“the Bill will reduce the Employment Relations Act to a farce and the result will be wages are driven down and employment agreements broken up, with some of the most significant impact being on workers in the public sector.”
And when that does not happen will we see an apology from the author of this post?
Today is a great day for the country.
[lprent: This looks more like diversion trolling than addressing the topic – moved to OpenMike.
Two week ban. One for diversion trolling. The second for wasting my time moving the comments. ]
The ironic thing is labour will get into power and leave most of the changes intact (like most of the changes Roger implemented) – they know its good for the economy
Then again labour is acting mighty strangely lately with all this NZ Power craziness!!!
In relation to ” ‘Cos-I’m-John-Key-can’t-remember-my-last-username”, this is defining. In the archaic meaning of “squire” he was a fellow who was the dependable runner or errand boy of the knight.
Well, no unkindness intended but that’s how the abovenamed strikes me.
And he will be vindicated.
There is no doubt that before that citizen of the Kingdom of Global Banker leaves these now less-lovely shores, he will bestow upon himself The Order Of This That the Other Thing.
The abovenamed will have a true knight to snivel around after !
crmlu
You’re right Labour did blend in NACT type policies. There was a subterranean movement and a lot of aspiring NACTs took over hearts and minds of the Labour faithful in spades. It’s time to forge new approaches which is what is being said each day.
I don’t mind you refusing to print any of my guest post requests. As a Centre Left website you have every right to do so. No website allows posts they disagree with, that’s understandable. And why should you be different? But Lynn, do you really have to bump down my posts on Open mike?
P.S. Saying that. If you did allow more controversial Left of Centre posts. Who knows? You might find you could possibly get more debate and more readership.
the site is unpredictable at times Jenny; comments I make often end up above comments that came before; don’t panic; I read most of your comments, most of the time anyway.
Coincidentally since I put up THIS post on open mike yesterday.
The Herald has published reviews of a new book which details all the pressures that David Lange was put under by the New Zealand state, the permanent heads of the Civil Service, military leaders, and foreign government leaders, to ignore his promise to the electorate. And the dismay these people felt, when Lange, under this onslaught of secret behind the scenes pressure, despite some early vacillation, eventually turned his back on them. That these undemocratic parasites on the body politic have now accused Lange of lying to them. Is just sour grapes. Politics is all about pressure and this time the pressure from below, was greater than the pressure from above.
If only Lange had had the courage and the wit to stand up to the enemy within: Douglas, Prebble, Bassett, Moore, De Cleene and their fanatical mentors in Treasury.
To Morrissey and Rhinocrates et al “If only Lange had had the courage and the wit to stand up to the enemy within: Douglas, Prebble, Bassett, Moore, De Cleene and …….”
He did ! Don’t you remember ? Some time late in 1987 Lange called for a “cup of tea” – meaning he wanted a pause in the ongoing rushed economic reforms to allow for proper consideration of them and their effects.
He was strongly vilified for that, a grouping led by Douglas, Prebble ,De Cleene etc set up the “Backbone Club” which went out publicly – with MSM support – to vilify Lange and his attempts to stop what was going on, when he had realised just how damaging it was. The vilification continued in house in the caucus as well. It was sickening to observe. Disgusting behaviour on the part of the leaders.
During an industrial dispute in Kawerau, provoked when Tasman cunningly appointed an unqualified woman to a machine operating position ahead of several qualified men, Lange came out on the side of the bosses. He said he would never stand with a union that was against employment for women, even when this patently was not the issue.
My view of Lange is that Kirk was the last half way decent Labour PM.
Agreed …. though I don’t judge him QUITE as harshly as the ‘careerists’ that followed and who STILL keep trying to push their barrow (or rather keep doing their best to push SHIT uphill).
At Least Lange had the decency to call for a cup of tea and a lay down – i.e. he recognised the programme was hollow.
Not so others – and unfortunately I now have to include that pathetic munter Robertson amongst that ilk (UNLESS of course he has an epiphany forthwith).
Hey……… btw….. whatever happened to that FanBoi or Fan Club fella?
Haven’t seen it screaching loudly lately in defense of the indefensible. (I guess he/she/it is too busy climbing the ranks and sucking as much rrrrrrrr’s as possible)
Gerald Hensley reinvents history to besmirch the memory of David Lange, and instead of being critical of that cowardly and disgusting behaviour, comments on The Standard concerning this matter are predominantly anti-Labour… Some even claiming Lange wasn’t courageous enough at a time he implemented legislation to ensure New Zealand became nuclear free in spite of huge international and domestic pressures.
You’d have to be seriously gullible to believe what Piggy Muldoon’s former chief adviser has made up to discredit a left wing Prime Minister. In fact you’d likely have to be as deluded as Hensley himself. Let’s instead ask the right wing hack what his advice was on the Springbok tour, the Think Big projects and increasing external debt by 1338% while Muldoon was Prime Minister. Where’s the book accepting that the third National Government was a complete economic, social and political failure for New Zealand?
Giving Hensley’s fabrications the credence they clearly don’t deserve by attacking Labour will only help to promote the idea of removing our Nuclear Free legislation (PDF)… Not that National presently abides by those laws anyway, that’s the end goal for Hensley and the current government. Let’s make something very clear… Like the vast majority of Kiwis, David Lange wanted New Zealand to be nuclear free… Hensley’s lies won’t change that fact one iota.
If only Lange had had the courage and the wit to stand up to the enemy within: Douglas, Prebble, Bassett, Moore, De Cleene and their fanatical mentors in Treasury.
Morrissey
No human being could stand up to that sort of pressure alone. Such pressure can be so intense that you can be ambushed into making decisions that can even go against your own better judgement. Despite it all, Lange did eventually call a halt. And probably wondered “Why on earth did I ever support any of that?” A question that I am sure many principled people finding themselves in similar isolated positions have asked themselves.
To his cost. For David Lange on his retirement, there was no plum sinecure as a director on a board of some well off company or bank, the usual reward for politicians of his stature who do what they’re told.
What was missing was a mass movement that would have supplied Lange with the counter pressure to the neo-liberal tidal wave.
Politics is all about pressure and who can bring it to bear.
“March 21 Novopay debacle solved by restarting computer
Novopay minister Steven Joyce: “We tried everything we could think of. We made sure the plug was in, we ran a virus scan. You know, pretty much everything. And then John walks in this morning munching on his breakfast bagel, and he says ‘Hey, Steve. Have you tried restarting the computer’?”
If in doubt – reboot! – Says it all really. Cure the immediate, though not the cause.
Very symbolic of a NAct agenda, and symbolic of the neo-Lib agenda too.
Keep it up is what I’m DESPERATELY hoping for but they should not be surprised when they disappear up their own arses (as fat and ugly as they may be).
Shades of Monty P/Greed/Sloth explosions in the nature of weapons of mass disgusting
from what I have read of this chap behind The Civilian (beyond a Nicholas Cage article) he appears very capable and creative; now a part of the media furniture for a while, with the hesitant support of his parents.
Here in H.B there is a young woman broadcasting her interesting life and personality to a YouTube audience of hundreds of thousands of people.”Jamies World”. great self-marketing for an aspirant dramatic arts performer or director. could be a few unforeseen consequences.
At least we can be a little pleased for the guy that runs The Civillian. He does help to make the day go with a smile. And as they say Any advertising is good advertising.
Indeed David H.Thank god (no religious inference intended) for Colin Craig being an arse. I hadn’t heard about that hilarious Civilian website until he threw a wee tanty.
The Comedy of Mortification
Kiwi version of The Office struggles along Back Benches, Prime TV, Wednesday 24 April 2013, 10:30 p.m.
Hosted by WALLACE CHAPMAN and DAMIAN CHRISTIE
Politicians: Gareth Hughes (Green), Aaron Gilmore (National), Chris Hipkins (Labour)
After suffering through TV3’s dire The Vote: Is New Zealand a Racist Country?, my big night of television continued with yet another New Zealand current affairs show fronted by a couple of clowns.
These two, although far less self-assured clowns than Espiner and Garner, are, nonetheless, impressive exponents of the comedy of embarrassment. Christie, in particular, came across very effectively as New Zealand television’s very own David Brent. The fact that this was entirely unintentional only made it all the more effective.
In case you haven’t seen Back Benches—and you probably haven’t—it consists of aforesaid clowns (Wallace Chapman and Damian Christie) talking to a panel of three politicians and then walking around the Back Benches tavern in Wellington asking people what they think about what the politicians have said. The politicians are usually pretty relaxed—it seems that ties are banned—and usually acquit themselves quite well. The members of the public, however, are a little more unpredictable. The following is a quick highlights reel of Wednesday night’s episode….
After the politicians have been interviewed, the first person on the roving mike is John Carnegie from Business New Zealand. Predictably, sadly, he vapours pompously about the Labour-Green electricity pricing policy: “We are sending an incredibly bad signal that New Zealand is no longer a safe place to invest.” The crowd reacts to this rant with skeptical murmuring and scattered laughter. Quite apart from his irrational, hysterical words, many people have no doubt noticed that Carnegie looks uncannily like the fat guy in The Office.
Back to the politicians, for their thoughts. This is where not only the intellectual, but the moral calibre of the politicians is often revealed. Chris Hipkins and Gareth Hughes both speak eloquently, but when Hipkins is speaking, Aaron Gilmore hoots and laughs. Such displays of loutish imbecility are, damningly, all that National is capable of; Gilmore’s antics are no different from the antics in Parliament of other National Party thugs, especially Gerry Brownlee. (Talking about people who look like Big Keith…)
Then it’s time for the most unpredictable part of the show: the vox pops. This consists of Damian Christie walking around the tables with his microphone and asking them what they think. This is a nerve-wracking exercise at the best of times, and it’s not helped by Christie’s patent awkwardness….
DAMIAN CHRISTIE: Have you been to Gallipoli for the dawn service? WOMAN: Yes. DAMIAN CHRISTIE: What were you doing over there? WOMAN: Going to the dawn service.
This is met by gales of laughter, some of it shading into outright derision of Christie. Undeterred, however, Christie ploughs on, like an ANZAC soldier struggling doggedly up a Turkish cliff…
CHRISTIE: You’re getting all choked up over it now, aren’t you! WOMAN: Not really.
Bravely, Christie continues to circulate around the room, wielding his enormous microphone, looking for vulnerable drinkers. It’s quite noticeable that people are drawing away as he approaches. He’d better watch himself, otherwise he’s going to make people as nervous as Brian Edwards did with his ambush vox pops in Auckland’s Victoria Park during his short-lived Saturday night horror show a decade ago.
Indeed – don’t encourage them.
I’ve only managed to watch one Backbenches since is commercial transition – just as I have Media3 (once was Media7).
One of the big problems with the commercialisation of these programmes (or should I now call them ‘shows’) is that the continuity is destroyed often by the NEED to ‘take a break’ at as close to set times as is possible – and regardless of interrupting participants trying to make a point.
You’ll notice it on FUX NEWS often – when the left are getting any sort of advantage in an argument….. “we gotta get a break”, etc.
That’s just ONE of the problems! The platform is insidious: whether intended or not – you’ll find Brown, Chapman, Christie et al become victims of the ‘stardom mentality’ that seems to be a necessity in operating on this commercially driven platform.
In both cases (Prime BB, and MW M3), the defense is – it’s better than no BB or M3. I’m afraid not for me.
We are sending an incredibly bad signal that New Zealand is no longer a safe place to invest
It would be followed by an lowering of our credit rating, and a devaluation in currency.
The oil prices being kept artificially high as a deterrant to flirting with currency devaluation, because the inflationary pressure threat would be rammed down everyones throat!
Interest rates would rise, and whats left of the NZ economy will fall out the backdoor. Even with more competitive exports, the current account deficit will keep widening, with a higer cost of borrowing to service the lesser credit rating, leading to higher taxes to service the gowing debt costs!
The NZ Power policy as no chance of getting off the ground,
Because the global banking cartel, has NZ, by the balls!
The effect of NZ Power on private shareholders dividends will be 3 to 4.5% (not accounting for revenue increasing, + 18.6% in 2012). You’re saying that because of a potential 3 to 4.5% reduction in value of dividends going to private shareholders the NZ economy will fall out the backdoor? Get off the grass muzza.
I have to agree with you there CV… After crunching a few numbers it appears NZ Power won’t have much if any affect on power companies profitability or the dividends they payout. However there are savings to be made through better management of current infrastructure, which I think is just as much a problem as the current bidding system that means consumers are paying far too much for electricity that’s relatively cheap to produce.
It appears that Labour and the Greens perhaps knew there would be howls of anger from the right wing regarding NZ Power and so devised a very moderate policy. It certainly isn’t far left “economic vandalism” that some have claimed. Let’s hope that when NZ Power gets up and running (mid to late 2016) they will push the envelope a bit on how much is actually able to be saved for consumers.
Actually Jackal, my intent was aimed at what would likely happen to the housing/retail markets, should interest rates rise from their current. *lows* ??? following a devaluation in our currency, via a ratings mark down!
My commentary was a high level overview of what would happen, as was pointed out, if *a signal that NZ was no longer a safe place to invest*, went out!
Which is what NZ Power will have to contend with, and its creators contend with, before it stands any chance to become airborne!
A wee bit surprised you didn’t zone in on the comment made by one of those ( I don’t know one from the other) aforementioned clowns Morrissey. Never mind. I’ll do it. Came after a quick fire question to the pollies relating to Boston.
Where were the alleged bombers from? Answer given was Chechnya. Answer queried on the grounds (I guess) that Kyrgyzstan had been mentioned in connection to them and their family. And the clown, not remembering the name ‘Kyrgyzstan’ deemed it an an opportunity to pop out the racially loaded ‘Wogistan’ alternate answer.
Not surprised you don’t know one clown from another. After all, they’re all make-uo (courtesy of whatever brand of face paint that’s in vogue these days).
I was just thinking though (after witnessing a hipkins on some Beck Benchas ‘show’ – constructed by a Chapman and a Christie – where the credits were at pains to tell us all who ‘dressed them’) – I was going to suggest he should ‘Moisturise!…. Moisturise!…. Moisturise”.
It may well be his greatest contribution to the Labouring Party
A wee bit surprised you didn’t zone in on the comment made by one of those ( I don’t know one from the other) aforementioned clowns Morrissey.
I heard it, but I didn’t write it down in my transcription notebook, so I’d forgotten it by the time I came to type it up. The clown that said it was (surprise, surprise) the National Party lout Aaron Gilmore.
Never mind. I’ll do it. Came after a quick fire question to the pollies relating to Boston.
Thanks, Bill. You’re a trooper—in the good sense.
Where were the alleged bombers from? Answer given was Chechnya. Answer queried on the grounds (I guess) that Kyrgyzstan had been mentioned in connection to them and their family. And the clown, not remembering the name ‘Kyrgyzstan’ deemed it an an opportunity to pop out the racially loaded ‘Wogistan’ alternate answer.
And no-one batted an eyelid.
It’s not that nobody noticed, or cared. The problem is the format of the show. To remonstrate with that halfwitted National Party thug would have been counter to this show’s enforced mood of frivolity. Earlier in the evening, over on TV3, the same determined dumbing down occurred when Prof. Damon Salesa tried to say something serious during the moronic laugh-fest The Vote.
It wasn’t Gilmore came out with that shit Morrissey. It was one of the presenters – the one who tended to do the wandering around eliciting opinion from attendees.
Gilmore answered with “Chechnya”. One of the presenters was a bit unsure of that as an answer and the other clown kind of dismissively (barely conceiled undertones of ‘they’re all the same and who the fuck cares anyway’) suggested “Wogistan”. Racially, ethnically and religiously fucked up as all hell imo.
John Armstrong is the Peter Dunne of the NZ Herald. Always trying to position himself in the vaccuous centre because he thinks that will may him look sensible, balanced and fair. In reality he’s just another self-serving journo.
Everyone should see the the film ‘Shadows of liberty’; it was on at documentary festival and hopefully will come back to cinemas once finished the festival cycle.
Here it trailer http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=_SAUborWbPw&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D_SAUborWbPw
It does show what has happened to the media and examples can be found in New Zealand of all the same issues mentioned in the film.
“John Armstrong is the Peter Dunne of the NZ Herald.”
heh.
It’s a thing. “High Broderism” it’s called, after David Broder who dominated the Washington press corp for lo, many years.
The basic conceit is that some journalists develop a identity of being the caretakers of the discourse. The content of policy, the actual business of politics, becomes a side issue at best; the protection of order, and form, take over. Disputes are seen not as politics functioning as it ought, but as threats to be resolved. ‘Bold policy’ is just a move in a game. They are positioning statements aimed at voter blocks, rather than policies aimed at problems.
What that leads to, though it is never admitted, or even realised I suspect, is that much of the political analysis we see is not analysis of policy, or even of politicians, but of the polis.
The question “How will this policy play in the electorate in terms of votes” is not answered by looking at the effects of a policy, or the reasoning behind it. ie, it cannot be answered by reporting on policy or politicians. It is answered by discussing whose votes might shift, and what it might do in the polls.
The advantage for journalists here is that this is a non partisan endeavor; they aren’t pontificating about whether the policy is good/bad, or whether the politician is honest/mendacious.
Nice link, PB. I think Colin Espiner fits that description too. When many had pegged him as a friend of the left he let loose with the article on Green/Labour policy.
Armstrong’s piece is all about strategy – about The Game. And nothing about what is actually the right thing to do for the majority of Kiwis, and especially for those struggling on low incomes.
It’s a heartless piece. But that’s what “neoliberalism” has done to mainstream political commentary.
small question (and I understand folks are busy)
Why is there no banner/promotion on The Standard for the Day of Action ?
There is just yesterday’s reminder. Seems like a missed opportunity is all.
anyways . . .
You may have voted National, Maori Party, United Future or even Act. That does not deny you your right to voice opposition to their actions as a Government. In fact to succeed in their crimes, they count on your silence and your complicity. Today is your chance to let them know you matter.
If you are not working today, little has greater significance to the future of New Zealand than this simple walk down the street amongst friends.
The crowning of Maurice Williamson as a ‘gay icon’ (by the media at least) has left me somewhat bemused.
Nothing against Williamson. He voted yes for marriage equality and as a result I applaud him. Even more so, he is a member of a conservative party in a rather blue neighbourhood. I have no doubt the pressure on him from those opposing equality was fierce.
His speech was good. Great? That’s debatable. It was loud. It had a few amusing turns of phrase. But it wasn’t necessarily any better than any of the other pro-speeches. Mojo Mathers, for example, gave one of the most stirring speeches I’ve ever seen. So why isn’t she being lauded as a ‘gay icon’?
Perhaps because she isn’t male, white and heterosexual? She doesn’t possess that holy triumvirate that many in society ascribe as being ‘preferable’ or ‘powerful’ or even ‘acceptable’.
Williamson voted down Civil Unions. He says it’s because they didn’t go far enough. That doesn’t wash with me. By that same logic you would deny a starving person a hamburger because it wasn’t steak. Back then those of us who needed legal protection were happy to get it any way we could. We saw civil unions as a secondary class, but it was a class nonetheless. No Maurice, you don’t get a pass on that. You voted tactically there, not with your conscience. Be honest.
Maurice, you’re not an ‘icon’ to this ethnic gay man. You’re a straight white man who voted progressively. You’re not worthy of the kudos that the media is heaping on you for marriage equality. That belongs to those politicians who worked tirelessly for years, decades, to achieve this. Kevin Hague. Louisa Wall. Those are gay icons. Those are the people who should be invited on Ellen. Not you, Maurice.
Stop the interviews. Don’t go on Ellen. Get on with doing your job. Because feeding this ‘gay icon’ fire is just sad to those who know it’s all puffery. You did a good thing. A very good thing. But there’s nothing worse than someone taking credit that isn’t due.
But won’t Mr Key be livid. He had to boyishly grin as he gave approval for the Ellen visit.
But why wasn’t it him! John Key is the man for centre stage, the limelight, the adulation, the autograph hunters, and international spotlight. To have to step back for a lowly Maurice for heavens sake! Hell will blaze for a man back-benched!
My conspiracy theory is that Maurice nixed the trip (I seem to remember him saying he wouldn’t go at first) but that Key pushed him to promote NZ. His talk about the trip now has tourism speak all over it.
But we can assume Key is pissed someone else is getting the limelight…
Some people I know took it upon themselves to inform Ellen de Generes of Williamson’s history on the issue. He was pretty much promoted by the Herald etc because he’s a Tory – just hijacking kudos for NAct. I didn’t think his speech was anything great and the fact that it was lauded all round the world just goes to show oratory has died.
I can see how Ellen might think Williamson would help get the white male heterosexual conservatives in the US onside for the same sex marriage campaign in the US.
However, she totally ignores the impact within NZ.
I agree, Tigger. Mojo Mathers gave the best speech in the 3rd reading of the Bill, as far as I’m concerned – it was about an inclusive family and wider whanau.
From the US point of view, that so many National MPs voted for marriage reform basically identifies them as God-despising family hating bleeding heart liberals who are all going to hell.
hence the “database unavailable” shite a while back.
You should be commended lprent as I’m hoping you are from time to time.
The approach is obviously not the ‘suck it and see’ one found elsewhere.
The outages should have only been 10-20 seconds or so each time.
Upgraded and been through a good solid compacting including old versions of posts and comments. I have corrected all issues with orphaned comments (~200 all up). Deleted about 4 that were in a chain in 2010 where the original comment got deleted and the replies all referred to the original comment.
It is suck it and see some of the time. There are some issues that I can’t test on the development system because of loading differences.
To all marching today…thank you so very much. I can’t be there due to the on call nature of my work but I am with you in spirit and will be following the protests around the country with much interest. I marched up Queen Street with my 84yr old Dad last year and found it very helpful in so many ways. I trust you all will too. Once again, many thanks from those of us unable to be there in body, we are with you.
see, with these subsistence-labour factories like the one that collapsed in Bangladesh it is only the consumer, and their demand for price, that can make the difference; the consumer. A dilemma indeed.
They can be quite delayed and sensationalist these prime-time news bulletins; In context, the last bird-flu killed approximately 370 people world-wide, from memory. That is not to say that something unforeseen might happen if the current strain becomes transmitted human to human.
According to the agonising of the sheep and beef farmer, if they don’t find solutions “they may as well pack it in” according to one representativee.
So, the use of sarin is a “red-line”, a “game-changer” says Obama, yet the US and Co. are being a bit more cautious before rushing in this time it appears.
and according to a commentator on the Auckland transport bind; “cycling (if possible) really does blow all other forms of transport away”.
Doug Sellman is the man to go to concerning the addiction issues NZ faces.
“professional sports are just rife with mental health issues”-Karen Nimmo
“rugby administrators are inconsistent in their enforcement of ‘codes of conduct'”
Rob Nichol, an apologist for big-money sports investment effectively, nonetheless identifies the two big issues professional sports (and those who aspire to participation in the field) face;
-integrity
-mental health of athletes (just consider Susan Devoy; too many shuttles to the head).
I’d like to thank anyone who is marching today against the theft of our national assets. I am unable to be there, but am with you in spirit.
To the scum who wish to sell us out: Kaore e mau te rongo–ake, ake!
Swaps and detivatives rate fixing investigation hits Bank of America Merrill Lynch
After fining banks billions of dollars over the last year for distorting a key interest rate known as Libor, regulators in the U.S. are now investigating whether a more obscure rate in another huge market is also rigged.
The rate, known as ISDAfix, is a benchmark in the $379 trillion market for interest rate swaps, which corporations and governments use to fine-tune their borrowing costs. U.S. regulators have subpoenaed as many as 15 banks and about a dozen current and former brokers at ICAP (IAP), the company that collects the data submitted by banks to set ISDAfix prices, to determine if they’re colluding to manipulate quotes. ICAP said in a statement on April 9 that it had no knowledge of price manipulations by its brokers, and that it is conducting its own inquiry.
It should surprise no one that among the players implicated in this scheme to fix the prices of interest-rate swaps are the same megabanks – including Barclays, UBS, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and the Royal Bank of Scotland – that serve on the Libor panel that sets global interest rates.
Shoddy standards continue to erode the integrity of TVNZ news
Why would anyone trust this television station?
Television One News, Saturday 27 April 2013
Thousands of people turned out on the streets this afternoon to protest against the Government’s plan to flog off our national assets. But not according to one crusty old newsreader on Television One. I switched on my television just after 6:30 this evening to hear this…
Peter Williams: “HUNDREDS of people turned out in marches all over the country today…”
Given the fact that there were hundreds of protestors in Tauranga alone, it seems certain that there were several thousand marchers over the whole country.
Yet someone gave that silly old fool Peter Williams a script that said there were only “hundreds” of marchers nationwide. Or maybe Williams adjusted the figure himself; in light of his many nasty, smug little comments over the years, I would not put it past him to do such a thing.
After that came the preview of the sports news. This was equally abject, equally foolish, equally contrary to reality….
Jenny-May Coffin: “The Blues and Hurricanes have both lost to Aussie opposition. Both games were superb spectacles but the Australian teams were WAY TOO STRONG.”
Yet some genius wrote a script for Jenny-May Coffin to read out that claimed the Australians were “way too strong.” Perhaps it was the same person who claimed there were only “hundreds” of marchers nationwide today.
Are they testing the copy-writers at TVNZ for hallucinogenic drug use? And if not, why not?
I found it strange watching the news – no mention of the Stewart Island oil leaking fishing vessel country of origin – why it ended up on rocks. Just the name Sureste – and a seemingly relaxed Environment Southland – heavy weather had dispursed most of the oil away.
Is this the same Sur Este – one of the Korean-flagged fishing vessels recently in the news for abusing crew?
Here’s an odd thing – an application from the FBI to hack a computer which was denied on the basis that the target computer is outside the territorial limit. I guess it just a Texas judge, so presumably the hacking of Kim Dotcom’s computers must have been issued by someone from the World Court, right?
Dotcom’s house was raided by NZ authorities, not by American. (although the Americans instigated and supervised it). This is also why the NZ courts system has jurisdiction over the incident.
And here’s what we know so far: The CFTC has sent subpoenas to ICAP and to as many as 15 of those member banks, and plans to interview about a dozen ICAP employees from the company’s office in Jersey City, New Jersey. Moreover, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, or ISDA, which works together with ICAP (for U.S. dollar transactions) and Thomson Reuters to compute the ISDAfix benchmark, has hired the consulting firm Oliver Wyman to review the process by which ISDAfix is calculated. Oliver Wyman is the same company that the British Bankers’ Association hired to review the Libor submission process after that scandal broke last year. The upshot of all of this is that it looks very much like ISDAfix could be Libor all over again.
Remember that these private banks are empowered by the central banks, and that the top execs of both move freely between each others organisations at the highest levels.
What’s new? The whole 20th century was one of concentration of capital into giant industrial and banking trusts, combines and cartels.
Its called state monopoly capitalism.
Competition is for losers. You only survive by getting bigger. Once you are big enough you can corner any market, land, finance, oil etc and set up a cartel especially if you can buy the govt. Land is a natural monopoly, but in finance you buy the govt and get it to license you to print money, set interest rates, get bailed out blah blah.
Its not new, its not an aberration, its not corruption, its the way the capitalist system works by outgrowing its competitive origins and using state power to bully all and sundry to accept your monopoly as god’s gift.
The system has to run like this because that’s the only way it can continue to accumulate and concentrate private wealth at the top, i.e. by making sure that only those at the top can compete.
So competition is squeezed upward out of markets, out of national jurisdictions and into international trusts that use the power of their state machines to bully their rivals. Its also squeezed downwards into the surplus population to divide and rule the working class. The result is world wars. US vs China is the current world war in the making.
Even at the beginning of the 20th century such was the fusion of industrial capital and banking capital that Lenin coined the term ‘finance capital’ to express this fact.
Today the term ‘finance capital’ is used to mean ‘money’ or ‘banking’ capital, when in reality it is fused with industrial capital.
As I said none of this is new. The constant surprise expressed by these ‘players’ as to the depth of collusion in business and banking is evidence of their ignorance as to how the system really works.
This sort of learned stupidity is part of the process of legitimating capitalism.
Its not new, its not an aberration, its not corruption, its the way the capitalist system works…
It’s not new, it is how the capitalist system works and it is corrupt.
This sort of learned stupidity is part of the process of legitimating capitalism.
My latest thought on the matter is that the whole neo-liberal paradigm isn’t actually an economic theory (How can it be? It’s not even remotely explaining the reality) but is just a means to legitimate the continued accumulation of the communities wealth into fewer and fewer hands.
Agree DTB if you use a standard of ‘corruption’ external to capitalism. Capitalism is inherently corrupt compared to pre-capitalist standards of communal sharing of social resources, and compared to post-capitalist concepts of communal existence. It breaks what is a fundamental rule of social reproduction (i.e. survival) which is “from each according to their ability and to each according to their needs”. It’s transgression of this rule is what is driving it to destroy humanity and nature.
The Prime Minister says he's really comfortable with us not knowing the reoffending rate for his boot camp programme.They asked him for it at yesterday’s press conference, and he said, nah, not telling, have to respect people's privacy.Okay I'll bite. Let's say they release this information to us:The rate of ...
Warning 1: There is a Nazi theme at the end of this article related to the disabled community. Warning 2: This article could be boring!One day, last year, I excitedly opened up a Substack post that was about how to fight back, and the answer at the end was disappointing ...
This may be rhetorical but here goes: did any of you invest in the $Libra memecoin endorsed and backed by Argentine president and darling of the global Right Javier Milei (who admitted to being paid a fee for his promotion of the token)? You know, the one that soared above ...
Last week various of the great and good of New Zealand economics and public policy trooped off to Hamilton (of all places) for the annual Waikato Economics Forum, one of the successful marketing drives of university’s Vice-Chancellor. My interest was in the speeches delivered by the Minister of Finance and ...
The Prime Minister says the Government would be open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached. The government has announced a $30 million spend on tourism infrastructure and biodiversity projects, including $11m spent to improve popular visitor sites and further $19m towards biodiversity efforts. A New Zealand-born ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler “But what about when the sun doesn't shine?!” Ah yes, the energy debate’s equivalent of “The Earth is flat!” Every time someone mentions solar or wind power, some self-proclaimed energy expert emerges from the woodwork to drop this supposedly devastating truth bomb: ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
Despite delays, logjams and overcrowding in our emergency departments, funding constraints are limiting the numbers of nurses and doctors being trained. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, February 18 are:A NZ Herald investigation ...
Now that the US has ripped up the Atlantic alliance, Europe is more vulnerable now than at any time since the mid-1930s. Apparently, Europe and Ukraine itself will not have a seat at the table in the talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin that will ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Stone, Principal Research Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock Having dense breasts is a clear risk factor for breast cancer. It can also make cancers hard to spot on mammograms. Yet you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The National Anti-Corruption Commission will finally investigate whether six people referred to it by the royal commission into Robodebt engaged in corrupt conduct. This follows an independent reconsideration by former High Court judge Geoffrey ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Blaxland, Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University Last week in Europe, the United States sent some very strong messages it is prepared to upend the established global order. US Vice President JD Vance warned a stunned Munich ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank has delivered the expected modest rate cut of a quarter of a percentage point, and we’re set for the predictable frenzy of speculation about an April election. The cut is unlikely to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank cut official interest rates on Tuesday, the first decrease in four years, saying inflationary pressures are easing “a little more quickly than expected”. However, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank has delivered the expected modest rate cut of a quarter of a percentage point, and we’re set for the predictable frenzy of speculation about an April election. The cut is unlikely to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Allan Fels, Professor Allan Fels, Professor of Law, Economics and Business at the University of Melbourne and Monash University., The University of Melbourne Australia is creeping towards adding a divestiture power to its Competition and Consumer Act. Under such a law, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arjen Vaartjes, PhD Student, Quantum Physics, UNSW Sydney Dmitriy Rybin / Shutterstock What makes something quantum? This question has kept a small but dedicated fraction of the world’s population – most of them quantum physicists – up at night for decades. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Anne Kenny, Associate Professor, School of Law, Murdoch University Australia’s minister for home affairs announced on Sunday that the federal government has struck a deal with Nauru to “resettle” three non-citizens from what’s come to be known as the “NZYQ cohort”. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Fitzpatrick, Professor in International History, Flinders University (From left to right): Neville Chamberlain, Édouard Daladier, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano before signing the Munich Agreement, which gave the Sudetenland to Germany.German Federal Archives/Wikimedia Commons Ukraine ...
The purpose was to establish the facts and provide an independent assessment of government agency activity in relation to allegations that personal data may have been misused during the 2023 General Election. ...
Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster said he is carefully reviewing the referrals raised in the two reports. That work will be done in the context the Privacy Act and the need to ensure individuals’ rights to privacy is protected and respected. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bhavna Middha, ARC DECRA Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University The average Australian household size has decreased from 4.5 people per household in 1911 to 2.5 people in 2024. At the same time, the average house size has increased, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Page Jeffery, Lecturer in Media and Communications, University of Sydney suriyachan/Shutterstock When the Australian government passed legislation in November last year banning young people under 16 from social media, it included exemptions for platforms “that are primarily for the purposes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leslie Roberson, Postdoctoral research fellow, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland If you’ve ever been stopped by quarantine officers at the airport, you might think Australia’s international border is locked down like a fortress. But when it comes ...
Duncan Sarkies’ latest novel, Star Gazers, is about the collapse of democracy in a society of alpaca breeders. Here are some things his intensive research revealed. 1 How greed works, psychologicallyYes, I guess I already understood greed, but I could never understand why people who already have everything they ...
The proposed cuts would see only two full time Telehealth data and digital roles, and one Planning, Funding and Outcomes (PFO) role remain, reduced from 17 Telehealth support roles (including vacant roles). Roles proposed to be cut include Telehealth ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling for Ministers to end funding for Te Kurahuna programmes and workshop grifters that have received millions in taxpayer funding, despite the Government’s supposed focus on cutting costs. ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist, in Avarua, Rarotonga More than 400 people have taken to the streets to protest against Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown’s recent decisions, which have led to a diplomatic spat with New Zealand. The protest, led by Opposition MP and Cook Islands United Party ...
In the second episode, Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester unearth some truths about dating on a dance floor in South Canterbury. Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club is a brand new documentary series for The Spinoff following award-winning comedians and friends Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester as they embark ...
The first half of a billion-dollar pipe that will drastically reduce wastewater overflows in the Auckland isthmus is now in operation. As I biked south, I thought about all the poo sloshing beneath my wheels. Tubes of it disgorging from U-bends, into wastewater pipes laid under our streets that become ...
🚐 The vulnerability continues as the pair head to the Hunt Ball in South Canterbury in search of a rich farmer, before getting some sage relationship advice from Brynley’s Dad and Oma. ❣️ Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club follows comedians Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester as they head out on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joel Garrett, Lecturer in Exercise Science and Physiology, Griffith University Australia’s love affair with the major football codes – the Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL) – is well documented. However, one aspect that stands out to many observers, ...
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The self-appointed apostle says he could be to Christopher Luxon what Elon Musk is to Donald Trump, and his track record speaks for itself.Who is New Zealand’s answer to Elon Musk? The Herald’s tech insider, Chris Keall, put the question to his LinkedIn acolytes the other day. “If Luxon ...
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“the Bill will reduce the Employment Relations Act to a farce and the result will be wages are driven down and employment agreements broken up, with some of the most significant impact being on workers in the public sector.”
And when that does not happen will we see an apology from the author of this post?
Today is a great day for the country.
[lprent: This looks more like diversion trolling than addressing the topic – moved to OpenMike.
Two week ban. One for diversion trolling. The second for wasting my time moving the comments. ]
The ironic thing is labour will get into power and leave most of the changes intact (like most of the changes Roger implemented) – they know its good for the economy
Then again labour is acting mighty strangely lately with all this NZ Power craziness!!!
It’s good for owners
Bad for workers
That’s a very simple ‘class war’ construct to think about the issue..you can do better than that
Exactly, this anti-labour legislation is a salvo in NZ’s ongoing class war.
Lol you like a walking slogan….
I suspect you’re a wannabee shogun.
You are talking an alien culture. Fuck Off !
No, he’s a wannabe squire.
Manservant
In relation to ” ‘Cos-I’m-John-Key-can’t-remember-my-last-username”, this is defining. In the archaic meaning of “squire” he was a fellow who was the dependable runner or errand boy of the knight.
Well, no unkindness intended but that’s how the abovenamed strikes me.
And he will be vindicated.
There is no doubt that before that citizen of the Kingdom of Global Banker leaves these now less-lovely shores, he will bestow upon himself The Order Of This That the Other Thing.
The abovenamed will have a true knight to snivel around after !
crmlu
You’re right Labour did blend in NACT type policies. There was a subterranean movement and a lot of aspiring NACTs took over hearts and minds of the Labour faithful in spades. It’s time to forge new approaches which is what is being said each day.
I don’t mind you refusing to print any of my guest post requests. As a Centre Left website you have every right to do so. No website allows posts they disagree with, that’s understandable. And why should you be different? But Lynn, do you really have to bump down my posts on Open mike?
P.S. Saying that. If you did allow more controversial Left of Centre posts. Who knows? You might find you could possibly get more debate and more readership.
the site is unpredictable at times Jenny; comments I make often end up above comments that came before; don’t panic; I read most of your comments, most of the time anyway.
You are right, of course. Thanks ghost, for your vote of support.
“Politics is all about pressure”
Coincidentally since I put up THIS post on open mike yesterday.
The Herald has published reviews of a new book which details all the pressures that David Lange was put under by the New Zealand state, the permanent heads of the Civil Service, military leaders, and foreign government leaders, to ignore his promise to the electorate. And the dismay these people felt, when Lange, under this onslaught of secret behind the scenes pressure, despite some early vacillation, eventually turned his back on them. That these undemocratic parasites on the body politic have now accused Lange of lying to them. Is just sour grapes. Politics is all about pressure and this time the pressure from below, was greater than the pressure from above.
“Lange lied over Anzus rift: author”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10879810
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10879996
P.S. All my best wishes to those attending rallies against asset sales today.
See you there.
Jenny
If only Lange had had the courage and the wit to stand up to the enemy within: Douglas, Prebble, Bassett, Moore, De Cleene and their fanatical mentors in Treasury.
You can add Goff and King, who are still there.
To Morrissey and Rhinocrates et al “If only Lange had had the courage and the wit to stand up to the enemy within: Douglas, Prebble, Bassett, Moore, De Cleene and …….”
He did ! Don’t you remember ? Some time late in 1987 Lange called for a “cup of tea” – meaning he wanted a pause in the ongoing rushed economic reforms to allow for proper consideration of them and their effects.
He was strongly vilified for that, a grouping led by Douglas, Prebble ,De Cleene etc set up the “Backbone Club” which went out publicly – with MSM support – to vilify Lange and his attempts to stop what was going on, when he had realised just how damaging it was. The vilification continued in house in the caucus as well. It was sickening to observe. Disgusting behaviour on the part of the leaders.
Indeed, sorry for any misunderstanding. Lange was a sincere person under enormous pressure.
Goff and King on the other hand…
Aye!
During an industrial dispute in Kawerau, provoked when Tasman cunningly appointed an unqualified woman to a machine operating position ahead of several qualified men, Lange came out on the side of the bosses. He said he would never stand with a union that was against employment for women, even when this patently was not the issue.
My view of Lange is that Kirk was the last half way decent Labour PM.
Agreed …. though I don’t judge him QUITE as harshly as the ‘careerists’ that followed and who STILL keep trying to push their barrow (or rather keep doing their best to push SHIT uphill).
At Least Lange had the decency to call for a cup of tea and a lay down – i.e. he recognised the programme was hollow.
Not so others – and unfortunately I now have to include that pathetic munter Robertson amongst that ilk (UNLESS of course he has an epiphany forthwith).
Hey……… btw….. whatever happened to that FanBoi or Fan Club fella?
Haven’t seen it screaching loudly lately in defense of the indefensible. (I guess he/she/it is too busy climbing the ranks and sucking as much rrrrrrrr’s as possible)
I ‘spose he/she/it’s content with that little media 15 secs of fame on Neshnool TV recently -though I doubt it.
Grant……where are you?
Shearer ……… where are you?
Bullyboy – what’s her name – ah yea – Mallard ……..where are you?
Clare! Darling! Where are you?
Maid Marion – where are you?
Oh…… I know – all in your little comfort zones destined to destroy the entire concept of the “Labour Party”.
Carry on what?
Gerald Hensley reinvents history to besmirch the memory of David Lange, and instead of being critical of that cowardly and disgusting behaviour, comments on The Standard concerning this matter are predominantly anti-Labour… Some even claiming Lange wasn’t courageous enough at a time he implemented legislation to ensure New Zealand became nuclear free in spite of huge international and domestic pressures.
You’d have to be seriously gullible to believe what Piggy Muldoon’s former chief adviser has made up to discredit a left wing Prime Minister. In fact you’d likely have to be as deluded as Hensley himself. Let’s instead ask the right wing hack what his advice was on the Springbok tour, the Think Big projects and increasing external debt by 1338% while Muldoon was Prime Minister. Where’s the book accepting that the third National Government was a complete economic, social and political failure for New Zealand?
Giving Hensley’s fabrications the credence they clearly don’t deserve by attacking Labour will only help to promote the idea of removing our Nuclear Free legislation (PDF)… Not that National presently abides by those laws anyway, that’s the end goal for Hensley and the current government. Let’s make something very clear… Like the vast majority of Kiwis, David Lange wanted New Zealand to be nuclear free… Hensley’s lies won’t change that fact one iota.
love ya work Jackal
Thanks ghostrider888.
don’t always agree with your analysis yet you appear a fairly astute and balanced commentator. *Bow* (wow)
No human being could stand up to that sort of pressure alone. Such pressure can be so intense that you can be ambushed into making decisions that can even go against your own better judgement. Despite it all, Lange did eventually call a halt. And probably wondered “Why on earth did I ever support any of that?” A question that I am sure many principled people finding themselves in similar isolated positions have asked themselves.
To his cost. For David Lange on his retirement, there was no plum sinecure as a director on a board of some well off company or bank, the usual reward for politicians of his stature who do what they’re told.
What was missing was a mass movement that would have supplied Lange with the counter pressure to the neo-liberal tidal wave.
Politics is all about pressure and who can bring it to bear.
The unions could have crippled the 4th Labour Government, had they chosen to.
Colin Craig: working tirelessly to help the unemployed! Well done, Craig! What’s next? Secure housing for the homeless?
“March 21
Novopay debacle solved by restarting computer
Novopay minister Steven Joyce: “We tried everything we could think of. We made sure the plug was in, we ran a virus scan. You know, pretty much everything. And then John walks in this morning munching on his breakfast bagel, and he says ‘Hey, Steve. Have you tried restarting the computer’?”
If in doubt – reboot! – Says it all really. Cure the immediate, though not the cause.
Very symbolic of a NAct agenda, and symbolic of the neo-Lib agenda too.
Keep it up is what I’m DESPERATELY hoping for but they should not be surprised when they disappear up their own arses (as fat and ugly as they may be).
Shades of Monty P/Greed/Sloth explosions in the nature of weapons of mass disgusting
from what I have read of this chap behind The Civilian (beyond a Nicholas Cage article) he appears very capable and creative; now a part of the media furniture for a while, with the hesitant support of his parents.
Here in H.B there is a young woman broadcasting her interesting life and personality to a YouTube audience of hundreds of thousands of people.”Jamies World”. great self-marketing for an aspirant dramatic arts performer or director. could be a few unforeseen consequences.
At least we can be a little pleased for the guy that runs The Civillian. He does help to make the day go with a smile. And as they say Any advertising is good advertising.
Indeed David H.Thank god (no religious inference intended) for Colin Craig being an arse. I hadn’t heard about that hilarious Civilian website until he threw a wee tanty.
Same and I am so pleased I found it. Maybe a thank you E-Mail to Colin, for telling us about this website. Just to say thanks you know 😉
The Comedy of Mortification
Kiwi version of The Office struggles along
Back Benches, Prime TV, Wednesday 24 April 2013, 10:30 p.m.
Hosted by WALLACE CHAPMAN and DAMIAN CHRISTIE
Politicians: Gareth Hughes (Green), Aaron Gilmore (National), Chris Hipkins (Labour)
After suffering through TV3’s dire The Vote: Is New Zealand a Racist Country?, my big night of television continued with yet another New Zealand current affairs show fronted by a couple of clowns.
These two, although far less self-assured clowns than Espiner and Garner, are, nonetheless, impressive exponents of the comedy of embarrassment. Christie, in particular, came across very effectively as New Zealand television’s very own David Brent. The fact that this was entirely unintentional only made it all the more effective.
In case you haven’t seen Back Benches—and you probably haven’t—it consists of aforesaid clowns (Wallace Chapman and Damian Christie) talking to a panel of three politicians and then walking around the Back Benches tavern in Wellington asking people what they think about what the politicians have said. The politicians are usually pretty relaxed—it seems that ties are banned—and usually acquit themselves quite well. The members of the public, however, are a little more unpredictable. The following is a quick highlights reel of Wednesday night’s episode….
After the politicians have been interviewed, the first person on the roving mike is John Carnegie from Business New Zealand. Predictably, sadly, he vapours pompously about the Labour-Green electricity pricing policy: “We are sending an incredibly bad signal that New Zealand is no longer a safe place to invest.” The crowd reacts to this rant with skeptical murmuring and scattered laughter. Quite apart from his irrational, hysterical words, many people have no doubt noticed that Carnegie looks uncannily like the fat guy in The Office.
http://www.pilkipedia.co.uk/wiki/images/thumb/4/4f/BigKeith.jpg/250px-BigKeith.jpg
http://www.businessnz.org.nz/images/upload/JohnCarnegie%20web.jpg
Back to the politicians, for their thoughts. This is where not only the intellectual, but the moral calibre of the politicians is often revealed. Chris Hipkins and Gareth Hughes both speak eloquently, but when Hipkins is speaking, Aaron Gilmore hoots and laughs. Such displays of loutish imbecility are, damningly, all that National is capable of; Gilmore’s antics are no different from the antics in Parliament of other National Party thugs, especially Gerry Brownlee. (Talking about people who look like Big Keith…)
Then it’s time for the most unpredictable part of the show: the vox pops. This consists of Damian Christie walking around the tables with his microphone and asking them what they think. This is a nerve-wracking exercise at the best of times, and it’s not helped by Christie’s patent awkwardness….
DAMIAN CHRISTIE: Have you been to Gallipoli for the dawn service?
WOMAN: Yes.
DAMIAN CHRISTIE: What were you doing over there?
WOMAN: Going to the dawn service.
This is met by gales of laughter, some of it shading into outright derision of Christie. Undeterred, however, Christie ploughs on, like an ANZAC soldier struggling doggedly up a Turkish cliff…
CHRISTIE: You’re getting all choked up over it now, aren’t you!
WOMAN: Not really.
Bravely, Christie continues to circulate around the room, wielding his enormous microphone, looking for vulnerable drinkers. It’s quite noticeable that people are drawing away as he approaches. He’d better watch himself, otherwise he’s going to make people as nervous as Brian Edwards did with his ambush vox pops in Auckland’s Victoria Park during his short-lived Saturday night horror show a decade ago.
Can you find this online?
You CAN get this online, but SkyTV makes you jump through hoops. I recommend you don’t encourage them in their bid to privatize this content….
http://www.isky.co.nz/product/481749.aspx
Indeed – don’t encourage them.
I’ve only managed to watch one Backbenches since is commercial transition – just as I have Media3 (once was Media7).
One of the big problems with the commercialisation of these programmes (or should I now call them ‘shows’) is that the continuity is destroyed often by the NEED to ‘take a break’ at as close to set times as is possible – and regardless of interrupting participants trying to make a point.
You’ll notice it on FUX NEWS often – when the left are getting any sort of advantage in an argument….. “we gotta get a break”, etc.
That’s just ONE of the problems! The platform is insidious: whether intended or not – you’ll find Brown, Chapman, Christie et al become victims of the ‘stardom mentality’ that seems to be a necessity in operating on this commercially driven platform.
In both cases (Prime BB, and MW M3), the defense is – it’s better than no BB or M3. I’m afraid not for me.
Probably more entertaining to read your take on the programme anyway!
It would be followed by an lowering of our credit rating, and a devaluation in currency.
The oil prices being kept artificially high as a deterrant to flirting with currency devaluation, because the inflationary pressure threat would be rammed down everyones throat!
Interest rates would rise, and whats left of the NZ economy will fall out the backdoor. Even with more competitive exports, the current account deficit will keep widening, with a higer cost of borrowing to service the lesser credit rating, leading to higher taxes to service the gowing debt costs!
The NZ Power policy as no chance of getting off the ground,
Because the global banking cartel, has NZ, by the balls!
Since 1961
The effect of NZ Power on private shareholders dividends will be 3 to 4.5% (not accounting for revenue increasing, + 18.6% in 2012). You’re saying that because of a potential 3 to 4.5% reduction in value of dividends going to private shareholders the NZ economy will fall out the backdoor? Get off the grass muzza.
If that’s all it reduces shareholder dividends by, NZ Power is only scratching the surface of what it should be doing.
I have to agree with you there CV… After crunching a few numbers it appears NZ Power won’t have much if any affect on power companies profitability or the dividends they payout. However there are savings to be made through better management of current infrastructure, which I think is just as much a problem as the current bidding system that means consumers are paying far too much for electricity that’s relatively cheap to produce.
It appears that Labour and the Greens perhaps knew there would be howls of anger from the right wing regarding NZ Power and so devised a very moderate policy. It certainly isn’t far left “economic vandalism” that some have claimed. Let’s hope that when NZ Power gets up and running (mid to late 2016) they will push the envelope a bit on how much is actually able to be saved for consumers.
Actually Jackal, my intent was aimed at what would likely happen to the housing/retail markets, should interest rates rise from their current. *lows* ??? following a devaluation in our currency, via a ratings mark down!
My commentary was a high level overview of what would happen, as was pointed out, if *a signal that NZ was no longer a safe place to invest*, went out!
Which is what NZ Power will have to contend with, and its creators contend with, before it stands any chance to become airborne!
A ratings downgrade because of a potential 3 to 4.5% decrease in dividend values for private shareholders… Are you out of your mind?
A wee bit surprised you didn’t zone in on the comment made by one of those ( I don’t know one from the other) aforementioned clowns Morrissey. Never mind. I’ll do it. Came after a quick fire question to the pollies relating to Boston.
Where were the alleged bombers from? Answer given was Chechnya. Answer queried on the grounds (I guess) that Kyrgyzstan had been mentioned in connection to them and their family. And the clown, not remembering the name ‘Kyrgyzstan’ deemed it an an opportunity to pop out the racially loaded ‘Wogistan’ alternate answer.
And no-one batted an eyelid.
Not surprised you don’t know one clown from another. After all, they’re all make-uo (courtesy of whatever brand of face paint that’s in vogue these days).
I was just thinking though (after witnessing a hipkins on some Beck Benchas ‘show’ – constructed by a Chapman and a Christie – where the credits were at pains to tell us all who ‘dressed them’) – I was going to suggest he should ‘Moisturise!…. Moisturise!…. Moisturise”.
It may well be his greatest contribution to the Labouring Party
A wee bit surprised you didn’t zone in on the comment made by one of those ( I don’t know one from the other) aforementioned clowns Morrissey.
I heard it, but I didn’t write it down in my transcription notebook, so I’d forgotten it by the time I came to type it up. The clown that said it was (surprise, surprise) the National Party lout Aaron Gilmore.
Never mind. I’ll do it. Came after a quick fire question to the pollies relating to Boston.
Thanks, Bill. You’re a trooper—in the good sense.
Where were the alleged bombers from? Answer given was Chechnya. Answer queried on the grounds (I guess) that Kyrgyzstan had been mentioned in connection to them and their family. And the clown, not remembering the name ‘Kyrgyzstan’ deemed it an an opportunity to pop out the racially loaded ‘Wogistan’ alternate answer.
And no-one batted an eyelid.
It’s not that nobody noticed, or cared. The problem is the format of the show. To remonstrate with that halfwitted National Party thug would have been counter to this show’s enforced mood of frivolity. Earlier in the evening, over on TV3, the same determined dumbing down occurred when Prof. Damon Salesa tried to say something serious during the moronic laugh-fest The Vote.
It wasn’t Gilmore came out with that shit Morrissey. It was one of the presenters – the one who tended to do the wandering around eliciting opinion from attendees.
Gilmore answered with “Chechnya”. One of the presenters was a bit unsure of that as an answer and the other clown kind of dismissively (barely conceiled undertones of ‘they’re all the same and who the fuck cares anyway’) suggested “Wogistan”. Racially, ethnically and religiously fucked up as all hell imo.
Really? Thanks for that, Bill.
Aaron Gilmore, sorry. Call off your lawyers now.
Damian Christie: you are so much better than that.
Even John Armstrong is taking not-so-much an anti Labour line this morning.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10880014
I’m not sure if this is a good thing.
John Armstrong is the Peter Dunne of the NZ Herald. Always trying to position himself in the vaccuous centre because he thinks that will may him look sensible, balanced and fair. In reality he’s just another self-serving journo.
Everyone should see the the film ‘Shadows of liberty’; it was on at documentary festival and hopefully will come back to cinemas once finished the festival cycle.
Here it trailer http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=_SAUborWbPw&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D_SAUborWbPw
It does show what has happened to the media and examples can be found in New Zealand of all the same issues mentioned in the film.
“John Armstrong is the Peter Dunne of the NZ Herald.”
heh.
It’s a thing. “High Broderism” it’s called, after David Broder who dominated the Washington press corp for lo, many years.
The basic conceit is that some journalists develop a identity of being the caretakers of the discourse. The content of policy, the actual business of politics, becomes a side issue at best; the protection of order, and form, take over. Disputes are seen not as politics functioning as it ought, but as threats to be resolved. ‘Bold policy’ is just a move in a game. They are positioning statements aimed at voter blocks, rather than policies aimed at problems.
What that leads to, though it is never admitted, or even realised I suspect, is that much of the political analysis we see is not analysis of policy, or even of politicians, but of the polis.
The question “How will this policy play in the electorate in terms of votes” is not answered by looking at the effects of a policy, or the reasoning behind it. ie, it cannot be answered by reporting on policy or politicians. It is answered by discussing whose votes might shift, and what it might do in the polls.
The advantage for journalists here is that this is a non partisan endeavor; they aren’t pontificating about whether the policy is good/bad, or whether the politician is honest/mendacious.
The whole area gets a good working over here:
http://pressthink.org/2010/06/clowns-to-the-left-of-me-jokers-to-the-right-on-the-actual-ideology-of-the-american-press/
lovely article there.
interesting; well they are not very good at looking after the polis
having just re-read the Armstrong piece, conclude it is disgusting (and patronising as well).
Nice link, PB. I think Colin Espiner fits that description too. When many had pegged him as a friend of the left he let loose with the article on Green/Labour policy.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/blogs/bull-dust/8568124/Labours-crazy-new-energy-policy
These pretend journalist types are determined to make the news and be the news, not report and analyse it.
And like Peter Dunne, he’s prone to let the whole facade drop and throw a hissy fit when he thinks he’s not being given the obeisance he’s due.
Poor old Armstrong is still licking his wounds after being comprehensively humiliated by the superior Gordon Campbell last year.
Armstrong’s piece is all about strategy – about The Game. And nothing about what is actually the right thing to do for the majority of Kiwis, and especially for those struggling on low incomes.
It’s a heartless piece. But that’s what “neoliberalism” has done to mainstream political commentary.
The coldness of the writing comes from the coldness in the heart.
small question (and I understand folks are busy)
Why is there no banner/promotion on The Standard for the Day of Action ?
There is just yesterday’s reminder. Seems like a missed opportunity is all.
anyways . . .
You may have voted National, Maori Party, United Future or even Act. That does not deny you your right to voice opposition to their actions as a Government. In fact to succeed in their crimes, they count on your silence and your complicity. Today is your chance to let them know you matter.
If you are not working today, little has greater significance to the future of New Zealand than this simple walk down the street amongst friends.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10879994
The crowning of Maurice Williamson as a ‘gay icon’ (by the media at least) has left me somewhat bemused.
Nothing against Williamson. He voted yes for marriage equality and as a result I applaud him. Even more so, he is a member of a conservative party in a rather blue neighbourhood. I have no doubt the pressure on him from those opposing equality was fierce.
His speech was good. Great? That’s debatable. It was loud. It had a few amusing turns of phrase. But it wasn’t necessarily any better than any of the other pro-speeches. Mojo Mathers, for example, gave one of the most stirring speeches I’ve ever seen. So why isn’t she being lauded as a ‘gay icon’?
Perhaps because she isn’t male, white and heterosexual? She doesn’t possess that holy triumvirate that many in society ascribe as being ‘preferable’ or ‘powerful’ or even ‘acceptable’.
Williamson voted down Civil Unions. He says it’s because they didn’t go far enough. That doesn’t wash with me. By that same logic you would deny a starving person a hamburger because it wasn’t steak. Back then those of us who needed legal protection were happy to get it any way we could. We saw civil unions as a secondary class, but it was a class nonetheless. No Maurice, you don’t get a pass on that. You voted tactically there, not with your conscience. Be honest.
Maurice, you’re not an ‘icon’ to this ethnic gay man. You’re a straight white man who voted progressively. You’re not worthy of the kudos that the media is heaping on you for marriage equality. That belongs to those politicians who worked tirelessly for years, decades, to achieve this. Kevin Hague. Louisa Wall. Those are gay icons. Those are the people who should be invited on Ellen. Not you, Maurice.
Stop the interviews. Don’t go on Ellen. Get on with doing your job. Because feeding this ‘gay icon’ fire is just sad to those who know it’s all puffery. You did a good thing. A very good thing. But there’s nothing worse than someone taking credit that isn’t due.
But won’t Mr Key be livid. He had to boyishly grin as he gave approval for the Ellen visit.
But why wasn’t it him! John Key is the man for centre stage, the limelight, the adulation, the autograph hunters, and international spotlight. To have to step back for a lowly Maurice for heavens sake! Hell will blaze for a man back-benched!
My conspiracy theory is that Maurice nixed the trip (I seem to remember him saying he wouldn’t go at first) but that Key pushed him to promote NZ. His talk about the trip now has tourism speak all over it.
But we can assume Key is pissed someone else is getting the limelight…
+1
Boyfriend just yesterday was wondering why Louisa Wall didn’t get the invite, since she actually did the work.
Some people I know took it upon themselves to inform Ellen de Generes of Williamson’s history on the issue. He was pretty much promoted by the Herald etc because he’s a Tory – just hijacking kudos for NAct. I didn’t think his speech was anything great and the fact that it was lauded all round the world just goes to show oratory has died.
I can see how Ellen might think Williamson would help get the white male heterosexual conservatives in the US onside for the same sex marriage campaign in the US.
However, she totally ignores the impact within NZ.
I agree, Tigger. Mojo Mathers gave the best speech in the 3rd reading of the Bill, as far as I’m concerned – it was about an inclusive family and wider whanau.
By US political standards, Williamson is a card carrying communist. I don’t think he’ll help get their conservatives onside.
From the US point of view, that so many National MPs voted for marriage reform basically identifies them as God-despising family hating bleeding heart liberals who are all going to hell.
A few upgrades running. Site may be a bit slow for an period.
Oops – database just upgraded
hence the “database unavailable” shite a while back.
You should be commended lprent as I’m hoping you are from time to time.
The approach is obviously not the ‘suck it and see’ one found elsewhere.
The outages should have only been 10-20 seconds or so each time.
Upgraded and been through a good solid compacting including old versions of posts and comments. I have corrected all issues with orphaned comments (~200 all up). Deleted about 4 that were in a chain in 2010 where the original comment got deleted and the replies all referred to the original comment.
It is suck it and see some of the time. There are some issues that I can’t test on the development system because of loading differences.
To all marching today…thank you so very much. I can’t be there due to the on call nature of my work but I am with you in spirit and will be following the protests around the country with much interest. I marched up Queen Street with my 84yr old Dad last year and found it very helpful in so many ways. I trust you all will too. Once again, many thanks from those of us unable to be there in body, we are with you.
see, with these subsistence-labour factories like the one that collapsed in Bangladesh it is only the consumer, and their demand for price, that can make the difference; the consumer. A dilemma indeed.
They can be quite delayed and sensationalist these prime-time news bulletins; In context, the last bird-flu killed approximately 370 people world-wide, from memory. That is not to say that something unforeseen might happen if the current strain becomes transmitted human to human.
According to the agonising of the sheep and beef farmer, if they don’t find solutions “they may as well pack it in” according to one representativee.
So, the use of sarin is a “red-line”, a “game-changer” says Obama, yet the US and Co. are being a bit more cautious before rushing in this time it appears.
and according to a commentator on the Auckland transport bind; “cycling (if possible) really does blow all other forms of transport away”.
Latest spin from Rugby Union http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/8604494/Rugby-bad-boys-paying-the-penalty
No sympathy here. If psychological stress is a job issue then screen them for it before hiring them in the first place.
Doug Sellman is the man to go to concerning the addiction issues NZ faces.
“professional sports are just rife with mental health issues”-Karen Nimmo
“rugby administrators are inconsistent in their enforcement of ‘codes of conduct'”
Rob Nichol, an apologist for big-money sports investment effectively, nonetheless identifies the two big issues professional sports (and those who aspire to participation in the field) face;
-integrity
-mental health of athletes (just consider Susan Devoy; too many shuttles to the head).
I’d like to thank anyone who is marching today against the theft of our national assets. I am unable to be there, but am with you in spirit.
To the scum who wish to sell us out: Kaore e mau te rongo–ake, ake!
+100 Ditto, as above
Swaps and detivatives rate fixing investigation hits Bank of America Merrill Lynch
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-18/meet-isdafix-the-libor-scandals-sequel
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/everything-is-rigged-the-biggest-financial-scandal-yet-20130425
NB: Bank of America bought Merrill Lynch in 2009
Five questions about the CFTC’s Isdafix probe
The ISDA includes foreign exchange derivatives among its suite of products.
I read those links thanks Pete; too blown out to comment.
Zero Hedge does a brief out take from the story for those who want a summary.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-26/illuminati-were-amateurs-matt-taibbi-explains-how-everything-rigged
Another .5cent equivilant fine coming their way, and the system will remain unchanged!
Been caught stealing (the energy of the entire planet)
Shoddy standards continue to erode the integrity of TVNZ news
Why would anyone trust this television station?
Television One News, Saturday 27 April 2013
Thousands of people turned out on the streets this afternoon to protest against the Government’s plan to flog off our national assets. But not according to one crusty old newsreader on Television One. I switched on my television just after 6:30 this evening to hear this…
Peter Williams: “HUNDREDS of people turned out in marches all over the country today…”
Given the fact that there were hundreds of protestors in Tauranga alone, it seems certain that there were several thousand marchers over the whole country.
http://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/42694-marching-against-asset-sales.html
Yet someone gave that silly old fool Peter Williams a script that said there were only “hundreds” of marchers nationwide. Or maybe Williams adjusted the figure himself; in light of his many nasty, smug little comments over the years, I would not put it past him to do such a thing.
After that came the preview of the sports news. This was equally abject, equally foolish, equally contrary to reality….
Jenny-May Coffin: “The Blues and Hurricanes have both lost to Aussie opposition. Both games were superb spectacles but the Australian teams were WAY TOO STRONG.”
THE FACTS…
The Auckland Blues lost to Queensland by one point in a closely fought away game, in Brisbane. The Blues scored the only try, a beauty by Jackson Willison. The Reds were extremely fortunate to win.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10880055
In Palmerston North, the Hurricanes lost 16-18 to the Cape Town Stormers. Both sides scored two tries, and the Hurricanes were unlucky not to win.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10880001
Yet some genius wrote a script for Jenny-May Coffin to read out that claimed the Australians were “way too strong.” Perhaps it was the same person who claimed there were only “hundreds” of marchers nationwide today.
Are they testing the copy-writers at TVNZ for hallucinogenic drug use? And if not, why not?
I found it strange watching the news – no mention of the Stewart Island oil leaking fishing vessel country of origin – why it ended up on rocks. Just the name Sureste – and a seemingly relaxed Environment Southland – heavy weather had dispursed most of the oil away.
Is this the same Sur Este – one of the Korean-flagged fishing vessels recently in the news for abusing crew?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8266324/Fishing-crew-walk-off-ship-in-Timaru
mentioned on three news
Yes, it is
‘
Here’s an odd thing – an application from the FBI to hack a computer which was denied on the basis that the target computer is outside the territorial limit. I guess it just a Texas judge, so presumably the hacking of Kim Dotcom’s computers must have been issued by someone from the World Court, right?
http://cryptome.org/2013/04/tx-search.pdf
Dotcom’s house was raided by NZ authorities, not by American. (although the Americans instigated and supervised it). This is also why the NZ courts system has jurisdiction over the incident.
Too-big-to-fail banks implicated in $500 trillion fraud: biggest price-rigging scandal in history
Yeah, private banks – just so fucken trustworthy.
Remember that these private banks are empowered by the central banks, and that the top execs of both move freely between each others organisations at the highest levels.
A true “inside job”.
cheers, draco
Matt Taibbi of The Exile no less
What’s new? The whole 20th century was one of concentration of capital into giant industrial and banking trusts, combines and cartels.
Its called state monopoly capitalism.
Competition is for losers. You only survive by getting bigger. Once you are big enough you can corner any market, land, finance, oil etc and set up a cartel especially if you can buy the govt. Land is a natural monopoly, but in finance you buy the govt and get it to license you to print money, set interest rates, get bailed out blah blah.
Its not new, its not an aberration, its not corruption, its the way the capitalist system works by outgrowing its competitive origins and using state power to bully all and sundry to accept your monopoly as god’s gift.
The system has to run like this because that’s the only way it can continue to accumulate and concentrate private wealth at the top, i.e. by making sure that only those at the top can compete.
So competition is squeezed upward out of markets, out of national jurisdictions and into international trusts that use the power of their state machines to bully their rivals. Its also squeezed downwards into the surplus population to divide and rule the working class. The result is world wars. US vs China is the current world war in the making.
Even at the beginning of the 20th century such was the fusion of industrial capital and banking capital that Lenin coined the term ‘finance capital’ to express this fact.
Today the term ‘finance capital’ is used to mean ‘money’ or ‘banking’ capital, when in reality it is fused with industrial capital.
As I said none of this is new. The constant surprise expressed by these ‘players’ as to the depth of collusion in business and banking is evidence of their ignorance as to how the system really works.
This sort of learned stupidity is part of the process of legitimating capitalism.
It’s not new, it is how the capitalist system works and it is corrupt.
My latest thought on the matter is that the whole neo-liberal paradigm isn’t actually an economic theory (How can it be? It’s not even remotely explaining the reality) but is just a means to legitimate the continued accumulation of the communities wealth into fewer and fewer hands.
Agree DTB if you use a standard of ‘corruption’ external to capitalism. Capitalism is inherently corrupt compared to pre-capitalist standards of communal sharing of social resources, and compared to post-capitalist concepts of communal existence. It breaks what is a fundamental rule of social reproduction (i.e. survival) which is “from each according to their ability and to each according to their needs”. It’s transgression of this rule is what is driving it to destroy humanity and nature.