Open Mike 25/10/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 25th, 2017 - 100 comments
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100 comments on “Open Mike 25/10/2017 ”

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  1. cleangreen 1
    25 October 2017 at 6:23 am

    Happy Saint Crispin’s day folks.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Crispin%27s_Day

    Saint Crispin’s Day falls on 25 October and is the feast day of the Christian saints Crispin and Crispinian (also known as Crispinus and Crispianus, though this spelling has fallen out of favour), twins who were martyred c. 286.[1]
    It is a day most famous for the battles that occurred on it, most notably the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Because of the St. Crispin’s Day Speech in Shakespeare’s play Henry V, calling the soldiers who would fight on the day a “band of brothers”, other battles fought on Crispin’s day have been associated with Shakespeare’s words. Other notable battles include the Battle of Balaclava (Charge of the Light Brigade) during the Crimean War in 1854 and the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Pacific theatre in 1944.

  2. Ed 2
    25 October 2017 at 6:41 am

    Happy days.

    ‘Rachel Stewart: Basking in glow of bright Ardern era.’

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11936184

  3. Ed 3
    25 October 2017 at 6:43 am

    Wonderful news.
    We are no longer a country for sale.

    ‘Housing plans revealed, foreign buyers out, rent-to-own in.’

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11936437

  4. Ed 4
    25 October 2017 at 6:45 am

    David vs Goliath.
    Maybe we need to change our laws….

    ‘Coca-Cola threatens Wellington cafe with legal action if it doesn’t change its name’

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/small-business/98108350/cocacola-threatens-wellington-cafe-with-legal-action-if-it-doesnt-change-its-name

    • Tracey 4.1
      25 October 2017 at 7:49 pm

      Innocent is a general normal use word… i wouldnt have thought you could trademark it as a standalone word

  5. Patricia Bremner 5
    25 October 2017 at 7:13 am

    Thank you ED for putting up Rachel Stewart’s article, a great start to the day.

  6. Cinny 6
    25 October 2017 at 7:32 am

    I am so freaking proud of our new government. Everytime I tune into the news I hear the most awesome announcements from our new government, I just can’t believe how lucky we are. And our community is just glowing from good news that will help so many many people

    Jacinda is outstanding, was trying to figure out why she is such a star, and then it hit me watching her being interviewed this morning…. she isn’t trying to hide anything, she is open, honest, sincere, caring and down to earth. She is everything we have wanted and needed in a PM, she gives us hope.

    And the locals here are so proud of Damo becoming a cabinet minister, from the hippies to the business owners everyone rates him extremely highly, it’s a rare thing for an MP to be respected by all walks of life within their community. He’s done so much for his constituents in opposition, one can only imagine the goodness he will bring in government.

    Miss 12 and I were chatting about the minimum wage rising last night. She now understands a bit more about the dynamics of business and the value of paying people a fair wage and how that fair wage will mostly be spent within a community thus supporting businesses.

    Ethics in schools please, if everyone was clued up they wouldn’t get shafted and life will improve for many.

    • UncookedSelachimorpha 6.1
      25 October 2017 at 2:11 pm

      Makes a difference from the PR soundbites which are all we’ve heard from the previous lot, for so long. People saying things that actually mean something!

  7. Cinny 7
    25 October 2017 at 7:34 am

    And, and, and…… Eminem court case verdict coming out today.

    Wonder when Todd Barclay investigation will wind up.

  8. r0b 8
    25 October 2017 at 8:30 am

    Two excellent Newsroom pieces on the election result, MMP, and how well the coalition process has worked:
    Analysis: The tail did not wag the dog, it barely wiggled
    Searching for Winston’s legacy

    And Mike Hosking starts walking it back:
    Mike Hosking: Maybe the new Government’s not the end of the world after all

    • Anne 8.1
      25 October 2017 at 9:49 am

      Good to see you’re going to stick around as a commenter r0b – when you can fit it into your busy schedule. There’s going to be so much happening…

    • ianmac 8.2
      25 October 2017 at 9:53 am

      Put Hoskings recent nasty new Government put-downs against todays about-face is staggering and have been excruciating for the poor man-child.

      • Pete 8.2.1
        25 October 2017 at 10:17 am

        In Hosking’s piece today:

        “…given we now have a bit of detail, we can move past what really has been in many areas – especially social media – a pretty ugly time. So far, this election has been reduced to some sort of blood sport with winners and losers …

        If you look with an open mind, there is always a decent amount there to – at the very least – not be overly bothered or freaked about.”

        By what he has said and written over months (years?) Hosking has said “I am an arsehole, I am an arsehole, I am an arsehole.”

        Ugly? Blood sport? Winners and losers? Open mind? Nothing to be overly bothered or freaked about?

        In what he has written today Hosking is saying ” See, I’m not really an arsehole.”

        What he has written today confirms he is.

        • JanM 8.2.1.1
          25 October 2017 at 10:39 am

          I suspect this is all about keeping his job

        • Tracey 8.2.1.2
          25 October 2017 at 7:50 pm

          ” ven we now have a bit of detail, we can move past what really has been in many areas – especially social media – a pretty ugly time. So far, this election has been reduced to some sort of blood sport with winners and losers …” complete lack of self awareness

    • Karen 8.3
      25 October 2017 at 10:47 am

      That piece from Tim Murphy on Winston’s Legacy is a very good analysis of how little Labour had to concede to NZF to get a deal, and is in stark contrast to much of the commentary in MSM. There has also been quite a lot of assumption from some that these policy deals are all that will happen, as if Labour hasn’t still got their own policy platform.

      I also think it was very astute of Jacinda to let the partners claim the credit for policies that they shared. It augers well for future relationships.

      This article is the best explanation I have seen for the power difference of Ministers inside and outside cabinet (hint – very little) .
      https://www.newsroom.co.nz/@future-learning/2017/10/24/55550/clearing-up-some-coalition-confusion

    • Tom Joad 8.4
      25 October 2017 at 10:50 am

      One. can only imagine the pain he must have experienced writing this begrudgingly “not so negative” piece.

      Even Hosking’s small interlect has finally observed the weather vane swing. He knows who are his paymasters and now is a little fearful. Let’s hope they can see through his cynical pathetic attempt to keep on the pay-roll.

    • ianmac 9.1
      25 October 2017 at 9:44 am

      Interesting mosa. There was a great deal of angst from the right when the NZF Board met to consider the options. “How dare unelected people choose the Government.” Meanwhile National were doing just that. Hypocrites?
      And weird thinking to not offer NZF anything on the grounds that the current government would fall and therefore benefit National. Really!!!

  10. One Anonymous Bloke 10
    25 October 2017 at 9:10 am

    Never let it be said that Steven Joyce missed an opportunity to tell lies.

    Is there a single honest person in the entire National Party?

    • ianmac 10.1
      25 October 2017 at 9:50 am

      Cunning bugger Joyce. If small businesses fail it will be “I told you so.” Even though many businesses rise and fall all the time.
      If they don’t fail, Joyce will be nowhere to be heard.
      Trials in the USA found that raising to a liveable wage enhanced business.

  11. swordfish 11
    25 October 2017 at 10:37 am

    30 reasons why Jane Clifton is wrong

    Jane Clifton / 20 October, 2017

    This is not the first time that the most popular party in an election using a proportional voting system has been left out of the Government, but it’s still an arresting novelty to us: how does the most popular party, National, not get any power at all?

    It’s a fair question, and even those smarty-britches whose habitual retort is, “(Sigh). You just don’t understand MMP, do you?” are a bit out on a limb on this one.

    For the record, the only other time it has happened was in Sweden in the 1970s, and the resultant Government didn’t last the full term intact.

    http://www.noted.co.nz/currently/politics/minority-rules-who-will-be-the-first-voted-off-coalition-island/

    Bryce Edwards summarises Clifton’s argument in his (Herald) Political Roundup: The legitimacy of the Labour-led government

    In fact, having the biggest party get 44 per cent of the vote and not be in government is incredibly rare, even in other countries with proportional representation. Jane Clifton has been searching around and found that “the only other time it has happened was in Sweden in the 1970s” – see her latest column, Minority Rules: Who will be the first voted off Coalition Island..

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11936270

    .

    Here’s my response to Clifton’s subtle de-legitimising narrative

    https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-24102017/#comment-1404552

    • Olwyn 11.1
      25 October 2017 at 11:07 am

      What’s interesting about your list of 30 instances is that 26 of them involved a centre-left party getting the largest percentage, while a centre-right grouping managed to pull together a government. Given that more socio-economic power resides on the right, perhaps it only comes as a shock when the left manage to do it.

      Chis Trotter has spoken of NZ’s system as an MMP/FPP hybrid, https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/09/27/mmp-with-fpp-characteristics-new-zealands-diy-electoral-system/ This is probably because our form of MMP is still maturing, and also because the privileged tend to resist MMP’s ability to function as intended – as a brake on their political excesses. Where NZF, Labour and the Greens are independent parties sharing some common ground, ACT during the Key regime became a National branch, and functioned as a vehicle for National policies that conflicted with their campaign branding. This latter amounts to FFP strategy behind an MMP fig leaf.

      • swordfish 11.1.1
        25 October 2017 at 1:47 pm

        What’s interesting about your list of 30 instances is that 26 of them involved a centre-left party getting the largest percentage, while a centre-right grouping managed to pull together a government

        Yeah, I noticed that too

        Partly a corollary, I suspect, of my list’s emphasis on Scandinavia = where the Lab-Soc Dem Parties have traditionally been the large single hegemonic parties of Govt while the Right “bourgeois” bloc is much more fragmented

        1969 Norwegian election is interesting, given not only

        (1) Labour easily retained Largest Party status 47% vs Conservatives 19% (Second Largest Party)
        but also
        (2) the clear swing to Labour (up 120,000 votes vs Right Coalition down 3000)

        Yet a Centre Right coalition subsequently formed

        .

        Given that more socio-economic power resides on the right, perhaps it only comes as a shock when the left manage to do it

        .
        Especially for the status quo-friendly MSM

    • Psych nurse 11.2
      25 October 2017 at 3:28 pm

      The party with the most seats in Australian Parliament is the opposition Labor Party, the Government is a coalition.

    • Jane Clifton 11.3
      25 October 2017 at 4:17 pm

      TBF, the story was supposed to specify that ’76 Sweden was the only time a top-polling party with that big a vote share has been left out of office. That’s the only result comparable to ours.

      • lprent 11.3.1
        25 October 2017 at 6:35 pm

        Perhaps you might want to look up comment 11.1.1 above where swordfish points to Norway in 1969. Knowing swordfish, his other examples will be pretty through as well.

        Personally I find it pretty irrelevant because the only vote that really counts is the bums of seats in parliament. National is almost friendlyness in parliament and has a track record of leaving the dessicated bodies of political parties sucked dry and dropped behind them. There is only the intellectual husk of the hologram remaining like a faded million year Act ghost.

        What real political party would be interested in them?

        Provided that National doesn’t get heavily into successfully suborning elevtorate MPs as they did in 1997/8 with nz first (and that is a lot harder from opposition) I can’t see any reason for anyone wanting to cuddling up to the arrogance of National.

        • BM 11.3.1.1
          25 October 2017 at 7:07 pm

          NZ First will be gone next election.

          That leaves the Lab/Green combo vs National, a straight left-right split.

          MMP is fucked, it’s back to FPP by default.

          • Stunned Mullet 11.3.1.1.1
            25 October 2017 at 7:18 pm

            Dunno – Morgan might thrown more vanity money at the next election and get over the line?

            There’s also a slim possibility that one of the current NZ First caucus fills the void Winston will leave.

            • BM 11.3.1.1.1.1
              25 October 2017 at 7:28 pm

              Morgan will just take out the greens, NZ First is fucked they’ve burnt their bridges with all the rural conservative voters.

              Take away that demographic and they’re under 5%

              • One Anonymous Bloke …
                25 October 2017 at 7:37 pm

                Yeah, by stopping the “water tax”, they’ve really pissed off rural voters. that makes perfect sense.

                😆

                Haven’t you figured out that those rural voters who National can’t dupe aren’t suddenly going to become gullible dishonest trash just because you’d like it?

          • BM 11.3.1.1.2
            25 October 2017 at 7:26 pm

            There’s also a very high chance the greens won’t make it back, they don’t really have a purpose anymore, they’ve done a great job making Green issues mainstream there’s really no need to vote Green anymore.

            In the scenario, it becomes Labour vs National, I know which side I’d put my money on.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 11.3.1.1.2.1
              25 October 2017 at 7:31 pm

              Why don’t you just replace yourself with a sign saying “If you want my opinion, David Farrar can give it to you”?

              Good luck getting the Greens constituency below 5%. I hope you and the other low life trash waste at least two terms on it.

              • Tracey …
                25 October 2017 at 7:53 pm

                Was thinking that very thing @ BM =kiwiblog parrot.

                • lprent …
                  25 October 2017 at 7:59 pm

                  Nah. He is a parrot – like a kea. They are more like brainless budgies.

                  The difference is clear. Bird brained, but not of the same order or phyla.

                  😈

                  • One Anonymous Bloke …
                    25 October 2017 at 8:11 pm

                    Parrots can improvise and solve puzzles.

                    A wingnut is more like an inorganic sink sponge.

                    • lprent …
                      25 October 2017 at 8:22 pm

                      Face it. If BM wasn’t here then you’d have to invent him.

                      Besides the difference between a “inorganic sink sponge” of the right and spleen isn’t that great. You need them to maintain your immune system.

                      Face it. When he is gone you’d wind up like a auto-immune disease bereft of even trivial challenges and I’d have to wind up putting you down. Be grateful for small mercies.

          • One Anonymous Bloke 11.3.1.1.3
            25 October 2017 at 7:28 pm

            Sore loser lashes out, refuses to accept personal responsibility. The National Party has no mates and it’s all MMP’s fault.

            Also, I suspect the market for nationalism is stronger than you think.

            The risk from your perspective is that the three party coalition will govern competently and make the National Party irrelevant, as well as incompetent, dishonest, and motivated by hatred and greed.

            • BM 11.3.1.1.3.1
              25 October 2017 at 7:40 pm

              It will only be National and Labour in 2020.

              Also, I don’t attach my self-worth to a political party, only a complete and utter fucking loser would do that.

              I make my own way the current party in power has little bearing on that.

          • Ad 11.3.1.1.4
            25 October 2017 at 7:40 pm

            They keep saying MMP is fucked, and every time there’s an election result it’s a really fine-line result with plenty of centrist ideological tweaking.

            You are very foolish if you ever count Winston Peters out. People over 65 need representation, and he delivers like the milkman.

            The Greens are the ones closer to falling off the parliamentary cliff, but with the Conservation portfolio in particular they have ample room to appeal to all those conservation and environmental grounds that should be their natural home. Forest and Bird in particular have tens of thousands of members, and the many conservation partners to DoC have tens of thousands more.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 11.3.1.1.4.1
              25 October 2017 at 7:42 pm

              their natural home

              Is someone sponsoring you for the number of times you display complete ignorance of Green politics?

              If so, you’re doing great, keep it up.

            • BM 11.3.1.1.4.2
              25 October 2017 at 7:56 pm

              I don’t think Peters will even last this term, he’s an old man who’s trashed his body, he’s on his last legs.

              • lprent …
                25 October 2017 at 8:33 pm

                I don’t think Peters will even last this term, he’s an old man who’s trashed his body, he’s on his last legs.

                OMG. You’re right, so very very RIGHT!

                FFS: Can’t conservatives keep track of their old tales and when those daft myths started. I heard that one before 1999 (must be at least 20 years ago). Then it was that he’d pickled his liver binge’ing with Jim Bolger.

                Next thing you will be doing a 2008 imitation of Keeping Stock and predicting that Winston was permanently gone…

                Mind you I can remember the same swansong from David Farrar in 1993 in nz.politics.

                All I have to say is that you are all a pack of dipshits who really don’t understand real politics..

              • OnceWasTim …
                25 October 2017 at 9:03 pm

                Your already sending him dead flowers @BM. I’ll bet he won’t forget to put roses on your grave, followed by someone that goes by the name of Countryboy who’ll delight in pissing on it

            • lprent 11.3.1.1.4.3
              25 October 2017 at 8:02 pm

              The Greens are the ones closer to falling off the parliamentary cliff..

              The primary reason I voted for them this time. It was pretty clear that they could be wiped out for a term. The secondary was because I didn’t and still don’t trust whatever happened inside the Labour caucus.

              • Zorb6 …
                25 October 2017 at 8:20 pm

                I think alot of people rallied to that cause…thank goodness.Hopefully will regain the support they had a few months prior to the election,now that voters can judge the calibre of their representatives.

        • Anne 11.3.1.2
          25 October 2017 at 8:02 pm

          Act was set up in the early to mid 1990s for the sole purpose of providing National with a support party. It worked exceedingly well until Helen Clark came along in 1999 and its been all downhill since. That is why Seymour and his predecessors (including Prebble) have such an obsessive hatred of Labour – at least in broad terms.

          Now they’ve effectively gone (Seymour has lost his usefulness) so we can expect National to start working on a new support party to take its place. What about TOP? Give them a name change and hey presto…….

      • One Anonymous Bloke 11.3.2
        25 October 2017 at 6:44 pm

        The National Party has plenty of “power” in this new Parliament. What they don’t have is their own way.

        If they were capable of working with and being trusted by anybody, who knows what they could achieve.

        Edit: they need to rejuvenate, but they will have to start selecting honest trustworthy people to replace the current lot.

        • Foreign waka 11.3.2.1
          26 October 2017 at 6:45 pm

          First they have to get a new Deputy for Mr English. That person with the pursed lips is like a red rag really, having installed a vindictive and inhuman approach to social welfare. Next up Dr Coleman, leaving behind more than 500 patients in the southern DHB that should have been treated but the money counters were more important than the health of those who have had delayed treatment. Not sure but I belief there are 30 or so now in such serious state that it may be too late for some. This was on Dr Coleman watch and I wonder whether he has a good nights sleep. First do no harm. And lets not forget the Christchurch Earthquake debacle where it was also of greater importance to have a surplus than a roof over the head of many who have already had such enormous trauma to overcome.
          Thank god they are off the portfolios – its the best news we had for a long time.

          • One Anonymous Bloke 11.3.2.1.1
            26 October 2017 at 7:25 pm

            Bill English: the man who swallows dead rats for power, or for a hobby. I think he likes it.

            The National Party’s problem isn’t the worst individuals it enables, it’s the fact that it enables so many of them. All parties have a few who slip through the net; National has a welcome mat instead.

      • swordfish 11.3.3
        26 October 2017 at 1:57 pm

        Jane Clifton

        TBF, the story was supposed to specify that ’76 Sweden was the only time a top-polling party with that big a vote share has been left out of office. That’s the only result comparable to ours

        (1) OK but obviously I can only respond to what’s been published rather than what you were originally intending to say

        (2) Still leaves 7 Elections where Largest Party took more than 40% of vote but were left out of office –

        West German federal elections of 1976 & 1980
        Norwegian parliamentary elections of 1965 & 1969 & 1985
        Swedish general elections of both 1976 & 1979

        And in the 5 Norwegian + Swedish egs = Largest Party’s lead over the 2nd Party was far greater than National’s 7 point margin over Labour (NZ 2017)
        – 11 point margin Norway 1985
        – 19 point margin Sweden 1976
        – 22 point margin Norway 1965
        – 23 point margin Sweden 1979
        – 24 point margin Norway 1969

        (3) My list was a long way from being exhaustive (ie plenty of PR-system Countries I haven’t looked at yet)

    • OnceWasTim 11.4
      25 October 2017 at 4:53 pm

      Ruddy good comeback @Swordfish eh what?

      (meanwhile I’m back here slaving over a hot Elna running up a business suit from my bit of ruff’s old chaise langue covering, and wondering how on Earth I’m going to resurrect my credibility. I’m hoping for a spot on Q+A or The Nation).

  12. JC 12
    25 October 2017 at 11:23 am

    The legacy of NZ’s departing environmental watchdog Jan Wright.

    A Legend, who will be missed.

    http://www.noted.co.nz/currently/environment/the-legacy-of-nz-s-departing-environmental-watchdog-jan-wright/

  13. Morrissey 13
    25 October 2017 at 11:56 am

    The moronic Tony Parsons is upset by the British Labour Party’s
    decision to stand up for human rights for a change.

    http://normanfinkelstein.com/2017/10/13/uk-labour-party-conference-or-nuremberg-rally-assessing-the-evidence/

  14. Penny Bright 14
    25 October 2017 at 12:07 pm

    NZ WHISTLE-BLOWER ALERT!
    25 October 2017

    Can the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) please carry out an urgent investigation of former NZ Prime Minister John Key and the Panama Papers?

    BACKGROUND:

    It was murdered Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia who exposed, via the Panama Papers how NZ foreign trusts were used as money-laundering vehicles by Maltese Politically Exposed Persons.
    ______________

    Malta scandal exposes New Zealand trusts again

    Neil Chenoweth and Susan Edmunds

    April 28 2017

    http://i.stuff.co.nz/business/world/91999096/malta-scandal-exposes-new-zealand-trusts-again

    “A Malta magistrate is investigating explosive claims of money laundering and corruption that have put New Zealand in the middle of a global cash trail from the family of Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliyev.

    President Aliyev’s daughter, Leyla Aliyeva, is alleged to have channelled more than NZ$1.6 million to senior figures of the Malta government, including Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s wife.

    These include alleged payments to Panama companies owned by New Zealand trusts set up by the Malta Energy Minister Karl Mizzi and Muscat’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri.

    On April 20, Maltese blogger Daphne Caruana-Galizia reported that she held copies of documents originally stored in a kitchen at Pilatus Bank, which showed that Egrant Inc, a mystery Panama Papers company identified by the Financial Review last year, was secretly owned by the Maltese Prime Minister’s wife, Michelle Muscat.

    In March 2016, a Dubai company controlled by Leyla Aliyeva had transferred US$1.017 million (NZ$1.47 million) marked as a loan into Egrant’s account at Pilatus Bank, Caruana-Galizia reported.

    Joseph Muscat denied the claims, calling it the “biggest political lie in Malta’s history”.

    Caruana-Galizia reported that other payments were made from Leyla Aliyeva’s company to Pilatus accounts held by Egrant as well as Tillgate Inc and Hearnville Inc, two Panama companies that are owned by Schembri and Mizzi, through New Zealand trusts.

    Schembri and Mizzi vehemently deny Caruana-Galizia’s reports. Mizzi has produced audited accounts for his New Zealand trust which shows it as dormant with no assets or income.
    …..

    The latest revelations, if substantiated, are an embarrassment for the New Zealand government, which announced an inquiry into its offshore trust laws on April 11 last year, the day after the Financial Review revealed details of how Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca’s Malta agent, BT Nexia, began setting up Tillson, Hearnville and Egrant five days after Muscat’s election victory in 2013.

    Mossack Fonseca’s files were obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

    New Zealand subsequently amended its offshore trusts regime, requiring foreign trusts to file annual accounts with the New Zealand tax office, but with no further restrictions.

    At that time, it appeared the Malta trusts had never been used, after Mizzi and Schembri’s Panama companies were turned down by eight banks who refused to open accounts for them because they were Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

    The Panama Papers, however, show repeated cases of overseas investors filing false or implausible sets of accounts with New Zealand lawyers, who have limited means to verify the figures.

    SIGNIFICANT ROLE

    The latest wave of allegations in Malta underline how easily the New Zealand disclosure laws can be avoided, which the new laws do not change.

    If the reports are substantiated, they raise a far more serious picture of money-laundering from one of the most corrupt countries in the world, in which New Zealand’s foreign trusts played a significant role.

    The saga began in February 2016 when Caruana-Galizia revealed that Schembri and Mizzi had set up two Panama companies, Tillgate Inc and Hearnville Inc, owned by the Haast Trust and Rotorua Trust in New Zealand.

    In April 2016, the Financial Review published new details of Schembri and Mizzi’s New Zealand trusts and their attempts to open a bank account in Dubai.
    ….”
    ____________________

    Two days after Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered by this car bomb, it was announced that former NZ Prime Minister John Key would become Chair of the Board of the ANZ bank.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11934188

    “Sir John Key has been named chairman of ANZ Bank’s local arm.
    Key joins the board of the country’s biggest bank from today and will assume chair at the start of next year.”

    The ANZ bank was the Australian bank mentioned more times than any other bank in the Panama Papers.

    ANZ leading Australian bank in the Panama Papers:

    http://www.fijileaks.com/home/the-panama-papers-anz-bank-was-the-leading-australian-bank-in-the-world-of-offshore-accounts-samoan-diplomat-was-used-to-help-create-shell-companies-samoas-high-commission-in-australia-couriered-papers

    (4/4/2016)

    “By Neil Chenoweth
    Financial Review

    The Mossack Fonseca files show the critical importance that banks hold in the offshore world – and ANZ is the most visible of the Australian banks in the offshore space.

    ANZ appears in 7548 of the Mossack documents, reflecting the bank’s extensive work in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Samoa and Jersey.
    …”

    On 1 August 2017, at a meeting attended by 200 people at Rutherford House, Victoria University, Wellington New Zealand, the (former) Chair of Transparency International, Jose Ugaz stated that John Key should be investigated over the Panama Papers.

    I attended this meeting and heard Jose Ugaz say this myself, as did the other 200 people in the room.

    There appears to have been NO NZ mainstream media coverage of this story.

    Can the ICIJ please carry out an investigation of former NZ Prime Minister John Key and the Panama Papers?

    Yours sincerely,

    Penny Bright

    ‘Anti-corruption whistle-blower’.

    Attendee: 2009 Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference.

    Attendee: 2010 Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference.

    Attendee: 2013 Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference.

    Attendee: 2014 G20 Anti-Corruption Conference.

    Attendee: 2015 Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference.

    Attendee: 2017 Transparency International Australia Anti-Corruption Conference.

    Attendee: 2017 World Justice Project International Rule of Law Forum – The Hague.

  15. Xanthe 15
    25 October 2017 at 1:23 pm

    It really seemes to me that this government with NZF is a long way further left than a lab/grn one would have been.

    • UncookedSelachimorpha 15.1
      25 October 2017 at 2:16 pm

      I wonder that too!

    • Sacha 15.2
      25 October 2017 at 2:21 pm

      Probably depends what ‘left’ looks like to you. More state-led initiatives, maybe?

      • weka 15.2.1
        25 October 2017 at 2:33 pm

        Swings and roundabouts I think. The glaring holes in the govt’s current platform is welfare (no benefit raises) and TPP. So a L/G with lots of Green MPs would have seen welfare transformed.

        The three way split seems like a good compromise. Early days though.

  16. mosa 16
    25 October 2017 at 1:59 pm

    UK Labour using every opportunity to try and topple May and her Conservative minority government.
    https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2017/10/24/labour-mp-just-called-no-confidence-motion-topple-tories/

  17. ianmac 17
    25 October 2017 at 3:07 pm

    Ha ha! National Party lost the case about copyright music.
    Will pay $600,000.

  19. veutoviper 19
    25 October 2017 at 3:10 pm

    Breaking ……. very funny!

    National have lost their Eminen case and must pay $600,000 in damages.

    http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/10/eminem-vs-national-party-trial-eight-mile-style-awarded-damages.html

    SNAP – Frida!

    • Frida 19.1
      25 October 2017 at 3:29 pm

      Viper we are clearly lefties with too much time on our hands!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

      • JC 19.1.1
        25 October 2017 at 4:02 pm

        Looks it bit that way… sorry Frida, et al. Didn’t see the earlier threads.. Just caught it on the wireless and got a bit excited!

        What a Great week! Icing on the cake!

        • Frida 19.1.1.1
          25 October 2017 at 4:16 pm

          All good JC! I think after nine long years we are justified in having a a bit of mutual overlapping gloating! I saw it on breaking news in Koru Lounge in akld and gave a cheer 🙂 probably alone in my sentiments here

  20. Ad 20
    25 October 2017 at 3:13 pm

    National is found guilty of intellectual property violation for using the Eminem song.

    Great to see Joyce take another one in the chook this week. Lewwwserrrr!

  21. JC 21
    25 October 2017 at 3:13 pm

    Snap!

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/342344/national-party-infringed-copyright-in-eminem-case

    $600 K! Damages!

    That’ll put a “Hole” in Dildo Joyce’s pocket…

    “I’m not shy of loud music,” said Justice Cull. “Don’t hesitate to turn it up.”

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/15-05-2017/eminem-versus-the-national-party-greatest-hits/

    • ianmac 22.1
      25 October 2017 at 3:25 pm

      Paddy also in a dark place. How will he change his “neutral” stance?

      • Whispering Kate 22.1.1
        25 October 2017 at 3:45 pm

        If Paddy has any substance at all to his summising then what a mighty thing that would be. Blessed relief to see the corrupt horrible lot of them on the opposition benches for a very lengthy term. No friends and they deserve it.

    • Robert Guyton 22.2
      25 October 2017 at 3:35 pm

      Odd title though; National faced Opposition for the past 9 years. Now, they face Government, surely…
      Nevertheless, Gower signs National’s “Go to jail forever” card in that piece. What a whopping he gave them. Pass the M&Ms.

    • AB 22.3
      25 October 2017 at 8:45 pm

      Paddy dresses up the bleeding obvious as some great insight that he (and only he) has been able to reveal to us. Comical little ferret.

      • Anne 22.3.1
        25 October 2017 at 9:09 pm

        Paddy has taken to speaking very slowly when he is communicating his infinite wisdom to the masses for their edification.

  23. Andre 23
    25 October 2017 at 3:18 pm

    Republican senator Jeff Flake of Arizona announces he won’t run in 2018, because Trump. He’s an old-school conservative so there’s bugger-all overlap between his views and mine, but the two minute clip of his speech is worth listening to.

    Just a shame he’s not prepared to stand up and fight in the Senate for what he evidently believes.

    http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/24/politics/jeff-flake-senate-speech-lines/index.html

  24. Cemetery Jones 24
    25 October 2017 at 3:36 pm

    Maybe I was wrong; Americans don’t need guns after all.

    https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1ac_1507770254

  25. OnceWasTim 25
    25 October 2017 at 4:16 pm

    A tip or two for the incoming government (gratis and free of GST going forward)

    1. The Prime Minister and Deputy hold an urgent meeting with the State Services Commissioner in which they seek an unequivocal undertaking that he intends actively and proactively upholding the principles of the public service and its codes of conduct, and that he’ll ensure he’ll operate without partisan favour.

    2. (With all leaders of the coalition) Hold a meeting(s) with the CEOs of MSD, MBIE, MPI, Health, Education, NZTA, Defence, Commissioner of Police and a few others (CEOs of SOEs and the like) and seek their absolute undertaking that they AND their staff – intend abiding by, and implementing the policies of this democratically elected government. If they are not prepared to do so, a simple 2 line resignation is acceptable before leaving the meeting.
    I’m pretty sure both Jacinda and Winston have very good bullshit detectors and Winston (given his longevity and experiences) has the means for enforcement.

    Given we are beginning to see the unprecedented sore loser opposition and dirty tricks mechanisms ramping up – even before a swearing in, that may very well need to be the first item on the first 100 days agenda

    • Morrissey 25.1
      25 October 2017 at 5:05 pm

      Given we are beginning to see the unprecedented sore loser opposition and dirty tricks mechanisms ramping up….

      On that subject, did you hear the new (Australian) host on RNZ National’s Morning Report today? In an unpleasantly confrontational interview with James Shaw, he asserted that “people are concerned about wasting money” (i.e. railways) and he sneered that Julie Anne Genter was “a cycleway advocate”. Shaw took him up on that last point, but it’s disturbing to see that RNZ has appointed another Hosking/Plunket clone.

      • OnceWasTim 25.1.1
        25 October 2017 at 5:50 pm

        You mean the host standing in for E-Spinner?. Yes I did
        I’m trying my best not to criticise RNZ though – it’s all we’ve got left (at this point in time, going forward, so-to-speak, as a matter of fact, akshully).

        Plus it still has some damn good people still working there

      • Ed 25.1.2
        25 October 2017 at 9:13 pm

        Name of the corporate puppet?

  26. eco Maori/kiwi 26
    25 October 2017 at 8:19 pm

    It was a friend of mine from Whakatohea that sparked my research into OUR Maori culture he taught me a bit gave me his incite on my Iwi’s role in our past he was a brilliant man he gave me a old book it was a very good read we talked about Apirana Ngata he was unbiased considering what happened to his Iwi . But he tripped on that ladder of life and is no longer the man he once was many thanks to him.
    In the 1800 this book described Maori as a advanced culture and we had many skills that were superior to the settler I.E fishing health there were many examples. Maori learn’t to read and write quickly as in 1840 more Maori could read and write than settler’s . But some how we have ended up with the short end of the stick Maori never lost a war to the settlers so what happend. Well it was Maori fighting Maori during most of the wars because if it was just Maori against the settlers well you no what would have happened. My Iwi Ngati Porou was called Kupapa my tipuna Ropata Wahawaha and Nga puhi Waka Nene Te keepa Te Rangihiwinui of Wanganui and most of Iwi Arawa
    part of my moko’s heritage these were the Kupapa Iwi That sided with the settlers
    So how did this happen well the settlers found the Maori achilies heel and in my view that was old Iwi conflicts some of which were 100’s of years of old. The settlers used this to dived and conquer Maori this is party of the story of OUR history that need to be told taught to all Kiwi and letts not blame our kiwi cousins for this as this does not cut it in our morel code .The reason why I’m writing this is that we need all OUR Iwi to unite and all our Maori organisations and work together to lift all OUR Mokopuna up to the highest run on the ladder of life in OUR paradise of a country this is the logical step for us to take now I believe in fate but we can shape our mokopuna’s fate for the better of all Kiwi’s
    Kia Kaha.

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