Classic Herald headline. “Exports drive trade surplus to $1.2b”
A headline for the illiterate right to crow over.
But then read the full article and the future is nothing like so rosy……
The comments by the Deutsche Bank chief economist are particularly informative.
Funny the Herald didn’t write this headline.”Declining milk prices foreshadow future blowout in deficit.” But then that wouldn’t get Key re-elected, would it?
Here are selected sections that show the deficit is likely to increase again.
“But economists expect the improving trend in the annual trade balance to reverse when the sustained decline in dairy prices in Fonterra’s fortnightly auctions over the past three months is reflected in the value of shipments crossing the wharves.”
“April is usually a surplus month and the latest surplus, equal to 12 per cent of exports, was in line with the average 13 per cent of exports over the previous five April months.”
“On a seasonally adjusted basis dairy exports fell more by volume than by value last month compared with March, implying around a 3 per cent rise in export dairy prices.”
Deutsche Bank chief economist Darren Gibbs expects the 12-month running trade surplus to continue to rise over the next three months and to narrow the current account deficit to about 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product from the 3.4 per cent recorded in December 2013.
“[But] from later this year,” he said, “we would expect to see the deficit expand gradually as the trade data begins to reflect the lower dairy prices that have been seen in February and as import volumes continue to expand.”
“On a seasonally adjusted basis dairy exports fell more by volume than by value last month compared with March, implying around a 3 per cent rise in export dairy prices.”
They always talk about a great trade surplus but when you factor in the $15B p.a. that foreign owners take out of NZ per year, we end up in a nice fat long term current account deficit.
RNZ Morning Report now captured by the right. Just compare and contrast Espiner’s tone when interviewing Cunliffe today with his demeanour on Monday when chatting with Key.
We pay taxes to support such bias.
I noticed also that “David Cunliffe is planning to restrict immigration…his party is trailing 20 points behind National” featured on Morning Report as a news item. As if catching up to National was the only reason one might look at immigration levels. As if it was an FPP election.
The Nation had Colin Craig on this weekend debating Labour’s Sue Moroney.
Why does the media treat him as if he’s a member of parliament? He’s never won a seat. I don’t see members of Teh Libertarianz invited to debates on tv.
His money and the fact he’ll support Key’s corporatocracy.
Multinationals love people like that. As long as they can continue to pillage a country, they’ll probably allow some wacky policies.
I don’t think the media are flattering Craig and giving him air time because they like him. I think they’re giving him air time so he says something stupid on their television show and everyone goes to watch it.
Colin got 2.65% of the party vote at the last election, Libertarianz got 0.07%.
If you don’t see why that would make Colin someone the media might want to talk to, and whoever it is from the Libertarianz remains in obscurity, then I don’t know what to tell you.
Also according to Wikipedia, Libertarianz was dissolved in February, so another reason why they wouldn’t be interviewed.
Colin got 2.65% of the party vote at the last election, Libertarianz got 0.07%.
If you don’t see why that would make Colin someone the media might want to talk to
Yours is of course a logical assessment but partial IMO as we should not discount as relevant that the PM and his staff had been strategically lifting Colin’s profile in the media by mentioning him and the Conservatives in every conversation about coalition partners.
Hi Lanth, yeah I get why they might want to talk to him about why he’d like to be in parliament.
But what I’m seeing over and over again is Colin Craig being placed opposite actual MPs and presented as if he is already an elected representative speaking on behalf of one side of the house.
They even had him debating marriage equality opposite Louisa Wall who sponsored the bill!! They couldn’t find someone who was voting on the bill to oppose it?
Sure, talk to him about his policies, his party list, whatever. But they shouldn’t present him as a representative because as of yet, according to our democratic system, he isn’t representing dick.
Only “seems”? Henry and Hoskings have got the two networks covered. The only difference between the two is that Hoskings gives his pathetic holier than thou right-wing diatribe in a cult leader-like fashion at the end of the programme while Henry shoots off the same stuff throughout.
Putting one of the blue sock puppets like bridges up against moroney is not what ct want this year. The slimy one struggles on is own, imagine JLR v SM….ouch.
Loony distraction politics from the obediant msm, colon could be the new act as the nats like to blame the more extreme policies like charter schools on someone else.
National needs him to form a government after the election. John Key’s media friends are looking out for him by promoting his potential coalition partners every chance they get.
Felix, Why pick on Ms Moroney? She weems to be an able and likeable list MP
In looking at the records of the 48th, 49th and 50th elections, It would appear that Sue Moroney has won exactly as many electorate seats as has Colin Craig – namely none at all.
By virtue of the MMP system, she serves Labour in Parliament.
Seems to be so Phillip, there will be an announcement from the Mana/internet parties from the Parliament at 11am this morning,
IF this alliance does go ahead i can see at least 3–4% of the party vote going to Mana/Internet, as shown from the initial negotiations, and the publicity surrounding them, both Mana and Internet climbed in support on the following Roy Morgan poll, Mana to 1% and Internet to 1.5%,
This was extremely good news at the time for the Labour/Green parties both of which also went up in that particular poll, showing that Mana/Interent are not necessarily going to ”poach” votes from Labour/Green,
i am ”seeing” this election as being as tight or even tighter than 2011, a Mana/Internet alliance in the Parliament with 3–4% of the Party vote might just provide the perfect foil to Winston’s NZFirst where on the numbers National might not have an outright majority even with NZFirst counted on their side of the House,
Dotcom is said to have cashed up the Internet Party with a 240,000 dollar donation,
The ”ball” i would suggest is now in Labour’s court, do they do whip the rug out from under National by advising its voters in Te Tai Tokerau to split their votes electorate in favor of Hone and Party in favor of Kelvin Davis,
Is 3 more years of Slippery the PM’s National Government really an acceptable price to pay for electoral purity and holding ‘the moral high ground’…
Fortress Labour won’t have much say this time TM. The moderating committee which finalises the order of candidates is elected from the activist membership. I believe the Leader/Co-Leader and the President/General Secretary are automatically included. There’s a fresh leadership at the top and the old leadership will have little more input than the activist membership.
Having said that, the problem lies with the individual lobby groups (or one-horse-pony groups as I call them) whose primary aim is to get their candidates well placed. In some cases this is laudable, but it does carry the risk that some good people end up languishing too far down the list. That seems to be what happened to Kelvin Davis last time.
Yes Epsom, the ”other” crucial electorate in this years equation, it will be a tragedy of the highest order if both Labour and the Greens approach Epsom this election with any other intent than to have the National Party candidate ”win” there,
Last time round David Parker for Labour and David Hay for the Green’s between them picked up around 8000 electorate votes, Banks won that seat with less than a 2000 vote majority
David Parker and Julie Ann Genter this election will contest the Epsom electorate and if they approach this with the sole intent of installing the National Candidate as the winner the pair of them may well have ”won” the election outright for the ”left”,
Strategy for this election has gone way way past ”the message”, Labour in the Te Tai Tokerau and Waiariki Maori electorate seats hold the keys to the Treasury Benches in their hands,
In Epsom, the Labour/Green candidates hold a second set of keys to those Treasury Benches,
It sounds a little bizarre doesn’t it, BUT, the truth is for Labour, losing Te Tai Tokerau and losing Waiariki along with ensuring National win Epsom will ultimately ensconce Labour firmly on the Treasury Benches,
If David Cunliffe and Matt McCarten cannot see this and convince the Party of this then i for one will be a very unhappy camper for the next trimester…
If political expediency is to be practice of the opposition, then surely it would make more sense to gift an electorate to NZ1st, rather than mess about with a 1% party, who would at best, bring 1 or 2 extra members to the house.
Happy birthday, mate! I wish you many more happy returns of the day. Have a good one!
Hopefully your own ‘new year’ will make you happier and wiser, fairer and better. Cheers and God bless!
Sure, that goes without saying, but from a practical point of view, ensuring Winston got a seat takes the possibility of 2008 happening again right out of the result equation.
I wouldn’t ever vote NZ1st, but then I would do as Sue Bradford has and not have anything to do with dotcon either.
Just saying, if gifting seats is to be the done thing, then you have to give wisely. If I were Labour and the Greens I’d have nothing to do with Hone’s dirty money, but then if you really look, it’s only the mana one percenters that see it as a good thing… Them and TV3’s news room that is.
Yes that is one hell of a Laugh Out Loud comment Alien, there is a big difference between NZFirst and InternetMana,
It is this,”In the heads of agreement that the two parties have signed that form the rules of the alliance both parties agree NOT to support the National Party”,
Well said bad. It would be tragic if the opportunity to promote tactical voting in edgy seats was lost, especially if it were through some pretence at adherence to “loyalty and morals”. It would be immoral not to! (see comment on Kohlberg’s theory of moral development on yesterday’s open mike – it’s about the post conventional level of morals: social contract and universal ethics).
Besides, the Nat candidate for Ohariu, limpid ex sales rep, Brett Hudson has been honest, clear and upfront about only seeking the party vote, so game on I reckon.
Yep Rosie, i specifically didn’t mention Ohariu in my comment above, i seriously think the ‘blocks’ of votes from across the 3 Parties Labour/National and Dunne are two big to seriously expect a big enough tactical vote to oust Dunne via a vote for the National candidate,
Labour are still if what David Cunliffe said on RadioNZ National news at 3 is the final word, still mired firmly in last centuries First past the Post system,
Words to the effect that Kelvin Davis will be fully contesting the Te Tai Tokerau electorate and He,(Cunliffe), fully expects Davis to win, along with, ”Labour expects to take back all the Maori electorates,
Go the Dinosaur Party, last centuries electorate tactics have little place in an MMP enviroment…
Bad – have you been picking my brain while I’m sleeping. My thoughts exactly.
Strategy, strategy, strategy! No point in ‘winning the battle’, only to have to concede the war.
Think bold, outside the narrow vision.
Bad 12. I don’t think Parker is standing for Epsom this time. As I understand it, it is Michael Wood who is an up and coming young Labour star. Very intelligent and articulate.
Tah for that Anne, my bad for not keeping abreast with the ‘facts’, i assume after listening to Cunliffe on the radio this afternoon that the Labour candidate will also be ”fully contesting” Epsom for the electorate vote,
Is this Labour strategy: ”wait for things to get so ugly for the masses under National that they have no choice but to vote for Labour”,
Slippery the PM must be laughing fit to bust, The choir boy with high morals versus the Bankster with the mega-bucks campaign fund happily gerrymandering elections,
So everything seems to be pointing at Shane Jones for the new leader of IP – Now that may be better for National than Labour, and certainly not good for the Greens..
“The ”ball” i would suggest is now in Labour’s court, do they do whip the rug out from under National by advising its voters in Te Tai Tokerau to split their votes electorate in favor of Hone and Party in favor of Kelvin Davis,”
Labour is too stupid to do anything as strategic as that. But hey! -that’s just the way Labour rolls!!!
No Labour voters will be voting for Davis and if Hone/Mana hook up with The Internet Party he may well be rolled. Labour may throw Mana a life line by candidate voting Annette Sykes in an attempt to remove Favell.
Minto lost all cred’s by favouring an alliance between the 2 party’s, given TIP founder Kim DotBlob is so pro deregulation. I wonder if their party’s foundation policy will be removing copy right laws?
phillip, it’s good to hear the view of a Mana member on this alliance and that the vote of the membership for the alliance was largely in favour – a good sign, I think.
I’m over my initial sense of weirdness and apprehension at the prospect of of such an alliance and now see it as something fresh and hopeful. Modern stylez eh? To reflect a modern voter base. Onya’s.
Interesting like the Chinese curse. I think this is the beginning of the end for Mana as a worthwhile movement. There may be some temporary electoral success, but the contradiction between Maori workers and libertarian net nerds, half of whom think Hone is racist, will tear things apart.
and in weather/poverty news..like many others in my position..
..in new zealand..after 30 yrs of neo-lib/randite ‘evil’ dismantling of the welfare state…from both national and labour..
(..and despite never having had my power disconnected for non-payment..being forced onto by supplier .. that rip-off-of-the-poor pre-paid electricity..(they make so much more profit from that..eh..?..
..and when the money runs out..?..pop..!..instant disconnection/darkness..)
..there is no way i can afford to run a heater..
..so i have to layer-up..
..and on this chilly morn..it’s thermal long-johns/thick tracks/thick socks on below..
..and the many poor in nz don’t only live in these (usually) benevolent climes..
..so it’s no ‘poor-me!’..
..’it’s more ‘poor them!’
..and then those sleeping-rough..who..funny story..!.. both the current mayors of wellington and ak promised to ‘help’/house ..at one time..when campaigning..
..and who since being elected..have both done sweet fuck all for..
..as i say..’in this oh so rich country’..
..thank you labour…thank you national..
.for what 30 yrs of yr mis-rule has wrought..
..and good luck there labour..!
..with yr reaching out to the disposessed non-voters..
..with yr middle-class fretting about ‘affordable-homes’..
..eh..?
..and about ending that institutional/grinding-poverty..?
..that is the reality/day-to-day life of ‘the poor’..?
I hear you brother Phil, all be it sitting here feeling sorry for myself having taken a sickie suffering from man flu. However lucky for me I’m in the warm comfort of my lounge with my Kent fire blazing away. In the corner of my eye I see one of my lizards under his heat lamp adding to the coffers of the rich pricks who robbed us of our power assets.
Even the charity stores put close to market rates on quality woolen clothing. Just goes to show the tentacles of the market have no boundaries in our capitalistic land of milk & honey!
I know all about prices rising in op shop.. It is the trend in the op shop I have been involved in. The workers are nearly all superannuitants and of course get a nice fortnightly cheque, not enough in some cases but definitely there without argy bargy. Their heads are all filled with memories of growing up in a different NZ. The news that people have had no wage rises or ones under the measured cpi inflation does not register, if they know someone who is hard up it can seem an individual difficulty. And the prices go up as if it was the old days with inflation bouncing along. If the garment has a clothing industry ‘label’ on it then they charge an extra $1 or $2 for it, and the condition may not even be good. But the talk goes, I think we can get more for this, when it is ordinary clothes needed for everyday. Just like a second hand charity shop. Which is not what I call true charity.
Interestingly mrs banks testimony mirrored her husbands, exactly. No one calling it a fit up? Interesting comments she made about the “type” of people the dotcoms were and how they wouldnt give banks money. Of course they did, more than anyone else apparently, so she is not a great judge of people it seems.
More interestingly was the former mp who gave evidence about how honest banks is. Seems ok til you recall
He resigned as deputy speaker after illegally parking by aschool pedestrian crossing and trying to get the police commissioner to revoke the fine. So, his yardstick for integrity aint very high. Ian revell.
i am still not clear if by not reading it before he signed it he LEGALLY cant have signed KNOWING it was false.
The thing is, as i understand it, signing the form as being true and correct without reading it isnt the offence. It should be, cos otherwise the declaration is meaningless. I hope i am wrong, i truly do.
Yes it all hangs on that Tracey – I think. But if I sign any legal document (and now an email?) I am held to that. It cannot be that I cannot renege on a deal simply because I didn’t read the small print. Loan Sharks get great returns from such signage.
yea but loan sharks have a contract. I am definitely agreeing signing a declaration that something is true and correct should matter. banks is heaping alot onto the guy who filled out the form but he could never know what banks received anonymously outside his presence if banks didnt tell him. I think that guy is being unfairly tainted by banks behaviour.
not to bust to solicit money from all and sundry like a desperate whore but too busy to comply with responsibilities… thats mr banks.
online stuff and herald act as tho a senior politician is not on trial for electoral fraud… cf with brown coverage.
Yes Tracey, not having researched the question might have me commenting from a position of ”i thunk it therefore”, but, i have to assume that an electoral return of finances is an actual Statuary Declaration and as such those who sign such are legally responsible for what it contains no matter who filled it out or if those who sign such actually read its contents,
Perhaps in the fine print of the Law, those who wrote it, politicians, gave themselves a little ”out” for just such ocassions…
Banks might have been able to confuse a jury to the the extent they’d swallow his “I obeyed the letter of the law” defence but I hope the judge won’t be so lenient. It’s clear what Parliament’s intent is, unless you take the view that Parliament is a deeply cynical establishment. You or I might very well think that. The court will not.
The difference is that the issue Banks is facing is a criminal one so even if he signed it off as true and correct the offence still may not have been committed. This is as opposed to, for example, if the matter were a contractual one where signing something is generally binding, subject of course to specific exceptions/protections.
the wording of the charge is crucial he has to have known it was not true and correct. his defence is by signing it without reading he never knew. couldnt know.
hes called all his character witnesses. all swear on his abhorrence of deceit. yet he was ed of hujlich… took fees and didnt ask any questions… had a deal with key but didnt think the electorate should know what they said…. watched key mislead parliament… took dotcoms hong kong gift and upgrade…
and with ian revell as a character referee… dame jenny gibbs… restauranteur wife of ” tony”… you wonder what passes for integrity in some circles…
and lets not forget that honest john signed someghing as true and correct, he says, without reading it… = honest? integrity?
“the wording of the charge is crucial he has to have known it was not true and correct. his defence is by signing it without reading he never knew. couldnt know.”
Yes, precisely, but I can’t see a judge taking too kindly to statements from “character witnesses” as evidence in a criminal trial too well. If the defence feels it has to stoop to doing that my guess is that it knows it’s stuffed. Having said that, this is New Zealand where everyone knows everyone including the judiciary which means anything can happen.
xox
Hilarious,on The panel, Jim Mora and Boag calls him out for talking ‘rubbish’! Three times in quick succession. Jim was forced to back down and had no chance against the National juggernaut. And Brian Edwards, deferred to the dragons flaming. Really funny. The power of the woman. Mora and Edwards had no chance. The program needs some balance if it’s not to become a joke.
Brian Edwards Gosman, in my opinion is not a leader, He is a follower, and, as such, has followed Labour as it departed its left wing roots into neo-liberalism and from there into the confining electoral space of chasing a small flake (5%), of the middle class vote which has been the election battleground for far too long now,
As Labour have increasingly pandered to this over-coat changing slice of the middle class it has provided less and less for those further down the income scale,
My belief is that Labour is still very much stuck in that space fighting for that small flake of the middle class vote and until it can snap out of this will continue to bleed the support of the low waged/low income demographic that was its traditional support base…
Nanaia Mahuta quoted on RadioNZ National this morning, ”Maori home ownership is down to 22%”,
Right Nanaia, that is the problem, where is the proposed solution from Labour???,
i would suggest that in the other Labour heartland, the Pacifica-belt of South Auckland the figures for Pacifica peoples home ownership is even more dire than 22%,
And herein lies Labour’s big ”Problem”, cannot Labour see that among its South Auckland vote the building of 10,000 ”affordable homes” goes down like a lead brick,
Its Pacifica vote, mostly low waged, the first to be fired and the last to be hired will never be able to ”afford” one of these 10,000 homes,(unless Labour adopts the Green party variable mortgage payment policy),
This is the same for Labour’s Maori heartland, an ”affordable home” in the provinces is obviously going to be less costly than one in Auckland but a bank mortgage will never address the issues of Maori employment where as like the Pacifica people Maori are the first to be fired and the last to be hired when the financial poo becomes entangled in the ventilation system,
The 10,000 affordable homes policy, no matter what it actually is, is perceived in the wider electorate as homes for the middle class, Labour need to come up with additional policy that directly addresses that perception,
“Labour need to come up with additional policy that directly addresses that perception,”
I agree with that. Kiwis in general are still a pretty egalitarian bunch but the middle class voter won’t give up their own lifestyle for the poor. Labour look to have decided they can’t win votes if they lower property values so their solution to the housing problem is raising incomes. On paper it sounds ok but we’ve been there, done that. It hasn’t worked yet & people are getting a bit jaded with the same old. What we really need is some creative thinking; do something different that people can get excited about.
There’s plenty of options, it’s not as if the problem is insurmountable. They could capitalise accommodation supplements into a large deposit for a home, presently that annual $1.2 billion plus supplement is just pissed against the wall for no economic return. At existing Govt borrowing rates $100 per week pays the interest on a $130,000 loan. The Govt could retain title to the section or strata title until the loan is paid back.
Another option is for the Govt to create a new housing market for low income earners. The state buys the land, leases it at peppercorn rates to the home buyer who builds their own dwelling. The lease itself should act as the security for the loan to build the dwelling.
It’s only the price of land that makes houses unaffordable, and only the inability to come up with a deposit that stops those who can afford a mortgage. So remove land from the equation and use it as the deposit. It’s not rocket science.
joe90 put this comment up yesterday, with a link to the NY Times, in which the term “hedge cities” is suggested for cities in which the international rich park their money.
The author of the linked article suggests charging these people “parking fees,” but this doesn’t offer a solution as to where the locals are to live, or how they might attain housing security. The whole business looks like a basis for huge tension between people who need houses as dwellings and people who see them as poker chips in an international casino. And huge problems for governments who do not want to bring down their economies, but who do need to ensure that people are housed. Not only that, it has such potential to suck the life out of an economy that those with property really do become dependent on its putative “value”, and not just bewitched by the numbers.
Yes, it could also be a way of getting some of the funds needed to rebuild the local economy. But I do have an aversion to the term “social housing” – it suggests that a house is a poker chip first and a dwelling second.
Creative but a waste of time. Just have the government build enough state houses that come with a lifetime lease. People get affordable living and get to be part of the community.
I suggest if you want policy results from Nanaia Mahuta take a pad and pen on any given Friday to a certain Hamilton yum cha restaurant. I kid you not every time my side kick and me treated ourselves low and behold who is in the house lol.
Lolz Skinny, if i still had my house-truck i might just take you up on that, but alas, i am earth bound in Wellington at the moment,
Do i detect a small modicum of criticism of Nanaia in your comment Lol, can’t be right, you being there as many times as She,
Yeah the point of my comment about what Nanaia was saying on radio this morning was in the vein of ”She had the airtime to point out the low rate of Maori home ownership,(abysmal at 22%), but She didn’t have the policy to announce about what Labour intend to do about this”,
As i point out above, Maori like everybody else need ’employment prospects’ that will ladst 40 odd years to be able to sign up to ‘Kiwibuild’, increasingly rotational employment would suggest that that aint going to happen…
Looks pretty suss to me (and NZ Herald). Cunliffe “helps out” a major overseas based donor while ranting about overseas buyers pushing up housing prices. Imagine if John Key had done that!
serious question grumpy – in what capacity did cunliffe help his friend and what did he do?
if youve got a claim that cunliffe used his position as an MP to help with the purchase, and/or the rules were broken re: real estate sales, then lets hear it – because thats the only complaint that could be made
hope it’s not too far over your head grumpy … try really hard on this cold and frosty morning … maybe a wee nip of stone’s ginger wine would warm you up?
David Cunliffe asking questions in the House again that don’t demand an answer and Carter again giving Key free rein to say what he wants. Meanwhile, Metiria Turei asking proper questions Key is forced to answer properly, whether correctly or not but putting him on record in relation to real issues. When will Cunliffe learn how to use the questions for oral answer properly? So dumb.
it wont happen but for the left to get true representation in nz greens need more vote than labour. labour acts like a party of entitlement. they behave like its fpp… cosying up to nzf and not conceding some seats.
seemingly to labour if they cant be dominant they are happy to inflict another 3 years of national on the nation.
Lolz, thanks MS, i win the dumby of the day award, my stubby fat little fingers weren’t made for typing and i managed to hit the s at the same time i hit the d..
Who we are owned by
Watercare is a council organisation, wholly owned by the Auckland Council. The council appoints the company’s board of directors who in turn appoint the chief executive.
Now, if you’d said that’s what happens when the service needs to make a profit you’d probably have been more correct.
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This is a re-post from the Thinking is Power website maintained by Melanie Trecek-King where she regularly writes about many aspects of critical thinking in an effort to provide accessible and engaging critical thinking information to the general public. Please see this overview to find links to other reposts from Thinking is Power. ...
What a week, month even of deplorable headlines and hysterics we’ve had as a country – and given 2023 is closing in on us (a mere 6 months until Parties shift some gears into election mode really, not that some of them haven’t started already of course), we need ...
Over the weekend, the US Supreme Court followed through on its threat, and overturned Roe v. Wade, effectively outlawing abortion in much of the United States. People were outraged, in America and around the world. And in Aotearoa, this meant a lot of sudden questions for the National Party, which ...
Nothing is evil in the beginning… #TheRingsOfPowerpic.twitter.com/XffZtqp8Yw— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) June 27, 2022 We have ourselves a new breadcrumb (not a leak!) out of The Rings of Power. It is a fifteen second collection of clips from the original teaser-trailer, together ...
The repeal of Roe vs Wade by the US Supreme Court is part of a broader “New Conservative” agenda financed by reactionary billionaires like Peter Thiel, Elon Mush, the Kochs and Murdochs (and others), organised by agitators like Steve Bannon and Rodger Stone and legally weaponised by Conservative (often Catholic) ...
A Dangerous Leap Backwards: A United States forced to live by the beliefs and values of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries cannot hope to go on leading the “Free World”, or compete economically with nations focused fearlessly on the future. The revocation of Roe v. Wade represents the American republic’s most ...
Now that the right of US women to abortion (formerly protected by Roe vWade) has been abolished, the important role of medication-induced abortion will come even more to the fore. Already, research by the Guttmacher Institute reproductive rights centre shows that over half of US abortions are obtained ...
The government is finally moving to improve transparency over party finances, lowering the donation disclosure threshold to $5,000. This is a good move, though it doesn't go as far as it should. And of course, there's a nasty twist: The rules for larger donations are also changing. Presently parties ...
A rare exposure in Western media of the fact that many residents of the Donbass prefer Russian rule to Ukrainian ultranationalist rule. I don’t know why anyone would take advice from UK’s lame duck Prime Minister and well-known buffoon Boris Johnson seriously, but he ...
Jacinda Ardern will need to deploy every aspect of her starpower if she is to have any hope of rescuing New Zealand’s faltering free trade negotiations with the European Union (EU). The Prime Minister has branded each of her four foreign trips so far this year as ‘trade missions’ – ...
It was sometime in the late 1990s that I first interviewed Alan Webster about New Zealand’s part in a global Values Study. It’s a fascinating snapshot of values in countries all over the world and I still remember seeing America grouped with many developing countries on a spectrum that had ...
Today marks Matariki, the first “new” New Zealand public holiday since Waitangi Day was added in 1974. Officially the start of the Maori New Year, this is one of those moveable beasties – much like Easter, the dates will vary from year to year, anywhere from mid-June to ...
The takeaways from the just released data are:1. Any estimate of GDP is subject to error.2. The 0.2 percent decrease in the March 2022 quarter is not precise and will be revised, with the mild likelihood that it will eventually be higher.3. New Zealand has no ‘official' definition of a ...
Guided By The Stars? This gift of Matariki, then, what will be made of it? Can a people spiritually unconnected to anything other than their digital devices truly appreciate the relentless progress of gods and heroes across the heavens? The elders of Maoridom must wonder. Can Te Ao Māori be ...
The internet is a wonderful thing sometimes. Yesterday, I ran across an AI program that generates images via prompt: https://huggingface.co/spaces/dalle-mini/dalle-mini So I have been doing the logical thing with it. Getting it to generate Silmarillion characters in bizarre situations. Morgoth playing golf, and so forth. But one thing I ...
Stashing renewable energy Do a little internet sleuthing on renewable energy via your favorite search engine and you'll find some honest critique and much more dishonest misinformation (aka disinformation) to the effect that photovoltaic and wind generation are fickle energy supplies, over-abundant in some periods and absent in others. There's ...
The current New Zealand First Foundation trial in the High Court continues to show why reform is required when it comes to money in politics. The juicy details coming out each day show private wealth being funnelled into some peculiar schemes in an attempt to circumvent the Electoral Act. Yet ...
As in so many other areas of public policy, attitudes towards overseas investment in New Zealand – and anywhere, for that matter – boil down in the end to ideology. For proponents of the “free market”, there is really no issue. The market, in their view, must never be second-guessed; ...
Selwyn Manning and I discussed the upcoming NATO Leader’s summit (to which NZ Prime Minister Ardern is invited), the rival BRICS Leader’s summit and what they could mean for the Ruso-Ukrainian Wa and beyond. ...
New Zealand’s Most Profitable“Friend” Dangerous “Threat”: This country’s “Five Eyes” partners, heedless of the economic consequences for New Zealand, have cajoled and bullied its political class into becoming Sinophobes. They simply do not care that close to 40 percent of this country’s trade is with China. As far as Washington, London, ...
I have seen some natter around about how The Rings of Power represents the undue and unholy corporatisation of J.R.R. Tolkien. I won’t point out examples, but anyone who has seen YouTube commentary has a pretty good grasp of what I am talking about – the sentiment that ...
2017’s Queenmaker: Five years ago, Winston Peters’ choice ran counter to New Zealand’s informal, No. 8 wire, post-MMP constitution, which, up until 2017, had decreed that the party with the most votes got to supply the next prime minister. Had National not been in power for the previous 9 years, it ...
I've read some bad stuff about long covid recently, and Marc Daalder's recent Newsroom piece about what endemic covid means for Aotearoa got me wondering about whether the government was thinking about it. Mass-disability due to long covid has obvious implications for health and welfare spending, as well as for ...
Last year, a stranded kiwi criticised the MIQ system. Covid Minister Chris Hipkins responded by doxxing and defaming her. Now, he's been forced to apologise for that: Minister Chris Hipkins has admitted he released incorrect and personal information about journalist Charlotte Bellis, after she criticised the managed isolation system. ...
Gil-galad is an Elven Chad Gil-galad is an Elven Chad But Celebrimbor makes them mad Digesting leaks from Amazon Of Isildur and Pharazôn. The hair is short? The knives are keen. The beardless face of Dwarven Queen? With meteor and man-not-named The fandom temper is inflamed. Of Annatar ...
From the desk of Keir "Patriotic Duty" Starmer:“We have robust lines. We do not want to see these strikes to go ahead with the resulting disruption to the public. The government have failed to engage in any negotiations.“However, we also must show leadership and to that end, please be reminded ...
Has swapping Scott Morrison for Anthony Albanese made any discernible difference to Australia’s relations with the US, China, the Pacific and New Zealand ? Not so far. For example: Albanese has asked for more time to “consider” his response to New Zealand’s long running complaints about the so called “501” ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The Biden administration in April 2021 dramatically ratcheted up the country’s greenhouse gas emissions reductions pledge under the Paris target, also known as its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The Obama administration in 2014 had announced a commitment to cut U.S. emissions 26-28% below 2005 levels ...
Something I missed: the Central African Republic has abolished the death penalty: The National Assembly of the Central African Republic (CAR) passed a law abolishing the death penalty in the CAR on May 27, 2022. Once CAR President Touadéra promulgates the bill, the CAR will become the 24th abolitionist ...
Walking On Sunshine: National’s Sam Uffindell cantered home in the Tauranga By-Election, but the Outdoors & Freedom Party’s Sue Grey attracted an ominous level of support.THE RIGHT’S gadfly commentator, Matthew Hooton, summed up the Tauranga by-election in his usual pithy fashion. “Tonight’s result is poor for the National Party, catastrophic for ...
Te reo Māori is Dr. Anaha Hiini’s life purpose. Raised by his grandparents, Kepa and Maata Hiini, Anaha of Ngāti Tarāwhai, Tūhourangi, Ngāti Whakaue descent made a promise at the age of six to his late grandmother, Maata Hiini. “I’ve always had a passion for Māori culture. My first inspiration ...
Dr Carwyn Jones’ vision is to see Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the law given equal mana. Carwyn who holds a PhD in law and society and currently teaches Ahunga Tikanga (Māori Laws and Philosophy) at Te Wānanga o Raukawa after 15 years at Victoria University of Wellington has devoted ...
Jacinda Ardern’s decision to attend the upcoming North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Spain – but to skip the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda – symbolises the changes she is making to New Zealand foreign policy. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) starts today in ...
The outlook does not look that promising. Forecasting an economy is a mug’s game. The database on which the forecasts are founded is incomplete, out-of-date, and subject to errors, some of which will be revised after the forecasts are published. (No wonder weather-forecasting is easier.) One often has to adopt ...
by Don Franks It seems that almost each day now another ram raid shatters someone’s shop front and loots the premises. Prestigious Queen street is not immune, while attacks on small dairies have long stopped being headline news. Those of us not directly affected are becoming numbed to this form ...
It’s hard to believe that when we created Sciblogs in 2009, the iPhone was only two years old, being a ‘Youtuber’ wasn’t really a thing and Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok didn’t exist. But Science blogging was a big thing, particularly in the United States, where a number of scientists had ...
For 13 years, Sciblogs has been a staple in New Zealand’s science-writing landscape. Our bloggers have written about a vast variety of topics from climate change to covid, and from nanotechnology to household gadgets.But sadly, it’s time to close shop. Sciblogs will be shutting down on 30 June.When ...
Radical Options: By allocating the Broadcasting portfolio to the irrepressible, occasionally truculent, leader of Labour’s Māori caucus, Willie Jackson, the Prime Minister has, at the very least, confirmed that her appointment of Kiri Allan was no one-off. There are many words that could be used to describe Ardern’s placement of ...
A Delicate Juggler? The new Chief Censor, Ms Caroline Flora, owes New Zealand a comprehensive explanation of how she sees, and how she proposes to carry out, her role. Where, for example, is her duty to respect and protect the citizen’s right to freedom of expression positioned in relation to ...
Good grief. Has foreign policy commentary really devolved to the point where our diplomatic effort is being measured by how many overseas trips have been taken by our Foreign Minister? Weird, but apparently so. All this week, a series of media policy wonks have been invidiously comparing how many trips ...
Where we've been Time flies. This coming summer will mark 15 years of Skeptical Science focusing its effort on "traditional" climate science denial. Leaving aside frivolities, we've devoted most of our effort to combatting "serious" denial falling into a handful of broad categories of fairly crisp misconceptions: "radiative physics is wrong,""geophysics is ...
Mercenary army of bogus skeptics on parade Because they're both squarely centered in the Skeptical Science wheelhouse, this week we're highlighting two articles from our government and NGO section, where we collect high-quality articles not originating in academic research but featuring many of the important attributes of journal publications. Our mission ...
In the latest episode of AVFA Selwyn Manning and I discuss the evolution of Latin American politics and macroeconomic policy since the 1970s as well as US-Latin American relations during that time period. We use recent elections and the 2022 Summit of the Americas as anchor points. ...
The Scottish government has announced plans for another independence referendum: Nicola Sturgeon plans to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence in October next year if her government secures the legal approval to stage it. Angus Robertson, the Scottish government’s constitution secretary, said that provided ample time to pass ...
So far, the closer military relationship envisaged by Jacinda Ardern and Joseph Biden at their recent White House meeting has been analysed mainly in terms of what this means for our supposedly “independent” foreign policy. Not much attention has been paid to what having more interoperable defence forces might mean ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters For those puzzling over the various hurricane computer forecast models to figure out which one to believe, the best answer is: Don’t believe any of them. Put your trust in the National Hurricane Center, or NHC, forecast. Although an individual ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Scott Denning The excellent Julia Steinberger essay posted at this site in May provides a disturbing window into the psychology of teaching climate change to young people. It’s critically important to talk with youth about hard topics: love and sex, deadly contagion, school shootings, vicious ...
By Imogen Foote (Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington) A lack of consensus among international conservation regimes regarding albatross taxonomy makes management of these ocean roaming birds tricky. My PhD research aims to generate whole genome data for some of our most threatened albatrosses in a first attempt ...
Well, if that’s “minor” I’d be interested to see what a major reshuffle looks like.Jacinda Ardern has reminded New Zealand of the steel behind the spin in her cabinet refresh announced today. While the Prime Minister stressed that the changes were “triggered” by Kris Faafoi and Trevor Mallard and their ...
We’ve secured a major free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) – a move that’s set to boost exports by $1.8 billion per annum, enhance our economic security, and enable New Zealand businesses to grow, by unlocking one of the world’s biggest and high value markets. The new ...
Our Government is committed to making sure that our health system works for all New Zealanders, no matter who you are or where you live. Transformation of our health system will take time, and the step we’re taking today – establishing Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority – ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to announce its support urgently for a moratorium on deep sea mining under the high seas, after Pacific nations joined forces this week to demand change. ...
We’re committed to ensuring that there is every opportunity for women and girls to succeed in Aotearoa New Zealand, with fewer barriers. Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to support women and girls, by improving services like healthcare and tackling issues like the gender pay gap. Here are just ...
Political pressure from the Green Party has pushed the Government to supply free masks to kids and teachers in schools across Aotearoa New Zealand. ...
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand and the European Greens have published a joint statement calling for the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement to support climate action, phase out fossil fuel subsidies, cut agriculture emissions, protect human rights, and uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to guarantee that it will complete light rail and improve walking, cycling, and bus journeys across Wellington before digging new high-carbon tunnels. ...
The Green Party is urging Oceans and Fisheries Minister David Parker to commit to stronger ocean protection around Aotearoa and on the high seas while at the United Nations Oceans Conference in Portugal this week. ...
A strong Green voice in Parliament has helped reduce the influence large secret money will have in future elections and finally ensured overseas New Zealanders will retain the right to vote even while stranded by the Pandemic. But, the Government needs to go further to ensure our democracy works for ...
A new poll shows that the majority of people back the Greens’ call on the Government to overhaul the country’s criminally punitive, anti-evidence drug law. ...
The US Supreme Court’s decision on abortion is a reminder that we must take nothing for granted in Aotearoa, the Green Party says. “Aotearoa should be a place where everyone, no matter where they are from, or who they love, can choose what is right for their body and their ...
We’re proud to have delivered on our election commitment to establish a public holiday to celebrate Matariki. For the first time this year, New Zealanders will have the chance to enjoy a mid-winter holiday that is uniquely our own. ...
Proposed new legislation to reduce the risk that timber imported into Aotearoa New Zealand is sourced from illegal logging is a positive first step but it should go further, the Green Party says. ...
On World Refugee Day, the Green Party is calling on the new Minister for Immigration, Michael Wood to make up for the support that was not provided to people forced to leave their home countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
This week, we’ve marked a major milestone in our school upgrade programme. We've supported 4,500 projects across the country for schools to upgrade classrooms, sports facilities, playgrounds and more, so Kiwi kids have the best possible environments to learn in. ...
We’ve delivered on our election commitment to make Matariki a public holiday. For the first time this year, all New Zealanders will have the chance to enjoy a mid-winter holiday that is uniquely our own with family and friends. Try our quiz below, then challenge your whānau! To celebrate, we’ve ...
The Green Party says the removal of pre-departure testing for arrivals into New Zealand means the Government must step up domestic measures to protect communities most at risk. ...
The long overdue resumption of the Pacific Access Category and Samoan Quota must be followed by an overhaul of the Recognised Seasonal Employers (RSE) scheme, says the Green Party. ...
Lessons must be learned from the Government's response to the Delta outbreak, which the Ministry of Health confirmed today left Māori, Pacific, and disabled communities at greater risk. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to withdraw the proposed Oranga Tamariki oversight legislation which strips away independence and fails to put children at the heart. ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in London overnight, and together took a number of steps to strengthen the already close ties between our two countries, and promote our common interests in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. “The UK is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s oldest and closest friends and ...
Building a more secure, sustainable and prosperous future together: Joint Statement – Prime Ministers Jacinda Ardern and Boris Johnson 1. New Zealand and the United Kingdom are old friends and close partners. Our relationship rests on a bedrock of history, shared values, and deep people-to-people links, extending across almost all ...
Director Sir Robin Niblett, distinguished guests. What an honour it is to be back in London, and to be here at Chatham house. This visit represents much for me. The reopening of borders and resumption of travel after a difficult few years. The chance to bring life to the UK ...
Manawa maiea te pūtanga o Matariki Manawa maiea te ariki o te rangi Manawa maiea te mātahi o te tau! Introduction I’m pleased to join you for my second address at the 56th Annual Otago Foreign Policy School. The topic for this year is Space. Given that we are in ...
New Ministry will officially be called Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People Public Service Commission have appointed Geraldine Woods as Interim Chief Executive Office for Disability Issues to be folded into the new Ministry In what is a milestone day, the Government has launched Aotearoa New Zealand’s first Whaikaha ...
Nine new He Poutama Rangatahi programmes have been approved funding. These programmes will provide work-readiness, training and employment initiatives for over 820 rangatahi NEETS (not in education, employment or training), across Aotearoa New Zealand. "He Poutama Rangatahi has proven to be a very successful initiative which supports rangatahi to overcome ...
Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson today announced the appointment of Crown representatives, Dr Charlotte Severne and Mr Bernie O’Donnell, to the Steering Committee that will determine the future of the Ihumātao land. “I’m pleased to have made the Crown appointments. Both Dr Severne and Mr O’Donnell have extensive ...
I begin by thanking each of you for accepting appointment to these boards. You’ve each been on the Ministerial committee that established Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand and Te Aka Whai Ora - the Māori Health Authority and I express my appreciation for the enormous task you collectively ...
Aotearoa New Zealand has reiterated its concerns over the continued erosion of rights, freedom and autonomy in Hong Kong. On the second anniversary of the introduction of the Hong Kong National Security Law, the Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta says developments in Hong Kong remain a cause for worry. “Two years ...
The Europol Agreement signed is a significant milestone for New Zealand and the European Union’s relationship, and reflects our shared principles of democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today. The Prime Minister attended a signature ceremony in Brussels, as part of ...
· New nationwide public health system · 20 district health boards disestablished and deficits wiped · 82,000 health employees directly employed by Health New Zealand · $24 billion health budget this year – up 43% since Labour took office in 2017 – in addition to separate funding for the new ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins has announced appointments to the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand and the Board of Trustees of Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (Te Kura). “Robyn Baker ONZM has been appointed as the chair of the Teaching Council. She has considerable governance experience and is a ...
European Commission President von der Leyen and Prime Minister of New Zealand Ardern met in Brussels on 30 June 2022. The encounter provided an opportunity to reaffirm that the European Union and Aotearoa New Zealand are longstanding partners with shared democratic values and interests, aligned positions on key international and ...
Export revenue to the EU to grow by up to $1.8 billion annually on full implementation. Duty-free access on 97% of New Zealand’s current exports to the EU; with over 91% being removed the day the FTA comes into force. NZ exporters set to save approx. $110 million per annum ...
57,000 EVs and Hybrid registered in first year of clean car scheme, 56% increase on previous year EVs and Non Plug-in Hybrids made up 20% of new passenger car sales in March/April 2022 The Government’s Clean Car Discount Scheme has been a success, with more than 57,000 light-electric and ...
Police Minister Chris Hipkins congratulates the newest Police wing – wing 355 – which graduated today in Porirua. “These 70 new constables heading for the frontline bring the total number of new officers since Labour took office to 3,303 and is the latest mark of our commitment to the Police ...
Members with a range of governance, financial and technical skills have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Board as part of the shift to strengthen the Bank’s decision-making and accountability arrangements. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 2021 comes into force on 1 July 2022, with the establishment of ...
New Zealand to remain at Orange as case numbers start to creep up 50 child-size masks made available to every year 4-7 student in New Zealand 20,000-30,000 masks provided a week to all other students and school staff Extra funding to schools and early childhood services to supports better ...
Aotearoa New Zealand will join Ukraine’s case against Russia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which challenges Russia’s spurious attempt to justify its invasion under international law. Ukraine filed a case at the ICJ in February arguing Russia has falsely claimed genocide had occurred in Luhansk and Donetsk regions, as ...
The Government has taken another step forward in its work to eliminate family violence and sexual violence with the announcement today of a new Tangata Whenua Ministerial Advisory Group. A team of 11 experts in whānau Māori wellbeing will provide the Government independent advice on shaping family violence and sexual ...
Te Mahere Whai Mahi Wāhine: Women’s Employment Action Plan was launched today by Minister for Women Jan Tinetti – with the goal of ensuring New Zealand is a great place for women to work. “This Government is committed to improving women’s working lives. The current reality is that women have ...
The food and fibre sector acknowledged its people and leadership at last night’s 2022 Primary Industries Good Employer Awards, a time to celebrate their passion towards supporting employees by putting their health, welfare and wellbeing first,” Acting Minister of Agriculture Meka Whairiti said. “Award winners were selected from an extraordinary ...
Kia ora koutou katoa. It is a rare thing to have New Zealand represented at a NATO Summit. While we have worked together in theatres such as Afghanistan, and have been partners for just on a decade, today represents an important moment for our Pacific nation. New Zealand is ...
Te Arataki mō te Hauora Ngākau mō ngā Mōrehu a Tū me ō rātou Whānau, The Veteran, Family and Whānau Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy Framework “We ask a lot of those who serve in the military – and we ask a lot of the families and whānau who support ...
Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs Aupito William Sio has been appointed by the United Nations and Commonwealth as Aotearoa New Zealand’s advocacy champion for Small Island States. “Aotearoa New Zealand as a Pacific country is particularly focused on the interests of Pacific Small Island Developing States in our region. “This is a ...
An estimated 100,000 low income households will be eligible for increased support to pay their council rates, with changes to the rates rebate scheme taking effect from 1 July. Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta has announced increases to both the maximum value of the rates rebate, and the income threshold ...
A long-standing physical activity programme that focuses on outcomes for Maori has been expanded to four new regions with Government investment almost doubled to increase its reach. He Oranga Poutama is managed by a combination of hapū, iwi, hauora and regional providers. An increase in funding from $1.8 million ...
The Government is progressing a preferred option for LGWM which will see Wellington’s transport links strengthened with light rail from Wellington Station to Island Bay, a new tunnel through Mt Victoria for public transport, and walking and cycling, and upgrades to improve traffic flow at the Basin Reserve. “Where previous ...
To Provost Muniz, to the Organisers at the Instituto de Empresa buenas tardes and as we would say in New Zealand, kia ora kotou katoa. To colleagues from the State Department, from Academia, and Civil Society Groups, to all our distinguished guests - kia ora tatou katoa. It’s a pleasure ...
On June 28, 2022, a meeting took place in Madrid between the President of the Government of the Kingdom of Spain, Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, and the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, who was visiting Spain to participate in the Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as one ...
A six-fold increase in the Aotearoa New Zealand-Spain working holiday scheme gives a huge boost to the number of young people who can live and work in each other’s countries, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says. Jacinda Ardern and Spanish President Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón made the Working Holiday/Youth Mobility Scheme announcement ...
A significant barrier has been removed for people who want to stand in local government elections, with a change to the requirement to publish personal details in election advertising. The Associate Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty has taken the Local Electoral (Advertising) Amendment Bill through its final stages in Parliament ...
New financial conduct scheme will ensure customers are treated fairly Banks, insurers and non-bank deposit takers to be licensed by the FMA in relation to their general conduct Sales incentives based on volume or value targets like bonuses for selling a certain number of financial products banned The Government ...
Legislation that bans major supermarkets from blocking their competitors’ access to land to set up new stores paves the way for greater competition in the sector, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Dr David Clark said. The new law is the first in a suite of measures the Government is ...
The Government has announced an end to the requirement for border workers and corrections staff to be fully vaccinated. This will come into place from 2 July 2022. 100 per cent of corrections staff in prisons, and as of 23 June 2022 97 per cent of active border workers were ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has concluded a visit to Rwanda reaffirming Aotearoa New Zealand’s engagement in the Commonwealth and meeting with key counterparts. “I would like to thank President Kagame and the people of Rwanda for their manaakitanga and expert hosting of this important meeting,” Nanaia Mahuta said. “CHOGM ...
Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty officially launched the new Monitoring, Alerting and Reporting (MAR) Centre at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) today. The Government has stood up the centre in response to recommendations from the 2018 Ministerial Review following the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake and 2017 Port Hills fire, ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood has welcomed the announcement that a 110km/hr speed limit has been set for the SH1 Waikato Expressway, between Hampton Downs and Tamahere. “The Waikato Expressway is a key transport route for the Waikato region, connecting Auckland to the agricultural and business centres of the central North ...
Following feedback from the sector, Associate Minister of Education Jan Tinetti, today confirmed that new literacy and numeracy | te reo matatini me te pāngarau standards will be aligned with wider NCEA changes. “The education sector has asked for more time to put the literacy and numeracy | te reo ...
$4.5 million to provide Ukraine with additional non-lethal equipment and supplies such as medical kit for the Ukrainian Army Deployments extended for New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) intelligence, logistics and liaison officers in the UK, Germany, and Belgium Secondment of a senior New Zealand military officer to support International ...
Green Party candidate for Wellington's Motukairangi-Eastern Ward Luana Scowcroft is launching her campaign at Hataitai Centre (the former Hataitai Bowling Club) at 7pm tonight, Saturday July 2nd. Luana says that council's short-term thinking, and ...
The government has just announced the conclusion of a free trade agreement with the European Union. One Māori entity operating in the trade space, Ngā Toki Whakarururanga, is not celebrating. “We are aware that New Zealand negotiators genuinely sought ...
Buzz from the Beehive Down here on Earth – more particularly, in Ihumātao – progress on doing whatever is going to be done to that disputed patch of land has been glacial. Newsroom drew attention to the dawdling in an article in April which noted that Māori Development Minister Willie ...
PNG Post-Courier Today is officially the last day of campaigning in Papua New Guinea’s 2022 National General Election. Count tomorrow until Monday as rest days, but in politically charged PNG, anything is possible, including illegal last-minute clandestine campaigning. Polling is set to begin Tuesday, July 4, when millions will exercise ...
Asia Pacific Report newsdesk Greenpeace Aotearoa has condemned New Zealand for “standing by” while “deep wounds are inflicted on its Pacific neighbours” by silence over deep sea mining. Greenpeace’s seabed mining campaigner James Hita made the critical statement today after a dramatic shift at the UN Oceans conference in Lisbon ...
Buzz from the Beehive Numbers, quotas and ratios have been high in ministerial considerations over the past 24 hours or so. Export revenue to the EU will grow by up to $1.8 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Harris Rimmer, Professor and Director of the Policy Innovation Hub, Griffith Business School, Griffith University Prime Minister Anthony Albanese admitted at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Public Forum that some Australians may not understand why he’s at a NATO meeting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jared Mondschein, Senior Research Fellow, US Studies Centre, University of Sydney When colonial Americans declared their independence on July 4 1776, they rejected more than British rule. They explicitly denounced the British form of government and the unlegislated norms, traditions and conventions ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and Emma Larouche, from the University of Canberra’s Media and Communications team discuss the week in politics. They canvass the crossbenchers’ stoush with the Prime Minister over ...
"Aotearoa New Zealand remains concerned by the steady erosion of rights, freedoms, and autonomy that has occurred in Hong Kong as a result," the foreign minister said. ...
With one month to go until the closure of the 2021 Resident Visa, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) encourages those who are eligible for the 2021 Resident Visa to submit their applications before the category closes at 11:59pm on 31 July 2022. INZ has ...
Analysis - National's Christopher Luxon moves to defuse a potentially vote-losing disaster, the Health Minister's problems keep piling up and the PM speaks at a NATO summit and unveils an historic free trade agreement with the EU. ...
The government's signing of an Europol Agreement significant reflects shared principles of democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Tolbert, Associate Professor of Science and Environmental Education, University of Canterbury GettyImagesPlastic Free July has rolled around again and we’ll all be hearing about reducing plastic use in our daily lives. Much of the messaging is targeted toward young ...
Cost, sexism and racism are barriers to ethnic women entering Aotearoa New Zealand politics, a University of Auckland researcher says A University of Auckland researcher shedding light on the unseen and unheard stories of ethnic women in New Zealand politics ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roderick Neilsen, Associate Professor TESOL/Languages Education, Deakin University Burned-out teachers in Australian primary and secondary schools are quitting in droves, while the majority of surveyed teachers are thinking about it. There are similar fears about Australia’s early childhood educators. However, there ...
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Classic Herald headline. “Exports drive trade surplus to $1.2b”
A headline for the illiterate right to crow over.
But then read the full article and the future is nothing like so rosy……
The comments by the Deutsche Bank chief economist are particularly informative.
Funny the Herald didn’t write this headline.”Declining milk prices foreshadow future blowout in deficit.” But then that wouldn’t get Key re-elected, would it?
Here are selected sections that show the deficit is likely to increase again.
“But economists expect the improving trend in the annual trade balance to reverse when the sustained decline in dairy prices in Fonterra’s fortnightly auctions over the past three months is reflected in the value of shipments crossing the wharves.”
“April is usually a surplus month and the latest surplus, equal to 12 per cent of exports, was in line with the average 13 per cent of exports over the previous five April months.”
“On a seasonally adjusted basis dairy exports fell more by volume than by value last month compared with March, implying around a 3 per cent rise in export dairy prices.”
Deutsche Bank chief economist Darren Gibbs expects the 12-month running trade surplus to continue to rise over the next three months and to narrow the current account deficit to about 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product from the 3.4 per cent recorded in December 2013.
“[But] from later this year,” he said, “we would expect to see the deficit expand gradually as the trade data begins to reflect the lower dairy prices that have been seen in February and as import volumes continue to expand.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11262240
I didn’t look at the article, but I did wonder about the headline – what else would most likely drive a trade surplus, other than exports?
Lower import costs. Do you have evidence that volumes or prices have declined in this area?
Well, there is this from Paul’s comment above:
“On a seasonally adjusted basis dairy exports fell more by volume than by value last month compared with March, implying around a 3 per cent rise in export dairy prices.”
Sorry, you meant in imports. My mistake.
are you pleased with the picture painted for the next year or two relating to exports and in particular the large decline in price for milk solids?
They always talk about a great trade surplus but when you factor in the $15B p.a. that foreign owners take out of NZ per year, we end up in a nice fat long term current account deficit.
Of course they won’t put that in a headline.
RNZ Morning Report now captured by the right. Just compare and contrast Espiner’s tone when interviewing Cunliffe today with his demeanour on Monday when chatting with Key.
We pay taxes to support such bias.
This interview was appalling, Espiner was shrieking by the end …
But didn’t David do well!
And yes Guyon’s rule of thumb is “Cuddle John” but “Scratch David’s Eyes out.”
I noticed also that “David Cunliffe is planning to restrict immigration…his party is trailing 20 points behind National” featured on Morning Report as a news item. As if catching up to National was the only reason one might look at immigration levels. As if it was an FPP election.
I like it when it Espiner’s questions are so off the mark his bias shows. Morning Report really has shown Espiner as the crap journalist he is.
The Nation had Colin Craig on this weekend debating Labour’s Sue Moroney.
Why does the media treat him as if he’s a member of parliament? He’s never won a seat. I don’t see members of Teh Libertarianz invited to debates on tv.
What makes Colin special?
His money and the fact he’ll support Key’s corporatocracy.
Multinationals love people like that. As long as they can continue to pillage a country, they’ll probably allow some wacky policies.
I don’t think the media are flattering Craig and giving him air time because they like him. I think they’re giving him air time so he says something stupid on their television show and everyone goes to watch it.
The Herald’s obsession with ACT is the odd one.
There are plenty of idiots who want votes and will say stupid things. I gave Teh Libertarianz as one example.
What makes Colin special?
Colin got 2.65% of the party vote at the last election, Libertarianz got 0.07%.
If you don’t see why that would make Colin someone the media might want to talk to, and whoever it is from the Libertarianz remains in obscurity, then I don’t know what to tell you.
Also according to Wikipedia, Libertarianz was dissolved in February, so another reason why they wouldn’t be interviewed.
Yours is of course a logical assessment but partial IMO as we should not discount as relevant that the PM and his staff had been strategically lifting Colin’s profile in the media by mentioning him and the Conservatives in every conversation about coalition partners.
they seek him out more than those currently in parliament or with higher %.
How do you know?
It seems quite likely to me that other MPs they might approach to talk about a particular subject:
1. Don’t want to, or
2. Don’t have the time
Colin Craig on the other hand will make time to get as much media coverage as possible.
The question is whether the media are going to him first as an interviewee, or if he’s farther down the list (as rightfully befits him).
Oh come on Lanth, how many Nat MPs are there? They’re not all busy at once.
The ACT MP is probably busy but his leader is always happy to provide villiage idiot content.
Then there’s Peter Dunne, then there are three maori Party MPs.
And then we get to unelected non-representatives.
Hi Lanth, yeah I get why they might want to talk to him about why he’d like to be in parliament.
But what I’m seeing over and over again is Colin Craig being placed opposite actual MPs and presented as if he is already an elected representative speaking on behalf of one side of the house.
They even had him debating marriage equality opposite Louisa Wall who sponsored the bill!! They couldn’t find someone who was voting on the bill to oppose it?
Sure, talk to him about his policies, his party list, whatever. But they shouldn’t present him as a representative because as of yet, according to our democratic system, he isn’t representing dick.
And the tv3 poll keeps putting in the Conservatives with seats in their graphic.
They must be assuming a gifted seat. Kind of legitimising or ‘socialising’ the idea.
They really, really should not be doing that.
They give the other minor parties seats on the basis that they retain their seat. Conservatives have no seat to retain.
Paul Henry too seems an ACT and NAT fan. One can discern his overt and covert support to those parties and personalities.
Only “seems”? Henry and Hoskings have got the two networks covered. The only difference between the two is that Hoskings gives his pathetic holier than thou right-wing diatribe in a cult leader-like fashion at the end of the programme while Henry shoots off the same stuff throughout.
Putting one of the blue sock puppets like bridges up against moroney is not what ct want this year. The slimy one struggles on is own, imagine JLR v SM….ouch.
Loony distraction politics from the obediant msm, colon could be the new act as the nats like to blame the more extreme policies like charter schools on someone else.
Who/what is ct and JLR?
Crobsy/Textor and Jamie Lee Ross
National needs him to form a government after the election. John Key’s media friends are looking out for him by promoting his potential coalition partners every chance they get.
Felix, Why pick on Ms Moroney? She weems to be an able and likeable list MP
In looking at the records of the 48th, 49th and 50th elections, It would appear that Sue Moroney has won exactly as many electorate seats as has Colin Craig – namely none at all.
By virtue of the MMP system, she serves Labour in Parliament.
In other words, she’s been voted in whereas Craig hasn’t been at all.
I’m sorry you don’t understand how our democracy works, The Lone Haranguer.
Sue Moroney most certainly won her seat as part of the Labour Party list.
ps is this another reason righties hate MMP so much: that it requires cooperation and collective effort as part of a greater whole?
the mana party/internet party deal is happening..
..woo-hoo..!
..now things will start to get interesting..
Seems to be so Phillip, there will be an announcement from the Mana/internet parties from the Parliament at 11am this morning,
IF this alliance does go ahead i can see at least 3–4% of the party vote going to Mana/Internet, as shown from the initial negotiations, and the publicity surrounding them, both Mana and Internet climbed in support on the following Roy Morgan poll, Mana to 1% and Internet to 1.5%,
This was extremely good news at the time for the Labour/Green parties both of which also went up in that particular poll, showing that Mana/Interent are not necessarily going to ”poach” votes from Labour/Green,
i am ”seeing” this election as being as tight or even tighter than 2011, a Mana/Internet alliance in the Parliament with 3–4% of the Party vote might just provide the perfect foil to Winston’s NZFirst where on the numbers National might not have an outright majority even with NZFirst counted on their side of the House,
Dotcom is said to have cashed up the Internet Party with a 240,000 dollar donation,
The ”ball” i would suggest is now in Labour’s court, do they do whip the rug out from under National by advising its voters in Te Tai Tokerau to split their votes electorate in favor of Hone and Party in favor of Kelvin Davis,
Is 3 more years of Slippery the PM’s National Government really an acceptable price to pay for electoral purity and holding ‘the moral high ground’…
if Matt McCarten is earning his money Labour will give Davis a high list ranking, but my instinct says fortress Labour will rule as in Epsom last time
Fortress Labour won’t have much say this time TM. The moderating committee which finalises the order of candidates is elected from the activist membership. I believe the Leader/Co-Leader and the President/General Secretary are automatically included. There’s a fresh leadership at the top and the old leadership will have little more input than the activist membership.
Having said that, the problem lies with the individual lobby groups (or one-horse-pony groups as I call them) whose primary aim is to get their candidates well placed. In some cases this is laudable, but it does carry the risk that some good people end up languishing too far down the list. That seems to be what happened to Kelvin Davis last time.
Yes Epsom, the ”other” crucial electorate in this years equation, it will be a tragedy of the highest order if both Labour and the Greens approach Epsom this election with any other intent than to have the National Party candidate ”win” there,
Last time round David Parker for Labour and David Hay for the Green’s between them picked up around 8000 electorate votes, Banks won that seat with less than a 2000 vote majority
David Parker and Julie Ann Genter this election will contest the Epsom electorate and if they approach this with the sole intent of installing the National Candidate as the winner the pair of them may well have ”won” the election outright for the ”left”,
Strategy for this election has gone way way past ”the message”, Labour in the Te Tai Tokerau and Waiariki Maori electorate seats hold the keys to the Treasury Benches in their hands,
In Epsom, the Labour/Green candidates hold a second set of keys to those Treasury Benches,
It sounds a little bizarre doesn’t it, BUT, the truth is for Labour, losing Te Tai Tokerau and losing Waiariki along with ensuring National win Epsom will ultimately ensconce Labour firmly on the Treasury Benches,
If David Cunliffe and Matt McCarten cannot see this and convince the Party of this then i for one will be a very unhappy camper for the next trimester…
If political expediency is to be practice of the opposition, then surely it would make more sense to gift an electorate to NZ1st, rather than mess about with a 1% party, who would at best, bring 1 or 2 extra members to the house.
Ha, ha, ha you are funny and a cunning misleading dicky to boot!
Maybe a birthday endorphin rush, but nothing cunning or misleading about it.
Happy Birthday AlIen! 😀
Bless your heart 🙂
Celebrating?
On the peasant’s lifeline? Only on the inside 🙂
Happy birthday, mate! I wish you many more happy returns of the day. Have a good one!
Hopefully your own ‘new year’ will make you happier and wiser, fairer and better. Cheers and God bless!
“Hopefully” 😆
you cant gift to nzf as long as the rule out declaring pre election allegiances. imo.
labour needs to put parker in a different seat. how do ordinary labour voters not vote for their partys deputy leader.i
Sure, that goes without saying, but from a practical point of view, ensuring Winston got a seat takes the possibility of 2008 happening again right out of the result equation.
I wouldn’t ever vote NZ1st, but then I would do as Sue Bradford has and not have anything to do with dotcon either.
Just saying, if gifting seats is to be the done thing, then you have to give wisely. If I were Labour and the Greens I’d have nothing to do with Hone’s dirty money, but then if you really look, it’s only the mana one percenters that see it as a good thing… Them and TV3’s news room that is.
That Kim.Com’s is ‘dirty money’ is debatable.
In any case, what is to say for sure that the money coming from the donors of National and ACT is not ‘dirty money’ too?
Yes that is one hell of a Laugh Out Loud comment Alien, there is a big difference between NZFirst and InternetMana,
It is this,”In the heads of agreement that the two parties have signed that form the rules of the alliance both parties agree NOT to support the National Party”,
Now whats Winston’s position on this again???…
+100 Bad
Well said. MMP calls for such pre-election pragmatic strategies. We are no longer in FPP.
Well said bad. It would be tragic if the opportunity to promote tactical voting in edgy seats was lost, especially if it were through some pretence at adherence to “loyalty and morals”. It would be immoral not to! (see comment on Kohlberg’s theory of moral development on yesterday’s open mike – it’s about the post conventional level of morals: social contract and universal ethics).
Besides, the Nat candidate for Ohariu, limpid ex sales rep, Brett Hudson has been honest, clear and upfront about only seeking the party vote, so game on I reckon.
Yep Rosie, i specifically didn’t mention Ohariu in my comment above, i seriously think the ‘blocks’ of votes from across the 3 Parties Labour/National and Dunne are two big to seriously expect a big enough tactical vote to oust Dunne via a vote for the National candidate,
Labour are still if what David Cunliffe said on RadioNZ National news at 3 is the final word, still mired firmly in last centuries First past the Post system,
Words to the effect that Kelvin Davis will be fully contesting the Te Tai Tokerau electorate and He,(Cunliffe), fully expects Davis to win, along with, ”Labour expects to take back all the Maori electorates,
Go the Dinosaur Party, last centuries electorate tactics have little place in an MMP enviroment…
Agreed, re your scenario.
Disappointing about Cunliffe’s stance though…………….
Sigh.
Bad – have you been picking my brain while I’m sleeping. My thoughts exactly.
Strategy, strategy, strategy! No point in ‘winning the battle’, only to have to concede the war.
Think bold, outside the narrow vision.
Bad 12. I don’t think Parker is standing for Epsom this time. As I understand it, it is Michael Wood who is an up and coming young Labour star. Very intelligent and articulate.
god I hope you are right.
Tah for that Anne, my bad for not keeping abreast with the ‘facts’, i assume after listening to Cunliffe on the radio this afternoon that the Labour candidate will also be ”fully contesting” Epsom for the electorate vote,
Is this Labour strategy: ”wait for things to get so ugly for the masses under National that they have no choice but to vote for Labour”,
Slippery the PM must be laughing fit to bust, The choir boy with high morals versus the Bankster with the mega-bucks campaign fund happily gerrymandering elections,
Not a pretty sight…
So everything seems to be pointing at Shane Jones for the new leader of IP – Now that may be better for National than Labour, and certainly not good for the Greens..
um… even if true how would it impact greens???
“The ”ball” i would suggest is now in Labour’s court, do they do whip the rug out from under National by advising its voters in Te Tai Tokerau to split their votes electorate in favor of Hone and Party in favor of Kelvin Davis,”
Labour is too stupid to do anything as strategic as that. But hey! -that’s just the way Labour rolls!!!
No Labour voters will be voting for Davis and if Hone/Mana hook up with The Internet Party he may well be rolled. Labour may throw Mana a life line by candidate voting Annette Sykes in an attempt to remove Favell.
Minto lost all cred’s by favouring an alliance between the 2 party’s, given TIP founder Kim DotBlob is so pro deregulation. I wonder if their party’s foundation policy will be removing copy right laws?
skinny..if davis gets a good list-placing..harawira can credibly argue that northland can get two mp’s for the price of one..
..and from the position of a mana party member..(who voted for this deal to go thru..)
..i can tell you that you cannot overestimate the degree of respect with which minto is afforded by mana party members..so you are wrong there..
..and..having taken part in one of those meetings that decided for this to go ahead..
..i can report that many who i saw initially opposed to this deal..
..are now able to see how this could well get us more mp’s into parliament..
..and that we should roll with it..
..which is why the voting was overwhelmingly in support of this alliance-lite deal going thru..
..this grouping of poverty/surveillance-smashing parties is the politics of the future..
..and the mood for change is here/upon us..
..both national and labour are what came before..
..and the greens seem stuck in a limbo between the two..
..and as for what support will this new grouping get on election day..?
..well..because a recent poll had the mix on 2.5%..(before any official announcement..)
..i don’t see it as unrealistic-expectation for a well-run/funded/innovative election-campaign/advertising..
..to add 4-5% to that total..
..in fact..i think i am being comservative..
..there is one historical fact not to forget..
..bob jones with his party..captured/rode the public appetite for change..
..and got 22% of the popular-vote..
..if this new grouping is clever enough in marketing their new brand/model of politics..
..and can catch that current mood for change..
..both labour and the greens should be very very nervous..
phillip, it’s good to hear the view of a Mana member on this alliance and that the vote of the membership for the alliance was largely in favour – a good sign, I think.
I’m over my initial sense of weirdness and apprehension at the prospect of of such an alliance and now see it as something fresh and hopeful. Modern stylez eh? To reflect a modern voter base. Onya’s.
cunliffe ruled out effectively having kelvin just contest party vote.
Labour still live in an FPP world.
Interesting like the Chinese curse. I think this is the beginning of the end for Mana as a worthwhile movement. There may be some temporary electoral success, but the contradiction between Maori workers and libertarian net nerds, half of whom think Hone is racist, will tear things apart.
and in weather/poverty news..like many others in my position..
..in new zealand..after 30 yrs of neo-lib/randite ‘evil’ dismantling of the welfare state…from both national and labour..
(..and despite never having had my power disconnected for non-payment..being forced onto by supplier .. that rip-off-of-the-poor pre-paid electricity..(they make so much more profit from that..eh..?..
..and when the money runs out..?..pop..!..instant disconnection/darkness..)
..there is no way i can afford to run a heater..
..so i have to layer-up..
..and on this chilly morn..it’s thermal long-johns/thick tracks/thick socks on below..
..and t-shirt/thermal long-sleeved top/ thermal hoodie/thermal waistcoat/over-jacket..
..(i look like the fucken michelin-man..)
..and mittens with fingers cut out..(so i can type..)
..and a duvet wrapped around my legs..
..and i am one of the lucky ones..
..after several years of this..
..i am prepared..i have those layers to put on..
..and i get pretty angry when i think about all those others in my position unable to warm themselves..
..and those sleeping rough..(in this oh so rich country..)
..and those residents in christchurch..
..in their still..after all this time..broken/unrepaired homes..
..freezing their arses off..
..and i get even fucken angrier..
welcome to the brighter future phil.
Whereabouts in nz are you living?
that’s what i mean..!..i am in sub-tropical ak..!
..and the many poor in nz don’t only live in these (usually) benevolent climes..
..so it’s no ‘poor-me!’..
..’it’s more ‘poor them!’
..and then those sleeping-rough..who..funny story..!.. both the current mayors of wellington and ak promised to ‘help’/house ..at one time..when campaigning..
..and who since being elected..have both done sweet fuck all for..
..as i say..’in this oh so rich country’..
..thank you labour…thank you national..
.for what 30 yrs of yr mis-rule has wrought..
..and good luck there labour..!
..with yr reaching out to the disposessed non-voters..
..with yr middle-class fretting about ‘affordable-homes’..
..eh..?
..and about ending that institutional/grinding-poverty..?
..that is the reality/day-to-day life of ‘the poor’..?
..like before…you are offering sweet-fuck-all..
..eh..?
Well said Phil.
I hear you brother Phil, all be it sitting here feeling sorry for myself having taken a sickie suffering from man flu. However lucky for me I’m in the warm comfort of my lounge with my Kent fire blazing away. In the corner of my eye I see one of my lizards under his heat lamp adding to the coffers of the rich pricks who robbed us of our power assets.
Even the charity stores put close to market rates on quality woolen clothing. Just goes to show the tentacles of the market have no boundaries in our capitalistic land of milk & honey!
don’t get me started on charity shops that start getting ideas above their station/role in life…
..and start to charge accordingly..
when did second hand become “vintage”…..
when it meant the price goes up
about the same time the “personnel dept” (actual people !) became the “human resources” (to be exploited) dept ?
I know all about prices rising in op shop.. It is the trend in the op shop I have been involved in. The workers are nearly all superannuitants and of course get a nice fortnightly cheque, not enough in some cases but definitely there without argy bargy. Their heads are all filled with memories of growing up in a different NZ. The news that people have had no wage rises or ones under the measured cpi inflation does not register, if they know someone who is hard up it can seem an individual difficulty. And the prices go up as if it was the old days with inflation bouncing along. If the garment has a clothing industry ‘label’ on it then they charge an extra $1 or $2 for it, and the condition may not even be good. But the talk goes, I think we can get more for this, when it is ordinary clothes needed for everyday. Just like a second hand charity shop. Which is not what I call true charity.
Interestingly mrs banks testimony mirrored her husbands, exactly. No one calling it a fit up? Interesting comments she made about the “type” of people the dotcoms were and how they wouldnt give banks money. Of course they did, more than anyone else apparently, so she is not a great judge of people it seems.
More interestingly was the former mp who gave evidence about how honest banks is. Seems ok til you recall
He resigned as deputy speaker after illegally parking by aschool pedestrian crossing and trying to get the police commissioner to revoke the fine. So, his yardstick for integrity aint very high. Ian revell.
Banks problem remains sky city.
“..Banks problem remains sky city..”
aye..!..the sky city evidence is far more precise/clinical/damming than the dotcom stuff..
..and just removes any uncertainties around the dotcom stuff..(not that there is much to be ‘uncertain’ about..)
i am still not clear if by not reading it before he signed it he LEGALLY cant have signed KNOWING it was false.
The thing is, as i understand it, signing the form as being true and correct without reading it isnt the offence. It should be, cos otherwise the declaration is meaningless. I hope i am wrong, i truly do.
Yes it all hangs on that Tracey – I think. But if I sign any legal document (and now an email?) I am held to that. It cannot be that I cannot renege on a deal simply because I didn’t read the small print. Loan Sharks get great returns from such signage.
May be they should play this in the court to clear things up all round.
yea but loan sharks have a contract. I am definitely agreeing signing a declaration that something is true and correct should matter. banks is heaping alot onto the guy who filled out the form but he could never know what banks received anonymously outside his presence if banks didnt tell him. I think that guy is being unfairly tainted by banks behaviour.
not to bust to solicit money from all and sundry like a desperate whore but too busy to comply with responsibilities… thats mr banks.
online stuff and herald act as tho a senior politician is not on trial for electoral fraud… cf with brown coverage.
Yes Tracey, not having researched the question might have me commenting from a position of ”i thunk it therefore”, but, i have to assume that an electoral return of finances is an actual Statuary Declaration and as such those who sign such are legally responsible for what it contains no matter who filled it out or if those who sign such actually read its contents,
Perhaps in the fine print of the Law, those who wrote it, politicians, gave themselves a little ”out” for just such ocassions…
Banks might have been able to confuse a jury to the the extent they’d swallow his “I obeyed the letter of the law” defence but I hope the judge won’t be so lenient. It’s clear what Parliament’s intent is, unless you take the view that Parliament is a deeply cynical establishment. You or I might very well think that. The court will not.
The difference is that the issue Banks is facing is a criminal one so even if he signed it off as true and correct the offence still may not have been committed. This is as opposed to, for example, if the matter were a contractual one where signing something is generally binding, subject of course to specific exceptions/protections.
the wording of the charge is crucial he has to have known it was not true and correct. his defence is by signing it without reading he never knew. couldnt know.
hes called all his character witnesses. all swear on his abhorrence of deceit. yet he was ed of hujlich… took fees and didnt ask any questions… had a deal with key but didnt think the electorate should know what they said…. watched key mislead parliament… took dotcoms hong kong gift and upgrade…
and with ian revell as a character referee… dame jenny gibbs… restauranteur wife of ” tony”… you wonder what passes for integrity in some circles…
and lets not forget that honest john signed someghing as true and correct, he says, without reading it… = honest? integrity?
hell in a handbasket peolle
“the wording of the charge is crucial he has to have known it was not true and correct. his defence is by signing it without reading he never knew. couldnt know.”
Yes, precisely, but I can’t see a judge taking too kindly to statements from “character witnesses” as evidence in a criminal trial too well. If the defence feels it has to stoop to doing that my guess is that it knows it’s stuffed. Having said that, this is New Zealand where everyone knows everyone including the judiciary which means anything can happen.
xox
Hilarious,on The panel, Jim Mora and Boag calls him out for talking ‘rubbish’! Three times in quick succession. Jim was forced to back down and had no chance against the National juggernaut. And Brian Edwards, deferred to the dragons flaming. Really funny. The power of the woman. Mora and Edwards had no chance. The program needs some balance if it’s not to become a joke.
Brian Edwards is not left wing enough for you then?
Brian Edwards Gosman, in my opinion is not a leader, He is a follower, and, as such, has followed Labour as it departed its left wing roots into neo-liberalism and from there into the confining electoral space of chasing a small flake (5%), of the middle class vote which has been the election battleground for far too long now,
As Labour have increasingly pandered to this over-coat changing slice of the middle class it has provided less and less for those further down the income scale,
My belief is that Labour is still very much stuck in that space fighting for that small flake of the middle class vote and until it can snap out of this will continue to bleed the support of the low waged/low income demographic that was its traditional support base…
Brian Edwards is left wing? When did that happen?
how many left wing panelists on the panel or kathryn ryan have shouted down the host or the other commentator…
@ felix..
..no no..it’s ‘left winging’…
..(i think it must have been a typo…the ‘ing’ being left off..)
..edwards winges about the concerns of herne bay residents..
..(oh how they suffer..!..the poor-darlings..!..)
..and the trials/travails of/from buying/selling multi-million dollar houses..
..these are the concerns/politics of ‘left wing'(ing) edwards..
It’s an illusion created only when he’s on The Panel with Michelle Boag.
Solution…turn it off and listen to some music.
Much better for the blood pressure….
“The power of the woman.”
No, just a rude and arrogant and in my view ill-informed mouthpiece the lazy media go to for a talking head.
what about you then gooseman?
Nanaia Mahuta quoted on RadioNZ National this morning, ”Maori home ownership is down to 22%”,
Right Nanaia, that is the problem, where is the proposed solution from Labour???,
i would suggest that in the other Labour heartland, the Pacifica-belt of South Auckland the figures for Pacifica peoples home ownership is even more dire than 22%,
And herein lies Labour’s big ”Problem”, cannot Labour see that among its South Auckland vote the building of 10,000 ”affordable homes” goes down like a lead brick,
Its Pacifica vote, mostly low waged, the first to be fired and the last to be hired will never be able to ”afford” one of these 10,000 homes,(unless Labour adopts the Green party variable mortgage payment policy),
This is the same for Labour’s Maori heartland, an ”affordable home” in the provinces is obviously going to be less costly than one in Auckland but a bank mortgage will never address the issues of Maori employment where as like the Pacifica people Maori are the first to be fired and the last to be hired when the financial poo becomes entangled in the ventilation system,
The 10,000 affordable homes policy, no matter what it actually is, is perceived in the wider electorate as homes for the middle class, Labour need to come up with additional policy that directly addresses that perception,
And fast…
reactive not proactive…
thats why
look elsewhere for ideas to address real problems by people who bother to get shoulder to shoulder with real life in nz for so many
“Labour need to come up with additional policy that directly addresses that perception,”
I agree with that. Kiwis in general are still a pretty egalitarian bunch but the middle class voter won’t give up their own lifestyle for the poor. Labour look to have decided they can’t win votes if they lower property values so their solution to the housing problem is raising incomes. On paper it sounds ok but we’ve been there, done that. It hasn’t worked yet & people are getting a bit jaded with the same old. What we really need is some creative thinking; do something different that people can get excited about.
There’s plenty of options, it’s not as if the problem is insurmountable. They could capitalise accommodation supplements into a large deposit for a home, presently that annual $1.2 billion plus supplement is just pissed against the wall for no economic return. At existing Govt borrowing rates $100 per week pays the interest on a $130,000 loan. The Govt could retain title to the section or strata title until the loan is paid back.
Another option is for the Govt to create a new housing market for low income earners. The state buys the land, leases it at peppercorn rates to the home buyer who builds their own dwelling. The lease itself should act as the security for the loan to build the dwelling.
It’s only the price of land that makes houses unaffordable, and only the inability to come up with a deposit that stops those who can afford a mortgage. So remove land from the equation and use it as the deposit. It’s not rocket science.
joe90 put this comment up yesterday, with a link to the NY Times, in which the term “hedge cities” is suggested for cities in which the international rich park their money.
The author of the linked article suggests charging these people “parking fees,” but this doesn’t offer a solution as to where the locals are to live, or how they might attain housing security. The whole business looks like a basis for huge tension between people who need houses as dwellings and people who see them as poker chips in an international casino. And huge problems for governments who do not want to bring down their economies, but who do need to ensure that people are housed. Not only that, it has such potential to suck the life out of an economy that those with property really do become dependent on its putative “value”, and not just bewitched by the numbers.
Charge overseas speculators an extra 50% of the property value, then invest this “parking fee” in building social housing!
Yes, it could also be a way of getting some of the funds needed to rebuild the local economy. But I do have an aversion to the term “social housing” – it suggests that a house is a poker chip first and a dwelling second.
Creative but a waste of time. Just have the government build enough state houses that come with a lifetime lease. People get affordable living and get to be part of the community.
Bad 12
I suggest if you want policy results from Nanaia Mahuta take a pad and pen on any given Friday to a certain Hamilton yum cha restaurant. I kid you not every time my side kick and me treated ourselves low and behold who is in the house lol.
Lolz Skinny, if i still had my house-truck i might just take you up on that, but alas, i am earth bound in Wellington at the moment,
Do i detect a small modicum of criticism of Nanaia in your comment Lol, can’t be right, you being there as many times as She,
Yeah the point of my comment about what Nanaia was saying on radio this morning was in the vein of ”She had the airtime to point out the low rate of Maori home ownership,(abysmal at 22%), but She didn’t have the policy to announce about what Labour intend to do about this”,
As i point out above, Maori like everybody else need ’employment prospects’ that will ladst 40 odd years to be able to sign up to ‘Kiwibuild’, increasingly rotational employment would suggest that that aint going to happen…
Will the opposition try to skewer key in the House today on his blatant lies about how Fletcher was appointed?
If they do the speaker will probably eject them…or allow Key not to answer the question.
the future queen of england goes commando..(pic..)
..whoar..!..who knew..?
http://www.bild.de/unterhaltung/leute/catherine-mountbatten-windsor/und-kim-kardashian-schoene-kehrseiten-36136770.bild.html
The description is in German : Luckily, I was able to read the translation using this:
https://translate.google.com/#auto/en/
Easily the best of the three!
Just reading today’s The Spectator LabourList which can be read here LabourList which says some things that are applicable to NZ Labour in my opinion
Some key points:
Understand what makes people vote UKIP This means, in part, understanding concerns about Europe and immigration
Be positive: The way to win over those who believe that all politicians are the same is not to run a negative campaign attacking politicians
Door knocking is important – but it doesn’t win seats on its own
Listening to the polls that matter
All these items have relevance to NZ situation so read article and comment.
Oh dear……
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11262561
Oh dear….
Did you read beyond the headline lumpy?
Mr Keenan is a NZ citizen, not an overseas speculator!
So are many of the Chinese house buyers Labour are complaining about. but he is also a Cunliffe donor…..
“So are many of the Chinese house buyers Labour are complaining about”
You need to pay attention. It’s overseas “investors” Labour are talking about, these people aren’t NZ citizens.
OK, fair enough – but he’s a “rich prick” working for the Boston Consulting Group – and a campaign donor for Cunliffe.
Yeah he donated money towards Cunliffes leadership campaign..
Maybe one day when you ditch the grumpy persona you may gain a friend or two, and then you may learn what friendship is about.
which is utterly irrelevant and is just you desperately hanging onto your attempted slur even though its fallen over
that is one sad/shallow beat-up…
(tho..i do think..that like with raising the pension-age..
..that labour are on the wrong foot with immigration..
..and them becoming winston-peters-lite on the subject..
..is actually quite unedifying to watch..
..(and the anti-asian thread running thru it..doesn’t help that ew!-perception..)
..and i know that most i vote with wouldn’t agree with me on this..
..but i can’t get past the fact that the japanese know of/call nz ‘the empty islands’..
..we are so far from being over-populated..(and with our seriously under-populated/stagnating provincial-centres…)
..it is ridiculous to make any claims that ‘we have no room’..(go and drive around this country..see how ’empty’ it really is..)
..i put that together with our miserable/shaming levels of refugee-acceptance..(750 a year..?..)
..(and we often don’t even make that quota..!..)
..and all of that leads me to a desire to seriously upgrade the numbers of refugees we offer new homes/lives to..
..and to relax our immigration-hurdles to a serious degree..
..(and this can be done in conjunction with stopping bus-loads of australian ‘investors’..
..cruising around auckland..and buying a brace of homes each..)
..and as for immigrants ‘changing’ our lives..i feel they change our lives for the better..
..auckland has only become an interesting city by the threading of asian/p.i/dutch/dalmatian/immigrant-cultures..
..with the white/working-class english/scots/irish/welsh immigration that prevailed ..
..up until the dutch started arriving..
..as the first wave of change..
..(and of course..at that time maori/maori-culture was mainly rural..
..so those working class celts/english pretty much had it to themselves..)
..who would want to go back to that..?..(shudder..!..)
..and further multi-cultural/nationalities/immigrant populations will only add to the richness/wealth of the new zealand culture/life..
thats bullshit grumpy.
why dont you speak for yourself?
stop peddling that crap from the flacks at the auckland rag.
Looks pretty suss to me (and NZ Herald). Cunliffe “helps out” a major overseas based donor while ranting about overseas buyers pushing up housing prices. Imagine if John Key had done that!
A NZer living overseas wants to buy a house in his own country and you think it looks “suss”.
You must be livid with the corrupt practices of Judith Collins then.
Can you quote the passage that shows the NZ Herald find it “suss”…..please….
serious question grumpy – in what capacity did cunliffe help his friend and what did he do?
if youve got a claim that cunliffe used his position as an MP to help with the purchase, and/or the rules were broken re: real estate sales, then lets hear it – because thats the only complaint that could be made
It’s just arrived and I haven’t read it yet, but here is Memorandum of Understanding twixt Mana and Internet Party .. here we go !
https://internet.org.nz/news/31
Memorandum of Understanding wow!
hope it’s not too far over your head grumpy … try really hard on this cold and frosty morning … maybe a wee nip of stone’s ginger wine would warm you up?
So we have the Heads of Agreement coming soon then……..
Don’t wait up for the Statement of Intent.
Missing Rogue Trooper these days.
So anyway, this is for others enjoying a delicious, sunny, indolent snow day.
Nick Cave “Fifteen Feet of pure white Snow” Enjoy.
+1 on both points (except for the snow bit).
David Cunliffe asking questions in the House again that don’t demand an answer and Carter again giving Key free rein to say what he wants. Meanwhile, Metiria Turei asking proper questions Key is forced to answer properly, whether correctly or not but putting him on record in relation to real issues. When will Cunliffe learn how to use the questions for oral answer properly? So dumb.
it wont happen but for the left to get true representation in nz greens need more vote than labour. labour acts like a party of entitlement. they behave like its fpp… cosying up to nzf and not conceding some seats.
seemingly to labour if they cant be dominant they are happy to inflict another 3 years of national on the nation.
Good afternoon Mods, every comment of mine made this arvo has gone into moderation, is there a specific reason???,
If a comment today has been in any way offensive can i have a hint which one???…
[It is your name. Correct it and all should be fine – MS]
Lolz, thanks MS, i win the dumby of the day award, my stubby fat little fingers weren’t made for typing and i managed to hit the s at the same time i hit the d..
Ah, that explains it! I was wondering why you were leaving out the ‘tar’ before the d!
Ah, your comment explains why i have never had to wonder why you lack any skin on your knuckles…
The 1% support the banks’ heist of the economy in 2008 and think they saved the world
Well, that was worth knowing, NZ Herald.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11262214
For those who haven’t already seen it, there’s a re-run of The Shock Doctrine coming up on Maori TV at 8.30pm tonight.
This is what happens when you privatise public resources…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11262808
http://www.watercare.co.nz/about-watercare/about-watercare/Pages/default.aspx
Now, if you’d said that’s what happens when the service needs to make a profit you’d probably have been more correct.