Is there method to his madness?
By provoking Mexico over the wall, will Trump’s administration be looking for action by its southern neighbour that will provide an excuse for ripping up NAFTA?
We should not be allowing this Saudi businessman to export dairy cows to China.
As an animal rights issue alone, this should be prevented.
This is barbarism.
Secondly, we appear to be aligning ourselves with increasingly unsavoury traders and trading partners.
We are becoming a rather shabby little country.
Interesting article about housing by Liam Dann.
It would appear from reading it that.
a. the Australian banks have become jittery about the housing bubble
b. funding for building housing is very tight
When will the bubble burst?
Bill English will want an election before it does.
Was this the reason our Merrill Lynch trader ex PM resigned last year? Did his previous experience tell him to leave before the crash?
yes Paul there is a number of reasons he resigned what about the 2 large SHA agreements with the big Chinese consortium are they going to bring their own workers will they apply our laws and where will these workers live in Auckland how is immigration going to be managed and why aren’t we building them ourselves . And I don’t want to hear the same old lame excuses we don’t have enough builders as we have known this for 8 years not good enough.
Also the 7.5 million already given to the Clinton Foundation by uncle John disgusting and now Uncle Bill is giving them another top up of 5.5 million of our tax payers monies a total of 13 million this has to be stopped and the best solution is to get rid of these crooks and liars
Two and a half minutes to midnight. The closest it’s been since 1953. Is this what people meant when they said they wanted to return to the good old days?
I think the Cuban Missile Crisis had come and gone before the Bulletin’s board had a chance to convene. At that stage it was 7 minutes to midnight, but the steps taken by the superpowers in the aftermath to prevent it happening again lowered it to 12 minutes to midnight the following year.
In this article these 4 paragraphs stand out.
It is rare indeed to read an honest indictment of neoliberalism in the MSM.
The world is changing.
“They could be seen as evidence that we are in the degenerate terminal phase of a particular economic paradigm or doctrine – neoliberalism or market fundamentalism – which has prevailed since the mid-1980s.
There is a life cycle to these things. But just as the post-war model (which delivered faster and more inclusive economic growth than we have seen since) had by the late 1970s decayed into stagflation and over-regulation, the current regime is now delivering intolerable levels of inequality, poverty and financial insecurity.
It is patronising to dismiss the millions who voted Leave or Trump as the dupes of mendacious politicians who don’t know what is good for them, but will be set straight by the bitter disappointment ahead.
Rather, they should be seen as evidence that for too many people the status quo is not a rising tide that lifts all boats, but an ebb tide leaving them and their communities stranded.”
Paul, thanks for posting this. You can always be relied on to find these gems, and I’ll take this opportunity to also thank you for posting links to some of the best documentaries I never knew existed.
But is the answer socialism or tweaking neo liberalism, I think the former and here is the quandry for the left and many here people don’t want to roll back to a failed 20th century experiment as the solution
Oh, it will happen. It’s just a question if we wake up and do the intelligent thing and get rid of them in a controlled manner or they destroy society again.
Strangely enough some of the best articles are to be found in the Business section. When it comes to lots of issues, tax housing etc, they are a lot more upfront and honest in their commentary.
Naomi Wolf wrote a book entitled The End of America in which she outlined 10 steps to fascism.
Looks like the US has managed all 10.
Will we continue to align ourselves with a nation so overtly fascist and imperialist?
TRump is exactly what the Republican Party is. They have removed Obama Care. They have abused Congress and the Senate. They refuse to reveal what Tax they do not pay. They do not give a fig for the Common man.
The National Party here is an exact if lazy Copy of the Republican Party USA. Self centered. Abusive towards citizens (ref : English and Key 2016 condemning Kiwis saying they are totally useless). They do not reveal their Tax payments or omissions. They blatantly deny there is a housing need. Ref the Deputy PM.
They do not give enough resources for Health. Or for Education (except to their own chosen Private Schools). They slag off Teachers.
They give Tax Havens to Immigrants and Wealthy foreign Avoiders.
They provide slum conditions for the poor and homeless throughout New Zealand.
They sell our Assets to their grubby mates.
Another view is that all of this irrelevent stuff is just distraction that media bite hook line and sinker, further empowering trumps agenda to remove media as an impartial fourth estate, similar outrage from loon protests, hollywood melt downs all pushing middle america closer to trump
further empowering trumps agenda to remove media as an impartial fourth estate
Do you really think these pricks need to be empowered?.
“The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile,” Steve Bannon said during a rare interview with The New York Times on Wednesday.
“I want you to quote this,” Bannon told the Times. “The media here is the opposition party. They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.”
You need to question the mentality of a nation thats elected reagan/george w TWICE and now the donald.
You get the leader you deserve mostly, go back and watch johnston ross’s Americana docos from the 90’s and its not hard to see how easily led they are by knowing their key concerns….guns, religion, the fairytale known as ‘the american dream’ etc
For the Investor Plus Category you’ll need to keep your investment funds in an acceptable investment for three years. You’ll also have to spend at least 44 days in New Zealand each year in years two and three of your three-year investment period.
For the Investor Category you’ll need to keep your investment funds in an acceptable investment for four years. You will also have to spend at least 146 days each year in New Zealand in years two, three and four of your four-year investment period.
Investor visa requires $1.5mnzd Invested for 4 years in NZ [plus time lived per year in NZ plus some other requirements.
Investor plus visor requires $10mnzd Invested for 3 years – 44 days in NZ in each of the last 2 years of a 3 year investment period.
No additional requirements.
The 70% was from an article I read a couple of days ago.
That said, I don’t think that there should be an investor category. It’s skills we need and we’ve got all the money we need to do anything we want with our resources.
No, Iain Lees-Galloway is not barking up the wrong tree. Residency has different rules than citizenship and is decided in different departments. You can live in NZ all your life with only a residency status; you can even vote with only residency status.
According to Andrea Vance, twitter, Peter Thiel gained citizenship in 2006 under Labour.
All the abuse piled on National should now be piled on Labour.
“yea right”
In 2006 Thiel got residency under the investor category, as stated by Bill English yesterday. My understanding is that didn’t need ministerial approval, but is something decided by the relevant agencies.
Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) today revealed it approved Mr Thiel’s application on 30 June, 2011 – about five years after he bought a house in Auckland.
She amended her comment after initially calling me a liar. I have work to do, so am not religiously glued to the comments section like some of you are.
“Why single out the Cathedral for public support Nick – there are many other churches with EQ issues that don’t have the financial resources that the Diocese does. The Church of Christ in Rutherford Street needed to be demolished at their own cost.”
President Donald Trump has decided he will seek to pay for the wall on the US’s southern border by imposing a 20% tax on imports from Mexico and as part of a larger comprehensive tax reform plan, the White House said Thursday.
It wasn’t just Mexico he was talking about putting a 20% tax on their inport into America … also “other countries”.
We need to ditch America. If they don’t want to be a team player (or want to be an even worse team player than usual) we shouldn’t play their game. Let’s look elsewhere, I’m sure plenty of other countries are.
The AFSA (American Foreign Service Association) press release.
“Like the military, the career Foreign Service is an up-or-out system—those who fail to move up are forced out—and it relies on regular rotations (we typically move to a new job every 2-3 years) to perform a key mission—that is, developing a deep bench of experienced senior leaders year after year. Thus, both rotations to new positions and retirements after a fixed number of years of service are part of the DNA of the Foreign Service. Have no doubt that the next generation of leaders is eager to step up and serve, ensuring the continuity of this great institution.”
[,,,]
AFSA, the voice of the Foreign Service, is the professional association and labor union of the U.S. Foreign Service
You did see this sentence in the item you linked too, did you Cinny.
“Turnover is the rule, rather than the exception, among the top officials in the US government when the White House changes hands from one party to another, in this case from Democrat Barack Obama to Republican Donald Trump.”
Looking at the jobs they held I am rather surprised they call them a “team”. They would seem to be in quite dissimilar roles.
Can’t say I blame them though. Trump is a nutter in my opinion.
I think I did Alwyn, thankies. Have been watching house of cards, is fiction boarding on reality, but helpful in getting my head around their system, so many tiers and trust issues me thinks. Maybe their ‘team’ is their belief system rather than their roles?
I’ll give Agent Orange this however, he sure is doing what he said he would.
“he sure is doing what he said he would”.
I really wish you hadn’t been able to say that. I think I shall go to bed and stay there for the next four years. When I wake up we may have a new POTUS.
If I wake up of course.
Glenn Greenwald: Democrats Eager to Blame “Everybody
But Themselves” for Collapse of Their Party Democracy Now!, Jan. 6, 2017
As Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testifies at a Senate hearing on Russian cyberthreats ahead of a highly classified briefing today with President-elect Donald Trump, we speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has faced an onslaught of criticism for questioning the premise of Russian hacking of the U.S. election.
“Because Democrats are so desperate to put the blame on everybody but themselves for the complete collapse of their party, they’re particularly furious at anybody who vocally challenges this narrative,” Greenwald says. “And since I’ve been one of the people most vocally doing so, the smear campaign has been like none that I have ever encountered. I have been accused of being a member of the alt-right, of being an admirer of Breitbart, of being supportive of Donald Trump, of helping him get elected and, of course, of being a Kremlin operative.”
Swing towards ugly Authoritarianism from the Trump Regime (possibly with quasi-Fascist tendencies / or possibly in a somewhat milder Berlusconi mould … we’re just going to have to wait and see)
… and a concomitant …
Swing towards a rigidly-enforced McCarthyite Group-Think (bordering at times on mass hysteria – complete with officially-ordained The Ruskies are com’in !!! Conspiracy Theory) from the Washington Consensus / New Cold War Democrat Establishment
The split on The Standard – such as it is – has been largely between those happy to immerse themselves in the second phenomena … vs … those of us who recoil at both.
The Green Party has questioned the financial viability of Auckland’s East West link highway, saying the Government’s own business case has costs outweighing benefits.
Construction of the East West Link started in September 2016, and it will be a four-lane highway connecting state highways 1 and 20 from Onehunga to Penrose.
But Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter says a dramatic jump of $200-800 million in estimated cost at the beginning of 2016 casts doubts over the project’s legitimacy.
The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) produced a detailed business case for the East West Link on December 23, 2015, estimating total capital costs for the project at $1.05 billion.
One month later, January 27, 2016, the Government released a media statement announcing it was fast-tracking the project at a total estimated cost of $1.25 billion to $1.85 billion.
So, one month of inflation had the cost jump nearly 80%?
Well done to us on our number one ranking in the latest Transparency International list. However I don’t think it is a proper reflection of New Zealand. I have never thought us to be totally deserving of the rankings and that we are probably at the lower end of the top ten.
Will the Government come clean and tell us how Mr Thiel got that citizenship or are we going to have to use the O.I.A. to drag it out of the Minister?
The US system was designed to prevent democracy. The rich were fearful that the people would vote in restrictions that would prevent them from being rich and so they made sure that only the rich could run for office.
In fact, that could be said about all representative systems.
That said, go back even a few years and participatory democracy simply wouldn’t have been practical but, with modern communications and computing, it’s certainly getting that way now.
The man is an absolute nutcase. The international consequences of this are far reaching – the results may not be what the chump envisages.
They are not just economic – the US is to become another Australia in breaching International Human Rights and the treatment of asylum seekers.
That is like saying “Her husband served honorably at My Lai with Company C of the First Battalion.”
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[whatever the writer at the Huffington Post thought about Tirado’s husband doesn’t haven’t anything to do with the post Morrissey. Please don’t derail like this – weka]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[I’ve already explained Morrissey. Whatever someone thinks about Linda Tirado’s husband has nothing to do with her words or my post. What’s not clear about that? Also, please don’t bring discussions about moderation back into the post they’ve been moved from. Use the comment that’s been moved if you need to talk about it – weka]
The United States: wreaking havoc internationally for at least 133 years
Trump is horrific, but the United States has been a nightmare to people from Africa to Central America, South America and Asia long before he and his grisly gang came to power.
For 126 years, the US and Belgium have played key roles in shaping Congo’s destiny. In April 1884, seven months before the Berlin Congress, the US became the first country in the world to recognise the claims of King Leopold II of the Belgians to the territories of the Congo Basin.
One of my gardening friends has this rose in full flower. Says it is now the conversation piece of his garden. Well worth growing, certainly not huge but sends out gorgeous sprays of gold.
Truly sorry @lailaharre for tweets re @TheSpinoffTV i/v y’day – regret any slight to your integrity – hope to put in past #ChangeTheGovt
…
Laila Harré Retweeted Julie Anne Genter
Thanks for this. See you on the frontline!
Laila Harré added,
Julie Anne Genter @JulieAnneGenter
Truly sorry @lailaharre for tweets re @TheSpinoffTV i/v y’day – regret any slight to your integrity – hope to put in past #ChangeTheGovt
Yes, but genuine apology too, which is what I would expect, and Harre gets it, which I would also expect. This is how it’s done well. Make a mistake, own up, be honest in the owning up, make amends, move on, know who your allies are.
edit, I actually found the tweet exchanges interesting and informative. I’d already read the very long interview with Harre and had some questions, which have now been cleared up.
An unprofessional mistake that one wouldn’t expect someone at that level to have fallen too. Utter incompetence.
Moreover, the timing of the avoidable spat (potentially sabotaging the working well perception) couldn’t have been much worse.
Dressing the apology up as an example of them now working well is little more than an attempted save, IMO.
An apology was required, given and accepted, there was nothing extraordinary special about it that would warrant a perception of the two working well. In fact, the spat behind it suggests otherwise.
“I’d already read the very long interview with Harre and had some questions, which have now been cleared up.”
Do tell?
It was an interesting interview. The following paragraphs struck a chord.
“My own conclusion is that it’s really not going to be possible to build an alternative party to Labour on the left. I guess coming to terms with the importance of Labour institutionally to our democratic fabric… The one pre-condition, it seems to me, to having a progressive, innovative government is to strengthen the Labour Party. There are other things that may or may not need to happen but that is one thing that absolutely must happen for that to be possible. So I think the priority is to rebuild public confidence in the Labour Party and inject new ideas and energy into the party.”
“I think the international evidence would very clearly point to the biggest risk being in social democrat parties not strongly connecting to their traditional base, and not strongly articulating their core policies around equality, wages, education, not being frightened of trade unions, all of that,” says Harré. “I just think the international evidence is overwhelmingly telling us that. And if anything I think it’s very clear that you take a much greater risk if you are not clear about where your base is.”
“I do think that there is a lack of appreciation within Labour – not necessarily at the senior levels, but possibly in some quarters – of their vulnerability. They’ve barely moved above 30% since 2014. That was their worst election result. And they can’t blame anyone else for that. It was a terrible campaign for Labour. I think there is a lack of appreciation about the real vulnerability of their position in the political framework.”
“I must think before I tweet”.
Do you think we could get it extended to Donald Trump?
If he took 30 seconds per line and we made him do it about 2 million times it would take all his waking hours for the next 4 years.
By then we could have arranged that he didn’t have any time to do anything at all during his term and we would have another President.
Christ Almighty! the inability of the lektrit to see thruough bullshit never ceases to amaze.
Now we have Steven Choice warning of rising intriss rates and the poss bull consiquincizz.
Does anyone really think he gives a shit about forclosures yest to come?
I’ve always been of the view that more fool you for signing up to the bullshit in the first place, but PLEASE! don’t start squeeling like stuffed pigs when you do.
(Kapiti residents in particular – you know – that place where your elected rep – who never inhaled-signed off on that beautiful philanthropic Mister Thiel
Don’t you poor people realise you’re not allowed to get ahead?!
Don’t you realise you should know your place?
And what about when IRD start looking into your ‘cashies’ under the table – so you can pay the mortgage – and still keep the ute and indulge in a point or two a couple of times a week.
mmmm….. the ‘middle class’ eh?
“Steven Joyce is warning about taking on too much debt”.
no he’s not suckers!
If he was genuine about that warning – he would have issued it 6 months to a year ago.
Steven Joyce is relishing the outcome of those who have taken on too much debt
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
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This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
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Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
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Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
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:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track 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 publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
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 publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
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Is there method to his madness?
By provoking Mexico over the wall, will Trump’s administration be looking for action by its southern neighbour that will provide an excuse for ripping up NAFTA?
We should not be allowing this Saudi businessman to export dairy cows to China.
As an animal rights issue alone, this should be prevented.
This is barbarism.
Secondly, we appear to be aligning ourselves with increasingly unsavoury traders and trading partners.
We are becoming a rather shabby little country.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/323189/5000-dairy-cows-china-bound-on-saudi-businessman's-ship
Yep, it’s about having standards and how we’re now consistently lowering them in pursuit of trade.
Is the Chester Borrows judgement out yet?
I’ve seen no headlines about a highly skilled police trained driver evading a lynch mob.
Interesting article about housing by Liam Dann.
It would appear from reading it that.
a. the Australian banks have become jittery about the housing bubble
b. funding for building housing is very tight
When will the bubble burst?
Bill English will want an election before it does.
Was this the reason our Merrill Lynch trader ex PM resigned last year? Did his previous experience tell him to leave before the crash?
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11789453
I think you where also predicting financial ameggedon this time last year Paul, if anything your consistent
yes Paul there is a number of reasons he resigned what about the 2 large SHA agreements with the big Chinese consortium are they going to bring their own workers will they apply our laws and where will these workers live in Auckland how is immigration going to be managed and why aren’t we building them ourselves . And I don’t want to hear the same old lame excuses we don’t have enough builders as we have known this for 8 years not good enough.
Also the 7.5 million already given to the Clinton Foundation by uncle John disgusting and now Uncle Bill is giving them another top up of 5.5 million of our tax payers monies a total of 13 million this has to be stopped and the best solution is to get rid of these crooks and liars
Two and a half minutes to midnight. The closest it’s been since 1953. Is this what people meant when they said they wanted to return to the good old days?
http://thebulletin.org/sites/default/files/Final%202017%20Clock%20Statement.pdf
I agree.
Trimp’s bombastic language towards China is very worrying.
I wonder what time the clock showed during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962?
I think the Cuban Missile Crisis had come and gone before the Bulletin’s board had a chance to convene. At that stage it was 7 minutes to midnight, but the steps taken by the superpowers in the aftermath to prevent it happening again lowered it to 12 minutes to midnight the following year.
Brian Fallow. The TPP is dead.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11788698
In this article these 4 paragraphs stand out.
It is rare indeed to read an honest indictment of neoliberalism in the MSM.
The world is changing.
“They could be seen as evidence that we are in the degenerate terminal phase of a particular economic paradigm or doctrine – neoliberalism or market fundamentalism – which has prevailed since the mid-1980s.
There is a life cycle to these things. But just as the post-war model (which delivered faster and more inclusive economic growth than we have seen since) had by the late 1970s decayed into stagflation and over-regulation, the current regime is now delivering intolerable levels of inequality, poverty and financial insecurity.
It is patronising to dismiss the millions who voted Leave or Trump as the dupes of mendacious politicians who don’t know what is good for them, but will be set straight by the bitter disappointment ahead.
Rather, they should be seen as evidence that for too many people the status quo is not a rising tide that lifts all boats, but an ebb tide leaving them and their communities stranded.”
Well, bugger me.
Somebody gets it.
Paul, thanks for posting this. You can always be relied on to find these gems, and I’ll take this opportunity to also thank you for posting links to some of the best documentaries I never knew existed.
I’ve been getting a bit of grief for doing so from some quarters.
Thanks for the support.
@ Paul (6.1.1) … You are doing an excellent job finding and keeping the relevant issues out there.
Don’t worry about the knockers giving you stick. Your efforts are much appreciated by many, including myself.
Yes, yes, well said Rosemary 😀 Thanks Paul
But is the answer socialism or tweaking neo liberalism, I think the former and here is the quandry for the left and many here people don’t want to roll back to a failed 20th century experiment as the solution
The answer is to get rid of the rich and capitalism. Need to reform our corrupt financial system as well.
That ain’t going to happen Draco, you got a plan b
Oh, it will happen. It’s just a question if we wake up and do the intelligent thing and get rid of them in a controlled manner or they destroy society again.
Strangely enough some of the best articles are to be found in the Business section. When it comes to lots of issues, tax housing etc, they are a lot more upfront and honest in their commentary.
Now they’re concerned.
/
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/carl-bernstein-nervous-republican-officials-are-questioning-president-trumps-emotional-stability/
Bit late.
Naomi Wolf wrote a book entitled The End of America in which she outlined 10 steps to fascism.
Looks like the US has managed all 10.
Will we continue to align ourselves with a nation so overtly fascist and imperialist?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_America:_Letter_of_Warning_to_a_Young_Patriot
New Zealand has managed to achieve a few of those too
As long as National is in charge – yes.
National, being authoritarian, always kowtow to those with more power.
TRump is exactly what the Republican Party is. They have removed Obama Care. They have abused Congress and the Senate. They refuse to reveal what Tax they do not pay. They do not give a fig for the Common man.
The National Party here is an exact if lazy Copy of the Republican Party USA. Self centered. Abusive towards citizens (ref : English and Key 2016 condemning Kiwis saying they are totally useless). They do not reveal their Tax payments or omissions. They blatantly deny there is a housing need. Ref the Deputy PM.
They do not give enough resources for Health. Or for Education (except to their own chosen Private Schools). They slag off Teachers.
They give Tax Havens to Immigrants and Wealthy foreign Avoiders.
They provide slum conditions for the poor and homeless throughout New Zealand.
They sell our Assets to their grubby mates.
What absolute bollocks. National would comfortably sit within the Democratic Party as would all political parties in NZ
Another view is that all of this irrelevent stuff is just distraction that media bite hook line and sinker, further empowering trumps agenda to remove media as an impartial fourth estate, similar outrage from loon protests, hollywood melt downs all pushing middle america closer to trump
,
Do you really think these pricks need to be empowered?.
“The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile,” Steve Bannon said during a rare interview with The New York Times on Wednesday.
“I want you to quote this,” Bannon told the Times. “The media here is the opposition party. They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.”
http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/26/media/bannon-media-nytimes/index.html?sr=twCNN012617bannon-media-nytimes0956PMVODtopPhoto&linkId=33823996
You need to question the mentality of a nation thats elected reagan/george w TWICE and now the donald.
You get the leader you deserve mostly, go back and watch johnston ross’s Americana docos from the 90’s and its not hard to see how easily led they are by knowing their key concerns….guns, religion, the fairytale known as ‘the american dream’ etc
I see it reported this morning that Theil was granted NZ residency under the Labour Government in 2006. Is that correct?
If yes, I reckon Iain Lees-Galloway has been barking up the wrong tree. As usual.
Apparently he was. He then failed to live here for more than 70% of the time as required by the rules but still got citizenship.
I don’t know what the rules were in 2006. But the current rules for residence as investor, are these:
Investor visa requires $1.5mnzd Invested for 4 years in NZ [plus time lived per year in NZ plus some other requirements.
Investor plus visor requires $10mnzd Invested for 3 years – 44 days in NZ in each of the last 2 years of a 3 year investment period.
No additional requirements.
The 70% was from an article I read a couple of days ago.
That said, I don’t think that there should be an investor category. It’s skills we need and we’ve got all the money we need to do anything we want with our resources.
No, Iain Lees-Galloway is not barking up the wrong tree. Residency has different rules than citizenship and is decided in different departments. You can live in NZ all your life with only a residency status; you can even vote with only residency status.
If only he asked the same questions about Bill Liu – now that would have been interesting.
Residency isn’t citizenship Sammy. Amirightoramiright?
According to Andrea Vance, twitter, Peter Thiel gained citizenship in 2006 under Labour.
All the abuse piled on National should now be piled on Labour.
“yea right”
That’s yesterday’s news (kind of). And Thiel got “residency” in 2006, not citizenship.
In 2006 Thiel got residency under the investor category, as stated by Bill English yesterday. My understanding is that didn’t need ministerial approval, but is something decided by the relevant agencies.
Vance is a DP player now and should be considered in the same bracket as Trevitt, young etc
A serious journalist would know residency isnt citizenship so smearing as expected.
Vance tweeted that Thiel got residency in 2006. Billm misrepresented her.
Andrea Vance tweet posted yesterday:
Billy tells lies again.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/323098/'exceptional-circumstances'-behind-peter-thiel-citizenship
I said residency, not citizenship. Annie being serially stupid again.
and residency is not the same as citizenship, sammie you silly thing.
Where did I say it was, Sabine?
I thought Anne was addressing BillM above, not you Sam c. And BillM did say”citizenship”
She amended her comment after initially calling me a liar. I have work to do, so am not religiously glued to the comments section like some of you are.
Me – I’ll be working most of this weekend – so it’s a non-work day today for me. but I’ll be offline most of the weekend.
Yes. I mixed up the two comments which were posted around the same time and originally together.
It appears that Nickoff will be using the Nelson Cathedral to gain some votes this election.
Front page news last night, interesting comments online
“Why single out the Cathedral for public support Nick – there are many other churches with EQ issues that don’t have the financial resources that the Diocese does. The Church of Christ in Rutherford Street needed to be demolished at their own cost.”
Not everyone is happy about Agent Orange…
“Four leading department officials and country’s border police chief quit posts under Donald Trump’s administration.”
“An entire senior management team of the US State Department has resigned under the new administration of President Donald Trump, local media has reported.”
And Enrique is just not into the wall idea.
Mexico leader cancels Trump meet over border wall spat
Trump’s scheduled meeting with President Enrique Pena Nieto falls apart after Mexico refuses to pay for border wall.
President Donald Trump has decided he will seek to pay for the wall on the US’s southern border by imposing a 20% tax on imports from Mexico and as part of a larger comprehensive tax reform plan, the White House said Thursday.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the comprehensive tax reform package Trump and Republicans are looking to put together will include taxing imports from other countries, like Mexico.
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/26/politics/donald-trump-mexico-import-tax-border-wall/index.html?adkey=bn
It wasn’t just Mexico he was talking about putting a 20% tax on their inport into America … also “other countries”.
We need to ditch America. If they don’t want to be a team player (or want to be an even worse team player than usual) we shouldn’t play their game. Let’s look elsewhere, I’m sure plenty of other countries are.
And guess who will actually pay the TAX, the American citizens, good on you Trump, really smart thinking!!!
The AFSA (American Foreign Service Association) press release.
“Like the military, the career Foreign Service is an up-or-out system—those who fail to move up are forced out—and it relies on regular rotations (we typically move to a new job every 2-3 years) to perform a key mission—that is, developing a deep bench of experienced senior leaders year after year. Thus, both rotations to new positions and retirements after a fixed number of years of service are part of the DNA of the Foreign Service. Have no doubt that the next generation of leaders is eager to step up and serve, ensuring the continuity of this great institution.”
[,,,]
AFSA, the voice of the Foreign Service, is the professional association and labor union of the U.S. Foreign Service
http://www.afsa.org/statement-senior-personnel-changes-department-state
it appears they did not resign but were fired.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/trump-fires-every-senior-manager-at-the-state-department.html
Thank you Everyone. Following this whole Agent Orange saga is fascinating, really appreciate your information and insight.
You did see this sentence in the item you linked too, did you Cinny.
“Turnover is the rule, rather than the exception, among the top officials in the US government when the White House changes hands from one party to another, in this case from Democrat Barack Obama to Republican Donald Trump.”
Looking at the jobs they held I am rather surprised they call them a “team”. They would seem to be in quite dissimilar roles.
Can’t say I blame them though. Trump is a nutter in my opinion.
I think I did Alwyn, thankies. Have been watching house of cards, is fiction boarding on reality, but helpful in getting my head around their system, so many tiers and trust issues me thinks. Maybe their ‘team’ is their belief system rather than their roles?
I’ll give Agent Orange this however, he sure is doing what he said he would.
“he sure is doing what he said he would”.
I really wish you hadn’t been able to say that. I think I shall go to bed and stay there for the next four years. When I wake up we may have a new POTUS.
If I wake up of course.
Glenn Greenwald: Democrats Eager to Blame “Everybody
But Themselves” for Collapse of Their Party
Democracy Now!, Jan. 6, 2017
As Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testifies at a Senate hearing on Russian cyberthreats ahead of a highly classified briefing today with President-elect Donald Trump, we speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has faced an onslaught of criticism for questioning the premise of Russian hacking of the U.S. election.
“Because Democrats are so desperate to put the blame on everybody but themselves for the complete collapse of their party, they’re particularly furious at anybody who vocally challenges this narrative,” Greenwald says. “And since I’ve been one of the people most vocally doing so, the smear campaign has been like none that I have ever encountered. I have been accused of being a member of the alt-right, of being an admirer of Breitbart, of being supportive of Donald Trump, of helping him get elected and, of course, of being a Kremlin operative.”
…..
Read more….
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/1/6/glenn_greenwald_democrats_eager_to_blame
Swing towards ugly Authoritarianism from the Trump Regime (possibly with quasi-Fascist tendencies / or possibly in a somewhat milder Berlusconi mould … we’re just going to have to wait and see)
… and a concomitant …
Swing towards a rigidly-enforced McCarthyite Group-Think (bordering at times on mass hysteria – complete with officially-ordained The Ruskies are com’in !!! Conspiracy Theory) from the Washington Consensus / New Cold War Democrat Establishment
The split on The Standard – such as it is – has been largely between those happy to immerse themselves in the second phenomena … vs … those of us who recoil at both.
Nicely summed up as always, swordfish.
Here’s a perfect example of someone happy to immerse himself in that DNC-ordained groupthink…
https://thestandard.org.nz/doomsday-clock-moves-forward/#comment-1292365
One tracked mind on different threads I see (yawn)
Don’t worry, I’m not tracking you. It’s just that your naïve comment had some immediate use as an example of folly, and a warning to other posters.
I hope you don’t mind.
‘Inflation’ blamed for $200-800 million cost increase in Auckland’s East West link
So, one month of inflation had the cost jump nearly 80%?
Probably forgot to add the fletcher/fulton hogan levy up front so they can screw over subbies and replace them when they go broke.
eliminates the need to go back for extra funding this way.
Well done to us on our number one ranking in the latest Transparency International list. However I don’t think it is a proper reflection of New Zealand. I have never thought us to be totally deserving of the rankings and that we are probably at the lower end of the top ten.
Will the Government come clean and tell us how Mr Thiel got that citizenship or are we going to have to use the O.I.A. to drag it out of the Minister?
https://willnewzealandberight.com/2017/01/27/transparent-to-the-world-but-not-so-to-kiwis/
Hearsay is that USians, once they find out how NZ works, are absolutely disgusted by the level of overt corruption in this country.
As I’ve said before: We’re so used to how things are in this country that we’ve lost the ability to recognise corruption.
If the nation as a whole can’t recognise it then just how good are the perception ratings?
i posted yesterday about the russian cyber security guy being arrested for treason and such and thought it was an odd coincidence.
well lookit it here,
https://themoscowtimes.com/news/americas-alleged-spy-in-the-heart-of-russian-cybersecurity-56945?utm_source=CGI+Daily+Russia+Brief&utm_campaign=d22e6a1966-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_01_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_814a2b3260-d22e6a1966-281732809&mc_cid=d22e6a1966&mc_eid=ba2db135c1
there is a whole Tom Clancy novel in there.
interesting times, interesting times.
“there is a whole Tom Clancy novel in there.”.
Yes. What a shame we have a Donald Trump instead of a Jack Ryan.
heh
https://www.thenation.com/article/the-economist-just-downgraded-the-us-from-a-full-democracy-to-a-flawed-democracy/
The US system was designed to prevent democracy. The rich were fearful that the people would vote in restrictions that would prevent them from being rich and so they made sure that only the rich could run for office.
In fact, that could be said about all representative systems.
That said, go back even a few years and participatory democracy simply wouldn’t have been practical but, with modern communications and computing, it’s certainly getting that way now.
So the wall is going to be paid by putting a 20% duty on Mexican imports to the US.
So doesn’t that mean the prices will go up by 20%.
So that means the americans who buy the products will actually be paying for the wall.!!!
Yep.
The man is an absolute nutcase. The international consequences of this are far reaching – the results may not be what the chump envisages.
They are not just economic – the US is to become another Australia in breaching International Human Rights and the treatment of asylum seekers.
You can see why he was personally bankrupted four times, he is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but, he certainly is a tool!
So, there’s some sabre rattling in the Balkans – Serbia, the recipients of a major arms donation by Russia, have dispatched a train to a Serbian enclave in Kosovo with the message – if Serbs are killed, we’ll [an] send army to Kosovo – and look who turns up.
https://twitter.com/JasminMuj/status/824629956676313093
and this guy just has the solution to all of our energy issues
http://imgur.com/mKSK4HX
I note that in a Huffington Post puff piece about Linda Tirado, the following remarkable claim is made….
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/linda-tirado
That is like saying “Her husband served honorably at My Lai with Company C of the First Battalion.”
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[whatever the writer at the Huffington Post thought about Tirado’s husband doesn’t haven’t anything to do with the post Morrissey. Please don’t derail like this – weka]
Could someone, preferably weka, tell me how this is off topic?
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-27012017/#comment-1292448
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[I’ve already explained Morrissey. Whatever someone thinks about Linda Tirado’s husband has nothing to do with her words or my post. What’s not clear about that? Also, please don’t bring discussions about moderation back into the post they’ve been moved from. Use the comment that’s been moved if you need to talk about it – weka]
Got it. Thanks, Weka. I’ll try to remember that.
The United States: wreaking havoc internationally for at least 133 years
Trump is horrific, but the United States has been a nightmare to people from Africa to Central America, South America and Asia long before he and his grisly gang came to power.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jan/17/patrice-lumumba-50th-anniversary-assassination
Trump’s new “Stupid Economics”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kotlikoff/2017/01/26/stupid-economics/#73a02b21771d
It’s 404-ed on Forbes but still cached in google
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:M-ObFw8I_DEJ:www.forbes.com/sites/kotlikoff/2017/01/26/stupid-economics/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz
I got it by reloading
Meh, just a defence of the present failed system that’s causing so much harm to society.
One of my gardening friends has this rose in full flower. Says it is now the conversation piece of his garden. Well worth growing, certainly not huge but sends out gorgeous sprays of gold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMmArU429rw
What was she thinking?
https://twitter.com/JulieAnneGenter/status/824384762173231104
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11789854
“I wouldn’t bother saying anything against her publicly…” Julie-Anne Genter.
Ha, that made me laugh as she just did.
And it didn’t go unnoticed.
Moreover, publicly stating “I wouldn’t bother saying anything against her publicly” is a false narrative.
Where was her head at?
Julie Anne Genter @JulieAnneGenter 8h8 hours ago
Truly sorry @lailaharre for tweets re @TheSpinoffTV i/v y’day – regret any slight to your integrity – hope to put in past #ChangeTheGovt
…
Laila Harré Retweeted Julie Anne Genter
Thanks for this. See you on the frontline!
Laila Harré added,
Julie Anne Genter @JulieAnneGenter
Truly sorry @lailaharre for tweets re @TheSpinoffTV i/v y’day – regret any slight to your integrity – hope to put in past #ChangeTheGovt
Damage control?
Yes, but genuine apology too, which is what I would expect, and Harre gets it, which I would also expect. This is how it’s done well. Make a mistake, own up, be honest in the owning up, make amends, move on, know who your allies are.
edit, I actually found the tweet exchanges interesting and informative. I’d already read the very long interview with Harre and had some questions, which have now been cleared up.
An unprofessional mistake that one wouldn’t expect someone at that level to have fallen too. Utter incompetence.
Moreover, the timing of the avoidable spat (potentially sabotaging the working well perception) couldn’t have been much worse.
Dressing the apology up as an example of them now working well is little more than an attempted save, IMO.
An apology was required, given and accepted, there was nothing extraordinary special about it that would warrant a perception of the two working well. In fact, the spat behind it suggests otherwise.
“I’d already read the very long interview with Harre and had some questions, which have now been cleared up.”
Do tell?
It was an interesting interview. The following paragraphs struck a chord.
“My own conclusion is that it’s really not going to be possible to build an alternative party to Labour on the left. I guess coming to terms with the importance of Labour institutionally to our democratic fabric… The one pre-condition, it seems to me, to having a progressive, innovative government is to strengthen the Labour Party. There are other things that may or may not need to happen but that is one thing that absolutely must happen for that to be possible. So I think the priority is to rebuild public confidence in the Labour Party and inject new ideas and energy into the party.”
“I think the international evidence would very clearly point to the biggest risk being in social democrat parties not strongly connecting to their traditional base, and not strongly articulating their core policies around equality, wages, education, not being frightened of trade unions, all of that,” says Harré. “I just think the international evidence is overwhelmingly telling us that. And if anything I think it’s very clear that you take a much greater risk if you are not clear about where your base is.”
“I do think that there is a lack of appreciation within Labour – not necessarily at the senior levels, but possibly in some quarters – of their vulnerability. They’ve barely moved above 30% since 2014. That was their worst election result. And they can’t blame anyone else for that. It was a terrible campaign for Labour. I think there is a lack of appreciation about the real vulnerability of their position in the political framework.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11789233
“Do tell?”
As far a I can tell all you’re here to do is stick the boot in. Curious, given the timing. Nevertheless I’m not interested.
“As far a I can tell all you’re here to do is stick the boot in.”
I can tell you now you are incorrect.
Therefore, do you care to try again?
Nope. Just going off what I’ve seen you write today (and previous conversations I guess).
I’ve been here for years and have written a vast variety of things.
“Yes, but genuine apology too,”
Really?
I’m trying to figure out if she was telling the truth in her tweets?
Or did she get her facts/dates wrong?
Colossal blunder if the latter.
Why the kiss -and -make -up exchange if the former?
Whole thing makes them all look disconnected and disorganised and quite frankly just more than a little nasty.
IMHO
(Re- reading the interview with Harre, she really needs to speak with more clarity. It is not always clear what she is saying.)
“I’m trying to figure out if she was telling the truth in her tweets?”
Yes, it was interesting that she never conceded to being mistaken.
Yes, seen that (damage control) it’s in the second link I initially provided.
Someone must have told her to pull her head in.
What was she thinking?
Not at lot by the sounds of it.
Should be made to write out one hundred times….
I must think before I tweet
I must think before I tweet
I must think before I tweet
Lol!
“I must think before I tweet”.
Do you think we could get it extended to Donald Trump?
If he took 30 seconds per line and we made him do it about 2 million times it would take all his waking hours for the next 4 years.
By then we could have arranged that he didn’t have any time to do anything at all during his term and we would have another President.
Hasn’t Trump got something better to do with his time?
Does he play golf?
Christ Almighty! the inability of the lektrit to see thruough bullshit never ceases to amaze.
Now we have Steven Choice warning of rising intriss rates and the poss bull consiquincizz.
Does anyone really think he gives a shit about forclosures yest to come?
I’ve always been of the view that more fool you for signing up to the bullshit in the first place, but PLEASE! don’t start squeeling like stuffed pigs when you do.
(Kapiti residents in particular – you know – that place where your elected rep – who never inhaled-signed off on that beautiful philanthropic Mister Thiel
Don’t you poor people realise you’re not allowed to get ahead?!
Don’t you realise you should know your place?
And what about when IRD start looking into your ‘cashies’ under the table – so you can pay the mortgage – and still keep the ute and indulge in a point or two a couple of times a week.
mmmm….. the ‘middle class’ eh?
“Steven Joyce is warning about taking on too much debt”.
no he’s not suckers!
If he was genuine about that warning – he would have issued it 6 months to a year ago.
Steven Joyce is relishing the outcome of those who have taken on too much debt
Not sure if this will work?
But has anyone spotted the high CO2 levels in the northern hemisphere
https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/chem/surface/level/overlay=co2sc/orthographic=-31.84,77.49,277/loc=-84.498,33.393
This is showing readings of 470 ppm ish
And 437 is above NZ and 442 above Hawaii