Thd ferocity of the attack by the corporate media pit bulls like Soper, Armstrong and Hosking on Metiria would suggest her comments were a real threat to the owners of this country.
It would be better if they funded all beneficiaries to have access to internet/scanners and permit remote access for everyone. That way they could do without the guards/humiliation/lack of toilets/reception etc.
It would be better if beneficiaries never had to endure the human rights abusers at WINZ ever again. I don’t care whether they’re just following National Party orders or not.
Human rights abusers belong in court, not in offices.
Get rid of WINZ completely, have a UBI and have an Office of NZ Citizen Support which will be about citizens getting the help they need, and choosing what hours they are going to put in to help with NZ Social Infrastructure. All will be encouraged to do something they can manage, even an hour a week, and the able bodied and minded will be expected to do from 3-7 hours a week.
This would apply to all ages, and even to the bed-ridden or non-mobile who could do something small from home or hospice. If people want to live-long, then they can be integrated life-long in their society and not feel useless. This will be universal for anyone wishing to live in NZ full or part-time, and participate in public health ad other amenities whether they are receiving a pension or subsidy or not. Then the country has to recognise that all people drawing money from the government are contributing to society.
Parents will be learning at workshops etc. on human relationships, psychology, physical and mental oriented skills, child psychology through different ages, self-care and relief when needed, and efficient systems for running a house, also workshops on gardening, small woodwork and handyman jobs, and home focussed, cooking, cleaning, sewing and knitting. It will be called learned helpfulness, and be full of positive vibes. Parents without transport will be able to catch buses, jeepney-type or contracted taxis that come to the door, and make it easy to attend.
That would be a whole new start and the country would embrace its young people and parents. Most of our woe would go!
The money is not going to the guards though. They are at the bottom of the pile of any juicy contract. Unfortunately, some seek someone even less powerful to intimidate. They are just copying the bullying behaviour of the bosses.
WINZ do need to protect their staff – so it is not unreasonable that they have guards.
When I was young (18ish) I worked at what was then Social Welfare – (IT Side) – but was made to spend time at the counter to understand what it was like for customers.
I always remember the abuse a lot of staff received – sometimes from drunk or stoned people. When all the time trying to do the best they could to help.
IIRC, there have been two times over the last twenty odd years where WINZ staff have been killed. Both times was WINZ was refusing to help when the people actually needed help.
Well, the guards are effective against little old ladies. Wouldn’t have done shit against Tully, though.
But I’m not actually against guards on premises.
I’m against guards on the door demanding ID, receptionists who refuse to make an appointment when you’re in the goddamn branch and insist you call the call centre in order to make an appintment to speak to the person 4 metres away from both of you, long application forms, and a myriad of other pointless barriers placed between people in need and the assistance that can help them.
I didn’t know it was as bad as that. Government is doing its best it seems to keep the smelly humans away from the department offices that are supposed to help.
Eventually they will do everything through machines by machines and they can get on with whatever they think they should do with their time at the expense of our country if you can call it that by that time. More just a giant ‘waiting station’ or ‘people processor’.
A toxic mix of low wage growth and fast-rising rents
Two reports released within 24 hours of each other neatly summarise the state of New Zealand right now. They showed the wealth of the richest sprinting ahead with property values, while the poorest are struggling with stubbornly low wages and fast-rising housing costs. Bernard Hickey reports on a tale of two New Zealands.
This is what Stuff should have top of the page on their site. Instead they discuss the mental health of David Bains Mum (as offensive as it is out of date and irrelevant), and the fact Turei didn’t have a job during university but found time for political campaigns. God. This fucking country and it’s media.
Those subjects in the media indicate the shallow intellect of this country. We seem incapable of reflection, and self-correction. The national intellect instead revolves around judgment of others who haven’t got money, those who are struggling and who complain (persons of no standing), getting things for ourselves and then getting more, and the latest style in the various ways of displaying our persona to others.
Taking an interest in politics indicates dissatisfaction with the status quo which has been established by our betters. How dare Turei take this tone! Who does she think she is? And she hasn’t complied with all the requirements and filled out forms correctly. Disgraceful. And thinks it important to gain skills for a self-supporting life and to guide her child to the same ways for being responsible, pleasant, practical and socialised people.
We are like deviant bower birds who have adopted the habits of the shining cuckoo which leave their eggs and rearing of young to greywarblers’ nests. In winter they fly away to warmer climes like New Guinea so they are just irresponsible. Really they are like those immigrants who are making use of us and ripping us off as they go.
With that summary in mind it is understandable why we are in our present hole,
short of nests.
If you want to over hype the issue, then we both can.
I take it you have no problem with groups of people running into banks wearing tinted crash helmets waving around sticks or making kindergartens open spaces where the public are free to wonder in and out playing with kids?
I definitely think WINZ shouldn’t let groups of people running into their offices wearing tinted crash helmets waving around sticks. But since you brought it up, banks should now not let people wear hats in banks nor let elderly people bring in their wheelie shopping bags. Good idea there Chris, put it out there and see how that goes down. Oh, and all people who want to go into a bank have to show ID and prove they have a good reason for going in there. And if they get angry about being expected to do all those things, then they’re be put in a register that is shared with all the other banks.
It’s amazing the access Hooton gets. It really helps if you’re repeating the establishment line.
He gets all that airtime, yet a story about grandparents being humiliated by WINZ is shutdown.
Was Metiria’s questioning of the failing welfare state challenged by Hooton?
And Hooton was able to spout his toxic anti Labour anti Andrew bullshit like he does on 9 to noon. He gets it in then talks mildly about other matters on hand.
I think Banter is quite interesting in a basic raw way. Unlike the other smooth talk shows.
He’s now called “Michael Hooten” according to the listing. A new fun, loungy chat show bringing on a wringer who wants to demolish the Labour Party. I wonder what that does for the ratings..
There is no law that requires you to listen to him.
Are you really that much of a masochist that you have to torture yourself in this way?
Turn off the radio. Turn off the TV.
Get outside and sniff the flowers.
That’s exactly what I do alwyn. I was responding to dv’s link. We do not watch/listen to any of the commercial channels, and have not for several years because of their total toadying to the Natz ( which is precisely what they are paid to do).
Yep it it’s clause 7b of his employment contract, how did he survive under 9 years of labour with this clause I dont know, he’s real smart or labour are real dunces
Hosking still justifying his pay rate whilst refusing to disclose it.
Gosh he is getting old now, wonder what he would do for a job if removed from media? Maybe that’s his issue, that he doesn’t know how to do anything else but talk shite and support the local casino.
There must be a fellow staffers who have a good idea what Hosking is earning so why don’t they leak it? I’m picking his annual income is well over $1million per annum – maybe as high as $2million – and that’s without the additional perks. And we’re paying the bulk of that salary.
Setting aside the law which is frequently an ass, there’s no doubting who is the real criminal and it ain’t Metiria Turei. Hosking is fleecing tax-payers of millions of dollars for third rate performances on TV and radio and imo that is a far more serious crime than Metiria’s 2000 dollars per annum all those years ago.
“setting aside the law”. That’s the problem Anne. Do we all just go about our lives, setting aside the laws we don’t agree with, or like or that inconvenience us?
Sam C, that is what the vast majority of the well heeled do with rorting the system. They set aside the law by using lawyers and accountants etc.
Show me the tradie who doesn’t do jobs under the table and those who seek those savings etc etc . We are all guilty of it to some degree or other.
Someone dead at a railway station in Auckland which means a 3 hour wait for usual travellers as services are shut down. This is an unacceptably long time when it prevents the running of mass transport. I am assuming that it is largely to conduct a police investigation and take samples and photos from the site. There has to be a police investigation but the time taken to deal with the matter is far too long. There should be an emergency team that can deal with the matter so that there can be resumption of normal and necessary activity for others.
I have been told that sometimes road accidents and consequent closures have lasted far longer than required for police to deal with it, and that the attitude has been far from as expeditious as it should have been.
Right go for the emotional response. It is a very focussed one at any time, people are dying all the time and we don’t cancel the day and go home. What I am saying is the procedures need to speed up so people can attend to their work and other duties. Some of us have self-imposed duties to try and make the world a better place, and we have to get to work too. If we can get a change of heart in our government there will be less of these sad stats.
That is part of my point Rightly. Roads closed for 6-7 hours. Matters need to be attended to promptly. Also I have been told that in one case a road was left closed for hours after the important stuff was attended to.
In this case the body would need to be gathered up and handled carefully and considerately. Evidence gathered, 1 hour plus could hardly be avoided.
It needs to be kept to a minimum, the transport cleared as soon as reasonably possible. People are needed at work, they need work to get wages, the wages are earned by doing their job, and multiplied by hundreds, it is a great loss to businesses and individuals.
The more it happens, the more likely there will be more committing suicide or becoming stressed beyond return. Emotion and reason have to be balanced. It’s not something to be resigned and accepting about.
……..the topic I will focus on today, is the dangerous drift towards racial separatism in New Zealand, and the development of the now entrenched Treaty grievance industry. We are one country with many peoples, not simply a society of Pakeha and Maori where the minority has a birthright to the upper hand, as the Labour Government seems to believe.
I’m dizzy at reading this heady stuff from Don Brash in 2004. I’m looking forward to what Willie Jackson has to say on Saturday in Orewa Rotary. Ticket in handbag!
Peroxide Blonde
You seem to be colour oriented. Why blonde? And peroxide, is that a healthy treatment? It might be cancer producing as hair dyes and chemicals are very quick to penetrate skin layers. Do you think we should all look the same, and have one standard hair colour? Should it be blonde? Does everyone of importance have to be blonde? So many questions.
What if I like my racial separation, culture and look? Your link goes back to 2004. Many things and thoughts have occurred since Don Brash’s speech then. Are you having trouble adjusting to the new thoughts? Life is full of adjustments and choices and somewhere people have to find something worthwhile to believe in, something that allows for everyone to be respected and honoured.
Do you feel that Don Brash speaks for that, or for you alone and your cohort? How is that going to bring about a happy society where all are respected? Don’t you want that, and if not respect then do you want happy society, and if not happy, do you want a society, and if you don’t want that what sort of crap do you want going on around you?
Thank you Karen .Love the bit about Paula likes the way NZers give people a second chance. Doesn’t seem to apply if the person is in the Greens does it?
A ha well Gareth Morgan is the man to deal with him. I know who I’d rather have, and a few less cats, perhaps with micro chips. I don’t know what sort of chip N Smith needs but please someone find one suitable.
Checkpoint did a great job last night with its story of the chaos in the ICU unit at Dunedin Hospital. Only 6 ICU beds, just increased to 8 and there will be 10 in 13 months time where I heard someone say they need 18. Morning Report continued the story this morning saying “bumping” (where an operation is cancelled at the last minute due to lack of resources) is co common it has become a joke in the wards.
Another news story doing the rounds yesterday (at least on RNZ) was a report that said that poor people in Auckland now pay more than 50% of their income in housing costs.
Chronic public (not private) health under-funding and a housing crisis. Surely Labour’s no-tax-cuts to help solve these issues coupled with the Green’s more humane benefit regime will resonate on 23rd September?
‘Bumbling incompetence in management in public service’. Sounds like a spray of grumbling about everybody but ‘me’ being bumbling. I think it is a carry-on from the mantra of there being fat in the system, and cutting it out and getting a lean running machine will result in exponential gains in productivity etc.
When it comes to the public service try looking at Harrison and the psychopathic way she ran her manor. See below. ‘the caravan of love’. If the people could just get on with their jobs with adequate mentoring by managers they would achieve and be proud of their department’s efforts and effectiveness. All the rest is an excuse for ego-flashing.
Instead they can be prey to the machinations of human resources gurus with team building projects that bear no relation to their work. There are vanity projects meant to get compliance which can be expensive and involve considerable disruption to work and private life, going rock climbing for instance, something where you push yourself beyond your normal boundaries. Getting teamwork and compliance could be accomplished easier by giving them squaddie army drill and forming a marching team with flash uniforms performing at contests and high days an holidays.
Some business entities pay staff to do work day in the community for the community, but that is more private business. When you work in the government you are supposed to be doing that, so don’t have to put yourself out getting involved with the public in some helping way.
The public service has been degraded by the cult of neo liberalism and PR management and particularly the complete lack of trust in the public service workers and any agencies receiving government funds and input, The lack of acceptance of responsibility for proper and correct management of government, obssessive accoounting for every hour and every penny, unreasonably high targets, by targeting itself of chosen outcomes instead of overall performance to a mission and vision statement, and by the desire and determination of the neoliberal government to cut government to matchbox size and then set that alight, after its functions have been passed over to profit-making entities in the private sector.
The Greens have been doing uncharacteristically well – now a self-selected poll isn’t likely to be valid unless the numbers are very large – but Metiria’s stand is the best candidate to explain the result if it is not an artifact of poor sampling design.
Well of course she didn’t work you ass. She had a tiny baby. It’s a 24 hr job you know or perhaps you don’t know being an ignorant red-neck.
I won’t be wasting my time reading a crappy newshub (?) article but so what… if she did actively help out in a campaign. She probably stuffed envelopes somewhere with baby sleeping in her pram alongside her. Jesus, the bigotry and misogyny from these right wingers is mind boggling.
Even Mums with new born babes are allowed to go out and have a bit of social contact with other people.
I’m not making stuff up – you’re failing to extrapolate from the data – NZ now has the most unaffordable housing in the OECD. And far from the best wages.
Even the meanest intelligence can join those two dots to conclude that not owning a home predicates poverty.
You might recall Shamu (the economist, not the anthropocidal orca) used to maintain that renting was fine and this obsession with owning your own home didn’t matter. He has reversed that stance, in one of those rare (vanishingly rare among economists) instances of observation overturning theoretical bias.
So beneficiaries aren’t allowed to have lives? No agency to choose how they spend their time? Not allowed recreation? Pleasure? Fun?
The irony here in the latest round of righties feeling offended is that she chose to spend her time doing politics. Quelle horreur that beneficiaries might have a political voice. And of course they haven’t, which is why we are in the situation we are today as a country, where for the first time in 30 years the political class have stepped up and given the underclasses an actual voice not just talked about them.
“No agency to choose how they spend their time? Not allowed recreation? Pleasure? Fun?”
Of course not.
But you dont get to spend all your time going for government (which she was) then saying that she had no choice but to defraud the government for money.
If things were so dire that she had to defraud $ or her child was going to be hungry – then surely the choice to perhaps work as opposed to campaigning for government would have delivered a better outcome.
But – thats her choice – stand for the serious party – and not work and defraud the government.
She didn’t spend all her time going for govt. She had a baby, was raising it and going to law school.
“If things were so dire that she had to defraud $ or her child was going to be hungry – then surely the choice to perhaps work as opposed to campaigning for government would have delivered a better outcome.”
Yes, as I just said, you think that beneficiaries, esp solo mums, aren’t allowed to have spare time or consequently agency in how they spend that time or have fun or a life. You think that you should get to decide what is best for benes or solo mums.
Don’t worry, we get it, this has been the message for many decades now. It’s not new. Now that Turei is pushing back, it’s being exposed for the piece of shit values that it is.
This total denigration of Metiria by the right is to totally close down any analysis/discussion of the Greens humane social welfare policy. They will push this to the max. I’m surprised the Greens didn’t realise that this would happen, after all it is text book procedure to shoot the messenger.
Yes, and pretty sure they did realise this but decided it was worth the risk. That task now for lefties, progressives, and anyone who gives a shit, is to make sure the narrative gets changed permanently to one of beneficiaries are people too. There is so much in that that underpins all of neoliberalism.
Solo mums can do what they want just don’t expect society to fund it beyond the necessities, if they want more take ownership of your own life and make the right choices You don’t have the right to unilaterally decide you are above the law or determine what you feel what you are entitled to Tough but thats life No one owes you a living
aka “it’s better to starve then bend the rules”. Actually, more like, it’s better for those people over there that I hate to starve than for them to be helped. Works both ways.
The starving narrative is bs weka and you know it, like she had no other choices to avoid starvation, granny and indeed loses dad was going to sit by and let that happen as one example, get real
If you think there are no kids and parents and other benes in NZ that don’t routinely go without adequate food and nutrition, you are either extremely naive or extremely stupid. Much more likely is you are just a bigot who doesn’t give a shit.
In Meteria case it’s BS, don’t extrapolate my point, please also desist with standard left wing attack lines it gets a bit boring and is not an arguement , you forgot, projecting, hating the poor, only the left care , racist homophobic, mysoginist ( just to save you the time)
Self defeating there red. the necessities mean food and roof over your head. Which when national reduced the benefits by 25% meant the necessities were not covered. And she fudged it to get the necessities.
But sure live in you deserving and undeserving poor lala land. Where we have the western worlds largest homeless problem, growing poverty and the highest suicide rates.
No one owes you a living, so does that mean you support an end to inheritance laws?
To Red @9.3.1.1.3.
All I can say about your comment there is that you typify what is wrong with this Country.
Your total lack of empathy is telling.
Try walking a mile in someone else’s shoes for once.
defraud the government – what about apple? Not seeing you jump up and down about that. But a few hundred dollars, and it’s the end of the world. James go sort out your priorities mate, you’re in amoral land.
And sleep, James! Turei slept at times during the night when her baby was new-born, when she could have been seeking work!
Drag her into the courts, I say! Berate her for her idleness; sleeping when she could have been applying herself to lifting herself out of her self-made mire with a good yank on her boot-straps! James is right in thinking there’s no place in the ACT Party for Metiria!
It’s really interesting the media beat up against Meti, she’s fronted to questions by media, isn’t hiding, MSD are still to take action from a situation that happened near on 30 years ago, and on it goes.
Maybe since the law is so fickle on words, if Meti had described someone as a boarder rather than a flatmate, there would be no issue.
Now she is being slammed for doing voluntary work rather than paid work? Slammed for taking an interest in politics while studying because she realised some of our laws are archaic and wanted to take action to do something about it. How dare she! (sarc.)
Meanwhile… WHAT”S ON THE TAPES TODD? How’s that police investigation going? Why was the PM avoiding giving straight answers in question time yesterday? Why won’t you talk to media Todd?
Meanwhile… WHAT”S ON THE TAPES TODD? How’s that police investigation going? Why was the PM avoiding giving straight answers in question time yesterday? Why won’t you talk to media Todd?
QFT
The National Party supporters never question the actions of their own leaders which highlights their hypocrisy.
Mhmmm near on 30 years ago Sam, almost 3 decades, more than 2 decades, so near on 30 years ago, closer to 30 than 20.
Sam, what’s on the tapes? Once it is disclosed what is on the tapes, the public will be shocked. True story, NZ is a small place, especially the south island, confidentiality agreement prevents me from sharing more. JS
@ James So she shouldn’t have been involved in politics because she was poor? You would have her working at McDonalds while paying for childcare for her baby-that is for a pittance.
She was working unpaid for the public good by being involved in politics-that is a job. All power to her.
Whatever. Why the fuck didn’t she repay then go public. Fuck I’m so pissed off with fucking Turei !!!! I would normally vote Labour but the thought of this sanctimonious fucking fraudster in a Labour led governemnt really turns me off.
Audit Gerry’s term with CERA and you’ll find enough fraud to give him a ten stretch – Collin’s illegal kauri exports likewise. So why make a fuss about Metiria now? Hasn’t offended in decades – and small potatoes anyway.
Did she break your meme?
Or is it that the Gnats’ record is indefensible and she’s the only one you’ve figured out how to attack?
Hope your paying living wage to your lawn mowing teenager ie walking the talk and not avoiding paying tax to suppprt welfare system to keep your costs down
Or support the lifestyle she wanted and having a baby, that’s probably more closer to the truth and where she differs from the great majority of law abiding solo mums
I think you will find the majority after ruthinasia fudged the system. They had to. Another example of the economic disconnect from you lot. It’s outstanding how much in lala land you all are.
No issues with housing
No issues with homelessness
No issue with suicide
No issues with a welfare system paying below necessity
Just hate, and up on a pedestal telling the rest of us how to live.
The National candidate will be on the ballot paper, so people do have a choice. In contrast the Greens have actually puled their candidate in the expectation that all Green voters will vote for the Labour candidate.
So less choice on the left side than on the right.
Must be awesome to be the National candidate who gets to play patsy while your leader tells the National voters in your electorate to vote for some other guy. It takes a character like Paul Goldsmith to do it – someone who could write hagiographies of John Banks and Don Brash obviously doesn’t have any requirement for self-respect. I should be surprised National’s been able to find a second candidate so lacking in standards, but for some reason I’m not.
He doesn’t. Morrissey just has a serious problem when it comes to distinguishing between his personal prejudice and rational analysis. It’s not an uncommon problem, but tends to make for obviously and woefully incorrect comments.
Ok, so Labour don’t have any deal with any other party about not standing candidates or telling their voters to vote for other party’s candidates. Nor have they chosen to not stand in one of the marginal electorates. Glad we got that cleared up.
The Greens, who have almost never runs serious candidates in the seats, and afaik have never stood candidates in all seats, have chosen to not stand in certain seats for a range of reasons, including cost. But they have no deal with Labour and they haven’t told their voters to vote for other party’s candidates.
And you think this makes Labour and the Greens the equivalent of National telling its voters to vote for another party because that’s the only way it can govern?
Just to make it easy for your. If Labour really did want to do this, they’d have put Kelvin Davis high on the list and told TTT voters to seat vote Harawira and they’d have done a deal with the Greens to also not stand in TTT.
Morrissey – Doctors, dentists, accountants, business owners, school teachers, lawyers, policeman/woman, social workers, nurses, retirees – these are some of the good people i know in Epsom that you refer to as sheep – who the fuck are you to smear these good people just because they don’t agree with your political view.
The sheep are the ones who allowed themselves to be herded to vote—against all their better instincts—for the likes of such reprehensible, comical characters as Rodney Hide and the disastrous Jamie “Lock Up His Sisters” Whyte. I doubt many social workers, nurses, teachers or indeed anyone who is compos mentis would have obeyed the cup of tea directive.
1. Epsom is a very rich neighbourhood. It’s unlikely voting ACT goes very much against the instincts of many of its wealthier residents.
2. National supporters in Epsom are unlikely to feel dubious about satisfying the request “Please vote for the ACT candidate so that National gets an extra MP.”
Those poor bastards in epsom – ‘its not fair we vote for rubbish, we get rubbish and we are told off by the unwashed, unwaged and unworthy – what about us? Has anyone given a thought for how tough it is with 3 cars and only 2 drivers – why won’t someone fix that problem. It’s racist is what it is’.
The 8th synthetic cannabis death in a month. Fricken hell do something, poor kids are dying.
What’s the bet in a couple of weeks there will be a watered down drug action plan announced that doesn’t do anything but is spoken highly of in the medias.
I’ve been thinking about Diana and her boys. It really struck me how they had suppressed much emotions around the death of their mum and that by talking about that had helped them remember her and consolidate the loss and carry on with life. Imagine now being those boys and your mother had killed herself. There are a lot of kids, parents, siblings and friends dealing with the sudden loss of their loved ones. So much stuff to work through – the guilt, sadness and fear. How many people receiving assistance have killed themselves? No one counts them so we don’t know. How many kids dealing with the suicide of a parent who was receiving assistance? We don’t count them, we don’t know.
Interesting critique of the New Zealand Greens here.
Essentially, in Wellington they are great at getting elected, but really poor at getting anything Green actually done.
You’ve probably heard that Spanish pop record “Despacito” over the last few weeks, by a couple of Puerto Ricans called Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi. It’s the most popular piece of Latin nonsense since the gorgeous “Ketchup” song of fifteen years ago—indeed it’s now the most played song ever, in any language.
Among those who have heard it are supporters of the democratic government in Venezuela. One of them had the inspired idea of doing away with the inane original lyrics and turning it into an anthem of hope and support for democratic values…
Great idea, right? Improving a piece of dreck, recycling a piece of meretricious rubbish like “Despacito” is part of a timeless and honored tradition.
Sadly, however, the perpetrators of the original were not happy. Both Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee have unleashed blimpish and confused outbursts against the democratic Venezuelan government: “Your dictatorial regime is a joke,” claimed Fonsi—or was it Daddy Yankee?—and the other one (Fonsi? Daddy Yankee?) claimed that “the Venezuelan people are crying out for their freedom.”
So what motivated these two Puerto Rican pop-putzes to indulge in the most absurd display of bewilderment since Jared Leto and Kevin Spacey declaimed at an awards ceremony? Well, just have a look at Daddy Yankee’s murky past: he’s a self-declared “Christian”, and a Republican, and voted for John McCain in 2008. You can be sure he’s a Rump supporter as well. He hates democracy…..
Luis Fonsi doesn’t seem to have any ideas about anything. I’m pretty sure all the energy of this anti-democracy rant comes from Daddy Yankee, and that Fonsi just follows his lead.
There are many thoughtful and well informed Puerto Rican commentators, such as Juan González, Ululy Martinez and Oscar Lopez Rivera. However, as is so often the case, the Puerto Ricans getting nearly all the publicity at the moment are—thanks to the political choices of the media—two unfeasibly ignorant, lazy, and stupid ones.
That’s a really important point. It means all that ‘debt’ upon a government’s books can be written off instantly while making no difference to the economy.
And to be picky, the absurd heading Mike Hosking: Metiria Turei should know – knowledge of a crime is a crime itself
means that a hell of a lot of criminal lawyers must be committing crime. By this measure Bill English is probably a criminal too.
Oh my – wanting to grow hemp – bad, medical cannabis – bad, and a side issue – will lose election. Purposing somthing that will not help one bit – election winner.
The sad part is people will swallow that crap whole.
Winston just asked in QT, if National were preparing to sell Transpower. WOW!
Denied of course by Joyce. Letter tabled.
Q6. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all his statements; if so, how?
Little was terrible this morning on breakfast with Jack Tame, the man has trouble putting coherent sentences together or thinking on his feet Surely the simple answer to Tame line of question to catch angry out in regard to what will dropping 30000 in immigration have on our GDp would have been, “nothing as per capita nothing will change” , little was right it was a stupid question but he got owned by Tame with a even more stupid lack of an answer and could not shut it down, beyond stuttering every labour policy and mother pie statement as an answer, must do better, epic fail
dad4 – you’ve stumbled into a decent blog-space here, accidentally, I’m sure and you’ll be feeling insecure and not a little bit alien!
Quick! Get back to Kiwiblog before you catch something! This place is awash with rational thinking and consideration: scoot!
RedLogix – my heart too, skipped a beat at the signature on the 7:53pm comment, and while I stand in awe at the elegant simplicity of dad’s comment, unencumbered as it is by any weight, depth or value, I clearly remember the path dad’s comments, when in train, take; the inevitable downward, pride-defying spiral that always ended with a graceless splat-landing and banishment by the moderators to place where dull mischief foments and flippery-feet flap.
Actually, it was Tuesday morning Red Tuesday the 25th. I saw that and I have got to agree, that little obnoxious prat, another Hoskins in the making definitely had a “gotcha” moment with Little. I don’t think little has problems in answering I think his main problem is he hasn’t a strong commanding voice. However wasn’t the little arseole smug about it, it was written all over his dial that said, ” aren’t I a clever little shit.”
Tried a similar exercise with Metiria Turei this morning didn’t he, and boy didn’t he come a cropper, she shut the little prat well and truly up and was he fucking pissed off about it his face was like thunder.
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
Legislation to enable new water service delivery models that will drive critical investment in infrastructure has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking a significant step towards the delivery of Local Water Done Well, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly say.“Councils and voters ...
New Zealand is one step closer to reaping the benefits of gene technology with the passing of the first reading of the Gene Technology Bill, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. "This legislation will end New Zealand's near 30-year ban on gene technology outside the lab and is ...
ByKoroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor New Zealand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) says impending bad weather for Port Vila is now the most significant post-quake hazard. A tropical low in the Coral Sea is expected to move into Vanuatu waters, bringing heavy rainfall. Authorities have issued warnings to people ...
Cosmic CatastropheThe year draws to a close.King Luxon has grown tired of the long eveningsListening to the dreary squabbling of his Triumvirate.He strolls up to the top floor of the PalaceTo consult with his Astronomer Royal.The Royal Telescope scans the skies,And King Luxon stares up into the heavensFrom the terrestrial ...
Spinoff editor Mad Chapman and books editor Claire Mabey debate Carl Shuker’s new novel about… an editor. Claire: Hello Mad, you just finished The Royal Free – overall impressions? Mad: Hi Claire, I literally just put the book down and I would have to say my immediate impression is ...
Christmas and its buildup are often lonely, hard and full of unreasonable expectations. Here’s how to make it to Jesus’s birthday and find the little bit of joy we all deserve. Have you found this year relentless? Has the latest Apple update “fucked up your life”? Have you lost two ...
Despite overwhelming public and corporate support, the government has stalled progress on a modern day slavery law. That puts us behind other countries – and makes Christmas a time of tragedy rather than joy, argues Shanti Mathias. Picture the scene on Christmas Day. Everyone replete with nice things to eat, ...
Asia Pacific Report “It looks like Hiroshima. It looks like Germany at the end of World War Two,” says an Israeli-American historian and professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University about the horrifying reality of Gaza. Professor Omer Bartov, has described Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza as an ...
The New Zealand government coalition is tweaking university regulations to curb what it says is an increasingly “risk-averse approach” to free speech. The proposed changes will set clear expectations on how universities should approach freedom of speech issues. Each university will then have to adopt a “freedom of speech statement” ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone New York prosecutors have charged Luigi Mangione with “murder as an act of terrorism” in his alleged shooting of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. This news comes out at the same time as ...
Pacific Media Watch The union for Australian journalists has welcomed the delivery by the federal government of more than $150 million to support the sustainability of public interest journalism over the next four years. Combined with the announcement of the revamped News Bargaining Initiative, this could result in up to ...
MONDAY“Merry Xmas, and praise the Lord,” said Sheriff Luxon, and smiled for the camera. There was a flash of smoke when the shutter pressed down on the magnesium powder. The sheriff had arranged for a photographer from the Dodge Gazette to attend a ceremony where he handed out food parcels to ...
It’s a little under two months since the White Ferns shocked the cricketing world, deservedly taking home the T20 World Cup. Since then the trophy has had a tour around the country, five of the squad have played in the WBBL in Australia while most others have returned to domestic ...
Comment: If we say the word ‘dementia’, many will picture an older person struggling to remember the names of their loved ones, maybe a grandparent living out their final years in an aged care facility. Dementia can also occur in people younger than 65, but it can take time before ...
Piracy is a reality of modern life – but copyright law has struggled to play catch-up for as long as the entertainment industry has existed. As far back as 1988, the House of Lords criticised copyright law’s conflict with the reality of human behaviour in the context of burning cassette ...
As he makes a surprise return to Shortland Street, actor Craig Parker takes us through his life in television. Craig Parker has been a fixture on television in Aotearoa for nearly four decades. He had starring roles in iconic local series like Gloss, Mercy Peak and Diplomatic Immunity, featured in ...
The Ōtautahi musician shares the 10 tracks he loves to spin, including the folk classic that cured him of a ‘case of the give-ups’. When singer-songwriter Adam McGrath returns to Kumeu’s Auckland Folk Festival from January 24-27, he’s not planning on simply idling his way through – he wants the late ...
Alex Casey spends an afternoon on the job with River, the rescue dog on a mission to spread joy to Ōtautahi rest homes.Almost everyone says it is never enough time. But River the rescue dog, a jet black huntaway border collie cross, has to keep a tight pace to ...
Asia Pacific Report Fiji activists have recreated the nativity scene at a solidarity for Palestine gathering in Fiji’s capital Suva just days before Christmas. The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network recreated the scene at the FWCC compound — a baby Jesus figurine lies amidst the ...
By 1News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver and 1News reporters A number of Kiwis have been successfully evacuated from Vanuatu after a devastating earthquake shook the Pacific island nation earlier this week. The death toll was still unclear, though at least 14 people were killed according to an earlier statement from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Scully, Professor in Modern History, University of New England Bunker.Image courtesy of Michael Leunig, CC BY-NC-SA Michael Leunig – who died in the early hours of Thursday December 19, surrounded by “his children, loved ones, and sunflowers” – was the ...
The House - On Parliament's last day of the year, there was the rare occurrence of a personal (conscience) vote on selling booze over the Easter weekend. While it didn't have the numbers to pass, it was a chance to get a rare glimpse of the fact ...
A new poem by Holly Fletcher. bejeweled log i was dreaming about wasps / wee darlings that followed me / ducking under objects / that i was fated to pickup / my fingers seeking / and meeting with tiny proboscis’s / but instead / i wake up / roll sideways ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flora Hui, Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Honorary Fellow, Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne Versta/Shutterstock Australians are exposed to some of the highest levels of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the world. While we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Terry, Professor of Business Regulation, University of Sydney Michael von Aichberger/Shutterstock Even if you’ve no idea how the business model underpinning franchises works, there’s a good chance you’ve spent money at one. Franchising is essentially a strategy for cloning ...
If something big is going to happen in Ferndale, it’s going to happen at Christmas. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If there’s one episode of Shortland Street you should watch each year, it’s the annual Christmas cliffhanger. The final episode of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William A. Stoltz, Lecturer and expert Associate, National Security College, Australian National University US President-elect Donald Trump has named most of the members of his proposed cabinet. However, he’s yet to reveal key appointees to America’s powerful cyber warfare and intelligence institutions. ...
Announcing the top 10 books of the the year at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber, $37) The phenomenal Irish writer is the unsurprising chart topper for 2024 with her fourth novel that, much like her first ...
It’s so bad inside that pensioners can’t bring in shopping trolleys.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/95092628/pensioner-told-by-work-and-income-guard-you-cant-leave-your-hat-on
national have taken every step to intimidate the unfortunate. Look carefully and there’s a juicy security contract behind those WINZ guards of course.
Thd ferocity of the attack by the corporate media pit bulls like Soper, Armstrong and Hosking on Metiria would suggest her comments were a real threat to the owners of this country.
And here’s the latest attack from the most vile of them all:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11895130
Well, aside from Hooton.
It would be better if they funded all beneficiaries to have access to internet/scanners and permit remote access for everyone. That way they could do without the guards/humiliation/lack of toilets/reception etc.
It would be better if beneficiaries never had to endure the human rights abusers at WINZ ever again. I don’t care whether they’re just following National Party orders or not.
Human rights abusers belong in court, not in offices.
So true OAB.
Yes indeed
Get rid of WINZ completely, have a UBI and have an Office of NZ Citizen Support which will be about citizens getting the help they need, and choosing what hours they are going to put in to help with NZ Social Infrastructure. All will be encouraged to do something they can manage, even an hour a week, and the able bodied and minded will be expected to do from 3-7 hours a week.
This would apply to all ages, and even to the bed-ridden or non-mobile who could do something small from home or hospice. If people want to live-long, then they can be integrated life-long in their society and not feel useless. This will be universal for anyone wishing to live in NZ full or part-time, and participate in public health ad other amenities whether they are receiving a pension or subsidy or not. Then the country has to recognise that all people drawing money from the government are contributing to society.
Parents will be learning at workshops etc. on human relationships, psychology, physical and mental oriented skills, child psychology through different ages, self-care and relief when needed, and efficient systems for running a house, also workshops on gardening, small woodwork and handyman jobs, and home focussed, cooking, cleaning, sewing and knitting. It will be called learned helpfulness, and be full of positive vibes. Parents without transport will be able to catch buses, jeepney-type or contracted taxis that come to the door, and make it easy to attend.
That would be a whole new start and the country would embrace its young people and parents. Most of our woe would go!
It used to be called “night classes”.
The money is not going to the guards though. They are at the bottom of the pile of any juicy contract. Unfortunately, some seek someone even less powerful to intimidate. They are just copying the bullying behaviour of the bosses.
I think that a lot of the guards came in after the WINZ murders by Tully.
(For which a poster on here called him a hero) (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02092014/#comment-878213)
WINZ do need to protect their staff – so it is not unreasonable that they have guards.
When I was young (18ish) I worked at what was then Social Welfare – (IT Side) – but was made to spend time at the counter to understand what it was like for customers.
I always remember the abuse a lot of staff received – sometimes from drunk or stoned people. When all the time trying to do the best they could to help.
I doubt that it has gotten any better.
Well James it would be fair enough to say that you aren’t well known on this site for your empathy towards the poor.
Perhaps they needed the courage that being drunk or stoned gave them to actually deal with what they are going through and with (pre-)WINZ.
No wonder people get frustrated when the people they are dealing with are actually IT workers rather than social welfare workers.
Yep nightmare scenario having some it dick trying to bullshit about what they aren’t entitled to.
I wasnt actually doing case work.
Have you watched I Daniel Blake?
They wouldn’t need to if they treated people with respect and actually helped them rather than abused them.
Any evidence that the people who were shot had treated Tolly badly at al?
IIRC, there have been two times over the last twenty odd years where WINZ staff have been killed. Both times was WINZ was refusing to help when the people actually needed help.
He was homeless – they screwed him around instead of helping him.
Well, the guards are effective against little old ladies. Wouldn’t have done shit against Tully, though.
But I’m not actually against guards on premises.
I’m against guards on the door demanding ID, receptionists who refuse to make an appointment when you’re in the goddamn branch and insist you call the call centre in order to make an appintment to speak to the person 4 metres away from both of you, long application forms, and a myriad of other pointless barriers placed between people in need and the assistance that can help them.
I didn’t know it was as bad as that. Government is doing its best it seems to keep the smelly humans away from the department offices that are supposed to help.
Eventually they will do everything through machines by machines and they can get on with whatever they think they should do with their time at the expense of our country if you can call it that by that time. More just a giant ‘waiting station’ or ‘people processor’.
Meanwhile, on Newsroom, by Bernard Hickey:
This is what Stuff should have top of the page on their site. Instead they discuss the mental health of David Bains Mum (as offensive as it is out of date and irrelevant), and the fact Turei didn’t have a job during university but found time for political campaigns. God. This fucking country and it’s media.
Yep or why they cant say how many people recieving assistance have committed suicide.
Those subjects in the media indicate the shallow intellect of this country. We seem incapable of reflection, and self-correction. The national intellect instead revolves around judgment of others who haven’t got money, those who are struggling and who complain (persons of no standing), getting things for ourselves and then getting more, and the latest style in the various ways of displaying our persona to others.
Taking an interest in politics indicates dissatisfaction with the status quo which has been established by our betters. How dare Turei take this tone! Who does she think she is? And she hasn’t complied with all the requirements and filled out forms correctly. Disgraceful. And thinks it important to gain skills for a self-supporting life and to guide her child to the same ways for being responsible, pleasant, practical and socialised people.
We are like deviant bower birds who have adopted the habits of the shining cuckoo which leave their eggs and rearing of young to greywarblers’ nests. In winter they fly away to warmer climes like New Guinea so they are just irresponsible. Really they are like those immigrants who are making use of us and ripping us off as they go.
With that summary in mind it is understandable why we are in our present hole,
short of nests.
Oh the inhumanity
I agree the hat thing is a bit OTT, but have no problem with the trolley given the Ashburton tragedy.
Probably could do with a proper area to leave them though
Remember Aramoana? Probably should have stopped all single white men from living in small towns.
+1
It’s called common sense.
If you want to over hype the issue, then we both can.
I take it you have no problem with groups of people running into banks wearing tinted crash helmets waving around sticks or making kindergartens open spaces where the public are free to wonder in and out playing with kids?
I definitely think WINZ shouldn’t let groups of people running into their offices wearing tinted crash helmets waving around sticks. But since you brought it up, banks should now not let people wear hats in banks nor let elderly people bring in their wheelie shopping bags. Good idea there Chris, put it out there and see how that goes down. Oh, and all people who want to go into a bank have to show ID and prove they have a good reason for going in there. And if they get angry about being expected to do all those things, then they’re be put in a register that is shared with all the other banks.
What you call ‘common sense’ is more the stupidity, bigotry and arrogance of RWNJs.I
Channel surfing last night and there was hooton on the banter soapbox doing what he does best.
Wonder if lusk and eade appear as slater and williams have, it’s quite a DP roll call.
It’s amazing the access Hooton gets. It really helps if you’re repeating the establishment line.
He gets all that airtime, yet a story about grandparents being humiliated by WINZ is shutdown.
Was Metiria’s questioning of the failing welfare state challenged by Hooton?
And Hooton was able to spout his toxic anti Labour anti Andrew bullshit like he does on 9 to noon. He gets it in then talks mildly about other matters on hand.
I think Banter is quite interesting in a basic raw way. Unlike the other smooth talk shows.
He’s now called “Michael Hooten” according to the listing. A new fun, loungy chat show bringing on a wringer who wants to demolish the Labour Party. I wonder what that does for the ratings..
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/banter
HUH
Hosking says news reading is an artistic pursuit.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11895125
So is he saying he makes up the news?
Thanks dv. Just listening to Hosking praise himself is spew inducing. How anyone can stand his superciliousness beggars belief.
There is no law that requires you to listen to him.
Are you really that much of a masochist that you have to torture yourself in this way?
Turn off the radio. Turn off the TV.
Get outside and sniff the flowers.
That’s exactly what I do alwyn. I was responding to dv’s link. We do not watch/listen to any of the commercial channels, and have not for several years because of their total toadying to the Natz ( which is precisely what they are paid to do).
Yep it it’s clause 7b of his employment contract, how did he survive under 9 years of labour with this clause I dont know, he’s real smart or labour are real dunces
Hosking still justifying his pay rate whilst refusing to disclose it.
Gosh he is getting old now, wonder what he would do for a job if removed from media? Maybe that’s his issue, that he doesn’t know how to do anything else but talk shite and support the local casino.
There must be a fellow staffers who have a good idea what Hosking is earning so why don’t they leak it? I’m picking his annual income is well over $1million per annum – maybe as high as $2million – and that’s without the additional perks. And we’re paying the bulk of that salary.
Setting aside the law which is frequently an ass, there’s no doubting who is the real criminal and it ain’t Metiria Turei. Hosking is fleecing tax-payers of millions of dollars for third rate performances on TV and radio and imo that is a far more serious crime than Metiria’s 2000 dollars per annum all those years ago.
“setting aside the law”. That’s the problem Anne. Do we all just go about our lives, setting aside the laws we don’t agree with, or like or that inconvenience us?
Is that what you’d propose?
Sam C, that is what the vast majority of the well heeled do with rorting the system. They set aside the law by using lawyers and accountants etc.
Show me the tradie who doesn’t do jobs under the table and those who seek those savings etc etc . We are all guilty of it to some degree or other.
P*** off you sanctimonious prick
That’s an ad hominem attack.
That’s what National seems to do all the time.
Probably does not need the money, a bit like Paul Henery who we all miss.
Someone dead at a railway station in Auckland which means a 3 hour wait for usual travellers as services are shut down. This is an unacceptably long time when it prevents the running of mass transport. I am assuming that it is largely to conduct a police investigation and take samples and photos from the site. There has to be a police investigation but the time taken to deal with the matter is far too long. There should be an emergency team that can deal with the matter so that there can be resumption of normal and necessary activity for others.
I have been told that sometimes road accidents and consequent closures have lasted far longer than required for police to deal with it, and that the attitude has been far from as expeditious as it should have been.
So a body on the line is a hold up,a body on the line is usually a suicide, real hindrance for someone.
Right go for the emotional response. It is a very focussed one at any time, people are dying all the time and we don’t cancel the day and go home. What I am saying is the procedures need to speed up so people can attend to their work and other duties. Some of us have self-imposed duties to try and make the world a better place, and we have to get to work too. If we can get a change of heart in our government there will be less of these sad stats.
First World Problem/Moan I suggest.
Perhaps think about the deceased’s family who will want answers to questions about why he/she died.
Takes time to gather that evidence – real life isn’t CSI – don’t solve cases in 5 minutes; between ad breaks.
And if the deceased is no longer complete it takes time to locate and treat the remains with dignity.
3 hours is pretty good i would have thought – often roads are closed for 6-7 hours.
That is part of my point Rightly. Roads closed for 6-7 hours. Matters need to be attended to promptly. Also I have been told that in one case a road was left closed for hours after the important stuff was attended to.
In this case the body would need to be gathered up and handled carefully and considerately. Evidence gathered, 1 hour plus could hardly be avoided.
It needs to be kept to a minimum, the transport cleared as soon as reasonably possible. People are needed at work, they need work to get wages, the wages are earned by doing their job, and multiplied by hundreds, it is a great loss to businesses and individuals.
The more it happens, the more likely there will be more committing suicide or becoming stressed beyond return. Emotion and reason have to be balanced. It’s not something to be resigned and accepting about.
……..the topic I will focus on today, is the dangerous drift towards racial separatism in New Zealand, and the development of the now entrenched Treaty grievance industry. We are one country with many peoples, not simply a society of Pakeha and Maori where the minority has a birthright to the upper hand, as the Labour Government seems to believe.
I’m dizzy at reading this heady stuff from Don Brash in 2004. I’m looking forward to what Willie Jackson has to say on Saturday in Orewa Rotary. Ticket in handbag!
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0401/S00220.htm
Peroxide Blonde
You seem to be colour oriented. Why blonde? And peroxide, is that a healthy treatment? It might be cancer producing as hair dyes and chemicals are very quick to penetrate skin layers. Do you think we should all look the same, and have one standard hair colour? Should it be blonde? Does everyone of importance have to be blonde? So many questions.
What if I like my racial separation, culture and look? Your link goes back to 2004. Many things and thoughts have occurred since Don Brash’s speech then. Are you having trouble adjusting to the new thoughts? Life is full of adjustments and choices and somewhere people have to find something worthwhile to believe in, something that allows for everyone to be respected and honoured.
Do you feel that Don Brash speaks for that, or for you alone and your cohort? How is that going to bring about a happy society where all are respected? Don’t you want that, and if not respect then do you want happy society, and if not happy, do you want a society, and if you don’t want that what sort of crap do you want going on around you?
This article by Graham Adam about Paula Bennett and her unsuitability for her role as Deputy PM is very good:
http://www.noted.co.nz/currently/politics/why-paula-bennett-is-trouble-for-the-national-party/
Thank you Karen .Love the bit about Paula likes the way NZers give people a second chance. Doesn’t seem to apply if the person is in the Greens does it?
And also doesn’t apply if the people are:
Homeless
Poor
Solo mothers
Solo fathers
Disabled
In fact, it only seems to apply to rich people and National ministers.
It’s not just second chances either – Nick Smith’s been given more lives than a herd of cats.
A ha well Gareth Morgan is the man to deal with him. I know who I’d rather have, and a few less cats, perhaps with micro chips. I don’t know what sort of chip N Smith needs but please someone find one suitable.
Checkpoint did a great job last night with its story of the chaos in the ICU unit at Dunedin Hospital. Only 6 ICU beds, just increased to 8 and there will be 10 in 13 months time where I heard someone say they need 18. Morning Report continued the story this morning saying “bumping” (where an operation is cancelled at the last minute due to lack of resources) is co common it has become a joke in the wards.
Another news story doing the rounds yesterday (at least on RNZ) was a report that said that poor people in Auckland now pay more than 50% of their income in housing costs.
Chronic public (not private) health under-funding and a housing crisis. Surely Labour’s no-tax-cuts to help solve these issues coupled with the Green’s more humane benefit regime will resonate on 23rd September?
Coupled with a bunch of POME wankers who gutter the NHS, are now siting in admin and top managerial roles in our hospital system.
This is privatization by making the public system fall over.
They should be called on this rubbish, ever day.
From DTB and I take issue with the below about public servants. https://thestandard.org.nz/how-much-is-mike-hosking-paid-by-tvnz/#comment-1357478
‘Bumbling incompetence in management in public service’. Sounds like a spray of grumbling about everybody but ‘me’ being bumbling. I think it is a carry-on from the mantra of there being fat in the system, and cutting it out and getting a lean running machine will result in exponential gains in productivity etc.
When it comes to the public service try looking at Harrison and the psychopathic way she ran her manor. See below. ‘the caravan of love’. If the people could just get on with their jobs with adequate mentoring by managers they would achieve and be proud of their department’s efforts and effectiveness. All the rest is an excuse for ego-flashing.
Instead they can be prey to the machinations of human resources gurus with team building projects that bear no relation to their work. There are vanity projects meant to get compliance which can be expensive and involve considerable disruption to work and private life, going rock climbing for instance, something where you push yourself beyond your normal boundaries. Getting teamwork and compliance could be accomplished easier by giving them squaddie army drill and forming a marching team with flash uniforms performing at contests and high days an holidays.
Some business entities pay staff to do work day in the community for the community, but that is more private business. When you work in the government you are supposed to be doing that, so don’t have to put yourself out getting involved with the public in some helping way.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/94917859/Fraudster-Joanne-Harrison-and-the-Ministry-of-Transports-caravan-of-love
and
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/92621016/clandestine-rendezvous-plotting-revealed-in-joanne-harrison-transport-ministry-fraud-case
and
https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/6k2tpj/fyi_ministry_of_transport_has_put_all_the_joanne/
and
More in google under keywords – Joanne Harrison and team building in Transport
The public service has been degraded by the cult of neo liberalism and PR management and particularly the complete lack of trust in the public service workers and any agencies receiving government funds and input, The lack of acceptance of responsibility for proper and correct management of government, obssessive accoounting for every hour and every penny, unreasonably high targets, by targeting itself of chosen outcomes instead of overall performance to a mission and vision statement, and by the desire and determination of the neoliberal government to cut government to matchbox size and then set that alight, after its functions have been passed over to profit-making entities in the private sector.
That wasn’t me but DoublePlusGood.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/95110555/metiria-turei-campaigned-for-political-parties-but-didnt-work-while-committing-benefit-fraud
The story continues…. I dont think that this exactly strengthens her argument.
Unless the Greens increase their vote by 2% on polling day, the result will be pinned on Turei.
Not unfair I think.
And if that Green vote is strong, James’ll be singing Metiria’s praises from the roof-tops.
It may happen – there’s this anomalous poll that’s been running recently that hasn’t resulted in the traditional Gower gotcha story:
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/07/new-zealand-election-2017-the-big-issues-have-your-say.html
The Greens have been doing uncharacteristically well – now a self-selected poll isn’t likely to be valid unless the numbers are very large – but Metiria’s stand is the best candidate to explain the result if it is not an artifact of poor sampling design.
Well of course she didn’t work you ass. She had a tiny baby. It’s a 24 hr job you know or perhaps you don’t know being an ignorant red-neck.
I won’t be wasting my time reading a crappy newshub (?) article but so what… if she did actively help out in a campaign. She probably stuffed envelopes somewhere with baby sleeping in her pram alongside her. Jesus, the bigotry and misogyny from these right wingers is mind boggling.
Even Mums with new born babes are allowed to go out and have a bit of social contact with other people.
Yep James and ilk I’ll have no fucken idea. Their paltry brains cannot compute probably because they are immature, sad, right wing wankers.
I have more idea than somebody who wont even read the link then makes false assumptions.
Yeah you probably aren’t sad are you – what a dim creep you are James.
No, really, you don’t.
Perhaps if you read it – she was actually standing for seats – not just stuffing envelopes.
Thats not just helping out.
Of course they are – and a good thing when they do.
Whats not OK is standing for parliament and committing fraud at the same time.
See – its the fraud bit that is the bad bit – you understand that right?
Political participation is a human right James.
You don’t lose it just because a useless far-right government dooms half the country to poverty.
oh, so HALF the country lives in poverty now, does it? Citation needed.
Home ownership is headed south of 50%.
This waster government has done nothing to deal with the trend – ergo half the country is in poverty or headed that way.
Try to keep up.
So not owning a home is now a sign of poverty, is it?
First I’ve heard of that being used as a measure. I’m trying to keep up, but it is difficult when you just keep making stuff up.
I’m not making stuff up – you’re failing to extrapolate from the data – NZ now has the most unaffordable housing in the OECD. And far from the best wages.
Even the meanest intelligence can join those two dots to conclude that not owning a home predicates poverty.
You might recall Shamu (the economist, not the anthropocidal orca) used to maintain that renting was fine and this obsession with owning your own home didn’t matter. He has reversed that stance, in one of those rare (vanishingly rare among economists) instances of observation overturning theoretical bias.
Try to keep up.
“Even the meanest intelligence can join those two dots to conclude that not owning a home predicates poverty.”
I disagree with your conclusion that not owning a home predicates poverty, which must mean I have no intelligence, according to you.
Cheer up – There may be a few abyssal flatworms that can still look up to you.
BWAHAHAHA
McGillicuddy Serious and ALCP campaigns are NOT the same as running for labgrnnat, by any stretch of the imagination.
Except, apparently, in a feverish tory’s warped little brain. Fuck, were you even being serious? Did you omit a sarc tag or smiley face, maybe?
So beneficiaries aren’t allowed to have lives? No agency to choose how they spend their time? Not allowed recreation? Pleasure? Fun?
The irony here in the latest round of righties feeling offended is that she chose to spend her time doing politics. Quelle horreur that beneficiaries might have a political voice. And of course they haven’t, which is why we are in the situation we are today as a country, where for the first time in 30 years the political class have stepped up and given the underclasses an actual voice not just talked about them.
“No agency to choose how they spend their time? Not allowed recreation? Pleasure? Fun?”
Of course not.
But you dont get to spend all your time going for government (which she was) then saying that she had no choice but to defraud the government for money.
If things were so dire that she had to defraud $ or her child was going to be hungry – then surely the choice to perhaps work as opposed to campaigning for government would have delivered a better outcome.
But – thats her choice – stand for the serious party – and not work and defraud the government.
She didn’t spend all her time going for govt. She had a baby, was raising it and going to law school.
“If things were so dire that she had to defraud $ or her child was going to be hungry – then surely the choice to perhaps work as opposed to campaigning for government would have delivered a better outcome.”
Yes, as I just said, you think that beneficiaries, esp solo mums, aren’t allowed to have spare time or consequently agency in how they spend that time or have fun or a life. You think that you should get to decide what is best for benes or solo mums.
Don’t worry, we get it, this has been the message for many decades now. It’s not new. Now that Turei is pushing back, it’s being exposed for the piece of shit values that it is.
This total denigration of Metiria by the right is to totally close down any analysis/discussion of the Greens humane social welfare policy. They will push this to the max. I’m surprised the Greens didn’t realise that this would happen, after all it is text book procedure to shoot the messenger.
Yes, and pretty sure they did realise this but decided it was worth the risk. That task now for lefties, progressives, and anyone who gives a shit, is to make sure the narrative gets changed permanently to one of beneficiaries are people too. There is so much in that that underpins all of neoliberalism.
+111
Solo mums can do what they want just don’t expect society to fund it beyond the necessities, if they want more take ownership of your own life and make the right choices You don’t have the right to unilaterally decide you are above the law or determine what you feel what you are entitled to Tough but thats life No one owes you a living
aka “it’s better to starve then bend the rules”. Actually, more like, it’s better for those people over there that I hate to starve than for them to be helped. Works both ways.
The starving narrative is bs weka and you know it, like she had no other choices to avoid starvation, granny and indeed loses dad was going to sit by and let that happen as one example, get real
If you think there are no kids and parents and other benes in NZ that don’t routinely go without adequate food and nutrition, you are either extremely naive or extremely stupid. Much more likely is you are just a bigot who doesn’t give a shit.
In Meteria case it’s BS, don’t extrapolate my point, please also desist with standard left wing attack lines it gets a bit boring and is not an arguement , you forgot, projecting, hating the poor, only the left care , racist homophobic, mysoginist ( just to save you the time)
At 9.3.1.1.3 you talked about solo mums. That’s what I am responding to.
If all you can do is post hatred against the poor, then yes I will keep pointing it out.
Boohoo poor red, can’t handle being called out on the narrow bigot he is. Boohoo, cry me a river.
Love how you know her situation 20 years ago better than she did and does, Red.
Self defeating there red. the necessities mean food and roof over your head. Which when national reduced the benefits by 25% meant the necessities were not covered. And she fudged it to get the necessities.
But sure live in you deserving and undeserving poor lala land. Where we have the western worlds largest homeless problem, growing poverty and the highest suicide rates.
No one owes you a living, so does that mean you support an end to inheritance laws?
To Red @9.3.1.1.3.
All I can say about your comment there is that you typify what is wrong with this Country.
Your total lack of empathy is telling.
Try walking a mile in someone else’s shoes for once.
defraud the government – what about apple? Not seeing you jump up and down about that. But a few hundred dollars, and it’s the end of the world. James go sort out your priorities mate, you’re in amoral land.
And sleep, James! Turei slept at times during the night when her baby was new-born, when she could have been seeking work!
Drag her into the courts, I say! Berate her for her idleness; sleeping when she could have been applying herself to lifting herself out of her self-made mire with a good yank on her boot-straps! James is right in thinking there’s no place in the ACT Party for Metiria!
It’s really interesting the media beat up against Meti, she’s fronted to questions by media, isn’t hiding, MSD are still to take action from a situation that happened near on 30 years ago, and on it goes.
Maybe since the law is so fickle on words, if Meti had described someone as a boarder rather than a flatmate, there would be no issue.
Now she is being slammed for doing voluntary work rather than paid work? Slammed for taking an interest in politics while studying because she realised some of our laws are archaic and wanted to take action to do something about it. How dare she! (sarc.)
Meanwhile… WHAT”S ON THE TAPES TODD? How’s that police investigation going? Why was the PM avoiding giving straight answers in question time yesterday? Why won’t you talk to media Todd?
QFT
The National Party supporters never question the actions of their own leaders which highlights their hypocrisy.
Glenys and Bill were talking about Todd. Todd took his recording to Bill to demand an explanation. Imo.
“Near on 30 years ago” would make it 1987. There you go, making shit up again.
You do understand that that particular language indicates that it’s not precisely accurate don’t… you?
Oh, wait…
RWNJ, is too stupid to understand basic language syntax.
Mhmmm near on 30 years ago Sam, almost 3 decades, more than 2 decades, so near on 30 years ago, closer to 30 than 20.
Sam, what’s on the tapes? Once it is disclosed what is on the tapes, the public will be shocked. True story, NZ is a small place, especially the south island, confidentiality agreement prevents me from sharing more. JS
@ James So she shouldn’t have been involved in politics because she was poor? You would have her working at McDonalds while paying for childcare for her baby-that is for a pittance.
She was working unpaid for the public good by being involved in politics-that is a job. All power to her.
So all those people who carry on about Turei faithfully declare all their taxable income to IRD then?
Im guessing some wont – but I agree that they should be prosecuted as well.
Dosnt make her actions right.
This is the level of ridiculous. James wants to prosecute the teenager who mows my lawns for doing cashies.
I would prefer to start with people that have committed multiple years of fraud and work our way down.
Sure, but you still want to go after the lawn-mowing teenager too. Because the rules are more important than the people.
Why not do it by scale James – the size of benefit ‘frauds’ is eclipsed by frauds like SCF and Apple’s tax evasion. Time is neither here nor there.
Whatever. Why the fuck didn’t she repay then go public. Fuck I’m so pissed off with fucking Turei !!!! I would normally vote Labour but the thought of this sanctimonious fucking fraudster in a Labour led governemnt really turns me off.
Gosh – big frothing frenzy.
Audit Gerry’s term with CERA and you’ll find enough fraud to give him a ten stretch – Collin’s illegal kauri exports likewise. So why make a fuss about Metiria now? Hasn’t offended in decades – and small potatoes anyway.
Did she break your meme?
Or is it that the Gnats’ record is indefensible and she’s the only one you’ve figured out how to attack?
And the solo Mums whose friends try to help out by paying them cash to do their housework.
again – I would prefer to start with people that have committed multiple years of fraud and work our way down.
Weak little James – let’s start with YOU.
James is perfect.
Yes – unless the facts and the law are involved – oh and courage, integrity and honesty – don’t want to mention those pesky concepts.
Value too, and moral relativity.
The IRS did that in the US for a while – turns out there’s a strong correlation between RW nutjobbery and tax evasion.
I’m with you on this one james. We’ll start with the National Party.
Hope your paying living wage to your lawn mowing teenager ie walking the talk and not avoiding paying tax to suppprt welfare system to keep your costs down
I do pay them a living wage.
No. Because I pay for their food and housing as well.
Prosecute everyone; only then can you be sure you’ve punished to ne’er-do-wells and skivers! ACT now!
Yes all of those tips, cash jobs, gifts etc.
Turei was trying to bring her income up to to a living wage so that she could support her baby-some crime that.
Or support the lifestyle she wanted and having a baby, that’s probably more closer to the truth and where she differs from the great majority of law abiding solo mums
I think you will find the majority after ruthinasia fudged the system. They had to. Another example of the economic disconnect from you lot. It’s outstanding how much in lala land you all are.
No issues with housing
No issues with homelessness
No issue with suicide
No issues with a welfare system paying below necessity
Just hate, and up on a pedestal telling the rest of us how to live.
What a great guy you are red, a great guy.
have u ever taken cash or a benefit that should have been declared and not declared it?
Red “probablicises”. A hush falls over the crowd. “Red’s problicising!” a small child whispers, awed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11895215
Well – that came as a shock – or not.
Guess its smarter than a silly cup of tea.
Entirely as predicted. The Greens don’t stand in Ōhariū, National tell their voters to vote for Dunne.
Yep – at least National allow their voters to make a choice. Greens and Labour pull their candidate.
There is NO choice idiot – that is what billshitter is saying – vote THIS way if you want …
Marty mars,
At least try and be consistent.
The National candidate will be on the ballot paper, so people do have a choice. In contrast the Greens have actually puled their candidate in the expectation that all Green voters will vote for the Labour candidate.
So less choice on the left side than on the right.
Billshit.
The edict from Bill says it all – learn to read or listen please.
Must be awesome to be the National candidate who gets to play patsy while your leader tells the National voters in your electorate to vote for some other guy. It takes a character like Paul Goldsmith to do it – someone who could write hagiographies of John Banks and Don Brash obviously doesn’t have any requirement for self-respect. I should be surprised National’s been able to find a second candidate so lacking in standards, but for some reason I’m not.
What’s the name of the Green candidate that was pulled, and which electorate?
It would be very odd if Labour also pulled their candidate from Ōhāriu.
A message to the sheep of Ohariu and Epsom
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/95119031/english-calls-for-tactical-voting-in-epsom-ohariu-to-elect-support-party-leaders
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W19ZkFqGT-M/SWvN9B6coBI/AAAAAAAAAp0/5vZxk8xGxUk/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/Ram+harness+(SM).jpg
Don’t get the issue
It’s no different from the Labour working with the Greens or Maori working with Mana.
Neither the Greens nor Mana advocate incest.
http://www.spcs.org.nz/act-leader-jamie-whyte-stands-by-incest-comments-nz-herald/
I would never vote for ACT, but he doesn’t advocate incest.
Unless you want to post an article where he actually does
Unless you want to post an article where he actually does
I just did. in 12.1.1. Maybe you’d like to click on it?
It doesn’t advocate it
Unless I misread it. It says he doesn’t like it, but why should people intervene if between to consenting adults
“He said he was “very opposed” to incest.”
“I don’t think the state should intervene in consensual adult sex or marriage, but there are two very important elements here – consensual and adult”
Again. Where does he advocate incest?
He doesn’t. Morrissey just has a serious problem when it comes to distinguishing between his personal prejudice and rational analysis. It’s not an uncommon problem, but tends to make for obviously and woefully incorrect comments.
The bit where he says that the state shouldn’t intervene between consenting adults.
Where have Labour said don’t vote for our candidate vote for this GP/Mana candidate instead?
You don’t think not actually putting a candidate up so they don’t split the opposition votes is just as bad?
Where have Labour not put up a candidate?
They have worked with the Greens and and have agreed to not stand a Green candidate.
Unless you think this comes for free, then it is just as much collusion
Ok, so Labour don’t have any deal with any other party about not standing candidates or telling their voters to vote for other party’s candidates. Nor have they chosen to not stand in one of the marginal electorates. Glad we got that cleared up.
The Greens, who have almost never runs serious candidates in the seats, and afaik have never stood candidates in all seats, have chosen to not stand in certain seats for a range of reasons, including cost. But they have no deal with Labour and they haven’t told their voters to vote for other party’s candidates.
And you think this makes Labour and the Greens the equivalent of National telling its voters to vote for another party because that’s the only way it can govern?
Riiiight.
Just to make it easy for your. If Labour really did want to do this, they’d have put Kelvin Davis high on the list and told TTT voters to seat vote Harawira and they’d have done a deal with the Greens to also not stand in TTT.
Morrissey – Doctors, dentists, accountants, business owners, school teachers, lawyers, policeman/woman, social workers, nurses, retirees – these are some of the good people i know in Epsom that you refer to as sheep – who the fuck are you to smear these good people just because they don’t agree with your political view.
The sheep are the ones who allowed themselves to be herded to vote—against all their better instincts—for the likes of such reprehensible, comical characters as Rodney Hide and the disastrous Jamie “Lock Up His Sisters” Whyte. I doubt many social workers, nurses, teachers or indeed anyone who is compos mentis would have obeyed the cup of tea directive.
That’s high-grade bullshit, for two reasons:
1. Epsom is a very rich neighbourhood. It’s unlikely voting ACT goes very much against the instincts of many of its wealthier residents.
2. National supporters in Epsom are unlikely to feel dubious about satisfying the request “Please vote for the ACT candidate so that National gets an extra MP.”
Those poor bastards in epsom – ‘its not fair we vote for rubbish, we get rubbish and we are told off by the unwashed, unwaged and unworthy – what about us? Has anyone given a thought for how tough it is with 3 cars and only 2 drivers – why won’t someone fix that problem. It’s racist is what it is’.
The 8th synthetic cannabis death in a month. Fricken hell do something, poor kids are dying.
What’s the bet in a couple of weeks there will be a watered down drug action plan announced that doesn’t do anything but is spoken highly of in the medias.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11895225
Twitter lolz.
“Potentially the greatest thread in the era of the Trump presidency” – Obama
https://twitter.com/GCSB_spy/status/889973598361763840
Oh, God! I laughed out loud while also feeling shame for taking pleasure in cruelty against the cognitively-challenged.
I wish I’d kept the tweet the other day about how many people googled Scaramouche.
That was the first thing I thought – “Oh, like in Bohemian Rhapsody. Oh, wait, that was Scaramouche.”
Trump could use a Rafael Sabatini superman about now.
I’ve been thinking about Diana and her boys. It really struck me how they had suppressed much emotions around the death of their mum and that by talking about that had helped them remember her and consolidate the loss and carry on with life. Imagine now being those boys and your mother had killed herself. There are a lot of kids, parents, siblings and friends dealing with the sudden loss of their loved ones. So much stuff to work through – the guilt, sadness and fear. How many people receiving assistance have killed themselves? No one counts them so we don’t know. How many kids dealing with the suicide of a parent who was receiving assistance? We don’t count them, we don’t know.
Interesting critique of the New Zealand Greens here.
Essentially, in Wellington they are great at getting elected, but really poor at getting anything Green actually done.
A Green credibility problem.
http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=101313
Dos muy estúpidos músicos puertorriqueños
You’ve probably heard that Spanish pop record “Despacito” over the last few weeks, by a couple of Puerto Ricans called Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi. It’s the most popular piece of Latin nonsense since the gorgeous “Ketchup” song of fifteen years ago—indeed it’s now the most played song ever, in any language.
Among those who have heard it are supporters of the democratic government in Venezuela. One of them had the inspired idea of doing away with the inane original lyrics and turning it into an anthem of hope and support for democratic values…
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/remix-of-despacito-from-venezuela-s-president-nicolas-maduro-1008281667983
Great idea, right? Improving a piece of dreck, recycling a piece of meretricious rubbish like “Despacito” is part of a timeless and honored tradition.
Sadly, however, the perpetrators of the original were not happy. Both Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee have unleashed blimpish and confused outbursts against the democratic Venezuelan government: “Your dictatorial regime is a joke,” claimed Fonsi—or was it Daddy Yankee?—and the other one (Fonsi? Daddy Yankee?) claimed that “the Venezuelan people are crying out for their freedom.”
So what motivated these two Puerto Rican pop-putzes to indulge in the most absurd display of bewilderment since Jared Leto and Kevin Spacey declaimed at an awards ceremony? Well, just have a look at Daddy Yankee’s murky past: he’s a self-declared “Christian”, and a Republican, and voted for John McCain in 2008. You can be sure he’s a Rump supporter as well. He hates democracy…..
http://hollowverse.com/daddy-yankee/
Luis Fonsi doesn’t seem to have any ideas about anything. I’m pretty sure all the energy of this anti-democracy rant comes from Daddy Yankee, and that Fonsi just follows his lead.
There are many thoughtful and well informed Puerto Rican commentators, such as Juan González, Ululy Martinez and Oscar Lopez Rivera. However, as is so often the case, the Puerto Ricans getting nearly all the publicity at the moment are—thanks to the political choices of the media—two unfeasibly ignorant, lazy, and stupid ones.
Jim Rogers predicts worst crash in his lifetime is on it’s way
Currency-issuing governments can keystroke their outstanding debt into oblivion
That’s a really important point. It means all that ‘debt’ upon a government’s books can be written off instantly while making no difference to the economy.
Who actually writes the bile that Hosking reads in his NZH column and video?
Why does he say at 2min08 “I hope I’m reading this right” if he wrote it himself? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11895130
And to be picky, the absurd heading
Mike Hosking: Metiria Turei should know – knowledge of a crime is a crime itself
means that a hell of a lot of criminal lawyers must be committing crime. By this measure Bill English is probably a criminal too.
Bill English Is, “a criminal”. He rorted his accommodation allowance.
Something that would get most people sacked, and probably reported to the police.
Is this the start of the end of the combustion engine?
With Britain following France’s lead, it won’t be long before it is adopted by the entire E.U. as well so long as Merkel can withstand the pressure.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/25/britain-to-ban-sale-of-all-diesel-and-petrol-cars-and-vans-from-2040
Note also London is imposing a 10 Pound charge on hundreds of thousands of older vehicles – because they are far more likely to be more polluting.
Can we expect any party in New Zealand to propose such a move?
2040, bit late by then. If I buy a petrol car in 2039 someone will still be driving it 20 years later.
Oh my – wanting to grow hemp – bad, medical cannabis – bad, and a side issue – will lose election. Purposing somthing that will not help one bit – election winner.
The sad part is people will swallow that crap whole.
Maybe, when we’re all living in Auckland.
Winston just asked in QT, if National were preparing to sell Transpower. WOW!
Denied of course by Joyce. Letter tabled.
Q6. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all his statements; if so, how?
Winston’s question:
https://www.parliament.nz/en/watch-parliament/ondemand?itemId=196207
“Finance Minister Steven Joyce denies plans to sell off Transpower.”
Who knows. Might be a long term plan though Joyce says businesses are always putting up propositions. Mmmmm..
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11895459
Little was terrible this morning on breakfast with Jack Tame, the man has trouble putting coherent sentences together or thinking on his feet Surely the simple answer to Tame line of question to catch angry out in regard to what will dropping 30000 in immigration have on our GDp would have been, “nothing as per capita nothing will change” , little was right it was a stupid question but he got owned by Tame with a even more stupid lack of an answer and could not shut it down, beyond stuttering every labour policy and mother pie statement as an answer, must do better, epic fail
Right winger concern troll offers lefties advice about how to win election 🙄
Red’s bored and Red’s boring.
Bored people bore people.
The green party is doomed.
dad4 – you’ve stumbled into a decent blog-space here, accidentally, I’m sure and you’ll be feeling insecure and not a little bit alien!
Quick! Get back to Kiwiblog before you catch something! This place is awash with rational thinking and consideration: scoot!
Now now Robert, no need for the hasty. Seeing d4j back here has made me come all over nostalgic.
me too! (well not really).
RedLogix – my heart too, skipped a beat at the signature on the 7:53pm comment, and while I stand in awe at the elegant simplicity of dad’s comment, unencumbered as it is by any weight, depth or value, I clearly remember the path dad’s comments, when in train, take; the inevitable downward, pride-defying spiral that always ended with a graceless splat-landing and banishment by the moderators to place where dull mischief foments and flippery-feet flap.
Doomed I tell ye- Doomed! 👹
Actually, it was Tuesday morning Red Tuesday the 25th. I saw that and I have got to agree, that little obnoxious prat, another Hoskins in the making definitely had a “gotcha” moment with Little. I don’t think little has problems in answering I think his main problem is he hasn’t a strong commanding voice. However wasn’t the little arseole smug about it, it was written all over his dial that said, ” aren’t I a clever little shit.”
Tried a similar exercise with Metiria Turei this morning didn’t he, and boy didn’t he come a cropper, she shut the little prat well and truly up and was he fucking pissed off about it his face was like thunder.
Tame has been groomed for this role for years.