If I publish my academic transcript will you stop calling us corrupt?— Leroy Beckett (@LeroyBeckett) September 25, 2016
saying we have been paid for our opinions or anything GZ do is laughable and kinda offensive to the ridiculous amount of work we do for free— Leroy Beckett (@LeroyBeckett) September 25, 2016
For what it's worth, scorecards and UP campaigns funded entirely from small donations from our supporters. All that went to promotions— Leroy Beckett (@LeroyBeckett) September 25, 2016
i know nothing of Lee but the endorsement of Ralston was what caused the enquiry…and as you note, they didn’t defend their endorsements merely their funding.
That said I think Trotter is right about the UP being twisted by property developers & speculators for their own ends, it is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. Need to close the immigration floodgates, penalise speculation & McMansions, and implement proper rates/LVT based on unimproved land value.
A major problem with Millennials is they have no concept of life outside of the market oriented neoliberal narratives. From TDB:
Underlying this debate is the mute acceptance of the government’s ‘more is always better’ mantra by so many. Anyone who dissents is attacked overtly and covertly. Huge population increase is being pursued solely to line the pockets of the already rich and will be detrimental to NZ in most respects. We should be growing quality, not numbers. We would not have to build hundreds of thousands of homes over productive horticultural land if we accepted pursued a small, high quality niche approach.
“A while back, Mikhail Gorbachev famously said: ‘The most puzzling development in modern politics is the apparent determination of Western European leaders to re-create the Soviet Union in Western Europe.’
Gorbachev wasn’t referring to the European Union’s hunger to expand eastwards, but instead the bloc’s top-heavy governance, where smaller states are increasingly dominated by larger members.
This was evident last year, when Angela Merkel pretty much unilaterally imposed a liberal migration policy on the confederation, which has led to massive division…
You’re very welcome. And this one also sometime at the end of last month:
“Market Economy – Reinvent or Reboot?”
Yanis Varoufakis versus Clemens Fuest, at the Alpbach Forum, along the lines of the proposition: “The market economy is the best model. It will also successfully manage the challenges faced in the future.” Agree or disagree with this statement?”
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
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This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
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1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
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TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
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Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
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Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
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Watched ShonKey try very hard to explain his security council mtg, just did his yeah, nah, she’ll be right mate. He’s really good at filling up airtime with nothing but blah blah.
JEZ HE DID! Despite a purge that prevented a quarter of Labour supporters from voting.
http://www.thecanary.co/2016/09/24/jez-despite-purge-prevented-quarter-labour-supporters-voting/
Hokio Stream has become ‘an open sewer’ after years of polluting
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/84576646/hokio-stream-has-become-an-open-sewer-after-years-of-polluting
Coming our way with the National government – having to compete with multinationals to buy our own water…
“A small town in Ontario, Canada, has prompted fresh scrutiny of the bottled-water industry after its attempt secure a long-term water supply through the purchase of a well was outbid by the food and drinks multinational Nestlé.
When authorities in Centre Wellington, population of about 30,000, learned that Nestlé had put a bid on a spring water well in their region, they scrambled over the summer to counter with a competing bid. The goal was to safeguard a water supply for the township’s fast-growing population, Kelly Linton, the mayor, told the Guardian. “By 2041, we’ll be closer to 50,000 so protecting our water sources is critical to us.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/24/canada-nestle-water-well-bid-centre-wellington
That is what will happen if the government brings in tradeable water rights.
wtf. Farmer groups want to be able to use wayer, gm, etc, to make money, it does not matter other frmers aquifers dry up, or gm escapes, as long as the corp farmer can make profit oblivious of effects… ..just like shitty rivers.
why would any farmer lobby argue for gm and against regional efforts to grow value? Is the farming lobby a talk fest for big corp?
This is already happening in the north, unfortunately.
A small iwi is battling the Northland Regional Council to retain its long-held rights in the Poroti Springs which the NRC is busily selling off water rights to overseas companies – including Nestles which has been looking at Poroti Springs too. I’m not sure how far along Nestles has got with its resource consent application to withdraw water from the Springs.
Shocking Jenny Kirk!
There is the Freshwater site set up by Forest and Bird. Maybe it could be expanded to be an advocacy site for local water rights as so many are being hawked off by the National government and clueless councils around the country.
https://web.facebook.com/groups/freshwater111/?_rdr
there is a bottling plant taking the best aquifer water in the havlock north/ napier area for bottling will the locals drink shit.
@b waghorn – name and shame. There has already been a case in the US where the judge ruled, water is not a human right. NZ needs to get active to nip water selloffs in the bud before there is no drinkable water left. It’s no coincidence corporates are buying up water. Everyone needs water – very profitable – especially when sold so cheaply in NZ with the help of the cronies.
http://nzmiracle.com/en_US/
http://onepure.co.nz/our-mineral-water/
It would appear there is two of them.
Food for thought (I think some of it applies across the spectrum).
Some of that may be a bit on the nose but it is generally quite close to the mark. If you react badly to that you may well be proving Rodney’s point.
If the left want to attract more support they need to look more attractive.
Rodney Hide is not someone whose views are worth listening to.
The left now suffer from closed minds and moral smugness. They are moribund and backward-looking.
They run from ideas. Opposing philosophies distress them.
Top of the article Paul.
I would not call what comes from Hide’s brains ideas.
+1
Nor would I confuse laughing at his dated drivel with ‘distress’.
+1
We are reading them Paul …. anyway much of what he wrote applies to those on the right … the signs of “true beleivers” including religious devotees. 🙂
Rodney Hides opinion? Fuck off.
I have just read through yesterdays Open Mike…. wow. Well done all the contributors , esp CV and Paul and Adrian, for ably fending off the narrow minded, ignorant defenders of ‘ pax Americana ‘ or , to put it more bluntly, those who are basically backing Zionism.
For me all the hypocrisy of the USA can be summed up in one word….. Vietnam.
Yes, we can really listen to Rodney – ACT last election getting less than 1% of votes. Bit like at the amount of voters who actually take ACT seriously and soon to be the amount of people who take the Herald seriously.
Even die hard Natz supporters know that Granny is not really a news organisation anymore and you can’t trust news from Granny – sponsor-an-article cum crony-alert-reporting style. Have MR less than 1% Hide as a commentator just reinforces their dying readership.
The left will not get support from the right – they would be fools to look for it.
+1
But we do need to point out their delusional ideology and how it fails the nation.
Yep – and revolutionary as the idea might seem to the likes of Pete George, a country with 300 000 children in poverty and an entire generation consigned to homelessness has no particular need to slide further to the right. It has significant and pressing pragmatic problems that paying lip service to the bloody idols of neoliberalism will not address.
Labour will have the first affordable $600,000 homes ready by 2019. So the Aucklanders priced out of the housing market today only need to put their lives on hold until then.
(By which time the prices of the “affordable” homes will be more like $700,000).
It is of course optimistic, but the hope is that when they get their paws on the reins of power they will begin to govern, part of which will necessarily include addressing such problems. Better that they have a local Corbynist lobby to encourage them probably, or a community housing initiative to show them the way.
What are their plans with these “reins of power”?
How are they going to “address such problems”?
Labour have now had 8 years cooling their heels in Opposition. What have they come up with in that time that we can look forward to?
One of the outcomes of the last election for Labour was to notice that the Gnats produced no policy. The Gnats have no intention of being lampooned in public for their gross dishonesty and manifest stupidity. This is a lesson Labour has learned. We will only see a general picture of what they might do – but if you want genuine growth and reform that will need to come from a community base. Produce a working model & Labour might be very happy to fund and proliferate it. But thus far it doesn’t seem to be how they choose to fight their corner.
Labour has been facing off against the National tories since the 1930s.
You can’t tell me that they’ve only just figured out how Tories think.
The Tories changed their presentation. Under Bill English they represented themselves honestly as the crooked and unambiguously backward set of chumps they actually are. Key brought in the Crosby Textor thing – and the MSM decided they could embrace bias without any proximate prospect of comeuppance. Now the media are locked in – they will be reformed when the Gnats leave power and they know it.
We on The Standard can figure this shit out way fucking faster than the Labour caucus.
A Labour Govt is going to do fuck all “reform” to the MSM.
Nevertheless a strong press is believed to be one of the pillars of a healthy democracy – and I think we are feeling the lack. But yes, the LP isn’t setting speed records. Partly this is that feature of organisations that they grow to do the opposite of what they were established for. This is where a large activist membership is supposed to apply corrective feedback.
There are some curiosities in reform movements in that they require a receptive environment to develop new ideas – an incubator or as the trolls would have it an echo chamber. The Beijing student uprising resembled nothing so much as a magnetron – the ring of university campuses acting as the circulating amplifying chambers feeding the centre.
If you react badly to that you may well be proving Rodney’s point.
Pete George is moribund and backward-looking. He suffers from a closed mind and moral smugness. He runs from ideas and opposing philosophies distress him.
If he reacts badly to that he may well be proving my point.
He fills Twitter and blogs with [his] righteousness and smugness, puffed up by [his] own perceived moral and intellectual superiority.
OMG this is a great game, PM!
Yeah this Pete and George team are even worse than the Thatcher loving Gilbert and George!
+1 PM
Perhaps the Herald only publishes Hide’s silliness for amusement, not real political analysis
@ Rodney Hide rubbish on the Left…”They run from ideas” ….compared with this do-nothing regime…LOL.
Call me closed minded if you like but I never ever ever ever read Hypocrite Hide.
Or you just think Perky is a waste of skin.
The good thing about Rodders is. He’s full of shit and everyone knows it.
Aucklander’s want his testicles danglin from the sky tower in recognition of his superb super city idea.
I imaging stepping out in public is wonderful for him. Wondering if someone will dent his face.
As for the article. It’s actually a reflection of their own closed minds, they(people like him) think everyone else is behaving like they do themselves.
Rodney telling the left they have closed minds is more so outrageous that it will click bait people into A reading his article,. B push up ratings at the Herald which thankfully is diving like a Stuka!
I used to read the Herald, now it’s a third rate click bait celebrity mag. They lost the plot. If the Herald doesn’t turn it around soon it’ll be gone.
Sacking Rodney and actually reporting news would help.
Hide’s idea is basically there is no alternative to neo-liberalism.
I think he’s also a climate denier.
So we should be listening to this git.
Ha ha.
Yep, pure bloody projection and we see it from the RWNJs all the time as they use their own actions to justify keeping things the way they are and even to make things worse instead of making things better.
“Willem Wiskerke, a spokesman for Greenpeace Netherlands said: “He is a climate denier like Donald Trump, nothing more, nothing less, a rightwing, fact-free populist who denies the climate crisis and will not put any effort into solving it.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/23/dutch-parliament-votes-to-close-down-countrys-coal-industry
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/23/existing-coal-oil-and-gas-fields-will-blow-carbon-budget-study
meanwhile…..
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/84445709/large-area-off-canterbury-coast-proposed-for-oil-exploration
“You will like me very much” – the Don to fossil fuel execs:
“The same day as a new report highlighted the carbon emissions calamity that would accompany new fossil fuel extraction, Donald Trump promised an audience of fossil fuel executives that is the very agenda he would pursue if elected to the White House.
” “Oh, you will like me so much,” the Republican presidential candidate said in his address to the Shale Insight conference in Pittsburgh on Thursday.
“He promised to lift regulations, open up more federal lands for fossil fuel extraction—including coal and fracking—and ease the way for new fossil fuel infrastructure projects including pipelines.
” Trump said he would get rid of “all unnecessary regulations, and [place] a temporary moratorium on new regulations not compelled by Congress or public safety.” He also called anti-coal regulations “unfair to our people and our workers.” ” http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/09/23/trump-fossil-fuel-execs-you-will-me-so-much
From your Stuff link:
“A large chunk of Canterbury’s coast will again be offered up for oil and gas exploration, under a Government proposal described as “lunacy” by Christchurch’s deputy mayor.
“The Government wants to set aside nearly 300,000 square kilometres of New Zealand’s east coast for oil and gas companies as part of its 2017 block offer.
“The annual block offer allows companies to compete for exploration permits.
“This year’s proposed offer would open up the largest area near Canterbury yet.
“It includes a space near the Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Reserve, home to the endangered Hector’s dolphin.”
“Last year’s offer was deeply unpopular with the Christchurch City Council and environmental groups.
“They argued that deep-sea drilling could threaten the region with a catastrophic oil spill for little economic gain.”
why encourage further investment and reliance on near term stranded assets……unless you don’t believe those assets will be stranded.
Is it even “investment” – in the truest sense of the word. Surely it is exploitation.
or fraud even….unless you don’t believe in CC.
and another generation of colonisation, as well as exploitation Manuka AOR.
Is there a way to end it?
If they struck oil there the economic gain would be out of this world.
If there was a big earthquake there, their could possibly be an out of this world catastrophe.
It’s just business to National we need energy we buy oil in, it would save us money and make money and jobs,. pure business.
You cannot change nature.
@Pat – Hides not even a populist. No one ever voted for him.
Rodney’s piece has no bearing on my post..though I do agree he is unlikely to ever be described as populist (nor popular)
Epsom 2005:
– Rodney Hide 21,102
– Richard Worth (National) 8,220
– Kate Sutton (Labour) 5,112
– Keith Locke *Greens) 2,787
New Plymouth 2014
– Jonathan Young (National) 21,566
– Andrew Little (Labour) 11,788
Young is ranked 38th in National’s caucus.
“Under Hide’s leadership, the vote in the September 2005 elections severely reduced ACT’s party parliamentary representation. ACT’s share of the party vote dropped from over 7% of the total in 2002 to around 1.5%; its representation in Parliament fell from nine MPs to two. Despite this reduction, the party remained in parliament due to Hide winning the Epsom seat. As a consequence of its reduced share of the vote, ACT received a significant cut in taxpayer-funded Parliamentary resourcing and Hide shifted his electorate office in Remuera to Newmarket, the same location as that of ACT’s head office”
wiki
Thanks Rodney
now that Rodney’s (and by extension, ACT’s) popularity/support has been bought up it occurs to me if you want to measure the publics appetite for neoliberal theory you only need to examine the level of support for ACT, which I believe peaked at around 7% and now languishes within the MoE
It is quite amazing that ACT got 7% as we always beleived that there were only 5% intelligent enough to vote ACT. Now some 4% are looking elsewhere …. NZF ?
Sorry that is trolling but I couldn’t resist 🙂
Explain what your getting at Pete please.
I feel a correction coming on if your trying to tell me Rodney won that against National on his popularity alone.
As for Andrew, yeah well, never been NP, wouldn’t have a clue to judge that result.
I was showing that ‘save nz’ is wrong, Hide has had many people voting for him in an electorate, especially when compared to Little.
I said nothing about ‘his popularity alone’, it was more complex than that but Hide worked hard in Epsom. I don’t think anyone gets all their votes on popularity alone.
In 2008 ACT got 85,496 votes, that had little to do with National and quite a lot to do with Hide’s efforts.
Striding victoriously over Savenz’s use of a colloquial euphemism, don’t get altitude sickness.
@Peter George – save the spin. We all know that they were National voters told to vote for him to prop up the Natz. Not many people would willingly vote for Hide. He’s a joke, as is his ideology.
You’re claiming that 78% of Epsom voters acted under instruction from National. Confirmation your comment wasn’t ‘a colloquial euphemism’, you were making thing things up.
I am sure the Labour Party should be taking its advice form Tories.
I like the way Kate Sutton still pulled in 5k of votes in Epsom, in bloody Epsom! Go Kate!
National and Rodney/Act must have really ignored their constituents or been talking to much shit for that to happen.
In the old Newspaper days letters to the editor would have curtailed them from posting to much of fringe politicians crap like Rodney.
The complaints and stinging letters he received would have told him that. The editors letters would have also put the dickhead back where he belongs, talking fringe politics to nutters in a mental health ward.
Take this little fact in, someone born since 1980 doesn’t know truth or proper politics like us older people. They have never heard dissention. They have never seen proper protests(springboks tour someone born 1980 ain’t going to remember) They don’t know what unions can do, all they know is wall street, greed is good, consumerism and having the latest phone and trainers is important.
” talking fringe politics to nutters in a mental health ward.”
By this I assume you mean the way a senile old fool like Geoffrey Palmer on his ideas for a written Constitution?
Now there is someone who really should be ignored.
alwyn the list of people who enter representative politics with completely the wrong mental attitude, and who have not been scarred in some way by their nurture is tiny. Most of them who seek the halls of power, do it for fame, and ego.
It’s the one field I think psychological evaluation should be completed on, that is anyone seeking public office. IMHO.
Start with John Key, and many questions about his mum, and how long he breast fed for. Did he find it comforting gently pulling her hair whilst he was feeding on the nipple at 10, or did he think it felt a little strange at that age.
🙂
That’s what the media tells us, Richard Rawshark, but I do keep coming across young people who are thinking about other things – not just worried about not being able to own a home, but worried about climate change, dirty waters, oil drilling, and NZ (their home) being taken over by multitudes of others.
I just hope there are enough of these younger people to carry on dissension and protests when the time comes for those things.
…..the time comes for those things.
The youth I grew up with at that time would have marched to the beehive and thrown by force this National government out by now even.
Seriously.
Time comes for those things.., with this lot, it WILL be to late.
“I just hope there are enough of these younger people to carry on dissension and protests when the time comes for those things.”
Well you had about 100 protesters out in force yesterday for the union lead rally in Auckland.
sadly I did the one thing there I hate most, I stereo typed. Sorry. Their are a lot of good youth out there don’t get me wrong. barring the stereotyping i’m sure you all get the gist of what I said though.
I consider the youth of the greens Genter etc, an example of youth excelling beyond what we could back in my day. But they seem fewer.
Real Clear Politics still has Clinton 2-3% ahead…the Democrats in with a chance of taking the Senate…House of Reps staying with Republicans
US RWNJ’s doing the Trumps going to win thing when Hillary will clearly pass the post, is an old trick they employ when it’s looking bad for their guy. In that it’s to stop the rot and keep voters and try to gain the undecided.
Hope i’m right on that, even though Hillarys donkey deep in it too(war mongering), Trumps scarier and a big gamble. Better the devil you know.
????????
What
Lefties need to get in touch with the reality on the ground.
RCP no toss up states electoral map now has Hillary on 272 and Trump on 266. (270 electoral votes required to win the White House).
In mid Aug, Hillary was on 351 electoral votes and Trump was on 187.
In other words, according to RCP in just over a month Clinton has lost almost 80 electoral votes, while Trump has gained that much.
The gap between the two candidates on a no-toss up basis has therefore shrunk in 5 weeks by 164 electoral votes to just 6 electoral votes.
Which explains why Clinton is shouting on TV that she doesn’t know why she isn’t leading Trump by 50 points.
From recent accounts in the last week it would seem Hillary Clinton’s health is getting worse
…according to a doctor , eye movements would suggest Parkinsons or damage to brain from concussion?…and getting worse
…if this is the case, she should not be running for President because she will not be capable of the job and it would be irresponsible
…if the Democratic Party chooses to ignore this and can’t see this then the voters certainly will
Probably just a passing case of pneumonia eh… 😛
nah probably a passing case of photoshop
Even with parkinson’s, she’s a better choice than Trump.
I don’t care how many times she stumbles, falls or passes out. Among other things, a pair of blue glasses will sort things out.
The US Government is more than a President anyway and if she has the right people in the right places, that will be all fine and sweet.
lol…”if she has the right people in the right places, that will be all fine and sweet”.
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2016/01/06/new-hillary-emails-reveal-true-motive-for-libya-intervention/
https://www.mintpressnews.com/wikileaks-hillary-clinton-helped-topple-gadhafi-france-uk-fought-libyas-oil/215104/
Good to see the latest attempt to spread CCOs and forced local government amalgamations has been shelved.
Glad to have helped.
Seen this?
‘Activists – get things done’
Unlike ALL the other Auckland Mayoral candidates – I successfully petitioned Parliament for an urgent inquiry into Auckland Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs).
The following information I made available to Mayors in other parts of NZ to assist in their fight back against the continued corporate takeover of our local democracy, our assets and our public property.
The following proves that I already have an effective working relationship with central government.
Read for yourself …
https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-nz/51DBSCH_SCR69296_1/924613ec7fb831c4e74bd062f73287ac2ceb5081
Petition 2014/33 of Penelope Mary Bright and 55 others, and Report from the Controller and Auditor-General, Governance and accountability of council- controlled organisations
Kind regards
Penny Bright
2016 Independent Auckland Mayoral candidate.
Nuclear Power and Climate Change – excerpt:
“Overall, the idea that atomic power is “clean” or “carbon free” or “emission free” is a very expensive misconception, especially when compared to renewable energy, efficiency, and conservation. Among conservation, efficiency, solar and wind power technologies, there are no global warming analogs to the heat, carbon, and radioactive waste impacts of nuclear power. No green technology kills anywhere near the number of marine organisms that die through reactor cooling systems.
“Rooftop solar panels do not lose ten percent of the power they generate to transmission, as happens with virtually all centralized power generators. S. David Freeman, former head of numerous large utilities and author of All Electric America: A Climate Solution and the Hopeful Future, says: “Renewables are cheaper and safer. That argument is winning. Let’s stick to it.”
“No terrorist will ever threaten one of our cities by blowing up a solar panel. But the nuclear industry that falsely claims its dying technology doesn’t cause global warming does threaten the future of our planet. ” http://www.progressive.org/news/2016/09/188947/how-nuclear-power-causes-global-warming
Financially it seems pretty clear that renewables are the cheapest option for utility-scale new builds, even without a carbon tax. So worldwide I doubt we’ll see many more nuclear new builds, at least in western countries.
But it seems to me the appropriate comparison for nuclear is against fossil fuels. In that comparison, nuclear still looks pretty favourable to coal/gas/oil (and actually even hydro) in terms of land area ruined and human health/mortality footprints, even considering the worst case projections from Chernobyl, Fukushima etc. So to me, it looks like an environmental setback when a nuclear plant is closed prematurely while fossil plants feeding the same grid are still running and polluting.
Overall, my views are pretty similar to Monbiot’s, who expresses them a lot better than I ever could. http://www.monbiot.com/category/nuclear/
Just how ‘green’ is the production of solar panels?
Current production is far from ideal, but it’s still a lot better than fossil fuels. Most of the problems with current production are fairly easy to manage and eliminate, if the producers are incentivised to actually do it.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/solar/solar-energy-isnt-always-as-green-as-you-think
Interesting comments by Rodney Hide on the left in the herald this morning, expresses much commentary you see on this site
“The left view their political failure as the fault of voters who must be hoodwinked, stupid, selfish, or suffering some other ethical or intellectual shortcoming. Why else would they not be supporting the left when they are so good and true?
The problem is never with the left or their doctrine.
They are a self-reinforcing sect who in their wretchedness and anger are becoming ever smaller. Their narrow and insular outlook prevents them reaching out. Little wonder it’s not attractive to new recruits.
It’s astonishing that National is now the vibrant party looking to the future and open to diverse views.
Labour is the narrow party that has shut itself off from the great bulk of New Zealanders.”
Red, go back to bed.
Truth hurts Garibaldi, in a strange way you are a reflection
of old Rodders comment 😀
Talking utter nonsense.
Hidebound describes the ex ACT leader perfectly.
You are being generous describing Hide’s outpourings as an interesting comment.
He does have point Paul no matter how much you may not like it, the lefts failure can’t be all externally afflicted, ie msm, dumb voters and other conspiracies
Hide does not have a point. He is pointless.
If not a point maybe then a smidgen of truth 😀
“the narrow party that has shut itself off from the great bulk of New Zealanders” sounds more like the one polling less than 1%.
Unusually stupid RW slanders repeated by morons so abject they never learned to write their own.
But the gnats are a bunch of lefties according to Seemore Coq. What are we to make of this?
Simple the Gnats control centre left and right, ie they are very removed from right wing
rofl
““The left view their political failure as the fault of voters who must be hoodwinked, stupid, selfish, or suffering some other ethical or intellectual shortcoming. Why else would they not be supporting the left when they are so good and true?
The problem is never with the left or their doctrine.”
meanwhile – if you talk to people on the left you quickly find the above assertion to be based on a deliberate over simplification of actual arguments made
in short – its horse shit
We had a wander around MOTAT on Friday and came across a potted history of Radio in New Zealand. This is what I read –
“On New Year’s Day in 1932 the Government took over the responsibility of the Radio Broadcasting Company in providing a national service. This was done under a three man Broadcasting Board who was also given the power to impose restrictions on the private stations. By 1937 most of the private stations had been bought by the New Zealand Government. Two distinct systems were then set up – one NATIONAL and one COMMERCIAL.
The first Director of Broadcasting was Professor James Shelley. He saw radio as an instrument of real democracy based on a sympathetic understanding of all points of view.
In 1946 the commercial and non-commercial branches of the national radio system were amalgamated under the name New Zealand Broadcasting Service.”
My words – the poor sod Professor Shelley will be turning in his grave at the state of our airways these days – so much for “a sympathetic understanding of all points of view.” There isn’t one jot of balance in anything we listen to on Radio or TV – just adoration for a corrupt Government which is sickening.
As most radio is talkback every nut job in the country has the power to share his view
usually the worst nutters are the host’s , m laws ,hosking and henry have all had goes spilling the rubbish into peoples
Tend to agree nutters on both sides of the phone , the medium attracts them like moths to a flame Albeit I do find Paul Henry entertaining you just need to take him with a grain of salt
tonne of salt, ………..fify
It would in fact only take a grain of salt to cover his thought section of his brain
Professor Shelley was turning in his grave even before he died. The views you attribute to him are correct. They were not those of the Prime Minister of the day however. Savage had no intention of allowing an understanding of all points of view.
Did you know that the news program to be broadcast was written in the Prime Minister’s office and delivered to the broadcasters?
Have a look at this and weep.
https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=oEXQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=prime+minister+savage+radio+news+broadcast&source=bl&ots=O_Focr02bn&sig=C1YmpV0mlbOwJ6guXVGs78thJ6o&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjmpvzyqKnPAhUDoZQKHWBNAe4Q6AEIRzAG#v=onepage&q=prime%20minister%20savage%20radio%20news%20broadcast&f=false
Through the premierships of Fraser, Holland and Holyoake’s first, and repealed in the early part of his [Holyoake’s] second term.
I didn’t realise they went right through to Holyoake’s time in the early 1960s. If it was early in his second term that he got rid of it, it would seem that he didn’t approve of the practice. He was only there for about 3 months in 1957 before the election and he wouldn’t really have time to change very much.
Was Nash also doing it? From what you say it sounds as if he must have been.
Actually I can tolerate Fraser if it was about anything to do with the war.
However I highlighted Savage because he was the PM when Shelley was primarily involved in broadcasting and it was Shelley that WK was talking about.
As per your link – in 1947 things were relaxed to allow controversial broadcasts to be aired but Prime Ministerial approval was required until restrictions were abolished in 1962.
If you want to hear an out of touch ex pollie who actually dislikes democracy making a complete fool of himself, tune in to Natrad and listen to doddery old Geoffrey Palmer play with his constitutional toy soldiers.
Well said. He would tie us up in expensive knots for years trying to nut out a constitution. The main benefits of the monarchy are its distance and saving us from yet another self-important ex-pollie (like Geoffrey?) pretending to be our head of state.
It’s a esotreic academic law professors hobby horse, law lecturers blather on about it in 101 law since the the beginning of time The rest of us don’t really give a monkeys, status quo is fine, bigger issues to deal with
+100 to all that
I am not sure that you or your two supporters know what your talking about…
What happened to ‘Open Mike’ on the 24th at the end?….comments aren’t showing properly
From the Ig Nobel Prizes this year, my favourite:
“On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bullshit”
http://journal.sjdm.org/15/15923a/jdm15923a.html
The rest:
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/09/sex-life-rats-personalities-rocks-awarded-ig-nobel-prizes?utm_source=sciencemagazine&utm_medium=facebook-text&utm_campaign=ignobel-7717
+100 rhino…lol…we live in a time of profound bullshit, trivia …and wasted time and white collar technological trickery and bankster fraud and usury…driven by materialism and venal mindless greed
‘Obama implicated in Clinton email scandal – New FBI docs’
https://www.rt.com/usa/360528-obama-implicated-clinton-email/
“President Barack Obama used a pseudonym when communicating with then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by email, while her IT company referred to her email deleting as a “cover-up”, new FBI documents reveal….
During the interview with Huma Abedin, who served as deputy chief of staff under Clinton, the FBI reportedly presented her with an email exchange between Clinton and a person she did not recognize. The FBI then revealed the unknown person’s name was believed to be a pseudonym used by Obama. Abedin reacted by saying, “How is this not classified?”
This exchange could expose Obama as having mislead the public on the issue, given his 2015 statement that he found out about Clinton’s use of a private email server “the same time everybody else learned it, through news reports.”…
Cops, a lot of talk about cops lately, underfunded, understaffed, ignoring things, skewing stats..
If Key remained PM lets say for another decade god forbid, how long do the standardista”s think it will be before a police surcharge to come out, comes along.
What was it 25 police stations to close, but a little while ago they close a load down too.
Why do we pay tax under national, they have pretty much driven everything under.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/84636485/labour-leader-andrew-little-dismisses-helen-clarks-advice-about-commanding-the-centre-ground
The title says it all, Little is not going to be a more of the same leader.
Anyone can talk about moving left of the centre; where is the left wing action, the left wing policy and the left wing personnel from Labour to back it up?
He would be silly to show all his cards to early , but going on clarkes performance on the tpp and praising of shit key, having Little publicly slap her down speaks volumes.
He is the right man for the next pm.
he is the right man for taking Labour to sub 20%
did you think that up all on your own?
More crap neoliberal advice from last century. Thanks but no thanks Aunty Helen. Little was right to distance himself from Helen’s divisive legacy.
Anyway, Key currently rules the “centre” and won’t be budged. Labour’s only chance to get it back is if FJK makes a huge ballsup like David Cameron, but I reckon Key is more self aware
Aunty Helen was right and is always right. She was smart to quickly dump any left-wing policies unpalatable to the centre so that she could appeal to the ‘middle’ voters.
Wrong, she lost the 2008 election because she wasted her political capital on pet social policies that alienated most voters. And she failed to address inequality and the growing housing bubble.
I respect her as a well-intentioned and highly intelligent person, her government was excellent on foreign policy, but she bought into the “Third Way” Blairite bullshit on economic matters, a betrayal of all workers & class struggles of the last century
St Helen tried her best to protect workers and contain the class strugles.
In the “ghost zone” ?
In the Green Party?
In the next election I will be voting Green Party(not Labour ) for the first time in what will be my 12th election.
The last time I voted National was for Muldoon, and I honestly believe that was the last time a National Party leader gave a shit for the ordinary kiwi.
Meh, I need another beer.
Looks like things have got worse in Syria today just as John Key chaired the Security Council this week with blithe, meaningless sound-bites.
Coincidence? I think not.
John Key has made an art of dividing those he pretends to represent.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/314163/security-council-to-meet-as-syria-violence-escalates
Murdoch nails it……
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CtJUd2VVUAAYDId.jpg:large
Ouch.
Key spoke as if he were more interested in his own speech rather than any solution for the Syrian people.
That neither the US nor Russia batted an eyelid at Key’s weak pleas to ‘hold hands’ over the matter, and indeed doubled their strikes immediately says a lot about how the rest of the world views him.
I’m loving the DPRK News Service. (yes, it’s a parody account)
I still get a giggle out of the headline “Cruz unhinges his jaw, swallows his pride.”
Maassive trump rally in Roanoke Virginia today. Crowd estimate of 10,000 to 20,000.
https://youtu.be/jwgLr_XPHe4
Where did Clinton campaign today? How many thousand supporters did she attract?
I Imagine Clinton’s heard about Gennifer Flowers’ appearance at the first debate so I guess she’s out and about organising a front row seat for Trump’s former mistress.
Marla perhaps, or Melania…….
Did Clinton take a rest day today?
Virginia is a swing state.
Yep. Thats why Trump has held rallies there several times in the last month.
Polls in Virginia?
Currently leans Clinton by +6
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/va/virginia_trump_vs_clinton-5542.html#polls
it would appear the more things change the more they stay the same….has CT got this right?..from an Aucklander’s perspective?
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2016/09/from-good-guys-to-fall-guys-spinoff-and.html
A well written rant, shame Trotter didn’t get his facts straight, some reactions from Spinoff/GenZero author here (the whole thread on twitter is longer)
note that Beckett didnt even try to defend their shitty endorsement of Right Wing Ralston or their BS labelling of Mike Lee as an anachronism.
i know nothing of Lee but the endorsement of Ralston was what caused the enquiry…and as you note, they didn’t defend their endorsements merely their funding.
The colour of his jib is not the issue, the Spinoff criteria are policy positions that will deal with the housing crisis
rather a wider questionnaire than that….with some rather peculiar grading
That said I think Trotter is right about the UP being twisted by property developers & speculators for their own ends, it is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. Need to close the immigration floodgates, penalise speculation & McMansions, and implement proper rates/LVT based on unimproved land value.
They’re privileged kids of the top 10%. Of course they’re going to endorse Key’s mate Bill Ralston ahead of public transportation champ Lee.
A major problem with Millennials is they have no concept of life outside of the market oriented neoliberal narratives. From TDB:
Is the EU doomed?…interesting article by an Irishman, Bryan MacDonald
‘Like the Soviet Union, is EU heading for ash heap of history?’
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/359327-soviet-union-eu-history/
“A while back, Mikhail Gorbachev famously said: ‘The most puzzling development in modern politics is the apparent determination of Western European leaders to re-create the Soviet Union in Western Europe.’
Gorbachev wasn’t referring to the European Union’s hunger to expand eastwards, but instead the bloc’s top-heavy governance, where smaller states are increasingly dominated by larger members.
This was evident last year, when Angela Merkel pretty much unilaterally imposed a liberal migration policy on the confederation, which has led to massive division…
just earlier in the week, Varoufakis on the largest global economic threat 😉
And from 2’46”:
“The European Union is in dire straits, the European Union is disintegrating” (Varoufakis)
Thanks for that, it led to this great TED talk by Varoufakis
You’re very welcome. And this one also sometime at the end of last month:
“Market Economy – Reinvent or Reboot?”
Yanis Varoufakis versus Clemens Fuest, at the Alpbach Forum, along the lines of the proposition: “The market economy is the best model. It will also successfully manage the challenges faced in the future.” Agree or disagree with this statement?”