From a purely personal pov of course he should take it if offered, if nothing else if he does a good job then it strengthens his case if he takes another run for the presidency and if he doesn’t he can probably blame Trump for it and half the people would probably believe him
But both those points are just about Romney advancing his future. Neither addresses his likely need to maintain his self-respect while he tries to do the job.
Neo-liberalism creates a precarious society.
If anything goes wrong , the safety net does not exist.
Closed businesses and evacuated buildings have left possibly thousands of workers in the lurch, following the Kaikoura earthquakes.
Part-time workers, casuals and temps in Wellington have been left unable to get to their jobs, and without a safety net.
Unite Union National Secretary Gerard Hehir estimated there would be tens of thousands of casual workers in Wellington alone who are now out of work.
“Look it’s huge. A huge number of people just don’t have any job security from one week to another.
“And when something like this happens, an earthquake or a major event, that doubly affects them because often their hours go to zero. They’re left with no income at all.”
Hehir said the issue would affect workers in hotels, hospitality, and even retail stores.
“In the central city particularly, there’s a lot of people working in hospitality.
Wellington Citizens Advice Bureau manager Mary O’Regan said the centre was already dealing with many people from fast food, cafes, and even Government departments.
“Most Government departments have quite a few people who are employed by temp agencies. And some of them are employed for quite a long time in their roles, and probably should be permanent employees.”
She said there’s little that can be done for those people on flexible work contracts.
“Our advice to them is to document the impact on them. It’s really up to them to negotiate with either the agency or the place where they’re employed. But there’s no guarantee that’s going to work.
“Given the situation in Wellington, in future make sure you have a contract that covers these events. But that’s for the future.”
A cadre of traitors who sold this country to corporate interests ( mainly foreign) in the neo-liberal coup d’etat from 1984 to 1993.
David Lange, Roger Douglas, Mike Moore, Geoffrey Palmer, Richard Prebble, David Caygill, Ruth Richardson, Bill Birch, Jenny Shipley and the rest of the quislings turned New Zealand from a country with governments which cared for its people to one that is reflected
The 4th Labour government’s acts of treason
Floating the New Zealand dollar.
Removing farming subsidies.
Introducing GST (Goods and Services Tax).
New banks were allowed.
Reducing income and company tax.
Removing controls on foreign exchange.
Abolishing or reducing import tariffs.
Corporatising many State owned enterprises such as the Post Office, Telecom and Air New Zealand to be more like private businesses. Some of these were later privatised.
Enabling the Reserve Bank to autonomously pursue an inflation target.
The 4th National government’s acts of treason
The corporatisation of the health system and hospital closures
Sale of state-owned enterprises
The Employment Contracts Act
They were elected officials who let in the neoliberal Trojan Horse. They were elected officials who fucked over the very constituents who voted them in. They were elected officials who hollowed out the Labour Party into a rigid brittle shell of its old self.
Yep, and certainly the voters of 1984 (voters of all stripes) weren’t expecting the extreme Neo-Liberal revolution that ensued.
The most relevant poll of voters carried out in 84 found that, on the question of attitudes to the Muldoon Government’s Economic Interventionism, “responses were notable in that despite the unpopularity of the Muldoon style of intervention (except among 1984 National voters), the principle of intervention was generally endorsed and the size of the “misdirected” category – particularly with respect to Labour and Social Credit voters – was unexpectedly high.”
The Question was: “In your opinion, has government intervention in the New Zealand economy under National in the 1980s been ‘about right’, ‘excessive’, ‘misdirected’ or ‘too little’ ?”:
1984………..All Voters……Lab Voters
Excessive………….33……………39
About Right………31……………4
Too Little……………1…………….1
Misdirected……….35…………..57
Hence, only a third of all voters in 1984 and less than 40% of Labour voters thought Muldoon’s interventionist policies ‘excessive’. Significant interventionism of one sort or another was endorsed by two-thirds of all voters and more than 60% of Labour voters at the time of the 1984 Election.
Plenty of Labour establishment types still secretly wonder where their hundreds of thousands of dedicated party members and union affiliate members have gone.
But of course it can’t have anything to do with the 1980s.
Ill make a deal with you – if you can give any reasonable reason that the above should cause National or labour members to be charged and found guilty of treason – Ill answer your question.
How else do you define an act of war against your own nation and people?
Whereby the people who elected you to defend the nation, are then betrayed and lose their jobs, their democracy, their rights, their public assets, their natural resources, and their territorial sovereignty?
We are now a colony in thrall to the whims of transnational corporations.
A cadre of traitors who sold this country to corporate interests ( mainly foreign) in the neo-liberal coup d’etat from 1984 to 1993and ongoing.
FTFY
Floating the New Zealand dollar.
Actually, that’s a brilliant move. They just did it the wrong way by having ‘The Market’ set the value of the dollar rather than setting it via the actual terms of trade. If we import more than we export from a country then our currency should go down against that currency.
‘The Market’ just sets it via interest rates which means that as our trade imbalance increases more money comes into the country for the higher returns increasing the imbalance. And it’s a cumulative imbalance.
As of now, our currency should be far below that of China meaning that we wouldn’t be importing from China at all now as nobody could afford to.
I disagree and don’t see why we can’t have a referendum on it. At the end of the day people both rich and poor now have a precariat life (apparently 3/4 of American’s have less than $1000 in the bank and I’m sure Kiwis are worse) so losing a job, having an earthquake or climate related effect, being on contract or zero hours are all reason why many Kiwis would want a safety net.
NZ is not Switzerland – much worse run as a country, less savings and so forth. With only 25% voting Trump being able to secure his victory, now is the time for the opposition to put forward something new that would get people out voting rather than same old 20th century ideas.
This is a beneficial and uncomplicated payment not a punishment tax like the usual efforts that don’t work for the left.
Yes, but there needs to be a discussion about it first and the public needs to be informed properly and not via slogans and propaganda. Does anyone else think this will not happen?
The beauty of the UBI is that it is a simple idea – it can be a slogan and also discussed in depth. It could be a way for Labour to lead a discussion not framed for once by National.
Hi save, I’m in for a ubi.
$300 a week each funded by a ftt.
Bring in all those (currently) untaxed $.
Mostly from those foreign banks and rich pricks, what’s not to vote for?
If there are concerns that it the ubi isn’t enough for some, then raise the ftt to .1%.
I also like the idea of national not controlling the narrative.
If Labour, Greens, opportunity party, Mana are all discussing a UBI funded by a robin hood tax, the Natz start to look like they are on the outer and the scrooge party just wanting more perks for the banks and multinationals…
Could Donald Trump shit or get off the pot already?
He clearly had and has zero transition plan in place, and obviously no idea who wants to help out, so he’s got nothing coherent in his 100 day plan other than ban TPP that was dead anyway, and is running around the lowest political has-beens trying to get anyone on his team.
He is reeking of having no political plan.That stuff that comes with experience.
Mr President-elect needs to figure this out fast or he will figure out what a backlash looks like.
He is reeking of having no political plan.That stuff that comes with experience.
No, you got that wrong I’m afraid.
With experience you can make it look like you have a plan, that you know what you’re doing, while in fact you still don’t and never will.
With experience you can appear to manage an economy towards a brighter future for all while in fact you’re watching things crumbling to pieces and dust.
With experience you can pretend to be doing and saying (!) the right things and actively pursuing the opposite behind the scenes, willingly and knowingly.
With experience you can fool almost all the people almost all the time – experience has shown us.
He clearly had and has zero transition plan in place, and obviously no idea who wants to help out
Trump’s transition is currently weeks ahead of Barack Obama’s. After a gruelling campaign and election, I think he’s taking his first full day off transition activities today.
The Obama transition didn’t even start naming Cabinet picks until days before Christmas day.
It looks rather rushed and the anointed cabinet lack both cohesiveness as a cabinet and appear to be short of experience in the cabinet roles to my eye. To be precise, the ones who have some experience look like they lack the experience of running large government departments. In particular, someone like Flynn looks like complete dickhead with a proven track record of being sloppy at managing staff.
I think that Trump and his advisers have been picking them for the reporters and an eye on the headlines rather than the actual work.
Obama was putting in place people with investigated backgrounds capable of standing up the close scrutiny and many of the appointments were known before the election to the public. It doesn’t appear that Trump and his team have done the same diligence, so what we are seeing is a hopeless mishmash of the barely competent.
Far be it from me to critique the HuffPost Bubble (and I do personally inhale there), but they need to get the point:
His job is to deliver the policies that people voted for.
To do that he needs the team that will do that.
He’s doing his shoulder taps ‘live before a studio audience’, which makes for great story and crap momentum.
He needs to show he can do the deals, quick.
He’s beginning to less like ‘draining the swamp’ and a whole lot more like just another alligator among a great pack of them.
“His job is to deliver the policies that people voted for.”
But what are those policies? It was hard enough to figure out what they might be even before we started getting told to “take him seriously, but not literally”.
I dunno, he’s been pretty good at conning people so far. Maybe he’ll be able to con people into thinking whatever steaming pile he produces is what they really did vote for.
Trump’s campaign team somehow even managed to con the superior intellects and highly educated group of Clinton Preferrers that Hillary would win.
Basically, if you don’t know what policies Trump campaigned on, you haven’t been paying attention.
Making NATO pay its way, dumping bad trade deals like the TPP, building the wall, ending regime change foreign interventions, massive infrastructure spending, law and order, deporting criminal illegals, charter schools, huge military spending, improving the economic and educational situation in inner cities, anti jihadist co-operation with Russia, a protectionist approach to trade, containing Iran, protecting social security and medicare, putting conservative constitutionalist judges on the Supreme Court, etc.
Also Trump copy pasted wholesale a whole lot of policy material from the Heritage Foundation. A fav establishment of all lefties.
The fact that The Donald is softening his policy stances, backtracking on shit and heading to the middle ground should make you Clinton Preferrers happy.
But apparently it doesn’t.
TL/DR he’s going to be a serious politician. Clinton Preferrers should have taken him as such.
When the systems broken then putting in place people who will maintain the system isn’t what you want to do.
Of course, Trump isn’t there to change the system to make it better for anybody but himself and that probably applies to those he’s appointing which means that the system he puts in place will be even more broken than the one already there.
Why did you mention Jews? Not once during the campaign did Jews come up, I could be wrong, am happy to be corrected. It’s my recollection that Mexicans and Muslims featured heavily in trumps rhetoric.
Besides that I take anything the Jewish lobby says with huge amounts of salt. Mainly because the Jewish state kill woman and children.
Greed, was around during the American Revolution, greed was around during WW2, greed was around in 2008, and greed is a feature in Trumps career. Denying greed exists is like denying gravity exists. All you are really saying is, it’s kinda like blaming air crashes on gravity.
Bannon and Breitbart are notoriously antisemitic – Breitbart is the public mouthpiece of the ‘alt right’ and is a channel for explicit NeoNazism in America and your claim to ignorance of its prominence in the campaign is difficult to credit.
Trump spent plenty of time dog-whistling, especially in his later adds, using common NeoNazi code language. Eric Trump was much more explicit in appealing to the ‘alt right’.
Besides that I take anything the Jewish lobby says with huge amounts of salt. Mainly because the Jewish state kill woman and children.
No thanks for lumping in the policies of Israel as representative of Jews, sorry, the “Jewish lobby” overall. Jews are not the Borg or a vast unified collective. Most in America would call themselves liberal and are appalled by Netanyahu’s barbarity. You demonstrate your prejudice.
Your last paragraph is nonsensical. I wasn’t denying greed exists, I was pointing out that you’re shilling for an antisemite misogynist racist who has been responsible for ‘normalising’ extreme NeoNazi rhetoric.
I’ll assume that you’re ignorant – that would be generous.
Also, I have no desire to use private messaging with someone who shills for fascism. You should have the courage to follow up your public statements in public.
Look at the links to the material on Spencer, whom Shannon so deeply admires and promotes. Pay attention to the “Heil Victory, Heil Trump” and the salutes. If you want to tell me what you think of them, you can tell everyone.
Americans themselves have bigger issues at play. The figurative Eliot ness is coming for them, millions of Americans are with out proper legal representation or financial means. Have you considered that or are you waiting for the right set of comments.
Nah, just more anti-Trump noise from the shell shocked liberal media.
Instead, why don’t you listen to the Israeli ambassador to the USA:
The Israeli ambassador to the United States on Thursday praised President-elect Donald Trump as a “true friend of Israel” and said that Israel looks forward to working with the administration — extending a specific mention to incoming top White House adviser Steve Bannon.
People tired of the neo-McCarthy smear by association tactics that the Clinton camp has been running in the media for months, and is still running, rhinocrates.
“many of the appointments were known before the election to the public”
You may be correct with this statement but I cannot think of any of the Cabinet Secretaries in Obama’s first cabinet whose proposed nomination was announced prior to the 2008 election.
Can you provide a link to back-up this claim? I can’t find anything using Google.
Last month Little wound that back, saying Leggett would be “welcome back in the Labour fold “He is a talented guy and he has got a big future ahead of him. But he has got to work with people who can organise for his success.”
On Tuesday Leggett said “I want to live in a country that’s open, its borders are open, it’s open to migrants, it’s open to trade. Unfortunately Labour seems to be going in the opposite direction to that, and I think it’s very sad.”
Today Newshub repoirts “Rumours are circulating that former Porirua mayor and ex-Labour stalwart Nick Leggett could be standing in the Mana electorate at next year’s election for the National Party.”
Not at all. Labour have changed. National have changed. Allegiances change. Political support need not be a lifelong commitment.
Voting pattern changes show that many people who have previously supported Labour switched to supporting National.
I’ve seen a lot of people commenting here saying that they used to support Labour but don’t now, and won’t until they change again. And abuse directed at ex-Labour voters is not going to help switch them back.
he does have a good point though – seat warmers always moan when they have to leave their comfort.
Labour is what labour is and it is made up of members and supporters – about time some of them took responsibility instead of always blaming the parliamentary team. For Labour members and supporters the question isn’t, “What did Labour do?” it is, “What did I do?” but those who have become bitter can never see that distinction – too much responsibility needed, imo they prefer to ride the coat-tails of those who actually do it and take responsibility for it – but some aren’t mature enough to even see that.
For a personal example, as a Mana Movement member and supporter I don’t berate Mana for what happened at the last election, I say,”what did I do or not do to contribute to that situation and what can I improve to make it more in alignment with my ethos and values.
Well, at least you accept that National is home to many centrists, and not just the usual fascists, extreme right wingers, sociopaths, RWNJ etc, that seem to be the usual characterisation of National supporters and activists by many on this site.
Though a moments reflection should indicate that a party that was made up of such people would not get enough votes to form a govt. Unless of course you think a large number of voters also fall into this category or are simply dupes.
Wendy’s is the worst offender — their squished assemblages of bread and meat with a few lost pieces of soggy lettuce or tomato bear little resemblance to the ideal.
I’m pretty sure that many in National are centrists. Same as I’m pretty sure that most of them aren’t psychopaths.
That makes no difference to the fact that National is actually a hard right-wing, psychopathic party due to it’s leadership and the fact that all those centrists are authoritarian followers that simply do as they’re told rather than holding their leadership to any sort of ethical standards.
Regardless – the man on the street is just going to see Ex Labour person moving to National saying the reasons are that Labours bad because they are anti immigration, anti migrants and anti free trade.
So – its not going to look good for Labour in the news.
I doubt many call be calling him a traitor to the cause or a neo-lib – because 99% of people dont care about that.
As for him never being a “labour man” – well labour obviously thought so. Its just that labour is getting less and less popular with people – citation- election results.
Yep, absolutely a Blairite. Along with his good chum, Phil Quin, Leggett’s a core member of the extra-Parliamentary wing of the old ABC brigade, very close to Shearer, Goff and Shane Jones, has written for the on-line presence of the lavishly-funded Blairite ginger group, Progress, and so on. Utterly opposed to anything resembling true Social Democracy.
Your bile is showing, regurgitated unoriginal spin-boy.
(For Bill’s benefit) – the right wing line that anyone who leaves the Labour Party to join National must be right and it’s all Labour’s fault for not listening to them, wasn’t dreamt up by this loser from Dunedin, he’s just astroturfing again. Do you need me to spell it out more clearly?
I hacked your emails, but fell asleep every time I tried to read them, so I’m marketing them on Ebay as a cure for insomnia. Sales are good, mostly from satisfied customer referrals.
I’m not sure where you get your precise knowledge of party-swapping statistics. Did you pull it out of your nose or your armpit?
Weka has already comprehensively rebutted your unoriginal regurgitation of right wing attack lines about DP. So I don’t have to.
There is a global war war taking place in the world economic system …….. Its driven by greed and corruption ……… and built by deeply dishonest, criminally inclined and the very worst among people involved as Politicians, Bankers, Lawyers and Accountants.
Corporate media is involved and profits from this ‘legalised looting’ …….mainstream reporting has been muted, poorly informed and often non-existent ……. our so called NZ news media are solely to blame for citizens being confused as to why John Key received special mention from the panama money laundering and tax haven whistleblower.
Keys and nationals grubby fingerprints in turning us into a tax haven/secrecy jurisdiction were all over Hansard, “Stuff interviews”, Nicky Hagers reporting on nationals long tax haven connections , wine box etc etc etc…..
This stealing by the most powerful and richest amongst us involves more than just Billionaires and corporations being greedy …………….. It is behind nearly every ill inflicting modern humanity and the earth …..Its driving climate change, It creates mass poverty and kills children , it spreads and grows pollution, war, corruption and every other sickness or abuse that the sociopaths and criminalized financial professions who build and run the off-shore wealth extraction networks have poisoned societies with.
John Key has a long career and made a lot of money helping American corporations and companies scam their way out of paying tax when Ireland set up as a tax haven centre back in the 1980’s when white collar criminality was rampantly growing ….. the virus of corruption spread through there corporate world and the bent bankers, accountants and Lawyers set the new scam standards.
Recently with Cameron PM in Britain , Harper in Canada Turnball in aussie and our own bent key we have had a quadrant of arrogant yet sneaky evil…. they have been building. Expanding and aiding the “offshore/ secrecy jurisdiction /tax haven networks ……….. on the quiet.
In the U.s.a Obama talked a good game against the wholesale fraud ….because politically the richest stealing from everyone is indefensible but he did nothing …. and he played golf with our bailout boy PM …..
As our ‘normal’ media does not educate us about this vicious wealth extraction and criminal enabling network through which half the worlds money flows …..I’ll be posting up information and links on its relevance to certain subjects ………. and probably john key 😉
If you want to join a political party, you have to have some sort of commitment to it principles, and Leggett didn’t.
Actually, you don’t. No political party tests a members principles against its own and then says yay or nay. A party may remove you later if they find out that you blatantly don’t support their stated principles.
More stale second-hand astroturf. (For Bill’s benefit) This particular bit of fake grass is the long-running drivel that says Labour has to become the National Party, a perennial theme that right wing trolls love to return to from time to time.
It’s a pity this boring derivative crap is welcome here.
Leggett has for ages been clearly and obviously a right wing politician working for property developers. His logical party is National, and the sooner he buggers off to them the better.
I look forward to him losing Mana horribly.
If there were any sense of decency and morality in the political system, this guy would be U.S. President in 2020.
As the United States observes its great national holiday, let’s give thanks that there are Americans like Edward Snowden….
“Segregation, slavery, genocides, these have all been perpetuated under frameworks that said they were lawful, as long as you abided by the regulations that were sort of managing those activities.
“A lawful abuse of surveillance could also be more difficult to spot, not something that is as obvious. Or how about a restriction on who and how you can love someone, that’s enforced by violence. Or something as simple as an intentional tax loophole. Or discrimination. Lawful abuse.”
Thanks very much, Viper. I was banned for a week for posting something which was more of a boast about my own prescience than it was to do with the U.S. election.
I guess it’s safe to repost it now, so here goes….
Three years ago this writer, i.e., moi, predicted
Donald Trump would become U.S. president.
In late December 2013, after witnessing the appalling spectacle of Barack Obama’s antics at Nelson Mandela’s funeral, I was moved to speculate on who would speak at Hopey-Changey’s own funeral in the year 2050….
So, the question has to be asked: is there anyone in the entire world who would be shameless enough to deliver a mealy-mouthed, utterly insincere eulogy for the late President Obama, just as President Obama delivered a mealy-mouthed, utterly insincere eulogy for the late Nelson Mandela.
Well, it so happens that there is someone who is just perfect for the job of leading the show of mourning for Barack Obama in the tradition, laid down by Obama himself, of eulogizing a person one would have persecuted and imprisoned if one had had the power to do so.
He is getting long in the tooth: in 2050 he will be 104 years old. But, thanks to the miracle of daily monkey gland injections, the drinking of gallons of Amrit Ras and the yearly blood sacrifice of a mewling sycophant on the world’s longest-running TV series The Apprentice, this world leader, and former president (2020-4), is still going strong.
Yes, step forward LORD DONALD TRUMP (May God Bless His Holy Name)…..
Ex-President Lord Trump’s Eulogy for Barack Obama
December 11, 2050
To Michelle and the Obama family; to President Bieber and members of the government; to heads of state and government, past and present; distinguished guests – it is a singular honor to be with you today, to celebrate a life unlike any other. To the people of Kenya – people of every race and walk of life – the world thanks you for sharing Barack Obama with us….
Key was also a disgrace and disrespectful to Nelson Mandela s memory and ideals…… specifically with the national party apartheid supporters he cynically picked and took to the south Africa stadium memorial farce …..
although I did hear a rumor that Key could understand what the sign language presenter was saying ….. ” the man was a fake; he was making up his own signs; he was flapping his hands around, but there was no meaning in it.” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/16/fake-mandela-memorial-interpreter-schizophrenia-signing …..” All the crocodile tears of the dignitaries were a self-congratulatory exercise, and Jangtjie translated them into what they effectively were: nonsense. ”
People forget that New Zealand,… or more specifically our Rugby union with the AllBlacks, together with their National party sponsors ruined the Montreal Olympics by touring South Africa ( after hundreds of blacks had been killed by the south African racist regime in the Soweto uprisings ), causing a boycott and walk out of over 30 countries in protest at us…… little ol NZ http://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/82567562/New-Zealand-at-centre-of-Olympics-boycott
National were dirty then ….. and they seem to have gotten worse.
If key had any decency he should have taken people who made a stand FOR Mandela…..
I would have sent these three ….for doing it when it counted ……… and with some degree of personal cost.
And Hone Harawira of course …. For being right then…. just as feeding hungry kids is the right thing to do now.
Key claims not to remember his views on nationals support of the racist tour, which I find highly unlikely ……. however the troll srylands posted Key was working in some horse stables at the time …… I note the similarity between Pony tails and horses tails ….. so perhaps he was in some kind of delirium.
+1 Morrissey, Snowdon’s smart, white, male, knows where Aleppo is, able to collaborate with other world leaders, computer savvy, been persecuted, is a world wide name and is a former defence forces contractor – they should be cuing up for Snowdon as President!
His references are a bit vague but from what I can make out he’s using the income data from 100% of households to calculate the (real) housing inflation of only 31% of households. When calculating the rental index I’d think it obvious one should only use the incomes of renters as a reference or at least make note of the caveat.
He’s also missed the point that households can have multiple tenants while a household can have only one owner-occupier. The ratio of renters must obviously be far higher than the 31% he’s quoting.
Another point is that rising rents lead to crowded housing and crowded houses will increase the average household income which would in turn create misleading statistics on relative housing costs.
IMO a graphic reminder of the old saying about lies, damned lies, etc…
“Many stand to inherit, and need to show a little patience – just give us over-entitled baby-boomers a few more dignified years to shuffle off this mortal coil.”…that particular argument gets my goat.
Baby boomers are expected to (generally) live longer and healthier lives than their parents. What good is it, as a Gen Xer to inherit money for your first house when you’re only 10 years off retirement yourself?? I know of many BB’s who were helped into their first home by their folks, but will not pass on the favour as they expect to enjoy active and secure life styles and endless kitchen renovations.
But far more importantly “…so long as families are able to live in warm, dry, sanitary accommodation, with just about enough space, what does it matter who is paying the mortgage?”..the man clearly has no idea about the realities -financial, emotional, physical- of renting your whole life.
Intellectuals Really Are the Shoeshine Boys of the Ruling Elite .
“Intellectuals Really Are the Shoeshine Boys of the Ruling Elite .’
IIRC Hazeldine used to be quite the socialist, was one of the few academics who stood up for the poor with any kind of sincerity. Leopard seems to have changed its spots there though.
Those damnable things you call ‘intellectuals’ are the remaining people in society who read. I’m sure you can find a little space in your bookshop-loving heart for them.
How many true intellectuals are around these days? Educated people who are willing to stick it to the establishment whenever the establishment deserves it? (Which is every day).
As opposed to the Intellectual Yet Idiot class who owe their comfortable middle classness on justifying, perpetuating and protecting the establishment.
Hedges describes this very well in his book Death of the Liberal Class.
5 October 2009: Crafar Farms placed into receivership, owing $216 million to creditors.
2 December 2009: KIWI DAIRY CORPORATION LIMITED registered. (Then changes to ORAVIE LIMITED, 20 December 2010. Then changes to ORAVIDA LTD, 20 January 2011. Then changes to ORAVIDA NZ LIMITED, 13 May 2011. ) Shareholders: Jing Huang, Julia Jiyan Xu, and Deyi Shi. (Source)
11 June 2010: National Party receives $50,000.00 donation from Susan Chou. (Source)
30 July 2010: National Party receives $150,000 donation from Susan Chou. (Source)
18 November 2010: MILK NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION LIMITED* registered. Directors: Terry Lee and Jiang Zhaobai. (Source)
22 December 2010: Government blocks bid by Natural Dairy to buy the 16 Crafar farms on ‘good character’ grounds.
27 January 2011: KordaMentha accepts offer from Shanghai Pengxin International Group Ltd to buy Crafar Farms.
31 May 2011: National Party receives $100,000 donation from Susan Chou. (Source)
22 July 2011: ORAVIDA LTD registered. Shareholders: Jing Huang, Julia Jiyan Xu, and Deyi Shi. (Source)
27 July 2011: ORAVIDA PROPERTY LTD changes name to KIWI DAIRY INDUSTRY LTD. Shareholder: Deyi Shi (Source)
13 April 2011: Shanghai Pengxin lodges application with the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) to buy the Crafar farms.
26 September 2011: Crafar farms receiver KordaMentha rejects a conditional NZ$171.5 million offer for 16 central North Island dairy farms from a group led by controversial former merchant banker Michael Fay.
22 November 2011: National Party receives $50,0000 donation from Citi Financial Group. Shareholders: Yan Yang and Qiang Wei. (Source) (Source)
22 November 2011: National Party receives $1,600 from Oravida NZ. (Source) (Source)
26 November 2011: NZ General Election
30 November 2011: National Party receives further $55,000 donation from Oravida NZ. (Source) (Source)
27 January 2012: Government ministers approve Shanghai Pengxin’s application to purchase 16 Crafar farms.
15 February 2012: High Court delays sale of Crafar farms to Shanghai Pengxin.
20 April 2012: Government ministers , Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson and Associate Finance Minister Jonathan Coleman approve the Overseas’ Investment Office’s (OIO) new recommendation to allow the sale of the 16 Crafar farms to Shanghai Pengxin.
* “Milk New Zealand Holding Limited” is the official applicant and purchaser of the 16 Crafar farms. It is supposedly a subsidiary of Shanghai Pengxin
@ James – Hone’s tie up with Dotcom made him a household name outside being a Maori MP. Losing his seat after the dirty politics gave Hone a lot of sympathy with the public. And I think if Hone runs again he will regain his seat – the public is turning more towards those who are not mainstream.
I don’t think your right James. The worst thing Hone could do is to go with the Maori party, have people abuse him for selling out and then push the dying Maori party through next election and the Maori party knife him in the back and suck up to whoever in power gives them the most bribes aka the Natz.
“President Donald Trump is set to give America’s richest 1% an average annual tax cut of $214,000 when he takes office, while more than eight million families with children are expected to suffer financially under his proposed tax plan.
On the eve of the election, Trump promised to “massively cut taxes for the middle class, the forgotten people, the forgotten men and women of this country, who built our country”. But independent expert analyses of Trump’s tax plan show that America’s millionaire and billionaire class will win big at the expense of struggling low- and middle-income people, who turned out in large numbers to help the real estate billionaire win the election.
Experts warn that Trump’s tax plan will exacerbate America’s already chronic income inequality and herald in a “new era of dynastic wealth”.”
Many of the policies on his current website are straight out of the Heritage Foundation portfolio. There will be plenty of changes to them over the next year.
How long did that take them (both parties) to build bridges where they could meet and indulge in mutual back slapping? A few days? A week?
This piece on their recent ‘on the record’ meeting kind of lays out some disturbing stuff quite nicely. Trump’s now ‘open minded’ duntya know? And the NYT? Well, back on board just as every other ‘news’ outlet is or will be.
You can trust him to do his best on bringing jobs back, securing the southern border, trashing the TPP, building up the US military machine, making massive infrastructure investments and bringing major change to run down inner city neighbourhoods.
You can also trust him not to hold grudges if he sees an advantage in not doing so.
Which seems to always surprise the hell out of Clinton Preferrers who insist on continuing to paint him as a vindictive villain and thus not understanding him at all.
My point with the article and comment was about what trump said and how he blatently changed his view. This shows a lot about the guy, none of it good imo. It wasn’t really about the merits of the nyts.
But independent expert analyses of Trump’s tax plan show that America’s millionaire and billionaire class will win big at the expense of struggling low- and middle-income people, who turned out in large numbers to help the real estate billionaire win the election.
As the saying goes… you get the government you deserve. No sympathy from me.
To Rosemary McDonald after mentioning the effort National is going to, to avoid payments to Carers of the Disabled , Andrew Geddis has a column pointing to: “The Nation this weekend is telling the story of family carers of disabled adult relatives and the pretty shabby way they’ve been treated over the years.” http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/a-little-something-for-the-weekend
TV3 at 9:30am this Saturday, repeat at 10:00am on Sunday.
Hah! This is a genuine expression of delight…any hint of my usual sarcasm is sincerely unintended.
ianmac…that answers the question my ‘networks’ were asking yesterday…’why now?’ Andrew has been a staunch supporter on this issue. Also, from the Pundit team, is Brian Easton who did a cost analysis for paying family carers back when the case went to the Human Rights Review Tribunal in 2008. Even though he was starved for data (by the Mystery of Health) his costing was a million times closer to accuracy than the Miserly of Health’s $17-590 million. Better data is available now…although I will never trust Misery of Health sources…and the ridiculously low uptake of the shitty Funded Family Care scheme supports the point of view that there were NEVER tens of thousands of disabled people with high and very high care needs who were being totally supported 24/7 by unpaid family carers.
And to try and present this issue in the narrative of this site….
NZ cut its neoliberalism teeth on disability support services. (Labour did it too!) When the Miserly of Health was given the cripples to look after, on the back of the Public Health and Disability Act back in 2000 (Annette King?), they almost immediately contracted the whole shit and shebang out to various non profits and profit making organisations.
These businesses have done VERY well out of these contracts and are almost NEVER held to account when disabled people are neglected, even to the point of death.
Many of these Contracted Providers where paying resident family members as carers. Even against the Misery’s policy. I was offered such payment from a Contracted Provider back in 2002…I was offered $17 per hour to care for my partner…way above the minimum wage at the time, but still allowing the CP to make a profit from the funding from the Mystery of Health.
I have a suspicion that many of these CP would not have done so well had they not have been paying family carers through these backdoor payments.
NO…I did not take up the offer…dodgy deals not our style…but when we spoke of this to Ruth Dyson back in early 2013…she asked why we didn’t take up one of these backdoor deals. “It was only a policy, not the law.” she said. (She looked at us if we were fuckwits for not doing this dodgy deal.) She had no answer when we asked why on earth Labour did not sort this shit out before it went to the HRRT in 2008. No answer.
Thanks ianmac for putting this up.
AND…I’m told that Sunday on TV1 is also going to feature this issue.
Looks like I’m going to have to commandeer a telly…
When we are not traveling, we are ‘home’, out in the country west of Hamilton.
Because we are more than 5 kms from the nearest exchange (or whatever its called) our broadband can be slow and unstable. We get a lot of buffering (if that’s the correct terminology) when trying to view program live. We’ve tried to watch a couple of livestreamed events…very frustrating.
Great news. But the transfer of disability support from Social Welfare to Health happened as part of Ruthless Richardson’s economic reign of terror in the early 90s.
“But the transfer of disability support from Social Welfare to Health happened as part of Ruthless Richardson’s economic reign of terror in the early 90s.”
Didn’t the PHDAct formalise that? During Ruth’s rule, we have the CHEs and HFAs and other alphabeticised devolutions….muddied the waters a little bit.
The Hill case in 2000 was against IHC and the RHA. Same issue after PHDAct was against MOH.
As an aside Sacha, I’ve been trying to find the founding document/s for the NASCs. Any idea where I might source these? The recent Service Specs for all the Providers (including the NASCs) are up on the Mystery’s website…but these are fairly recent (post 2000).
For my own interest, I’m trying to find the point at which the rot set in, and I suspect this was in the early 90s.
Can’t recall which law/s governed the changeover but yes it was to the old RHAs which by design were not able to directly provide services, only to fund them via contracted providers.
When Labour changed the structure to DHBs and MoH, those local rationing/funding functions got transferred to NASCs. The underlying libertarianism won out despite the change of govt.
And “Erica Stanford will be contesting the safe National seat being vacated by replace Murray McCully in East Coast Bays in the 2017 general election.”
A safe seat so Erica will be tossing her hair at Mr Key next year.
Note that McCully will resign from Parliament when his stint as Foreign Minister ends- soon? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11754852
According to who – the Maori king? He who has the National Party aligned Maori Party president’s hand shoved up his arse to do his talking for him.
It would be interesting to know what monies flow from the coffers of the National Party to the Maori elite of the Maori Party and then on to Mr Tuheitia himself…
I think Hone can win the seat back on his own. Who can rely on the Maori party?? Nobody especially the .1% elite Maori who profit from the relationship.
Also, Kelvin Davis has done an immense amount of work for New Zealand inmates both here and overseas. The Australian government is under immense pressure to change its detention policy and close centres such as Christmas Island in no small part because of the work done by Kelvin Davis.
Kelvin Davis got Sam Lotu Iiga fired from his portfolio, and is no doubt going to do the same with Judith Collins.
And you want him to have stepped aside and let Hone win? You would prefer that Davis was emasculated by Labour, with no mandate to force such change?
I ask you, what would Hone Harawira have achieved at the same point?
He’s involved with a union therefore has no credibility according to a right winger.
As I said on this thread, Davis’ work has directly contributed to the increased focus on the Australian government policy on detention of NZ citizens and indirectly on the increased pressure on the Australian government to close offshore detention centres.
His work is directly responsible for the holding to account of Serco’s mismanagement of MECF and has brought to bear increased scrutiny of Wiri. The current government would have done neither of these things if they were allowed to get away with it. Davis forced the sacking of one of John Key’s pet, token, brown projects in Sam Lotu Iiga. He forced Key to reinstate the corrupt trout, Judith Collins.
These are major achievements in just two years, but then you say he has no credibility?
They weren’t good enough. How do you think they’d perform in front of the media and in parliament if they’d been gifted the seat?
Kelvin Davis has proven to be a tenacious and committed fighter for the vulnerable and one of Labours best performers. As I said, he wouldn’t have the mandate to do what he’s done if he’d rolled over for Hone Harawira.
Can’t see how it suited them. I’m sure Labour would have welcomed Hone and Laila as voices representing Maori, the left, the disenfranchised, and those who want change.
Labour also would have wanted them to have got there on their own steam rather than weakening Labour by giving them a leg up as you and The Chairman wanted.
Nicola Willis has launched a challenge against incumbent candidate and list MP Paul Foster-Bell (National’s Wellington Central candidate) for the party’s nomination, which opens in January.
Oh jeez. Looks like education in the US is about to try a whole bunch more craptacularly bad ideas that no doubt our local clowns will be falling over themselves to copy.
This is nothing more than a mean-spirited attack on Andrew Little’s appearance and way of speaking. This is by no means the first time Trotter has had a go at Little like this.
Ironically, just to the left of that hatchet job, Trotter has listed the “Bowalley Road Rules”….
The blogosphere tends to be a very noisy, and all-too-often a very abusive, place. I intend Bowalley Road to be a much quieter, and certainly a more respectful, place. ….
Courtesy and Respect.
Comments which are defamatory, vituperative, snide or hurtful will be removed, and the commentators responsible permanently banned.
You conveniently ignored the substance of Trotter’s criticism which has zero to do with the way Little looks or sounds:
Labour’s policy proposition in 2017 isn’t 50 – but 64 – shades of grey.
The worst thing is, Little and his advisors flatly refuse to see this as a problem. They have only the coldest disdain for the sort of wild-eyed populism which has swept across the United Kingdom and the United States in 2016, and which, in 2017, threatens to wreak equal havoc among the political classes of Italy and France. It’s simply not the way the shell-shocked party pulled together by Helen Clark, Michael Cullen and Steve Maharey cares to do business. When asked whether he would have voted for Jeremy Corbyn, the present, British-born, President of the NZ Labour Party responded curtly: “No.”
In morbid conformity with the limp “Third-Way-ism” which still engrosses them, Little and his people – like Hillary and hers – have placed all their eggs in one technological basket. The mysterious algorithms of their data-manipulating, voter-identifying wonks will do what thousands of committed followers – apparently – cannot. They will locate all the shy, centrist voters Labour needs to win. That these same mysterious algorithms singularly failed to deliver the White House to Hillary has not shaken their confidence in electoral mechanisation.
Fair comment, Viper. I actually agree with most of his criticisms of Little, but the fact remains that it begins as a personal attack on his looks and his lack of “charisma.” I find that offensive, and—when you consider his pious little admonition against “snide or hurtful” comments—hypocritical in the extreme. I was also unimpressed by Trotter’s vacuous enthusiasm for Justin Trudeau’s “wit and movie-star good-looks”.
I think it’s important to look at the Trotter piece in totality, and to me the implicit message is clear: if he is somewhat short of charming good looks and lens fixating charisma, Little better have a whole lot of political courage and policy chutzpah going for him in his favour.
Just to remind people, and Colonial Viper, Chris Trotter is not a friend of Labour – he has some sort of snitch scratching at him with Labour which goes back years.
Freiend or friend not the article rings true. you could argue been left and not a labour cheer leader his view has more weight Where I disagree if he thinks labour going Corbyn left is the answer, “tell em he’s joking”
Gary McCormick announces: “I would rather trust the experts.”
But have a look at how he treated an expert five years ago. The Panel, RNZ National, Wednesday 23 November 2016
Wallace Chapman, Alan Blackman, Gary McCormick, Megan Whelan
humbugn., a willfully false, deceptive, or insincere person
For a change there was, briefly, something resembling an earnest discussion on Wednesday’s edition of Jim Mora’s pisspoor chat show. This one was about whether or not it was safe to go back into Wellington buildings closed down after the earthquake. The most earnest of all the Panelists was regular guest Gary McCormick, who told how the people of Christchurch had gone through all of this before, and after an earthquake was no time to take chances. “I would rather trust the experts,” he intoned.
No doubt more than a few long-time listeners to this show would have snorted to hear McCormick talk like that. Back in March 2011, Gary McCormick embarked on a demeaning, philistine attack on Professor Nick Wilson, a world-renowned expert on tobacco epidemiology. Also ganging up on the Professor were Jim Mora and Raybon Kan…..
GARY McCORMICK: Yeah I know Nick, we get this a lot from health professionals! Do we have any EVIDENCE that second-hand smoke HARMS PEOPLE?
PROFESSOR WILSON: The World Health Organization has presented reams of evidence that even a low level of second-hand smo—-
JIM MORA: Look, Nick, uhhh, you’re the medical professional and, uhhhh, I don’t want to argue the science with you but, uhhhhh, I’ve seen those Scottish statistics and they were heavily disputed and refuted!
McCORMICK: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re right, Nick, but we ordinary citizens keep hearing this scientific research which isn’t that sound. So Nick, tell us: is it that important?
PROFESSOR WILSON: Four hundred deaths is not trivial.
JIM MORA: But that’s an extrapolation as well, isn’t it!
RAYBON KAN: Nick, you seem quite hung up on this science thing. Ummmm, how does smoke compare with the threat of sunlight?
McCORMICK: A ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Good one, Raybon!
PROFESSOR WILSON: It’s not really the same thing.
McCORMICK: Yes it is, actually! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
JIM MORA: Doesn’t this come back to John Stuart Mill, that unless we can PROVE harm, then we have no right to ban something. It’s all about rights, surely?
PROFESSOR WILSON: Non-smokers have the right to breathe clean air.
McCORMICK: Yeah Nick, I’m concerned about the rights of people to experience direct sunlight. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
RAYBON KAN: He he he he he he he! Nice one, Gary!
JIM MORA: Doctor Nick Wilson, from the Otago University School of Medicine and Health Science. Nick, THANKS for being with us! It’s time for the News.
Following the news break of five minutes, the panelists are still flushed with the triumph of their mauling of Professor Wilson…
McCORMICK: That was lovely, Raybon, what you said about the sun. We really need to go after people like that. We often get put in a situation where we BELIEVE the experts. It’s good to challenge them!
RAYBON KAN: What ISN’T a carcinogen? Sun is a carcinogen. Sugar is a carcinogen. LIFE is a carcinogen! Being BORN is a carcinogen! This science is vaguely interesting, like vegemite, so move on!
McCORMICK: Ha ha ha ha ha haha! Well put, Raybon!
JIM MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha haha! Well said, Raybon. You’re very clever! Okay, onto our next topic: Sara Palin.
McCORMICK: Sara Palin? She’s too STUPID to be true!
What do we read into Telegraph science article re Antartica sea ice is no different than 100 years ago I ask in serioness not as a wind up, No one denies climate is changing but if true this must raise some question of models and forecasts ?
With out you linking it’s hard to tell, i do believe though that it has something to do with the polar winds swirling the antarctic keeping the warm air at bay,
It is exactly the antarctic vortex, combined with such a massive area of ice can shed an awful lot of mass while not really being super noticeable. Shrinking ice area in Greenland is much more obvious.
@ Red
What the article is reporting is that the effect of Global Warming on the Antarctic ice shelf is not as great as first feared. That is not to say there is no effect, just that it is not occurring at the same rate as the Arctic Circle. Not surprising because the Northern Hemisphere is far more densely populated so one would expect more rapid man-made atmospheric warming causing the temperature of the northern seas to also rapidly rise.
Thank you. One news ran with story tonight without much explanation of why or what is potential ramifications of these findings to climate change models. You think they could have gone ask some experts for an opinion at least. You do wonder if we over play what we understand in science I was reading an article the other day from NASA re the impossible engine, a NASA developed engine that defys classical laws of physics in thatt every action has an opposite reaction, In essence Nasa has developed and engine that propels and object without a propellant. Most scientist rubbished the idea but it does seem to work and while most still hold newtons third law they believe something is going on that we dont understand. My long winded point is you sort of wonder that understanding and predicting climate change is similar, not prejudging if human driven climate change is under or overstated either way, we just don’t no re the accuracy and predictability of our models. In this regard a safe bet probably makes acting in caution a sensible option, even though it may be pointless
You also have to take into account the media tendency to over-hype for the purpose of creating click baits etc. Where Climate Change is concerned, only the most ignorant and uneducated still deny it’s existence [eg. Donald Trump]. Yet the media continued to give the deniers equal space long after their ‘scientific rebuttals’ had been debunked. All in the name of a good story… and the planet be dammed.
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Asia Pacific Report A Pacific civil society alliance has condemned French neocolonial policies in Kanaky New Caledonia, saying Paris is set on “maintaining the status quo” and denying the indigenous Kanak people their inalienable right to self-determination. The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGOs) Alliance, representing some 15 groups, said in ...
Koi Tū New Zealand cannot sit back and see the collapse of its Fourth Estate, the director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, Sir Peter Gluckman, says in the foreword of a paper published today. The paper, “If not journalists, then who?” paints a picture of an industry ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Foreign investment proposals with implications for Australia’s strategic or economic security will face tougher scrutiny, under a policy overhaul to be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday. At the same time, the government ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealand’s economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders – the military-led border security operation that has “closed Australia’s borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
Publisher Chris Holdaway reflects on the unique project of collecting the work of the late, terrific poet Schaeffer Lemalu. One of the nice things you can do as a truly independent publisher is to make the books that writers want to make, whatever they happen to be. That’s how I’ve ...
Those profiled in the stamp series served on overseas deployments from 1995 onwards, and all have been awarded theNew Zealand Operational Service Medal. ...
Last night’s dismal poll result for the coalition government shows the limits of trying to govern as an opposition, argues Joel MacManus. There’s a quote from the American political activist Barbara Deming: “Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people’s minds, the thought ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shireen Morris, Associate Professor and Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, Macquarie University Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock Foreign interference in Australian democracy poses a growing risk to our national sovereignty. It refers to coercive, corrupt or ...
A defendant charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining by deception in relation to a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for 14 August 2024. ...
What to say when pesky journalists ask gotcha questions like ‘can you name a single book you’ve ever read?’ and ‘did you read it, or did you just see the movie?’This week, Act Party arts spokesperson Todd Stephenson foolishly agreed to an interview with Newsroom’s Steve Braunias regarding his ...
Explainer - What will a ban on cellphones in schools achieve? Can students use them during lunch breaks? And what happens if you need to contact your child? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW Sydney Jodi Rowley, CC BY-NC-ND In winter 2021, Australia’s frogs started dropping dead. People began posting images of dead frogs on social media. Unable to travel to investigate the deaths ...
In the year ended March 2024, 0.4 percent of home transfers were to people who didn’t hold New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wasay Majid, Research Assistant , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau New Zealand’s accommodation supplement scheme is facing scrutiny, with Social Development Minister Louise Upston recently saying “there is merit in considering whether the current settings are fair and sustainable long-term”. The ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The first prime ministerial candidate has been announced in Solomon Islands and it is not Manasseh Sogavare. The man of the hour is Jeremiah Manele, the MP for Hograno/Kia/Havulei constituency in Isabel Province, who served as minister of foreign affairs in the last government. ...
Protesting the removal of bins by leaving piles of your dog’s shit for others to deal with doesn’t make you a hero – it’s precious and entitled behaviour. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve stood on the shoreline of Auckland’s Cheltenham beach, desperately trying to scoop increasingly liquid dog shit ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon will be alert to the factors driving the dire polling, but won't be waving the white flag just yet, RNZ political editor Jo Moir writes. ...
Writer, teacher and academic Vincent O’Sullivan died on Sunday 28 April. Here we gather tributes from friends, colleagues, and students who remember his extraordinary contributions. I went down to the garage tonight. There was a bird shrieking out in the bush, in the dark, maybe a kākā. Miraculously, through the ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a burnt-out corporate escapee explains how she gets by ‘working as little as possible’. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 31 Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: Contractor in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Schmidt, Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney Albert Russ / Shutterstock The icebreaker of many a barbeque conversation is something like “what do you do for a crust?” “I teach chemistry at university,” is what we usually reply. Then silence. Our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asher Flynn, Associate Professor of Criminology, Monash University Shutterstock Sexual harassment is often considered to be a person-to-person act, but new research shows Australians are also experiencing and perpetrating workplace harassment in large numbers through technology. Our latest study shows one ...
A petition signed by more than 16,500 people, demanding the government take stronger action to halt the genocide of Palestinians by the State of Israel, is being presented to the House of Representatives today by Hon Phil Twyford. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University jenmartin/Shutterstock April has been a bad month for the Australian environment. The Great Barrier Reef was hit, yet again, by intense coral bleaching. And Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek delayed ...
Winston Peters might not give a ‘rat’s derriere’ about last night’s poll, but it revealed the unusual absence of a honeymoon period and little payoff for the government’s action plan approach, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco de Jong, Lecturer, Law School, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Details released by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Official Information Act reveal New Zealand officials have been considering involvement in AUKUS from the outset. ...
The government's treatment of Māori raised eyebrows, with countries saying New Zealand needed to do more to reduce health, education and justice inequities. ...
The age of criminal responsibility was one of numerous human rights issues raised during Aotearoa New Zealand’s UPR. Other key themes were racism and discrimination, the disproportionate representation of Māori in prison, and to uphold the UN Declaration ...
In a sitdown interview ahead of his final day at Parliament this week, the former Green Party co-leader tells RNZ about his lowest point during 2017's rough election campaign. ...
Is the fringe radio station really in a financial crisis, or is it just running a hyped-up donation drive? Fringe internet radio station Reality Check Radio was launched by the anti-vaccine mandates group Voices for Freedom in March 2023. For the next year, it undertook probably the most aggressive promotional ...
Above the Fold: On Monday, the biggest Māori screen production company faced down the biggest funder of Māori content at the High Court. It was an incredibly tense moment – then, just as quickly, it resolved. Duncan Greive breaks down a strange day in the screen sector.Yesterday morning, Māori ...
It’s a ride that’s lasted almost 30 years for mother and daughter BMX riders Nancy and Toni James, and the next stop is the World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Almost 27 years ago, Nancy and her husband Gerrard took their oldest child, Daniel, to the Waitākere BMX Club. ...
When it comes to talking about the Government’s controversial fast-track consenting process, political scientist Richard Shaw refers to the famous Chinese sci-fi novel Three-Body Problem, while RNZ’s In Depth journalist Farah Hancock talks about zombie projects. Shaw is referring to the three-party coalition Government and how the proposed legislation is ...
Opinion: The debate over single gender versus co-educational schooling has long been controversial. I went to a co-ed school and was inspired by a remarkable woman who was my maths teacher, and because of her deep knowledge and passion for the subject, I knew that maths was definitely an option ...
He won everything and he earned a knighthood and he was a senior literary figure to the point that he was a living monument to himself until his death in the weekend at 86, but there was something about Vincent O’Sullivan that flew under the radar, that was independent and ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 30 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia The rate of women killed by their partners in Australia grew by 28% from 2021–22 to 2022–23, according to new statistics released today by the Australian Institute of Criminology ...
Ministry of Disabled People employees were promised a permanent role, but were told to start packing three weeks before their fixed term contract finished, says a former employee. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National University Clean Energy Council / Neoen As Australia’s rapid renewable energy rollout continues, so too does debate over land use. Nationals Leader David Littleproud, for example, claimed regional areas had reached “saturation point” and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan C. Walsh, Sessional Academic, The University of Queensland Arrest for witchcraft (1866) by John PettieNGV, CC BY-NC In recent decades, governments the world over have increasingly taken action to address the dark history of witch-hunting. In western Europe, memorials to ...
By Mark Rabago, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent The US Department of Justice is being urged to condemn and cease its reliance on the “Insular Cases” — a series of US Supreme Court opinions on US territories, which have been labelled racist. Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kara Dadswell, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Victoria University Ask your son or daughter, niece, or nephew to draw you a picture of a sport coach. They will most probably draw a man. Why? Our latest research published in the Psychology of Sport ...
What do you do if you have a few actual principles and a bit of moral integrity, and Trump asks you to serve in his administration?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mitt-romneys-dilemma_us_5836376be4b050dfe61879e7?section=us_politics
You could almost feel sorry for the guy. Almost.
From a purely personal pov of course he should take it if offered, if nothing else if he does a good job then it strengthens his case if he takes another run for the presidency and if he doesn’t he can probably blame Trump for it and half the people would probably believe him
But both those points are just about Romney advancing his future. Neither addresses his likely need to maintain his self-respect while he tries to do the job.
Trump has been strongly advised not to trust Romney ( over on zerohedge).
And very interestingly, and very disturbingly, Kellyanne Conway has been implying over Twitter that Romney would not be a good pick.
Tensions in the Trump transition team over this seem to be running high.
Neo-liberalism creates a precarious society.
If anything goes wrong , the safety net does not exist.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11754532
And what created this neo-liberal nightmare?
A cadre of traitors who sold this country to corporate interests ( mainly foreign) in the neo-liberal coup d’etat from 1984 to 1993.
David Lange, Roger Douglas, Mike Moore, Geoffrey Palmer, Richard Prebble, David Caygill, Ruth Richardson, Bill Birch, Jenny Shipley and the rest of the quislings turned New Zealand from a country with governments which cared for its people to one that is reflected
The 4th Labour government’s acts of treason
Floating the New Zealand dollar.
Removing farming subsidies.
Introducing GST (Goods and Services Tax).
New banks were allowed.
Reducing income and company tax.
Removing controls on foreign exchange.
Abolishing or reducing import tariffs.
Corporatising many State owned enterprises such as the Post Office, Telecom and Air New Zealand to be more like private businesses. Some of these were later privatised.
Enabling the Reserve Bank to autonomously pursue an inflation target.
The 4th National government’s acts of treason
The corporatisation of the health system and hospital closures
Sale of state-owned enterprises
The Employment Contracts Act
Acts of treason ?
Yeah – Nah.
Just because you don’t agree with something it didn’t make it treason you know.
They were our elected officials doing their jobs.
They were elected officials who let in the neoliberal Trojan Horse. They were elected officials who fucked over the very constituents who voted them in. They were elected officials who hollowed out the Labour Party into a rigid brittle shell of its old self.
Yep, and certainly the voters of 1984 (voters of all stripes) weren’t expecting the extreme Neo-Liberal revolution that ensued.
The most relevant poll of voters carried out in 84 found that, on the question of attitudes to the Muldoon Government’s Economic Interventionism, “responses were notable in that despite the unpopularity of the Muldoon style of intervention (except among 1984 National voters), the principle of intervention was generally endorsed and the size of the “misdirected” category – particularly with respect to Labour and Social Credit voters – was unexpectedly high.”
The Question was: “In your opinion, has government intervention in the New Zealand economy under National in the 1980s been ‘about right’, ‘excessive’, ‘misdirected’ or ‘too little’ ?”:
1984………..All Voters……Lab Voters
Excessive………….33……………39
About Right………31……………4
Too Little……………1…………….1
Misdirected……….35…………..57
Hence, only a third of all voters in 1984 and less than 40% of Labour voters thought Muldoon’s interventionist policies ‘excessive’. Significant interventionism of one sort or another was endorsed by two-thirds of all voters and more than 60% of Labour voters at the time of the 1984 Election.
Plenty of Labour establishment types still secretly wonder where their hundreds of thousands of dedicated party members and union affiliate members have gone.
But of course it can’t have anything to do with the 1980s.
James. What’s your position on the death penalty for government officials who share state secretes with transnational corporations ?
Ill make a deal with you – if you can give any reasonable reason that the above should cause National or labour members to be charged and found guilty of treason – Ill answer your question.
This: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_casualties_in_Afghanistan
10 dead
Wow. Well done.
How else do you define an act of war against your own nation and people?
Whereby the people who elected you to defend the nation, are then betrayed and lose their jobs, their democracy, their rights, their public assets, their natural resources, and their territorial sovereignty?
We are now a colony in thrall to the whims of transnational corporations.
Measured and rational as always Paul.
Paul … who will do what to change this so called neo-liberal nightmare? And what do you feel we should do to change/fix things?
Vote Democrats.
http://www.democrats.org.nz/
FTFY
Actually, that’s a brilliant move. They just did it the wrong way by having ‘The Market’ set the value of the dollar rather than setting it via the actual terms of trade. If we import more than we export from a country then our currency should go down against that currency.
‘The Market’ just sets it via interest rates which means that as our trade imbalance increases more money comes into the country for the higher returns increasing the imbalance. And it’s a cumulative imbalance.
As of now, our currency should be far below that of China meaning that we wouldn’t be importing from China at all now as nobody could afford to.
@Paul – UBI – UBI – UBI
Does anyone else think that we should have a referendum on UBI in NZ?
Yeah, but would it have any chance of a yes? I don’t think so.
I disagree and don’t see why we can’t have a referendum on it. At the end of the day people both rich and poor now have a precariat life (apparently 3/4 of American’s have less than $1000 in the bank and I’m sure Kiwis are worse) so losing a job, having an earthquake or climate related effect, being on contract or zero hours are all reason why many Kiwis would want a safety net.
NZ is not Switzerland – much worse run as a country, less savings and so forth. With only 25% voting Trump being able to secure his victory, now is the time for the opposition to put forward something new that would get people out voting rather than same old 20th century ideas.
This is a beneficial and uncomplicated payment not a punishment tax like the usual efforts that don’t work for the left.
Who the hell doesn’t want the idea of free money?
It could be the left ‘tax cuts’.
Yes, but there needs to be a discussion about it first and the public needs to be informed properly and not via slogans and propaganda. Does anyone else think this will not happen?
The beauty of the UBI is that it is a simple idea – it can be a slogan and also discussed in depth. It could be a way for Labour to lead a discussion not framed for once by National.
Hi save, I’m in for a ubi.
$300 a week each funded by a ftt.
Bring in all those (currently) untaxed $.
Mostly from those foreign banks and rich pricks, what’s not to vote for?
If there are concerns that it the ubi isn’t enough for some, then raise the ftt to .1%.
I also like the idea of national not controlling the narrative.
If Labour, Greens, opportunity party, Mana are all discussing a UBI funded by a robin hood tax, the Natz start to look like they are on the outer and the scrooge party just wanting more perks for the banks and multinationals…
Could Donald Trump shit or get off the pot already?
He clearly had and has zero transition plan in place, and obviously no idea who wants to help out, so he’s got nothing coherent in his 100 day plan other than ban TPP that was dead anyway, and is running around the lowest political has-beens trying to get anyone on his team.
He is reeking of having no political plan.That stuff that comes with experience.
Mr President-elect needs to figure this out fast or he will figure out what a backlash looks like.
Aw c’mon it’s all gd. Here, Seth Meyers explains it for ya.
Trump’s pick for Commerce Secretary – Wilbur L. Ross, Jr, a billionaire scavenger shark who grew rich while miners died.
http://fortune.com/2016/11/24/donald-trump-wilbur-ross-commerce-secretary/
http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/15561/
No, you got that wrong I’m afraid.
With experience you can make it look like you have a plan, that you know what you’re doing, while in fact you still don’t and never will.
With experience you can appear to manage an economy towards a brighter future for all while in fact you’re watching things crumbling to pieces and dust.
With experience you can pretend to be doing and saying (!) the right things and actively pursuing the opposite behind the scenes, willingly and knowingly.
With experience you can fool almost all the people almost all the time – experience has shown us.
An experienced politician is a menace to mankind.
You’d be great in job interviews.
Have you read Bryce Edwards’ 10-point manifesto for change in New Zealand?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11749955
Trump’s transition is currently weeks ahead of Barack Obama’s. After a gruelling campaign and election, I think he’s taking his first full day off transition activities today.
The Obama transition didn’t even start naming Cabinet picks until days before Christmas day.
It looks rather rushed and the anointed cabinet lack both cohesiveness as a cabinet and appear to be short of experience in the cabinet roles to my eye. To be precise, the ones who have some experience look like they lack the experience of running large government departments. In particular, someone like Flynn looks like complete dickhead with a proven track record of being sloppy at managing staff.
I think that Trump and his advisers have been picking them for the reporters and an eye on the headlines rather than the actual work.
Obama was putting in place people with investigated backgrounds capable of standing up the close scrutiny and many of the appointments were known before the election to the public. It doesn’t appear that Trump and his team have done the same diligence, so what we are seeing is a hopeless mishmash of the barely competent.
Have you been sucking on the RT again?
A bit more discussion around those points.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trumps-cabinet-is-on-track-to-be-the-least-experienced-in-modern-history_us_5836f133e4b000af95edf18c
Far be it from me to critique the HuffPost Bubble (and I do personally inhale there), but they need to get the point:
His job is to deliver the policies that people voted for.
To do that he needs the team that will do that.
He’s doing his shoulder taps ‘live before a studio audience’, which makes for great story and crap momentum.
He needs to show he can do the deals, quick.
He’s beginning to less like ‘draining the swamp’ and a whole lot more like just another alligator among a great pack of them.
“His job is to deliver the policies that people voted for.”
But what are those policies? It was hard enough to figure out what they might be even before we started getting told to “take him seriously, but not literally”.
I dunno, he’s been pretty good at conning people so far. Maybe he’ll be able to con people into thinking whatever steaming pile he produces is what they really did vote for.
Trump’s campaign team somehow even managed to con the superior intellects and highly educated group of Clinton Preferrers that Hillary would win.
Basically, if you don’t know what policies Trump campaigned on, you haven’t been paying attention.
Making NATO pay its way, dumping bad trade deals like the TPP, building the wall, ending regime change foreign interventions, massive infrastructure spending, law and order, deporting criminal illegals, charter schools, huge military spending, improving the economic and educational situation in inner cities, anti jihadist co-operation with Russia, a protectionist approach to trade, containing Iran, protecting social security and medicare, putting conservative constitutionalist judges on the Supreme Court, etc.
Also Trump copy pasted wholesale a whole lot of policy material from the Heritage Foundation. A fav establishment of all lefties.
He campaigned on policy and is now backtracking on many of them and he ain’t even in yet. A great com.
The fact that The Donald is softening his policy stances, backtracking on shit and heading to the middle ground should make you Clinton Preferrers happy.
But apparently it doesn’t.
TL/DR he’s going to be a serious politician. Clinton Preferrers should have taken him as such.
When the systems broken then putting in place people who will maintain the system isn’t what you want to do.
Of course, Trump isn’t there to change the system to make it better for anybody but himself and that probably applies to those he’s appointing which means that the system he puts in place will be even more broken than the one already there.
Dont listen to IPrents BS. Steve Bannon has huge intellect, understands Americas problems & is motivated for change: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LNwf1B0qNMs
If you define America’s problems as “too many Jews” (or women, of POC…), yes. Otherwise…
http://www.jta.org/2016/11/14/news-opinion/politics/trumps-chief-strategist-5-things-jews-need-to-know-about-stephen-bannon
Why did you mention Jews? Not once during the campaign did Jews come up, I could be wrong, am happy to be corrected. It’s my recollection that Mexicans and Muslims featured heavily in trumps rhetoric.
Besides that I take anything the Jewish lobby says with huge amounts of salt. Mainly because the Jewish state kill woman and children.
Greed, was around during the American Revolution, greed was around during WW2, greed was around in 2008, and greed is a feature in Trumps career. Denying greed exists is like denying gravity exists. All you are really saying is, it’s kinda like blaming air crashes on gravity.
Bannon and Breitbart are notoriously antisemitic – Breitbart is the public mouthpiece of the ‘alt right’ and is a channel for explicit NeoNazism in America and your claim to ignorance of its prominence in the campaign is difficult to credit.
Trump spent plenty of time dog-whistling, especially in his later adds, using common NeoNazi code language. Eric Trump was much more explicit in appealing to the ‘alt right’.
Besides that I take anything the Jewish lobby says with huge amounts of salt. Mainly because the Jewish state kill woman and children.
No thanks for lumping in the policies of Israel as representative of Jews, sorry, the “Jewish lobby” overall. Jews are not the Borg or a vast unified collective. Most in America would call themselves liberal and are appalled by Netanyahu’s barbarity. You demonstrate your prejudice.
Your last paragraph is nonsensical. I wasn’t denying greed exists, I was pointing out that you’re shilling for an antisemite misogynist racist who has been responsible for ‘normalising’ extreme NeoNazi rhetoric.
I’ll assume that you’re ignorant – that would be generous.
You’re crazy
Care to elaborate?
No. I can’t take you seriously. If you want to continue your ramblings. Throw me a private message. And I’ll get back to you right away
If you want to comin Ture your ramblings.
Please use English.
Also, I have no desire to use private messaging with someone who shills for fascism. You should have the courage to follow up your public statements in public.
Look at the links to the material on Spencer, whom Shannon so deeply admires and promotes. Pay attention to the “Heil Victory, Heil Trump” and the salutes. If you want to tell me what you think of them, you can tell everyone.
Americans themselves have bigger issues at play. The figurative Eliot ness is coming for them, millions of Americans are with out proper legal representation or financial means. Have you considered that or are you waiting for the right set of comments.
Nah, just more anti-Trump noise from the shell shocked liberal media.
Instead, why don’t you listen to the Israeli ambassador to the USA:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2016/11/ron-dermer-israeli-ambassador-praises-trump-bannon-231578
You might want to look at this footage of Bannon’s playmate, Richard Spencer.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/richard-spencer-speech-npi/508379/
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/11/21/meet_the_neo_nazi_steve_bannon_s_site_described_as_a_leading_intellectual.html
People tired of the neo-McCarthy smear by association tactics that the Clinton camp has been running in the media for months, and is still running, rhinocrates.
That’s one big reason why she lost.
“many of the appointments were known before the election to the public”
You may be correct with this statement but I cannot think of any of the Cabinet Secretaries in Obama’s first cabinet whose proposed nomination was announced prior to the 2008 election.
Can you provide a link to back-up this claim? I can’t find anything using Google.
Remind me after I get out of the pub and sober up a bit.
24 hours later.
That must have been quite a celebration.
In August Andrew Little dissed Nick Leggett off as a right winger.
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/labour-mps-forbidden-from-associating-with-right-ring-wellington-mayoral-candidate/
Last month Little wound that back, saying Leggett would be “welcome back in the Labour fold “He is a talented guy and he has got a big future ahead of him. But he has got to work with people who can organise for his success.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11725623
On Tuesday Leggett said “I want to live in a country that’s open, its borders are open, it’s open to migrants, it’s open to trade. Unfortunately Labour seems to be going in the opposite direction to that, and I think it’s very sad.”
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/nick-leggett-labour-has-changed-and-im-not-going-back/
Today Newshub repoirts “Rumours are circulating that former Porirua mayor and ex-Labour stalwart Nick Leggett could be standing in the Mana electorate at next year’s election for the National Party.”
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/from-labour-to-national-is-nick-leggett-jumping-ship-2016112423
Labour needs to be rebuilding, but dissing people off is going to make that difficult.
Excellent – I’m sure national will be happy to have him.
Looks like he found people who can organise for his success.
If Leggett jumps ship to National doesn’t it highlight he was never really a Labour man?
Thus, no loss.
Not at all. Labour have changed. National have changed. Allegiances change. Political support need not be a lifelong commitment.
Voting pattern changes show that many people who have previously supported Labour switched to supporting National.
I’ve seen a lot of people commenting here saying that they used to support Labour but don’t now, and won’t until they change again. And abuse directed at ex-Labour voters is not going to help switch them back.
I don’t believe Leggett has changed. He has always been a bit of a centrist.
The suggestion he may jump ship to National merely reaffirms my belief.
Labour require people who are committed to the cause. Clearly, Leggett isn’t.
Thus, no loss.
Uh, what “cause” might that be, exactly? Have you seen much evidence of this so-called “cause” in action over the last few years/decades?
You’re a Labour Party member aren’t you.
Yet another cheap personal attack OAB? Figures.
I can’t help it if your personal circumstances undermine your rhetoric.
Distracting from the failure of NZ Labour to have a “cause”.
he does have a good point though – seat warmers always moan when they have to leave their comfort.
Labour is what labour is and it is made up of members and supporters – about time some of them took responsibility instead of always blaming the parliamentary team. For Labour members and supporters the question isn’t, “What did Labour do?” it is, “What did I do?” but those who have become bitter can never see that distinction – too much responsibility needed, imo they prefer to ride the coat-tails of those who actually do it and take responsibility for it – but some aren’t mature enough to even see that.
For a personal example, as a Mana Movement member and supporter I don’t berate Mana for what happened at the last election, I say,”what did I do or not do to contribute to that situation and what can I improve to make it more in alignment with my ethos and values.
The people I know who attended your last conference came back quite energised about the cause. I suppose you had to be there.
It’s my impression that so far as you’re concerned, what Labour “lacks” is a list place for you.
What a joyous work life that would be, having to hang out with backstabbing low energy free market faithful careerist Labour MPs for 60 hours a week.
Especially considering that you’re a better fit for the National
PartyFront.The party’s core principles.
But yes, I agree, Labour seldom lives up to them. Hence, their ailing support.
Leggett is far from the only one in Labour that needs to go.
Leggett a centrist, or rightwing ? I’d say rightwing, The Chairman – so the National Party is really his home ground.
He has taken positions both ways (left & right) over the years.
Well, at least you accept that National is home to many centrists, and not just the usual fascists, extreme right wingers, sociopaths, RWNJ etc, that seem to be the usual characterisation of National supporters and activists by many on this site.
Though a moments reflection should indicate that a party that was made up of such people would not get enough votes to form a govt. Unless of course you think a large number of voters also fall into this category or are simply dupes.
Neuroscience has the answer. There may be a spectrum of false beliefs between Judith Collins and Bill English, and so what?
National is good at putting on a soft public front.
aww jees wayne – youve never looked at a maccas burger and compared it to the pics on the menu?
Burger King or KFC would have been a far better example, absolutely disgraceful the quality of the food from those establishments.
Maccas burgers do actually resemble the advertising unlike the other two.
Actually some maccas burgers look pretty close to the photos (the Angus range and the Kiwiburger when on offer).
When the Kiwiburger is unavailable I turn the Angus Burger into the Kiwi Burger by adding an egg.
That’s one tasty burger.
Really.
Now I’m getting hungry…
Wendy’s is the worst offender — their squished assemblages of bread and meat with a few lost pieces of soggy lettuce or tomato bear little resemblance to the ideal.
I used to like Wendy’s ten years ago but they seem to have gone steeply down hill.
Sounds like my preference for a certain political party
😛
I’m pretty sure that many in National are centrists. Same as I’m pretty sure that most of them aren’t psychopaths.
That makes no difference to the fact that National is actually a hard right-wing, psychopathic party due to it’s leadership and the fact that all those centrists are authoritarian followers that simply do as they’re told rather than holding their leadership to any sort of ethical standards.
Regardless – the man on the street is just going to see Ex Labour person moving to National saying the reasons are that Labours bad because they are anti immigration, anti migrants and anti free trade.
So – its not going to look good for Labour in the news.
I doubt many call be calling him a traitor to the cause or a neo-lib – because 99% of people dont care about that.
As for him never being a “labour man” – well labour obviously thought so. Its just that labour is getting less and less popular with people – citation- election results.
The man on the street is more likely to be against more immigration and trade deals like the TPP.
Therefore, Leggett will merely paint Labour in a good light.
Yeah – you keep telling yourself that.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/poll-kiwis-want-to-cut-immigration-2016080915
http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/kiwis-still-to-be-convinced-on-tpp-2015112017
Leggett sounds like JAFB – Just Another Fucking Blairite. Thus, no loss.
Yep, absolutely a Blairite. Along with his good chum, Phil Quin, Leggett’s a core member of the extra-Parliamentary wing of the old ABC brigade, very close to Shearer, Goff and Shane Jones, has written for the on-line presence of the lavishly-funded Blairite ginger group, Progress, and so on. Utterly opposed to anything resembling true Social Democracy.
The Tories will love him.
There’s no mention of England.
Just as well Labour can afford to give ex members and voters a kick up the bum as they slam the door on them.
Your bile is showing, regurgitated unoriginal spin-boy.
(For Bill’s benefit) – the right wing line that anyone who leaves the Labour Party to join National must be right and it’s all Labour’s fault for not listening to them, wasn’t dreamt up by this loser from Dunedin, he’s just astroturfing again. Do you need me to spell it out more clearly?
Not many of those deserting Labour going to the Greens. Probably not helped by so much repeat Green supporter dirty politics.
I hacked your emails, but fell asleep every time I tried to read them, so I’m marketing them on Ebay as a cure for insomnia. Sales are good, mostly from satisfied customer referrals.
I’m not sure where you get your precise knowledge of party-swapping statistics. Did you pull it out of your nose or your armpit?
Weka has already comprehensively rebutted your unoriginal regurgitation of right wing attack lines about DP. So I don’t have to.
I only have to look at the gravatar for 10 secs and I’m gone….
Huh? What green dirty politics. I kept track on the fuckwits in nz. I haven’t heard if any. Perhaps you are imagining it?
If you want to join a political party, you have to have some sort of commitment to it principles, and Leggett didn’t.
Also, I want to live in a country that where the government puts it’s own people first. Not those from overseas.
What if its principles change – do you follow it blindly?
There is a global war war taking place in the world economic system …….. Its driven by greed and corruption ……… and built by deeply dishonest, criminally inclined and the very worst among people involved as Politicians, Bankers, Lawyers and Accountants.
Corporate media is involved and profits from this ‘legalised looting’ …….mainstream reporting has been muted, poorly informed and often non-existent ……. our so called NZ news media are solely to blame for citizens being confused as to why John Key received special mention from the panama money laundering and tax haven whistleblower.
Keys and nationals grubby fingerprints in turning us into a tax haven/secrecy jurisdiction were all over Hansard, “Stuff interviews”, Nicky Hagers reporting on nationals long tax haven connections , wine box etc etc etc…..
This stealing by the most powerful and richest amongst us involves more than just Billionaires and corporations being greedy …………….. It is behind nearly every ill inflicting modern humanity and the earth …..Its driving climate change, It creates mass poverty and kills children , it spreads and grows pollution, war, corruption and every other sickness or abuse that the sociopaths and criminalized financial professions who build and run the off-shore wealth extraction networks have poisoned societies with.
John Key has a long career and made a lot of money helping American corporations and companies scam their way out of paying tax when Ireland set up as a tax haven centre back in the 1980’s when white collar criminality was rampantly growing ….. the virus of corruption spread through there corporate world and the bent bankers, accountants and Lawyers set the new scam standards.
Recently with Cameron PM in Britain , Harper in Canada Turnball in aussie and our own bent key we have had a quadrant of arrogant yet sneaky evil…. they have been building. Expanding and aiding the “offshore/ secrecy jurisdiction /tax haven networks ……….. on the quiet.
In the U.s.a Obama talked a good game against the wholesale fraud ….because politically the richest stealing from everyone is indefensible but he did nothing …. and he played golf with our bailout boy PM …..
As our ‘normal’ media does not educate us about this vicious wealth extraction and criminal enabling network through which half the worlds money flows …..I’ll be posting up information and links on its relevance to certain subjects ………. and probably john key 😉
http://ctj.org/pdf/offshoreshell2015.pdf
http://ctj.org/ctjreports/2015/10/offshore_shell_games_2015.php#.WDd9hMno1_k
Actually, you don’t. No political party tests a members principles against its own and then says yay or nay. A party may remove you later if they find out that you blatantly don’t support their stated principles.
More stale second-hand astroturf. (For Bill’s benefit) This particular bit of fake grass is the long-running drivel that says Labour has to become the National Party, a perennial theme that right wing trolls love to return to from time to time.
It’s a pity this boring derivative crap is welcome here.
Rumours… rumours via newshub.. mhmm.. raises an eyebrow. Entertainment attempting to be disguised as news?
Leggett didn’t leave Labour, Labour left Leggett 🙂
I’ve heard this song before…
I’ve always voted Labour,
My father voted Labour,
My father’s father voted Labour,
I grew up in a Labour household,
But, Cunliffe.
I was picking that he would do a deal with Peter dunne and take over Ohariu with a nod and a wink from national
“Leggett said “I want to live in a country that’s open, its borders are open, it’s open to migrants, it’s open to trade”
Politics attracts the narrowest of ‘thinkers’
The above statement barely qualifies as thinking…in fact given it was an interview that makes it prepared sloganerring…
Given as notes to repeat in the interview….so no thinking at all
Where do they manufacture these ‘people’
Leggett has for ages been clearly and obviously a right wing politician working for property developers. His logical party is National, and the sooner he buggers off to them the better.
I look forward to him losing Mana horribly.
If there were any sense of decency and morality in the political system, this guy would be U.S. President in 2020.
As the United States observes its great national holiday, let’s give thanks that there are Americans like Edward Snowden….
And here’s the transcript of the talk….
http://www.actvism.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/160724_Edward_Snowden_Transcript.pdf
Welcome back Morrissey
Thanks very much, Viper. I was banned for a week for posting something which was more of a boast about my own prescience than it was to do with the U.S. election.
I guess it’s safe to repost it now, so here goes….
Three years ago this writer, i.e., moi, predicted
Donald Trump would become U.S. president.
In late December 2013, after witnessing the appalling spectacle of Barack Obama’s antics at Nelson Mandela’s funeral, I was moved to speculate on who would speak at Hopey-Changey’s own funeral in the year 2050….
Read more….
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-31122013/#comment-751510
😀
😀
😀
Nicely done
Top notch posts Morrissey ….
Key was also a disgrace and disrespectful to Nelson Mandela s memory and ideals…… specifically with the national party apartheid supporters he cynically picked and took to the south Africa stadium memorial farce …..
although I did hear a rumor that Key could understand what the sign language presenter was saying ….. ” the man was a fake; he was making up his own signs; he was flapping his hands around, but there was no meaning in it.” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/16/fake-mandela-memorial-interpreter-schizophrenia-signing …..” All the crocodile tears of the dignitaries were a self-congratulatory exercise, and Jangtjie translated them into what they effectively were: nonsense. ”
People forget that New Zealand,… or more specifically our Rugby union with the AllBlacks, together with their National party sponsors ruined the Montreal Olympics by touring South Africa ( after hundreds of blacks had been killed by the south African racist regime in the Soweto uprisings ), causing a boycott and walk out of over 30 countries in protest at us…… little ol NZ http://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/82567562/New-Zealand-at-centre-of-Olympics-boycott
National were dirty then ….. and they seem to have gotten worse.
If key had any decency he should have taken people who made a stand FOR Mandela…..
I would have sent these three ….for doing it when it counted ……… and with some degree of personal cost.
Graham Mourie http://pukeariki.com/Learning-Research/Taranaki-Research-Centre/Taranaki-Stories/Taranaki-Story/id/629/title/springbok-tour-forces-brave-decision ….. A real All Black captain and champion. http://pukeariki.com/Learning-Research/Taranaki-Research-Centre/Taranaki-Stories/Taranaki-Story/id/626/title/graham-mourie-a-man-of-conscience
John Minto …. “On his chin there’s another tour scar – this left by a ‘Blue Squad’ police baton” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10737275
And Hone Harawira of course …. For being right then…. just as feeding hungry kids is the right thing to do now.
Key claims not to remember his views on nationals support of the racist tour, which I find highly unlikely ……. however the troll srylands posted Key was working in some horse stables at the time …… I note the similarity between Pony tails and horses tails ….. so perhaps he was in some kind of delirium.
You do know that Snowden is a affiliated to the Libertarian Party and gave money to Ron Paul’s presidential campaign in 2008 don’t you?
Although rather a lot has happened between now and then.
the US libertarians want to close military bases and stop bombing everyone.
they also have this weird concept called “human rights”
how awful of them
+1 Morrissey, Snowdon’s smart, white, male, knows where Aleppo is, able to collaborate with other world leaders, computer savvy, been persecuted, is a world wide name and is a former defence forces contractor – they should be cuing up for Snowdon as President!
Oh, he’s got too much integrity…
It’s disappointing to see Tim Hazeldine sidling across to the dark side….
“Tim Hazledine: Panicky housing policies may be missing target”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11754601
His references are a bit vague but from what I can make out he’s using the income data from 100% of households to calculate the (real) housing inflation of only 31% of households. When calculating the rental index I’d think it obvious one should only use the incomes of renters as a reference or at least make note of the caveat.
He’s also missed the point that households can have multiple tenants while a household can have only one owner-occupier. The ratio of renters must obviously be far higher than the 31% he’s quoting.
Another point is that rising rents lead to crowded housing and crowded houses will increase the average household income which would in turn create misleading statistics on relative housing costs.
IMO a graphic reminder of the old saying about lies, damned lies, etc…
“Many stand to inherit, and need to show a little patience – just give us over-entitled baby-boomers a few more dignified years to shuffle off this mortal coil.”…that particular argument gets my goat.
Baby boomers are expected to (generally) live longer and healthier lives than their parents. What good is it, as a Gen Xer to inherit money for your first house when you’re only 10 years off retirement yourself?? I know of many BB’s who were helped into their first home by their folks, but will not pass on the favour as they expect to enjoy active and secure life styles and endless kitchen renovations.
But far more importantly “…so long as families are able to live in warm, dry, sanitary accommodation, with just about enough space, what does it matter who is paying the mortgage?”..the man clearly has no idea about the realities -financial, emotional, physical- of renting your whole life.
Intellectuals Really Are the Shoeshine Boys of the Ruling Elite .
“Intellectuals Really Are the Shoeshine Boys of the Ruling Elite .’
IIRC Hazeldine used to be quite the socialist, was one of the few academics who stood up for the poor with any kind of sincerity. Leopard seems to have changed its spots there though.
Those damnable things you call ‘intellectuals’ are the remaining people in society who read. I’m sure you can find a little space in your bookshop-loving heart for them.
How many true intellectuals are around these days? Educated people who are willing to stick it to the establishment whenever the establishment deserves it? (Which is every day).
As opposed to the Intellectual Yet Idiot class who owe their comfortable middle classness on justifying, perpetuating and protecting the establishment.
Hedges describes this very well in his book Death of the Liberal Class.
Are the negotiations between the Māori Party and Mana a consequence of Labour’s treatment of the two?
And will this result in biting Labour in the ass?
That would be hilarious !!!
Hone trusting a maori party that’s being run by tuku morgan would be dumber than him teaming up with dot com
I have to disagree with that – Kim Dotcom was the worst mistake anyone could make.
But national are dirty politics sweetness… https://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/doing-the-business-with-john-key-heres-how-part-rua/
5 October 2009: Crafar Farms placed into receivership, owing $216 million to creditors.
2 December 2009: KIWI DAIRY CORPORATION LIMITED registered. (Then changes to ORAVIE LIMITED, 20 December 2010. Then changes to ORAVIDA LTD, 20 January 2011. Then changes to ORAVIDA NZ LIMITED, 13 May 2011. ) Shareholders: Jing Huang, Julia Jiyan Xu, and Deyi Shi. (Source)
11 June 2010: National Party receives $50,000.00 donation from Susan Chou. (Source)
30 July 2010: National Party receives $150,000 donation from Susan Chou. (Source)
18 November 2010: MILK NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION LIMITED* registered. Directors: Terry Lee and Jiang Zhaobai. (Source)
22 December 2010: Government blocks bid by Natural Dairy to buy the 16 Crafar farms on ‘good character’ grounds.
27 January 2011: KordaMentha accepts offer from Shanghai Pengxin International Group Ltd to buy Crafar Farms.
31 May 2011: National Party receives $100,000 donation from Susan Chou. (Source)
22 July 2011: ORAVIDA LTD registered. Shareholders: Jing Huang, Julia Jiyan Xu, and Deyi Shi. (Source)
27 July 2011: ORAVIDA PROPERTY LTD changes name to KIWI DAIRY INDUSTRY LTD. Shareholder: Deyi Shi (Source)
13 April 2011: Shanghai Pengxin lodges application with the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) to buy the Crafar farms.
26 September 2011: Crafar farms receiver KordaMentha rejects a conditional NZ$171.5 million offer for 16 central North Island dairy farms from a group led by controversial former merchant banker Michael Fay.
22 November 2011: National Party receives $50,0000 donation from Citi Financial Group. Shareholders: Yan Yang and Qiang Wei. (Source) (Source)
22 November 2011: National Party receives $1,600 from Oravida NZ. (Source) (Source)
26 November 2011: NZ General Election
30 November 2011: National Party receives further $55,000 donation from Oravida NZ. (Source) (Source)
27 January 2012: Government ministers approve Shanghai Pengxin’s application to purchase 16 Crafar farms.
15 February 2012: High Court delays sale of Crafar farms to Shanghai Pengxin.
20 April 2012: Government ministers , Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson and Associate Finance Minister Jonathan Coleman approve the Overseas’ Investment Office’s (OIO) new recommendation to allow the sale of the 16 Crafar farms to Shanghai Pengxin.
* “Milk New Zealand Holding Limited” is the official applicant and purchaser of the 16 Crafar farms. It is supposedly a subsidiary of Shanghai Pengxin
@ James – Hone’s tie up with Dotcom made him a household name outside being a Maori MP. Losing his seat after the dirty politics gave Hone a lot of sympathy with the public. And I think if Hone runs again he will regain his seat – the public is turning more towards those who are not mainstream.
Yeah – but not to people like Hone.
edit – and being a household name can be a good and a bad thing.
ie – Fred and Rosemary West are household names – dosnt mean that people like them.
Hones popularity is a very small number of people and hardly likely to ever increase outside of this.
I don’t think your right James. The worst thing Hone could do is to go with the Maori party, have people abuse him for selling out and then push the dying Maori party through next election and the Maori party knife him in the back and suck up to whoever in power gives them the most bribes aka the Natz.
We will just have to agree to disagree – but thanks for doing so politely.
But yep – I see him ending up on the Nats side of the fence as well – which is good for him and National.
+1 b waghorn
An interesting suggestion for how Obama could fill some of the free time he’s got coming up.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/11/23/barack_obama_could_run_for_congress_become_speaker_of_the_house.html
Big data.
This is the road farmer, failure, and corrupt politician Bill English wants to take us down…
http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/weapons-of-math-destruction-the-problem-with-algorithms
A technological way to enforce long held prejudices.
Interesting analysis
“President Donald Trump is set to give America’s richest 1% an average annual tax cut of $214,000 when he takes office, while more than eight million families with children are expected to suffer financially under his proposed tax plan.
On the eve of the election, Trump promised to “massively cut taxes for the middle class, the forgotten people, the forgotten men and women of this country, who built our country”. But independent expert analyses of Trump’s tax plan show that America’s millionaire and billionaire class will win big at the expense of struggling low- and middle-income people, who turned out in large numbers to help the real estate billionaire win the election.
Experts warn that Trump’s tax plan will exacerbate America’s already chronic income inequality and herald in a “new era of dynastic wealth”.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/23/trump-tax-plan-cuts-wealthy-low-income-inequality?CMP=share_btn_fb
I always thought his plan was a folly designed to help him and his mates and I so wished I was wrong, but alas…
Many of the policies on his current website are straight out of the Heritage Foundation portfolio. There will be plenty of changes to them over the next year.
back downs and turn arounds you mean – yeah I am not surprised.
And there are going to be far more to come. He’s going for the centre ground and he’s taking the knees out of the Democratic Party in the process.
It seems like Trump is going to be far more middle of the road, than the New Hitler liberal lefties have been crying about.
he is making all his supporters look like chumps
“The newspaper was one of Trump’s prime targets for ridicule and attack during his campaign rallies.
Trump then: “No media is more corrupt than the failing New York Times.”
Trump now: “I will say, The Times is, it’s a great, great American jewel. A world jewel.””
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/23/politics/donald-trump-changes-since-election/index.html
Can. Not. Be. Trusted.
where is vto haven’t seen a comment from him for a while
Pretty obvious that Trump Can. Not. Be. Trusted.
And the NYT also Can. Not. Be. Trusted.
How long did that take them (both parties) to build bridges where they could meet and indulge in mutual back slapping? A few days? A week?
This piece on their recent ‘on the record’ meeting kind of lays out some disturbing stuff quite nicely. Trump’s now ‘open minded’ duntya know? And the NYT? Well, back on board just as every other ‘news’ outlet is or will be.
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-fools-the-new-york-times-on-climate-change-180323fa5980#.kxew80qlh
You can trust him to do his best on bringing jobs back, securing the southern border, trashing the TPP, building up the US military machine, making massive infrastructure investments and bringing major change to run down inner city neighbourhoods.
You can also trust him not to hold grudges if he sees an advantage in not doing so.
Which seems to always surprise the hell out of Clinton Preferrers who insist on continuing to paint him as a vindictive villain and thus not understanding him at all.
My point with the article and comment was about what trump said and how he blatently changed his view. This shows a lot about the guy, none of it good imo. It wasn’t really about the merits of the nyts.
As the saying goes… you get the government you deserve. No sympathy from me.
Ooops… that was meant to be “they” not “you”. Not getting at you mm.
I have a recollection vto copped a few weeks ban for something and hasn’t returned. Could be wrong.
All good Anne I agree with you in many ways.
To Rosemary McDonald after mentioning the effort National is going to, to avoid payments to Carers of the Disabled , Andrew Geddis has a column pointing to: “The Nation this weekend is telling the story of family carers of disabled adult relatives and the pretty shabby way they’ve been treated over the years.”
http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/a-little-something-for-the-weekend
TV3 at 9:30am this Saturday, repeat at 10:00am on Sunday.
Hah! This is a genuine expression of delight…any hint of my usual sarcasm is sincerely unintended.
ianmac…that answers the question my ‘networks’ were asking yesterday…’why now?’ Andrew has been a staunch supporter on this issue. Also, from the Pundit team, is Brian Easton who did a cost analysis for paying family carers back when the case went to the Human Rights Review Tribunal in 2008. Even though he was starved for data (by the Mystery of Health) his costing was a million times closer to accuracy than the Miserly of Health’s $17-590 million. Better data is available now…although I will never trust Misery of Health sources…and the ridiculously low uptake of the shitty Funded Family Care scheme supports the point of view that there were NEVER tens of thousands of disabled people with high and very high care needs who were being totally supported 24/7 by unpaid family carers.
And to try and present this issue in the narrative of this site….
NZ cut its neoliberalism teeth on disability support services. (Labour did it too!) When the Miserly of Health was given the cripples to look after, on the back of the Public Health and Disability Act back in 2000 (Annette King?), they almost immediately contracted the whole shit and shebang out to various non profits and profit making organisations.
These businesses have done VERY well out of these contracts and are almost NEVER held to account when disabled people are neglected, even to the point of death.
Many of these Contracted Providers where paying resident family members as carers. Even against the Misery’s policy. I was offered such payment from a Contracted Provider back in 2002…I was offered $17 per hour to care for my partner…way above the minimum wage at the time, but still allowing the CP to make a profit from the funding from the Mystery of Health.
I have a suspicion that many of these CP would not have done so well had they not have been paying family carers through these backdoor payments.
NO…I did not take up the offer…dodgy deals not our style…but when we spoke of this to Ruth Dyson back in early 2013…she asked why we didn’t take up one of these backdoor deals. “It was only a policy, not the law.” she said. (She looked at us if we were fuckwits for not doing this dodgy deal.) She had no answer when we asked why on earth Labour did not sort this shit out before it went to the HRRT in 2008. No answer.
Thanks ianmac for putting this up.
AND…I’m told that Sunday on TV1 is also going to feature this issue.
Looks like I’m going to have to commandeer a telly…
You can watch on line Rosemary when it streams 9.30am saturday if you prefer. Here’s the link.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/Video/NewshubLiveStream
Will def be watching too, a friend works in that sector, I’m so hearing what you are saying. Thanks IanMac for the info
When we are not traveling, we are ‘home’, out in the country west of Hamilton.
Because we are more than 5 kms from the nearest exchange (or whatever its called) our broadband can be slow and unstable. We get a lot of buffering (if that’s the correct terminology) when trying to view program live. We’ve tried to watch a couple of livestreamed events…very frustrating.
Great news. But the transfer of disability support from Social Welfare to Health happened as part of Ruthless Richardson’s economic reign of terror in the early 90s.
“But the transfer of disability support from Social Welfare to Health happened as part of Ruthless Richardson’s economic reign of terror in the early 90s.”
Didn’t the PHDAct formalise that? During Ruth’s rule, we have the CHEs and HFAs and other alphabeticised devolutions….muddied the waters a little bit.
The Hill case in 2000 was against IHC and the RHA. Same issue after PHDAct was against MOH.
As an aside Sacha, I’ve been trying to find the founding document/s for the NASCs. Any idea where I might source these? The recent Service Specs for all the Providers (including the NASCs) are up on the Mystery’s website…but these are fairly recent (post 2000).
For my own interest, I’m trying to find the point at which the rot set in, and I suspect this was in the early 90s.
Can’t recall which law/s governed the changeover but yes it was to the old RHAs which by design were not able to directly provide services, only to fund them via contracted providers.
When Labour changed the structure to DHBs and MoH, those local rationing/funding functions got transferred to NASCs. The underlying libertarianism won out despite the change of govt.
For those who need sound and vision to capture your interest…
https://www.facebook.com/TheNationTV3/videos/10154720163218535/
Reporter to Sam Lotu Iiga….”how long does it take you to go to the toilet?”
Sir Elton did say ask Ted fucking Nugent……..
https://youtu.be/IJwOlRhGbeU?t=1m12s
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/no-one-seems-to-want-to-play-donald-trumps-inauguration-a7436531.html
I wonder if he’d sing Heads will Roll, or would that be considered too pro Isis?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XOU1h-kONjo
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11754816
Interesting ramifications for the next election
And “Erica Stanford will be contesting the safe National seat being vacated by replace Murray McCully in East Coast Bays in the 2017 general election.”
A safe seat so Erica will be tossing her hair at Mr Key next year.
Note that McCully will resign from Parliament when his stint as Foreign Minister ends- soon?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11754852
Yep! After the last sheepgate debacle it’s clear that he has been informed that his presence is no longer required.
Hone working in a John Key government?
Yeah, right.
Well, it seems Labour don’t want to work with him.
According to who – the Maori king? He who has the National Party aligned Maori Party president’s hand shoved up his arse to do his talking for him.
It would be interesting to know what monies flow from the coffers of the National Party to the Maori elite of the Maori Party and then on to Mr Tuheitia himself…
According to the way Labour has treated him (Hone).
And Little was clear, Labour don’t see the Māori Party as a party willing to change the Government, hence ruled them out at this stage.
You’d prefer Labour told Kelvin Davis to stand down in TTT and gift Hone the seat in 2014?
Labour aren’t in the business of doing that.
I think Hone can win the seat back on his own. Who can rely on the Maori party?? Nobody especially the .1% elite Maori who profit from the relationship.
Willow Jean ring any bells.
Labour were more willing to accommodate Peters than they were Hone.
Kelvin Davis could have been placed high on the list.
Eh? Willow Jean Prime didn’t stand down in the Northland by-election.
I didn’t say she stood-down.
But Labour made accommodations, signaling to her supporters to back Peters.
They could have done the same for Hone was the point I was making.
Totally agree Chairman! And lets hope they learn from their mistakes this election!!!
Also, Kelvin Davis has done an immense amount of work for New Zealand inmates both here and overseas. The Australian government is under immense pressure to change its detention policy and close centres such as Christmas Island in no small part because of the work done by Kelvin Davis.
Kelvin Davis got Sam Lotu Iiga fired from his portfolio, and is no doubt going to do the same with Judith Collins.
And you want him to have stepped aside and let Hone win? You would prefer that Davis was emasculated by Labour, with no mandate to force such change?
I ask you, what would Hone Harawira have achieved at the same point?
Kelvin Davis works for canz, he has no credibility.
Christian Accomodation NZ?
Composers Association of New Zealand?
Celebrants Association of New Zealand?
Aha! Corrections Association of New Zealand.
He’s involved with a union therefore has no credibility according to a right winger.
As I said on this thread, Davis’ work has directly contributed to the increased focus on the Australian government policy on detention of NZ citizens and indirectly on the increased pressure on the Australian government to close offshore detention centres.
His work is directly responsible for the holding to account of Serco’s mismanagement of MECF and has brought to bear increased scrutiny of Wiri. The current government would have done neither of these things if they were allowed to get away with it. Davis forced the sacking of one of John Key’s pet, token, brown projects in Sam Lotu Iiga. He forced Key to reinstate the corrupt trout, Judith Collins.
These are major achievements in just two years, but then you say he has no credibility?
Hone would have brought Laila in. And she is left wing gold.
Ask yourself what have the left missed out on by keeping them out?
As for Davis, he could have achieved those same goals if he was placed high on the party list.
They weren’t good enough. How do you think they’d perform in front of the media and in parliament if they’d been gifted the seat?
Kelvin Davis has proven to be a tenacious and committed fighter for the vulnerable and one of Labours best performers. As I said, he wouldn’t have the mandate to do what he’s done if he’d rolled over for Hone Harawira.
Totally agree Chairman!
Supported not gifted. Showing the left can also utilize MMP.
They would have got on with the job, adding to the good work Davis has done. Tripling the bang for the left’s buck.
The work Davis has done didn’t require a voter mandate.
Indeed. It suited Labour perfectly to keep Hone and Laila out of Parliament.
Both would have been true left wing voices in Parliament.
Can’t see how it suited them. I’m sure Labour would have welcomed Hone and Laila as voices representing Maori, the left, the disenfranchised, and those who want change.
Labour also would have wanted them to have got there on their own steam rather than weakening Labour by giving them a leg up as you and The Chairman wanted.
They couldn’t.
Doesn’t matter to me; just means that Labour has one less MMP ally next year to try and form a coalition with.
Also, try this perspective.
Hone clearly got more votes in 2014 than he did in 2011.
But he lost by around 700 votes because National, Labour and NZ First each instructed their voters to choose Kelvin Davis.
I remember why I don’t converse with you.
You are all strategy, and no conscience. That’s what happens to the politically tragic.
Nicola Willis has launched a challenge against incumbent candidate and list MP Paul Foster-Bell (National’s Wellington Central candidate) for the party’s nomination, which opens in January.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/prime-minister-recruits-corporate-high-flyer-for-2017-2016112415
Oh jeez. Looks like education in the US is about to try a whole bunch more craptacularly bad ideas that no doubt our local clowns will be falling over themselves to copy.
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2016/11/how_trump_and_education_secretary_betsy_devos_could_gut_public_education.html
A group funded by Betsy DeVos called for the restoration of child labour.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/betsy-devos-child-labor-acton_us_5836eb7fe4b000af95edf12e
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/devos-family-foundations-heritage-americans-prosperity-blackwater
Ominous Joe. Where USA goes, so goes Key. Perhaps Key will fund a private ultra conservative school. Where does the DeVos family get their money?
Open for business?
It seems nobody is ensuring surrounding buildings don’t pose a risk when buildings have been cleared to open.
Has commonsense and public safety gone out the window in the rush to get back to business?
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2016/11/sixty-four-shades-of-grey.html
Wow…just wow
This is nothing more than a mean-spirited attack on Andrew Little’s appearance and way of speaking. This is by no means the first time Trotter has had a go at Little like this.
Ironically, just to the left of that hatchet job, Trotter has listed the “Bowalley Road Rules”….
You conveniently ignored the substance of Trotter’s criticism which has zero to do with the way Little looks or sounds:
Fair comment, Viper. I actually agree with most of his criticisms of Little, but the fact remains that it begins as a personal attack on his looks and his lack of “charisma.” I find that offensive, and—when you consider his pious little admonition against “snide or hurtful” comments—hypocritical in the extreme. I was also unimpressed by Trotter’s vacuous enthusiasm for Justin Trudeau’s “wit and movie-star good-looks”.
I think it’s important to look at the Trotter piece in totality, and to me the implicit message is clear: if he is somewhat short of charming good looks and lens fixating charisma, Little better have a whole lot of political courage and policy chutzpah going for him in his favour.
But he doesn’t.
Just to remind people, and Colonial Viper, Chris Trotter is not a friend of Labour – he has some sort of snitch scratching at him with Labour which goes back years.
And I’m not sure where he found the comment re If Andrew Little would have voted for Jeremy Corbyn – because AL’s response to Corbyn winning the UK Labour leadership was positive.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/andrew-little-corbyn-brings-refreshing-style-2015091320
Although it’s sort of politic to say nice things about a fellow Labour Leader once they have become the Leader.
My question would be what positive remarks did Little make about Corbyn in the months before that.
Freiend or friend not the article rings true. you could argue been left and not a labour cheer leader his view has more weight Where I disagree if he thinks labour going Corbyn left is the answer, “tell em he’s joking”
Gary McCormick announces: “I would rather trust the experts.”
But have a look at how he treated an expert five years ago.
The Panel, RNZ National, Wednesday 23 November 2016
Wallace Chapman, Alan Blackman, Gary McCormick, Megan Whelan
humbug n., a willfully false, deceptive, or insincere person
For a change there was, briefly, something resembling an earnest discussion on Wednesday’s edition of Jim Mora’s pisspoor chat show. This one was about whether or not it was safe to go back into Wellington buildings closed down after the earthquake. The most earnest of all the Panelists was regular guest Gary McCormick, who told how the people of Christchurch had gone through all of this before, and after an earthquake was no time to take chances. “I would rather trust the experts,” he intoned.
No doubt more than a few long-time listeners to this show would have snorted to hear McCormick talk like that. Back in March 2011, Gary McCormick embarked on a demeaning, philistine attack on Professor Nick Wilson, a world-renowned expert on tobacco epidemiology. Also ganging up on the Professor were Jim Mora and Raybon Kan…..
More of McCormick’s unfunny display of contempt for an expert…
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11032011/#comment-306974
The dirty liar…….
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/nov/25/margaret-thatcher-pushed-for-breakup-of-welfare-state-despite-nhs-pledge?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=201354&subid=15166303&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
What do we read into Telegraph science article re Antartica sea ice is no different than 100 years ago I ask in serioness not as a wind up, No one denies climate is changing but if true this must raise some question of models and forecasts ?
With out you linking it’s hard to tell, i do believe though that it has something to do with the polar winds swirling the antarctic keeping the warm air at bay,
I believe it’s something to do with the hypotheticals.
It is exactly the antarctic vortex, combined with such a massive area of ice can shed an awful lot of mass while not really being super noticeable. Shrinking ice area in Greenland is much more obvious.
@ Red
What the article is reporting is that the effect of Global Warming on the Antarctic ice shelf is not as great as first feared. That is not to say there is no effect, just that it is not occurring at the same rate as the Arctic Circle. Not surprising because the Northern Hemisphere is far more densely populated so one would expect more rapid man-made atmospheric warming causing the temperature of the northern seas to also rapidly rise.
Thank you. One news ran with story tonight without much explanation of why or what is potential ramifications of these findings to climate change models. You think they could have gone ask some experts for an opinion at least. You do wonder if we over play what we understand in science I was reading an article the other day from NASA re the impossible engine, a NASA developed engine that defys classical laws of physics in thatt every action has an opposite reaction, In essence Nasa has developed and engine that propels and object without a propellant. Most scientist rubbished the idea but it does seem to work and while most still hold newtons third law they believe something is going on that we dont understand. My long winded point is you sort of wonder that understanding and predicting climate change is similar, not prejudging if human driven climate change is under or overstated either way, we just don’t no re the accuracy and predictability of our models. In this regard a safe bet probably makes acting in caution a sensible option, even though it may be pointless
that engine thing is exciting ,everything is lining up for space travel shame we may have cooked ourselves before we get there.
You also have to take into account the media tendency to over-hype for the purpose of creating click baits etc. Where Climate Change is concerned, only the most ignorant and uneducated still deny it’s existence [eg. Donald Trump]. Yet the media continued to give the deniers equal space long after their ‘scientific rebuttals’ had been debunked. All in the name of a good story… and the planet be dammed.