Hillary Clinton should have asked for approval to use a private email address and server for official business. Had she done so, the State Department would have said no.
She should have surrendered all of her emails before leaving the administration.
Not doing so violated department policies that comply with the Federal Records Act.
When her deputy suggested putting her on a State Department account, she expressed concern about her personal emails being exposed.
In January 2011, the Clintons’ IT consultant temporarily shut down its private server because, he wrote, he believed “someone was trying to hack us.”
The State Department began disciplinary proceedings against Scott Gration, then the American ambassador to Kenya, for refusing to stop using his personal email for official business.
…”
Charm is something magical, appearance massaging, and Donald Trump’s is only popular because there is known lack of charm in other contenders. And choosing charm over principled substance is the act of confused and deluded people. Money dulls peoples’ sensitivities about everything; a powerful drug becoming exponentially stronger as the amount taken rises.
The world needs stalwart principled Penny Brights, not charm or symbolic wealth, real wealth is in sustainable, fertile land, clean accessible water etc.
Just thought I’d explain that for people who haven’t realised that for themselves already.
Clinton maybe on the left of American politics but is hardly a true socialist and I would hate to see her running the world’s powerhouse. Democrats largely equate to NZ’s National Party.
Nope. National’s about the same in economics, to the right in social policy. The Democrats have at least begun to address disadvantage and have tried to improve lives for the American poor (thanks mainly to Hillary Clinton’s health measures), whereas it’s easily argued that the Nats have made life worse for the disadvantaged here in NZ. As someone who is not left wing yourself, you might want to consider which of those parties line up more with your own values, CV. I suspect the actual answer is ACT.
That’s true. Democrats would be horrified at our left leading activities like free health care for all. Republicans are way out further to the Right. Terrifying for a the Land of the Free!
(and Andrew Little supports Hillary Clinton for President?…this is one reason why Winston Peters should be next PM and the leader of a Left coalition….Peters is at least an experienced and savvy politician, who is to the Left of Labour )
Of course. Jobs for the boys. “You did what we asked of you, Stephen. Here’s a pat on the head and a slice of cake. It’s made from the tears of poor people, and everyone else whose life you ruined while you were in power. Enjoy.”
WikiLeaks releases Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) documents
Today, Wednesday, 25 May 2016, 11:30am CEST, WikiLeaks releases new secret documents from the huge Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) which is being negotiated by the US, EU and 22 other countries that account for 2/3rds of global GDP.
This release includes a previously unknown annex to the TiSA core chapter on “State Owned Enterprises” (SOEs), which imposes unprecedented restrictions on SOEs and will force majority owned SOEs to operate like private sector businesses. This corporatisation of public services – to nearly the same extent as demanded by the recently signed TPP – is a next step to privatisation of SOEs on the neoliberal agenda behind the “Big Three” (TTIP,TiSA,TPP).
I have been given a sneak peak at Bill English’s budget. One stand out item is a new $5000 incentive for Paula Bennett to go away. Minister English describes it as a pragmatic response to having a not particularly sharp tool in his toolbox.
“An extra $175,000 was paid for the relatively plain house at 26 Sea Vista Ave on the North Shore and Jonny Gu, the Barfoot & Thompson agent who sold it, said it went over the phone last Thursday to a person in China.
“I’m not sure if he’s Chinese or is immigrating,” Gu said of the buyer. “The house is empty. It was telephone bidding. There’s been nothing done to it between the sales. Similar things happen all the time. The buyer is Chinese because the seller is Chinese,” Gu said.”
and…………
“Property records showed the house was owned by Xiaohong Wang who is also listed as owning a number of Auckland properties spread throughout Henderson, Blockhouse Bay, Unsworth Heights, Whakatane, West Harbour, Orewa and Torbay. The owner is also listed as having houses in Dunedin and Hamilton East.”
If a family moves into an empty house and they’re not moved on in a year then they get to keep it freehold. They can only be moved on if the owner is moving in or they have a signed lease agreement showing someone else is moving in. If either of these two things are proved to be a lie then the family that was moved on gets the house freehold.
I suspect that there won’t be empty houses for long.
From memory, 12 years was the period under pre-existing squatting legislation (not NZ) after which ownership defaulted. There was also stuff around breaking and entering (easily circumvented) and the need to have it occupied 24/7 for some fairly short period of time to secure it and bring it under squatting legislation. There was also the matter of changing the locks without damaging shit so that the owner couldn’t just walk in and repossess or claim that entry had been forced. (Original locks were passed back to the owners).
Anyway, whether or not previously existing (but now largely trashed) squatting laws from overseas are looked at as templates, there is the other issue of tenancy’s. Make them for life and embed circumstances that make the lease transferable to the next generation of a family.
And scrap any and all ‘right to buy’ schemes that currently apply to HNZ stock or regional council stock.
It’s really easy stuff and there’s absolutely no excuse for it not having been done before now.
And hence the problem with the housing crisis. It will only take Xiaohong Wang and the new Chinese buyer a bit of paperwork and they can become an NZ citizen too! So those that advocate Resident/Non resident status as a way to stop the problem, need to find out that National have opened up citizenship to anybody and also our social welfare system is now on it’s last legs. The new residents have not even hit 65 years yet – if people think that housing is the main issue, think again, there is a major time bomb and how do you discriminate??? You can’t. Rich and poor migrants can take as much as they like from NZ, our government and opposition does not seem to think that it is a problem….
Would you like a political party to “jump on this” with a bunch of measures to prevent property sales to foreign nationals, and to prevent speculative flipping of houses?
Cool.
Any political party willing to actually announce actual regulatory measures, instead of raising a fuss about Chinese last names?
There is a speculation tax under National – does any one know if anyone has been caught or declared anything? Or is it just usual smoke and mirrors.
In addition there is a capital gains tax on property and has been for years, if you buy with the purpose of on selling you pay the capital gain. Not sure why The block, my first home and so forth are openly profiting from property without paying the tax, let alone all these overseas examples – but if there was a an easy case to prove for IRD….. the evidence is there. And the examples like the above herald link regularly appearing in the news, should be easy for IRD to do a case.
I agree Chinese are bearing the most scrutiny which may not be fair, but it is also not fair for ethnic groups who have lived in NZ for years and paid taxes, being tarred with the same brush too and not fair for current Kiwis without the 2nd passport to be priced out of their own cities by non residents or new residents who have never paid a day of tax in NZ (and often have more money that Kiwis could ever hope to achieve on local wages), who leave their properties empty and are just used as an asset storage for money out of their home countries.
But why the opposition parties are reluctant to do anything about it, who knows. They don’t even mention it as a factor or deny it is a factor, like many commentators who have forecasted a plummet in property for years and been completely wrong because immigration is most certainly keeping the housing bubble going and other factors like the cost of building here and building monopolies are ignored in favour of anti democratic measures on zoning. (Threat if you don’t vote right in the unitary plan, the government will do it for you. It is not democracy more like dictatorship and Labour are as pro this non democratic approach as National from what I can see).
Someone do puppet theatre and show politicians that land being freed up, is not a house to live in, just a further way for the rich to profit.
But why the opposition parties are reluctant to do anything about it, who knows.
If an Opposition party were serious about the damage caused by foreign based property investors, they would require such people to divest their NZ property portfolios within say 5 years.
Instead, they appear busy attempting to appear like they are concerned about the issue.
So how does one comment on this without being labelled racist or xenophobic?
Easily. Does it matter whether the buyer is Chinese, German, Italian, British or Kiwi? If, in your mind it matters, then you’re being either xenophobic or racist, so don’t bother with any “but I’m not really racist” tripe.
If, on the other hand, you realise that the problem exists because of massive mal-distribution of wealth that allows some small percentage of people to build up huge portfolios to the detriment of a large percentage of people, then simply comment from that perspective.
“So how does one comment on this without being labelled racist or xenophobic?”
Put it in context. People overseas with an advantageous exchange rate and better lending rates and ability to generate wealth have been buying propertly like this in NZ for a long time. Down south it’s not the Chinese so much, which is why you hear people down here talking about the bloody English and Americans.
And let’s not forget that NZers have been doing this to NZers for an even longer time. It’s called gentrification. The reason we have babies living in cars is because NZ wanted to be neoliberal and some of us wanted to make wealth at the direct expense of other people.
And then let’s not forget that Māori still haven’t recovered from the last time this all happened in the 1800s.
That’s how to not make it racist. It’s an issue of class not race. Talk about the wealthy Chinese not the Chinese. Talk about the wealthy NZers who support this government that thinks it’s ok for people to live in cars, or object to a CGT. Talk about the middle classes who have turned a blind eye while all this was developping because they could still afford to buy houses and make wealth from that. Talk about the salaried Gen Ys who are complaining about not being able to buy a house but are silent on tenancy rights.
No better example of how we’ve been captured by ‘user pays’ free market ideology over the past 30 years than with Allison ??’s (CEO of Transpower) interview with Rinny Ryan on Nine to Noon.
….. “It’s only fair” etc., i.e. only if you’re not a dirty filthy bennie do you have a right to uninterrupted electricity supply – it’s the obvious basis of their planning (“going forward” – as a matter of fek, ekshully, so to speak, to coin a phrase).
Long gone, the idea of gummint soshul responsibility in favour of a corporatised commercial, purchase agreement-driven bizzniss.
To my mind, it was also a indicator of how our 4th Estate has been captured. Not once did the lady with the fair and balanced portfolio ask, or question how the most vulnerable in our sussoity will be protected.
Yea Nah – there’ll always be winners and losers eh?
Oh, Tim. Poor people aren’t supposed to be able to take advantage of modern conveniences like electricity. They’re supposed to huddle around a rusty iron barrel full of burning refuse, holding their shaking hands over the flames in a desperate attempt to avoid dying from hypothermia. It’s the will of the market, don’t you know.
That’s true Wensleydale. But come the crunch, I’d put money on those with an ability to huddle round the rusty iron barrel being in a better position to survive than those with their balanced portfolios, or those that want to provide all those ‘wrap around’ services to (going forward), or those that see their bullshit is failing and try to ‘re-image’.
Yea Nah, there are good signs their bullshit and spin time is up, but I think not quite yet. I hope I’m still around to witness it all
No better example of how we’ve been captured by ‘user pays’ free market ideology over the past 30 years than with Allison ??’s (CEO of Transpower) interview with Rinny Ryan on Nine to Noon.
It is awesome to see another woman in charge of one of NZ’s largest, most important strategic organisations and us reaping all the benefits that entails.
And ain’t she just a ‘glass half full’, good time think poztiv kinda gal (going forward).
I mean to say – if she could pull hersef up by her bootstreps, why can’t othas?
(perhaps because the means that enabled her to trensushun from her past, and which she took advantage of, have all but been removed.)
What a very UGLY woman – in every sense. Christ! to think in a previous loif we once crossed paths. Hers will be a very interesting case study for some enterprising member of a resurrected 4th Estate some time in the future.
Queenstown’s sister city relationship with Aspen has been controversial all along. When it started in the 80s it was an aspirational thing with the town wanting to be like Aspen and to learn about how Aspen had dealt wiht some of the issues Queenstown was facing. These were the same as now, affordability and economic and social stratification.
Recently the appropriateness relationship has been questioned because of the huge differences between the two towns, Aspen being essentially a “one company” town, like most North American resorts, where as Queenstown is much more diverse development community.
One thing that has come out is that not many here want to the town to become like Aspen, and it is unlikely to for the reasons above. This is leading to many and varied shades of angst depending on the position and aspirations of the angstee.
Our council has been very successful at processing planning consents, the number of consented but undeveloped sections is huge, http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/80132940/almost-10000-vacant-properties-in-queenstown But they have been totally unable to shape the outcomes in any way. We get competing and fragmented developments and infrastructure lagging behind, and holding back some needed projects.
My one hope from the budget that, in my mind, could solve the most issues in one hit:
Raise the minimum wage significantly (say $17 – $18 / hour)
This would have an immediate effect on the working poor, it would have an inflationary effect on the economy which would allow the reserve bank to look and increasing mortgage rates and help slow house price growth and it would help to noticeably increase the current tax take without raising taxes (through both GST and PAYE).
The negative is that it may cost jobs in small businesses in the short term, but in the medium term any truly viable business will pick those staff back up once that extra money starts to flow back into the economy.
I have no idea if this will work, but note to Andrew Little, the above is how you sell an idea, not:
Since National came into power blah blah blah, John Key, blah blah blah, my idea will work (no explanation as to how or why people should embrace it).
it would have an inflationary effect on the economy which would allow the reserve bank to look and increasing mortgage rates and help slow house price growth
LOL
Interest rates don’t affect House price growth. When a house sells a few days later with 20k plus profit the interest is meaningless. Besides, the speculators are probably using revolving credit with interest rates far above the OCR and mortgage rates.
and it would help to noticeably increase the current tax take without raising taxes (through both GST and PAYE).
This is catering to the delusion that the government actually needs an income.
I have no idea if this will work, but note to Andrew Little, the above is how you sell an idea, not:
Since National came into power blah blah blah, John Key, blah blah blah, my idea will work (no explanation as to how or why people should embrace it).
To address a problem you do need to identify it else you’re just talking shite.
….”The weapons were to be used by the FARC to kill Americans.
However, those FARC buyers “were, in fact, confidential sources… working for the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and acting at the direction of DEA agents,” the indictment said…
I’d advise those responsible to give up on any notions they may have had about getting into advertising – that’s one incredibly mangled and imprecise slogan.
A little book with snippets of news from Britain in 1932:
From a list of promises that a William Cobbett et al of Oldham were asked:
10. Will you endeavour to procure an Act of Parliament which shall enable those who elect representatives in Parliament to vote by ballot, and also to shorten Parliaments to one or two years?
11. Will you endeavour to procure an Act of Parliament which shall effectually shorten the hours of labour in all mills and factories, so as not to exceed ten hours on any day, and only eight hours on Saturdays?
And from a letter from Francis Place (a tailor whose campaigning had made trade unions legal):
“…We must have petitions in hundreds for short Parliaments and voting by ballot as means of procuring reforms in every possible way, and to the greatest possible extent.
It is very difficult, and requires much time to move a nation like this, even when it has been demonstrated that very small exertions will produce the greatest good. Even those who are disposed to move are seldom agreed to work together. If some fundamental points were selected, and all agreed to push for them, success would be certain.
Francis really understood the issues. He would feel right at home with us now.
edited.
It all comes down to a simple point. You may not like Gawker. They’ve published stories I would have been ashamed to publish. But if the extremely wealthy, under a veil secrecy, can destroy publications they want to silence, that’s a far bigger threat to freedom of the press than most of the things we commonly worry about on that front. If this is the new weapon in the arsenal of the super rich, few publications will have the resources or the death wish to scrutinize them closely.
The rich have found another way to silence critics – sue them into oblivion.
A practise run while he waits for his candidate to make it near impossible to crtitise anyone with money.
“You see, with me, they’re not protected, because I’m not like other people but I’m not taking money. I’m not taking their money,” Trump said on Friday. “We’re going to open up libel laws, and we’re going to have people sue you like you’ve never got sued before.”
There’s an increasing number of powerful public figures with similarly near-unlimited wealth. Whether or not they win, cases like this can bleed news companies dry — which might make them less likely to publish news and criticism in the first place.
Thiel is a pledged Trump delegate, which is an unusual move for a Silicon Valley tycoon. However, in backing Hogan’s lawsuit Thiel shows one place he and his fellow bombastic billionaire agree — an antagonistic relationship with the media, and an attempt to suppress critical coverage.
Trump has a history of suing over coverage he doesn’t like. He has also said he’s in favor of “closing up the internet” — a nonsensical statement that is nonetheless troubling for everyone from tech billionaires to free speech advocates — both of which Thiel purports to be. Thiel is, ironically, a “primary supporter” of the Committee to Protect Journalists, an organization dedicated to protecting press freedom around the world.
If the Budget was boring, Slavoj Zizek is not. Here is 10 minutes of his volcanic output.
He says that for the last few decades the Left didn’t really want change. They are settled into Comfortable Capitalism he claims. He is always interesting.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0PH_EIBnyo
Zizek is far too obsessed with symbolic exchanges. Including his own.
His view that the left hasn’t really changed is such horseshit. It’s held its own against massive direct assaults.
It’s far more accurate to say that the far monetarist right won, allied with religious rightists and others.
Also that monetarist-dominated states have generated far greater capacity to absorb crisis since the late 1970s. Our own current government is one of the best examples in the world of this.
He needs challenging, and is not really applicable here.
I signed a petition to ask gummint to be more helpful about state housing.
This resulted in an agreement to allow one week’s emergency housing from the state. Something along emergency lines. But actually there is a full time emergency going on, but it’s a start. This from Kyle MacDonald thru Action Station. (The flagman was Kyle Lockwood.)
Thank you for helping to make a difference,
Yesterday I flew down to Wellington to deliver our petition to the Minister. It was because of your support, and the support of more than 9000 others, that Minister Anne Tolley agreed to meet with me. Together we showed her this issue cannot be ignored.
When I asked her what could be done to help people and families facing the impossible choice between homelessness or unmanageable debt over the coming winter months, the Minister acknowledged the urgency of the situation and told us she would look into possible solutions.
Just a few hours after our meeting, the Minister’s office called to tell us that changes to the policy will be brought forward from September to 1 July. These changes will mean that the first week of emergency housing would be covered by a special needs grant rather than a loan. A week is not going to be long enough if there is nowhere to go once that week is up, so the Government still has a lot of work to be done to make sure there are enough houses for people to move into.
Good discussion – in fact excellent on tonight’s Checkpoint, as it ended – links not up yet.
But I’d suggest that if there’s one thing the indigent are fekkn sick of herring (goan ford) is the paternalistic kaka from the comfortable: a la “we need to provide repa ren serves”.
There’s STILL this fucking condescending attitude (or framing – if you prefer) that the poorer in our community are in some way ‘faulty’
It’s a fucking structural issue that begun some time in the early 80’s – possibly before.
@ Draco – I know you perceive a solution – but it ain’t gonna happen until the inevitable happens (and even then only as an option) – when it all disappears up its own arse. My hope is that it is peaceful
So you’ve got nothing? I meet people like you most days, CV. Blowhards with no clues, nothing positive to say, and focussed only on the deep and abiding love they have for the sound of their own voices. Luckily for the rest of us, the Onanists are never going get beyond perfecting the art of the hand shandy. It’d just be nicer if they did it behind closed doors and didn’t want the rest of us to pay for their tissues.
On second thoughts, in spite of my earlier request, I’ve removed the entire sub-thread to Open Mike because there wasn’t a skerrik of anything to do with the post from either of you. Ever thought of becoming facebook friends so the two of you can have at one another at your mutual leisure? – Bill
I’m not your friend, CV. You’re part of the problem, not part of the solution. Time for you to start reading Ayn Rand, pal. You’ll feel right at home. She was a self obsessed bigot, too.
[trp, I’m pretty sure that neither I nor anyone else really cares what you and CV think of one another. I’ve asked you both to pack it in. If you really find the urge t have a go insatiable, take it to Open Mike or whatever, but don’t carry on with your carry ono under this post. thanks.] – Bill
Fair enough, Bill. However, I think it’s still relevant to the post that commenters moaning about climate change, but having no clue what to do about it and at the same time whining about those who do have sensible suggestions is worth my writing about. CV is most definitely part of the reason there is largely a collective ignoring of the problem. His attitude, which mirrors most of the right, is that there is no answer, so meh. Your post is great, but it is meaningless unless we can look to find the solutions to the real and present danger we face.
Yeah, and if you look back over in that part of the thread you’ll see that a couple of suggestions were being made by both you and CV. Seems neither of you can read what the other is writing without having a go though. And it’s damned boring.
Serious anger issues and preoccupation there Trp with cv I don’t necessary agree with all what cv says but he articulates it well and does it without a lot of personal abuse, something in that you may want to explore
Oh, bollocks. No anger there, but a deep disliking of wankers who are all mouth and trousers. CV adds nothing to the debate but negativity and frankly, climate change needs solutions fast. I’m happy to acknowledge that I find it weird that TS has a right wing bigot as an author. But perhaps it’s some sort of charity thing and I missed the email.
I need to remind you TRP that attacking Standard authors is strictly against the rules of the site.
Please restrain your anger and observe some proper decorum.
BTW if Climate Change needs fast, urgent answers, why did Andrew Little gloss over the whole topic in his recent speech? And did you support him doing that?
Diddums. You weren’t the author of the post. And being an author is not a get out of jail card when you’re being a wanker. Check my own output; I get straightened up from time to time and I generally cop it sweet. To quote the well known English philosopher Jamie Vardy, chat shit, get banged.
You’re the one dodging the issue, pal. Snap out of your funk and start contributing some answers. You’re a bright guy, put some effort into finding solutions and stop whingeing. Or, as I suggested, bugger off to ACT, where they like people with your kind of attitudes. And no, I’m not kidding. I went through this kind of crap a long, long time ago with Douglas and Prebble. You sound exactly like they did thirty years ago. Full of everything that was wrong, but no solutions beyond making themselves feel better by belittling those who are trying to make a difference. Life is really simple; if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. And like it or not, you’re definitely not a solutions based guy. So, read some Rand, see if misanthrope floats your boat. I reckon you and ACT are made for each other. That doesn’t make you a bad person, IMHO, but it might make you an honest one.
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Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – 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 ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
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 ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
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. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
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 ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
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Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
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Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
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A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
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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, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Is this going to add pressure for the FBI to indict Hillary Clinton?
What are the consequences for failing to comply with the Federal Records Act?
“Hillary Clinton Is Criticized for Private Emails in State Dept. Review – NYTimes.com
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/us/politics/state-department-hillary-clinton-emails.html?referer=https://www.google.co.nz/
5 Key Points From the Report
Hillary Clinton should have asked for approval to use a private email address and server for official business. Had she done so, the State Department would have said no.
She should have surrendered all of her emails before leaving the administration.
Not doing so violated department policies that comply with the Federal Records Act.
When her deputy suggested putting her on a State Department account, she expressed concern about her personal emails being exposed.
In January 2011, the Clintons’ IT consultant temporarily shut down its private server because, he wrote, he believed “someone was trying to hack us.”
The State Department began disciplinary proceedings against Scott Gration, then the American ambassador to Kenya, for refusing to stop using his personal email for official business.
…”
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
Penny Bright is Donald Trump minus the money and charm.
Penny Bright is an angel who treads where the weak fear to tread. Go Penny.
Charm is something magical, appearance massaging, and Donald Trump’s is only popular because there is known lack of charm in other contenders. And choosing charm over principled substance is the act of confused and deluded people. Money dulls peoples’ sensitivities about everything; a powerful drug becoming exponentially stronger as the amount taken rises.
The world needs stalwart principled Penny Brights, not charm or symbolic wealth, real wealth is in sustainable, fertile land, clean accessible water etc.
Just thought I’d explain that for people who haven’t realised that for themselves already.
Clinton maybe on the left of American politics but is hardly a true socialist and I would hate to see her running the world’s powerhouse. Democrats largely equate to NZ’s National Party.
Our National Party is way to the left of the US Democratic establishment.
Nope. National’s about the same in economics, to the right in social policy. The Democrats have at least begun to address disadvantage and have tried to improve lives for the American poor (thanks mainly to Hillary Clinton’s health measures), whereas it’s easily argued that the Nats have made life worse for the disadvantaged here in NZ. As someone who is not left wing yourself, you might want to consider which of those parties line up more with your own values, CV. I suspect the actual answer is ACT.
That’s true. Democrats would be horrified at our left leading activities like free health care for all. Republicans are way out further to the Right. Terrifying for a the Land of the Free!
the content of the Hillary Clinton emails is even more damning and disturbing !!!! ( war crimes?)
‘Hillary Emails Reveal True Motive for Libya Intervention’
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2016/01/06/new-hillary-emails-reveal-true-motive-for-libya-intervention/
https://news.vice.com/article/libyan-oil-gold-and-qaddafi-the-strange-email-sidney-blumenthal-sent-hillary-clinton-in-2011
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-kovalik/clinton-emails-on-libya-e_b_9054182.html
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/how-hillary-clinton-lied-her-way-war-libya
http://www.globalresearch.ca/hillarys-dirty-war-in-libya-new-emails-reveal-propaganda-executions-coveting-libyan-oil-and-gold/5499358
(and Andrew Little supports Hillary Clinton for President?…this is one reason why Winston Peters should be next PM and the leader of a Left coalition….Peters is at least an experienced and savvy politician, who is to the Left of Labour )
After pushing Canada into the TPP, Stephen Harper follows the money.
“Harper has offers from multiple U.S. companies, including private equity giant KKR, sources tell CBC News”.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stephen-harper-to-bow-out-from-federal-politics-1.3598913
Of course. Jobs for the boys. “You did what we asked of you, Stephen. Here’s a pat on the head and a slice of cake. It’s made from the tears of poor people, and everyone else whose life you ruined while you were in power. Enjoy.”
Very good episode about NZ Fishing… looks like a TPPA model already operating for the .1% aka Talleys etc….
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/05/25/waatea-5th-estate-fishing-double-standards/
WikiLeaks releases Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) documents
http://www.bilaterals.org/?wikileaks-releases-trade-in-30405
link to leaked documents below:
http://www.bilaterals.org/?tisa-draft-annexes-2015
I have been given a sneak peak at Bill English’s budget. One stand out item is a new $5000 incentive for Paula Bennett to go away. Minister English describes it as a pragmatic response to having a not particularly sharp tool in his toolbox.
And blunting “the rest of the tools” trp
The Nats are all tools
So how does one comment on this without being labelled racist or xenophobic?
“House flip: Beach Haven home jumps $175,000 in price to $1.08m in just two months”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11644044
Excerpts….
“An extra $175,000 was paid for the relatively plain house at 26 Sea Vista Ave on the North Shore and Jonny Gu, the Barfoot & Thompson agent who sold it, said it went over the phone last Thursday to a person in China.
“I’m not sure if he’s Chinese or is immigrating,” Gu said of the buyer. “The house is empty. It was telephone bidding. There’s been nothing done to it between the sales. Similar things happen all the time. The buyer is Chinese because the seller is Chinese,” Gu said.”
and…………
“Property records showed the house was owned by Xiaohong Wang who is also listed as owning a number of Auckland properties spread throughout Henderson, Blockhouse Bay, Unsworth Heights, Whakatane, West Harbour, Orewa and Torbay. The owner is also listed as having houses in Dunedin and Hamilton East.”
You don’t. Just sigh wearily and shake your head. It’s the safest option.
It’s vacant? Should probably put people needing a state house in there, and send Gu’s client an e-mail to say thanks for leaving it vacant for them.
Indeed. And the same for any other property vacant for the purposes of speculation.
More realistically and much, much easier, just pass legislation on squatters rights.
If a family moves into an empty house and they’re not moved on in a year then they get to keep it freehold. They can only be moved on if the owner is moving in or they have a signed lease agreement showing someone else is moving in. If either of these two things are proved to be a lie then the family that was moved on gets the house freehold.
I suspect that there won’t be empty houses for long.
From memory, 12 years was the period under pre-existing squatting legislation (not NZ) after which ownership defaulted. There was also stuff around breaking and entering (easily circumvented) and the need to have it occupied 24/7 for some fairly short period of time to secure it and bring it under squatting legislation. There was also the matter of changing the locks without damaging shit so that the owner couldn’t just walk in and repossess or claim that entry had been forced. (Original locks were passed back to the owners).
Anyway, whether or not previously existing (but now largely trashed) squatting laws from overseas are looked at as templates, there is the other issue of tenancy’s. Make them for life and embed circumstances that make the lease transferable to the next generation of a family.
And scrap any and all ‘right to buy’ schemes that currently apply to HNZ stock or regional council stock.
It’s really easy stuff and there’s absolutely no excuse for it not having been done before now.
And hence the problem with the housing crisis. It will only take Xiaohong Wang and the new Chinese buyer a bit of paperwork and they can become an NZ citizen too! So those that advocate Resident/Non resident status as a way to stop the problem, need to find out that National have opened up citizenship to anybody and also our social welfare system is now on it’s last legs. The new residents have not even hit 65 years yet – if people think that housing is the main issue, think again, there is a major time bomb and how do you discriminate??? You can’t. Rich and poor migrants can take as much as they like from NZ, our government and opposition does not seem to think that it is a problem….
+100 save nz
Our national bird, developed without predators, their adaptions are pretty useless when opened up to globalism and competition.
21st century predators are more like corporate raiders, kleptocrats and tax haven refugees…
Would you like a political party to “jump on this” with a bunch of measures to prevent property sales to foreign nationals, and to prevent speculative flipping of houses?
Cool.
Any political party willing to actually announce actual regulatory measures, instead of raising a fuss about Chinese last names?
There is a speculation tax under National – does any one know if anyone has been caught or declared anything? Or is it just usual smoke and mirrors.
In addition there is a capital gains tax on property and has been for years, if you buy with the purpose of on selling you pay the capital gain. Not sure why The block, my first home and so forth are openly profiting from property without paying the tax, let alone all these overseas examples – but if there was a an easy case to prove for IRD….. the evidence is there. And the examples like the above herald link regularly appearing in the news, should be easy for IRD to do a case.
I agree Chinese are bearing the most scrutiny which may not be fair, but it is also not fair for ethnic groups who have lived in NZ for years and paid taxes, being tarred with the same brush too and not fair for current Kiwis without the 2nd passport to be priced out of their own cities by non residents or new residents who have never paid a day of tax in NZ (and often have more money that Kiwis could ever hope to achieve on local wages), who leave their properties empty and are just used as an asset storage for money out of their home countries.
But why the opposition parties are reluctant to do anything about it, who knows. They don’t even mention it as a factor or deny it is a factor, like many commentators who have forecasted a plummet in property for years and been completely wrong because immigration is most certainly keeping the housing bubble going and other factors like the cost of building here and building monopolies are ignored in favour of anti democratic measures on zoning. (Threat if you don’t vote right in the unitary plan, the government will do it for you. It is not democracy more like dictatorship and Labour are as pro this non democratic approach as National from what I can see).
Someone do puppet theatre and show politicians that land being freed up, is not a house to live in, just a further way for the rich to profit.
If an Opposition party were serious about the damage caused by foreign based property investors, they would require such people to divest their NZ property portfolios within say 5 years.
Instead, they appear busy attempting to appear like they are concerned about the issue.
So how does one comment on this without being labelled racist or xenophobic?
Easily. Does it matter whether the buyer is Chinese, German, Italian, British or Kiwi? If, in your mind it matters, then you’re being either xenophobic or racist, so don’t bother with any “but I’m not really racist” tripe.
If, on the other hand, you realise that the problem exists because of massive mal-distribution of wealth that allows some small percentage of people to build up huge portfolios to the detriment of a large percentage of people, then simply comment from that perspective.
“So how does one comment on this without being labelled racist or xenophobic?”
Put it in context. People overseas with an advantageous exchange rate and better lending rates and ability to generate wealth have been buying propertly like this in NZ for a long time. Down south it’s not the Chinese so much, which is why you hear people down here talking about the bloody English and Americans.
And let’s not forget that NZers have been doing this to NZers for an even longer time. It’s called gentrification. The reason we have babies living in cars is because NZ wanted to be neoliberal and some of us wanted to make wealth at the direct expense of other people.
And then let’s not forget that Māori still haven’t recovered from the last time this all happened in the 1800s.
That’s how to not make it racist. It’s an issue of class not race. Talk about the wealthy Chinese not the Chinese. Talk about the wealthy NZers who support this government that thinks it’s ok for people to live in cars, or object to a CGT. Talk about the middle classes who have turned a blind eye while all this was developping because they could still afford to buy houses and make wealth from that. Talk about the salaried Gen Ys who are complaining about not being able to buy a house but are silent on tenancy rights.
btw, there are NZers sitting on empty houses too.
No better example of how we’ve been captured by ‘user pays’ free market ideology over the past 30 years than with Allison ??’s (CEO of Transpower) interview with Rinny Ryan on Nine to Noon.
….. “It’s only fair” etc., i.e. only if you’re not a dirty filthy bennie do you have a right to uninterrupted electricity supply – it’s the obvious basis of their planning (“going forward” – as a matter of fek, ekshully, so to speak, to coin a phrase).
Long gone, the idea of gummint soshul responsibility in favour of a corporatised commercial, purchase agreement-driven bizzniss.
To my mind, it was also a indicator of how our 4th Estate has been captured. Not once did the lady with the fair and balanced portfolio ask, or question how the most vulnerable in our sussoity will be protected.
Yea Nah – there’ll always be winners and losers eh?
Oh, Tim. Poor people aren’t supposed to be able to take advantage of modern conveniences like electricity. They’re supposed to huddle around a rusty iron barrel full of burning refuse, holding their shaking hands over the flames in a desperate attempt to avoid dying from hypothermia. It’s the will of the market, don’t you know.
That’s true Wensleydale. But come the crunch, I’d put money on those with an ability to huddle round the rusty iron barrel being in a better position to survive than those with their balanced portfolios, or those that want to provide all those ‘wrap around’ services to (going forward), or those that see their bullshit is failing and try to ‘re-image’.
Yea Nah, there are good signs their bullshit and spin time is up, but I think not quite yet. I hope I’m still around to witness it all
It is awesome to see another woman in charge of one of NZ’s largest, most important strategic organisations and us reaping all the benefits that entails.
We dont have a 4th estate in so far as outlets which adhere to the principles that definition stands for.
They have become enablers of current ideology due to them being owned/controlled by big business interests.
Its an old paradigm no longet valid
IMO.
Can this be deleted please as my device has no delete option being shown!
We dont have a 4th estate in so far as outlets which adhere to the principles that definition stands for.
They have become enablers of current ideology due to them being owned/controlled by big business interests.
Its an old paradigm no longer valid
IMO.
I listened to that Tim, and could not penetrate the CEO jargon peppered with double speak. In fairness to Katherine, I think she was also unable to penetrate. Apart from saying long term changes will be necessary and some Providers will collapse, and more remote users will be in difficulty, I don’t know anything more than that which was already known
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201802144/transpower-predicts-massive-shakeup-in-power-sector.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/80404662/social-housing-minister-paula-bennett-hits-back-at-media-over-the-word-crisis
And ain’t she just a ‘glass half full’, good time think poztiv kinda gal (going forward).
I mean to say – if she could pull hersef up by her bootstreps, why can’t othas?
(perhaps because the means that enabled her to trensushun from her past, and which she took advantage of, have all but been removed.)
What a very UGLY woman – in every sense. Christ! to think in a previous loif we once crossed paths. Hers will be a very interesting case study for some enterprising member of a resurrected 4th Estate some time in the future.
“Forbes says a national response is required or “all the beautiful spots in New Zealand” will eventually become like Aspen.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/80292197/call-for-national-response-to-wanaka-queenstown-housing-issues
Queenstown’s sister city relationship with Aspen has been controversial all along. When it started in the 80s it was an aspirational thing with the town wanting to be like Aspen and to learn about how Aspen had dealt wiht some of the issues Queenstown was facing. These were the same as now, affordability and economic and social stratification.
Recently the appropriateness relationship has been questioned because of the huge differences between the two towns, Aspen being essentially a “one company” town, like most North American resorts, where as Queenstown is much more diverse development community.
One thing that has come out is that not many here want to the town to become like Aspen, and it is unlikely to for the reasons above. This is leading to many and varied shades of angst depending on the position and aspirations of the angstee.
Our council has been very successful at processing planning consents, the number of consented but undeveloped sections is huge, http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/80132940/almost-10000-vacant-properties-in-queenstown But they have been totally unable to shape the outcomes in any way. We get competing and fragmented developments and infrastructure lagging behind, and holding back some needed projects.
Then you get developers squabbling amongst themselves holding things back even more than council or govt could even dream of http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/79975711/more-than-2000-potential-queenstown-homes-caught-in-environment-court-appeal The bun fight over development on Frankton Flats (still ongoing) has been going on for 20 years, and the resulting delayed projects are causing most of our traffic congestion now.
My one hope from the budget that, in my mind, could solve the most issues in one hit:
Raise the minimum wage significantly (say $17 – $18 / hour)
This would have an immediate effect on the working poor, it would have an inflationary effect on the economy which would allow the reserve bank to look and increasing mortgage rates and help slow house price growth and it would help to noticeably increase the current tax take without raising taxes (through both GST and PAYE).
The negative is that it may cost jobs in small businesses in the short term, but in the medium term any truly viable business will pick those staff back up once that extra money starts to flow back into the economy.
I have no idea if this will work, but note to Andrew Little, the above is how you sell an idea, not:
Since National came into power blah blah blah, John Key, blah blah blah, my idea will work (no explanation as to how or why people should embrace it).
Well you talked about raising mortgage interest rates which means that you’ve lost 250,000 votes to start with. What next?
🙂
LOL
Interest rates don’t affect House price growth. When a house sells a few days later with 20k plus profit the interest is meaningless. Besides, the speculators are probably using revolving credit with interest rates far above the OCR and mortgage rates.
This is catering to the delusion that the government actually needs an income.
To address a problem you do need to identify it else you’re just talking shite.
(What is all this about ?!)
‘Romanian man claims to be CIA asset to beat arms trafficking charge’
https://www.rt.com/usa/344379-cia-farc-arms-trafficking-alibi/
….”The weapons were to be used by the FARC to kill Americans.
However, those FARC buyers “were, in fact, confidential sources… working for the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and acting at the direction of DEA agents,” the indictment said…
Some number crunching:
NZ adult minimum hourly wage: $15.25
Talley’s minimum hourly wage: $14.32
Talley’s donations to National $42.5k
Come on money in politics means nothing, just ask Hillary…
Budget day….. Did we look at the Price Tag??
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11645350
Drama at the bee hive
What does the sign say?
John Key!
Move the Gatekeepers.
They’re [something] corruption.
Blocking access to the ANZ bank.
(so is that re the CC protest?)
Would have been nice if the Herald had said.
John Key! Move the gatekeepers.
They’re harbouring corruption.
Blocking access to the ANZ Bank.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/304847/man-arrested,-parliament-in-lock-down
I’d advise those responsible to give up on any notions they may have had about getting into advertising – that’s one incredibly mangled and imprecise slogan.
Ta. Another shot shows this on the other side,
FIND OUT WHO IS STOPPING
NEW ZEALAND’S LARGEST BANK
BEING INVESTIGATED VISIT
passion0.wix.com/nourijture
That’s almost a haiku!!
(pretty sure I didn’t get the link right).
Not only shouldn’t they go into adverstising, they shouldn’t go into protesting either.
Good luck with moving the gatekeepers
A little book with snippets of news from Britain in 1932:
From a list of promises that a William Cobbett et al of Oldham were asked:
10. Will you endeavour to procure an Act of Parliament which shall enable those who elect representatives in Parliament to vote by ballot, and also to shorten Parliaments to one or two years?
11. Will you endeavour to procure an Act of Parliament which shall effectually shorten the hours of labour in all mills and factories, so as not to exceed ten hours on any day, and only eight hours on Saturdays?
And from a letter from Francis Place (a tailor whose campaigning had made trade unions legal):
“…We must have petitions in hundreds for short Parliaments and voting by ballot as means of procuring reforms in every possible way, and to the greatest possible extent.
It is very difficult, and requires much time to move a nation like this, even when it has been demonstrated that very small exertions will produce the greatest good. Even those who are disposed to move are seldom agreed to work together. If some fundamental points were selected, and all agreed to push for them, success would be certain.
Francis really understood the issues. He would feel right at home with us now.
edited.
The book was dated 1832. Only 100 years difference! And sounded so current.
A Huge, Huge Deal
The rich have found another way to silence critics – sue them into oblivion.
A practise run while he waits for his candidate to make it near impossible to crtitise anyone with money.
“You see, with me, they’re not protected, because I’m not like other people but I’m not taking money. I’m not taking their money,” Trump said on Friday. “We’re going to open up libel laws, and we’re going to have people sue you like you’ve never got sued before.”
http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/02/donald-trump-libel-laws-219866
edit:
Press in the age of billionaires
There’s an increasing number of powerful public figures with similarly near-unlimited wealth. Whether or not they win, cases like this can bleed news companies dry — which might make them less likely to publish news and criticism in the first place.
Thiel is a pledged Trump delegate, which is an unusual move for a Silicon Valley tycoon. However, in backing Hogan’s lawsuit Thiel shows one place he and his fellow bombastic billionaire agree — an antagonistic relationship with the media, and an attempt to suppress critical coverage.
Trump has a history of suing over coverage he doesn’t like. He has also said he’s in favor of “closing up the internet” — a nonsensical statement that is nonetheless troubling for everyone from tech billionaires to free speech advocates — both of which Thiel purports to be. Thiel is, ironically, a “primary supporter” of the Committee to Protect Journalists, an organization dedicated to protecting press freedom around the world.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/05/25/3781705/thiel-gawker-trump/
Ah well you can’t predict them all, better a boring a budget then a “mother of all budgets” I guess
That’s my thinking.
So now I’m guessing the opposition will attack this budget as not doing enough and the government will say its a firm hand on the till
Good shot Winston
https://nz.news.yahoo.com/top-stories/a/31697564/peters-corners-key-over-auckland-housing-crisis-quote/
Nice to see the old tusker land one.
Its a good shot
Unfortunately the camera, or editing of the clip, didn’t show the reaction.
Will await return serve.
And stock up on popcorn
John Key is very good at quips so this’ll be an interesting match, one-love to Winston
“Is the prime minister able to remember any promise he has made an hour after making it?”
Excellent.
If the Budget was boring, Slavoj Zizek is not. Here is 10 minutes of his volcanic output.
He says that for the last few decades the Left didn’t really want change. They are settled into Comfortable Capitalism he claims. He is always interesting.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0PH_EIBnyo
Zizek is far too obsessed with symbolic exchanges. Including his own.
His view that the left hasn’t really changed is such horseshit. It’s held its own against massive direct assaults.
It’s far more accurate to say that the far monetarist right won, allied with religious rightists and others.
Also that monetarist-dominated states have generated far greater capacity to absorb crisis since the late 1970s. Our own current government is one of the best examples in the world of this.
He needs challenging, and is not really applicable here.
I signed a petition to ask gummint to be more helpful about state housing.
This resulted in an agreement to allow one week’s emergency housing from the state. Something along emergency lines. But actually there is a full time emergency going on, but it’s a start. This from Kyle MacDonald thru Action Station. (The flagman was Kyle Lockwood.)
Thank you for helping to make a difference,
Yesterday I flew down to Wellington to deliver our petition to the Minister. It was because of your support, and the support of more than 9000 others, that Minister Anne Tolley agreed to meet with me. Together we showed her this issue cannot be ignored.
When I asked her what could be done to help people and families facing the impossible choice between homelessness or unmanageable debt over the coming winter months, the Minister acknowledged the urgency of the situation and told us she would look into possible solutions.
Just a few hours after our meeting, the Minister’s office called to tell us that changes to the policy will be brought forward from September to 1 July. These changes will mean that the first week of emergency housing would be covered by a special needs grant rather than a loan. A week is not going to be long enough if there is nowhere to go once that week is up, so the Government still has a lot of work to be done to make sure there are enough houses for people to move into.
Good discussion – in fact excellent on tonight’s Checkpoint, as it ended – links not up yet.
But I’d suggest that if there’s one thing the indigent are fekkn sick of herring (goan ford) is the paternalistic kaka from the comfortable: a la “we need to provide repa ren serves”.
There’s STILL this fucking condescending attitude (or framing – if you prefer) that the poorer in our community are in some way ‘faulty’
It’s a fucking structural issue that begun some time in the early 80’s – possibly before.
@ Draco – I know you perceive a solution – but it ain’t gonna happen until the inevitable happens (and even then only as an option) – when it all disappears up its own arse. My hope is that it is peaceful
Just watching fuckwit Key on Parliament TV. What a bitch monologue from that illiterate ! Doesn’t have to be quality it’s just a game.
So you’ve got nothing? I meet people like you most days, CV. Blowhards with no clues, nothing positive to say, and focussed only on the deep and abiding love they have for the sound of their own voices. Luckily for the rest of us, the Onanists are never going get beyond perfecting the art of the hand shandy. It’d just be nicer if they did it behind closed doors and didn’t want the rest of us to pay for their tissues.
On second thoughts, in spite of my earlier request, I’ve removed the entire sub-thread to Open Mike because there wasn’t a skerrik of anything to do with the post from either of you. Ever thought of becoming facebook friends so the two of you can have at one another at your mutual leisure? – Bill
My friend, seems like you’re the one who has nothing.
BTW who are the socialist MPs in Labour?
I’m not your friend, CV. You’re part of the problem, not part of the solution. Time for you to start reading Ayn Rand, pal. You’ll feel right at home. She was a self obsessed bigot, too.
[trp, I’m pretty sure that neither I nor anyone else really cares what you and CV think of one another. I’ve asked you both to pack it in. If you really find the urge t have a go insatiable, take it to Open Mike or whatever, but don’t carry on with your carry ono under this post. thanks.] – Bill
Fair enough, Bill. However, I think it’s still relevant to the post that commenters moaning about climate change, but having no clue what to do about it and at the same time whining about those who do have sensible suggestions is worth my writing about. CV is most definitely part of the reason there is largely a collective ignoring of the problem. His attitude, which mirrors most of the right, is that there is no answer, so meh. Your post is great, but it is meaningless unless we can look to find the solutions to the real and present danger we face.
Yeah, and if you look back over in that part of the thread you’ll see that a couple of suggestions were being made by both you and CV. Seems neither of you can read what the other is writing without having a go though. And it’s damned boring.
Ok, no worries. Peace and out as I’m told the young folk say.
So, I’m asking the pair of you nicely to cut it out. Cheers.
Serious anger issues and preoccupation there Trp with cv I don’t necessary agree with all what cv says but he articulates it well and does it without a lot of personal abuse, something in that you may want to explore
Oh, bollocks. No anger there, but a deep disliking of wankers who are all mouth and trousers. CV adds nothing to the debate but negativity and frankly, climate change needs solutions fast. I’m happy to acknowledge that I find it weird that TS has a right wing bigot as an author. But perhaps it’s some sort of charity thing and I missed the email.
I need to remind you TRP that attacking Standard authors is strictly against the rules of the site.
Please restrain your anger and observe some proper decorum.
BTW if Climate Change needs fast, urgent answers, why did Andrew Little gloss over the whole topic in his recent speech? And did you support him doing that?
Diddums. You weren’t the author of the post. And being an author is not a get out of jail card when you’re being a wanker. Check my own output; I get straightened up from time to time and I generally cop it sweet. To quote the well known English philosopher Jamie Vardy, chat shit, get banged.
OK cool. So, did you approve of Andrew Little completely dodging climate change as a crisis issue that we need to face up to?
You’re the one dodging the issue, pal. Snap out of your funk and start contributing some answers. You’re a bright guy, put some effort into finding solutions and stop whingeing. Or, as I suggested, bugger off to ACT, where they like people with your kind of attitudes. And no, I’m not kidding. I went through this kind of crap a long, long time ago with Douglas and Prebble. You sound exactly like they did thirty years ago. Full of everything that was wrong, but no solutions beyond making themselves feel better by belittling those who are trying to make a difference. Life is really simple; if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. And like it or not, you’re definitely not a solutions based guy. So, read some Rand, see if misanthrope floats your boat. I reckon you and ACT are made for each other. That doesn’t make you a bad person, IMHO, but it might make you an honest one.
OK so you got nothing then. Thanks for clearing that up.
Jaysus, what a wanker.