A strange seeming ‘flip-flop’ from Shane Jones who as early as Friday was reported as saying that He didn’t see Himself as Leader of the Party,
Having entered the Parliament with big wraps based around His Oxford University education Jones hasn’t impressed and His time on the front Bench under David Shearer made Him conspicuous only by His deafening silence,
Could He match it in the House with Slippery the Prime Minister, my opinion would say No and Slippery would simply make Him a laughing stock by ruthlessly exploiting Jone’s ‘baggage’,
In a contest where everyone could be said to have ‘a chance’ i would be so rude as to give Shane Jones none…
agreed, that’s what I thought he said too. Is this his way of projecting that HE doesn’t see himself as leader but others do so he is being a good team player????
He’s there to take votes off Cunliffe, thereby increasing Robertson’s chances. Don’t think it will work, but shows there is still an anti-Cunliffe mindset with the ABCer’s who are not yet ready to let that go.
This is something I would like to know: will the numbers of votes from the caucus, unions and members be made public? It would be quite outrageous if, say, two thirds of the members were overridden by two thirds of the caucus and just over half of the union vote. This would deepen divisions rather than heal them. At the same time, refusing to publish the results would breed mistrust. There are supposed to be 10 days of public meetings, and a caucus genuinely seeking unity would pay close attention to the members’ responses at those meetings.
It may however prove divisive at a time when unity is desired, and lend evidence to claims that Labour politicians are out of touch with their members.
It’s a STV situation where people vote for their first and second preference. If people vote first-preference for Shane and he comes 3rd in the race, his votes are distributed to the 2nd preference nominated by his voters. So ultimately it doesn’t change the race.
Lanth, you will have to have patience to explain that to the myriad of commenters who see Jone’s in the election only as part of the dark plotting of the ABCer’s…
He made a good point, that the labour party lost a huge chunk of its vote, and having a much more pro-active leadership – like him – would attract back those voters. As a green voter I agree, labour would do better, but under Shearer-Robertson the Labour party has been a wet fish. So the question is, whose to be Cunliffe’s deputy?
And fairly bland, poli-speak, cliched performances from both Jones and Robertson on Firstline this morning.
God spare us! Still – I’ve already decided to put my vote elsewhere, so the outcome of the contest is really a question of whether or not Labour will get either a party or electorate vote back (bearing in mind I’m in Robertson’s electorate).
Is it just me or is Shane Jones a bit of a misogynist? Doesn’t he mistake careless put-downs for plain speech? Didn’t I hear him refer to women as geldings during the “manban” fuss? And last November didn’t he compare Cunliffe’s expulsion to the backbenches to getting rid of a maggot or termite eating away at the wood of the meeting house? I was indignant at the time because he had achieved nothing in politics while Cunliffe …
I’m off to the Greens forever if Cunliffe doesn’t win this contest. Robertson is great but not ready. Oh dear.
Jones the boofhead. What the fuck is he doing throwing his hat in the ring? It is clearly a manoeuvre, which surely all those entitled to vote in this process will recognise in a flash. I predict the slug will declare well before the vote.
Just listened to RadioNZ National interview a ‘Professor’ of politics for some strange reason, Her claim is that Labour even if the Party changes Leaders cannot win the 2014 election,
i have to wonder where ‘they’ find these people as i found this particular Prof’s analysis to be that of a simpleton and it seems tragic that University’s have such people in front of New Zealand kids supposedly giving them a decent education,
Her analysis, and good on RadioNZ for pointing this out to Her, was totally flawed in that Her belief is that Labour have to claw support off either National or the Green Party to ‘win’ the next election,
The fact that there are some 800,000 registered voters out there who last election did not cast a vote seemed to have escaped the ‘Prof’ and the new Labour leader need only engage 1-3% of these non-voters to topple the present government…
I heard part of it live and there was no reference to the connection. However since that time she appeared on Q&A in her role as a political scientist. She was biased in her musings and haven’t seen her on the programme for a couple of years.
Massey University
Dr Claire Robinson heads the Institute of Communication Design in Massey University’s College of Creative Arts. Claire has a PhD in politics and is an occasional media commentator on New Zealand politics. Her area of research expertise is in political advertising, political marketing, leadership image and election campaigns. Prior to her academic career she spent time as a New Zealand foreign service officer and as a Private Secretary for the Minister of
Women’s Affairs (the Rt Hon Jenny Shipley). Claire is also a graphic designer and paints on canvas in her spare time. Claire has two children.
Watever she is Robinson’s certainly capable of sharp arrogance when challenged.
I recall emailing her within the last couple of years about some idiotically facile piece of National Party apologism she was up to on Q + A I think. I guess I wasn’t exactly gushing in my email but her response – ” Get fucked ! ” – completely trumped my vigour.
Massey Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey agreed with my subsequent email to him in which I suggested it was inappropriate for such rubbish-girl talk to come from the mouth of a publicly paid “associate” professor as she then was.
It might be “enough said” fo you but fairness, and accuracy would require that you point out that her job for Shipley was in a public servant role, and had NO political connotations.
On the other hand I was not impressed at all with her analysis and her making fairly sweeping conclusions on a sample of 5 elections. Of those five 2 (1999 and 2008) were where we had tired out governments and 2 (2002 and 2011) were ones where the opposition party didn’t seem to even realise that continuing with the same old policies and faces wasn’t going to hack it.
Interestingly in 84, labour won mainly because Jones’s party took a large % of the vote from the nats as I recall.
I wonder if the outlier in this is the Craig party.
Although they would take votes from act and nats BUT provide an collation partner for Nats- not an option in 84.
It highlights that the winning candidate should be developing a campaign that is the first step in next year’s election campaign. Robertson & Jones are more focused on just winning the leadership: Short termism.
Hopefully Team Cunliffe is taking time working out their (2014) election strategy.
@karol
When it comes to having a team, can Cunliffe have a preference for a Deputy which he then discusses with caucus, can he have a short-list of his own, or is it up to the caucus only? It would seem that having someone he could work with and rely on would be the best partnership for the top two.
Her argument does seem a bit weak! The polls don’t show any clear winner at the moment and the interest that a Labour leadership challenge is generating will likely counter out any negative views about Shearer resigning. As a side note, the non vote at the last election had nothing to do with Shearer.
I don’t agree that the non voter will miraculously come back to Labour just because of a change in leader. Poverty and hardship are the main reasons people don’t vote, both of which have increased markedly under a National government. Many people simply don’t have the time or resources to be engaged in politics anymore.
The other issue here is that Labour appears to be divided. It will take time for Labour to show that it is unified and ready to govern. It will also take a considerable effort to convince many that Labour can work constructively with the Greens and NZ First. Whether 15 months is enough time is yet to be seen.
So at the moment I’m picking another three years of National, as per the usual cycle.
I’m talking about the right vs left polling phillip ure, which is too close to call. I think there’s little doubt that David Cunliffe would win the Labour leadership race. Has he announced he’s standing yet?
There is of course enough time for Labour to get its act together, but whether that time is used constructively is yet to be seen.
If Labour can show that it’s united behind their new leader, they convey their policy well to the public (especially non voters) and are able to develop enough interest is yet to be seen. A biased media is still their biggest hurdle in many ways. Until they do all those things, then it’s likely National will have another term in power.
National have always had three terms except for the second National government, which had four.
“Poverty and hardship are the main reasons people don’t vote”
Must have been the rich who voted the first Labour government in. Maybe because they didn’t like to see the poverty and hardship of the depression inflicted on their fellow Kiwis?
“I don’t agree that the non voter will miraculously come back to Labour just because of a change in leader.”
Who has said that they will? Most people I’ve seen are saying that Labour will need to make specific efforts to engage the non-voters. Implication is that that wasn’t going to happen under Shearer or the ABCs.
Her argument as I remember it was that no party has ever come from a position behind this far out from an election as Labour is now.
My immediate reaction is to think of the Roy Morgan poll which gives Labour/Greens a majority at the moment.
The only question for me is whether the two will actually agree to a coalition in 2014, rather than the Greens go with National who I expect will be still the largest party then. Conventional wisdom seems to indicate that Labour/Greens is far more likely, if they command a majority or can find a majority between them.
Though there is still just a little bit of work to be done ‘twixt then and now. First, the Labour leadership ( I will enjoy my vote) and then into electioneering mode. Ah, the smell and sound of the guns are calling…………
Anyone supporting Jones wants a Tory government. He should be expelled. Even he must realise he’s damaged goods. Where the hell do these people get their egos from?
I heard that James Caygill, son of David, is thinking of standing in Christchurch seat. Would Labour accept the son or daughter of an axe murderer? A little discernment of past connections and what the name reflects is needed here, even if he is a rabid social democrat, which is unlikely. (I have commented before on the large amount of men’s names that come from the bible. Do they come from wealthier families where the names seems to provide gravitas, probity and conformity with values – so good for conveying confidence in tv endorsements?)
Talking about David Cunliffe with family, he hasn’t made a real impression yet. If he gets the Leader position and decides on the policies to push and has the methods and cost and outcomes worked out, he can then stress these strongly and who and how they will help all NZs and also employment. Those would be winning words.
Also promise tighter controls with caps and detailed scrutiny on government expenditure going on each IT project. What a bloody way to throw money down the gurgler. The extent of mismanagement and feckless spending in some notable cases seems to indicate corruption or at the least extreme incompetence, resulting from the Peter Principle. And generally sizing up our present situation with IT, the results show corruption of the theories and scenarios fed to us about how helpful and useful an aid this technology would be.
In the interests of site performance, I’ve dropped the feed thumbnails until I look at why it is slowing the site down so much. I may turn off the feed entirely again later if it still causes issues.
Don’t know if it’s related but I was running the ghostery plug in on fire fox and noticed my quad core was running at 30-40% at idle.
Disabled it and problem solved
I tracked it down to the bit of code that was causing the server side problem. The plugin is caching the images held for the various feeds at the server – good. However it is not caching the thumbnails that it is producing at 48×48 – bad. Furthermore because of how the images were being called, it was also bypassing the caching on both the APC memory cache and the CDN – *very bad*.
Consequently whenever the anyone viewed the page, all of the images on the Feed were being reduced and clipped down to 48x48px images. A horrendously expensive and completely unnecessary operation that sucked server CPU when you are doing a hundred or so of them for every page view.
The front page does exactly the same thing for its thumbnails. However they are prebuilt and stored in the media library. So they don’t cause the same problems.
Ok that worked really really well. Here is the main web server CPU averages over 15 minute periods over the last two weeks. Date/times are in UTC, so they’re about 12 hours behind.
I’d already been concerned earlier in the week with the GCSB debates with the average CPU. Prior to the last two weeks it seldom went over 50% on this system.
You can see the rapid increase on the afternoon of the 22nd with the shearer announcement (spiked on teh announcement followed by the site getting overwhelmed) and that continued throughout friday despite beefing up the caching and putting in refresh rationing.
On Friday night (well Saturday morning) I kicked in another server which helped a bit on saturday and sunday. But it was max 50% capacity of the main server. It was pretty clear I hadn’t figured out the actual problem.
This morning I looked at the colossal rise. The debugging code I put in allowed me to pin it down to the RSS Feed, so I turned off the most recent update to that – the images. The CPU dropped away and despite having a lot more traffic than we had on friday, the server started acting well. Cut the second server out after midday, and dropped the cache time down (the spike is mostly due to the cache reloading). Still handled the Cunliffe announcement without problems.
It was a hot day – not a desperate one. Damn good thing as I was pulling off RC1 for the next release at work and didn’t have time to baby anything.
Its got all the signs of being a false flag. Launching a chem attack on civilians a day or two after UN inspectors arrive in the country? When the inspectors were staying just a few km’s away?
Assad knows that chem weapon use is the perfect reason for NATO to go postal on him, and such an action is the last thing he would want to provoke.
There is little doubt that a chemical weapon attack has taken place. The Syrian government is blaming terrorists. They have however allowed the UN inspectors into the area where approximately 300 people have died from the attack. This is not the first attack where chemical weapons are likely to have been used on Syrian civilians and rebel forces.
The UN chemical weapons inspectors have been in Syria since at least May 2013. The Syrian government had previously tried to keep them out of the country.
You’re assuming that Assad has control of what his forces do and that they respect NATO enough to not initiate war? I can assure you that they have very little respect for foreign forces and there is very little strategy to this war…there is really only hatred.
It is more likely that Syrian government forces have used the chemical weapons and less likely that those fighting against the regime have used the weapons on their own forces to initiate NATO’s involvement. It is very unlikely that western forces have used chemical weapons against civilians in a false flag event as an excuse to go to war.
Unlike Iraq, there is very little for the US to gain. The humanitarian reason hasn’t been enough so far to initiate NATO joining the war. If there is proof that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons, then NATO would be fighting the Syrian regime alongside al-Qaeda operatives who have come over the boarder from Iraq. The Al Nusra Front or Al-Qaeda affiliated Syrian Rebels have vowed revenge for the chemical attack.
In this case, the age old saying ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ doesn’t apply. That’s why the Syrian atrocities have been allowed to continue without proper intervention for so long.
It is very unlikely that western forces have used chemical weapons against civilians in a false flag event as an excuse to go to war.
it is a mere coincidence that the insurgents from Jordan who had been undertaking chemical weapons training with UK/US asymmetric instructors, entered the area 4 days prior along with the simultaneous bombings of mosques in the Lebanon.
Not a very reputable source Poission. The article states the U.S. training to Syrian rebels was in anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons…nothing about chemical weapons training.
These soldiers have been getting trained since at least 2012. They have not been deployed into the area just before the chemical weapon attack occurred. Your long bow appears to have snapped!
you are so quick to jump to judgement there jackal..and are peddling american empire spin..
..some facts for you..
..those attacked were in damascus..(ie..under the control of assads’ troops..)
..the assad regime..had asked for the un inspectors to come back into syria..in an attempt to clear the previous allegations against them..
..and they actually arrived in the country the day before this attack..
..so to accept your yapping along with the views of the dogs of war..
..we have to believe the assad regime launched a chemical-weapons-attack..on their own people/supporters..
..the day after un inpectors..there at the request of the assad regimeto clear their name of previous allegations..arrived in the country to investigate..
Actually, the chemical weapon attack happened in Eastern Ghouta. That’s an area with strong opposition leanings, and is a major supply route to the front lines in the fighting in east Damascus.
I don’t see any Syrian regime soldiers amongst those wounded or dying?
There are war atrocities occurring phillip ure. Negotiations have completely failed. How do you propose to stop those atrocities against civilians from occurring if NATO isn’t to intervene?
Is that just a slip of the tongue there P’s b? Don’t include New Zealand or me or those around me in that “west” thanks. That “west” are a bunch of war-mongering murderers just like ghengis khan, the british empire, hitler’s attempts, te rauparaha, or any other prick intent on expansion or grabbing what belongs to someone else. i.e. pretty much every arsehole human who has ever lived.
When you talk of the US or the UK or the French, that is them, it is not “us”.
Why on earth would “we” consider doing god knows what in Syria?
Why would you express that thought in that way?
What on earth was going through your mind when you tapped that?
Why didn’t “we” do something to stop the atrocity that was Iraq? Or Afghanistan?
When the western govts intervene via nato or something else, as far as I’\m concerned that’s ‘western intervention’. I might not approve, you might not. But it’s still the west.
It’s not wrong to say ‘the US’ invaded Iraq because Michael Moore opposed it.
But if an argument is being made that NATO, or whoever, should intervene, but we shouldn’t, then that’s just cowardice.
Why the fuck should anyonebe advocating that some other buggers should fix something?
Personally, I think Syria is a clusterfuck. But that doesn’t change
a) what’s happening,
b) what people in the west reckon when it hits there teevee screens, or
c) the pressure that puts on our governments.
Here’s a brief rundown of some of the complications:
What I’m saying is, before we ‘do something’ we should have a clear idea of what we want to achieve, what that would take, and think about whether or not we’re prepared to do that.
I reckon the answer to that final question is “no”. So we shouldn’t do anything because we won’t be able to do anything good.
I see what you’re trying to say, sort of… but this doesn’t necessarily follow at all “But if an argument is being made that NATO, or whoever, should intervene, but we shouldn’t, then that’s just cowardice. ”
Why would that follow?
Other countries take full advantage of their advantages, be they geographical or military or something else, and so should we. We live right at the end of the world ffs, not in the middle east. We can afford to stay well out of pretty much everything and so we should. There is also far smaller case to be made for ‘standing next to your mates’ than is nearly always made out.
Ffs, the British were going to abandon us to the Japs in WWII. The same pommy bastards also failed to stand by us following our most recent terrorist attack by the French government in the centre of bloody Auckland. And then they had the further gall to harangue us over not standing next to them over the Salman Rusdie death threats.
Friends like that we do not need.
Are there any factual acts by the poms (for example) to counter those fact acts which point to them never standing next to us in the same way? I would like to hear them if they exist….
Yeah well, it’s opinion. But I reckon that if someone is making a moral argument that someone has to send their youth off to to die in a meat grinder to prevent something from happening, then it follows that they should support sending their own youth.
Can’t see how you can get form ‘x is bad and must be stopped’, to ‘so therefore those guys should sacrifice to stop it but not me’.
“if someone is making a moral argument that someone has to send their youth off to to die in a meat grinder to prevent something from happening, then it follows that they should support sending their own youth”
True completely, perhaps we were talking across each others bows.
But, curiousity, you seem to have a pretty good grasp of things international – what do you think of the point just above regarding the poms treatment of us relative to our treatment of them since, well, probably Gallipoli if not before… or since forever actually…
A couple of recent posts highlighted the fact that what is here in NZ from England is the Crown, nothing else. And the Crown is its own entity separate from the british people and certainly entirely separate from us people here. So much so that ‘our’ armed forces are not ours at all and belong to the crown and serve to look after that crown first and foremost (this has been demonstrated too as I understand it – during the Fiji coup where ‘directions’ from lange were ignored because they had not come from the crown (i.e. G-G)).
..and are you seriously telling me..that from your keyboard wherever..you are able to discern fact from spin..
Which is essentially what you’re also doing phillip ure.
The initial retarded argument was that because Bush lied about WMD’s, that automatically makes the reports about the Syrian regime killing Syrian’s with chemical weapons lies as well.
You might note that Germany was also under the control of the Nazi’s when they committed similar atrocities against Polish, Romany and Jewish people in Germany. The area of control has very little significance compared to the people in it.
Your argument is that the Syrian regime categorically hasn’t used chemical weapons on civilians in Eastern Ghouta. Mine is that they likely have, mainly because the rebels wouldn’t kill their own families.
I’ve seen no evidence that western operatives or those they’ve trained have killed hundreds of innocent civilians in Syria with chemical weapons just to initiate a war. You have nothing to base such an argument on apart from historic references to western agent provocateurs.
Let’s wait and see what the UN inspectors have to say eh!
“The initial retarded argument was that because Bush lied about WMD’s, that automatically makes the reports about the Syrian regime killing Syrian’s with chemical weapons lies as well.”
It was no such argument at all actually mr jackal, if you had read carefully…. it was a question, around an organisations credibility when its credibility has proved to be non-existent in the past. Like anything John Key says. kapiche?
And I just love the way that folk seemingly in touch with the details of who what where in some far flung war torn land equate that ‘knowledge’ with some superior understanding of the human condition and its history (rolly eyes thingy..)
The US and the west in general has zero appetite for getting involved. Countries act in their percieved best interest right? So what interest is there in getting dragged into that clusterfuck? What would they be hoping to achieve, and how could they eventually get the outcome they would want?
The US simply can’t afford to deploy the forces necessary to control the outcome, particulalrly given that the war isn’t contained within Syria.
Far more likely is that Assad recognises that NATO isn’t going to do anything more than fire a few missiles (which in the context of a civil war isn’t all that scary) and has decided to use chems for about the only thing they are good for; Scaring the shit out his opponents’ civilian base.
The US and the west in general has zero appetite for getting involved. Countries act in their percieved best interest right? So what interest is there in getting dragged into that clusterfuck?
Any discussion on Western motives and interests in the ME needs to include two words: Israel, and Iran.
and has decided to use chems for about the only thing they are good for; Scaring the shit out his opponents’ civilian base.
Assad has been making good military gains using plain old conventional means. Going to unconventional warfare is neither helpful nor necessary to his cause.
This of course is speculation and doesn’t mean that he didn’t do it, or that out of control elements in his military didn’t do it.
“Assad has been making good military gains using plain old conventional means. ”
In some areas, and losing ground in other areas. But the insurgency is still raging. The idea that either side is on the ascendency is pretty weak. Using chems sends a signal that no one is coming to help his opponents and that he can do what he wants.
The US approved the shipment of heavy arms to the rebels a couple of months ago and has also been moving carrier groups into the area. Israel has also launched several airstrikes against Assad facilities. I think those are pretty clear signs of help for Assad’s opponents.
But a) that’s vastly different from wanting to be involved in a shooting war, and b) they did so after umming and ahing for over a year, and c) Israel’s actions are not aimed at ‘helping the rebels’ but at detering Assad from trying to use attacks on Israel to bloster support.
And carrier groups are used for airstrikes, which are coming and will achieve 2/5 of fuck all in Syria, but will stop western calls to ‘do something’.
Read the KB post and comments on this ‘expose’ last night when TS was down – and still cannot decide whether I am gobsmacked – or really just don’t care.
Still, it will be interesting to see what Key has to say – and the general public – when it goes mainstream news here!
Comment from Facebook says it better than the Daily Mail ever could:
“Must have a publicist, this is derivative crap that has been done better so many times before, fucking rich kids “look at me” moment, will get art pimp soon”
Yes, the Paris College of Art is totally risking its reputation by promoting at Paris Design Week a student whose work is terrible just because her daddy is the premier of a country they don’t give a fuck about.
That is a completely plausible situation. The idea that tastes in art may vary is blasphemy.
That’s a bit simplistic, the wealthy and powerful always pass some of that on to their children no matter how old or what gender. They carry the mantle and only with a violent effort can they throw it off.
hmmmmm. i didn’t think the picture was at all erotic in any sense at all …more clumsy and cartoonish so it never occurred to me. i thought it was a kind of pun about the only time he needed to use his panic room … maybe I’m wrong.
If Cunliffe wanted to play the long devious game he could
not enter race stating he wants to help unify the party
say he supports Robertson
solidifies his reputation with the public at large by churning out reasonable press releases, interviews, backing Robertson etc etc
Because Labour under Robertson would lose the next election he could then (regretfully and with great humility of course) step up and accept the leadership of the Labour party and almost guarantee being the PM of NZ in 2017
Whereas even if he becomes leader of Labour its not that certain Labour will win the next election…
Granted Labour has a better chance under Cunliffe than Robertson but might be a better option for Cunliffe to play healer rather than leader
I have been getting my comments wiped when I have made a reply. Error… I hadn’t put my details – but I had. And usually I don’t need to as I am greeted with them in the identity window. This is a new comment and I have the identity window with my details showing. So does making a reply more likely to result in rejection?
I just mention it in case anybody has had difficulty. Off to do the chores anyway. Perhaps the system provides a comment lock to stop over-use sort of like a diet control on the refrigerator!!
Anyway CV what I was trying to do was thank you for a very clear explanation on the direction from which Labour has moved and the change that has resulted. (Would interest everyone on here –
see 26/8/13 Robertson throws his hat in ring Colonial Viper …
26 Aug 2013 at1:26am
(He has really been burning the after-midnight oil.)
I picked up a book at random – Death of a Cad MC Beaton. And came on this piece which seems to echo CV’s comments on the liberal elite and their broken connection with the working class. The playwright Henry Withering…was beloved by the Communists, Trotskyites, Marxists, and Liberals. To them, he was what they wanted most, a genuine ex-Eton schoolboy, son of a landed family who had opted to join the class war.
Yesterday’s public meeting in Johnsonville, “No more Dunne deals”, hosted by Ohariu People Power went really well. There was a reasonable turnout and the speakers were fantastic. They covered four aspects of Dunne’s influential voting on bills that have passed and bills yet to be passed.
Adi Leason, one of the Ploughshares 3 that brought down the Waihopai spy domes spoke about the GCSB, and his personal experience of that day, the trial and other events. What a privilege to hear this humble and easy going man speak. I’ve always admired and respected what they did.
Helen Kelly spoke about the current employment law changes. One thing that stood out to me was the way in which Helen explained how the govt has manipulated the narrative around the worker – boss relationship, how they have used this time of unemployment and job insecurity as leverage against the worker and created a feeling that the worker should be grateful for work, no matter how appalling the conditions or pay. “you’ll accept what you’re given and be grateful” sort of thing. She spoke of the narrative that the employer is seen as being a charity provider and how this power imbalance creates a climate in which such draconian law can be past with greater ease. (my understanding of Helen’s words, not an actual quote)
Ian (didn’t catch his last name) from the Salvation Army spoke of the SkyCity deal and how this will affect their most vulnerable clients who are gambling addicts and talked of the rise of cases of gambling addiction in NZ over the years and gambling’s link with poverty and family break down.
John Maynard, president of the Postal Worker’s Union and one of the organisers of O.P.P spoke of the TPPA and gave some back ground about their work around asset sales opposition.
It look s like there will be a follow up meeting in two weeks to discuss idea’s around further activity. Being fairly new to this electorate I left feeling more hopeful, and uplifted. There was a sense of that positive constructive anger arising from the audience, that you sometimes feel at meetings such as this.
If you missed this meeting and you live in this electorate and would like to get involved check out this:
No worries karol. There was a lot more to the meeting but unfortunately I forgot my notebook and only had the back of a tiny shopping list to scrawl notes on. Thanks to authors/mods of the Standard for allowing me to discuss it…..another blog never replied to my request to post the meeting info…….
Also, big ups to all those busy people around the country quietly going about their activist work and political/social activities in general. I wonder how much work goes under the radar. Am starting to reconsider my facebook ban as I think there is info there that I’m missing out on.
I find facebook useful. Provided you remember that it is a completely public forum beloved by (amongst others) jonolists and creeps like Whaleoil and Judith Collins you won’t have a problem. I also find it useful for bringing certain people’s blood pressure to the explosive level with some barbed comments that someone will forward to the recipient…
“I also find it useful for bringing certain people’s blood pressure to the explosive level with some barbed comments that someone will forward to the recipient…”
Chuckle:-)
I do recall you mentioning the usefulness of facebook to another commenter a while ago who was wanting to find sources of info and news. Hmm. Might have to consider getting over my hang ups with fb, part of which is creepy lurkers such as you mention.
i don’t live in the electorate but did think of coming over for that meeting, my suggestion, if you have access to a photocopier and paper, start a guerilla campaign of letterbox anti-Dunne leafleting,
You don’t necessarily have to ‘do’ the whole of the electorate in the one hit, so a few packets of copy paper will go a long way until you can access your next supply….
Thats a good idea bad12. I wonder to what degree the residents of the electorate know or care about the list of Dunne’s ill’s. If not they need educating via leaflet drops, maybe posters, and by other means, what ever they may be. He still continues to be talked up in the local free papers, so there needs to a be counter to that.
It’s a large and relatively conservative electorate it seems, with a mix of wealth and genuine poverty. (just in my neighbourhood theres a sharp contrast between wealth and poverty, but entire suburbs seem to have either an affluent, average of poor vibe going on) Hope to learn more from the more long term residents of the area at the next meeting.
Rosie, talking of Dunne’s electorate i just got back from a little mission out Johnsonville way, to your question whether the average head in the Ohariu electorate cares i am ever the optimist,
At one time Ohariu was said to be the most monied and most degreed electorate in New Zealand, whether this still holds true isn’t a matter i have put much research into, but as you probably know Ohariu could be said to be one of the crucial electorates along with Epsom for National at the 2014 election,
The beauty of an anti-Dunne campaign in Ohariu is that while crucial that seat does not need to elect a Labour representative in order to topple this National Government, a National representative being elected in Ohariu could well spell the death of the present National Government,
i have been there befor, in the Ohariu electorate with a nasty little piece of politicing after the 1991 National benefit cuts, with a crew of 6 we managed to leaflet most of the electorate with what could be best described as an extremely nasty piece of anti-National Party propoganda, in a single day,
How ‘well’ we did with our little Ohariu campaign i cannot scientifically judge and Lolz, in a life is stranger than fiction twist of fate i am now hoping that Dunne is toppled in 2014 and am only slightly concerned that with the departure of Charles Chauvel National could win the seat…
Interesting bad12. (Supreme effort with your leafleting back in ’91 as well!)
I agree that the priority is to get rid of Dunne in 2014, he is the thorn in the side of NZ. In saying that, Katrina Shanks NAT, came third behind CC in the last two elections, so maybe it’s possible with a really good candidate Labour may be able to win it.
Would Epsom ever dump ACT, my opinion, Yes in the blink of an eye if Banks fails to get the ‘nod’ from Slippery the Prime Minister in another ‘chimps tea party’ akin to the fiasco of 2011,
Given a free rein to campaign a National candidate is likely to wipe the floor with the abysmal Banks although there has to be many in that electorate with enough smarts to know that a National win in that seat,(as well as Ohariu), would leave National struggling to form a Government,
The arithmetic based upon the 2011 election numbers says that if National candidates were to win both those seats they would have the same number of seats in the house as they have now, made up of +2 electorate MP’s and -2 List MP’s,
With regards to Ohariu, perhaps as another commenter suggested a David Cunliffe lead Labour Party can entice Charles Chauvel back from the UN…
Hooten this morning
“Cunliffe with his extremist environmental views”.
Comment please – Is this correct? What are they? Extreme, measured against what? Is it exaggerated and mischievous comment from Trumpet?
Is it a putdown to make Cunliffe sound flaky to the rabid do-nothings-environmentally on the right?
Hooton is a joke, he panders out the latest line from a right wing think tank. You know you can’t trust anything he says, one way or other, because he attacks himself. for example, when undermining the anti-GSCB debate he said only politically activists watch Campbell live, and care about privacy. I can think of a whole list of non-activist groups very wary of government encroachment from the far right, business, to criminal gangs, who most particularly won’t be watching campbell live.
You’re still paying attention to what Hollow Matthew says? You think it has any substantial basis?
Translated, the lying shill is saying that the Right is crapping themselves because they know Cunliffe will probably be Labour leader, and they know he can kick the shit out of them.
Key is now familiar to the country and his liar mentality is all to ever present to many. Labour lost a lot of votes, people want more than tinkering badly at the edges just too look like he Key is doing something. The case is clear, NZ reliance on food exports alone, in a world when increasing added value means everyone on the food chain has to be paid well, is hardly going to be led by a man who does not believe in paying living wages. An integrated world economy means better models of redistribution of wealth than we have yet to see. Neither, Saudi welfare, or neo-liberal non-welfare models are efficient or stable.
Just read that speech. Strikes me as reasonably hard headed and honest – within the obvious limitations of a social democratic context. It’s the Hooten’s of the world who are reckless and extremist. Fuck them.
As Cunliffe says in that speech in relation to achieving necessary change/shifts in perception in spite of vested interests and their insistence of a the three monkey mentality (see, hear and speak no ‘evil’) ;-
… is it possible to take on the bastards and win? Yes it is. Who gains when we do this? Everyone.
“Hooten this morning
“Cunliffe with his extremist environmental views”.”
The environmental extremists in New Zealand would have to be people who willingly eat the environment today rather than nurture it to provide for today and tomorrow.
The environmental extremist tag belongs firmly with the right wing and especially this National government.
Calling the greens arrogant and a ‘fringe’ party, what a cheek. Apparently 15% is fringe yet he wasn’t labelling nzfirst or act as fringe. He clearly would prefer Labour won outright or work with wintson rather than having the greens in coalition.
I think he’s scared to see the Greens in government, become popular with the NZ public and therefore destroy any chances of future National/right-wing governments.
I think what’s holding the greens down around 12-13% in the polls is the idea that they’re crazy nutters; something that Key tries to reinforce every chance he gets. I don’t think they’re crazy nutters, and once they get into government they can prove it.
bad12
You do take the tone here down more than a peg (of whisky perhaps). /sarc
A peg is an informal unit of measurement of alcoholic spirits; it is similar to a jigger more used in cocktails.) All good fodder for binding politicians together and loosening political restraints. A few, plus a few more, and everything will seem possible. Everything except what is most needed in our society and that is restraints on drinking hours and bottle stores and sale points.
On this good news day, here is another piece .. never thought I would be thanking the tobacco companies for delaying TPPA until next year !! It’s stuck — maybe we can have another chance now stub it out for good .. especially with David Cunliffe in charge …
Indeed, the chair of yesterdays public meeting in J’ville, Sandra Grey, jokingly said you can bypass the prying eyes of the spy’s under the new GCSB Act AND save the postal service at the same by posting all your communications in the mail!
Roads are built for cars, pavements for pedestrians. A basic right to life should be afforded cyclists, since we build pavements, roads, to best protect walkers and road users. Its wrong to allow cyclists to cycle on dual carriageways, or past parked cars whose doors fly out. State highways should be for heavy freight, not for cyclists. Pavements should have speed limits for cyclists, i.e. running speed of a professional runner. Road furniture, signage, should be removed as technology allows, and city centers become car deserts. As a cyclist to see cyclist in Australia on a three lane carriageway was shocking, what are they thinking, that is so dumb. Hilly roads should never have a cycle lane, its absurd, counter to the purpose of a bicycle, low energy movement. New thoroughfares should be built for the needs of cyclists.
That has to be the stance of someone who doesn’t mind if Labour gets to form the next govt or not. Maybe he likes being in opposition. Does he get paid more if he gets to be Deputy?
A group of disgruntled red-zone residents, calling themselves the Quake Outcasts and Fowler Developments Limited, have won their High Court battle against the Government over the Crown’s offer for their land.
The Quake Outcasts group, representing about 40 residents, sought a judicial review of the Government’s compensation policy for red-zoned land. They called the offer an “abuse of power”.
A High Court decision from Justice Graham Panckhurst, released this afternoon, sided with the residents and criticised both Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee and Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) chief executive Roger Sutton for their part in the issue.
Brownlee says government will be appealing. If this wasn’t such a compelling defeat then maybe we could accept this. But it is a compelling decision and government shouldn’t be appealing. Government will lose this case at the Court of Appeal, that’s fine, but what’s next is legislation. When this government loses anything in the courts it legislates to overturn the result it doesn’t agree with. That’s not right because the more this happens the weaker our democracy becomes. In this case we’ve got average struggling people who’ve done average things like buy a bit of land, who’ve then been treated unfairly. That’s clear. This government then wants to change this to ensure these people are treated unfairly. It’s as if the government thinks it’s there to defeat citizens, not represent their interests. This just cannot be a society that anyone would want to live in – where government wants to oppose or destroy anything that’s good for it’s citizens. It’s as if government has declared war on its people.
Native Affairs right now – if there’s one thing that makes me puke it’s the fabulously botoxed and face-worked Tamakis, male and female, dining out on being Maori !
And as for the Bogus Bishop’s prideful raving about being invited to the US by Martin Luther King’s daughter (was it the daughter, Bernadine ?), I saw her the other night on TV lambasting all the
evil “-isms” and the “-ias” – homophobia being one of her targets.
Wonder if she’s aware of the homophobia and the hatred by which the Bogus Bishop remunerates himself so handsomely ?
Campaigns. Culture. Character. And perhaps most of all, Covid. Now the House has risen and politicians are hitting the road to pitch their woo to voters, those will be front of mind for the candidates.They were also where the new season of politics podcast Caucus began on Thursday. This year ...
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It's campaign time! The official countdown to Election Day is underway, with Labour supporters crowding into Auckland's Town Hall for our 2020 Campaign Launch. We recap some of the highlights below ...
It's campaign time! The official countdown to Election Day is underway, with Labour supporters crowding into Auckland's Town Hall for our 2020 Campaign Launch. We recap some of the highlights below ...
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The Green Party is calling for the Defence Force Chiefs in place between 2010-2017 to front up and explain how dishonesty, process and policy failures within the Defence Force led to ‘a series of incorrect statements in briefings to ministers and public releases’ regarding alleged breaches of international torture prevention ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
The Government is stepping up action to deal with environmentally harmful products – including plastic packaging, tyres and e-waste – before they become waste. ...
The Green Party are ensuring that New Zealanders who were overseas when COVID-19 hit will not be charged for the cost of isolation or quarantine if they return home to live. ...
It's been another week of creating jobs, supporting local businesses, and investing in infrastructure up and down the country - all of which are helping to keep our economy moving post-COVID-19. ...
Law changes to end tenure review and provide for better management of Crown pastoral lands in the South Island high country were considered by Parliament today with the first reading of the Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill says Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage. ...
The Green Party have secured legislative amendments in a bill expected to pass third reading this week, to ensure better rules for school teachers and staff, so they can de-escalate children with diverse needs and cognitive differences, such as autism, rather than using unnecessary and often traumatising force. ...
A report undertaken by Ministerial Services into Iain Lees-Galloway’s ministerial expenditure has found no evidence of any inappropriate transactions or spending. Ministerial Services undertook a line by line review of all his expenditure, including staff and spouse expenses for the period 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020. “I commissioned ...
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The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Henry Puna have welcomed the completion of phase one in the establishment of a travel bubble between New Zealand and the Cook Island. Negotiations on the text of an ‘Arrangement to Facilitate Quarantine-Free Travel ...
The Government has launched a new online, phone and onsite service to help New Zealanders connect to a range of employment support and products for workers and businesses affected by COVID-19, announced Minister of Education Chris Hipkins and Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. Connected.govt.nz is a one-stop-shop for jobseekers, ...
Security guards contracted to the Ministry of Social Development will be paid at least the Living Wage from next month supporting the Government’s commitment towards fair pay and employment conditions, announced Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. “MSD was among the first government agencies to pay its employees the living ...
The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today launched Te Mana o te Taiao, the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy - a way forward that envisions Aotearoa New Zealand as a place where ecosystems are healthy and resilient, and people embrace the natural world. “Many of New Zealand’s plants and wildlife species ...
“Pacific languages, cultures and identity are essential to the health, wellbeing and lifetime success of our Pacific peoples and their communities in Aotearoa. The strength and resilience of Pacific Aotearoa is not only vital to their own prosperity but integral to the prosperity of all New Zealanders, and is particularly ...
· $38 million to help schools cover unexpected costs related to COVID-19 · $69 million upgrade for online learning · $107 million contingency funding to support school construction suppliers facing additional costs due to the lockdown. The Government is releasing $214 million from the COVID-19 response and recovery fund to ...
Despite the Government installing safety upgrades around the country, people should still take care around rail crossings, said Transport Minister Phil Twyford launching Rail Safety Week. Phil Twyford said installing safety infrastructure is crucial, but we are encouraging people to be more careful around trains too. “We’re making good progress ...
The Government is providing a cash injection to help Palmerston North City Council complete a programme to provide 78 social housing units for vulnerable tenants. The $4.7 million to build 28 units in the Papaioea Place redevelopment comes from the $3 billion set aside for infrastructure in the Government’s COVID-19 ...
A pest free Banks Peninsula/Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū is one step closer with a $5.11 million boost to accelerate this project and create jobs, announced Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage in Canterbury today. “This is a game changer for this ambitious project to restore the native wildlife and plants on Ōtautahi/Christchurch’s doorstep ...
A Government grant of $6.4 million will expand the Pettigrew Arena in Taradale with new indoor courts of national standard. “The project is likely to take 18 months with approximately 300 people employed through the process,” Grant Robertson said. “The expansion will increase the indoor court space up to 11 ...
The Far North tourist destination of Mangonui is to receive Government funding to improve waterfront infrastructure, open up access to the harbour and improve water quality, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has announced. A total of $6.5 million from the $3 billion set aside in the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund ...
The Government has re-affirmed its commitment to supporting the hosting of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, which the ICC has delayed from 2021 to 2022. “This is obviously a disappointing decision for cricket players and fans around the world and for the White Ferns and their supporters here at ...
Cyclists and walkers will now have a safer way to get around Taupō, Tūrangi, and between Hamilton and Cambridge, with funding for shared paths and Te Awa River Ride, Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter announced today. “The Te Awa River Ride is the latest part of massive growth ...
Six major cycle routes will be completed in Christchurch thanks to funding from the Government’s investment in shovel-ready infrastructure as part of the COVID-19 recovery Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter announced today. $125 million will be invested to kick-start construction and fund the completion of the following cycleway ...
Plans are underway for a brand new state-of-the-art hub for Whanganui’s justice and social agencies, following confirmation the ageing Whanganui Central Police Station is to be replaced. Police Minister Stuart Nash has announced $25 million in new infrastructure spending to improve facilities for the wider community, and for staff who ...
An adjustment payment has been made to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu under the relativity mechanisms in their 1995 and 1997 Treaty of Waitangi settlements, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little announced today. The latest payments to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu are $2,700,000 and $2,600,000 respectively to ensure the ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off the start of the Auckland NZ Upgrade Programme rail projects which will support over 400 jobs and help unlock our biggest city. Both ministers marked the start of enabling works on the third main rail line project ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment of $3.78 million in Wairoa will create much needed economic stimulus and jobs, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. PGF projects announced today include: $200,000 loan to Nuhaka Kiwifruit Holdings Ltd (operated by Pine Valley Orchard Ltd) to increase the productivity ...
Tenants in public and Māori housing may be benefiting from their own affordable renewable energy in future – a fund to trial renewable energy technology for public and Māori housing has today been announced by Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods and Associate Minister for Housing (Māori Housing) Nanaia Mahuta. ...
Hokianga will receive $2.7 million to redevelop four of its wharves and upgrade its water supply, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Far North District Council will receive $1.8 million from the Provincial Growth Fund for the work on the wharves. “The work will include the construction of ...
A $350 million Residential Development Response Fund is being established to support the residential construction sector and to minimise the economic impact from COVID-19, the Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods has announced. “The Residential Development Response Fund will help to progress stalled or at-risk developments that support our broader housing ...
As part of a broader plan to divert waste from landfill, the Government today announced $10.67 million for new infrastructure as part of the Resource Recovery Network across the Auckland region. “This key investment in Auckland’s community recycling network is part of the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group ‘shovel ready’ projects ...
The Government is investing $45 million in the first stage of an ambitious urban development project for Tauranga that will employ up to 250 people and help the region grow, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says the funding has been allocated out of the $3 billion ...
Getting low-emission trucks on the road is a step closer with investment in infrastructure to support hydrogen vehicles, the Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods has announced. The Infrastructure Reference Group has provisionally approved $20 million for New Plymouth company Hiringa Energy to establish a nationwide network of hydrogen-fuelling stations. ...
A new trades training centre to upskill the local workforce will be built in the South Waikato town of Tokoroa through funding from the Government’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. The Government will contribute $10.84 million from ...
The Government has agreed to repeal part of the Oranga Tamariki Act subsequent children provisions, Minister for Children Tracey Martin announced today. “There are times when children need to go into care for their safety – the safety and care of children must always be paramount,” Minister Martin said. “But ...
A $1.5 million boost to grow primary mental health and addiction services for Pacific peoples in Auckland, Hamilton and Canterbury will lead to better outcomes for Pacific communities, Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa says. Pasifika Futures has received funding to expand services through The Fono, Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest by ...
Twenty-two projects to boost the sustainability and climate resilience of New Zealand’s food and fibres sector have been announced today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The $18m funding will deliver practical knowledge to help farmers and growers use their land more sustainably, meet environmental targets, remain prosperous, and better understand ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson welcomes an initiative that assists employers to get mature workers into New Zealand small businesses. The disadvantages that older people face in the workplace was highlighted in the whole of Government Employment Strategy. In order to address this, a Mature Workers Toolkit has been developed and ...
New Zealand and Australia reaffirmed today the need for the closest possible collaboration as they tackle a global environment shaped by COVID-19, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said. “In these challenging times, our close collaboration with Australia is more vital than ever,” said Mr Peters. Mr Peters and his Australian ...
The recovery and forensic examination of the loader driven by survivor Russell Smith means the underground team are now moving into an area of the Pike River Mine that has not been seen since the explosion, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little said. “The fifth and last robot ...
The Government has confirmed a community-wide trial of CovidCard technology as it explores options for COVID-19 contact tracing. “Effective contact tracing is a vital part of the COVID-19 response,” Minister of Health Chris Hipkins said. “While manual processes remain the critical component for contact tracing, we know digital solutions can ...
The government is proposing changes to aquaculture legislation to improve the process for allocating and transferring aquaculture assets to iwi. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash has introduced the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Amendment Bill to Parliament. It proposes a limited new discretionary power for Te Ohu Kaimoana Trustee Limited (ToKM). ...
The Minister of Justice has today introduced the Family Court (Supporting Children in Court) Legislation Bill – the next step in the ongoing programme of work to fix the failed 2014 Family Court reforms led by then Justice Minister Judith Collins. The Bill arises from the report of the Independent ...
A new Department of Conservation (DOC) action plan tackles the impacts of climate change on New Zealand’s biodiversity and DOC managed infrastructure including tracks, huts and cultural heritage. Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage says extreme weather events around the country have really brought home our vulnerability to changing weather patterns. ...
A heavily scaled back international Antarctic season will commence this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods have confirmed. “Antarctica is the only continent that is COVID-19 free,” Mr Peters said. “Throughout the global pandemic, essential operations and long-term science have continued at ...
The Government is providing up to $30 million to help fund the NZ Campus of Innovation and Sport in Upper Hutt - an investment that will create 244 jobs. “The sports hub is designed to be a world-leading shared service for a range of sports, offering the level of facilities ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today transport projects currently in construction will continue at pace due to extra Government support for transport projects to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. To keep the $16.9 billion 2018-21 National Land Transport Programme going the Government has allocated funding from the COVID Response and ...
Tonight the National Party has selected Emma Mellow to stand in the Auckland Central electorate for the 2020 General Election. Emma Mellow replaces retiring MP Nikki Kaye who first won the seat from Labour in 2008. Emma leads a team of communications ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Radio 95bFM The Wire’s Zoë Larsen Cumming and Justin Wong talked to Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie today about a resurgence of coronavirus cases in Papua New Guinea and the impact of other Pacific cases on two very important upcoming votes in Bougainville and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Maylea, Senior Lecturer, Law and Social Work, RMIT University The second wave of the coronavirus and the resulting restrictions have impacted all Victorians. Many are struggling, but some are struggling more than others. In response to the increasing number of people ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Stone, General practitioner; Clinical Associate Professor, ANU Medical School, Australian National University Last week, the Australian government announced it will provide ten extra Medicare-subsidised psychological therapy sessions for Australians in lockdown areas due to COVID-19. In such a stressful time, many ...
It looks like science has come off second best in government considerations during the development of Te Mana o te Taiao, the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy, which envisions New Zealand as a place where ecosystems are healthy and resilient, and people embrace the natural world. The press statement announcing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wanning Sun, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, University of Technology Sydney US President Donald Trump’s recent moves against Tiktok, the popular video-sharing platform, have been widely seen as part of a new “tech Cold War” between the US and China. Trump ...
National leader Judith Collins has endorsed David Seymour in the Epsom seat and recent polls have put support for ACT anywhere between 3 and 5 percent - giving it up to six MPs. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lily O’Neill, Research Fellow, Australian National University Huge clean energy projects, such as the Asian Renewable Energy Hub in the Pilbara, Western Australia, are set to produce gigawatts of electricity over vast expanses of land in the near future. The Asian Renewable ...
Remarks by new coach Nathan Brown and the closed-door discussions by the club around recruiting a man facing sexual assault charges undermines the rugby league club’s values, writes Tiffany Salmond.It’s been a hot topic in rugby league circles for well over a year – but not for the right reasons.Former ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Uri Gal, Associate Professor in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney The recent questioning of the heads of Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple in the US Congress has highlighted the threat their practices pose to our privacy and democracy. However these big ...
Good habits start young, and with Money Week this week, now is a great time to look at how we can support and nourish our kids’ financial journeys writes Banqer’s Simon Brown. For some reason, a lot of people see money as a boring topic. But the fact is, it’s a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne This week’s federal Newspoll, conducted August 5-8 from a sample of 1,509, gave the Coalition a 52-48 lead, a one-point gain for Labor since the last Newspoll, three weeks ago. ...
A tender for underwater inspection services at the abandoned oil field off the coast of Taranaki has shed light on the dubious state of its subsea infrastructure. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Plank, Professor in Mathematics, University of Canterbury Our latest modelling shows New Zealanders need to redouble their efforts to keep track of people they meet, if we are to have a chance of controlling any re-emergence of COVID-19. The director general ...
Local Government New Zealand’s (LGNZ) Regional Sector has today welcomed the launch of Te Mana o te Taiao, the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy, citing robust collaboration with iwi, regional councils and private landowners and leadership from ...
The High Court has ruled today that Greenpeace is entitled to register as a charity and that the Charities Registration Board was in error for declining the environmental campaigning organisation’s application. In a summary of the judgement posted online ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Dobson, Professor and Dean of Education, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington The English language in education today is all-pervasive. “Hear more English, speak more English and become more successful” has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Some say it’s already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stuart Richards, Lecturer in Screen Studies, University of South Australia Review: Welcome to Chechnya, screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival Welcome to Chechnya, screening online as part of MIFF 68½, is a bracing documentary. This film is part of a queer ...
It’s become fashionable among some political circles to advocate for a laissez-faire approach to debt, on the basis that the government can issue as much debt as it likes – for as long as it likes. But there’s one big drawback to ‘just print more money’ argument, writes Pattrick Smellie ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Australia’s aged care sector was “underprepared” to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak and federal authorities had no specific plan for it, according to a stinging indictment from Peter Rozen QC, senior counsel assisting the royal ...
A Productivity Commission report finding was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of disease transmission dynamics, and now that error has itself been transmitted in the media and into the election campaign, write Nic Steyn, Mike Plank, Alex James, Rachelle Binny, Audrey Lustig and Shaun Hendy of Te ...
Latest from the Beehive Here’s hoping the hundreds of millions of dollars pumped into Northland from the Provincial Growth Fund and other government programmes do much more to promote the region’s economic and social wellbeing than they are doing to enhance Shane Jones’ election prospects. He is bound to be ...
The first Auckland Central debate took place last night, despite the lack of a National candidate. Josie Adams went along to watch Helen White, Chlöe Swarbrick and the rest.The Auckland Central electorate stretches from the depths of Grafton across the Hauraki Gulf to Aotea (Great Barrier). Its residents are Waiheke’s ...
Kiwibank was right to refuse the business of sex-trade operators exploiting women and children, says Wahine Toa Rising, a newly-formed organisation led by survivors of the trade in New Zealand. Spokeswoman Ally Marie Diamond said "we were gutted ...
During the worst days of the Covid-19 outbreak in New Zealand, Matamata was right at the heart of it all. Alex Braae went to the Waikato town to ask people how they’re getting on now.On the signs heading out to the Hobbiton Movie Set about 10 minutes away from the ...
The government has announced a pay increase for security guards at the Ministry of Social Development as the Labour Party makes a commitment to government agency workers for fair pay and working conditions. ...
“As sure as God made little apples, she would have reinvented herself and she will be ripping someone off in England as we speak,” predicted a former colleague of Joanne Harrison. A new investigation reveals the charming fraudster, who stole ...
Lihir is the second mine in Papua New Guinea to report a confirmed covid-19 case as the national total of infections reached 214 at the weekend. Newcrest Mining Limited confirmed that a 30-year-old male, a mine employee who had flown in from the capital Port Moresby on July 30, had ...
E te rangatira, e te tohunga, e te Tiati, haere, haere, haere atu ra. Haere ki o tupuna, no ratou nga taonga i tuku iho ki a koe, hei whangai mai ki a matou. ...
Commitment from all political parties to implementing the new Te Mana o te Taiao - Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy is vital to protecting our future, says Forest & Bird. “The Strategy clearly says that New Zealand’s environment ...
The 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War will be acknowledged on 15 August, with a commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington, Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage Chief Executive Bernadette ...
New Zealand's total fertility rate has reached an all-time low, with an average of 1.71 children per woman in New Zealand, well below population replacement level. “ Families: Ever Fewer or No Children , How Worried Should We Be? “ - a report ...
Joint Press Release: NextElection, Scoop.co.nz, ScoopCitizen NextElection , a technology platform empowering democracy and Government accountability, and Scoop Independent News have partnered to strengthen citizen participation in the 2020 New Zealand General ...
Since March 15 2019, a string of lone actor, far-right copycat atrocities provide important clues to the kind of transnational, online movement we now confront, writes Emanuel Stoakes.Before storming the Al Noor Mosque, the would-be killer dressed in military fatigues, attempted a livestream and signalled his intent on an image ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cordelia Fine, Professor, History & Philosophy of Science program, School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne How useful are the well-known and hotly contested categories of “male brain” and “female brain”? Among experts, nobody really questions that anatomical sex differences ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University Earlier this month, there were media reports that Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly had posted to Facebook advocating the anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, as a treatment for COVID-19. Kelly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carissa Bonner, Research Fellow, University of Sydney If the media is anything to go by, you’d think people who believe coronavirus myths are white, middle-aged women called Karen. But our new study shows a different picture. We found men and people aged ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Graeme Pearman, Professorial Fellow, Australian-German Climate and Energy College, University of Melbourne There is global interest in the potential for a hydrogen economy, in part driven by a concern over climate change and the need to move away from fossil fuels. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mehmet Aslan, Honorary Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Australian universities are expected to lose billions of dollars in revenue due to the impacts of COVID-19. The estimated lost revenue from international students alone is A$18 billion by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Owain Emslie, Senior Associate, Grattan Institute Grattan Institute research published today shows the average 25-year-old woman who goes on to have a child can expect to earn A$2 million less by the time she is 70 than the average 25-year-old man who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Beck Wise, Lecturer in Professional Writing, The University of Queensland You might have scrolled right by Annastacia Palaszczuk’s recent quote posts if you saw them on Instagram – just another lifestyle influencer posting a “deep” quote – but when she (or her ...
Welcome to Election Live for August 10, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other breaking news. For key dates in the election seasonclick here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Policy launches tomorrow. Get ...
New Zealand First and leader Winston Peters are up against it this year in the general elections if the polls are to be believed, but the political veteran shows no sign of giving up yet. ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Labour launches campaign while National releases list, frantic final days at parliament wrapped, and new poll shows Shane Jones in trouble in Northland.Some would say the campaign has been underway for months in a proxy form, but officially, it’s now ...
Kiwibank's initial plans to blacklist the adult entertainment industry ran into opposition from the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective, but the bank is being urged to stick to its guns by Wahine Toa Rising - a new trans-Tasman group set up by ex-sex workers. Yvonne van Dongen reports Last month Kiwibank rolled ...
The wife of a Chinese dissident killed in a recent car crash says she’s struggling to raise her children without the support of her husband - the family’s sole income earner Xi Weiguo (48) died in a car crash in Tokoroa on July 21, along with fellow pro-democracy campaigner Wang ...
Paula Morris on her former writing student, now the author of a worldwide smash, Auckland novelist Rose Carlyle On a mild Wednesday evening last week, I attended the launch for a debut novel. There were more than 100 guests crowding the ground floor of the National Library in Auckland. There ...
Let's not delude ourselves, temporary migrant workers are being exploited in this country - and it's nothing new, writes Christina Stringer The reality of slavery, human trafficking and the exploitation of temporary migrant workers in New Zealand was exposed last month with the successful conviction of a 66-year-old man in the Napier ...
Belinda Cordwell remains New Zealand's highest-ranked singles tennis player, having climbed to No.17 in the world. But today you'll find her chasing sheep rather than a fuzzy green ball. You may remember Belinda Cordwell came within two victories of being New Zealand’s only woman Grand Slam tennis champion. But you might ...
How far away are vaccines which could end the pandemic and how many doses can be made quickly? Finding a vaccine which protects against the coronavirus which causes Covid-19 is seen as the best way to stop the continued spread of the disease. It's estimated around 70 percent of the ...
The Ministry of Health; "The term unborn child is not a scientific term and does not have a commonly accepted definition." The Prime Minister said in September 2018, "If you ask me why I'm in politics, my answer will be simple: children." ...
We do not have to roll along with the status quo. We are asking New Zealanders to choose help over handcuffs, prevention over prisons, and healing over punishment, writes Laura O’Connell Rapira.It is said that the first Pacific voyagers to sail to these lands visualised this place before they reached ...
In the blur of the last week of this parliament, a law that discriminated against family disability carers was torn from the books. It’s one of those moments when we can see why political activism of all kinds actually matters, writes Andrew Geddis.Last week, on Wednesday evening (which in parliament’s ...
Binge-drinking in teenagers has dropped dramatically in the past 20 years - but the reasons for that are complex Teenage binge-drinking has "dropped off the cliff" in the last 20 years but until now, no one really knew why. A new paper, What explains the decline in adolescent binge-drinking in New ...
A senior journalism lecturer is urging the foreign media to respect New Zealand’s strict reporting restrictions for the sentencing of the gunman who carried out the Christchurch mosque attacks last year. Brenton Tarrant will be sentenced in the High Court in Christchurch beginning on Monday, August 24. Eighteen overseas and ...
Open mike 26/08/2013 
Campaigns. Culture. Character. And perhaps most of all, Covid. Now the House has risen and politicians are hitting the road to pitch their woo to voters, those will be front of mind for the candidates.They were also where the new season of politics podcast Caucus began on Thursday. This year ...2 hours ago
There are only a few days left to make a submission on Statistics New Zealand's consultation on sex and gender identity statistical standards. This represents a really important step for recognising the very real diversity of gender, including people with no gender, and ensuring everyone has the option to see ...2 hours ago
NewsHub Nation has launched a new podcast, "Supplementary Question". Their inaugural episode is about the OIA, and asks "is our most important transparency law fit for purpose?" While they interviewed Justice Minister Andrew Little and Ombudsman Peter Boshier for this, there's not actually a lot of them in there, and ...7 hours ago
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Drawdown Review 2020: How To Address Global Warming In A Responsible Manner Source: Project Drawdown Project Drawdown is a non-profit organization that relies ...15 hours ago
Dr Tim Chambers, Prof Nick Wilson, Jayne Richards, A/Prof Simon Hales, Dr Mike Joy, Prof Michael Baker (author affiliations*) Increasing water-related health threats, notably the waterborne campylobacter outbreak in Havelock North, have highlighted failings in NZ’s regulatory system for drinking water. In this blog we consider how the new Water ...15 hours ago
Yes, an election is in the offing – and we all know that elections can be polarising, as parties of the left and right square off against each other. But we should not allow our party and political allegiances to obscure the fact that, in a properly functioning democracy like ...15 hours ago
Today’s content Labour Party Henry Cooke (Stuff): Labour launch an extremely centrist campaign Audrey Young (Herald) Labour launch is a deliberately understated affair from Jacinda Ardern (paywalled) Audrey Young (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s decision to ditch Labour manifesto carries risk (paywalled) Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Labour planning to revisit coalition Government policy casualties Simon Wilson (Herald): Election diary: Happy ...16 hours ago
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From some quarters, incessant scaremongering. From others, it’s a full-on tilt into touching the alarmist buttons a little too readily (uncertain times make for very captive audiences with this angle of attack). The (so-called) Opposition (and merely regarding them as that seems to be a far looser term now ...2 days ago
National Party leader - Judith CollinsElections often bring out the best and worst in politicians. Some rise to the occasion and provide us with a clear vision for the future. While others wallow in resentment and controversy, over-relying on attack politics to try to attain the interest of voters.That’s been ...3 days ago
The attempts to sabotage Corbyn's leadership seems likely to do more damage than Corbyn supposedly ever could have done, even if all the stories about him were true: I was reluctant to say anything but this is too important, the full story needs to be told.Don’t let anyone ever tell ...3 days ago
Good day to everyone. I’ve been asked by Mr Thinks to come here and talk to you all about my concerns regarding the government response to Covid-19. We’ve been living through this pandemic for, what seems like, years. Years and years and years. Why else would the National Party have ...3 days ago
5 days ago
by Don Franks This talk was given to the Wellington Anti Capitalist Alliance, fifteen years ago. The ultimate weapons of mass destruction so far seen on this planet have been used just twice, 60 years ago this month. August 6 and August 9 1945 witnessed the US atomic bombing ...5 days ago
Our health professionals do an amazing job. Image credit: Wikipedia – Cardiac surgery. Finally, I have got back to these rankings. A long period in hospital and computer problems meant the June 2020 rankings were abandoned. Now, with a new personal defibrillator implanted in my chest and a new hard ...1 week ago
Below is the list of gender-critical material which appeared on Redline from October 1, 2019 to October 31, 2019. Rainbow Tick threatens to pull Massey’s tick if lesbians are allowed to speak Freer Lives – a gender-critical Marxist site Freer Lives on Violence, debate and Britain’s Gender Recognition Act British ...2 weeks ago
It's campaign time! The official countdown to Election Day is underway, with Labour supporters crowding into Auckland's Town Hall for our 2020 Campaign Launch. We recap some of the highlights below ...3 hours ago
The Green Party has revealed its Homes for All Plan, which lays the foundation for an Aotearoa where everyone has a warm, dry and affordable home. ...1 day ago
A report undertaken by Ministerial Services into Iain Lees-Galloway’s ministerial expenditure has found no evidence of any inappropriate transactions or spending. Ministerial Services undertook a line by line review of all his expenditure, including staff and spouse expenses for the period 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020. “I commissioned ...2 hours ago
Tonight the National Party has selected Emma Mellow to stand in the Auckland Central electorate for the 2020 General Election. Emma Mellow replaces retiring MP Nikki Kaye who first won the seat from Labour in 2008. Emma leads a team of communications ...1 hour ago
National's Emma Mellow will be up against Labour's Helen White, the Green's Chloe Swarbrick, and TOP's Tuariki Delamere. ...2 hours ago
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Radio 95bFM The Wire’s Zoë Larsen Cumming and Justin Wong talked to Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie today about a resurgence of coronavirus cases in Papua New Guinea and the impact of other Pacific cases on two very important upcoming votes in Bougainville and ...3 hours ago
It looks like science has come off second best in government considerations during the development of Te Mana o te Taiao, the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy, which envisions New Zealand as a place where ecosystems are healthy and resilient, and people embrace the natural world. The press statement announcing ...5 hours ago
Remarks by new coach Nathan Brown and the closed-door discussions by the club around recruiting a man facing sexual assault charges undermines the rugby league club’s values, writes Tiffany Salmond.It’s been a hot topic in rugby league circles for well over a year – but not for the right reasons.Former ...6 hours ago
Latest from the Beehive Here’s hoping the hundreds of millions of dollars pumped into Northland from the Provincial Growth Fund and other government programmes do much more to promote the region’s economic and social wellbeing than they are doing to enhance Shane Jones’ election prospects. He is bound to be ...11 hours ago
The company reporting season begins, a local takeover concludes and Freightways extends its emergency air freight services to Australia ...17 hours ago
Kiwibank's initial plans to blacklist the adult entertainment industry ran into opposition from the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective, but the bank is being urged to stick to its guns by Wahine Toa Rising - a new trans-Tasman group set up by ex-sex workers. Yvonne van Dongen reports Last month Kiwibank rolled ...18 hours ago
David Seymour on the possible path ahead for a growing ACT caucus. ...18 hours ago
The wife of a Chinese dissident killed in a recent car crash says she’s struggling to raise her children without the support of her husband - the family’s sole income earner Xi Weiguo (48) died in a car crash in Tokoroa on July 21, along with fellow pro-democracy campaigner Wang ...18 hours ago
Paula Morris on her former writing student, now the author of a worldwide smash, Auckland novelist Rose Carlyle On a mild Wednesday evening last week, I attended the launch for a debut novel. There were more than 100 guests crowding the ground floor of the National Library in Auckland. There ...18 hours ago
Common wisdom says an outright majority is all but impossible under MMP - could that change in 2020? ...18 hours ago
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Jones has declared, every race needs an outsider!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11114293
A strange seeming ‘flip-flop’ from Shane Jones who as early as Friday was reported as saying that He didn’t see Himself as Leader of the Party,
Having entered the Parliament with big wraps based around His Oxford University education Jones hasn’t impressed and His time on the front Bench under David Shearer made Him conspicuous only by His deafening silence,
Could He match it in the House with Slippery the Prime Minister, my opinion would say No and Slippery would simply make Him a laughing stock by ruthlessly exploiting Jone’s ‘baggage’,
In a contest where everyone could be said to have ‘a chance’ i would be so rude as to give Shane Jones none…
agreed, that’s what I thought he said too. Is this his way of projecting that HE doesn’t see himself as leader but others do so he is being a good team player????
He’s there to take votes off Cunliffe, thereby increasing Robertson’s chances. Don’t think it will work, but shows there is still an anti-Cunliffe mindset with the ABCer’s who are not yet ready to let that go.
You are on the money, Kenny.
Jones has no chance but does have a price.
The ABCs are buying votes with promises.
There are a number of MPs who need a high list position if they are to get back into Parliament, They are the ones who are in the pocket of Robertson.
This is something I would like to know: will the numbers of votes from the caucus, unions and members be made public? It would be quite outrageous if, say, two thirds of the members were overridden by two thirds of the caucus and just over half of the union vote. This would deepen divisions rather than heal them. At the same time, refusing to publish the results would breed mistrust. There are supposed to be 10 days of public meetings, and a caucus genuinely seeking unity would pay close attention to the members’ responses at those meetings.
“It would be quite outrageous if, say, two thirds of the members were overridden by two thirds of the caucus and just over half of the union vote.”
No it wouldn’t. That’s the rules of the game.
It may however prove divisive at a time when unity is desired, and lend evidence to claims that Labour politicians are out of touch with their members.
“will the numbers of votes from the caucus, unions and members be made public?”
No, according to Mike Williams on Nine to Noon this morning.
Thanks Weka – I did not listen to the radio this morning.
It’s a STV situation where people vote for their first and second preference. If people vote first-preference for Shane and he comes 3rd in the race, his votes are distributed to the 2nd preference nominated by his voters. So ultimately it doesn’t change the race.
So if one doesn’t want him to win, is it better to not rank Jones on the voting paper at all, or to put him as far down the list as possible?
Make him 3rd preference.
only if an incomplete ballot invalidates the vote (i.e. all those wonderfuls who’d put a name in the top slot and leave the rest of the form blank).
Lanth, you will have to have patience to explain that to the myriad of commenters who see Jone’s in the election only as part of the dark plotting of the ABCer’s…
Personally I don’t see Shane entering as an ABC plot, but merely him wanting to get the Deputy position.
I think if Cunliffe wins he’ll give it to Grant, but if Grant wins there’s a good chance he’d give it to Shane.
Apparently caucus chooses the deputy.
Yes, but I think that’s more of a negotiation, rather than either the leader or the caucus choosing someone without regards for what the other wants.
He made a good point, that the labour party lost a huge chunk of its vote, and having a much more pro-active leadership – like him – would attract back those voters. As a green voter I agree, labour would do better, but under Shearer-Robertson the Labour party has been a wet fish. So the question is, whose to be Cunliffe’s deputy?
“Jones’ hat in ring
List MP Shane Jones is entering the race for the Labour leadership, saying he believes he can attract blue-collar workers back to the fold.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11114293
If he wins, a disaster for progressive politics in New Zealand.
Jones is a not an Electorate MP.
Jones lacks the strength the comes from fighting, winning and holding a seat.
Jones would be a disaster for the Labour Party.
@ Boadicea….plus Jones wouldnt attract the 50% women vote
And fairly bland, poli-speak, cliched performances from both Jones and Robertson on Firstline this morning.
God spare us! Still – I’ve already decided to put my vote elsewhere, so the outcome of the contest is really a question of whether or not Labour will get either a party or electorate vote back (bearing in mind I’m in Robertson’s electorate).
if you think they were a dire pair of clowns on firstline..go to the radio nz website..and listen to their appearances on nine-to-noon..
..despite being asked repeatedly about policies to differentiate from national..
..robertson said:..’oh..!..we’ve got lots..!’..then he said..’i haven’t got any specific ones for you..but we will be rolling them out..’..
..and the rest of it was just wall-to-wall unadulterated aspirational bullshit..
..and yes..of course jones is there at the bidding of the right in labour..
..it is an attempt to muddy the waters of what is an otherwise clear two-horse race..
..and i hafta say..having seen robertson on both firstline and nine-to-noon..i am totally over him..
..and electing such a non-person as leader of the labour party will be a disaster/cluster-fuck of epic proportions..for labour..
..and will provide a major vote-burst for both the green party..and mana..
..so if that is what labour wants..?..that is what they will get with robertson..
..phillip ure..
It’s obvious. The devious, “no-show” Jones is there to game the preferences process, to (the ABCs’ hope) Cunliffe’s disadvanatge.
As for this “blue collar” bullshit, in reality the man’s a pompous, right leaning elitist cynically selling illusions.
Is it just me or is Shane Jones a bit of a misogynist? Doesn’t he mistake careless put-downs for plain speech? Didn’t I hear him refer to women as geldings during the “manban” fuss? And last November didn’t he compare Cunliffe’s expulsion to the backbenches to getting rid of a maggot or termite eating away at the wood of the meeting house? I was indignant at the time because he had achieved nothing in politics while Cunliffe …
I’m off to the Greens forever if Cunliffe doesn’t win this contest. Robertson is great but not ready. Oh dear.
Agreed completely.
Jones the boofhead. What the fuck is he doing throwing his hat in the ring? It is clearly a manoeuvre, which surely all those entitled to vote in this process will recognise in a flash. I predict the slug will declare well before the vote.
Jones is only worth ignoring.
Boofhead. Apt description of the day:-)
Agree all. No idea how he got a reputation as some kind of masterful orator.
Actually yes I do, there are always going to be a certain number of idiots who are easily impressed by superficial waffle for waffle’s sake.
Utterly useless bastard.
+100,000,000,000 %
Just listened to RadioNZ National interview a ‘Professor’ of politics for some strange reason, Her claim is that Labour even if the Party changes Leaders cannot win the 2014 election,
i have to wonder where ‘they’ find these people as i found this particular Prof’s analysis to be that of a simpleton and it seems tragic that University’s have such people in front of New Zealand kids supposedly giving them a decent education,
Her analysis, and good on RadioNZ for pointing this out to Her, was totally flawed in that Her belief is that Labour have to claw support off either National or the Green Party to ‘win’ the next election,
The fact that there are some 800,000 registered voters out there who last election did not cast a vote seemed to have escaped the ‘Prof’ and the new Labour leader need only engage 1-3% of these non-voters to topple the present government…
Claire Robinson?
[audio src="http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/mnr/mnr-20130826-0815-political_analyst_thinks_labours_left_leader_change_too_late-048.mp3" /]
Claire Robinson worked in Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley’s office as a political strategist (or some such thing) in the late 1990s. Enough said.
not listening to the interview but was that connection divulged?
I heard part of it live and there was no reference to the connection. However since that time she appeared on Q&A in her role as a political scientist. She was biased in her musings and haven’t seen her on the programme for a couple of years.
Thanks for the tip: Here is a profile of Claire Robinson:
Indeed enough said, no wonder i describe that particular piece of political analysis from that particular ‘Prof’ as the work of a simpleton…
Watever she is Robinson’s certainly capable of sharp arrogance when challenged.
I recall emailing her within the last couple of years about some idiotically facile piece of National Party apologism she was up to on Q + A I think. I guess I wasn’t exactly gushing in my email but her response – ” Get fucked ! ” – completely trumped my vigour.
Massey Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey agreed with my subsequent email to him in which I suggested it was inappropriate for such rubbish-girl talk to come from the mouth of a publicly paid “associate” professor as she then was.
Had the misfortune of working with her at Massey some years ago. Not especially bright, no imagination, unable to put together a coherent argument.
Alas, not the worst of the management there by a long shot.
It might be “enough said” fo you but fairness, and accuracy would require that you point out that her job for Shipley was in a public servant role, and had NO political connotations.
On the other hand I was not impressed at all with her analysis and her making fairly sweeping conclusions on a sample of 5 elections. Of those five 2 (1999 and 2008) were where we had tired out governments and 2 (2002 and 2011) were ones where the opposition party didn’t seem to even realise that continuing with the same old policies and faces wasn’t going to hack it.
That lady don’t know shit from clay. She based her assumptions by looking back to 1990. She should have looked back to 1984.
Interestingly in 84, labour won mainly because Jones’s party took a large % of the vote from the nats as I recall.
I wonder if the outlier in this is the Craig party.
Although they would take votes from act and nats BUT provide an collation partner for Nats- not an option in 84.
It highlights that the winning candidate should be developing a campaign that is the first step in next year’s election campaign. Robertson & Jones are more focused on just winning the leadership: Short termism.
Hopefully Team Cunliffe is taking time working out their (2014) election strategy.
@karol
When it comes to having a team, can Cunliffe have a preference for a Deputy which he then discusses with caucus, can he have a short-list of his own, or is it up to the caucus only? It would seem that having someone he could work with and rely on would be the best partnership for the top two.
Sure there will be discussions, but it comes down to a caucus vote in the end.
a caucus vote only in this case ?
For the deputy position, its a caucus vote only, yes.
Interesting .. thx CV
Her argument does seem a bit weak! The polls don’t show any clear winner at the moment and the interest that a Labour leadership challenge is generating will likely counter out any negative views about Shearer resigning. As a side note, the non vote at the last election had nothing to do with Shearer.
I don’t agree that the non voter will miraculously come back to Labour just because of a change in leader. Poverty and hardship are the main reasons people don’t vote, both of which have increased markedly under a National government. Many people simply don’t have the time or resources to be engaged in politics anymore.
The other issue here is that Labour appears to be divided. It will take time for Labour to show that it is unified and ready to govern. It will also take a considerable effort to convince many that Labour can work constructively with the Greens and NZ First. Whether 15 months is enough time is yet to be seen.
So at the moment I’m picking another three years of National, as per the usual cycle.
“..The polls don’t show any clear winner at the moment ..”
(um..!..the tvone-poll showing cunnliffe at 29%..ardern second..and robertson a distant 4th..?..10% wasn’t it..?..)
..sand i don’t buy into yr bleak inevitability predictionof another key term..
..between now and the end of next year is plenty of time for cunnliffe to both see off key..
.. articulate a coherent new direction for labour/for the voters..
..phillip ure….
I’m talking about the right vs left polling phillip ure, which is too close to call. I think there’s little doubt that David Cunliffe would win the Labour leadership race. Has he announced he’s standing yet?
There is of course enough time for Labour to get its act together, but whether that time is used constructively is yet to be seen.
If Labour can show that it’s united behind their new leader, they convey their policy well to the public (especially non voters) and are able to develop enough interest is yet to be seen. A biased media is still their biggest hurdle in many ways. Until they do all those things, then it’s likely National will have another term in power.
National have always had three terms except for the second National government, which had four.
“Poverty and hardship are the main reasons people don’t vote”
Must have been the rich who voted the first Labour government in. Maybe because they didn’t like to see the poverty and hardship of the depression inflicted on their fellow Kiwis?
“I don’t agree that the non voter will miraculously come back to Labour just because of a change in leader.”
Who has said that they will? Most people I’ve seen are saying that Labour will need to make specific efforts to engage the non-voters. Implication is that that wasn’t going to happen under Shearer or the ABCs.
Her argument as I remember it was that no party has ever come from a position behind this far out from an election as Labour is now.
My immediate reaction is to think of the Roy Morgan poll which gives Labour/Greens a majority at the moment.
The only question for me is whether the two will actually agree to a coalition in 2014, rather than the Greens go with National who I expect will be still the largest party then. Conventional wisdom seems to indicate that Labour/Greens is far more likely, if they command a majority or can find a majority between them.
Though there is still just a little bit of work to be done ‘twixt then and now. First, the Labour leadership ( I will enjoy my vote) and then into electioneering mode. Ah, the smell and sound of the guns are calling…………
Shane Jones and Robertson presenting a united front on RNZ right now.
Hmm….
A deal done over the weekend in an attempt to shut cunliffe out?
Anyone supporting Jones wants a Tory government. He should be expelled. Even he must realise he’s damaged goods. Where the hell do these people get their egos from?
I heard that James Caygill, son of David, is thinking of standing in Christchurch seat. Would Labour accept the son or daughter of an axe murderer? A little discernment of past connections and what the name reflects is needed here, even if he is a rabid social democrat, which is unlikely. (I have commented before on the large amount of men’s names that come from the bible. Do they come from wealthier families where the names seems to provide gravitas, probity and conformity with values – so good for conveying confidence in tv endorsements?)
Talking about David Cunliffe with family, he hasn’t made a real impression yet. If he gets the Leader position and decides on the policies to push and has the methods and cost and outcomes worked out, he can then stress these strongly and who and how they will help all NZs and also employment. Those would be winning words.
Also promise tighter controls with caps and detailed scrutiny on government expenditure going on each IT project. What a bloody way to throw money down the gurgler. The extent of mismanagement and feckless spending in some notable cases seems to indicate corruption or at the least extreme incompetence, resulting from the Peter Principle. And generally sizing up our present situation with IT, the results show corruption of the theories and scenarios fed to us about how helpful and useful an aid this technology would be.
Is he standing for National?
In the interests of site performance, I’ve dropped the feed thumbnails until I look at why it is slowing the site down so much. I may turn off the feed entirely again later if it still causes issues.
Don’t know if it’s related but I was running the ghostery plug in on fire fox and noticed my quad core was running at 30-40% at idle.
Disabled it and problem solved
From what I’ve read the new version has a few bugs, apparently one is causing pages in tabs to load in an infinite loop.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ghostery/
Maybe you could ask everyone to disable it on the standard and see if that improves performance?
I tracked it down to the bit of code that was causing the server side problem. The plugin is caching the images held for the various feeds at the server – good. However it is not caching the thumbnails that it is producing at 48×48 – bad. Furthermore because of how the images were being called, it was also bypassing the caching on both the APC memory cache and the CDN – *very bad*.
Consequently whenever the anyone viewed the page, all of the images on the Feed were being reduced and clipped down to 48x48px images. A horrendously expensive and completely unnecessary operation that sucked server CPU when you are doing a hundred or so of them for every page view.
The front page does exactly the same thing for its thumbnails. However they are prebuilt and stored in the media library. So they don’t cause the same problems.
Ok that worked really really well. Here is the main web server CPU averages over 15 minute periods over the last two weeks. Date/times are in UTC, so they’re about 12 hours behind.
I’d already been concerned earlier in the week with the GCSB debates with the average CPU. Prior to the last two weeks it seldom went over 50% on this system.
You can see the rapid increase on the afternoon of the 22nd with the shearer announcement (spiked on teh announcement followed by the site getting overwhelmed) and that continued throughout friday despite beefing up the caching and putting in refresh rationing.
On Friday night (well Saturday morning) I kicked in another server which helped a bit on saturday and sunday. But it was max 50% capacity of the main server. It was pretty clear I hadn’t figured out the actual problem.
This morning I looked at the colossal rise. The debugging code I put in allowed me to pin it down to the RSS Feed, so I turned off the most recent update to that – the images. The CPU dropped away and despite having a lot more traffic than we had on friday, the server started acting well. Cut the second server out after midday, and dropped the cache time down (the spike is mostly due to the cache reloading). Still handled the Cunliffe announcement without problems.
It was a hot day – not a desperate one. Damn good thing as I was pulling off RC1 for the next release at work and didn’t have time to baby anything.
I’ll fix the Feed thumbnails later in the week.
Hands up who believes the US allegation that Syria has used chemical weapons? Wasn’t that one heard before around WMD in Iraq?
Obama the Key-wise liar.
Big boys and certainly big toys but at the end of the day they are simply bullies in the playground, nothing more.
Its got all the signs of being a false flag. Launching a chem attack on civilians a day or two after UN inspectors arrive in the country? When the inspectors were staying just a few km’s away?
Assad knows that chem weapon use is the perfect reason for NATO to go postal on him, and such an action is the last thing he would want to provoke.
There is little doubt that a chemical weapon attack has taken place. The Syrian government is blaming terrorists. They have however allowed the UN inspectors into the area where approximately 300 people have died from the attack. This is not the first attack where chemical weapons are likely to have been used on Syrian civilians and rebel forces.
The UN chemical weapons inspectors have been in Syria since at least May 2013. The Syrian government had previously tried to keep them out of the country.
You’re assuming that Assad has control of what his forces do and that they respect NATO enough to not initiate war? I can assure you that they have very little respect for foreign forces and there is very little strategy to this war…there is really only hatred.
It is more likely that Syrian government forces have used the chemical weapons and less likely that those fighting against the regime have used the weapons on their own forces to initiate NATO’s involvement. It is very unlikely that western forces have used chemical weapons against civilians in a false flag event as an excuse to go to war.
Unlike Iraq, there is very little for the US to gain. The humanitarian reason hasn’t been enough so far to initiate NATO joining the war. If there is proof that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons, then NATO would be fighting the Syrian regime alongside al-Qaeda operatives who have come over the boarder from Iraq. The Al Nusra Front or Al-Qaeda affiliated Syrian Rebels have vowed revenge for the chemical attack.
In this case, the age old saying ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ doesn’t apply. That’s why the Syrian atrocities have been allowed to continue without proper intervention for so long.
It is very unlikely that western forces have used chemical weapons against civilians in a false flag event as an excuse to go to war.
it is a mere coincidence that the insurgents from Jordan who had been undertaking chemical weapons training with UK/US asymmetric instructors, entered the area 4 days prior along with the simultaneous bombings of mosques in the Lebanon.
Got a link for that? Also, I think travellerev might have a nice used tinfoil hat to sell you.
No problem
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Report-Syrian-rebel-forces-trained-by-West-are-moving-towards-Damascus-324033
Not a very reputable source Poission. The article states the U.S. training to Syrian rebels was in anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons…nothing about chemical weapons training.
These soldiers have been getting trained since at least 2012. They have not been deployed into the area just before the chemical weapon attack occurred. Your long bow appears to have snapped!
Yes and what were they getting trained in,
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/09/sources-defense-contractors-training-syrian-rebels-in-chemical-weapons/
‘To train Syrian rebels on how to secure chemical weapons stockpiles in Syria’ that belonged to the Syrian regime.
What is trying to be ascertained is are the rebels recidivist criminals.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/05/us-syria-crisis-un-idUSBRE94409Z20130505
Seems like 2013 is the year that the Tinfoil Hat Wearers won the internet.
http://www.infowars.com/us-trained-rebels-moved-towards-damascus-days-before-chemical-attack/
lol
the internet has always been the domain of tinfoil hat wearers.
Reality is the elusive ground for them. What’s the scorecard, in your opinion?
you are so quick to jump to judgement there jackal..and are peddling american empire spin..
..some facts for you..
..those attacked were in damascus..(ie..under the control of assads’ troops..)
..the assad regime..had asked for the un inspectors to come back into syria..in an attempt to clear the previous allegations against them..
..and they actually arrived in the country the day before this attack..
..so to accept your yapping along with the views of the dogs of war..
..we have to believe the assad regime launched a chemical-weapons-attack..on their own people/supporters..
..the day after un inpectors..there at the request of the assad regimeto clear their name of previous allegations..arrived in the country to investigate..
..really..?
..phillip ure..
Actually, the chemical weapon attack happened in Eastern Ghouta. That’s an area with strong opposition leanings, and is a major supply route to the front lines in the fighting in east Damascus.
I don’t see any Syrian regime soldiers amongst those wounded or dying?
There are war atrocities occurring phillip ure. Negotiations have completely failed. How do you propose to stop those atrocities against civilians from occurring if NATO isn’t to intervene?
The question is, how would western intervention stop the atrocities?
There is no point putting our toes in unless we are prepared to commit, and I don’t see that comitment coming.
“… putting our toes in …”
Is that just a slip of the tongue there P’s b? Don’t include New Zealand or me or those around me in that “west” thanks. That “west” are a bunch of war-mongering murderers just like ghengis khan, the british empire, hitler’s attempts, te rauparaha, or any other prick intent on expansion or grabbing what belongs to someone else. i.e. pretty much every arsehole human who has ever lived.
When you talk of the US or the UK or the French, that is them, it is not “us”.
Why on earth would “we” consider doing god knows what in Syria?
Why would you express that thought in that way?
What on earth was going through your mind when you tapped that?
Why didn’t “we” do something to stop the atrocity that was Iraq? Or Afghanistan?
fucking hell
Yeah that could have been clearer.
When the western govts intervene via nato or something else, as far as I’\m concerned that’s ‘western intervention’. I might not approve, you might not. But it’s still the west.
It’s not wrong to say ‘the US’ invaded Iraq because Michael Moore opposed it.
But if an argument is being made that NATO, or whoever, should intervene, but we shouldn’t, then that’s just cowardice.
Why the fuck should anyonebe advocating that some other buggers should fix something?
Personally, I think Syria is a clusterfuck. But that doesn’t change
a) what’s happening,
b) what people in the west reckon when it hits there teevee screens, or
c) the pressure that puts on our governments.
Here’s a brief rundown of some of the complications:
What I’m saying is, before we ‘do something’ we should have a clear idea of what we want to achieve, what that would take, and think about whether or not we’re prepared to do that.
I reckon the answer to that final question is “no”. So we shouldn’t do anything because we won’t be able to do anything good.
I see what you’re trying to say, sort of… but this doesn’t necessarily follow at all “But if an argument is being made that NATO, or whoever, should intervene, but we shouldn’t, then that’s just cowardice. ”
Why would that follow?
Other countries take full advantage of their advantages, be they geographical or military or something else, and so should we. We live right at the end of the world ffs, not in the middle east. We can afford to stay well out of pretty much everything and so we should. There is also far smaller case to be made for ‘standing next to your mates’ than is nearly always made out.
Ffs, the British were going to abandon us to the Japs in WWII. The same pommy bastards also failed to stand by us following our most recent terrorist attack by the French government in the centre of bloody Auckland. And then they had the further gall to harangue us over not standing next to them over the Salman Rusdie death threats.
Friends like that we do not need.
Are there any factual acts by the poms (for example) to counter those fact acts which point to them never standing next to us in the same way? I would like to hear them if they exist….
Yeah well, it’s opinion. But I reckon that if someone is making a moral argument that someone has to send their youth off to to die in a meat grinder to prevent something from happening, then it follows that they should support sending their own youth.
Can’t see how you can get form ‘x is bad and must be stopped’, to ‘so therefore those guys should sacrifice to stop it but not me’.
“if someone is making a moral argument that someone has to send their youth off to to die in a meat grinder to prevent something from happening, then it follows that they should support sending their own youth”
True completely, perhaps we were talking across each others bows.
But, curiousity, you seem to have a pretty good grasp of things international – what do you think of the point just above regarding the poms treatment of us relative to our treatment of them since, well, probably Gallipoli if not before… or since forever actually…
A couple of recent posts highlighted the fact that what is here in NZ from England is the Crown, nothing else. And the Crown is its own entity separate from the british people and certainly entirely separate from us people here. So much so that ‘our’ armed forces are not ours at all and belong to the crown and serve to look after that crown first and foremost (this has been demonstrated too as I understand it – during the Fiji coup where ‘directions’ from lange were ignored because they had not come from the crown (i.e. G-G)).
“.That’s an area with strong opposition leanings.”
..but it is under assad control..so assad attacked his own area of control..?
..the day after the weapons-inspectors arrived..(invited by the regime..)..?
..in an attempt by the regime to ‘clear its’ name of such allegations..?
..care to address that..?..(2nd attempt here..)
..and are you seriously telling me..that from your keyboard wherever..you are able to discern fact from spin..
..and in yr mind there is no way this was done by the american-backed/supplied forces..
..as a (fact-indicating) clumsy attempt to discredit assad/justify cruise-missile attacks..?
..really..?
..no doubt you also supported the invasion of libya..?
..and you can’t see the similar patterns of mis-information/propaganda..?
..again being used to justify military-intervention by the american empire..and their mercenaries..?
..(..many of those mercenaries the same ones america used in libya..?..)
..really..?
phillip ure..
phillip ure
Which is essentially what you’re also doing phillip ure.
The initial retarded argument was that because Bush lied about WMD’s, that automatically makes the reports about the Syrian regime killing Syrian’s with chemical weapons lies as well.
You might note that Germany was also under the control of the Nazi’s when they committed similar atrocities against Polish, Romany and Jewish people in Germany. The area of control has very little significance compared to the people in it.
Your argument is that the Syrian regime categorically hasn’t used chemical weapons on civilians in Eastern Ghouta. Mine is that they likely have, mainly because the rebels wouldn’t kill their own families.
I’ve seen no evidence that western operatives or those they’ve trained have killed hundreds of innocent civilians in Syria with chemical weapons just to initiate a war. You have nothing to base such an argument on apart from historic references to western agent provocateurs.
Let’s wait and see what the UN inspectors have to say eh!
“The initial retarded argument was that because Bush lied about WMD’s, that automatically makes the reports about the Syrian regime killing Syrian’s with chemical weapons lies as well.”
It was no such argument at all actually mr jackal, if you had read carefully…. it was a question, around an organisations credibility when its credibility has proved to be non-existent in the past. Like anything John Key says. kapiche?
And I just love the way that folk seemingly in touch with the details of who what where in some far flung war torn land equate that ‘knowledge’ with some superior understanding of the human condition and its history (rolly eyes thingy..)
Are you saying the US launched the Chem attack?
Please.
The US and the west in general has zero appetite for getting involved. Countries act in their percieved best interest right? So what interest is there in getting dragged into that clusterfuck? What would they be hoping to achieve, and how could they eventually get the outcome they would want?
The US simply can’t afford to deploy the forces necessary to control the outcome, particulalrly given that the war isn’t contained within Syria.
Far more likely is that Assad recognises that NATO isn’t going to do anything more than fire a few missiles (which in the context of a civil war isn’t all that scary) and has decided to use chems for about the only thing they are good for; Scaring the shit out his opponents’ civilian base.
Any discussion on Western motives and interests in the ME needs to include two words: Israel, and Iran.
Assad has been making good military gains using plain old conventional means. Going to unconventional warfare is neither helpful nor necessary to his cause.
This of course is speculation and doesn’t mean that he didn’t do it, or that out of control elements in his military didn’t do it.
“Assad has been making good military gains using plain old conventional means. ”
In some areas, and losing ground in other areas. But the insurgency is still raging. The idea that either side is on the ascendency is pretty weak. Using chems sends a signal that no one is coming to help his opponents and that he can do what he wants.
The US approved the shipment of heavy arms to the rebels a couple of months ago and has also been moving carrier groups into the area. Israel has also launched several airstrikes against Assad facilities. I think those are pretty clear signs of help for Assad’s opponents.
But a) that’s vastly different from wanting to be involved in a shooting war, and b) they did so after umming and ahing for over a year, and c) Israel’s actions are not aimed at ‘helping the rebels’ but at detering Assad from trying to use attacks on Israel to bloster support.
And carrier groups are used for airstrikes, which are coming and will achieve 2/5 of fuck all in Syria, but will stop western calls to ‘do something’.
Cockburn reckons this could be the unravelling of the colonial divvy up.
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n11/patrick-cockburn/is-it-the-end-of-sykes-picot
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/patrick_cockburn_covering_syrias_complicated_civil_war_20130731/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes%E2%80%93Picot_Agreement
NZ100%Pure Key …. poor child .. now I am speechless …
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2401561/Does-know-shes-Daughter-New-Zealand-Prime-Minister-bizarre-erotic-photoshoot-posing-octopus-Big-Macs.html
Each to their own, I suppose …………
Read the KB post and comments on this ‘expose’ last night when TS was down – and still cannot decide whether I am gobsmacked – or really just don’t care.
Still, it will be interesting to see what Key has to say – and the general public – when it goes mainstream news here!
I don’t think her work or work choices should be judged by who her father is. Plenty to judge in the art itself 😉
(an ffs Daily Mail, 20 yr old women are no longer owned by their fathers).
Comment from Facebook says it better than the Daily Mail ever could:
“Must have a publicist, this is derivative crap that has been done better so many times before, fucking rich kids “look at me” moment, will get art pimp soon”
Like father like daughter?
Exactly what I think of her photos, OAK. I’m loathe to even call them art.
Yes, the Paris College of Art is totally risking its reputation by promoting at Paris Design Week a student whose work is terrible just because her daddy is the premier of a country they don’t give a fuck about.
That is a completely plausible situation. The idea that tastes in art may vary is blasphemy.
That’s a bit simplistic, the wealthy and powerful always pass some of that on to their children no matter how old or what gender. They carry the mantle and only with a violent effort can they throw it off.
Another distraction, she can do what she wants, who cares.
She appears to have always shunned family pic’s when shonkey is flogging the homely image, at least he knows where she is.
Here is a laugh – Kim Dotcom has tweeted that he want the picture where she has a cherry in her mouth and a red gun for his red “panic room”.
“This is my “red room” aka panic room. Look at Stephanie’s artwork. It’s a perfect match with the red hair & red gun. pic.twitter.com/1akU1Poa8t
I would like to buy this artwork by Stephanie Key. Who can put me in touch with her agent? pic.twitter.com/5l0Upxggt6 “
EDIT – hope these photo links work
http://t.co/1akU1Poa8t
http://t.co/5l0Upxggt6
best laugh in ages !! I love KDC’s constant front footing Key .. may it remain all the way thru the high coiurts next year !
He wants erotica of John Key’s daughter in his panic room? Bit creepy.
hmmmmm. i didn’t think the picture was at all erotic in any sense at all …more clumsy and cartoonish so it never occurred to me. i thought it was a kind of pun about the only time he needed to use his panic room … maybe I’m wrong.
“i thought it was a kind of pun about the only time he needed to use his panic room …”
Sorry, not quite getting that…???
If Cunliffe wanted to play the long devious game he could
not enter race stating he wants to help unify the party
say he supports Robertson
solidifies his reputation with the public at large by churning out reasonable press releases, interviews, backing Robertson etc etc
Because Labour under Robertson would lose the next election he could then (regretfully and with great humility of course) step up and accept the leadership of the Labour party and almost guarantee being the PM of NZ in 2017
Whereas even if he becomes leader of Labour its not that certain Labour will win the next election…
Granted Labour has a better chance under Cunliffe than Robertson but might be a better option for Cunliffe to play healer rather than leader
Awww, little concern tr0ll, how kind of you.
What makes you think Cunliffe would sacrifice Labour and the left for his own personal career development?
No concern really, just what I’d be advising Cunliffe…sacrifice Robertson and become the beloved saviour of Labour
winsome’s woeful wanderings wherein weakness is willingly worrying …
yeshe
Deserves a 😀
why thank you, greywarbler !
Too risky. By 2015 he could easily have Little and Ardern snapping at his heels.
Greywarbler 14
26 August 2013 at 10:32 am
I have been getting my comments wiped when I have made a reply. Error… I hadn’t put my details – but I had. And usually I don’t need to as I am greeted with them in the identity window. This is a new comment and I have the identity window with my details showing. So does making a reply more likely to result in rejection?
I just mention it in case anybody has had difficulty. Off to do the chores anyway. Perhaps the system provides a comment lock to stop over-use sort of like a diet control on the refrigerator!!
Anyway CV what I was trying to do was thank you for a very clear explanation on the direction from which Labour has moved and the change that has resulted. (Would interest everyone on here –
see 26/8/13 Robertson throws his hat in ring Colonial Viper …
26 Aug 2013 at1:26am
(He has really been burning the after-midnight oil.)
I get a wee bit excitable over this politics stuff and seem to do my best thinking in the evenings 🙂
CV
Thank goodness someone (you and TS too) get interested enough, in bland, stoic, resilient NZ, to get thinking and exercised about politics.
I picked up a book at random – Death of a Cad MC Beaton. And came on this piece which seems to echo CV’s comments on the liberal elite and their broken connection with the working class.
The playwright Henry Withering…was beloved by the Communists, Trotskyites, Marxists, and Liberals. To them, he was what they wanted most, a genuine ex-Eton schoolboy, son of a landed family who had opted to join the class war.
Greywarber, sir/ma’am
With my recommendations – Chris Hedges – it’s a long video but even if you watch 15 mins I think you will get something worthwhile from it.
Has anyone seen a link to the interview on National Radio this morning with Grant Robertson and Shane Jones this morning?
[audio src="http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ntn/ntn-20130826-0910-the_labour_party_leadership_battle-048.mp3" /]
Mike Williams just said that Cunliffe will be making a statement this afternoon at 2.30pm from his New Lynn electorate office.
David Cunliffe, via Mike Williams on RadioNZ National is said to be making a statement from His New Lynn electorate office at 2.30 this afternoon…
Yesterday’s public meeting in Johnsonville, “No more Dunne deals”, hosted by Ohariu People Power went really well. There was a reasonable turnout and the speakers were fantastic. They covered four aspects of Dunne’s influential voting on bills that have passed and bills yet to be passed.
Adi Leason, one of the Ploughshares 3 that brought down the Waihopai spy domes spoke about the GCSB, and his personal experience of that day, the trial and other events. What a privilege to hear this humble and easy going man speak. I’ve always admired and respected what they did.
Helen Kelly spoke about the current employment law changes. One thing that stood out to me was the way in which Helen explained how the govt has manipulated the narrative around the worker – boss relationship, how they have used this time of unemployment and job insecurity as leverage against the worker and created a feeling that the worker should be grateful for work, no matter how appalling the conditions or pay. “you’ll accept what you’re given and be grateful” sort of thing. She spoke of the narrative that the employer is seen as being a charity provider and how this power imbalance creates a climate in which such draconian law can be past with greater ease. (my understanding of Helen’s words, not an actual quote)
Ian (didn’t catch his last name) from the Salvation Army spoke of the SkyCity deal and how this will affect their most vulnerable clients who are gambling addicts and talked of the rise of cases of gambling addiction in NZ over the years and gambling’s link with poverty and family break down.
John Maynard, president of the Postal Worker’s Union and one of the organisers of O.P.P spoke of the TPPA and gave some back ground about their work around asset sales opposition.
It look s like there will be a follow up meeting in two weeks to discuss idea’s around further activity. Being fairly new to this electorate I left feeling more hopeful, and uplifted. There was a sense of that positive constructive anger arising from the audience, that you sometimes feel at meetings such as this.
If you missed this meeting and you live in this electorate and would like to get involved check out this:
https://www.facebook.com/events/191126214392342
Thanks, Rosie. Excellent report about an important campaign.
+1
No worries karol. There was a lot more to the meeting but unfortunately I forgot my notebook and only had the back of a tiny shopping list to scrawl notes on. Thanks to authors/mods of the Standard for allowing me to discuss it…..another blog never replied to my request to post the meeting info…….
Also, big ups to all those busy people around the country quietly going about their activist work and political/social activities in general. I wonder how much work goes under the radar. Am starting to reconsider my facebook ban as I think there is info there that I’m missing out on.
I find facebook useful. Provided you remember that it is a completely public forum beloved by (amongst others) jonolists and creeps like Whaleoil and Judith Collins you won’t have a problem. I also find it useful for bringing certain people’s blood pressure to the explosive level with some barbed comments that someone will forward to the recipient…
“I also find it useful for bringing certain people’s blood pressure to the explosive level with some barbed comments that someone will forward to the recipient…”
Chuckle:-)
I do recall you mentioning the usefulness of facebook to another commenter a while ago who was wanting to find sources of info and news. Hmm. Might have to consider getting over my hang ups with fb, part of which is creepy lurkers such as you mention.
i don’t live in the electorate but did think of coming over for that meeting, my suggestion, if you have access to a photocopier and paper, start a guerilla campaign of letterbox anti-Dunne leafleting,
You don’t necessarily have to ‘do’ the whole of the electorate in the one hit, so a few packets of copy paper will go a long way until you can access your next supply….
Thats a good idea bad12. I wonder to what degree the residents of the electorate know or care about the list of Dunne’s ill’s. If not they need educating via leaflet drops, maybe posters, and by other means, what ever they may be. He still continues to be talked up in the local free papers, so there needs to a be counter to that.
It’s a large and relatively conservative electorate it seems, with a mix of wealth and genuine poverty. (just in my neighbourhood theres a sharp contrast between wealth and poverty, but entire suburbs seem to have either an affluent, average of poor vibe going on) Hope to learn more from the more long term residents of the area at the next meeting.
Rosie, talking of Dunne’s electorate i just got back from a little mission out Johnsonville way, to your question whether the average head in the Ohariu electorate cares i am ever the optimist,
At one time Ohariu was said to be the most monied and most degreed electorate in New Zealand, whether this still holds true isn’t a matter i have put much research into, but as you probably know Ohariu could be said to be one of the crucial electorates along with Epsom for National at the 2014 election,
The beauty of an anti-Dunne campaign in Ohariu is that while crucial that seat does not need to elect a Labour representative in order to topple this National Government, a National representative being elected in Ohariu could well spell the death of the present National Government,
i have been there befor, in the Ohariu electorate with a nasty little piece of politicing after the 1991 National benefit cuts, with a crew of 6 we managed to leaflet most of the electorate with what could be best described as an extremely nasty piece of anti-National Party propoganda, in a single day,
How ‘well’ we did with our little Ohariu campaign i cannot scientifically judge and Lolz, in a life is stranger than fiction twist of fate i am now hoping that Dunne is toppled in 2014 and am only slightly concerned that with the departure of Charles Chauvel National could win the seat…
Interesting bad12. (Supreme effort with your leafleting back in ’91 as well!)
I agree that the priority is to get rid of Dunne in 2014, he is the thorn in the side of NZ. In saying that, Katrina Shanks NAT, came third behind CC in the last two elections, so maybe it’s possible with a really good candidate Labour may be able to win it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Chariu
Would Epsom ever dump ACT?
Would Epsom ever dump ACT, my opinion, Yes in the blink of an eye if Banks fails to get the ‘nod’ from Slippery the Prime Minister in another ‘chimps tea party’ akin to the fiasco of 2011,
Given a free rein to campaign a National candidate is likely to wipe the floor with the abysmal Banks although there has to be many in that electorate with enough smarts to know that a National win in that seat,(as well as Ohariu), would leave National struggling to form a Government,
The arithmetic based upon the 2011 election numbers says that if National candidates were to win both those seats they would have the same number of seats in the house as they have now, made up of +2 electorate MP’s and -2 List MP’s,
With regards to Ohariu, perhaps as another commenter suggested a David Cunliffe lead Labour Party can entice Charles Chauvel back from the UN…
Hmmm. Thanks for your knowledgeable analysis of the scenario. Feels to me there is a sense of hope returning.
Hooten this morning
“Cunliffe with his extremist environmental views”.
Comment please – Is this correct? What are they? Extreme, measured against what? Is it exaggerated and mischievous comment from Trumpet?
Is it a putdown to make Cunliffe sound flaky to the rabid do-nothings-environmentally on the right?
Hooten trumpeted for Shearer to be leader
Hooton is a joke, he panders out the latest line from a right wing think tank. You know you can’t trust anything he says, one way or other, because he attacks himself. for example, when undermining the anti-GSCB debate he said only politically activists watch Campbell live, and care about privacy. I can think of a whole list of non-activist groups very wary of government encroachment from the far right, business, to criminal gangs, who most particularly won’t be watching campbell live.
You’re still paying attention to what Hollow Matthew says? You think it has any substantial basis?
Translated, the lying shill is saying that the Right is crapping themselves because they know Cunliffe will probably be Labour leader, and they know he can kick the shit out of them.
Kick the shit of Key, not likely but it will certainly be a lot more even…which means interesting
as you say winsome, ‘not likely’ .. more simply just guaranteed that David Cunliffe will kick the proverbial out of your beloved liar.
Key is now familiar to the country and his liar mentality is all to ever present to many. Labour lost a lot of votes, people want more than tinkering badly at the edges just too look like he Key is doing something. The case is clear, NZ reliance on food exports alone, in a world when increasing added value means everyone on the food chain has to be paid well, is hardly going to be led by a man who does not believe in paying living wages. An integrated world economy means better models of redistribution of wealth than we have yet to see. Neither, Saudi welfare, or neo-liberal non-welfare models are efficient or stable.
This, according to Hooton.
http://www.labour.org.nz/news/speech-the-dolphin-and-the-dole-queue
Good on Lynn Freeman for standing up to Hooton’s blatant anti-GP spin.
Just read that speech. Strikes me as reasonably hard headed and honest – within the obvious limitations of a social democratic context. It’s the Hooten’s of the world who are reckless and extremist. Fuck them.
As Cunliffe says in that speech in relation to achieving necessary change/shifts in perception in spite of vested interests and their insistence of a the three monkey mentality (see, hear and speak no ‘evil’) ;-
Indeed.
“Hooten this morning
“Cunliffe with his extremist environmental views”.”
The environmental extremists in New Zealand would have to be people who willingly eat the environment today rather than nurture it to provide for today and tomorrow.
The environmental extremist tag belongs firmly with the right wing and especially this National government.
Hooten on RadioNZ National talking up Shane Jones vis a vis Jones and Winston Peters get along socially,
The narrative running through my mind as Hooten was speaking was to ponder whether the 2, Jones and Peters are Porn watching, Whisky drinking Wankers,
Perhaps wee Matty might enjoy joining such a duo…
Yes…. so much spinning going on there from MH, and narrow thinking by MW, I’m getting dizzy.
Lolz, Hooten is such a concern tr0ll this morning.
Hooton’s second name from this morning can be spelt P-a-n-i-c.
Gawd he cant stand the greens can he.
Calling the greens arrogant and a ‘fringe’ party, what a cheek. Apparently 15% is fringe yet he wasn’t labelling nzfirst or act as fringe. He clearly would prefer Labour won outright or work with wintson rather than having the greens in coalition.
I think he’s scared to see the Greens in government, become popular with the NZ public and therefore destroy any chances of future National/right-wing governments.
I think what’s holding the greens down around 12-13% in the polls is the idea that they’re crazy nutters; something that Key tries to reinforce every chance he gets. I don’t think they’re crazy nutters, and once they get into government they can prove it.
bad12
You do take the tone here down more than a peg (of whisky perhaps). /sarc
A peg is an informal unit of measurement of alcoholic spirits; it is similar to a jigger more used in cocktails.) All good fodder for binding politicians together and loosening political restraints. A few, plus a few more, and everything will seem possible. Everything except what is most needed in our society and that is restraints on drinking hours and bottle stores and sale points.
Lol. Thats a highly disturbing mental image bad12…………….
Lol Rosie, my Doctor will be overjoyed to have such a second opinion which backs up His observation that i present a highly disturbed mental image…
hooton has or still is doing work for the mining companies.
i think we need to move onto more grave matters than the trivialities of ego/politics..
…and to (wo)man-up to a serious problem facing the nation..
..namely..the chronic overuse of that punctuation-abomination/tautology..
..the sniveling/insinuating/craven blight on the written word..that is the comma..
..something needs to/must be done..!
..matters are getting out of control..
http://whoar.co.nz/2013/elmore-leonard-i-hated-the-film-adaptations-of-my-books-comment-ed-and-why-i-have-much-disdain-for-both-the-semi-colon-and-the-comma-neither-of-which-i-use/
phillip ure..
Cunliffe is standing. Great.
On this good news day, here is another piece .. never thought I would be thanking the tobacco companies for delaying TPPA until next year !! It’s stuck — maybe we can have another chance now stub it out for good .. especially with David Cunliffe in charge …
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/9088198/Tobacco-clause-might-burn-free-trade-agreement
Thanks for that link. Great – anything to delay and hopefully destroy the TPPA negotiations is welcome.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/9088516/Early-retirement-option-unveiled
– In other news, if the costings make sense then this should happen
Mike Williams on RadioNZ National just now, ”Labour Party members will be able to vote in the upcoming contest ‘online’,
You will get a postal vote with a personal code which will allow you to cast the vote via the internet,
Good skills Labour…
Mind you a moment after i posted that comment i thought of the poor old postal workers who are facing cuts,
Save a postal workers job, vote in the Labour leadership election by snail mail!!!…
Indeed, the chair of yesterdays public meeting in J’ville, Sandra Grey, jokingly said you can bypass the prying eyes of the spy’s under the new GCSB Act AND save the postal service at the same by posting all your communications in the mail!
Roads are built for cars, pavements for pedestrians. A basic right to life should be afforded cyclists, since we build pavements, roads, to best protect walkers and road users. Its wrong to allow cyclists to cycle on dual carriageways, or past parked cars whose doors fly out. State highways should be for heavy freight, not for cyclists. Pavements should have speed limits for cyclists, i.e. running speed of a professional runner. Road furniture, signage, should be removed as technology allows, and city centers become car deserts. As a cyclist to see cyclist in Australia on a three lane carriageway was shocking, what are they thinking, that is so dumb. Hilly roads should never have a cycle lane, its absurd, counter to the purpose of a bicycle, low energy movement. New thoroughfares should be built for the needs of cyclists.
Anyone doubts that Shane Jones is a fucking idiot should listen to this: http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ntn/ntn-20130826-0910-the_labour_party_leadership_battle-048.mp3
in which he says that Labour needs to win “in the high 40s” to be able to “govern with moral authority”.
FFS can someone take this useless nag behind the barn and put him out of his misery?
ps Grant comes very fucking close to saying the same thing too, and unlike Jones he’s supposed to be smart enough to know better.
That has to be the stance of someone who doesn’t mind if Labour gets to form the next govt or not. Maybe he likes being in opposition. Does he get paid more if he gets to be Deputy?
Embarrassing defeat for government in court.
Brownlee says government will be appealing. If this wasn’t such a compelling defeat then maybe we could accept this. But it is a compelling decision and government shouldn’t be appealing. Government will lose this case at the Court of Appeal, that’s fine, but what’s next is legislation. When this government loses anything in the courts it legislates to overturn the result it doesn’t agree with. That’s not right because the more this happens the weaker our democracy becomes. In this case we’ve got average struggling people who’ve done average things like buy a bit of land, who’ve then been treated unfairly. That’s clear. This government then wants to change this to ensure these people are treated unfairly. It’s as if the government thinks it’s there to defeat citizens, not represent their interests. This just cannot be a society that anyone would want to live in – where government wants to oppose or destroy anything that’s good for it’s citizens. It’s as if government has declared war on its people.
Native Affairs right now – if there’s one thing that makes me puke it’s the fabulously botoxed and face-worked Tamakis, male and female, dining out on being Maori !
And as for the Bogus Bishop’s prideful raving about being invited to the US by Martin Luther King’s daughter (was it the daughter, Bernadine ?), I saw her the other night on TV lambasting all the
evil “-isms” and the “-ias” – homophobia being one of her targets.
Wonder if she’s aware of the homophobia and the hatred by which the Bogus Bishop remunerates himself so handsomely ?