Open mike 27/07/2020

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, July 27th, 2020 - 146 comments
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For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step up to the mike …

146 comments on “Open mike 27/07/2020 ”

  1. Muttonbird 1

    How will Judith respond to last night's poll? She can't just let it go, she will have to attack.

    Bound to be dramatic…

    • Peter 1.1

      She'll only be attacking because that's her default mode. It's what her gang want and expect.

      Some not in her gang will need to be persuaded she's lovely and cuddly. That puts doing something 'dramatic' in a perspective.

      The poll? She won't be worried about that because she and Gerry know they are doing so, so much better. The big message from the poll is those who want National to have September voting matching this poll need to galvanise themselves, encourage others and get out and vote. And have no Labour MPs, candidates or members do anything dumb.

      • Sacha 1.1.1

        Looks like Gerry has been given the job of responding. Keeps the easily influenced from joining the dots. Expect to see Collins everywhere when the inevitably better numbers come from tvnz's poll on Thursday.

        • observer 1.1.1.1

          The numbers might be "rogue", but having grumpy Gerry all over the media in response will help to make them less rogue. Collins alienates people but can appeal to the base, but Brownlee just alienates.

      • Anne 1.1.2

        And have no Labour MPs, candidates or members do anything dumb.

        There's always one. Lets hope we've seen it happen already and there will no more.

        • gsays 1.1.2.1

          As the ILG brouhaha showed, Labour MPs can't have done anything wrong in the short to medium distance past, let alone in the next few weeks.

    • tc 1.2

      Interesting how the MSM will behave. Do they allow her bluster or question her ability and judgement over the non bounce in polling.

    • Devo 1.3

      They're claiming that their polls have a 10% swing from Labour to National, so around 50% to 35% instead of 60% to 25%.

      Pretty dire if that's all they can claim

      • Sacha 1.3.1

        It's the only performance metric that counts for their caucus – how many of them have to find a new job after the election.

  2. ScottGN 2

    I wonder if Duncan Garner will be declaring his own network’s poll a rogue this morning on behalf of Judith?

    • Tiger Mountain 2.1

      Radio silence possibly from Dunky–our local Nat patsy question champ, “Happy Days” to Hosking too!

      • Peter 2.1.1

        Listening to Hosking is unusual for me but I tuned in at the beginning this morning to see if my predictions about what he'd say were right. I was partly wrong.

        By and large he said the poll was a rogue one, the results were wrong and polls don't mean anything.

        So having worked out it meant nothing, was irrelevant and was wrong he ignored it? Or made a one sentence comment? Hell no! Every sentence was the knife being turned and another bitter pill. And every further word and sentence he uttered made me feel good? Hell yes!

        • sumsuch 2.1.1.1

          Never forget 84's real support is a disgusting 45 % and it will return as soon as a finger-click. Make hay while the sun shines for the greater good. Of course, Labour doesn't have 't'Cause' in their heart. Which is to say, anyone furious and with the words that follow that. Any soapbox socialist in the 30s. We need to persuade now again and all we have is orderly progressions to high office rather than righteous anger.

  3. Tricledrown 3

    Winston's grandstanding NZ has had a guts full and are not taking anymore of him. Shane Jones has turned supporters off every time he opens his mouth.

    • weka 3.1

      I wondered if that's what's happening too, that people have had a guts full. Covid changed a lot of things including NZ values I suspect. Maybe we're less inclined to tolerate the shady patriarch bullshit now that we've directly experienced what a compassionate govt will do when we are in trouble.

      • weka 3.1.1

        otoh, Peters is the master of the bounce back, so let's wait and see. Otooh, it's not the first time he's misjudged the electorate.

        • McFlock 3.1.1.1

          Peters has been pronounced politically dead so many times that I suspect his literal death will be followed by half the medical profession witholding judgement for two electoral terms, just to be sure.

  4. Dennis Frank 4

    Helen the lawyer vs Chloe the celeb: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12351075

    Quizzed about Swarbrick's higher profile and name recognition, White told RNZ: "I'd ask them whether they're looking for a celebrity or someone to do this job very seriously." Today, Swarbrick returned fire with a pointed tweet. "Before I fought my way into @NZParliament with @NZGreens, I was dismissed as having no life experience," she wrote. "Now I've put my head down & done the work to huge results, & a candidate preferring themselves the front runner is using the same attacks against me that misogynists do our PM?"

    Helen is just demonstrating how serious she is. Has she also demonstrated that she's serious about decriminalising cannabis? If not, time for her to pull finger. Serious lawyers can add value to parliament if they are credible…

    • Gabby 4.1

      Why would a lawyer want to decriminalise anything?

      • weka 4.1.1

        because it's the right thing to do.

        • Gabby 4.1.1.1

          Fair enough, that's a hallmark of lawyers.

          • weka 4.1.1.1.1

            maybe that's a reflection of the lawyers you know?

            • UncookedSelachimorpha 4.1.1.1.1.1

              Lawyers are fine – it's only the 99% that give the rest a bad name you need to watch out for.

              [most lawyers I’ve mentioned this joke to think it’s hilarious for some reason!]

    • Chris 4.2

      It's White's lack of respect for Swarbrick that's the issue here. It's one thing to say that you believe you'd serve the electorate better than another candidate, but to say what White said, particularly about a candidate from a party that's kind of on your side, says more about the kind of person White is than anything else.

  5. Janice 5

    The Epsom sheep are so used to being mustered into the polling booth to vote for ACT that if the NP withdraws support for ACT, Goldsmith will have to fight really hard to get the seat back and return to parliament.

    • Incognito 5.1

      Nope. The party vote in Epsom went to National and only 696 voted for ACT. You confuse it with the candidate vote.

      https://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2017/electorate-details-12.html

      • Janice 5.1.1

        No I did not confuse the difference, I am very aware of how MMP works and don't need patronising. What I was implying was that the Epsom sheep would go into the polling booth on automatic and habitually put a tick by Act, and again automatically put a tick by party vote National.

        • Incognito 5.1.1.1

          I’m sorry to hear that you feel patronised. What I meant was that others may be confused when reading your comment, not that you don’t know the difference. You’d be surprised how many others still don’t seem to fully understand MMP. To be clear, Epsom voted for Seymour on the Candidate List and for National on the Party List.

          HTH and have a nice day.

  6. Observer Tokoroa 6

    national naked

    For all their Wealth, their grandeur, their extraordinary strange behaviours, national has entirely ruined it's persona and standing.

  7. Gristle 7

    At what point do nicknames change?

    Are we at the point when the Crusher becomes the Crushed?

    • Tricledrown 7.1

      The media are calling Nationals disater polls crushing ironically.

      Collins released her massive infrastructure spend after saying we will be spending less than Labour but no costings other than a wild guess which was much higher than Labours spending.

      Goldsmith contradicted Collins saying the are going to cut $8 billion in spending ,yet in Australia their liberal govt,Nationals equivalent Party is spending more than our Labour govt on Covid recovery.Goldsmith hasn't put a foot right yet.He is well out of his depth in how modern economics work.

      Even Boris Johnsto has a better understanding if the polls are right it will do National a favour and he will be gone along with much other of the dead wood (house) of Dirty politics.

      National need to get rid of the Farrers and Slaters Jordan William's etc and get some honest farmers and business people if they want to be taken seriously.Ditch the Carpet baggers associated with the tobacco alcohol and monopolists lobbyists.

      Bridges said he didn't vote for Collins.

      Then Falloon and Collins Dirty retaliation over a Moral lapse as opposed to Sexual Harrassment.

      National have no one to blame except the pollsters.

      JLR one of their ex MP's is going to release more damming info on National .

      • Gristle 7.1.1

        Crushed Collins sounds like it should be a cocktail. Something bloody with a sour after taste that leaves you wondering why this reminds you of an unpleasant experience you had decades ago: one you hoped never to have to experience again.

      • Draco T Bastard 7.1.2

        and get some honest farmers and business people

        Sorry, but NZ's all out.

  8. Dennis Frank 8

    The structure of representative democracy forces participants into idiocy nowadays. Because of the binary oppositional political psychology it induces. Example:

    government announced it was abolishing some of the country’s most nonsensical and restrictive planning rules. Phil Twyford and Julie Anne Genter’s new national policy statement on urban development stops councils imposing minimum parking requirements for new developments, and ensures they can’t restrict building heights to fewer than six storeys in town centres of major cities.

    They’re essentially forced to enable taller buildings with no carparks around rapid transit. It’s a regulations bonfire. An unshackling of the free market. Of course, National’s urban development spokesperson embraced the policy with open arms. Just kidding, she absolutely hated it.

    In what seemed to be a full-throated defence of red tape, Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean called the government’s plan “madness”. She said its laissez-faire approach to parking would cause congestion, essentially claiming that incentivising car-free living will generate more cars. https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/25-07-2020/hooray-new-zealands-worst-planning-regulations-just-got-eliminated/

    Clever of the coalition to defuse the Nat's primary weapon, eh? Bureaucratic throttling of kiwis is a long-standing problem, and National's declared intent to gut the RMA was likely to be a pseudo-solution.

    But look at how binary framing makes their spokesperson come across as wacky instead of sensible. The system of representative democracy is inexorable in dumbing everyone down. We need psychologists in the media pointing this out, using examples such as the above.

    • Sacha 8.1

      You seem to be building a rather large thing out of one provincial dunce out of her depth. Sometimes a fool is just a fool.

      • ScottGN 8.1.1

        Yeah and she soon changed her tune once she was overruled by her party’s Transport Spokesperson. Having an MP from one of the sprawling, thinly populated rural electorates in the South Island as your Urban Development Spokesperson kinda sums up how lost National is as far as the 21st century challenges facing us.

    • Treetop 8.2

      I heard the cost of putting in a car park to a build was 50 k.

      • ScottGN 8.2.1

        If it’s in an underground parking basement the cost can get up to 70k per car park.

    • SPC 8.3

      They hate public transport, cycle lanes and car free urban spaces beloved by the modern cities of the world.

      The love of cars, extending to car parks – is making this party the dinosaurs of the age.

    • gsays 8.4

      Great example Dennis, thanks.

      For ages now I have been wanting the team in red to do this kind of politicking, negate the opposition's barking points by doing a simpler, small example of what the Tories propose.

  9. Treetop 9

    1. With the dissolution of parliament on 12 August does this mean that a caucus will no longer have their weekly meeting?

    2. If so, then how does a political party mobilise and tweak their strategy and manifesto?

    3. Do the MPs who are resigning work from their electorate office right up until the election?

    I do realise there are election debates and press releases.

    12 August will probably be a day of relief for some in the National Party.

  10. mac1 10

    Jamie-Lee Ross coalesces with the Public Party and has to support their conspiracy theories. It sounds like the Red/Yellow Peril has raised its head again.

    Funny how foreign enemies arise when things are not going well at home.

    But, the real learning from this is the fact that Ross was National's chief whip and as such was very powerful in the party, and in sync with its MPs.

    Now he allies with conspiracy theorists.

    Where does National get these thirty something aged men with their loopy ideas and behaviour? National needs a time in the political wilderness to find and recover its soul, review its selection practices, rediscover decency and balance.

    It looks like it will get it. Been saying this for a time, but National has further to travel down yet. When it hits bottom, then it might acknowledge its need for reform.

  11. Byd0nz 11

    As working class boomer balancing on the poverty line, I've observed many elections, disappointed by most, but have had a reasonable personal record of predicting the outcomes. This time I have a shocker that will see the final death throes of the Nats, and not before time. Two main factors sway this for me.
    1. The Covid 19 shock influence.
    2. The Jacinda example.
    Covid has impacted greatly on the politcal awareness for the young vote, the vote that has been predicted in the past, but had not transpired.
    Young people have now awoken and they love to love, and they Love Jacinda, thus my shock prediction. Firstly not a big shock, but Auckland Central goes green. The big two shocks though, is Northland and Epsom go Labour along with marginal Country seats. Bye bye Act, NZFirst and National floundering in the doldrums. Ah Bliss.

    • Anne 11.1

      Labour might come through the middle and take the party vote in the Epsom seat, but I don’t see the electorate vote for MP changing. That will probably stay with ACT.

    • weka 11.2

      Nice one, good to see some thinking outside the box.

      I've been wondering if National will drop below 20%. How far can the go?

  12. Gristle 12

    Crushed Collins sounds like it should be a cocktail. Something bloody with a sour after taste that leaves you wondering why this reminds you of an unpleasant experience you had decades ago: one you hoped never to have to experience again.

  13. Dennis Frank 13

    Two weeks ago Brian Fallow (ex-economics editor, NZH) published this appraisal comparing the economic recovery plans of National & Labour: https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/106021/brian-fallow-examines-economic-priorities-outlined-so-far-leaders-two-main-political

    They are remarkably similar, not just in consisting of pious waffle bereft of any new policy, but also in that the rhetoric is almost identical.

    That's because marketing to mainstreamers only succeeds on the basis of the lowest common denominator of intelligence, and Labour & National compete by copying each other most of the time. Binary politics.

    Bizarrely the fifth plank of Labour’s five-point plan is predicated on the assertion that it will be an export-led recovery, even though in the same speech Ardern acknowledged that the International Monetary Fund expects global output to fall by nearly 5% this year.

    Yes, but Labour must cling to the neoliberal myth. Reality can be postponed for a while yet – until after the election. Why get real too soon? Myth-promotion is how elections get won. Even if the mana of the PM looks like winning this one, better safe than sorry.

    The reality is, however, that the ebb tide already running on globalisation pre-Covid has only intensified. Trade Minister David Parker was scathing about the leaked initial offer from the European Union under that negotiation, while observers of US trade policy warn not to expect a return to the status quo

    Will we see National campaigning on economic growth while faced with a global recession? Probably. Rethinking is just too hard.

    • Gabby 13.1

      Well if we're importing even less than we're exporting, that'll work in praxis, eh.

      • Draco T Bastard 13.1.1

        Ah, yes, the government always goes back to mercantalism. That's what an 'export led recovery' is. Export more, import less and we'll have more money is the implication. They always imply such and then it never really materialises.

        The poor keep getting poorer while the rich get richer.

        What we really need is a development led recovery where we develop the capability to get by without imports. Then we'll likely see a decrease in poverty.

        • Stuart Munro 13.1.1.1

          Korea had an interesting take on exporting – develop products in the local market to an international standard – that way locals don't get neglected the way NZ does. A customer base, any customer base, is a valuable tool for innovation, not just short term profit taking.

          • gsays 13.1.1.1.1

            Concerning customer base, you are correct, especially your locals.

            I learnt this as a publican in a small rural town. Look after the locals. They will see you through the winters and when the dairy pay-out hits the floor.

        • PaddyOT 13.1.1.2

          Perhaps a global solution of working towards "Commonism" the principle of pursuing the common good. ( No, not communism).

          What if we stopped upholding the myth by continually tagging the political system as "neoliberalism " ; a concept long surpassed while we are distracted looking at a box hoping for Schrödinger’s cat to come out alive?
          What if we opened the lid and saw the dirtier, greedier system that has mutated as the norm we truly let reign?
          How do you pose correct solutions if we are fighting a misnomer? If we shift our gaze and name what really exists and that is an accepted creeping of neocapitalism ( eg. save AMI, South Canterbury Finance, Tiwai ?) and onto a global rise of necrocapitilism both overt and covert – dispossess then kill them off !

          From neoliberalism to necrocapitalism in 20 years
          https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/neoliberalism-necrocapitalism-20-years-200715082702159.html

          "Sometimes this manifests itself as a certain fixation of the gaze, even bedazzlement, and then there are attempts to restore the imaginary, untrue, and above all, impossible past, a style of politics and management… called retrotopia. Leaders, managers, and politicians act as if they wanted to turn back time, which is, in itself, an absurd strategy. The past they refer to is a sentimental, nostalgic image that has more to do with the world of fairy tales than real history: "
          https://biennalewarszawa.pl/en/zarzadzanie-w-swiecie-schrodingera/

    • Draco T Bastard 13.2

      Still, we have yet to see a tax policy from Labour, despite the need to service the rapidly mounting public debt it is piling up. Interest rates will not stay this low indefinitely, or it will be a very bad sign if they do.

      Dammit, the government needs to stop borrowing and start simply creating the money that it needs.

      Yes, put some rules around how much can be created in relation to the economy but a government should never, ever borrow as that just gives the rich a government guaranteed income.

      Its cut-price recovery will be achieved by focusing on the quality of public spending, as if that had not occurred to any Government before.

      National's cut price recovery will, of course, cost us a lot more but will make their funders a lot richer.

  14. Sabine 14

    driving around in middle nuzillind

    lots of hanna tamaki billboards – homes and jobs

    lots of new conservatie billboards – free speech, right to guns, all lives matter (yes)

    some maori party billboards – vote for me / trust me

    some nz first party billboards – drove by to fast to see the message underneath

    lots of national/candidate billboards – vote national

    and a fair consistent labour /candidate billboards – keep moving

    will be interesting to see how this will work out with all the new splinter groups on the right

    • AB 14.1

      "with all the new splinter groups on the right"

      Those splinters are from the shells cracked to let the nuts out. Did COVID-19 crack the shells and accelerate the 'nutterisation' of the right? Smarter people than me will opine.

    • woodart 14.2

      Ive been driving around lower middle NZ. one thing I have noticed, compared to three yrs ago, way less nat billboards out in the country. dont know whether its less volunteers to put them up and down, less money to spend(dont forget ,they would have spent $$$ on toddler billboards),or less cockies willing to look like tools.

  15. Dennis Frank 15

    Governments operate economic policy in accord with advice on prevalent influential economic theories. Sometimes the winds of intellectual fashion blow these theories away. Austerity theory, for instance.

    In the middle of the last recession, the GFC, the Europeans were very worried about debt. Many took on a policy called austerity, which involved cutting spending. It caused economic growth to fall further, and the result was completely paradoxical in some cases.

    They harmed their economic growth so much that it became harder to manage debt, rather than easier. Reducing government spending is like closing down factories. It costs jobs and hurts people.

    The theory that austerity was the best policy was based on a lot of academic work, including a very famous academic paper by two Harvard economists called Reinhart and Rogoff. The paper came out in 2010 and it said debt was bad because it caused growth to be lower.

    One person bothered to check their working, a young man in his 20s called Thomas Herndon. What he found is they made a mistake in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that totally undermined their conclusion. It took a while for people to pay attention to what young Mr Herndon was saying, but eventually they did. We can now move forward knowing that research is flawed: debt is not necessarily a problem.

    https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/economy/coronavirus-australia-how-economy-will-survive-massive-debt-from-pandemic/news-story/a08be4a9cfdf7fcd83a0c787ee14bf22

    The writer explains why the govt in Oz will steer through the pandemic-induced recession via cheap govt debt. Bernard Hickey was in the media here advising the same a couple of months back. The economics paradigm has shifted.

    • Foreign waka 15.1

      The fallacy is that constant economic growth is sustainable. It is not and hence we see the up and downs, the growth the recessions and worst still depression when too much money is printed with no value behind. Oh, is this not what the fed and other countries as well as NZ do?

  16. Reality 16

    As expected, Duncan Garner's Newshub whinge is sour and sulky.

  17. SPC 17

    At the moment we have National supporting charging for the quarantining of returning Kiwis, while the government is going through the process of examination of such a regime.

    For mine, there should be no retrospective charging at all – thus any charging only occurs for those who leave New Zealand after it is introduced.

    • greywarshark 17.1

      Perhaps those NZs should just regard it as part of the cost of exciting overseas travel. At least they can return to Paradise like the Prodigal Son (and Daughter). They have been able to get away and have some OE and should be helped when they get back. But like education these days, their trip overseas will cost; perhaps it should come under the heading of Overseas Education and it can be put down as a Student Loan. There is no reason why they shouldn't be expected to pay towards this extra cost that is caused by the pandemic.

      • SPC 17.1.1

        Costs should be known before a decision is taken not afterwards.

        Many have come back in already and faced no costs, why a change?

        PS An option is having two streams – one for those not charged and another for those who are prepared to pay for the cost (we already require non Kiwis to pay charges for coming in – businesses meet the cost).

      • Sacha 17.1.2

        Quarantine is for the benefit of us already here, not the traveller. How does it make sense to charge them for it?

        • Andre 17.1.2.1

          Uh, because us already here have already bitten the bullet and paid the price to achieve the COVID-eliminated status the new arrivals wish to benefit from, so it's only fair for them to contribute to the cost of maintaining that status?

          • Sacha 17.1.2.1.1

            The new arrivals do not have any choice whether to 'benefit' or not. The whole conversation is underpinned by long-cultivated neoliberal notions of 'user pays' but it seems to be more of an emotional rather than logical attachment.

            • Andre 17.1.2.1.1.1

              It might not be a viewpoint that's appealing (and personally I'm somewhat closer to to the view that returning is a right that should be able to be freely exercised without incurring a huge cost), but it's neither illogical nor emotional. It's simply one of those things on a continuum where reasonable minds may differ.

            • Foreign waka 17.1.2.1.1.2

              Sacha
              No, it is underpinned by the rights of taxpayers who are basically being blackmailed to fork out the money for expats to resettle and god only knows for how long. Once all is clear, most will bugger off again and kiwis living here have to pay their millions. Lets say, like the education loan that many never paid back?

              Since when is the tax paid by those who have contributed their share to maintain NZ health, education and infrastructure a free meal ticket with no accountability? Really, seriously?

              • Sacha

                Taxpayers' rights? I believe you are making my point.

                • Foreign waka

                  Taxpayers are the people who are working here in NZ, many on minimum wage. My point is that their rights to a fair return is far greater than expats wanting to go home, many to get a benefit that is not available to them in the country of their choosing. At what point is the payers benefit a user pay to those who have not contributed?

          • weka 17.1.2.1.2

            We didn't have to pay $3,000 to go into lock down though, so the cost of that was spread amongst everyone.

            • Andre 17.1.2.1.2.1

              A lot of people I know are out of pocket a shitload more than $3000 from the lockdown, even after government assistance. As well as all the other less tangible costs. So I find it quite easy to see where people are coming from when they think arrivals should be expected to cover their costs. Even if I think the counterargument has more merit.

              • Sacha

                I agree with you, just noting the larger resonance of any conversation in NZ about user pays.

            • Foreign waka 17.1.2.1.2.3

              Weka

              Many have paid with their job or reduced hours, part time instead of full time. And we only saw the beginning. Just wait until end of September. We will see double digit unemployment figures.

              • weka

                Yep. And imagine being charged $3,000 on top of that. There seems to be a perception that people overseas wanting to return home are well off and have jobs. I'd like to see some analysis of who is coming home and their situation.

                • Foreign waka

                  Weka, I meant the Kiwis here in NZ.
                  Expats have been overseas for years and coming home because of job losses and not getting any benefit in the country they have earned and paid taxes. On the suspicion of sounding cruel, NZ is in debt by billions of dollars, many people who have been living here, paying their fair share into the Government coffers and are entitled to assistance are now being asked to pay for those who could not be bothered to contribute. Not only are we now being "asked" to pay 3 k for each returnee, no no no that is not the end of it, we now will have to pay a benefit too. Maybe that comes on top of the unpaid education loan from years back? Sorry, but it is fair to ask of those "coming home" to pay their isolation cost. You will be surprised how many people are actually quite aback with the audacity to "sue" the government because they don't cough up the money. I have my own thoughts on that…

                  • McFlock

                    overall, it's a pissy little cost to bother with, in my opinion. And even if it were substantial, I don't have a problem with the govt paying it for a couple of years until we have a clear picture of things like vaccines and effective treatments coming online.

                    It's the humane thing to do, and it's also a good way to keep the economy and hotels operating. A multi-thousand-dollar fee is a barrier to entry more than the isolation itself. And govt iso at least figures out pretty quickly when someone's done a bunk (and keeps the rate low).

                  • weka

                    "Weka, I meant the Kiwis here in NZ."

                    I know. I was pointing out that Kiwis overseas who lost their job because of covid might have to pay $3,000 on top of that. Why them and not the Kiwis at home that lost their jobs? I don't get why they are being judged differently.

    • RedBaronCV 17.2

      Or we could head down the aussie route. I'm sure I saw a story where the inwards numbers allowed were so small the airlines sold only business and first class seats. Maybe charges pro rata to the airfare?

  18. greywarshark 18

    What do you think of this Eco Maori? It is more than just Tai Tokerau isn't it?

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/07/27/billy-te-kahika-takes-democracy-fight-to-the-heart-of-government-advance-new-zealand/

    • SPC 18.1

      Billy T James would build a new character, Uncle Te Kookiha more English than the Northland National Party …

    • PaddyOT 18.2

      Why did you use a dehumanising label, just one of those " Eco Maori " is he ? In recent rhetoric about Billy Te Kahika has also been other tags as one type of tactic to blank and cancel out a right in a democracy to have a voice. Rebel, radical, extreme… a joke guy that Billy T James would've mocked. Truly?

      Yes, it is more than Te Tai Tokerau. It's millions globally asking for justice, self-determination and the return of their stolen assets.

      Is Gutteres, Secretary-General UN one of those Eco radicals too when he points out that just 26 of the richest people in the world hold as much wealth as half the global population of 8 billion people?

      • greywarshark 18.2.1

        Why don't you stick your head in the ground you jerk Paddy OT. Looking for something to moan about and create disunity.

        • PaddyOT 18.2.1.1

          Ouch! What is 'disunify'ing in calling out on tags that subversively nullify others, even if it's inadvertent? Applying a blanket name with a peg on your nose, to dismiss others such as those "____________" over there, is an underlying factor creating inequality.

          Calling " jerk " ( same tactic ) doesn't make entrenched prejudices go away.

          Calling for my demise to go underground is ironical in that the same maggots that will eat me once dead won't be discriminating and will feast on you too.

          • The Al1en 18.2.1.1.1

            Eco maori is a contributor here,

            https://thestandard.org.nz/search/eco+maori/?search_comments=true&search_posts=true&search_sortby=date

            though it may have saved your pearls from a hard fist clutching, if the 'offending' sentence was written

            What do you think of this, Eco Maori?

            • Cinny 18.2.1.1.1.1

              Great minds 🙂 and all that Allen 🙂

            • Incognito 18.2.1.1.1.2

              Pointing our proper punctuation is pedantic and patronising.

              • The Al1en

                That depends on how you view being told how to avoid repeating an error, yet using it as outlined above, removes misunderstandings and subsequent retaliatory tit for tat posts.

                I'm not the greatest with grammar and punctuation, and I welcome all thoughtful, well intended correction.

              • Gabby

                How abour spelling?

              • greywarshark

                A little gentle jesting is something that regular commenters can add for spice to tease or joust, I think. It's all a matter of striking the right balance. And wouldn't it be good if we all mainly looked outwards at the wide issues and left the fine unpicking to those who want to pick oakum.*

                I have been reading Anne Perry and the punishments and jobs for the unemployed they dished out in old Victorian times, which may be revived in some highly developed countries! Now that's a mighty leap – from the downward direction of contentious people's comments, to the downward gaze of a workhouse resident earning their daily meal.

                * Oakumpicking was the teasing out of fibres from old ropes and was very hard on the fingers. The loose fibres were often sold to ship-builders for mixing with tar to seal the lining of wooden craft. They could also be used to make matting or bandaging.

                http://www.workhouses.org.uk/tour/oakum.shtml

                • Incognito

                  I agree but some comments are so hard to parse that we either have to make assumptions or take them through the gobbledygook reverse-translator. None of this makes for good debate.

      • SPC 18.2.2

        My first questions to Uncle Billy would be

        1. do you subscribe to the David Icke You Tube channel?

        2. does the Chinese money bag man have a plan to reduce inequality, and if not, why partner up with him?

      • Cinny 18.2.3

        To be fair…I thought GreyWS was asking the question to a regular TS commentor called Eco Maori.

        I tried to listen to an interview of Billy on talkback, but sean plunket was talking too much.

        My take on it….. people who are against the system often don't vote, we've seen it before with the internet party. Part of the reason is a reluctance to share their personal details.

        What a fascinating election it's turning into, jlr and Billy hooking up, what the actual? Talk about polar opposites, keep your eyes wide open Billy.

        • weka 18.2.3.1

          I'd probably have all sorts of problems with what Billy Te Kahika is saying if I looked more closely, but I know people that are into what he is talking about, and it's a big mistake for the left/progressives to ridicule them, call them nutters, and think they will just somehow disappear as a part of the culture rather than growing.

  19. observer 19

    Collins gets ever more desperate:

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/07/judith-collins-plans-to-grill-jacinda-ardern-on-behrouz-boochani-s-refugee-status.html

    Presumably targeting the vast pool of voters from New Conservatives, Advance and NZ First.

    “She plans to raise it when she goes up against the Prime Minister in Parliament. … “I’m sick to death of this stuff.”

    She has only 4 more sittings to tackle Ardern, and this is how she wants to use them?

    • Incognito 19.1

      Is she going to ask the PM if he paid for his ‘managed isolation’ on Manus Island and if not, why not? I’m sure this is the burning question that’s on the mind of Kiwis and keeps them awake at night. What other reason could Mushy Collins have for asking patsy pesky questions during QT in Parliament?

      • left for dead 19.1.1

        Been thinking about that Op leader going on about crushing Fairy/star dust.Instead of being a blow hard,she needs a vaccum because all she will manage is the spreading of good will to more of the people,truely short sighted an most deffinitely not PM material.

        Edit,,spell check please.a wee note to weka.

    • greywarshark 19.2

      Hey pile these awkward points on – she is 'sick to death' of them. So…..

    • PaddyOT 19.3

      Best part of the article is media continuing to use the photo of Judith wearing her MAGA hat ( albeit a blue one) then her Trumpism comes out, "He seems to me to have come here on a very dodgy idea of some sort of author's visa or something. Well I'm an author too, and I can tell you I don't think anyone's going to give me a special visa."

      A mind like lightning. One quick flash of light and then darkness.

      “They all eat, they all love me, they all kiss my ass,” Trump reportedly told journalist Timothy O’Brien, author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald. “And then they all leave and say, ‘Isn’t he horrible.’ But I’m the king.”

    • Treetop 19.4

      I'd like to see Collins write a book using a smuggled smart phone. She has such poor insight into why a person in detention on Manus Island for years would want to return there after writing a book about the harsh conditions.

      Maybe some of the conditions in Collin's recent book were of her own making and her choice to write about her parliamentary life.

      • Muttonbird 19.4.1

        +1. Anyone who writes a 350 book on a phone gets automatic entry as far as I'm concerned.

        And what's this rubbish the Nats were spouting the other day that we should have consulted Australia first. Australia can get f**ked.

    • ScottGN 19.5

      And hopefully the government will take the opportunity to remind us all that the government Collins was part of gave Peter Thiel full citizenship in about 12 days, no questions asked.

    • mauī 19.6

      Frankly, with that long tousled hair and dreamboat eyes he can stay as long as he likes 🙂

  20. Jum 20

    What impact will the new party Heartland have on nats? Seen boards in Waikato.

  21. Episode 5: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/a-useless-handbrake-is-released

    Hopefully there won't have to be further episodes – by now I'm hopefully that 'nice' guys' outwardly, aren't necessarily nice people – be they politicians, senior public servants or anyone else pushing their own agendas above all else.

    Hypocrisy and double standards that have become the Normal Normal it seems. Things like moralising, judging and conflating the concepts of arranged marriages and forced marriages on the one hand whilst all the while getting ones rocks off over a conference call to the woifey and whanau with a bit on the side on the other.

    Thankfully Labour have a few more 'decent blokes and blokessess' to hold it all together, and there's always the Greens to fall back on. Let's hope it doesn't take any more episodes because they'd be liable to get very seedy. It might be time for the senior ranks of the public service to have a bit of a hydroxycloroclean – even if it needs to trickle down

    • Gabby 21.1

      Well at least there's a new visa coming that lets employees change jobs.

    • RedBaronCV 21.2

      I found that article a bit under researched and some what over emotional.

      It added together the student visa's which were just an income earning scam for dodgy private education providers and have only existed since National brought them in, the young under 30 visa's for international travel which have never really been seen as a residency pathway, the RSE visas which are seasonal (and there has been help & repatriation on offer here) plus the other visa's and only around 10,000 of these have been here for over 5 years usually on a motley collection of short term visa's.

      Frankly the ire would be better directed at the employer sponsored visa's who used them for cheap labour or some level of scam then walked away from them, the national party who decided to use visa's to bid down employment wages and conditions for all or the businesses who can't be bothered to train and educate available youth.

      Our Neets unemployment is huge, in part because visa workers mean that the labour force in the early entry years of employment is swollen by half as much (50,000 becomes 75000) .

      Lastly if most of the central Auckland electorate is not native born that is colonisation rather than immigration and services are clearly not being provided to the wider community at any level.

      • OnceWasTim 21.2.1

        "I found that article a bit under researched and some what over emotional."

        Unfortunately if Mr Fonseka were to begin to describe his research, it'd require a book, and I'll excuse the emotion considering the damage some immigrants have suffered due to NZ's oh-so-suphusticated best practice policies. And it's not as if people haven't been warning the government of the complete bugger's muddle of things for over the lifetime of the current government.

        Hopefully Faafoi is merely a placeholder as well, even if he is a damn site more ethical and less sleazy

        .

        • RedBaronCV 21.2.1.1

          I do realise that some individuals have suffered damage but conflating all the various visa types into one "wrong" doesn't help his story. The student who got stuck here while in holiday transit, could go home but now wants a work visa is a long way from the 10,000 who have been here a considerable time. But plenty of the non migrant population are suffering too.

          And I do agree NZ has had dreadful settings (pretty much under all the right wing governments since 1990 who just wanted to bid down the employment market). Prior to covid, Labour was gradually deflating the visa market, putting an income limit in was one, plus moving up the course and study limits and providing training for Neets. Then there are the employer sponsored – who should sort out their own mess not dump it on others.

          Labour didn't have the margin in the polls to move faster but now everything has hit at once and they are having to deal with a 20-30 year backlog of poor policy and decisions balancing fairness and local jobs and welfare payments plus employer (& scam) situations.

          The only other comment I found odd was the one "doing us a favour". Err if it's for our benefit then umm why the desperation to stay.

          And for the record I have seen several arranged marriages. Female autonomy in the decision was varied – from basically none to a lot- but I wonder if this point of view occurs to the males who benefit from the process.

  22. Leighton 22

    This morning, Collins told Magic Talk she would not have sacked Iain Lees-Galloway for having an affair.

    "That's between him and his spouse".

    She added that when she passed on the information to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, she did not know herself he was accused of an affair – but she accused the PM of knowing prior to their conversation.

    "I didn't know anything about it, I think she probably did."

    But when asked this afternoon if she thought Ardern had lied, she said: "No I'm saying that I did not know. I simply said to her that I've had a message from someone, an email, saying that they had some information that is even worse than what has come out about our then-MP and I passed it to her and she asked me who it was about and I said, 'Ian Lees-Galloway'.

    "I did not have the detail and I said I didn't want to receive the detail and I asked them to contact her office.

    "And when I said 'It's Iain Lees-Galloway', she said 'Oh yes, right'."

    When asked if the implication was that Ardern had "joined the dots because she already knew about the affair", Collins said: "I didn't know about the affair and I'm not interested in all the grubby details. It's not my business. She needs to front up with what she meant by 'an abuse of office' and frankly that's for her to answer. I'm not her minder and if I was, she would be much better at her job."

    Pressed again, she said again: "She said to me 'Who is it?' And I said 'It's about Iain Lees-Galloway' and she said, 'Oh yes' and then she walked off. So we arranged for me to make sure that everything went to her.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12351277

    This is truly baffling stuff from Judith and raises many questions about her version of events:

    1) Why did she bail up the Prime Minister on the floor of parliament to tell her about a vague allegation against ILG of which she had no knowledge of the substance?

    2) Who is this informant that she trusted enough to warrant telling the Prime Minister about such a vague allegation that ILG had done something "even worse" than what Falloon had done?

    3) Does she accept her informant is a liar or at least has a very skewed moral compass given that she is now saying that she would not have fired ILG for doing something which the informant had said supposed to be "much worse" than what Falloon had done?

    4) Is she not used to people replying "Oh yes, right" and walking away for the sake of ending the conversation and getting away from her? Not because they have the faintest idea of what she is talking about.

    5) How did they arrange for the informant to go directly to the Prime Minister (as he must have if Judith did not know the content of the allegation until it was publicly released) if the full extent of the conversation was the Prime Minister saying "Oh yes, right" and walking off? Unless the reference to “we” is her office.

    6) Is she really suggesting that the Prime Minister was dumb enough to go and fire ILG without bothering to wait for the informant to contact her with the details of the allegation, and then deny she knew about it until the informant contacted her? Or did the Prime Minister just go and tell ILG about her vague conversation with Judith and ILG, knowing that the game was up based on absolutely nothing, immediately spilled his guts about the affair and handed in his resignation?

    • Muttonbird 22.1

      She's seeding the media again. Feeding them their lines so she can lie about the PM.

    • Treetop 22.2

      Simple. Collins is trying to justify that she is not the CAUSE of ILG being drawn and quartered by her FILTHY politics.

      The problem with the ILG resignation is that it was done to take responsibility for the high standard the PM sets for her ministers. ILG would not have resigned were there not an election in 8 weeks.

      Rowling did not stand up to Muldoon over what was done to Moyle 5 November 1975.

      Ardern needs to put ILG on the party list and tell Collins that Ardern is holding an inquiry into Collins emailer.

    • Incognito 22.3

      Is Mushy Collins trying to convince NZ that she feels sorry for what she the PM has done to ILG???

      • Treetop 22.3.1

        Collins is trying to prove she is so righteous when she needs to front up about what her true intention was, to improve her ratings by damaging a Labour minister.

        Never mind the family of ILG. Being a teenager is not easy when your parent is a minister or a leader.

  23. Gabby 23

    If it's true that the last lot of absconders popped into a retirement village one has to question their judgment. To say the least.

  24. observer 24

    In a single day, Collins and Brownlee have done more dopey than you'd expect in a month from any coherent political leadership.

    The latest:

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/07/newshub-poll-jacinda-ardern-getting-the-benefit-of-so-much-airtime-during-covid-19-gerry-brownlee.html

    Ardern enjoying so much airtime? I can't recall National ever having as much wall-to-wall media coverage as they've had over the last few weeks.

    Sure, it's been self-destructive airtime, but whose fault is that?

    • ScottGN 24.1

      Haha. Yeah, Gerry has been pretty much off the rails today. I’d be amazed if he managed to claw back even one vote from Labour. And another day goes by where the Nats are really just talking about themselves (what ring road in Palmy?).

      • Muttonbird 24.1.1

        They are obsessed with Palmerston North, aren't they? Perhaps the plan is so get William Wood into parliament then straight on to the leadership.

      • observer 24.1.2

        I think we're so used to saying "Why are they doing this? There must be a devious plan, what is it, what are they up to?". Especially after years of National discipline and message control.

        But sometimes it's just a mess. This is one of those times. Like when it's your last day in a job, and you might as well get drunk and photocopy your butt.

      • Cinny 24.1.3

        gerry's spent the day doing a trump.

    • Incognito 24.2

      The PM can’t win. One moment she has too much airtime, the next she’s a part-time PM.

      I don’t mind giving Judith and Gerry more airtime but could they please keep their mouths shut when they’re on air or camera. It will be an improvement for them as well as for the public AKA a win-win. Thanks in advance.

  25. Eco Maori 25

    Kia Ora

    Newshub.

    The weather has been warm and local environment is awesome at the minute Ingrid.

    Ka kite Ano.

  26. Eco Maori 26

    Kia Ora

    Te Ao Maori Marama.

    That's the way Te Mokopuna are very important.

    Its great to see local Iwi and council working together to provide whare for their Tangata.

    That's good researching the effects rongo have on diabetes.

    That's is what it's all about what the people want not just the few in power in Te Tairawhiti a Maori ward is needed.

    I think lowering the voting age is a good topic.

    Ka kite Ano.

  27. Eco Maori 27

    🖕To you know who for using the landlord against me muppets.

  28. Eco Maori 28

    Kia Ora

    Newshub.

    That's looks good it might help solve our housing short age.

    I don't think it's bright too invest ones Kiwisaver into a business do you know how many fail in the first 5 years.

    Ka kite Ano.

  29. Eco Maori 29

    Kia Ora

    Te Ao Maori Marama.

    It would be logical to help people who are living on there own whenua in sheds to build a whare.

    That's is cool teaching tamariki about old Maori knowledge on their environment.

    Ka kite Ano

  30. Eco Maori 30

    Kia Ora

    The Am Show.

    Plastic are a problem that needs to be sorted start by charging the prouduce of plastic a fee and recycle and remanufacture the stuff ourselves creating jobs in Aotearoa.

    Congratulations. Paris

    Not just twins it's better to treat all your offspring equally.

    Ka kite Ano.

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    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Progress continues apace on water storage
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