Open mike 26/10/2010

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 26th, 2010 - 55 comments
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55 comments on “Open mike 26/10/2010 ”

  1. The Voice of Reason 1

    Latest Roy Morgan poll for the period 4-17 October. Not so good for Labour (but it was prior to the LP conference) but, on the up side, the end of ACT seems confirmed.

    http://www.roymorgan.com/news/polls/2010/4590/

    • Marty G 1.1

      the trend lines are still OK. The numbers will bump around from week to week but the trend is for LG to match NACT by early to mid next year.

      • gingercrush 1.1.1

        No it isn’t. If you really think that you’re fucking stupid. The poll is now back to what it was months ago. The only interesting thing is the next time the poll fluctuates and if Labour can once again break from the 34%.

      • Bob Stanforth 1.1.2

        “the trend lines are still OK. The numbers will bump around from week to week but the trend is for LG to match NACT by early to mid next year.”

        Thank you for that, thats the best laugh Ive had in weeks. 🙂 Im guessing you didnt do stats at Uni?

        • Bored 1.1.2.1

          I’m with you and Ging here Bob. The trend from a left view is a total nightmare. We may differ on the details but the trend is clear, the Nats are streets ahead. For labour reducing the gap is a big ask especially given that they are run by the man with a total charisma bypass.

          • Blighty 1.1.2.1.1

            look at the trend old boy. draw a line for the right and left’s numbers from when the right reached it peak last year, and project forwards.

            last year, the left was polling mid 30s. This latest poll has them at 41.5%. The right was near 60%, now they’re just over 50%.

            Numbers move poll to poll, watch the trend.

            • gingercrush 1.1.2.1.1.1

              But that isn’t really a trend since most times when a new government is formed they enjoy an unrealistic amount of support while the party that was formerly in government tends to have much lower support. As such you can’t play trends when for months the poll results were entirely unrealistic.

              One can talk about trends when the poll results move from where they were previously unrealistic to be more realistic. That has happened for months now and outside last month where Labour was higher than the 34% or less the trend has remained rather static.

        • Joe Bloggs 1.1.2.2

          hilarious isn’t he? I laughed and laughed and laughed. Anyone remember Lynn P saying:

          most of the polls from different polling companies have strong differences due to differences in polling techniques, which is why we tend to only put up Morgan polls because they are believed by the authors here to be closest to reality
          http://thestandard.org.nz/latest-roy-morgan-poll-2/#comment-258974

          Welcome to reality Lynn!

          • gobsmacked 1.1.2.2.1

            The reality is the same as it’s always been. National’s options are (a) govern alone, or (b) govern with partner(s). Though I prefer option (c) – not governing at all.

            If their supporters want to bet that Option (a) will succeed, I’ll happily take your money.

            But everyone knows it’s got to be Option (b).

            So, question for the Right – which partners are you counting on?

            Hone, Rodney or Winston?

            • Carol 1.1.2.2.1.1

              Most likely to be Winston, possibly with some MP support. But how would that impact on the Nat aim to ram through more neoliberal policies?

            • gingercrush 1.1.2.2.1.2

              Winston won’t make it. Rodney surely has to be gone and Hone will play subservient to the other Maori Party members. I will go with (b) but with Dunne as support partner. National will have to say to its National supporters in Ohariu to tick Dunne. If they don’t the seat will go to Chauvel even though its a National seat. The Maori Party will sign on but with a memorandum of understanding where they get a few gains but don’t join cabinet and abstain on confidence & supply.

          • lprent 1.1.2.2.2

            I also said…

            Obsessive poll watching is a bit of a pointless activity. Looking at medium term trends in them is interesting

            Any one poll can vary by about 2-3% on various party results. So you have to look over a three or four of the same poll to see if there is a trend. From memory this will mean that there have been about 3 successive rises in labours results and one slump. National has had a slight downward trend overall, Labour has a gradual rise.

            So Joe B – exactly how obsessional are you? You’re reading meaning into a single poll. Do you like reading chicken entrails as well? You do seem to be the credulous type who’d buy the Brooklyn bridge ..

            • Joe Bloggs 1.1.2.2.2.1

              actually Lynn in case you missed it all the polls over the last couple of years (even Roy Morgan) have had National miles ahead of Labour … that’s one helluva trend, big guy…

              … so not much obsessing needed really. Haven’t needed to slaughter as much as a single broiler this year… ‘sides which haruspicy is a dying art, I much prefer gyromancy and get plenty of opportunity to practice it at this site

              • lprent

                You’re getting to be as farcical about selective picking of periods as that other great bullshit artist – Bill English.

                The trend this year has been up for Labour and down for National.

                • Colonial Viper

                  You mean…its not a sign of economic recovery that people are paying off debt instead of spending in local stores and businesses?

                  Well I never!

        • Colonial Viper 1.1.2.3

          Fight fight fight!

    • Draco T Bastard 1.2

      It’s one of the spikes that they get from not questioning enough people. Basically, their “random” selection process randomly selected NACT supporters rather than a representative cross section.

      • Bob Stanforth 1.2.1

        So, dont like the outcome, therefore question and deflate the outcome. Yeah, good fact based approach, I like that.

        Head, meet sand…

        • gobsmacked 1.2.1.1

          So, head out of sand, Bob.

          Could you answer my question above? Who will support National on confidence and supply? And at what price?

          Hone, Rodney or Winston?

          • Bob Stanforth 1.2.1.1.1

            OK, I’ll play 🙂

            Rodney, probably gone, replaced by a strong National candidate, but if he stays, status quo

            MP, still inside the tent, and making real and lasting change, as they are now – expect an announcement prior to the election to confirm that

            Winston – you’re kidding, right? He isnt even Yesterdays Man – he would be working hard to make that tag stick.

            But yeah, the trend, its still um…

            Oh yeah, bugger 🙁

            LMAO

            • gobsmacked 1.2.1.1.1.1

              So to sum up, Bob, you’re saying Key needs the Maori Party. You’ve deleted the other two (and I agree on both counts).

              So, according to your own argument, if the Maori Party go with Labour, then National lose.

              So there’s everything to play for, then. I think you’re right.

              • Bob Stanforth

                Nice assumption, but no cigar. Labour, and Trevor in particular, are doing everything they can to alienate the MP. God knows why, but there you go. And the MP are more than happy inside the tent, and Hone is quite happy being a radical for that part of the vote that is happy for him to be that, and TT is happy for him to do it as well.

                And polling at 52.5%, when they won an election at 44.9%, thats quite a difference.

                Correct me if Im wrong, but election held today on those numbers means National governs alone.

                But of course, you knew that 😉

                And of course, the only poll that matters is the big one – and both main parties will get closer over time as we head for that. They always do. But thats a whole lotta gap to close…

                • Joe Bloggs

                  Labour, and Trevor in particular, are doing everything they can to alienate the MP

                  Not forgetting Shane Jones’s lunge at Pita Sharples’ seat at the next erection.

                  That’ll go down like a cup of cold mimi at the next korero…

                  • Colonial Viper

                    Not forgetting Shane Jones’s lunge at Pita Sharples’ seat at the next erection.

                    By the way, do you type with both hands on the keyboard? Are you sure?

        • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1.2

          Just a healthy scepticism of sudden spikes in polling. Have a look at the graph as there’s a few of them in there and they all do a sudden reverse the next month. I’m expecting the same from this one.

          • Bob Stanforth 1.2.1.2.1

            Yes, but your initial statement sought to ‘explain it all away’ with a fact free comment. Im sure the RM poll people would be a tad disheartened to hear that you think their polling techniques are as random as you make out.

            Oh, and for the record, they aren’t 🙂

            Secondly, yes, there are and always will be ups and downs. But the only trend at the moment is relatively static for both main parties – there is no trend (which in and of itself means ‘over time’) for either party. And at the end of any particular day you care to name, there is one poll that counts, and it isnt this one 🙂

            • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1.2.1.1

              An hypothesis. Could probably have been stated better but it does seem to be the only one that fits.

              … their polling techniques are as random as you make out.

              They’re supposed to be random and through that get an accurate representation of the population. It has a few downsides and one of them is that they can end up with an unrepresentative grouping which is what the spikes in the graph look like.

              • Bob Stanforth

                My apologies, that was a poor choice of words, my bad 🙂

                Roy Morgan use the very best selection criteria, as any student who knows this stuff will tell you – and the margin of error is your best friend.

                But then, as Msr iPrent has noted, I should not expect anything other than steady as she goes, no major rave, criticism of poor whatever (when will I see that bit?) from here.

                The poll was however prior to the Lab Conf, Im sure you will bounce up a point or two, especially after PG came out so strongly in the Hobbit debacle.

                Oh…

                Maybe he was shutting up so the union could take over 😉

      • gingercrush 1.2.2

        That is such a stupid response. The same could equally be said in any poll. Such as a few months where NZ First was on 4.5% support. Clearly, too many NZ First voters responded. Or anytime National is down you could say too many LAB & Green supporters responded.

        • Colonial Viper 1.2.2.1

          Yeah, poll mania is bad. We all know there is only one poll which matters and that is rolling around mid 2011.

  2. Glorious Prime Minister of New Zealand again declined to be interviewed on Morning Report.

    Is anyone keeping count?

  3. KJT 3

    Just went slumming at KiwiBlog to have a look at how the other half thinks. They don’t.

    • Colonial Viper 3.1

      Yeah did a bit of that over the weekend. Can’t say I recommend it as a holiday away.

  4. MikeG 4

    Does Steven Joyce understand economics? – I don’t think so – “When announcing the funding relocation, Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce said there was less demand for industry-based training as New Zealand recovered from the recession.”

    Let’s see – when recovering from a recession the job market will start to pick up (eventually), therefore skilled workers will be required, therefore we need to train those workers. Doesn’t quite match with Joyce’s view of the world.

    • Bored 4.1

      Mike, the real problem is that the average lower paid cretin who voted Nact last time round quite obviously cant do maths. This is evidenced by their complete refusal to react to the mathematical rort that was the tax cut accompanied by the GST rise.

      Consequently to expect the same cretins to pick up on Joyces mathematical accuracy, or that of the rest of the Nact Pack is asking a little much.

    • Draco T Bastard 4.2

      NACT don’t understand the economy. That’s why they keep giving themselves and their rich mates tax cuts while cutting essential services such as education.

  5. john 5

    More news from the US NeoLiberal Disaster zone also known as Privatized Paradise and the Billionaire’s Playground. Wonder what Oprah will make of this report?
    Back in the good ol’ days of the 70s. (Showing my age here!) California was the showplace of the American Dream.(Even HillBillies had made it into Beverly !)It was socially very tolerant,maybe due to the big gay population in San Francisco(The greening of America and the age of the Hippies). We listened to the music of the Beach Boys,Crosby and Nash, Jefferson Airplane,Boz Scaggs’ “Sail On”, and The Mamas and the Papas who sung “California Dreamin'”. It was San Francisco Sound and West Coast Rock.
    And those hot temps down south, the easy cheap motoring and surfing.
    All changed, changed utterly! California is going down with disastrous social stats.Our righters look up to the US as an anti-welfare society,but how does that accord with 44,000,000 on food stamps? If you take their welfare away there’ll be famine! They can’t pay their police or teachers. Yet the rich in the US have never had it better due to insane tax laws rewarding them with more and more unearned wealth.Again, Oprah is billionaire twice over for just sitting on her butt and pontificating the “all is well!” “all is well” “don’t think” “don’t think” social control pap she does so well!Connection between social control function,very useful to the powerbrokers,and remuneration? Refer link:

    http://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-to-leave-california-2010-10

    • john 5.1

      “The fact that you think “10.55% bracket at $1,000,000″ is a high tax rate says it all.”
      “30 years ago, anything was possible in CA:”
      “It seems to me that CEOs who moved jobs overseas, and the banksters that securitized and sold subprime mortgages should be dealt with”
      “Reps will bail out Cali just like the Dems will/would. Politicians talk a good game but in the end they can’t take the risk of societal collapse. Cali is still the 8th largest economy in the world. Sadly neither party has the cojones to force change on the state.”

      “this idea that everyone in California is going to pack up and head to Nevada was already tested and failed, surprise surprise, 0% income tax doesn’t matter much when you don’t have a job anyway, which seems to be a bigger problem in Nevada than California
      this is why places like Reno have become real-estate dead-zones, even though they are only miles from the California border, and if the economic arguments trumped everything else, would have already siphoned off the bay area population”

      “The truth is that it is easy to understand why there are now more Americans moving out of California each year than there are Americans moving into the state. California has become a complete and total disaster zone in more ways than one, and an increasing number of Californians are deciding that enough is enough and they are getting out for good.
      Sadly, the state of California is facing such a wide array of social, economic, and political problems that it is hard to even document them all. It is really one huge gigantic mess at this point.”

      The US is an everyone for himself sod the tax society look where it’s got them!

      • Vicky32 5.1.1

        No wonder the USA is a culture of fear and violence… (Even the hugely sentimental Ghost Whisperer, one of the few US programmes I watch, gave in to the violence, last night.)
        Deb

        • RedLogix 5.1.1.1

          Interesting comment Deb…my partner had exactly the same reaction to Ghost Whisperer last night herself.

          • Vicky32 5.1.1.1.1

            I am glad someone else watches it! (I always feel ashamed, as if I was caught reading a romance novel, eeuuwww!) I was seriously freaked out by the testerical cop waving his gun at the family…
            Deb

    • john 5.2

      “These are extremely troubling facts for anyone concerned about economic fairness, equality of opportunity, and justice.

      Thomas Jefferson once observed that the systematic restructuring of society to benefit the rich over the poor and middle class is a natural appetite of the rich. “Experience declares that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to…the general prey of the rich on the poor.” But Jefferson also knew that justice can only be delayed so long when he said, “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.”

      The rich talk about the rise of socialism to divert attention from the fact that they are devouring the basics of the poor and everyone else. Many of those crying socialism the loudest are doing it to enrich or empower themselves. They are right about one thing – there is a class war going on in the US. The rich are winning their class war, and it is time for everyone else to fight back for economic justice.

      • M 5.2.1

        john

        Check this out from Paul Craig Roberts – he rightly calls out economists as pimps.

        If Joe Six Pack cannot understand this video then I fear the US is finished

  6. Colonial Viper 7

    In the Granny Herald: another one turns –

    “Peter Lyons: Mantra of free market ideology wearing thin

    People need to take back control of shaping their society from the capitalists and the Middle Earth living robber barons.

    It happens in 2011.

    • Hi CV

      I think you might have one too many apostrophies or something. Link is at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10682955

      Interesting article. I never thought that I would see the day where the Herald advocated for the total reform of the capitalist system.

      As Dylan sang

      “And the times they are a changing”

    • Lazy Susan 7.2

      It’s only taken 25 years to debunk the idea of market theory and perfect pricing. Economists are finally start to admit that the price of an asset may be distorted by possible speculative gains and not always be perfectly priced. Shit, have they not stood around the barbie during the last 25 years listening to some half-wit warble on about the killing they made on their “investment property”.

  7. M

    I dont think the US is finish somehow.

    Yeppers, you guys are our version of the teabaggers.

  8. Vicky32 9

    This probably should be on OM for the 27th, but I can’t find it quickly enough (dial up). Can it be TV3 support the death penalty? Yes, it can, their management are all Americans.
    Just heard an item about the latest sentencing to death of one of Saddam Hussein’s minion, the item done by an idiot from ITV. (TV3 don’t have a contract with the BBC). This Bill Nealy person is a rather right wing guy to judge from this and other items he’s done.
    Naturally, he takes and reports it all at face value, whereas in reality, the Iraqi “government” is still an American puppet. Who remembers that Iraq, which had abolished the death penalty under Saddam Hussein reinstituted it while under open American rule, so that SH could be executed?
    Ali is being hanged for being one of SH’s minions, and nothing else. Shame! Shame on those who don’t see through this, shame on the Iraqi puppets but most of all shame on the USA for spreading their bizarre laws to more civilised places (As Iraq was under SH, before the American invasion for oil.)
    Deb

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    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In his last post, Zeke discussed incredible warmth of 2023 and 2024 and its implications for future warming. A few readers looked at it and freaked out: This is terrifying and This update really put me in a ...
    3 days ago
  • Government directs Te Puni Kōkiri to conduct Māori Language Week in English

    The coalition government has issued a directive to Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Māori Development, instructing them that – in the interests of clear communication – they are to conduct this year’s Māori Language Week primarily or exclusively in English. The directive is in line with the Government’s policy ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    3 days ago
  • Government celebrates fact that New Zealand’s healthcare is so good people are queuing up for it a...

    At yesterday’s post-cabinet press conference, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, flanked by his Health Minister Shane Reti and someone we can’t independently verify was a real sign language interpreter, announced that he had some positive news for the country. “Alright team, I’m just going to hand over to uh, Dr. Shane, ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    3 days ago
  • Heartwarming: Thoughtful driver uses indicator to tell you what they’ve just done

    It’s 4:10pm in the morning, and you’re in the middle lane heading north on the great southern motorway of our nation’s capital, Auckland. There are no cars directly in front of you, but quite a few in the lane to your left. Suddenly, without warning, a black ute enters your ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    3 days ago
  • NPC teams will now be allowed to actually use the Ranfurly Shield in play

    Following decades of controversy, the governing body of New Zealand rugby, New Zealand Rugby, has ruled that the team currently holding the Ranfurly Shield may once again use it in play during the National Provincial Championship (NPC). The ruling restores the utility of a prize that for many years was ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    3 days ago
  • Climbing out of the hamster wheel

    I arrived home with a head full of fresh ideas about mindfulness and curbing impulsive aspects in my character.On the second night home I grabbed a piece of ginger and began swiftly slicing it on our industrial strength mandolin, the one I have learned through painful experience to treat with ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • More Notes From Stinky Town

    Good morning, folks. Another wee note from a chilly Rotorua morning that looks much clearer than yesterday. As I write, the pink glow in the east is slowly growing, and soon, the palest of blue skies should become a bit more royal.A couple of people mentioned yesterday that I should ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Make it make sense: why axe valuable local projects?

    Last week, Matt looked at how the government wants to pour a huge chunk of civic infrastructure funding for a generation  into one mega-road up North, at huge cost and huge opportunity cost. A smaller but no less important feature of the National Land Transport Plan devised by Minister of Transport ...
    4 days ago
  • Driving blind at higher speeds

    An open letter by experts about plans to raise speed limits warns the “tragic consequence will be more New Zealanders losing their lives or suffering severe injury, along with a substantial burden on the nation's healthcare and rehabilitation services”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • 2024’s unusually persistent warmth

    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink My inaugural post on The Climate Brink 18 months ago looked at the year 2024, and found that it was likely to be the warmest year on record on the back of a (than forecast) El Nino event. I suggested “there is a real chance ...
    4 days ago
  • National plan for 2000 more Kiwis a year in prison

    Open for allYesterday, Luxon congratulated his government on a job well done with emergency housing numbers, but advocates have been saying it‘s likely many are on the streets and sleeping in cars.Q&A featured some of the folks this weekend - homeless and in cars. Yes.The government’s also confirmed they stopped ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • I Found a Note in a Tree

    Hi,On most days I try to go on a walk through nature to clear my head from the horrors of life. Because as much as I like people, I also think it’s incredibly important to get very far away from them. To be reminded that there are also birds, lizards, ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Politicians need to lift their game

    Declining trust in New Zealand politicians should be a warning to them to lift their game. Results from the New Zealand Election Study for the 2023 election show that the level of trust in politicians has once again declined. Perhaps it is not surprising that the results, shared as part ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Police say they won’t respond to bomb threats anymore as ‘it’s never anything’

    Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says that New Zealand’s police force will no longer respond to bomb threats, in an attempt to cut costs and redirect police resources to less boring activities. Coster said that threat response and bomb disposal was a “fairly obvious” area for downsizing, as bomb threats are ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    4 days ago
  • A dysfunctional watchdog

    The reality of any right depends on how well it is enforced. But as The Post points out this morning, our right to official information isn't being enforced very well at all: More than a quarter of complaints about access to official information languish for more than a year, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Climate Change: The threat of a good example

    Since taking office, the climate-denier National government has gutted agricultural emissions pricing, ended the clean car discount, repealed water quality standards which would have reduced agricultural emissions, gutted the clean car standard, killed the GIDI scheme, and reversed efforts to reduce pollution subsidies in the ETS - basically every significant ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Vegas Baby

    Good morning, lovely people. Don’t worry. This isn’t really a newsletter, just a quick note. I’m sitting in our lounge, looking out over a gloomy sky. Although being Rotorua, the view is periodically interrupted by steam bursting from pipes and dispersing—like an Eastern European industrial hellscape during the Cold War.Drinking ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Why Entrust Needs New Leadership

    I am part of a new team running in the Entrust election in October. Entrust is a community electricity trust representing a significant part of Auckland, set up to serve the community. It is governed by five trustees are elected every three years in an election the trust itself oversees. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • London Bridge is falling down

    In the UK, London is the latest of council groups to signal potential bankruptcy.That’s after Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city, went bankrupt in June, resulting in reduced sanitation services, libraries cut, and dimmed streetlights.Some in the city described things as “Dickens” like.Please, Sir, Can I have some more?For families with ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Govt may kick elderly out of hospitals

    The Government is considering how to shunt elderly people out of hospitals, and also how to cut their access to other support. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Getting the nephs off the couch

    The so-called “Prince of the Provinces”, Shane Jones, went home last Friday. Perhaps not quite literally home, more like 20 kilometres down the road from his house on the outskirts of Kerikeri. With its airport, its rapidly growing (mostly retired) population, and a commercial centre with all the big retail ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • De moralibus orcorum: Sargon of Akkad, Rings of Power, Evil, and George R.R. Martin

    I have noted before that The Rings of Power has attracted its unfortunate share of culture war obsessives. Essentially, for a certain type of individual, railing on about the Wokery of Modern Media is a means of making themselves a online livelihood. Clicks and views and advertising revenue, and all ...
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #37

    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, September 8, 2024 thru Sat, September 14, 2024. Story of the week From time to time we like to make our Story of the Week all about us— and ...
    5 days ago
  • Salvation For Us All

    Yesterday, I ruminated about the effects of being a political follower.And, within politics, David Seymour was smart enough on Friday to divert attention from “race blind” policies [what about gender blind I thought - thinking of maternity wards] and cutting school lunches by throwing meat to the media. Teachers were ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A warm embrace

    Far, far away from here lives our King. Some of his subjects can be quite the forelock tuggers, but plenty of us are not like that, and why don't I wheel out my favourite old story once more about Kiwi soldiers in the North African desert?Field Marshal Montgomery takes offence ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Literal clowns are running the place, we must put a timeout on this stupidity… right Aotearoa?

    These people are inept on every level. They’re inept to the detriment of our internal politics, cohesion and increasingly our international reputation. And they are reveling in the fact they are getting away with it. We cannot even have “respectful debate” with a government that clearly rejects the very ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    6 days ago
  • Fact brief – Does manmade CO2 have any detectable fingerprint?

    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does manmade CO2 have any ...
    6 days ago
  • Judge Not.

    Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1-2FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY men and women professing the Christian faith would appear to have imperilled their immortal souls. ...
    6 days ago
  • Managed Democracy: Letting The People Decide, But Only When They Can Be Relied Upon To Give the Righ...

    Uh-uh! Not So Fast, Citizens! The power to initiate systemic change remains where it has always been in New Zealand’s representative democracy – in Parliament. To order a binding referendum, the House of Representatives must first to be persuaded that, on the question proposed, sharing its decision-making power with the people ...
    6 days ago
  • Looking For Labour’s Vital Signs.

    Flatlining: With no evidence of a genuine policy disruptor at work in Labour’s ranks, New Zealand’s wealthiest citizens can sleep easy.PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN has walked a picket-line. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has threatened “price-gauging” grocery retailers with price control. The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform situates it well to the left of Sir ...
    6 days ago
  • Forty Years Of Remembering To Forget.

    The Beginning of the End: Rogernomics became the short-hand descriptor for all the radical changes that swept away New Zealand’s social-democratic economy and society between 1984 and 1990. In the bitterest of ironies, those changes were introduced by the very same party which had entrenched New Zealand social-democracy 50 years earlier. ...
    6 days ago
  • Kōrero Mai – Speak to Me.

    Good morning all you lovely people. 🙂I woke up this morning, and it felt a bit like the last day of school. You might recall from earlier in the week that I’m heading home to Rotorua to see an old friend who doesn’t have much time. A sad journey, but ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Winning ways

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Street architecture adjustment, KolkataShare Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago
  • 48 seconds on a plan that would reverberate for a million years

    Despite fears that Trump presidency would be disastrous for progress on climate change, the topic barely rated a mention in the Presidential debate. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Using blunt instruments and magical thinking to ignore evidence of harm

    The abrupt cancellations and suspensions of Government spending also caused private sector hiring, spending, and investment to freeze up for the first six months of the year. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThis week we learned:The new National/ACT/NZ First Coalition Government ignored advice from Treasury that it didn’t have to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Is This A Dagger Which I See Before Me: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power Episode 5 (Seaso...

    Another week of The Rings of Power, season two, and another confirmation that things are definitely coming together for the show. The fifth Episode of season one represented the nadir of the series. Now? Amid the firmer footing of 2024, Episode Five represents further a further step towards excellent Tolkien ...
    7 days ago
  • In Open Seas; A Book

    The background to In Open Seas: How the New Zealand Labour Government Went Wrong:2017-2023Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand, published in 2020, proved more successful than either I or the publisher (VUP, now Te Herenga Waka University Press) expected. I had expected that it would ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 13

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the climate implications of the US Presidential elections; and special guests Janet ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Do or do not. There is no try

    1. Upon receiving evidence that school lunches were doing a marvellous job of improving outcomes for students, David Seymour did what?a. Declared we need much more of this sort of good news and poured extra resources and funding into them b. Emailed Atlas network to ask what to do next c. Cut ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Dangerous ground

    The Waitangi Tribunal has reported back on National's proposed changes to gut the Marine and Coastal Area Act and steal the foreshore and seabed for its greedy fishing-industry donors, and declared it to be another huge violation of ti Tiriti: The Waitangi Tribunal has found government changes to the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Climate Change: National wants to cheat on Paris

    In 2016, the then-National government signed the Paris Agreement, committing Aotearoa to a 30 (later 50) percent reduction in emissions by 2030. When questioned about how they intended to meet that target with their complete absence of effective climate policy, they made a lot of noise about how it was ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Treasury warned Govt lower debt limits meant less ‘productivity-enhancing investment’

    Treasury’s advice to Cabinet was that the new Government could actually prudently carry net core Crown debt of up to 50% of GDP. But Luxon and Willis instead chose to portray the Government’s finances as in such a mess they had no choice but to carve 6.5% to 7.5% off ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Is the Media Complicit?

    This is a long read. Open to all.SYNOPSIS: Traditional media is at a cross roads. There is a need for those in the media landscape, as it stands, to earn enough to stay afloat, but also come across as balanced and neutral to keep its audiences.In America, NYT’s liberal leaning ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Black Friday

    It's Black Friday, the end of the weekYou take my hand and hold it gently up against your cheekIt's all in my head, it's all in my mindI see the darkness where you see the lightSong by Tom OdellFriday the 13th, don’t be afraid.No, really, don’t. Everything has felt a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 13-September-2024

    Ooh, Friday the thirteenth. Spooky! Is that why certain zombie ideas have been stalking the landscape this week, like the Mayor’s brainwave for a motorway bridge from Kauri Point to Point Chev? Read on and find out. This roundup, like all our coverage, is brought to you by the Greater ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago

  • Tourism on the table for Pacific Ministers’ meet-up

    Tourism and Hospitality Minister Matt Doocey will meet with Trade and Tourism Minister of Australia Don Farrell and Fiji Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica in Rotorua this weekend for a trilateral tourism discussion. “Like in New Zealand, tourism plays a significant role in Australia and Fiji’s economy, contributing massively to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Young people report on family and sexual violence

    The Te Puna Aonui Expert Advisory Group for Children and Young People has presented its report today on improving family and sexual violence outcomes for young people, to the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Karen Chhour.  The presentation at the Auckland event was an opportunity for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • $18 million being invested in the victims of crime

    The Government is putting more than $18 million towards improving the experience of the criminal justice system for victims, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Minister for Children Karen Chhour say. “No one should experience crime, but for those who through no fault of their own become victims, they need to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Landmark phonics check in te reo Māori

    For the first time, schools can use a purpose-built tool to check how a child is progressing in reading through te reo Māori. “Around 45 schools are trialling a New Zealand first te reo Māori phonics check, known as Hihira Weteoro. It will help kaiako (teachers) focus on what ākonga ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • New sea walls safeguard Ōpōtiki’s transformation

    Two new breakwater walls at Pākihikura (Ōpōtiki) Harbour will provide boats with safe harbour access to support the continued growth of aquaculture in Bay of Plenty, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones say. The Ministers and leaders from Tē Tāwharau o Te Whakatōhea and other ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Kitmap to improve access to science infrastructure

    Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced an online platform to optimise the use of New Zealand’s science and technology research infrastructure and to link the public and private sector. “This country is home to world-class science, technology, and engineering expertise. Kitmap is set to empower Kiwi innovators, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Driving the uptake of low emission heavy vehicles

    The Government has launched the Low Emissions Heavy Vehicle Fund (LEHVF) to promote innovation and offset the cost of hundreds of heavy vehicles powered by clean technologies, Energy Minister Simeon Brown and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts say. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Speech on replacing the Resource Management Act

    Replacing the RMA Hon Chris Bishop: Good morning, it is great to be with you. Can I first acknowledge the Resource Management Law Association for hosting us here today. Can I also acknowledge my Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Simon Court, who is on stage with me. He has assisted me in establishing the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Replacement for the Resource Management Act takes shape

    Two new laws will be developed to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA), with the enjoyment of property rights as their guiding principle, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court say. “The RMA was passed with good intentions in 1991 but has proved a failure in practice. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Tough laws pass to make gang life uncomfortable

    Legislation passed through Parliament today will provide police and the courts with additional tools to crack down on gangs that peddle misery and intimidation throughout New Zealand, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “From November 21, gang insignia will be banned in all public places, courts will be able to issue non-consorting orders, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • New levy rates set to ensure continued funding of FENZ

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the rates for the redesigned levy that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) from July 2026.  “Earlier this year FENZ consulted publicly on a 5.2 percent increase to the levy. I was not convinced that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Police allocate Officers to Beat and Gang Units

    The Coalition Government welcomes Police’s announcement today to deploy more police on the beat and staff to Gang Disruption Units.  An additional 70 officers will be allocated to Community Beat Teams across towns and regional centres.  This builds on the deployment of beat officers in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch CBDs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Consultation begins on significant updates to the biosecurity system

    Proposals to strengthen the country’s vital biosecurity system, including higher fines for passengers bringing in undeclared high-risk goods, greater flexibility around importing requirements, and fairer cost sharing for biosecurity responses have been released today for public consultation. Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says “The future is about resilience and the 30-year-old ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Wānaka community to benefit from new overnight health service

    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says an Overnight Acute Care Service opening in October will provide people in Wānaka and the surrounding area with the assurance of quality overnight care closer to home.  “When I was in Wānaka earlier this year, I announced funding for an overnight health service – ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Preventing potholes with data-driven technology

    The Government is rolling out data collection vans across the country to better understand the condition of our road network to prevent potholes from forming in the first place, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is a key priority for the Government and increasing ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • GDP data shows effect of high interest rates

    Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for the quarter to June 2024 reinforces how an extended period of high interest rates has meant tough times for families, businesses, and communities, but recent indications show the economy is starting to bounce back, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ data released today ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • NZ to host first Fiji, Australia trilateral trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua

    Trade Minister Todd McClay will host Fijian Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica and Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for trilateral trade talks in Rotorua this weekend. “Fiji is one of the largest economies in the Pacific and is a respected partner for Australia and New Zealand,” Mr McClay says. Australia and New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • NZ hosts Annual CER Trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua

    Trade Minister Todd McClay will meet with Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua this weekend.  “CER is our most comprehensive agreement covering trade, labour mobility, harmonisation of standards and political cooperation. It underpins an important trading relationship worth $32 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government proposing changes to jury trials

    The Government is seeking the public’s feedback on two major changes to jury trials in order to improve court timeliness, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “The first proposal would increase the offence threshold at which a defendant can decide to have their case heard by a jury. “The second is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Business key to regional economic dialogue

    Local businesses and industries need to be front and centre in conversations about how regions plan to grow their economies, Regional Development Shane Jones says. The nationwide series of summits aims to facilitate conversations about regional economic growth and opportunities to drive productivity, prosperity and resilience through the Coalition Government’s Regional ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • More funding for Growing Up in New Zealand study

    The Government is investing $16.8 million over the next four years to extend the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) Longitudinal Study. GUiNZ is New Zealand’s largest longitudinal study of child health and wellbeing and has followed the lives of more than 6000 children born in 2009 and 2010, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Tough targets for charter schools will raise achievement

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that Charter Schools will face a combination of minimum performance thresholds and stretch targets for achievement, attendance and financial sustainability. “Charter schools will be given greater freedom to respond to diverse student needs in innovative ways, but they will be held to a much ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • NZ votes for Middle East resolution at UN

    New Zealand has voted for a United Nations resolution on Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian Territory with some caveats, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand’s yes vote is fundamentally a signal of our strong support for international law and the need for a two-state solution,” Mr Peters says.    “The Israel-Palestine ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Honouring the legacy of New Zealand’s suffragists

    Suffrage Day is an opportunity to reaffirm New Zealand’s commitment to ensuring we continue to be a world leader in gender equality, Minister for Women Nicola Grigg says. “On 19 September, 131 years ago, New Zealand became the first nation in the world where women gained the right to vote. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Foreign Minister to travel to New York, French Polynesia

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is travelling to New York next week to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, followed by a visit to French Polynesia. “In the context of the myriad regional and global crises, our engagements in New York will demonstrate New Zealand’s strong support for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Thanking social workers on their national day

    “Today, on Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers’ Day, I would like to recognise the tremendous effort social workers make not just today, but every day,” Children’s Minister and Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour says. “I thank all those working on the front line for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Minister of State for Trade heads to Laos for ASEAN meetings

    Minister of State for Trade Nicola Grigg will travel to Laos this week to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers’ Meetings in Vientiane.   “The Government is committed to strengthening our relationship with ASEAN,” Ms Grigg says. “With next year marking 50 years since New Zealand became ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Members appointed to retail crime MAG

    The Government has appointed four members to the Ministerial Advisory Group for victims of retail crime, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “I am delighted to appoint Michael Hill’s national retail manager Michael Bell to the group, as well as Waikato community advocate and business ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Speech to the New Zealand Nurses Organisation AGM and Conference 2024

    It’s my pleasure to be here to join the opening of the NZNO AGM and Conference for 2024.  First, I’d like to thank NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku, NZNO President, Anne Daniels, and Chief Execuitve Paul Gaulter for inviting me to speak today.  Thank you also to all the NZNO members ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Improvements for New Zealand authors

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says changes to the Public Lending Right [PLR] scheme will help benefit both the National Library and authors who have books available in New Zealand libraries. “I am amending the regulations so that eligible authors will no longer have to reapply every year ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Minister commends Police for gang operation

    Police Minister Mark Mitchell congratulates Police for the outstanding result of their most recent operation, targeting the Comancheros. “That Police have been able to round up the majority of the Comancheros leadership, and many of their patched members and prospects, shows not only the capability of Police, but also shows ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • New appointments to the EPA board

    Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has announced a major refresh of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) board with four new appointments and one reappointment.   The new board members are Barry O’Neil, Jennifer Scoular, Alison Stewart and Nancy Tuaine, who have been appointed for a three-year term ending in August 2027.  “I would ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Enabling rural recovery works in Hawke’s Bay

    Cabinet has approved an Order in Council to enable severe weather recovery works to continue in the Hawke’s Bay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell say. “Cyclone Gabrielle and the other severe weather events in early 2023 caused significant loss and damage to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • FamilyBoost childcare payment registrations open

    From today, low-to-middle-income families with young children can register for the new FamilyBoost payment, to help them meet early childhood education (ECE) costs. The scheme was introduced as part of the Government’s tax relief plan to help Kiwis who are doing it tough. “FamilyBoost is one of the ways we ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Prioritising victims with tougher sentences

    The Government has today agreed to introduce sentencing reforms to Parliament this week that will ensure criminals face real consequences for crime and victims are prioritised, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. "In recent years, there has been a concerning trend where the courts have imposed fewer and shorter prison sentences ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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