”The former Dunedin Labour MP told the Otago Daily Times when contacted yesterday he would ask chief executive Brian Roche about zero-hours contracts when the pair met tomorrow.
”I want to talk with the chief executive about that.
”I would be very concerned if we were involved in any kind of permanent arrangement around zero-hour contracts,” Sir Michael said.
& more information about NZ Posts PPM (Postal Pay Model – paid for volume not hours worked), is on the monday there was no mail because of snow (the trucks couldn’t get over the Kilmogs), so no volume, no pay.
And there would be no delivery issue in Dunedin that day if the mail was not sorted in Chch as there was minimal snow in the city itself.
Posties are part of a community network that grows more important with the ageing population, with more people at home in their old age.
But instead we get a zerohours exploited workforce, privatisation by stealth to DX Mail, and a too readily accepted story about technology change/TINA.
Some small providers are stepping up like taxi firms delivering mail in small towns, which is fine as it’s filling a gap in a public service, but leading to an overall outcome of fragmentation and inefficiency.
No less than the president himself has promised, “No trade agreement is going to force us to change our laws.” National Economic Council chief Jeffrey Zients has stated, “It is an often repeated, but inaccurate, claim that ISDS [a provision of the TPP] gives companies the right to weaken labor or environmental standards, for example, suggesting that a trade agreement could result in the United States having to lower its minimum wage. The reality is that ISDS does not and cannot require countries to change any law or regulation.”
That’s right…. it’s a “choice”. Eliminating all but two options (in this case be sued or change the law – see you have ALL the control!) works for four year old children, so why wouldn’t it work for an apathetic, dumb and numb population?
“Being sued” is just another way of saying that the government would compensate for losses attributable to legislative changes. I’d love that. Road user charges go up, I get compensated by the government. Max Bradford enacts a faith-based electricity market, I get compensated for that too.
Tell the corporations to get in line or fuck off. ISDS my ass.
This is one of those reports you need to read to get to the good news. It appears that now 6 years after the banks melted down – we are getting some prosecutions of some individuals who knew they were acting immorally and corruptly. That said, some of the major players are still walking free – what a odd world we live in – when people who cause such despair, heartbreak, and death – walk free, because they have the biggest check book.
Also I see Chris Trotter is calling trick dicky out. Well done Chris. Hoot’s your lying is getting out of whack again. I know, I know to you, it’s just propaganda promoting you set of ideals. However, when you cross the line – you will get called on it.
Hmmm I thought Kalashinkov himself designed the AKM circa 1949 or 1950 to improve upon his original AK47 design. And yes, I suspect that China has made the majority of those worldwide now as what is generally called an AK47 is actually the slightly updated AKM model.
And conservative fiscal policies do enormous social harm. That’s true even for the mildest, most generous version of “fiscal conservatism” — low taxes, small government, reduced regulation, a free market. These policies perpetuate human rights abuses. They make life harder for people who already have hard lives. Even if the people supporting these policies don’t intend this, the policies are racist, sexist, classist (obviously), ableist, homophobic, transphobic, and otherwise socially retrograde. In many ways, they do more harm than so-called “social policies” that are supposedly separate from economic ones.
Translation for the middle-class overlords in the Labour Party. The good deeds you do with your human rights policies (aka the odious term “identity politics”) are completely undermined by the harm you do to the groups you purport to support with your craven fiscal positioning.
Unless you are only interested in protecting the human rights of the wealthiest 10-15 percent. Surely that couldn’t be true?
Something to note about SR is she does not recognise that Labour are orthodox fiscal conservatives.
I find it funny that it is the Labour Party which is driven to undermine the universality of the NZ welfare state.
Almost the entirety of the hierarchy of the Labour Party assumes that money is a limited resource, when money today is nothing more than electronic ones and zeroes entered by keyboard in spreadsheets and databases. Oil is a limited resource. Gas is a limited resource. Fresh water is a limited resource. Top soil is a limited resource. Bismuth and helium are limited resources. But electronic ones and zeroes sitting on a spreadsheet? It’s a total misconception of what a “resource” is.
Labour is simply avoiding asking itself the hard questions when it comes to socioeconomic policy like universal NZ super: is it a critical priority to fully fund it. If the answer is YES then money will always be available because the Government can spend into existence the money required. OR if its politics require it, it can instead TAX back in previously issued money in order to re-spend it on NZ super.
In essence, what Labour is saying when it discusses means testing NZ Super or raising the Super eligibility age is:
– We are not willing to borrow the money required to keep NZ super universal.
– Neither are we willing to tax in the money required to keep NZ super universal.
– Neither are we willing to issue the money required to keep NZ super universal.
– We are however willing to cut Kiwis’ entitlement to universal NZ super.
And as a reminder, these are MPs all on very generous parliamentary Kiwi Saver schemes all on incomes well into the top 2%, deciding this for everyone else.
It doesnt really matter anymore. Little’s comments about super last week probably cost Labour the next election. They will not be trusted on super ever again.
You’re the one calling money a resource, CV, so it’s you with the misconception. Whether you understand it or not, to retain value for you and I , the money supply must remain relatively tight. QE works, but only if it’s constrained. Your fantasy about ones and zeroes ends with massive inflation that actually ruins the lives of the majority. Have a look at the lessons from Zimbabwe and Argentina where the practical results of your fantasy can be seen. If you destroy the value of the currency, it’s working people that pay.
What is the difference between just flooding an economy with bank notes and flooding an economy with public works ‘paid for’ with newly created government money?
I get how the first scenario leads to huge levels of inflation, but the second would appear to be a simple act of taking the real world resources that already exist and getting them in place…ie, there is no flooding of the economy with increasingly worthless bank notes.
“a simple act of taking the real world resources that already exist and getting them in place…ie, there is no flooding of the economy with increasingly worthless bank notes.”
There is Bill, because the money does not stay with the Public Works.
In order to complete the public works the money has to go to suppliers / contractors / workers / architects / lawyers / etc etc, and so in fact it does spill through to the wider economy and act as an inflationary force.
If you are building up productive capacities and capabilities, inflation will not be a problem. And if inflation appears to be taking hold, the money supply can always be briefly tightened as new competitive suppliers are created.
Of course, globally the economic problem is one of deflation – insufficient money supply in many areas of the real economy.
Over time and can easily be offset by use of taxes.
You have to see money as a flow from the government and back to the government. From the government is creating the money and back to the government is destroying it.
Over time and can easily be offset by use of taxes.
Or increasing compulsory savings.
Or slowing down of credit/loans extended by the private sector.
Or encouraging capital investment.
Or any number of other ways to slow down or reduce money supply in the real economy
There are so many ways to manage an economy intelligently, and all the orthodox types can think about is squeezing life out of the economy using the blunt inhumane mallets of keeping unemployment up, wages down, and benefits on the bread line.
CV just, quite specifically, said that money isn’t a resource.
Whether you understand it or not, to retain value for you and I , the money supply must remain relatively tight.
Agreed but it’s really a question of how that constraint is applied. ATM there is, effectively, almost no constraint on the explosion of money in the system as the explosion in housing prices shows.
Almost the entirety of the hierarchy of the Labour Party assumes that money is a limited resource, when money today is nothing more than electronic ones and zeroes entered by keyboard in spreadsheets and databases.
Can you point to the part of that sentence that says that money is a resource?
Edit: (I’ve got to disappear for a while, but the guts of it is this: we all know (including the Labour hierarchy) that the physical object ‘money’ is an unlimited resource. We can print more. However, if we do , it has real world consequences. That’s not because of what it is, physically or digitally, but what it represents; it’s agreed value. And when you dilute its value, most of us suffer. As recently as 1984 we had that happen in NZ and the ‘cure’ was Rogernomics. If we don’t learn from history …)
We can print more. However, if we do , it has real world consequences.
And, in fact, we are and the consequences are massive house price inflation especially in Auckland.
See, you can’t just say that we can’t print money while we’re massively printing money (well, the private banks are).
As recently as 1984 we had that happen in NZ and the ‘cure’ was Rogernomics. If we don’t learn from history
Yeah, I recall that and the cause was the same as today. Massive returns from investment for foreign investors in housing. Despite the capital controls of the time we were still being flooded by foreign investment wanting to get its part of the ~20% mortgage market here.
There’s a reason why both major religions in the world ban usury and it’s because it crashes the economy.
That’s not because of what it is, physically or digitally, but what it represents; it’s agreed value.
This is a false concept. Money is already priced in multiple ways and therefore its “agreed value” is being constantly determined by what worthwhile things an economy can supply for the money you have. It is that focus on the real economy which is key.
Of course as TRP now admits, there is no real shortage of money other than the artificial one that the system is designed to inflict upon the majority of the population. In other words: austerity for you; ZIRP for us.
Oh TRP, I’m simply working through a process of discovery of your true views. No need for the condescension. You really are used to being the boss, I guess. More tomorrow.
Check your reading comprehension skills dude; I said I was trying to find out what you really think. If you want to hide it, fine, I wasn’t that interested in the first place.
[Ok, so that second sentence confirms it. Withdraw or take some time off. TRP]
Something to note about SR is she does not recognise that Labour are orthodox fiscal conservatives.
Please do not presume to make statements about what I do or don’t recognise. You are possibly the person least likely to have any insight on the matter.
Then you’re welcome to agree, deny or clarify (or do nothing) re Labour being orthodox fiscal conservatives. The importance of keeping inflation low by keeping buying power and money supply tight, the use of unemployment to shrink consumer inflation, the importance of annual economic growth combined with tight fiscal discipline, the importance of government surpluses and balancing the books to keep the confidence of the markets, etc.
Then you’re welcome to agree, deny or clarify (or do nothing) re Labour being orthodox fiscal conservatives.
Nope. You are welcome to stop making up shit about authors on this site.
Your definition of “orthodox fiscal conservatives” (i.e. anyone who isn’t advocating a total revolution of basic Western economic practices) is so broad and unrealistic to expect of a major party in a Westminster democracy that it’s laughable you think you’re making some kind of cutting argument by labelling Labour as such.
Why are you referring to authors privilege based on my commenting about something you wrote somewhere else? If you think my conclusion about your economic views are inaccurate, just say so. I am quite happy to be corrected.
Your definition of “orthodox fiscal conservatives” (i.e. anyone who isn’t advocating a total revolution of basic Western economic practices) is so broad and unrealistic to expect of a major party in a Westminster democracy that it’s laughable you think you’re making some kind of cutting argument by labelling Labour as such.
But is the label accurate or inaccurate, from your perspective? Again, you are non-committal about your actual views.
Since the 1970s the establishment within each of the Anglo FVEY nations has adopted neoliberal economic paradigms and decision frameworks. The USA, UK, Australia, Canada and NZ. That’s been the true revolution.
Something to note about SR is she does not recognise that Labour are orthodox fiscal conservatives.
I think that’s unfair, CV.
The whole point of the article is that if you care about people you care about economics and human rights. The two can’t be separated into neat little spheres. I think Stephanie understands this better than most.
The real problem is not that the Labour Party does or does not agree with Modern Monetary Theory, it’s that proposing it destroys fiscal credibility in the eyes of the public. The Greens proposed QE last election, and got relentlessly attacked on the subject for weeks, even if it now turns out everyone else is doing QE anyway…
It’s funny how all the right wing rush out the line GODWIN when anybody describes anything the right wing do as fascist.
But conversely – when right wingers describe the left in tired old left, almost Stalinist terms – no one bats an eyelid?
Hell I dislike the old left as much as the next person – unimaginative, staid, misogynistic, homophobic, and just too overbearing for words. Yes it was sacrilegious, but we have moved on.
So why do we let the right define us as so?
[lprent: The Godwin thing invariably degenerates into boring flamewars. Godwin is a shortcut for people who have seen it degenerate a thousand times before to say “shut the fuck up” to the idiot starting to use it it as if it was a new tactic. That includes the stalin, various kims, pinochet and every other pissant dictatorial metaphor to replace their inability to use their brains.
When people express what they actually think rather than sprouting slogans we tend to be more tolerant. Doesn’t matter if we think they are nutters from the right or left (and there are many on the left who are exactly as dogmatic). But if they get boring about it and deteriorate into slogans then you’ll find that commenters and moderators will bat more than an eyelid. It isn’t a recipe for long term tolerance in any net environment. ]
The Left have not got a strong defining narrative or paradigm for what its mission is in the 21st century, so others find it easy to define us especially as they have a powerful and far reaching communications infrastructure to do it with.
“We need to KILL THEM ALL!
And if some women and children get killed, so be it.” Paul Henry, TV3, Wednesday 27 May 2015
Paul Henry, Hillary Barry (sycophant), Jim Kayes (sycophant)
“Wise men speak because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something.” — Plato
As the last item on the 7 a.m. news, Hillary Barry reads about a Danish radio host who has bludgeoned a rabbit to death with a bicycle pump, cooked it, then eaten it live on air. She is clearly appalled by this…..
HILLARY BARRY: Bludgeoning it with a bicycle pump? JIM KAYES: Good kicker. PAUL HENRY: Now that’s a technical term and a lot of viewers won’t know what that means. JIM KAYES: “Kicker” means the last story. HENRY: Thank you.
Hillary Barry’s brief display of humanitarian revulsion was interesting, especially in light of her reaction to the bloodthirsty ranting that would occur in the studio just over an hour later. While she made no bones about her tender feelings for the fate of a rabbit in Denmark, she was less keen to defend human beings in Iraq and Syria as they came under a savage rhetorical assault.
7:12 a.m. ….
Along with endorsing the Key government’s cynical, rotten “plan” to house people under power lines, Henry’s mission today is to endorse the American-led campaign against ISIS. To this end, Henry interviews Steve Hoadley, an extreme right wing American who glories in the title of “Associate Professor of International Relations” at Auckland University. Hoadley is notorious for stating, at the very height of Israel’s murderous assault on Gaza in 2008-9—what Israeli generals chortlingly termed “twenty-two days of madness”—that he supported the Israelis because they were civilized compared to the people they were destroying. Today, however, Hoadley delivered an anodyne and uncontroversial summary of the situation in Iraq; the unhinged ranting would come not from him, but from Paul Henry.
7:16 a.m. ….
Henry heaps scorn on the Labour Party politicians who have dared to question the land that the government wants to force people to live on—next to cemeteries and under electric power lines. “How STUPID are THEY?” he snarls.
8:05….
Hillary Barry reads the weather, including for Alexandra, which she daringly and controversially calls “Alex”… HILLARY BARRY: I know you don’t like me saying Alex, but I DO.
8:07….
Jim reads the sports news, corpsing throughout, because he has just told a mildly amusing joke.
8:10 a.m. ….. HENRY: I just can’t get over the idea of the British putting in these duck lanes. JIM KAYES: That IS very funny. HENRY: It’s just too STUPID for words.
After the 8 o’clock news, there’s a regular “panel”—two guests who are supposed to reflect on current issues. Today’s panel features former reality TV star Joe Cotton, billed as a “broadcaster”, and RadioLIVE host Andrew Patterson.….
HENRY: All right, Labour have had a field day with this 430 hectares. It can’t ALL be beachfront property! Would you buy a house next to a graveyard? The thing that annoys me about this is that Labour—this is the opposition just saying things to be an opposition.
Andrew Patterson apparently has nothing to say about this; he simply agrees with Henry. And Joe Cotton, instead of saying something thoughtful or challenging, launches in to an unfunny diversionary spiel about poltergeists and horror movies.
HENRY: Are you in favor of our troops being in Iraq? ANDREW PATTERSON: No I’m not comfortable. But of course you’ve got to do SOMETHING. HENRY: It sends a very clear message that New Zealand is WITH the United States and the rest of the willing. Is this a fight worth having? You HAVE to say YES. ANDREW PATTERSON:[gravely] Of course, of COURSE. HENRY: This is a fight that we have to be on the right side of, isn’t it? JOE COTTON:[baffled sigh] Whooooooof…. HENRY: We have to POUND them and SQUASH them don’t we? ANDREW PATTERSON: I guess the big question here is: how do we counter the ideology? HENRY: It’s hard. It’s hard…..
8:35 a.m. …. HENRY: Absolutely we should be part of the fight. And we have to really take it to them! HILLARY BARRY:[softly] I’m afraid so. JIM KAYES:[softly, grimacing with moral doubt] Yes, I think so. HENRY: We have to be in there STRONG and HARD! We have to KILL THEM ALL! And in the course of this, bombs are going to bounce into tents where there are women and children! But we must not get up in arms about that! Kill them all! HILLARY BARRY:[clearly uncomfortable] Mmm hmmm. JIM KAYES:[gravely] That’s the reality of war.
HILLARY: I’d like some feedback on this Alex/Alexandra controversy! Paul thinks I should say Alexandra. PAUL HENRY: I think you are being too casual towards the people of Alexandra when you call their town Alex. HILLARY BARRY:[mock-scolding] Look who’s calling me casual!
HENRY: Just on this ISIS thing again. THEY thrive because WE hesitate. They’re not LIKE us. JIM KAYES: We fight in a conventional, honest way. Whereas— HENRY: Exactly! We need to KILL THEM ALL! And if some women and children get killed, so be it.
PAUL HENRY: Right, on the phone, we have Cade from Alexandra. Are you happy with Alex, Cade, or is it Alexandra? For a fact we know that it is Alexandra not Alex, are we all agreed on that? What kind of a name is Cade anyway? HILLARY BARRY:[giggling] Stop being MEAN!
Jim Kayes snickers dutifully.
8:59 a.m…… HENRY: I’d like to dedicate this show to our troops in Iraq, who are on the frontline in the war against ISIS—a war we are part of, like it or not.
Don’t worry, my friend, I watch and listen to creeps like Henry so that you don’t have to. Keep an eye out for some more transcripts* from some of his earlier shows, which I’m starting to write up now.
But tell me, was the 8:59am dedication a real thing, or a bit of poetic licence (for which you will receive 12 lashings)? Because if it was real… *vomits entire contents of his body, entrails, viscera and all, onto the floor*
But tell me, was the 8:59am dedication a real thing, or a bit of poetic licence (for which you will receive 12 lashings)?
He actually said that. I think I got that bit exactly verbatim.
This morning, as a parting shot, Henry dedicated the programme to the senile thug “Sir” Robert Jones, whose actions apparently lend “colour” to our lives.
Nah, Realblue was suggesting that Hone’s parents were somehow equivalent to Bank’s folks. Which is the purest bullshit, of course. Banks is a very complicated fellow and his upbringing in poverty hasn’t taught him any compassion for the poor. It’s just made him determined to be as distant from poverty as possible and by any means necessary. So the apple/tree analogy is pretty apt.
One of Hones parents abused children, the appalling Titiwhai.Clearly you and Morrissey are ok with that. Fair enough. Morrisey brought Banks parents into it, then you join in with an inevitable “look over there” response. The classy left eh?
Across a dalliance of rainbows,
A little crooked man smiles,
With time-filled grace,
Why do thee frown,
When across that big blue sky,
Ruptures of magnificence awaits?
Uncool to judge the guy for his parents’ mis-deeds, or anyone else for that matter.
If John Banks was an honest, decent citizen, I would not invoke the memory of his criminal parents. The fact is, though, he is not a decent, honest citizen, and his parents’ criminality obviously did affect him deeply.
But you didn’t just call Banks out Morrissey, you made a sweeping generalisation about bad people and the perceived obviousness of their children being the same.
Although I’d place Banks in the ‘crooks’ column, that’s a pretty rotten thing to say. People are not their parents and may or may not learn to be like them.
you didn’t just call Banks out Morrissey, you made a sweeping generalisation about bad people and the perceived obviousness of their children being the same.
I recognize that there are people all over the country that have risen above their family circumstances, many of them far more onerous than John Banks’s circumstances, and gone on to live decent, honest lives where they have been an asset rather than an outrage to the community. Banks, on the other hand, has behaved with the most flagrant dishonesty; to point out the link to his criminal parents is entirely appropriate, I would have thought.
Or do you think Banks’s behaviour just springs out of nowhere?
Again, it was the sweeping generalisation I object to, not to a possible specific comment that Banks may have learned to be frugal with the truth from his parents.
If one of Banks’s kids is involved with money-laundering of, say, fifty thousand dollars that he’s asked to be paid for in two separate cheques, then yes, the obvious influence of his father will be remarked upon.
If, on the other hand, his kids somehow transcend the handicap of having a dishonest criminal stepdad, then I would applaud them, just as I would have applauded Banks if he had acted with integrity and honour in his political career.
didnt his parent assist women to abort children? at a time when women were criminals for controlling their own lives and bodirs. Or have i confused them with someone else
The story is fairly well known and has been in the public arena for decades.
From Wikipedia: “When he was a young child, his parents Archie and Kitty were imprisoned for procuring abortions. His father was a career criminal and his mother an alcoholic.”
I think casting his parents as the altruistic and enlightened saviours of women with unwanted pregnancies is probably a bit of a reach. More likely it was just another string to their bow of criminal enterprise.
How about Carmel Sepuloni’s mother then Morrissey? Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree there, or is that different somehow?
Carmel Sepuloni has been charged with, or convicted of, dishonesty offences? If she has been, your analogy will have merit; if she has not, you are simply ignorant.
To prevent us thinking you are ignorant, could you post evidence for us of Carmel Sepuloni’s criminality?
Ah, okay, so even though you aren’t convicted of anything, the fact you are charged is the key to your argument.
In that case Hone Harawira does fall into your criteria, mother has been convicted (assault) and he has been charged (failure to remove a vehicle from a road).
Bringing families into politics is a bad idea Morrisey, Carmel Sepuloni isn’t her mother, Hone Harawira isn’t his mother (or cousins), and John Banks most certainly isn’t his parents.
Bringing families into politics is a bad idea Morrisey, Carmel Sepuloni isn’t her mother, Hone Harawira isn’t his mother (or cousins), and John Banks most certainly isn’t his parents.
You’re 66.6666 per cent correct there, Bob. Carmel Sepuloni and Hone Harawira are (or were) honest and respected members of parliament, notwithstanding the personal and irrelevant abuse that you and other right wing shills ceaselessly heap on them.
Banks, on the other hand, is neither honest nor respected, and that won’t change no matter how much you try to divert and smear other, superior politicians.
Harawira and Sepuloni have their faults, but neither of them has asked donors to make illegal payments in two separate cheques in order to (unsuccessfully) escape scrutiny. They are not like their parents; Banks on the other hand, has betrayed his public fiduciary duty as an elected representative—which makes him far worse than his notorious parents.
“notwithstanding the personal and irrelevant abuse that you and other right wing shills ceaselessly heap on them”
Like when Harawira was part of He Taua, which confronted drunk University of Auckland engineering students who performed a parody of the “Ka Mate” haka with obscenities painted on their bodies. The group including Harawira assaulted them with baseball bats and hoses, resulting in several broken bones? Or do we metaphorically abuse him?
“You’re 66.6666 per cent correct there, Bob. Carmel Sepuloni and Hone Harawira are (or were) honest and respected members of parliament”
Yeah, Hone was really respected for his “white mother fuckers” rant, and respected in that he had a complaint laid against him by all of the other Māori Party MPs because they had “lost trust and confidence” in Mr Harawira, that he “acted unethically and without integrity” and that he “deliberately undermined” the party and the leaders. Or respected because he said Osama bin Laden’s actions were those of “a man who fought for the rights, the land and the freedom of his people” and that people should not be damning him but mourn him?
“Harawira and Sepuloni have their faults, but neither of them has asked donors to make illegal payments in two separate cheques in order to (unsuccessfully) escape scrutiny”
No, Harawira made an alliance with the man that was all too happy to write those two cheques, then admitted to receiving payments from that man, but never declared how much he had been paid…hmm sounds familiar
Unfortunately you have made some wildly confused statements in your rant, Bob. However, since you have at least endeavoured to defend your corner, I will deal with each of the points you raise, even though most of them are, sadly, quite spurious.
1.) Like when Harawira was part of He Taua….
Hone Harawira was, like other Māori students at Auckland in 1979, incensed by the racist, demeaning behaviour of the Engineering students’ mock haka party. For years, he and other young Māori leaders had repeatedly protested against those goons and demanded they stop their provocation. The He Taua action was the last resort, after the racists had treated all the Māori protests with contempt.
But it looks like you have made up your mind that the provocateurs were the victims rather than the instigators of the trouble; nothing anyone says is likely to change your mind. Let’s move on to your next point….
2.) “…white mother fuckers….”
Okay, that was a foolish thing to write in an email. You make a reasonable point there, Bob. I presume you have been equally outraged at the far more numerous racist and sexist outbursts by National Party MPs like John “Hone” Carter, Jonathan Coleman, —and John Banks.
3.) a complaint laid against him by all of the other Māori Party MPs
So he’s not a team player. That’s not a sin, and it’s not a crime, and it’s not an ethical lapse. Why would you even mention this irrelevant point?
4.) Harawira made an alliance with the man that was all too happy to write those two cheques…
The problem with what Banks did was not Kim Dotcom—it was Banks’s illegal actions. You don’t seem quite up to speed with the facts and issues of the case.
5.) …hmm sounds familiar
No, you’ve (perhaps deliberately) missed the point again. Hone Harawira’s open dealings with Kim Dotcom were utterly different from Banks’s hamfisted attempts to rort the system.
That’s not what you think it is, CV. Minimum wage workers already pay very little tax as the UK has a tax free threshold of ten thousand pounds. What this really means is locking in the minimum wage at its current low rate. It also allows the rich to sneer at the working poor (look how much I pay in tax while the plebs pay nothing etc).
It’s actually a very Blairite kind of move; at first glance, vaguely progressive, but at heart, just more patronising conservatism. What’s needed is Labour’s policy of lifting the minimum wage and gradually bringing in a living wage.
Um, that question makes no sense. Can you try again?
Edit: to save time, I should point out that I’ve never been short of an opinion. I thought that would have been pretty obvious by now! And my opinion on this matter is that all income earners should pay tax and that tax should be levied on a graduated scale, with lower income earners paying very little. A UBI would be even better starting point, of course.
A historical note on taxing benefits – none were taxed until one day Muldoon decided unemployment beneficiaries should be taxed. up until then Sickness and Unemployment Benefit were paid at the same rate. When taxing of all benefits was brought in the already reduced rate of Unemployment Benefit was treated as if it wasn’t already taxed and taxed again.
IMO, rather than making low income tax free, all benefits need to be increased and so does the minimum wage. Incomes over $70,000 a year need to have a higher rate of tax, and an even higher rate should apply at $150,000. Capital gains of any sort should be taxed.
We are being continually told that aucklands housing problem is predominately all about supply.
Well, we are lifting supply to the market, but there are “unforeseen” consequences:
The ability to find contractors is prooving difficult, as the level of activity increases this is more than matched by price increase well beyond inflation. E.g cost of pipes, diesel is increasing flowing onto increase tender costs for the earthworks component.Council processing of consents, s224s late last year it was within 3 weeks now it is taking 2 months. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/construction-costs-making-impossible-build-affordable-homes-developer-6241175
Does no one ever consider, that by increasing supply you are increasing the demand on building products the ability for construction coys to deliver ?
He seems to have some hang-up about the oppo. members doing their job and grilling their opposite numbers in the House. Yesterday was a supreme example. Peter’s was attempting to ask a supplementary question. He prefaced it with a handful of words to the effect his question was not in response to the first part of the minister’s answer. It was a point of explanation. Misterrrr Speaker appeared to take it the wrong way and issued him with a warning . Peter’s started to explain what he was doing. Misterrrr Speaker threw him out of the house!
Previous to that incident Key had been screeching at Little across the chamber (including the Super gaffe 🙄 ) – none of them had anything to do with Little’s original questions but hey… that’s okay. He just gets a mild admonishment usually delivered in a voice tinged with amusement.
And frequently with the hint of a smile on his dial as well. Key gets away with more shit than I’ve ever seen any Speaker allow. It’s disgraceful ! The larrikan head boy has it all over the headmaster.
And frequently with the hint of a smile on his dial as well
Yep, meant to add that. If all the m****s out there who thinks he’s such a loverlee guy watched question time in the House and saw his narrowed ice cold eyes and heard his sly, mendacious and puerile-ridden shrieking (at Little in particular) they would drop dead with shock. Serves them right. They are getting exactly what they deserve – which is nothing.
Given how quickly the PM said he wouldnt stop nzers from coming home who were fighting for isis… rather makes me think its cos he knows there arent any… which makes a bit of a mockery of his breathless haste to surveil cos of the threat of nzers being radicalised… just pondering
According to our Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the using of NZ taxpayer funds to bribe a Saudi businessman is all the fault of the Clark administration!!
But – – but – – Helen Clark did it. Where have I heard this before?
The All Blacks play well and have a good win. People like Paul Henry say, “We were all over them, we played well.” The All Blacks lose and people like Paul Henry say, “They were hopeless, they should’ve played better.”
A war is happening and New Zealand troops are sent:
HENRY: … Is this a fight worth having? You HAVE to say YES.
ANDREW PATTERSON: [gravely] Of course, of COURSE.
HENRY: This is a fight that we have to be on the right side of, isn’t it?
…
HENRY: Absolutely we should be part of the fight. And we have to really take it to them! HILLARY BARRY: [softly] I’m afraid so.
JIM KAYES: [softly, grimacing with moral doubt] Yes, I think so.
HENRY: We have to be in there STRONG and HARD!
_____________________________________________________
I have opined before that if the need were so serious for troops to go, John Key and Mike Hosking would have ensured that their kids signed up, did the training and demanded they be sent. (Their parents would no doubt have done the demanding too.)
Paul Henry, wanting to get in there ‘strong and hard’ seems to have the attitude to want to be, to demand to be their commanding officer. Yeah.
Any chance the TV could show us how serious it is about hard news and sent Paul Henry off to Iraq to do an imbed and go out on some patrols towards ISIS territory –
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)’ This is the hottest book in New Zealand, number one with a bullet in its first week, selling more than any overseas title, and demand is so huge that it’s already been reprinted. A ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
Essay: If the Crown harms children, how do you hold it accountable? Analysis by Aaron Smale in light of the Waitangi Tribunal court decision. The post The Crown versus Māori Children appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan resistance leader has condemned the United Nations role in allowing Indonesia to “integrate” the Melanesian Pacific region in what is claimed to be an “egregious act of inhumanity” on 1 May 1963. In an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A key part of the Albanese government’s political strategy is to fill the news cycle with its presence and messaging. Ministers are deployed to the maximum, even when they’ve little to say. This week ...
Recent extreme weather events showed the importance of a well-functioning insurance system, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly. ...
By Jo Moir, RNZ News political editor, and Craig McCulloch, deputy political editor New Zealand’s Labour Party is demanding Winston Peters be stood down as Foreign Minister for opening up the government to legal action over his “totally unacceptable” attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. In an interview on RNZ’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Brakenridge, Postdoctoral research fellow at Swinburne University, Centre for Urban Transitions, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute The Conversation, Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock People have a pretty intuitive sense of what is healthy – standing is better than sitting, exercise is great for overall ...
The Wellington-based Reserve Force soldier is now almost three years into his New Zealand Army career with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. ...
"The Government needs to release the review immediately as this reckless approach to change risks disjointed decision making and creates more distress and uncertainty for staff," Fitzsimons said. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Jeremiah Manele has been elected Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, polling 31 votes to 18 over rival candidate and former opposition leader Mathew Wale with one abstention. The final result of the election by secret ballot was announced by the Governor-General, Sir David Vunagi, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priestley Habru, PhD candidate, public diplomacy, University of Adelaide Former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele has been elected the next prime minister of Solomon Islands, defeating the opposition leader, Matthew Wale, in a vote in parliament. The result is a mixed bag for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shaun Eaves, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Jamey Stutz, CC BY-SA How often do mountains collapse, volcanoes erupt or ice sheets melt? For Earth scientists, these are important questions as we try ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Flood, Professor of Sociology, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Most young adult men in Australia reject traditional ideas of masculinity that endorse aggression, stoicism and homophobia. Nonetheless, the ongoing influence of those ideas continues to harm men and the people ...
The NZQA proposal released to staff today would involve a net loss of 35 roles. There are 66 roles being disestablished with 13 of those currently vacant, and 31 new roles proposed, said Fleur Fitzsimons Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga ...
Alex Casey talks to Loren Taylor, the writer, director and star of new film The Moon is Upside Down, about assembling her dream ensemble cast, toilet paper pads and turning literal dreams into reality. There’s a moment in The Moon is Upside Down where frazzled anaesthetist Briar (Loren Taylor) gets ...
Renters and realtors are upset with a government decision to scrap a bill meant to regulate property managers over concerns about unethical and unlawful behaviours. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassy Dittman, Senior Lecturer/Head of Course (Undergraduate Psychology), Research Fellow, Manna Institute, CQUniversity Australia With winter sports swinging into action, adults around the country have volunteered or been volunteered by others (humorously known as being “volun-told”) to coach junior sports teams. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University richardernestyap/Shutterstock Parents are often advised to burp their babies after feeding them. Some people think burping after feeding is important to reduce or prevent discomfort crying, or to ...
Workers at a major ASB contact centre in Auckland have voted to take strike action and withdraw their labour following disappointing pay negotiations with the employer and an "offer" to workers that would leave them worse off than the previous year. ...
As the government tries to get the country back on track with a school phone ban, Tara Ward has an idea for where they should turn their attention to next.New Zealand students returned to school on Monday morning, but their cellphones did not. The government’s new phone ban began ...
The Labour Party is demanding Peters be stood down, saying "he's embarrassed the country" with a "totally unacceptable" attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. ...
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance, whose members were victims of a China-backed cyber attack, is discussing forming a standing committee to deal with foreign influence. ...
The PSA is concerned that the voluntary redundancies being offered to staff by Stats NZ will impact on the agency’s ability to deliver on its core functions. ...
Results ranged from surprisingly yum to soul-destroying. I love cooking. The kitchen is a hearth of culinary creation, of sensory delights, of gastronomic poetry. I also can’t afford anything nice. Why does a pack of instant noodles and some milk cost ten bucks? I love you, Aotearoa, but I miss ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Police in Solomon Islands are on high alert ahead of the election of the prime minister today. The two candidates for the top job are former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele at the head of the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation, which is ...
Cullen to look into concerns over use of zerohour contracts at NZ Post and gives undertaking of sorts about their use.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/343643/chairman-check-contracts
”The former Dunedin Labour MP told the Otago Daily Times when contacted yesterday he would ask chief executive Brian Roche about zero-hours contracts when the pair met tomorrow.
”I want to talk with the chief executive about that.
”I would be very concerned if we were involved in any kind of permanent arrangement around zero-hour contracts,” Sir Michael said.
& more information about NZ Posts PPM (Postal Pay Model – paid for volume not hours worked), is on the monday there was no mail because of snow (the trucks couldn’t get over the Kilmogs), so no volume, no pay.
And there would be no delivery issue in Dunedin that day if the mail was not sorted in Chch as there was minimal snow in the city itself.
Posties are part of a community network that grows more important with the ageing population, with more people at home in their old age.
But instead we get a zerohours exploited workforce, privatisation by stealth to DX Mail, and a too readily accepted story about technology change/TINA.
Some small providers are stepping up like taxi firms delivering mail in small towns, which is fine as it’s filling a gap in a public service, but leading to an overall outcome of fragmentation and inefficiency.
http://wallstreetexaminer.com/2015/05/heres-the-most-pernicious-obama-administration-falsehood-on-tpp/
No less than the president himself has promised, “No trade agreement is going to force us to change our laws.” National Economic Council chief Jeffrey Zients has stated, “It is an often repeated, but inaccurate, claim that ISDS [a provision of the TPP] gives companies the right to weaken labor or environmental standards, for example, suggesting that a trade agreement could result in the United States having to lower its minimum wage. The reality is that ISDS does not and cannot require countries to change any law or regulation.”
That’s right…. it’s a “choice”. Eliminating all but two options (in this case be sued or change the law – see you have ALL the control!) works for four year old children, so why wouldn’t it work for an apathetic, dumb and numb population?
I don’t see it that way.
“Being sued” is just another way of saying that the government would compensate for losses attributable to legislative changes. I’d love that. Road user charges go up, I get compensated by the government. Max Bradford enacts a faith-based electricity market, I get compensated for that too.
Tell the corporations to get in line or fuck off. ISDS my ass.
This is one of those reports you need to read to get to the good news. It appears that now 6 years after the banks melted down – we are getting some prosecutions of some individuals who knew they were acting immorally and corruptly. That said, some of the major players are still walking free – what a odd world we live in – when people who cause such despair, heartbreak, and death – walk free, because they have the biggest check book.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/05/22/17377/bankers-major-institutions-still-havent-been-held-responsible-financial-crash
Because I saw the petition from Jacinda Ardern being promoted on the standard, and it’s not really appropriate to put this – on that page.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2015/05/going-backwards-table-talk-2-at-ika.html
Also I see Chris Trotter is calling trick dicky out. Well done Chris. Hoot’s your lying is getting out of whack again. I know, I know to you, it’s just propaganda promoting you set of ideals. However, when you cross the line – you will get called on it.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2015/05/tricky-customer-why-is-matthew-hooton.html
Raw: Waitress knocks groping man to ground
Seems reasonable. Unfortunately, everyone seemed to be more concerned with the perpetrator of assault than the person assaulted.
@DTB it looks like she was more than capable of taking care of herself !
A tough young russian lady, good on her !
she probably knows how to field strip an AKM.
akm = Chinese copy
And yes they teach kids how to field strip an AK47 or they used to
Hmmm I thought Kalashinkov himself designed the AKM circa 1949 or 1950 to improve upon his original AK47 design. And yes, I suspect that China has made the majority of those worldwide now as what is generally called an AK47 is actually the slightly updated AKM model.
Might have my facts wrong though…
Would she have responded so had she had her hair stroked/pulled?
Probably.
That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t need any support from those around her.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/here-are-7-things-people-who-say-theyre-fiscally-conservative-but-socially-liberal-dont-understand/
via boots theory:
https://bootstheory.wordpress.com/2015/05/27/qotd-on-being-fiscally-conservative-but-socially-liberal/
And conservative fiscal policies do enormous social harm. That’s true even for the mildest, most generous version of “fiscal conservatism” — low taxes, small government, reduced regulation, a free market. These policies perpetuate human rights abuses. They make life harder for people who already have hard lives. Even if the people supporting these policies don’t intend this, the policies are racist, sexist, classist (obviously), ableist, homophobic, transphobic, and otherwise socially retrograde. In many ways, they do more harm than so-called “social policies” that are supposedly separate from economic ones.
Translation for the middle-class overlords in the Labour Party. The good deeds you do with your human rights policies (aka the odious term “identity politics”) are completely undermined by the harm you do to the groups you purport to support with your craven fiscal positioning.
Unless you are only interested in protecting the human rights of the wealthiest 10-15 percent. Surely that couldn’t be true?
Something to note about SR is she does not recognise that Labour are orthodox fiscal conservatives.
I find it funny that it is the Labour Party which is driven to undermine the universality of the NZ welfare state.
Almost the entirety of the hierarchy of the Labour Party assumes that money is a limited resource, when money today is nothing more than electronic ones and zeroes entered by keyboard in spreadsheets and databases. Oil is a limited resource. Gas is a limited resource. Fresh water is a limited resource. Top soil is a limited resource. Bismuth and helium are limited resources. But electronic ones and zeroes sitting on a spreadsheet? It’s a total misconception of what a “resource” is.
Labour is simply avoiding asking itself the hard questions when it comes to socioeconomic policy like universal NZ super: is it a critical priority to fully fund it. If the answer is YES then money will always be available because the Government can spend into existence the money required. OR if its politics require it, it can instead TAX back in previously issued money in order to re-spend it on NZ super.
In essence, what Labour is saying when it discusses means testing NZ Super or raising the Super eligibility age is:
– We are not willing to borrow the money required to keep NZ super universal.
– Neither are we willing to tax in the money required to keep NZ super universal.
– Neither are we willing to issue the money required to keep NZ super universal.
– We are however willing to cut Kiwis’ entitlement to universal NZ super.
And as a reminder, these are MPs all on very generous parliamentary Kiwi Saver schemes all on incomes well into the top 2%, deciding this for everyone else.
It doesnt really matter anymore. Little’s comments about super last week probably cost Labour the next election. They will not be trusted on super ever again.
Yeah, I know.
You’re the one calling money a resource, CV, so it’s you with the misconception. Whether you understand it or not, to retain value for you and I , the money supply must remain relatively tight. QE works, but only if it’s constrained. Your fantasy about ones and zeroes ends with massive inflation that actually ruins the lives of the majority. Have a look at the lessons from Zimbabwe and Argentina where the practical results of your fantasy can be seen. If you destroy the value of the currency, it’s working people that pay.
What is the difference between just flooding an economy with bank notes and flooding an economy with public works ‘paid for’ with newly created government money?
I get how the first scenario leads to huge levels of inflation, but the second would appear to be a simple act of taking the real world resources that already exist and getting them in place…ie, there is no flooding of the economy with increasingly worthless bank notes.
“a simple act of taking the real world resources that already exist and getting them in place…ie, there is no flooding of the economy with increasingly worthless bank notes.”
There is Bill, because the money does not stay with the Public Works.
In order to complete the public works the money has to go to suppliers / contractors / workers / architects / lawyers / etc etc, and so in fact it does spill through to the wider economy and act as an inflationary force.
If you are building up productive capacities and capabilities, inflation will not be a problem. And if inflation appears to be taking hold, the money supply can always be briefly tightened as new competitive suppliers are created.
Of course, globally the economic problem is one of deflation – insufficient money supply in many areas of the real economy.
Over time and can easily be offset by use of taxes.
You have to see money as a flow from the government and back to the government. From the government is creating the money and back to the government is destroying it.
Or increasing compulsory savings.
Or slowing down of credit/loans extended by the private sector.
Or encouraging capital investment.
Or any number of other ways to slow down or reduce money supply in the real economy
There are so many ways to manage an economy intelligently, and all the orthodox types can think about is squeezing life out of the economy using the blunt inhumane mallets of keeping unemployment up, wages down, and benefits on the bread line.
CV just, quite specifically, said that money isn’t a resource.
Agreed but it’s really a question of how that constraint is applied. ATM there is, effectively, almost no constraint on the explosion of money in the system as the explosion in housing prices shows.
The ‘resource’ thing was CV’s strawman crack in the comment 6.1 above. He made it up, hence he’s the one calling it a resource, nobody else.
Can you point to the part of that sentence that says that money is a resource?
Yes.
Edit: (I’ve got to disappear for a while, but the guts of it is this: we all know (including the Labour hierarchy) that the physical object ‘money’ is an unlimited resource. We can print more. However, if we do , it has real world consequences. That’s not because of what it is, physically or digitally, but what it represents; it’s agreed value. And when you dilute its value, most of us suffer. As recently as 1984 we had that happen in NZ and the ‘cure’ was Rogernomics. If we don’t learn from history …)
And, in fact, we are and the consequences are massive house price inflation especially in Auckland.
See, you can’t just say that we can’t print money while we’re massively printing money (well, the private banks are).
Yeah, I recall that and the cause was the same as today. Massive returns from investment for foreign investors in housing. Despite the capital controls of the time we were still being flooded by foreign investment wanting to get its part of the ~20% mortgage market here.
There’s a reason why both major religions in the world ban usury and it’s because it crashes the economy.
This is a false concept. Money is already priced in multiple ways and therefore its “agreed value” is being constantly determined by what worthwhile things an economy can supply for the money you have. It is that focus on the real economy which is key.
Of course as TRP now admits, there is no real shortage of money other than the artificial one that the system is designed to inflict upon the majority of the population. In other words: austerity for you; ZIRP for us.
“as TRP now admits …”
I’ve never said otherwise. Sharpen up, CV.
Oh TRP, I’m simply working through a process of discovery of your true views. No need for the condescension. You really are used to being the boss, I guess. More tomorrow.
Are you calling me a liar?
Are you calling me a dullard?
Answer the question, CV.
Do you really think that you are the boss?
Check your reading comprehension skills dude; I said I was trying to find out what you really think. If you want to hide it, fine, I wasn’t that interested in the first place.
[Ok, so that second sentence confirms it. Withdraw or take some time off. TRP]
I withdraw my previous comments as per your orders, Te Reo Putake.
[Thank you. Let’s move on, aye? TRP]
Something to note about SR is she does not recognise that Labour are orthodox fiscal conservatives.
Please do not presume to make statements about what I do or don’t recognise. You are possibly the person least likely to have any insight on the matter.
Hi Stephanie,
Then you’re welcome to agree, deny or clarify (or do nothing) re Labour being orthodox fiscal conservatives. The importance of keeping inflation low by keeping buying power and money supply tight, the use of unemployment to shrink consumer inflation, the importance of annual economic growth combined with tight fiscal discipline, the importance of government surpluses and balancing the books to keep the confidence of the markets, etc.
Then you’re welcome to agree, deny or clarify (or do nothing) re Labour being orthodox fiscal conservatives.
Nope. You are welcome to stop making up shit about authors on this site.
Your definition of “orthodox fiscal conservatives” (i.e. anyone who isn’t advocating a total revolution of basic Western economic practices) is so broad and unrealistic to expect of a major party in a Westminster democracy that it’s laughable you think you’re making some kind of cutting argument by labelling Labour as such.
Why are you referring to authors privilege based on my commenting about something you wrote somewhere else? If you think my conclusion about your economic views are inaccurate, just say so. I am quite happy to be corrected.
But is the label accurate or inaccurate, from your perspective? Again, you are non-committal about your actual views.
Since the 1970s the establishment within each of the Anglo FVEY nations has adopted neoliberal economic paradigms and decision frameworks. The USA, UK, Australia, Canada and NZ. That’s been the true revolution.
Again, you are non-committal about your actual views.
You say “non-committal”, I say “unwilling to be baited into a conversation where you’ve already set the ground rules so you cannot be argued with.”
Give it up CV.
If Steph wanted her opinions analysed or questioned, she’d publish them.
Something to note about SR is she does not recognise that Labour are orthodox fiscal conservatives.
I think that’s unfair, CV.
The whole point of the article is that if you care about people you care about economics and human rights. The two can’t be separated into neat little spheres. I think Stephanie understands this better than most.
And I doubt she is naive about the Labour Party.
Plus, no need to bring her into it at all. Focus on the issues.
But a feminist who advocates for Side Issues No One Cares About was getting positive attention! This is a travesty!!!
The real problem is not that the Labour Party does or does not agree with Modern Monetary Theory, it’s that proposing it destroys fiscal credibility in the eyes of the public. The Greens proposed QE last election, and got relentlessly attacked on the subject for weeks, even if it now turns out everyone else is doing QE anyway…
A observation on my readings this morning.
It’s funny how all the right wing rush out the line GODWIN when anybody describes anything the right wing do as fascist.
But conversely – when right wingers describe the left in tired old left, almost Stalinist terms – no one bats an eyelid?
Hell I dislike the old left as much as the next person – unimaginative, staid, misogynistic, homophobic, and just too overbearing for words. Yes it was sacrilegious, but we have moved on.
So why do we let the right define us as so?
[lprent: The Godwin thing invariably degenerates into boring flamewars. Godwin is a shortcut for people who have seen it degenerate a thousand times before to say “shut the fuck up” to the idiot starting to use it it as if it was a new tactic. That includes the stalin, various kims, pinochet and every other pissant dictatorial metaphor to replace their inability to use their brains.
When people express what they actually think rather than sprouting slogans we tend to be more tolerant. Doesn’t matter if we think they are nutters from the right or left (and there are many on the left who are exactly as dogmatic). But if they get boring about it and deteriorate into slogans then you’ll find that commenters and moderators will bat more than an eyelid. It isn’t a recipe for long term tolerance in any net environment. ]
The Left have not got a strong defining narrative or paradigm for what its mission is in the 21st century, so others find it easy to define us especially as they have a powerful and far reaching communications infrastructure to do it with.
“We need to KILL THEM ALL!
And if some women and children get killed, so be it.”
Paul Henry, TV3, Wednesday 27 May 2015
Paul Henry, Hillary Barry (sycophant), Jim Kayes (sycophant)
“Wise men speak because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something.” — Plato
As the last item on the 7 a.m. news, Hillary Barry reads about a Danish radio host who has bludgeoned a rabbit to death with a bicycle pump, cooked it, then eaten it live on air. She is clearly appalled by this…..
HILLARY BARRY: Bludgeoning it with a bicycle pump?
JIM KAYES: Good kicker.
PAUL HENRY: Now that’s a technical term and a lot of viewers won’t know what that means.
JIM KAYES: “Kicker” means the last story.
HENRY: Thank you.
Hillary Barry’s brief display of humanitarian revulsion was interesting, especially in light of her reaction to the bloodthirsty ranting that would occur in the studio just over an hour later. While she made no bones about her tender feelings for the fate of a rabbit in Denmark, she was less keen to defend human beings in Iraq and Syria as they came under a savage rhetorical assault.
7:12 a.m. ….
Along with endorsing the Key government’s cynical, rotten “plan” to house people under power lines, Henry’s mission today is to endorse the American-led campaign against ISIS. To this end, Henry interviews Steve Hoadley, an extreme right wing American who glories in the title of “Associate Professor of International Relations” at Auckland University. Hoadley is notorious for stating, at the very height of Israel’s murderous assault on Gaza in 2008-9—what Israeli generals chortlingly termed “twenty-two days of madness”—that he supported the Israelis because they were civilized compared to the people they were destroying. Today, however, Hoadley delivered an anodyne and uncontroversial summary of the situation in Iraq; the unhinged ranting would come not from him, but from Paul Henry.
7:16 a.m. ….
Henry heaps scorn on the Labour Party politicians who have dared to question the land that the government wants to force people to live on—next to cemeteries and under electric power lines. “How STUPID are THEY?” he snarls.
8:05….
Hillary Barry reads the weather, including for Alexandra, which she daringly and controversially calls “Alex”…
HILLARY BARRY: I know you don’t like me saying Alex, but I DO.
8:07….
Jim reads the sports news, corpsing throughout, because he has just told a mildly amusing joke.
8:10 a.m. …..
HENRY: I just can’t get over the idea of the British putting in these duck lanes.
JIM KAYES: That IS very funny.
HENRY: It’s just too STUPID for words.
After the 8 o’clock news, there’s a regular “panel”—two guests who are supposed to reflect on current issues. Today’s panel features former reality TV star Joe Cotton, billed as a “broadcaster”, and RadioLIVE host Andrew Patterson.….
HENRY: All right, Labour have had a field day with this 430 hectares. It can’t ALL be beachfront property! Would you buy a house next to a graveyard? The thing that annoys me about this is that Labour—this is the opposition just saying things to be an opposition.
Andrew Patterson apparently has nothing to say about this; he simply agrees with Henry. And Joe Cotton, instead of saying something thoughtful or challenging, launches in to an unfunny diversionary spiel about poltergeists and horror movies.
HENRY: Are you in favor of our troops being in Iraq?
ANDREW PATTERSON: No I’m not comfortable. But of course you’ve got to do SOMETHING.
HENRY: It sends a very clear message that New Zealand is WITH the United States and the rest of the willing. Is this a fight worth having? You HAVE to say YES.
ANDREW PATTERSON: [gravely] Of course, of COURSE.
HENRY: This is a fight that we have to be on the right side of, isn’t it?
JOE COTTON: [baffled sigh] Whooooooof….
HENRY: We have to POUND them and SQUASH them don’t we?
ANDREW PATTERSON: I guess the big question here is: how do we counter the ideology?
HENRY: It’s hard. It’s hard…..
8:35 a.m. ….
HENRY: Absolutely we should be part of the fight. And we have to really take it to them!
HILLARY BARRY: [softly] I’m afraid so.
JIM KAYES: [softly, grimacing with moral doubt] Yes, I think so.
HENRY: We have to be in there STRONG and HARD! We have to KILL THEM ALL! And in the course of this, bombs are going to bounce into tents where there are women and children! But we must not get up in arms about that! Kill them all!
HILLARY BARRY: [clearly uncomfortable] Mmm hmmm.
JIM KAYES: [gravely] That’s the reality of war.
HILLARY: I’d like some feedback on this Alex/Alexandra controversy! Paul thinks I should say Alexandra.
PAUL HENRY: I think you are being too casual towards the people of Alexandra when you call their town Alex.
HILLARY BARRY: [mock-scolding] Look who’s calling me casual!
HENRY: Just on this ISIS thing again. THEY thrive because WE hesitate. They’re not LIKE us.
JIM KAYES: We fight in a conventional, honest way. Whereas—
HENRY: Exactly! We need to KILL THEM ALL! And if some women and children get killed, so be it.
PAUL HENRY: Right, on the phone, we have Cade from Alexandra. Are you happy with Alex, Cade, or is it Alexandra? For a fact we know that it is Alexandra not Alex, are we all agreed on that? What kind of a name is Cade anyway?
HILLARY BARRY: [giggling] Stop being MEAN!
Jim Kayes snickers dutifully.
8:59 a.m……
HENRY: I’d like to dedicate this show to our troops in Iraq, who are on the frontline in the war against ISIS—a war we are part of, like it or not.
And that is why my friend I do not watch or listen to Henry
Don’t worry, my friend, I watch and listen to creeps like Henry so that you don’t have to. Keep an eye out for some more transcripts* from some of his earlier shows, which I’m starting to write up now.
* Yes, Felix, I know, I know….
Haha, excellent.
But tell me, was the 8:59am dedication a real thing, or a bit of poetic licence (for which you will receive 12 lashings)? Because if it was real… *vomits entire contents of his body, entrails, viscera and all, onto the floor*
But tell me, was the 8:59am dedication a real thing, or a bit of poetic licence (for which you will receive 12 lashings)?
He actually said that. I think I got that bit exactly verbatim.
This morning, as a parting shot, Henry dedicated the programme to the senile thug “Sir” Robert Jones, whose actions apparently lend “colour” to our lives.
paul henry unhinged. Very frightening. For this sub human we lose Clive??
JOHN BANKS : crook or not? read, listen to him & judge for yourself
https://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/john-banks-a-tale-of-two-cheques/
Crook.
His parents were two of the most notorious criminals in Auckland; the rotten apple doesn’t roll far from the tree.
Indeed “Harawira” springs to mind.
That’s a foolish thing to say. Hone Harawira is a serious and thoughtful person. John Banks is not.
Or do you have some evidence of Hone Harawira receiving secret, illegal payments of money like John Banks?
Parents, Moz. The comment was about the parents.
Fair enough, Te Reo—but this fool seemed to be suggesting Hone Harawira was in some way comparable to John Banks.
Nah, Realblue was suggesting that Hone’s parents were somehow equivalent to Bank’s folks. Which is the purest bullshit, of course. Banks is a very complicated fellow and his upbringing in poverty hasn’t taught him any compassion for the poor. It’s just made him determined to be as distant from poverty as possible and by any means necessary. So the apple/tree analogy is pretty apt.
Thanks for that, Te Reo. A model of exposition, as always!
I’m here to help, Moz!
One of Hones parents abused children, the appalling Titiwhai.Clearly you and Morrissey are ok with that. Fair enough. Morrisey brought Banks parents into it, then you join in with an inevitable “look over there” response. The classy left eh?
So that’s one parent, as opposed to both. So do you acknowledge you owe Hone’s dad an apology?
Across a dalliance of rainbows,
A little crooked man smiles,
With time-filled grace,
Why do thee frown,
When across that big blue sky,
Ruptures of magnificence awaits?
No I don’t, his and his family’s crimes usually involve violence. A much lesser sin in your eyes clearly.
I’m going to call you out on that mate. Uncool to judge the guy for his parents’ mis-deeds, or anyone else for that matter.
Agreed I’m surprised Morrisey hasn’t attacked Banks kids yet. Day isn’t over I guess. Shabby stuff indeed.
Uncool to judge the guy for his parents’ mis-deeds, or anyone else for that matter.
If John Banks was an honest, decent citizen, I would not invoke the memory of his criminal parents. The fact is, though, he is not a decent, honest citizen, and his parents’ criminality obviously did affect him deeply.
“the rotten apple”
But you didn’t just call Banks out Morrissey, you made a sweeping generalisation about bad people and the perceived obviousness of their children being the same.
Although I’d place Banks in the ‘crooks’ column, that’s a pretty rotten thing to say. People are not their parents and may or may not learn to be like them.
you didn’t just call Banks out Morrissey, you made a sweeping generalisation about bad people and the perceived obviousness of their children being the same.
I recognize that there are people all over the country that have risen above their family circumstances, many of them far more onerous than John Banks’s circumstances, and gone on to live decent, honest lives where they have been an asset rather than an outrage to the community. Banks, on the other hand, has behaved with the most flagrant dishonesty; to point out the link to his criminal parents is entirely appropriate, I would have thought.
Or do you think Banks’s behaviour just springs out of nowhere?
Again, it was the sweeping generalisation I object to, not to a possible specific comment that Banks may have learned to be frugal with the truth from his parents.
Agreed I’m surprised Morrisey hasn’t attacked Banks kids yet.
If one of Banks’s kids is involved with money-laundering of, say, fifty thousand dollars that he’s asked to be paid for in two separate cheques, then yes, the obvious influence of his father will be remarked upon.
If, on the other hand, his kids somehow transcend the handicap of having a dishonest criminal stepdad, then I would applaud them, just as I would have applauded Banks if he had acted with integrity and honour in his political career.
didnt his parent assist women to abort children? at a time when women were criminals for controlling their own lives and bodirs. Or have i confused them with someone else
The story is fairly well known and has been in the public arena for decades.
From Wikipedia: “When he was a young child, his parents Archie and Kitty were imprisoned for procuring abortions. His father was a career criminal and his mother an alcoholic.”
I think casting his parents as the altruistic and enlightened saviours of women with unwanted pregnancies is probably a bit of a reach. More likely it was just another string to their bow of criminal enterprise.
as i wrote my memory wasnt clear. but it needs to be looked at in the context of the day. and reports of it in the same way.
How about Carmel Sepuloni’s mother then Morrissey? Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree there, or is that different somehow?
How about Carmel Sepuloni’s mother then Morrissey? Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree there, or is that different somehow?
Carmel Sepuloni has been charged with, or convicted of, dishonesty offences? If she has been, your analogy will have merit; if she has not, you are simply ignorant.
To prevent us thinking you are ignorant, could you post evidence for us of Carmel Sepuloni’s criminality?
Ah, okay, so even though you aren’t convicted of anything, the fact you are charged is the key to your argument.
In that case Hone Harawira does fall into your criteria, mother has been convicted (assault) and he has been charged (failure to remove a vehicle from a road).
Bringing families into politics is a bad idea Morrisey, Carmel Sepuloni isn’t her mother, Hone Harawira isn’t his mother (or cousins), and John Banks most certainly isn’t his parents.
Bringing families into politics is a bad idea Morrisey, Carmel Sepuloni isn’t her mother, Hone Harawira isn’t his mother (or cousins), and John Banks most certainly isn’t his parents.
You’re 66.6666 per cent correct there, Bob. Carmel Sepuloni and Hone Harawira are (or were) honest and respected members of parliament, notwithstanding the personal and irrelevant abuse that you and other right wing shills ceaselessly heap on them.
Banks, on the other hand, is neither honest nor respected, and that won’t change no matter how much you try to divert and smear other, superior politicians.
Harawira and Sepuloni have their faults, but neither of them has asked donors to make illegal payments in two separate cheques in order to (unsuccessfully) escape scrutiny. They are not like their parents; Banks on the other hand, has betrayed his public fiduciary duty as an elected representative—which makes him far worse than his notorious parents.
“notwithstanding the personal and irrelevant abuse that you and other right wing shills ceaselessly heap on them”
Like when Harawira was part of He Taua, which confronted drunk University of Auckland engineering students who performed a parody of the “Ka Mate” haka with obscenities painted on their bodies. The group including Harawira assaulted them with baseball bats and hoses, resulting in several broken bones? Or do we metaphorically abuse him?
“You’re 66.6666 per cent correct there, Bob. Carmel Sepuloni and Hone Harawira are (or were) honest and respected members of parliament”
Yeah, Hone was really respected for his “white mother fuckers” rant, and respected in that he had a complaint laid against him by all of the other Māori Party MPs because they had “lost trust and confidence” in Mr Harawira, that he “acted unethically and without integrity” and that he “deliberately undermined” the party and the leaders. Or respected because he said Osama bin Laden’s actions were those of “a man who fought for the rights, the land and the freedom of his people” and that people should not be damning him but mourn him?
“Harawira and Sepuloni have their faults, but neither of them has asked donors to make illegal payments in two separate cheques in order to (unsuccessfully) escape scrutiny”
No, Harawira made an alliance with the man that was all too happy to write those two cheques, then admitted to receiving payments from that man, but never declared how much he had been paid…hmm sounds familiar
Unfortunately you have made some wildly confused statements in your rant, Bob. However, since you have at least endeavoured to defend your corner, I will deal with each of the points you raise, even though most of them are, sadly, quite spurious.
1.) Like when Harawira was part of He Taua….
Hone Harawira was, like other Māori students at Auckland in 1979, incensed by the racist, demeaning behaviour of the Engineering students’ mock haka party. For years, he and other young Māori leaders had repeatedly protested against those goons and demanded they stop their provocation. The He Taua action was the last resort, after the racists had treated all the Māori protests with contempt.
But it looks like you have made up your mind that the provocateurs were the victims rather than the instigators of the trouble; nothing anyone says is likely to change your mind. Let’s move on to your next point….
2.) “…white mother fuckers….”
Okay, that was a foolish thing to write in an email. You make a reasonable point there, Bob. I presume you have been equally outraged at the far more numerous racist and sexist outbursts by National Party MPs like John “Hone” Carter, Jonathan Coleman, —and John Banks.
3.) a complaint laid against him by all of the other Māori Party MPs
So he’s not a team player. That’s not a sin, and it’s not a crime, and it’s not an ethical lapse. Why would you even mention this irrelevant point?
4.) Harawira made an alliance with the man that was all too happy to write those two cheques…
The problem with what Banks did was not Kim Dotcom—it was Banks’s illegal actions. You don’t seem quite up to speed with the facts and issues of the case.
5.) …hmm sounds familiar
No, you’ve (perhaps deliberately) missed the point again. Hone Harawira’s open dealings with Kim Dotcom were utterly different from Banks’s hamfisted attempts to rort the system.
So the UK Tories are about to announce that anyone working up to 30 hours per week on the minimum wage will be income tax free.
Interesting the playbook they are all sharing. What is UK Labour going to come back with? Blairite Nu Labour 2?
That’s not what you think it is, CV. Minimum wage workers already pay very little tax as the UK has a tax free threshold of ten thousand pounds. What this really means is locking in the minimum wage at its current low rate. It also allows the rich to sneer at the working poor (look how much I pay in tax while the plebs pay nothing etc).
It’s actually a very Blairite kind of move; at first glance, vaguely progressive, but at heart, just more patronising conservatism. What’s needed is Labour’s policy of lifting the minimum wage and gradually bringing in a living wage.
Odd idea the Left has that making beneficiaries and low paid workers pay tax means the rich now sneer at them less. Has it worked in NZ?
Well, that maybe your idea, but that’s not what I wrote. Sharpen up!
So you don’t think that beneficiaries and low wage earners should be subject to income tax? Or are you avoiding having an opinion on the issue?
Um, that question makes no sense. Can you try again?
Edit: to save time, I should point out that I’ve never been short of an opinion. I thought that would have been pretty obvious by now! And my opinion on this matter is that all income earners should pay tax and that tax should be levied on a graduated scale, with lower income earners paying very little. A UBI would be even better starting point, of course.
Thanks for your answer to the question which “makes no sense” – that benes should indeed pay income tax.
A historical note on taxing benefits – none were taxed until one day Muldoon decided unemployment beneficiaries should be taxed. up until then Sickness and Unemployment Benefit were paid at the same rate. When taxing of all benefits was brought in the already reduced rate of Unemployment Benefit was treated as if it wasn’t already taxed and taxed again.
IMO, rather than making low income tax free, all benefits need to be increased and so does the minimum wage. Incomes over $70,000 a year need to have a higher rate of tax, and an even higher rate should apply at $150,000. Capital gains of any sort should be taxed.
70000 includes teachers, nurses, police. Perhaps you should asked them. Are you trying to punish them for something?
Most teachers and nurses earn less than $70,000.
“Thanks for your answer to the question which “makes no sense” – that benes should indeed pay income tax.”
D’uh! If you get some spare time, look up the words income and benefit and see if you can suss the difference.
We are being continually told that aucklands housing problem is predominately all about supply.
Well, we are lifting supply to the market, but there are “unforeseen” consequences:
The ability to find contractors is prooving difficult, as the level of activity increases this is more than matched by price increase well beyond inflation. E.g cost of pipes, diesel is increasing flowing onto increase tender costs for the earthworks component.Council processing of consents, s224s late last year it was within 3 weeks now it is taking 2 months.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/construction-costs-making-impossible-build-affordable-homes-developer-6241175
Does no one ever consider, that by increasing supply you are increasing the demand on building products the ability for construction coys to deliver ?
fletchers will have… considered extra costs for construction materials
Passengers applaud as obnoxious political extremist escorted off plane
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/sir-bob-jones-booted-off-flight-refusing-listen-crew-6322883
Since we left wingers have no sense of humour, according to Sir Bob, we don’t find this at all funny. No sirree bob!
Thousands of Turkish workers are currently taking on the bosses, the repressive state and the yellow union they were corralled into following the 1981 military coup:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/turkish-car-workers-take-on-bosses-state-and-yellow-union/
When is something going to be done about David Carter?
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-fingerprints-of-biased-speaker.html
The guy’s a complete and utter failure as a Speaker. He must be the worst NZ’s ever had. Something needs to be done.
Oww… you beat me by 20 minutes link,n all.
He seems to have some hang-up about the oppo. members doing their job and grilling their opposite numbers in the House. Yesterday was a supreme example. Peter’s was attempting to ask a supplementary question. He prefaced it with a handful of words to the effect his question was not in response to the first part of the minister’s answer. It was a point of explanation. Misterrrr Speaker appeared to take it the wrong way and issued him with a warning . Peter’s started to explain what he was doing. Misterrrr Speaker threw him out of the house!
Previous to that incident Key had been screeching at Little across the chamber (including the Super gaffe 🙄 ) – none of them had anything to do with Little’s original questions but hey… that’s okay. He just gets a mild admonishment usually delivered in a voice tinged with amusement.
And frequently with the hint of a smile on his dial as well. Key gets away with more shit than I’ve ever seen any Speaker allow. It’s disgraceful ! The larrikan head boy has it all over the headmaster.
And frequently with the hint of a smile on his dial as well
Yep, meant to add that. If all the m****s out there who thinks he’s such a loverlee guy watched question time in the House and saw his narrowed ice cold eyes and heard his sly, mendacious and puerile-ridden shrieking (at Little in particular) they would drop dead with shock. Serves them right. They are getting exactly what they deserve – which is nothing.
Given how quickly the PM said he wouldnt stop nzers from coming home who were fighting for isis… rather makes me think its cos he knows there arent any… which makes a bit of a mockery of his breathless haste to surveil cos of the threat of nzers being radicalised… just pondering
According to our Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the using of NZ taxpayer funds to bribe a Saudi businessman is all the fault of the Clark administration!!
But – – but – – Helen Clark did it. Where have I heard this before?
Bob Jones thrown off a plane for being a douche.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11455485
If only such would happen more often…
Meanwhile in stacking public institutions with stooges/jobs for the boys news
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11455565
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11455485
Supreme Court of New Zealand, watch out. You just do not do that to ‘the entitled’ !
Another fabulous role model drawn from our ruling class hahaha…….
The All Blacks play well and have a good win. People like Paul Henry say, “We were all over them, we played well.” The All Blacks lose and people like Paul Henry say, “They were hopeless, they should’ve played better.”
A war is happening and New Zealand troops are sent:
HENRY: … Is this a fight worth having? You HAVE to say YES.
ANDREW PATTERSON: [gravely] Of course, of COURSE.
HENRY: This is a fight that we have to be on the right side of, isn’t it?
…
HENRY: Absolutely we should be part of the fight. And we have to really take it to them! HILLARY BARRY: [softly] I’m afraid so.
JIM KAYES: [softly, grimacing with moral doubt] Yes, I think so.
HENRY: We have to be in there STRONG and HARD!
_____________________________________________________
I have opined before that if the need were so serious for troops to go, John Key and Mike Hosking would have ensured that their kids signed up, did the training and demanded they be sent. (Their parents would no doubt have done the demanding too.)
Paul Henry, wanting to get in there ‘strong and hard’ seems to have the attitude to want to be, to demand to be their commanding officer. Yeah.
Any chance the TV could show us how serious it is about hard news and sent Paul Henry off to Iraq to do an imbed and go out on some patrols towards ISIS territory –