My observation about the dire condition of our mainstream media in New Zealand looks not at how it uses distraction to dumb down citizens and turn them into ‘consumers’ ; rather it looks at its bias to the corporate industrial complex and its lackeys and puppets in New Zealand, the National Party.
Last year the Herald got involved in Dirty Politcs by smearing and undermining David Cunliffe’s leadership close enough to the election to assist another victory for the National Party.
The sponsors of the Herald, the real estate, insurance and finance industries clearly want more blood from its puppet paper. There has now been a sustained attack on Little by the Herald as it seeks to promote Jacinda Ardern. With a media like this, we only have a shadow of democracy In this country.
For me the herald is a tool, and stuff too – they put out their lines/articles and they are designed to elicit a response from readers – I want to know what they are trying to get me to think/do/believe – so that I can use a discriminating eye and mind and interpret their agenda. And then do what I want based on my beliefs and values.
the msm is persuasive and pervading and they do support the agendas – as organs of culture they show how delusional we are, how idiotic we are, how unprepared and head in the sand we are. The deeper those delusions go, the more along the road we are towards the inevitable conclusion. I don’t want or believe the msm will change – we need canaries, we need strident protectors of the ‘progress’ religion and fervent advocates of whichever ‘middle’ party is in power, we need them so we have something to contrast to, so we can do the opposite, believe the opposite and act opposite. So fuck the herald – I use them.
I want to know what they are trying to get me to think/do/believe – so that I can use a discriminating eye and mind and interpret their agenda. And then do what I want based on my beliefs and values.
Or make the job easier and faster by doing whatever you want and not read/watch it at all. From here, the World as portrayed by even a 30 second news headlines ad on TV, or the front page at a supermarket entrance, it’s like, “Where the fuck are these people coming from?”. Wherever it is, it can’t be good for their health – mental or otherwise.
I recommend a site like metapicture, which has all the slightly muted values and prejudices of the perspective that everyone loves to repeat in the news, but interspersed by about 50% vaguely amusing rubbish – or try the weather forecast. As Simon and Garfunkel once said, “I get all the news I need on the weather report…”
So, just to recap, you’re not happy with paul just pointing out that NZ media are blatantly biased in favour of tories. You want paul to design an entire media system from the mechanisms of providing support to grassroots media all the way up to writing the details of content regulations. And you call those demands a “discussion”.
Agree with you 100%, Paul. And I, too, have been wondering re the promotion of Jacinda Ardern – a very sneaky move to use her to undermine Andrew Little.
Our right wing friend “Ad” has, unwittingly, managed to say something that has some truth to it….
Politics, otherwise, is “Entertainment With Ugly People”.
That rather dull quip was made by someone in Hollywood in the early 1990s, and has been repeated ad nauseam by people like “Ad” ever since. Of course, as we see with the lionization of loud-mouthed vacuums like Donald Trump, the media are more than happy to concentrate on nonsense instead of anything substantial, which is not entertaining.
So, yes, politics is indeed entertainment with ugly people—-morally ugly.
There’s a flipside of course: so much of Hollywood seems to be politics for stupid people, as anyone will testify who has witnessed the embarrassing and unedifying spectacle of numbskulls like Neil Patrick Harris, Jared Leto, Kevin Costner, Kevin Spacey, Michael Douglas, John Malkovich and (most pathetic of all) Clint Eastwood trying to comment about things they know nothing about.
have you quickly discraded your logic?…’The point of the Opposition is to show the public that their answers are better than the alternative, more credible, and more effective.’
‘But he is on course to win the Republican nomination.
Precisely because he is quotable, and entertaining.’…………………….so which is more important…..policy or charisma….you seem very inconsistent or confused or both!
except in that post you propose policy as an asnwer, which contradicts many other things wyou say (in your comments at other times) about people like Adern and the need to fight fire with fire, popularity with popularity, do what it takes to win, which often precludes policy? That is certainly how 2007/2008 went, attack Clark, attack Labour, smile, says stuff which doesn’t mean much, and very little (or no policy).
All the things that people like BM say don’t work. And therein lies a message but I don’t know what the answer/counter is. Wish i did.
Oh, I can see he’s entertaining. But it’s like professional wrestling—there’s not a lot of substance there, and anyone with a brain soon gets bored and loses interest. It’s obvious to everyone that Trump is a souffle, a flake, a giant inflated bag of foul wind. Yes, he got 24 million people to tune in to watch him insult Mexicans and women, in between speeches by a dozen of America’s dullest men. And yes, he gets more people to his highly publicized appearances than Jeb Bush or Mario Rubio.
But far, far more people are turning out to watch the most popular politician in the United States—Bernie Sanders.
He will win the Republican nomination for Presidency.
Now I’m going to be charitable here and assume that you are not actually one of the small group of imbeciles that actually adore the most well funded joke candidate in history.
Donald Trump is not a new phenomenon. Joke candidates have a long history. New Zealand had a “Mickey Mouse” candidate in 1972, and there was a full ticket of McGillicuddy Serious Party candidates twenty years on from that. All of these people were more coherent and entertaining than Trump.
Britain had Screaming Lord Sutch and his Official Monster Raving Loony Party, of course. Screaming Lord Sutch was a far brighter and more compelling candidate than any of these Republican candidates, leave alone the joke candidate who continues to distract everyone.
So, as I say, we’re assuming that you are one of the many people that are smart enough to realise Trump has nothing and offers nothing, but are determined to believe that millions of people are stupid enough to vote for him.
Well, okay, a lot of people voted for that sinister robot Mitt Romney last time—-but compared to Donald Trump, Romney is the most brilliant orator on the planet and a philosopher of the highest order.
But then, compared to Donald Trump, so is anybody.
Trump wont win the Republican nomination, and Sanders won’t win the Democrat nomination – hes currently polling 20pts behind Clinton, before the gloves come off and the money needs raising. No matter how popular they are, they won’t be allowed to win by party interests, because in a presidential election, both of them are un-electable. The republicans have always had the problem that the sort of candidate who can win the primary could never win the wider election. Sanders is the democrat version of that problem.
And in recent campaigns I can’t remember the last front runner at this point who ended up winning their party’s nomination.
Trump is a joke – un-electable because he will piss off way to many demographics. Sanders is not a joke, but in the US environment the only major state he might carry is California. Forget all the other key battlegrounds in the electoral college – Florida, Michigan, NY, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Georgia. As soon as the Republicans start attacking him with ads, he is gone. Secretly the Dems are hoping Trump does win the nomination, as the Republicans are hoping Sanders wins for the democrats. The US presidential election clearly works against polarising candidates as most states are winner takes all, i.e., a 1 vote majority within California delivers the candidate 10% of the electoral college.
The republicans were hoping to appeal to the “minorites”, through Jeb Bush, but Trump is pissing many off in that regard. BUT FOX News is not (from what I can see) a Trump fan and that will hurt him in the long run
I’m pleased to see that you acknowledge Sanders is NOT a joke candidate.
However, that acknowledgement comes after you have erroneously compared him to Trump.
Let’s get this straight: Sanders is serious, whereas Trump and the whole sorry Republican Party is nothing more than a crazy insurgency movement, dedicated to ruining America’s democracy.
I find it remarkable that you insist Sanders is “un-electable”. He’s surely no more unelectable than Barack Obama was, running as a black candidate in a profoundly racist country.
Who actually answered that ” jacinda preferred as Pm” Poll?
I have not seen the poll, but would like to know who was polled? Regular Voters? Age Group of Voters? Gender of Voters, and Party Preferrence of Voters.
i actually think nothing of Jacinda as I have no idea who she is, what she likes, etc etc etc.
And for what its worth, i have never voted for a pretty face, male or female. I want my PM’s to be sound of mind and heart, I have no interest in their pretty faces and good bodies…these things fade with time.
used to watch Jacinda face of against the ghastly Bridges on morning t.v. was frustrating to see her counter his idiocy and bluster with calm and reasoned debate, often being talked over by bridges, imitating his idol Key, and the “interviewr” despite having all the facts and sound reasoning, how demorilising to be against pitted against the gnat-like ignorance of bridges and in the eyes of msm to be comparable to him.
The Nats were terrified of David Cunliffe – he was a real threat to them – Michelle Boag likes Andrew Little – obviously she thinks he’s no threat – the ABC crowd should have worked out that if the Nats were so keen to get rid of Cunliffe, that it was because he was a big threat to them, but the selfishness of the ABC crowd is breathtaking – they are all about securing their positions for the future and the public of NZ don’t seem to even rate a thought! The ABC don’t seem to care if they are in opposition, they still are on big money, still get their overseas trips each year etc – their petty jealousy of David Cunliffe robbed NZ of a government who cared about the average Joe and Joe-ess! Bryan Gould is right on the money in his latest Herald article – Jeremy Corbyn said in a recent interview that the Blairite approach in the Labour Party in the UK meant that there was no real difference between them and the Tories – no stark choice for voters – same here I think.
Note to Gosman; Seymour got everything he wanted from the changes to the opening hours for the world cup, so definitely a win for him and those who supported the move. You picked him as the winner when this first broke. And here he is. The BIG winner though, is Bruce Robertson on behalf of his members. he provided a masterclass in effective lobbying and use of a MP or Junior Minister.
Interesting that national went from only wanting AB games and playoffs to agreeing to everything.
“Key has earlier said the government could take up the bill on its own if it failed.
On Wednesday morning he went further, telling TV3’s Paul Henry show he had spoken with Justice Minister Amy Adams about putting it on the order paper, which would mean only majority rather than unanimous support would be needed.
It was not a simple fix as different bars have different opening hours.
“In principle one option would be to say … for every All Blacks game for the quarters, semis, the finals, maybe the playoffs for third and fourth – all of those we have blanket coverage.”
However, the case was not as strong for covering games not involving the All Blacks, Mr Key said.
He believed where there was strong support for other teams, such as a number of South Africans living on the North Shore, bars would have already applied for a special licence to open outside normal hours.” 12 August 2015 NZ Herald
Interesting to see if the legislation about bar opening hours for RWC also changed the opening hours specified in many of the bars’ Resource Consents. If it just did Licensing hours, there may be trouble ahead. Some Plans allow for restricted numbers of exemptions, but those are limited.
I read this article by Steve Keen, which I found very interesting. The excerpt I found fascinating was this.
‘This is the mechanism behind the empirical datum that the ex-banker and philanthropist Richard Vague identified in his book The Next Economic Disaster: Why It’s Coming and How to Avoid It. Richard looked at all economic crises across the globe over the last one and a half centuries, and found that every one of them occurred when the private debt to GDP ratio exceeded 1.5 times GDP, and when the ratio had risen by 17% or more over a 5 year period.
China fits that profile in spades, as I pointed out in the last two columns. It’s surely under-reported private debt to GDP ratio rose from about 100% of GDP in 2008 to over 180% by the start of 2015, which is a rise of 80% over 8 years.’
New Zealand’s ratio of private debt to GDP is 147%
Engineers should find this argument easy to understand and informative, but tedious to read because the logic is so obvious. Economists are probably going to find it almost impossible to comprehend, clearly wrong, and they will probably be enraged by it.
I read this article by Steve Keen, which I found very interesting. The excerpt I found fascinating was this.
‘This is the mechanism behind the empirical datum that the ex-banker and philanthropist Richard Vague identified in his book The Next Economic Disaster: Why It’s Coming and How to Avoid It. Richard looked at all economic crises across the globe over the last one and a half centuries, and found that every one of them occurred when the private debt to GDP ratio exceeded 1.5 times GDP, and when the ratio had risen by 17% or more over a 5 year period.
China fits that profile in spades, as I pointed out in the last two columns. It’s surely under-reported private debt to GDP ratio rose from about 100% of GDP in 2008 to over 180% by the start of 2015, which is a rise of 80% over 8 years.’
New Zealand’s ratio of private debt to GDP is 147%
@paul
You state NZ ratio of private debt to GDP is 147%. But isn’t this private debt ratio to household disposable income not GDP? Or are they the same thing exactly?
Treasury states: In the 20 years to 2011, total housing and consumer loan debt increased around six-fold in dollar terms. As a ratio of household disposable income, the percentage at June 2011 of 147% is about two and a half times that of 58% at March 1991.
This looks bad for us – going from 58% indebtedness level to household disposable income in 1991 to 147% in 2011. That means debt beyond the total plus half again of all disposable income. Unsustainable spending using debt, and a rising trend on the graph.
This is from google heading on GDP and household or private debt:: [New] Zealand – the increase in household debt ratios continued … increasing from 130 to 180 percent of GDP between 2000 …
The PDF it comes from is a 13 page Reserve Bank bulletin which seems informative and understandable but I haven’t time to read it myself having more mundane personal management issues. I put the link for those interested and hopefully I’ll catch up later. http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/research_and_publications/reserve_bank_bulletin/2014/2014oct77_4.pdf
(We need to understand this so we know what Blinglish is blurting about or not as the case may be. And yek probably hasn’t read it, as it is not his job. Prancing ponies just have to look good, go through their paces and pull the tails of the pony in front as a crowd-amuser!)
Useful mages on Google – go to: nz private debt to GDP ratio
This is a good read: A very good extensive article written June 2015 by Brian Gaynor Investment Columnist for the NZ Herald traverses NZ debt overseas and comparative with other countries, including comment on domestic household etc etc. well. Very cogently written and even I can understand it if I concentrate. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11468289
He writes: Debt is a complex issue and it is difficult to say with certainty whether a country or its Government has too much or too little debt. However, there are two important points that should be taken into account when considering this issue:
• All sources of debt, including government and household, should be considered. For example Japan has a very high level of government debt and a low level of household borrowings whereas New Zealand is the other way around.
• The ability to fund debt onshore is important. The Japanese Government is able to raise a high proportion of its borrowings from domestic investors whereas the New Zealand Government sources the majority of its debt from overseas investors.
New Zealand’s net external debt position has improved in recent years because a number of investment funds, particularly the NZ Super Fund, have boosted the country’s gross external lending figures.
The ability to fund debt onshore is important. The Japanese Government is able to raise a high proportion of its borrowings from domestic investors whereas the New Zealand Government sources the majority of its debt from overseas investors.
In which Gaynor gets it wrong. A government doesn’t, and shouldn’t, borrow at all as it can always fund its spending by creating money.
suggestions for question time…
The right hon Andrew Little to the P.M….’can the P.M tell parliament when ,after 7 years in govt ,will his administration stop the puerile response of blaming Labour for all its own deficiencies and failures’?
My thought on that is labour should mock key mercilessly about living in the past every time he does it, and tell him a good government is looking to the future.
Ad – everytime Labour comes up with visionary ideas and voices them out loud National just steal their ideas off them so Labour are vulnerable to them. National are parasites who suck off other people and are deficient in creating visionary ideas – they just sell everything including the kitchen sink.
hence National demanding policy details around election time, so they can offer a diluted (by taking from tax payer somewhere else) version at the 11th hour to fill the vacuum that is there governance
@bwaghorn
I agree. Let National be challenged, and have more coming. Labour would be doing their job as Opposition and keeping the government somewhere close to the line and getting some action for the citizens if National choose to do something.
Labour can then say good on them for trying, but we will watch them because they are dodgy.
But stand up and have positive ideas, and say something positive about NZs. Say we, Labour, know that there is enterprise simmering away and not being encouraged. Say that National have not allowed ordinary NZs to shine, they are too busy making us a low wage, no wage economy.
More apprenticeships, training wages still low but with a job promised immediately for a year on finishing so as to get into the work force. Have good employers taking on new entrants into working, for a set time. Monitor how things pan out for all. That would be a start, positives as well as valid criticisms of National. Perhaps a bit more contemptuous and humorous like Winnie.
actually I think Labour are doing pretty well already.
It hasn’t quite translated to the polls yet, but they really seem to be working together – it seems that the worst apples have either left or been brought into line.
It’s been a solid year for them so far. Something to build on.
Smith trying suggest Green Party are just boring for questioning the bill turning the World Cup into one big Piss up??
I wonder what Liver function Tests on National Party would say about that? They certainly act/appear as though they regularly enjoy more than a tipple.
Nothing wrong with communal areas being made available to watch the games in the morning, BUT FFS WHY NOT SERVE COFFEE (and breakfast)???????
seymour talking about freedoms taken from people without justification. However extended licences exist for this. since may 2013 when the rugby schedule was announced any pub could apply. but they waited til the last minute to get it for free. now the police… ambulance services and healthcare will need to deal with any fallout. councils wont have the fees to offset increased costs… and street cleaning. If seymour cared about freedom for rugby people he would have added free to air for AB Matches.
the Greens or Labour should try an urgent debate on that freedom…. shine a light on this being less about freedom than money.
Tracey, this is not about it being Populist, this is about making money.
Pubs selling piss is making money, showing games for free……fuck, thats heresy.
People drinking on the streets, not in bars.
Massive fines, if drunk people found on premises, if you’re even the remotest bit rowdy, the bouncer is chucking you out the door.
Real zero tolerance to intoxicated people in licensed premises.
Now here’s what really happens in pubs outside of planet key: Pub fills punters with as much piss as possible.
Kicks punter out when liquor starts to kick in: not the pub’s problem.
Drunk person found on premises: victim of pre-loading before coming into bar. Very sorry we’ll try harder/security has been upgraded/staff member no longer works here.
Yes, every so often a pub goes way overboard, consistently, so that the cops get annoyed and go out of their way to send half a dozen through the worst offending bar with the local inspector and log each infraction found. But that is not routine, that’s somebody deciding to teach someone a lesson.
exactly, so why spend time and +++media coverage ad nauseum shouting from the roof tops that people can now chose to get pissed all day and night….if they wish to, so what? is it really worth all the attention in parliament/media?? and anyone calling me a party pooper needs to get a real life instead of being a National fart catcher
Should have put a line in the bill making the government dry – why are the taxpayers buying their booze for them? And that would have been an interesting debate.
Are countries legally required to protect their citizens from climate change?
A Dutch court recently ruled that greenhouse gas reduction is a state obligation.
The government, the court said, must ensure that Dutch emissions in 2020 will be at least 25 percent lower than those in 1990 — the amount the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report says is needed from industrialized countries if the world is to not exceed 2 °C (3.6 °F) warming and avoid the worst consequences of climate change. Dutch political leaders had been planning to cut emissions by up to 17 percent within the next five years.
Stupid law. Why not do it properly and make the Dutch reponsible too for all the CO2 wafting in from Eastern Europe? Actually, they could take responsibility for some of our cows too.
“Keyless Ignition Used in Millions of Cars a Deadly Safety Defect: Lawsuit
Ten of the world’s biggest automakers were sued on Wednesday by U.S. consumers who claim the manufacturers concealed the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning in more than 5 million vehicles equipped with keyless ignitions, leading to 13 deaths.
According to the complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court, carbon monoxide is emitted when drivers leave their vehicles running after taking their electronic key fobs with them, under the mistaken belief that the engines will shut off.”
….
The defendants are BMW, including Mini; Daimler’s Mercedes Benz; Fiat Chrysler; Ford; General Motors; and Honda, including Acura; Hyundai, including Kia; Nissan, including Infiniti; Toyota, including Lexus; and Volkswagen, including Bentley.
Found out something rather fascinating at the Wellington Court of Appeal hearing yesterday – where the long-suffering, decent New Zealanders who are members of the Mangawhai Residents and Ratepayers Association have been trying to get the (former) Kaipara District Council held accountable to the ‘rule of law’.
The Government-appointed Commissioners, who now are responsible for the ‘governing’ of the Kaipara District Council, have proceedings filed in the Wellington High Court, against an ‘officer of Parliament’ – the Auditor-General.
These proceedings are CIV – 2014 – 485 – 11542
Kaipara District Council v Controller and Auditor-General.
That is the only information, to date, that I have been able obtain about these proceedings.
Wouldn’t it be cheaper, and arguably more effective, for the Kaipara Commissioners to petition Parliament for an inquiry into the role of the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) regarding their role in this debacle?
Or – if the Kaipara Commissioners want to get some form of financial compensation / damages out of the OAG – is the Court the only, or best place to go?
Perhaps one of the positive outcomes from this appallingly sorry saga would be the establishment of a genuinely Independent Commission Against Corruption?
Interesting that it was the same MP responsible for presenting the democratically disgraceful Kaipara District Council Rates Validation Act, who was the Chair of the Law and Order Select Committee, which knocked back the petition of Grace Haden, calling for an Independent Commission Against Corruption?
Who was that MP?
The former National MP for Northland – Mike Sabine.
and just to remind the readers not that they probably give a damn all the major parties voted for that validation bill including labour and the greens with the sole exceptions of nzfirst and i think the maori party which is a substantial part of the reason large numbers of mangawhai people supported winston in the recent northland by election
“Please note that the ‘Modern Hundertwasser’ design has been removed from the long list following a copyright claim by the Hundertwasser Non-Profit Foundation.”
Oh dear. The process crumbles further .
I don’t recall seeing this news anywhere, apologies if I’m late to the party.
it is also included on the govt website as one of the thousands that weren’t chosen.
The Modern Hundertwasser that has been removed didn’t have the black vertical stripe at the left, the centre of the koru was more bold (it didn’t have so many turns) and the transition of the green from the bottom edge was more gradual.
“I’m saddened at one level that there seems to be quite a bit of reluctance to engage in the conversation.”—HANA O’REGAN, Flag Con Committee
“The hope is to encourage public involvement in the process ahead of the vote, but hardly anyone turned up.”—JULIET SPEEDY, TV3 News
E ngā suckers.
Kia ora for the 10,292 designs you’ve suggested—even if half of them were from the same sad, obsessed, talent-free individual. Each of these (some quirkier than others!) was viewed by every Panel member—which gives the lie to the nasty allegations swirling around that this Panel is nothing but a sinecure for a bunch of nobodies who lacked the integrity to say no to putting their undistinguished names to a farcical vanity project for a frivolous and contemptible Prime Minister. We were, moreover, not impressed with the large number of “satirical” designs, such as the now infamous “laser Kiwi”, which were obviously intended to belittle this very serious process and to waste the Panel’s valuable time.
In reviewing flag designs, first and foremost, we were guided by what an average attendance of four Kiwis at each meeting, some of them unfortunately “homeless” people who had turned up for the complementary tea and biscuits, told us when they shared what is special to them about New Zealand. A special thank you must be paid here to the tireless, albeit reluctant, local National Party branches throughout the country!
The message was clear: you don’t really care. Many people wrote in saying: “Keep the Flag, change the Prime Minister”, but the Panel did not find that helpful. Others claimed that this panel was a collection of hand-picked dullards with the aesthetic sense of a kick in the head, the cultural knowledge of a concrete post and the historic appreciation of a goldfish. Again, we did not appreciate this kind of feedback or find it helpful.
In finalising the long list we invited a number of cultural (including tikanga), vexillology (the study of flags), art and design experts to talk to us. These experts really impressed the Flag Consideration Panel, as can be seen by their comments: “That was really interesting” (Sir Brian Lochore, ONZ, KNZM, OBE); “Wow, just wow” (Beatrice Faumuina, ONZM); “That was so cool” (Julie Christie, ONZM), “Really interesting” (Stephen Jones) and “Piss off! How DARE you impugn my integrity? I —WE, goddammit, WE have all worked HARD! Just FUCK off!” (Kate De Goldi, Deputy Chair)
We encourage you to make sure you are enrolled to vote so that you can take part in this nationally significant process. We certainly hope you show more enthusiasm than you did when you failed to come to our heavily advertised consultation meetings.
Ngā mihi nui kia suckers.
Regards,
Flag Consideration Panel:
Prof John Burrows (Chair), ONZM, QC
Nicky Bell
Peter Chin, CNZM
Julie Christie, ONZM
Rod Drury
Kate De Goldi (Deputy Chair)
Beatrice Faumuina, ONZM
Lt Gen (Rtd) Rhys Jones, CNZM
Stephen Jones
Sir Brian Lochore, ONZ, KNZM, OBE
Malcolm Mulholland
Hana O’Regan.
I have been wondering lately about a way to sabotage the first referendum . It would take a huge social media campaign for all people loyal to the New Zealand flag to vote for a rank outsider in the first referendum but nothing is impossible.
James, it’s perfectly reasonable and legitimate to vote strategically in such cases. The current government has taught us that repeatedly when directing Epsom voters to vote for the ACT candidate of the day.
I’m sure you’ll agree that the fairer way to run this popularity contest would have been to have the one referendum with the New Zealand flag included.
This process has been engineered to provide maximum exposure and momentum to a marketing logo and it’s time for those loyal to the flag of New Zealand to fight at the earliest opportunity.
What do you expect those loyal to New Zealand to do? Not vote in the first referendum? Much better for us to vote for a logo design which will have the least chance of success against the New Zealand flag.
That is a sensible voting strategy, plain and simple.
People who are disloyal to the flag have the opportunity to vote too, nobody is stopping them.
Your comments never fail to amaze me. You don’t seem to quite get the point of anything that anyone posts here. Why don’t you give Leighton Smith a ring? He’s more your level.
Interestingly the Nats won’t support Sue Moroney’s earlier BIll on parental leave, which Seymour supports, but will draft their own bill giving the same thing. It’s almost like it’s a game they play to make sure they get credit for someone else’s ideas and work. Is that what you mean by sabotage?
1. referendum, those who want to vote should vote for the design they prefer
those that want to keep the Flag, should abstain, and not vote.
2. referendum, those who want to change the flag should vote Yes
those who don’t want to change the Flag should vote No.
Or as P.Winston, (the NZfirstler that everyone is so afraid of) says, put a big fat KOF on it Keep Our Flag, but that would most likely invalidate the vote, and I would venture such a vote will not be counted.
AS there will be no option in the First Referedum such as :Keep current design!! I personally will abstain for the first vote and only Vote in the second referendum.
Simple as that.
No sabotage, but a fair and democratic process……Most likely we will end up with a Trademarketet Design, that will costs million of dollars to change on every uniform, piece of stationary, and other assorted gimmicks, but hey, the PM and his sidekick the most Honorable and Honest Bill English, aka Mr. 19% have all the money they need to pay for that stuff, and most likely they will make a buck or two for themselves after all thats what they do. The only ones paying for these shenanigans is us……but hey….Dear Leader wants a new Flag, and his groupies, enablers and voters will happily see their tax dollars spend on a Kitchen Towel.
Not throwing in any towels, but it is clear that this will come to vote, no matter what.
And I can only imagine the ‘outrage’ if no one actually participates in the first referendum.
Really, think of it. The first referendum is to get people involved, here choose your design, …..now defend it in the next referendum.
If people are actually not participating (lets say only 10 – 15 % would actually vote) How much of a ManDate would our dear Leader have to continue?
Also, what is it with National Government that they want to change the Flag, last time it was under Jenny Shipley….really what is it?
I believe we haven’t seen the true size of the marketing campaign Key will throw at this once the first referendum is over and his cheap, poorly designed logo has been chosen to go up against the New Zealand flag.
They will throw everything at this because there’s much more at stake now than the flag. A loss for Key here would damage him personally. Having consulted Crosby-Textor, they will begin to attack the very heart of demographic of those loyal to the New Zealand flag.
The disloyal changers will not care one bit if the turnout is 10-15% at the first referendum. The fewer the better for them I imagine, to ensure that an ill-informed choice is made.
” and his cheap, poorly designed logo has been chosen to go up against the New Zealand flag”
No-one ever asks the PM why his preferred design is an existing commercial product with legal copyright. The media, and the flag-change supporters, never mention how the Kyle Lockwood designs are an existing commercial product currently under copyright. A copyright that is co-incidentally scheduled to expire in [late?] 2015 .
A question for the legal minds out there:
As the Lockwood designs are under a legal copyright should they not have the copyright logo visible beside them when images of them are published,? When in included in the long list for example?
I have highlighted the relevant information that suggests the copyright expires this year and also the information that shows how the stated copyright requirements are not being met with the publicity and promotion of the relevant designs.
If I am incorrect in my understanding of the information as it is presented then I am, as always, happy to be corrected.
Yeah, I knew what you were talking about. That’s a shorthand way to say the stuff on the site is copyrighted and that you need to get permission to copy it. It has nothing to do with when the copyright expires.
It is precisely because of the normal copyright protocol that I wonder why the obvious questions surrounding copyrighted images being included in the flag referendum process have not been addressed.
If , as Draco suggests, the copyright is not expiring in 2015 then we are left to wonder what the plan is if any of the Lockwood designs are selected as the new flag.
His designs are an existing commercial product that has been on the market for a decade.
If a copyrighted design of his is chosen:
Is he just going to sign over any rights to lost future earnings ?
Is he going to get offered compensation for the lost earnings?
Is a single journalist ever going to raise the issue with the PM? or anyone for that matter?
MESSAGE: MIND YOUR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS YOU FUCKING OIK. WHAT DOES IT MATTER HOW MUCH I GET? YOU THINK YOU COULD DO AS GOOD A JOB DO YOU? YOU FUCKING OIK.
The target was to eat all the taxpayer-funded food on offer.
$640 a day, plus unlimited free tea and all the biscuits you can eat, since hardly anybody turned up to consume them. I understand that Beatrice Faumuina, ONZM, Lt Gen (Rtd) Rhys Jones, CNZM and Malcolm Mulholland really tucked in to the goodies on offer.
Just thinking about a politician visiting a hospital and being penetrating.
Brings to mind a Filipino phantom surgeon who cuts into the patient’s body with his hand and pulls out all the useless entrails. That idea might have come from the children’s board game where they play at being a doctor!
Idea! The Filipino practice would solve our unmet health needs problem. So National – seeming like smart action, while really being a hoax and a farce.
CYF report commented on by Children’s Commissioner who is doing a sterling job. How long will he last? The Children’s Commissioner’s first annual report has strongly criticised Child, Youth and Family for what it calls a dump and run culture of neglect
Good RadioNZ report. Must make sure that ditto question doesn’t apply to them, or him for that matter. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/282515/kids-probably-no-better-off-in-state-care
And Anne Tolley Social Development Minister, who seems to be agreeing with the criticism. Along the lines that government is no good at this. Ditto with housing?
Slide out and leave it to the no- tenderer mercies of private profit makers or fundamentalist capitalist charities? Next step I’ll bet. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201768178
I think we can expect a lot more of the narrative that government is not very good at delivering social services and there will be better outcomes from the private sector delivering services.
This government has a lot further that they will want to go down this path and the end game will be terrible outcomes for the most vulnerable in our society.
Ministers’ love this as they have less accountability and they can achieve their aims at arms length.
Crikey, read this latest column from Dita de Boni in the herald:
I’m a bit lost for words on the brazen attack, it’s about bloody time and surprising. I can’t help but wonder what was edited out?
It’s her last. I always liked her, did not always agree with her, but always liked her.
It is a worrying trend for the herald. There was a time when the business section of the paper did not lie, or spin. It was one of the few sections in the paper that knew it’s place, and had to talk directly to it’s target market honestly and forthrightly.
In the last few years that part of the herald has died, forget right wing bias, forget the cost of print, etc. This is what has killed the herald. Not sure who made this editorial change, but it has been fun to watch, spin and lies being added to the business pages, to bring it in line with the rest of the newspaper.
No wonder sales had fallen away. Even it’s support base, can not trust it.
It’s her valediction. It was announced a few weeks ago that she was being made redundant. I guess you no longer have to hold your tongue when you’ve got nothing to lose.
That said, I’m somewhat optimistic for the Herald. Their new editor, Murray Kirkness, was a good editor of the Otago Daily Times and led the campaign to keep neurological surgery services at Dunedin Hospital. The editorial line at the ODT has been reasonably critical of the government in recent years.
“People have asked me over the years why my columns have become more strident in tone; more “biased against” the Government. The answer’s that the examples of contempt for the public, hypocrisy, and flat-out bulls***tery have become too overwhelming to ignore.”
The brits and UK are getting a lot of information compared to us. For some reason that Mapp and Groser can’t or won’t explain, secrecy of negotiating positions doesn’t matter over there…
[lprent: Hi, I see that you (or your clone) have stopped sending me those incoherent bigoted rants as junk emails. I’d strongly suggest that if you want to raise your paranoid fantasies on this site that you do so in Open Mike (like all of the other nuts do) where they don’t divert from posts on other topics. And you’d better reread the policy again.
Otherwise I lock you off the site again, except harder and more nastily. Learn to live within this sites rules or live without writing here. This is your warning.
I have no idea what you are on about. I have never sent you anything and do not even know who you are. I have never been locked out. Why the hypersensitivity and hysteria ?
I must say I am surprised at your reaction. Clearly you don’t like the loyalties of John Key being questioned, or is it that you side with the rich, bankers etc ? Hard to fathom, have I missed something ?
Or MAYBE you don’t like me mentioning he is a Jew ?. Perhaps you should send your angry rant to the Times of Israel. Hint: Don’t for get to use trigger words like “anti-semite” and Holocaust™. The Times of Israel love being called names, being a conservative Hebrew news service and all.
Good luck with your endeavors to fight free speech. Should come in handy next time the chosen ones drop a shell on a school.
You can make no demands of me.
If you genuinely do not know why your comments are rightfully offensive, I doubt I am skilled enough as a teacher to explain it to you.
Again you make accusations with zero evidence and with no supporting argument. You can not even say why?
I voted for Key. I won’t again, but I did. The Jew is not a race, it is a religious cult.
People like you have blood on your hands. You refuse to speak out about any wrong done by Jews. Syria, Libya, Iraq are all human rights disasters because of the zionists lobby and Jews using America to destroy Muslim countries. And don’t even mention Palestine. You are a vile bigot and nothing more. They are not gods chosen and they are owed no special consideration.
John Key has the – right of return – [sic] to Israel. He is a Jew. It is quite proper to question the mans loyalties given his back ground and associations.
KrissCross
You seem to like stirring. You’ll do that and then say oh I am such an innocent free-speecher, if anyone takes offence that’s their choice. You seem to be sensitive enough about yourself.
It’s too easy to start a fight about contentious issues. We generally try to think how such issues can be made less so. It’s a good place to learn what others think, to discuss that, and do some thinking around your favourite subjects, if you are up to that.
Jewish bankers do indeed have much to answer for. We should not be shy about addressing the issues. Your own intense burning hatred of free speech and honesty aside.
Just the mere mentions of the chosen master race and the place goes nuts. Even the moderator waded in and told a pack of lies in some sort of attempt to discredit me. Saying all sorts of things happened in the past that never did, accusing me of sending him messages and so on ! Hilarious.
possibly, although BH is more into boasting about their intellect (against all available evidence).
This one just seems to enjoy being a bigot and then pleading ignorance to an absurd degree.
Meh. At least the sewer won’t be able to argue that this fucker turned up and their statements were accepted, but yeah – kris klan just likes the funny looks he gets for being racist. Done.
he also comes from a state house in Christchurch provided for him and his family by the generosity of New Zealand taxpayers and the New Zealand social welfare system
….as Andrew Little so eloquently reminded parliament and all New Zealanders yesterday
I have no idea what you are on about. I have never sent you anything and do not even know who you are.
I must say I am surprised at your reaction. Clearly you don’t like the loyalties of John Key being questioned, or is it that you side with the rich, bankers etc ? Hard to fathom, have I missed something ?
Or MAYBE you don’t like me mentioning he is a Jew ?. Perhaps you should send your angry rant to the Times of Israel. Hint: Don’t for get to use trigger words like “anti-semite” and Holocaust™
Good luck with your endeavors to fight free speech. Should come in handy next time the chosen ones drop a shell on a school.
You don’t understand – the problem with Hitler and Stalin and Mao and Pol Pot is not who they were but what they did. They did bad things.
The problem with John Key is that he is a liar, a thief and an abuser of the limited authority he temporarily bears.
His religion is not at issue, though his race, as a subnormal hyper-intelligent shapeshifting reptilian alien only one step ahead of the tacky luggage industry is certainly vexed. We need not resolve this however – he does bad things. This is ample reason to be done with him.
Do yourself a favour and do a dna test on your self – you may just be surprised by the results. Kriss X.
That said, anyone who brings up Jewish conspiracy is off the reservation. Because the reality is most conspiracy’s are exposed within in a few years, none longer than 30. So to think there is some grand conspiracy spanning over a century, shows you don’t know anything about the nature of conspiracy’s. People naturally gossip, brag or feel cheated – then talk. That is ultimately why conspiracy’s fail and/or are exposed.
Just found out about this – spreading the word …..
Tomorrow – Friday 28 August 2015 – is your last opportunity to:
“Give feedback on the Open Government Partnership
…..
New Zealand is part of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a group of countries working to make government more open, accountable and responsive to citizens.
The NZ government has created a 2 year Action Plan showing how it’s going to promote open and transparent government in New Zealand.
They’re asking for feedback on the Action Plan, to find out if New Zealanders think that the government’s meeting the OGP goals.
The consultation closes on 28 August 2015.
Between now and the end of August 2015, anyone in New Zealand can provide feedback on New Zealand’s Action Plan. You can provide feedback on any, or all, of the Action Plan commitments, or provide more general feedback on the OGP.
Give general feedback on the OGP and New Zealand’s Action Plan
Provide feedback on:
the Government’s Better Public Services (BPS) Results programme
BPS Result 10
the Government ICT Strategy and Action Plan to 2017
ICT Strategy Action Area 4
the 2013 TINZ National Integrity System Assessment Report
the Kia Tūtahi Relationship Accord
The government will use your feedback to create a self-assessment report for the OGP.
OGP member countries must report on their progress regularly. New Zealand’s self-assessment report will be published after 30 September 2015, with another report due in June 2016.
The report will show:
what the government has done to meet the grand challenges and principles of OGP,
progress so far,
feedback from New Zealanders on the initiatives, and
what the next steps are.
If you’d like more information about the Open Government Partnership or the Action Plan, contact NZOGP_ActionPlan@ssc.govt.nz.
———————————————————————-
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
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There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
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Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
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As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
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History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
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TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
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Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
The Department of Conservation is in greater need of a commissioner than Health NZ, a veteran scientist says The post The risks and rewards of remaking DoC appeared first on Newsroom. ...
My observation about the dire condition of our mainstream media in New Zealand looks not at how it uses distraction to dumb down citizens and turn them into ‘consumers’ ; rather it looks at its bias to the corporate industrial complex and its lackeys and puppets in New Zealand, the National Party.
Last year the Herald got involved in Dirty Politcs by smearing and undermining David Cunliffe’s leadership close enough to the election to assist another victory for the National Party.
The sponsors of the Herald, the real estate, insurance and finance industries clearly want more blood from its puppet paper. There has now been a sustained attack on Little by the Herald as it seeks to promote Jacinda Ardern. With a media like this, we only have a shadow of democracy In this country.
For me the herald is a tool, and stuff too – they put out their lines/articles and they are designed to elicit a response from readers – I want to know what they are trying to get me to think/do/believe – so that I can use a discriminating eye and mind and interpret their agenda. And then do what I want based on my beliefs and values.
the msm is persuasive and pervading and they do support the agendas – as organs of culture they show how delusional we are, how idiotic we are, how unprepared and head in the sand we are. The deeper those delusions go, the more along the road we are towards the inevitable conclusion. I don’t want or believe the msm will change – we need canaries, we need strident protectors of the ‘progress’ religion and fervent advocates of whichever ‘middle’ party is in power, we need them so we have something to contrast to, so we can do the opposite, believe the opposite and act opposite. So fuck the herald – I use them.
Or make the job easier and faster by doing whatever you want and not read/watch it at all. From here, the World as portrayed by even a 30 second news headlines ad on TV, or the front page at a supermarket entrance, it’s like, “Where the fuck are these people coming from?”. Wherever it is, it can’t be good for their health – mental or otherwise.
I recommend a site like metapicture, which has all the slightly muted values and prejudices of the perspective that everyone loves to repeat in the news, but interspersed by about 50% vaguely amusing rubbish – or try the weather forecast. As Simon and Garfunkel once said, “I get all the news I need on the weather report…”
thanks charles – I quite like my way, honed from years of experience to a keen edge capable of slicing and dicing quite delicately and mindfully.
With a media like this, we only have a shadow of democracy In this country.
As you are back yet again on this topic Paul, perhaps you’d like to continue the discussion yesterday on how you would fix it?
To remind you where we were at, here’s where we paused…
“The setting up of a genuine national TV broadcaster with several channels.”
How would you control the content of such channels?
Support for local grassroots media.
Any grassroots media, or grassroots media that had to meet some form of Govt. approval?
Regulations with teeth about impartiality
‘Regulations’ is a big word. What would be the central details of such regulation?
We are the alternative.
As is Whaleoil, Kiwiblog, and Scoop.
Stand up. We’re taking over the world, one click at a time.
So, just to recap, you’re not happy with paul just pointing out that NZ media are blatantly biased in favour of tories. You want paul to design an entire media system from the mechanisms of providing support to grassroots media all the way up to writing the details of content regulations. And you call those demands a “discussion”.
yeah, fuck off.
Agree with you 100%, Paul. And I, too, have been wondering re the promotion of Jacinda Ardern – a very sneaky move to use her to undermine Andrew Little.
Jacinda actively courts light media.
And it’s what Labour desperately needs.
Politics, otherwise, is “Entertainment With Ugly People”. Both visually and spiritually.
National understands and accepts the power of televisual presence, and gain huge advantage in the MSM because of it. They remain better at it.
We may like to think we are pure and only deal in policy thoughts like monks of old.
Best of luck with that.
Meantime, Labour sure as hell needs Jacinta.
Our right wing friend “Ad” has, unwittingly, managed to say something that has some truth to it….
Politics, otherwise, is “Entertainment With Ugly People”.
That rather dull quip was made by someone in Hollywood in the early 1990s, and has been repeated ad nauseam by people like “Ad” ever since. Of course, as we see with the lionization of loud-mouthed vacuums like Donald Trump, the media are more than happy to concentrate on nonsense instead of anything substantial, which is not entertaining.
So, yes, politics is indeed entertainment with ugly people—-morally ugly.
There’s a flipside of course: so much of Hollywood seems to be politics for stupid people, as anyone will testify who has witnessed the embarrassing and unedifying spectacle of numbskulls like Neil Patrick Harris, Jared Leto, Kevin Costner, Kevin Spacey, Michael Douglas, John Malkovich and (most pathetic of all) Clint Eastwood trying to comment about things they know nothing about.
Trump may not be entertaining to you.
But he is on course to win the Republican nomination.
Precisely because he is quotable, and entertaining.
They even flock to his moral ugliness.
Read those US polls and weep all you like.
Trump has all the momentum, all the media oxygen, and he has huge popular support.
He will win the Republican nomination for Presidency.
have you quickly discraded your logic?…’The point of the Opposition is to show the public that their answers are better than the alternative, more credible, and more effective.’
‘But he is on course to win the Republican nomination.
Precisely because he is quotable, and entertaining.’…………………….so which is more important…..policy or charisma….you seem very inconsistent or confused or both!
Policy is what you do when you don’t have charisma.
Thanks for playing.
so policy is of no consequence…Nat strategy…’team Key’…are you with me!
So, I take it you’ll be voting for National because you’re too shallow to actually think about policy.
I’ve written a post on this today.
except in that post you propose policy as an asnwer, which contradicts many other things wyou say (in your comments at other times) about people like Adern and the need to fight fire with fire, popularity with popularity, do what it takes to win, which often precludes policy? That is certainly how 2007/2008 went, attack Clark, attack Labour, smile, says stuff which doesn’t mean much, and very little (or no policy).
All the things that people like BM say don’t work. And therein lies a message but I don’t know what the answer/counter is. Wish i did.
Trump may not be entertaining to you.
Oh, I can see he’s entertaining. But it’s like professional wrestling—there’s not a lot of substance there, and anyone with a brain soon gets bored and loses interest. It’s obvious to everyone that Trump is a souffle, a flake, a giant inflated bag of foul wind. Yes, he got 24 million people to tune in to watch him insult Mexicans and women, in between speeches by a dozen of America’s dullest men. And yes, he gets more people to his highly publicized appearances than Jeb Bush or Mario Rubio.
But far, far more people are turning out to watch the most popular politician in the United States—Bernie Sanders.
He will win the Republican nomination for Presidency.
That’s what we’re all counting on.
So far it’s obvious to just a few in the media, and a few on the left.
The people adore him.
The people adore him.
Now I’m going to be charitable here and assume that you are not actually one of the small group of imbeciles that actually adore the most well funded joke candidate in history.
Donald Trump is not a new phenomenon. Joke candidates have a long history. New Zealand had a “Mickey Mouse” candidate in 1972, and there was a full ticket of McGillicuddy Serious Party candidates twenty years on from that. All of these people were more coherent and entertaining than Trump.
Britain had Screaming Lord Sutch and his Official Monster Raving Loony Party, of course. Screaming Lord Sutch was a far brighter and more compelling candidate than any of these Republican candidates, leave alone the joke candidate who continues to distract everyone.
So, as I say, we’re assuming that you are one of the many people that are smart enough to realise Trump has nothing and offers nothing, but are determined to believe that millions of people are stupid enough to vote for him.
Well, okay, a lot of people voted for that sinister robot Mitt Romney last time—-but compared to Donald Trump, Romney is the most brilliant orator on the planet and a philosopher of the highest order.
But then, compared to Donald Trump, so is anybody.
Trump wont win the Republican nomination, and Sanders won’t win the Democrat nomination – hes currently polling 20pts behind Clinton, before the gloves come off and the money needs raising. No matter how popular they are, they won’t be allowed to win by party interests, because in a presidential election, both of them are un-electable. The republicans have always had the problem that the sort of candidate who can win the primary could never win the wider election. Sanders is the democrat version of that problem.
And in recent campaigns I can’t remember the last front runner at this point who ended up winning their party’s nomination.
Trump is a joke – un-electable because he will piss off way to many demographics. Sanders is not a joke, but in the US environment the only major state he might carry is California. Forget all the other key battlegrounds in the electoral college – Florida, Michigan, NY, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Georgia. As soon as the Republicans start attacking him with ads, he is gone. Secretly the Dems are hoping Trump does win the nomination, as the Republicans are hoping Sanders wins for the democrats. The US presidential election clearly works against polarising candidates as most states are winner takes all, i.e., a 1 vote majority within California delivers the candidate 10% of the electoral college.
The republicans were hoping to appeal to the “minorites”, through Jeb Bush, but Trump is pissing many off in that regard. BUT FOX News is not (from what I can see) a Trump fan and that will hurt him in the long run
I’m pleased to see that you acknowledge Sanders is NOT a joke candidate.
However, that acknowledgement comes after you have erroneously compared him to Trump.
Let’s get this straight: Sanders is serious, whereas Trump and the whole sorry Republican Party is nothing more than a crazy insurgency movement, dedicated to ruining America’s democracy.
I find it remarkable that you insist Sanders is “un-electable”. He’s surely no more unelectable than Barack Obama was, running as a black candidate in a profoundly racist country.
my prediction is that trump will win the presidency – society throws up these types in its last days/years – and they’ll build that stupid wall too…
@ Ad – Your reference to Trump.”He will win the Republican nomination for Presidency.”
That should make it easy for a Democrat win then.
Be pretty dark for the world if they lose.
So, policy is secondary if you want to win the Treasury seats, right?
The Jacinda thing I believe was more that there was a change in her as preferred PM (as per the caption on the graphic, and the subtitle).
Its hard to make a headline about National being so far ahead of Labour, as that seems to be the ‘same old, same old’.
If Labour had of jumped in the polls – then that would have been the push.
Anything else is tinfoil hat material.
Who actually answered that ” jacinda preferred as Pm” Poll?
I have not seen the poll, but would like to know who was polled? Regular Voters? Age Group of Voters? Gender of Voters, and Party Preferrence of Voters.
i actually think nothing of Jacinda as I have no idea who she is, what she likes, etc etc etc.
And for what its worth, i have never voted for a pretty face, male or female. I want my PM’s to be sound of mind and heart, I have no interest in their pretty faces and good bodies…these things fade with time.
used to watch Jacinda face of against the ghastly Bridges on morning t.v. was frustrating to see her counter his idiocy and bluster with calm and reasoned debate, often being talked over by bridges, imitating his idol Key, and the “interviewr” despite having all the facts and sound reasoning, how demorilising to be against pitted against the gnat-like ignorance of bridges and in the eyes of msm to be comparable to him.
The Nats were terrified of David Cunliffe – he was a real threat to them – Michelle Boag likes Andrew Little – obviously she thinks he’s no threat – the ABC crowd should have worked out that if the Nats were so keen to get rid of Cunliffe, that it was because he was a big threat to them, but the selfishness of the ABC crowd is breathtaking – they are all about securing their positions for the future and the public of NZ don’t seem to even rate a thought! The ABC don’t seem to care if they are in opposition, they still are on big money, still get their overseas trips each year etc – their petty jealousy of David Cunliffe robbed NZ of a government who cared about the average Joe and Joe-ess! Bryan Gould is right on the money in his latest Herald article – Jeremy Corbyn said in a recent interview that the Blairite approach in the Labour Party in the UK meant that there was no real difference between them and the Tories – no stark choice for voters – same here I think.
Yes, maybe it is time to Bring Back Cunliffe? The “BBC faction” has a nice ring to it too.
Note to Gosman; Seymour got everything he wanted from the changes to the opening hours for the world cup, so definitely a win for him and those who supported the move. You picked him as the winner when this first broke. And here he is. The BIG winner though, is Bruce Robertson on behalf of his members. he provided a masterclass in effective lobbying and use of a MP or Junior Minister.
Interesting that national went from only wanting AB games and playoffs to agreeing to everything.
“Key has earlier said the government could take up the bill on its own if it failed.
On Wednesday morning he went further, telling TV3’s Paul Henry show he had spoken with Justice Minister Amy Adams about putting it on the order paper, which would mean only majority rather than unanimous support would be needed.
It was not a simple fix as different bars have different opening hours.
“In principle one option would be to say … for every All Blacks game for the quarters, semis, the finals, maybe the playoffs for third and fourth – all of those we have blanket coverage.”
However, the case was not as strong for covering games not involving the All Blacks, Mr Key said.
He believed where there was strong support for other teams, such as a number of South Africans living on the North Shore, bars would have already applied for a special licence to open outside normal hours.” 12 August 2015 NZ Herald
Interesting to see if the legislation about bar opening hours for RWC also changed the opening hours specified in many of the bars’ Resource Consents. If it just did Licensing hours, there may be trouble ahead. Some Plans allow for restricted numbers of exemptions, but those are limited.
I read this article by Steve Keen, which I found very interesting. The excerpt I found fascinating was this.
‘This is the mechanism behind the empirical datum that the ex-banker and philanthropist Richard Vague identified in his book The Next Economic Disaster: Why It’s Coming and How to Avoid It. Richard looked at all economic crises across the globe over the last one and a half centuries, and found that every one of them occurred when the private debt to GDP ratio exceeded 1.5 times GDP, and when the ratio had risen by 17% or more over a 5 year period.
China fits that profile in spades, as I pointed out in the last two columns. It’s surely under-reported private debt to GDP ratio rose from about 100% of GDP in 2008 to over 180% by the start of 2015, which is a rise of 80% over 8 years.’
New Zealand’s ratio of private debt to GDP is 147%
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevekeen/2015/08/26/why-china-had-to-crash-part-1/
http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/key_graphs/household_debt/
Interesting article.
Would be great to see Mr Keen run his graphs on New Zealand.
LOL 😈
I read this article by Steve Keen, which I found very interesting. The excerpt I found fascinating was this.
‘This is the mechanism behind the empirical datum that the ex-banker and philanthropist Richard Vague identified in his book The Next Economic Disaster: Why It’s Coming and How to Avoid It. Richard looked at all economic crises across the globe over the last one and a half centuries, and found that every one of them occurred when the private debt to GDP ratio exceeded 1.5 times GDP, and when the ratio had risen by 17% or more over a 5 year period.
China fits that profile in spades, as I pointed out in the last two columns. It’s surely under-reported private debt to GDP ratio rose from about 100% of GDP in 2008 to over 180% by the start of 2015, which is a rise of 80% over 8 years.’
New Zealand’s ratio of private debt to GDP is 147%
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevekeen/2015/08/26/why-china-had-to-crash-part-1/
http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/key_graphs/household_debt/
@paul
You state NZ ratio of private debt to GDP is 147%. But isn’t this private debt ratio to household disposable income not GDP? Or are they the same thing exactly?
Treasury states: In the 20 years to 2011, total housing and consumer loan debt increased around six-fold in dollar terms. As a ratio of household disposable income, the percentage at June 2011 of 147% is about two and a half times that of 58% at March 1991.
This looks bad for us – going from 58% indebtedness level to household disposable income in 1991 to 147% in 2011. That means debt beyond the total plus half again of all disposable income. Unsustainable spending using debt, and a rising trend on the graph.
This is from google heading on GDP and household or private debt:: [New] Zealand – the increase in household debt ratios continued … increasing from 130 to 180 percent of GDP between 2000 …
The PDF it comes from is a 13 page Reserve Bank bulletin which seems informative and understandable but I haven’t time to read it myself having more mundane personal management issues. I put the link for those interested and hopefully I’ll catch up later.
http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/research_and_publications/reserve_bank_bulletin/2014/2014oct77_4.pdf
(We need to understand this so we know what Blinglish is blurting about or not as the case may be. And yek probably hasn’t read it, as it is not his job. Prancing ponies just have to look good, go through their paces and pull the tails of the pony in front as a crowd-amuser!)
Useful mages on Google – go to: nz private debt to GDP ratio
This is a good read: A very good extensive article written June 2015 by Brian Gaynor Investment Columnist for the NZ Herald traverses NZ debt overseas and comparative with other countries, including comment on domestic household etc etc. well. Very cogently written and even I can understand it if I concentrate.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11468289
He writes:
Debt is a complex issue and it is difficult to say with certainty whether a country or its Government has too much or too little debt. However, there are two important points that should be taken into account when considering this issue:
• All sources of debt, including government and household, should be considered. For example Japan has a very high level of government debt and a low level of household borrowings whereas New Zealand is the other way around.
• The ability to fund debt onshore is important. The Japanese Government is able to raise a high proportion of its borrowings from domestic investors whereas the New Zealand Government sources the majority of its debt from overseas investors.
New Zealand’s net external debt position has improved in recent years because a number of investment funds, particularly the NZ Super Fund, have boosted the country’s gross external lending figures.
In which Gaynor gets it wrong. A government doesn’t, and shouldn’t, borrow at all as it can always fund its spending by creating money.
suggestions for question time…
The right hon Andrew Little to the P.M….’can the P.M tell parliament when ,after 7 years in govt ,will his administration stop the puerile response of blaming Labour for all its own deficiencies and failures’?
My thought on that is labour should mock key mercilessly about living in the past every time he does it, and tell him a good government is looking to the future.
If I were Key I would respond:
“When we’ve finished cleaning up their mess.”
A pretty easy serve.
Labour will defend harder from those charges when it starts looking to the future of their alternative government.
Alter the discourse to the future.
How would you respond to Key?
By forming a plan that is better and more convincing than theirs, winning the public, and winning the election. Not by wasting my breath in the House.
I’ve written a post about what it could look like.
By that you mean having prettier people.
Try my more successful, substantive and demanding route on the separate post.
Ad – everytime Labour comes up with visionary ideas and voices them out loud National just steal their ideas off them so Labour are vulnerable to them. National are parasites who suck off other people and are deficient in creating visionary ideas – they just sell everything including the kitchen sink.
hence National demanding policy details around election time, so they can offer a diluted (by taking from tax payer somewhere else) version at the 11th hour to fill the vacuum that is there governance
Labour playing the centre gives National far more scope to adopt policy, Barbara.
Labour need to stop being scared of what the nats might do. They need a couple of sound bites a month to keep chipping away at key.
@bwaghorn
I agree. Let National be challenged, and have more coming. Labour would be doing their job as Opposition and keeping the government somewhere close to the line and getting some action for the citizens if National choose to do something.
Labour can then say good on them for trying, but we will watch them because they are dodgy.
But stand up and have positive ideas, and say something positive about NZs. Say we, Labour, know that there is enterprise simmering away and not being encouraged. Say that National have not allowed ordinary NZs to shine, they are too busy making us a low wage, no wage economy.
More apprenticeships, training wages still low but with a job promised immediately for a year on finishing so as to get into the work force. Have good employers taking on new entrants into working, for a set time. Monitor how things pan out for all. That would be a start, positives as well as valid criticisms of National. Perhaps a bit more contemptuous and humorous like Winnie.
actually I think Labour are doing pretty well already.
It hasn’t quite translated to the polls yet, but they really seem to be working together – it seems that the worst apples have either left or been brought into line.
It’s been a solid year for them so far. Something to build on.
I tend to agree with that – solid so far with a few wobbles and some definite hits.
Smith trying suggest Green Party are just boring for questioning the bill turning the World Cup into one big Piss up??
I wonder what Liver function Tests on National Party would say about that? They certainly act/appear as though they regularly enjoy more than a tipple.
Nothing wrong with communal areas being made available to watch the games in the morning, BUT FFS WHY NOT SERVE COFFEE (and breakfast)???????
seymour talking about freedoms taken from people without justification. However extended licences exist for this. since may 2013 when the rugby schedule was announced any pub could apply. but they waited til the last minute to get it for free. now the police… ambulance services and healthcare will need to deal with any fallout. councils wont have the fees to offset increased costs… and street cleaning. If seymour cared about freedom for rugby people he would have added free to air for AB Matches.
the Greens or Labour should try an urgent debate on that freedom…. shine a light on this being less about freedom than money.
Move on. They won. There’s no upside to continuing.
You don’t support free to Air for games of national significance Ad, yet is it SO populist?
Tracey, this is not about it being Populist, this is about making money.
Pubs selling piss is making money, showing games for free……fuck, thats heresy.
I anoint you Patron Saint of Lost Causes.
And a lot of bars will be serving coffee and breakfast.
I know its a shock – but most people prefer not to go to work drunk.
I will prob watch some games with mates in the bar (more fun than just being at home), but the thought of a beer first thing in the morning – ugh.
I’d say most of the whiny wowsers haven’t been into a bar since the 1980’s.
People don’t go to a bar and get shit-faced any more and they haven’t done that for a long time.
So, never spoken to an emergency nurse, doctor or paramedic then?
People drinking on the streets, not in bars.
Massive fines, if drunk people found on premises, if you’re even the remotest bit rowdy, the bouncer is chucking you out the door.
Real zero tolerance to intoxicated people in licensed premises.
booze doesn’t vomit, people do. Right BM?
You argument does not preclude that the person did not get drunk in said bar.
You understand how alcohol works on the physiological level right?
People don’t tend to get drunk in bars anymore.
For a start drinks are so expensive and the bouncers watch every one like hawks.
Most preload before they go out or they drink on the street or they get pissed at parties.
The booze barns of yesteryear no longer exist.
they do in Dunedin.
That doesn’t surprise me.
Dunedin is like stepping back in time 30 years.
Courtney place wasn’t too flash when I was up there earlier this year, either.
What. A. Load. Of. Shit.
Now here’s what really happens in pubs outside of planet key: Pub fills punters with as much piss as possible.
Kicks punter out when liquor starts to kick in: not the pub’s problem.
Drunk person found on premises: victim of pre-loading before coming into bar. Very sorry we’ll try harder/security has been upgraded/staff member no longer works here.
Yes, every so often a pub goes way overboard, consistently, so that the cops get annoyed and go out of their way to send half a dozen through the worst offending bar with the local inspector and log each infraction found. But that is not routine, that’s somebody deciding to teach someone a lesson.
exactly, so why spend time and +++media coverage ad nauseum shouting from the roof tops that people can now chose to get pissed all day and night….if they wish to, so what? is it really worth all the attention in parliament/media?? and anyone calling me a party pooper needs to get a real life instead of being a National fart catcher
Should have put a line in the bill making the government dry – why are the taxpayers buying their booze for them? And that would have been an interesting debate.
Are countries legally required to protect their citizens from climate change?
A Dutch court recently ruled that greenhouse gas reduction is a state obligation.
The government, the court said, must ensure that Dutch emissions in 2020 will be at least 25 percent lower than those in 1990 — the amount the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report says is needed from industrialized countries if the world is to not exceed 2 °C (3.6 °F) warming and avoid the worst consequences of climate change. Dutch political leaders had been planning to cut emissions by up to 17 percent within the next five years.
http://ensia.com/features/are-countries-legally-required-to-protect-their-citizens-from-climate-change/
Stupid law. Why not do it properly and make the Dutch reponsible too for all the CO2 wafting in from Eastern Europe? Actually, they could take responsibility for some of our cows too.
“Keyless Ignition Used in Millions of Cars a Deadly Safety Defect: Lawsuit
Ten of the world’s biggest automakers were sued on Wednesday by U.S. consumers who claim the manufacturers concealed the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning in more than 5 million vehicles equipped with keyless ignitions, leading to 13 deaths.
According to the complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court, carbon monoxide is emitted when drivers leave their vehicles running after taking their electronic key fobs with them, under the mistaken belief that the engines will shut off.”
….
The defendants are BMW, including Mini; Daimler’s Mercedes Benz; Fiat Chrysler; Ford; General Motors; and Honda, including Acura; Hyundai, including Kia; Nissan, including Infiniti; Toyota, including Lexus; and Volkswagen, including Bentley.
“It claimed that the 10 automakers have long known about the risks of keyless ignitions, which have been available in the United States since at least 2003, yet deceived drivers by marketing their vehicles as safe.
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/keyless-ignition-used-millions-cars-deadly-safety-defect-lawsuit-n416511
Am currently in the wilds of Wellington.
Found out something rather fascinating at the Wellington Court of Appeal hearing yesterday – where the long-suffering, decent New Zealanders who are members of the Mangawhai Residents and Ratepayers Association have been trying to get the (former) Kaipara District Council held accountable to the ‘rule of law’.
The Government-appointed Commissioners, who now are responsible for the ‘governing’ of the Kaipara District Council, have proceedings filed in the Wellington High Court, against an ‘officer of Parliament’ – the Auditor-General.
These proceedings are CIV – 2014 – 485 – 11542
Kaipara District Council v Controller and Auditor-General.
That is the only information, to date, that I have been able obtain about these proceedings.
Wouldn’t it be cheaper, and arguably more effective, for the Kaipara Commissioners to petition Parliament for an inquiry into the role of the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) regarding their role in this debacle?
Or – if the Kaipara Commissioners want to get some form of financial compensation / damages out of the OAG – is the Court the only, or best place to go?
Perhaps one of the positive outcomes from this appallingly sorry saga would be the establishment of a genuinely Independent Commission Against Corruption?
Interesting that it was the same MP responsible for presenting the democratically disgraceful Kaipara District Council Rates Validation Act, who was the Chair of the Law and Order Select Committee, which knocked back the petition of Grace Haden, calling for an Independent Commission Against Corruption?
Who was that MP?
The former National MP for Northland – Mike Sabine.
Penny Bright
and just to remind the readers not that they probably give a damn all the major parties voted for that validation bill including labour and the greens with the sole exceptions of nzfirst and i think the maori party which is a substantial part of the reason large numbers of mangawhai people supported winston in the recent northland by election
The short list of flag designs has been reduced to 39.
From https://www.govt.nz/browse/engaging-with-government/the-nz-flag-your-chance-to-decide/gallery/
“Please note that the ‘Modern Hundertwasser’ design has been removed from the long list following a copyright claim by the Hundertwasser Non-Profit Foundation.”
Oh dear. The process crumbles further .
I don’t recall seeing this news anywhere, apologies if I’m late to the party.
sinecure n. cushy number, gravy train, soft option, soft job, money for jam or old rope a lucrative sinecure with a massive government vanity project
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Hundterwasser Trust crumbled, you mean.
When the moist left retreat, they really run.
does anyone have a link to the hundertwasser flag?
The original Hundertwasser is here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koru_Flag
it is also included on the govt website as one of the thousands that weren’t chosen.
The Modern Hundertwasser that has been removed didn’t have the black vertical stripe at the left, the centre of the koru was more bold (it didn’t have so many turns) and the transition of the green from the bottom edge was more gradual.
An open letter from the Flag Con Panel
“I’m saddened at one level that there seems to be quite a bit of reluctance to engage in the conversation.”—HANA O’REGAN, Flag Con Committee
“The hope is to encourage public involvement in the process ahead of the vote, but hardly anyone turned up.”—JULIET SPEEDY, TV3 News
E ngā suckers.
Kia ora for the 10,292 designs you’ve suggested—even if half of them were from the same sad, obsessed, talent-free individual. Each of these (some quirkier than others!) was viewed by every Panel member—which gives the lie to the nasty allegations swirling around that this Panel is nothing but a sinecure for a bunch of nobodies who lacked the integrity to say no to putting their undistinguished names to a farcical vanity project for a frivolous and contemptible Prime Minister. We were, moreover, not impressed with the large number of “satirical” designs, such as the now infamous “laser Kiwi”, which were obviously intended to belittle this very serious process and to waste the Panel’s valuable time.
In reviewing flag designs, first and foremost, we were guided by what an average attendance of four Kiwis at each meeting, some of them unfortunately “homeless” people who had turned up for the complementary tea and biscuits, told us when they shared what is special to them about New Zealand. A special thank you must be paid here to the tireless, albeit reluctant, local National Party branches throughout the country!
The message was clear: you don’t really care. Many people wrote in saying: “Keep the Flag, change the Prime Minister”, but the Panel did not find that helpful. Others claimed that this panel was a collection of hand-picked dullards with the aesthetic sense of a kick in the head, the cultural knowledge of a concrete post and the historic appreciation of a goldfish. Again, we did not appreciate this kind of feedback or find it helpful.
In finalising the long list we invited a number of cultural (including tikanga), vexillology (the study of flags), art and design experts to talk to us. These experts really impressed the Flag Consideration Panel, as can be seen by their comments: “That was really interesting” (Sir Brian Lochore, ONZ, KNZM, OBE); “Wow, just wow” (Beatrice Faumuina, ONZM); “That was so cool” (Julie Christie, ONZM), “Really interesting” (Stephen Jones) and “Piss off! How DARE you impugn my integrity? I —WE, goddammit, WE have all worked HARD! Just FUCK off!” (Kate De Goldi, Deputy Chair)
We encourage you to make sure you are enrolled to vote so that you can take part in this nationally significant process. We certainly hope you show more enthusiasm than you did when you failed to come to our heavily advertised consultation meetings.
Ngā mihi nui kia suckers.
Regards,
Flag Consideration Panel:
Prof John Burrows (Chair), ONZM, QC
Nicky Bell
Peter Chin, CNZM
Julie Christie, ONZM
Rod Drury
Kate De Goldi (Deputy Chair)
Beatrice Faumuina, ONZM
Lt Gen (Rtd) Rhys Jones, CNZM
Stephen Jones
Sir Brian Lochore, ONZ, KNZM, OBE
Malcolm Mulholland
Hana O’Regan.
https://www.govt.nz/browse/engaging-with-government/the-nz-flag-your-chance-to-decide/open-letter/
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/low-turnout-for-first-public-flag-change-meeting-2015051716#axzz3jxQrsRgM
Enjoyed that thanks Morrissey.
I have been wondering lately about a way to sabotage the first referendum . It would take a huge social media campaign for all people loyal to the New Zealand flag to vote for a rank outsider in the first referendum but nothing is impossible.
“I have been wondering lately about a way to sabotage the first referendum”
Yes, God forbid that people who want a change have the opportunity to do so.
So much easier to try and sabotage something that you dont agree with.
James, it’s perfectly reasonable and legitimate to vote strategically in such cases. The current government has taught us that repeatedly when directing Epsom voters to vote for the ACT candidate of the day.
I’m sure you’ll agree that the fairer way to run this popularity contest would have been to have the one referendum with the New Zealand flag included.
This process has been engineered to provide maximum exposure and momentum to a marketing logo and it’s time for those loyal to the flag of New Zealand to fight at the earliest opportunity.
What do you expect those loyal to New Zealand to do? Not vote in the first referendum? Much better for us to vote for a logo design which will have the least chance of success against the New Zealand flag.
That is a sensible voting strategy, plain and simple.
People who are disloyal to the flag have the opportunity to vote too, nobody is stopping them.
Your comments never fail to amaze me. You don’t seem to quite get the point of anything that anyone posts here. Why don’t you give Leighton Smith a ring? He’s more your level.
Interestingly the Nats won’t support Sue Moroney’s earlier BIll on parental leave, which Seymour supports, but will draft their own bill giving the same thing. It’s almost like it’s a game they play to make sure they get credit for someone else’s ideas and work. Is that what you mean by sabotage?
So, you agree with Labour and a whole lot of us that the first referendum should be asking if we should actually change the flag?
this does not need sabotage.
1. referendum, those who want to vote should vote for the design they prefer
those that want to keep the Flag, should abstain, and not vote.
2. referendum, those who want to change the flag should vote Yes
those who don’t want to change the Flag should vote No.
Or as P.Winston, (the NZfirstler that everyone is so afraid of) says, put a big fat KOF on it Keep Our Flag, but that would most likely invalidate the vote, and I would venture such a vote will not be counted.
AS there will be no option in the First Referedum such as :Keep current design!! I personally will abstain for the first vote and only Vote in the second referendum.
Simple as that.
No sabotage, but a fair and democratic process……Most likely we will end up with a Trademarketet Design, that will costs million of dollars to change on every uniform, piece of stationary, and other assorted gimmicks, but hey, the PM and his sidekick the most Honorable and Honest Bill English, aka Mr. 19% have all the money they need to pay for that stuff, and most likely they will make a buck or two for themselves after all thats what they do. The only ones paying for these shenanigans is us……but hey….Dear Leader wants a new Flag, and his groupies, enablers and voters will happily see their tax dollars spend on a Kitchen Towel.
I’m not prepared to throw in the towel just yet.
My idea is simply to take the fight to John Key and his supporters before their logo gets traction.
God knows there’s been precious little of that lately.
Not throwing in any towels, but it is clear that this will come to vote, no matter what.
And I can only imagine the ‘outrage’ if no one actually participates in the first referendum.
Really, think of it. The first referendum is to get people involved, here choose your design, …..now defend it in the next referendum.
If people are actually not participating (lets say only 10 – 15 % would actually vote) How much of a ManDate would our dear Leader have to continue?
Also, what is it with National Government that they want to change the Flag, last time it was under Jenny Shipley….really what is it?
Sabine, it will come to campaign before vote.
I believe we haven’t seen the true size of the marketing campaign Key will throw at this once the first referendum is over and his cheap, poorly designed logo has been chosen to go up against the New Zealand flag.
They will throw everything at this because there’s much more at stake now than the flag. A loss for Key here would damage him personally. Having consulted Crosby-Textor, they will begin to attack the very heart of demographic of those loyal to the New Zealand flag.
The disloyal changers will not care one bit if the turnout is 10-15% at the first referendum. The fewer the better for them I imagine, to ensure that an ill-informed choice is made.
” and his cheap, poorly designed logo has been chosen to go up against the New Zealand flag”
No-one ever asks the PM why his preferred design is an existing commercial product with legal copyright. The media, and the flag-change supporters, never mention how the Kyle Lockwood designs are an existing commercial product currently under copyright. A copyright that is co-incidentally scheduled to expire in [late?] 2015 .
A question for the legal minds out there:
As the Lockwood designs are under a legal copyright should they not have the copyright logo visible beside them when images of them are published,? When in included in the long list for example?
Copyright doesn’t expire until after the death of the author plus 50 years (which would be extended to 70 under TPPA).
This is a screenshot of the Silverfernflag website as of 4pm today.
http://imgur.com/JMRXznU
I have highlighted the relevant information that suggests the copyright expires this year and also the information that shows how the stated copyright requirements are not being met with the publicity and promotion of the relevant designs.
If I am incorrect in my understanding of the information as it is presented then I am, as always, happy to be corrected.
Yeah, I knew what you were talking about. That’s a shorthand way to say the stuff on the site is copyrighted and that you need to get permission to copy it. It has nothing to do with when the copyright expires.
It is precisely because of the normal copyright protocol that I wonder why the obvious questions surrounding copyrighted images being included in the flag referendum process have not been addressed.
If , as Draco suggests, the copyright is not expiring in 2015 then we are left to wonder what the plan is if any of the Lockwood designs are selected as the new flag.
His designs are an existing commercial product that has been on the market for a decade.
If a copyrighted design of his is chosen:
Is he just going to sign over any rights to lost future earnings ?
Is he going to get offered compensation for the lost earnings?
Is a single journalist ever going to raise the issue with the PM? or anyone for that matter?
How much are they being paid by the taxpayers for being on the Panel.
MEMO
FROM: Julie Christie, ONZM
TO: rod
MESSAGE: MIND YOUR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS YOU FUCKING OIK. WHAT DOES IT MATTER HOW MUCH I GET? YOU THINK YOU COULD DO AS GOOD A JOB DO YOU? YOU FUCKING OIK.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11413938
$640 a day not bad for being given a job with no real target
The target was to eat all the taxpayer-funded food on offer.
$640 a day, plus unlimited free tea and all the biscuits you can eat, since hardly anybody turned up to consume them. I understand that Beatrice Faumuina, ONZM, Lt Gen (Rtd) Rhys Jones, CNZM and Malcolm Mulholland really tucked in to the goodies on offer.
Gerald Celente: They Blame China But That Country Is Just The Canary In The Coal Mine
John Key visits a hospital, asks some penetrating questions
Actually, it’s his ideological soulmate George Osborne, but it could be Key, or Jonathan Coleman….
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1440612776.html
Just thinking about a politician visiting a hospital and being penetrating.
Brings to mind a Filipino phantom surgeon who cuts into the patient’s body with his hand and pulls out all the useless entrails. That idea might have come from the children’s board game where they play at being a doctor!
Idea! The Filipino practice would solve our unmet health needs problem. So National – seeming like smart action, while really being a hoax and a farce.
Yep, that’d be about right for all National and other conservative MPs.
CYF report commented on by Children’s Commissioner who is doing a sterling job. How long will he last?
The Children’s Commissioner’s first annual report has strongly criticised Child, Youth and Family for what it calls a dump and run culture of neglect
Good RadioNZ report. Must make sure that ditto question doesn’t apply to them, or him for that matter.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/282515/kids-probably-no-better-off-in-state-care
Commissioner Russell Wills commenting on paucity of data! Hah!
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201768177
And Anne Tolley Social Development Minister, who seems to be agreeing with the criticism. Along the lines that government is no good at this. Ditto with housing?
Slide out and leave it to the no- tenderer mercies of private profit makers or fundamentalist capitalist charities? Next step I’ll bet.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201768178
I think we can expect a lot more of the narrative that government is not very good at delivering social services and there will be better outcomes from the private sector delivering services.
This government has a lot further that they will want to go down this path and the end game will be terrible outcomes for the most vulnerable in our society.
Ministers’ love this as they have less accountability and they can achieve their aims at arms length.
+1
+ 1 yep good points from you and grey
The latest from NASA on sea level rise with videos
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-science-zeros-in-on-ocean-rise-how-much-how-soon
Crikey, read this latest column from Dita de Boni in the herald:
I’m a bit lost for words on the brazen attack, it’s about bloody time and surprising. I can’t help but wonder what was edited out?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11503338
The way she wrote “thank you for reading” made me wonder if it is her last.
It’s her last. I always liked her, did not always agree with her, but always liked her.
It is a worrying trend for the herald. There was a time when the business section of the paper did not lie, or spin. It was one of the few sections in the paper that knew it’s place, and had to talk directly to it’s target market honestly and forthrightly.
In the last few years that part of the herald has died, forget right wing bias, forget the cost of print, etc. This is what has killed the herald. Not sure who made this editorial change, but it has been fun to watch, spin and lies being added to the business pages, to bring it in line with the rest of the newspaper.
No wonder sales had fallen away. Even it’s support base, can not trust it.
It’s her valediction. It was announced a few weeks ago that she was being made redundant. I guess you no longer have to hold your tongue when you’ve got nothing to lose.
That said, I’m somewhat optimistic for the Herald. Their new editor, Murray Kirkness, was a good editor of the Otago Daily Times and led the campaign to keep neurological surgery services at Dunedin Hospital. The editorial line at the ODT has been reasonably critical of the government in recent years.
“People have asked me over the years why my columns have become more strident in tone; more “biased against” the Government. The answer’s that the examples of contempt for the public, hypocrisy, and flat-out bulls***tery have become too overwhelming to ignore.”
Says it all really.
At least the Europeans managed to get a document released.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ttip-controversy-the-european-commission-and-big-tobacco-accused-of-coverup-after-heavily-redacted-documents-released-10473601.html
A lot of that article reads oddly familar…
The brits and UK are getting a lot of information compared to us. For some reason that Mapp and Groser can’t or won’t explain, secrecy of negotiating positions doesn’t matter over there…
John Key is a Jew banker. As such his loyalty is to other bankers, Jews and the rich. And yeah… he is a Jew.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-zealand-jewish-pm-wins-third-term/
[lprent: Hi, I see that you (or your clone) have stopped sending me those incoherent bigoted rants as junk emails. I’d strongly suggest that if you want to raise your paranoid fantasies on this site that you do so in Open Mike (like all of the other nuts do) where they don’t divert from posts on other topics. And you’d better reread the policy again.
Otherwise I lock you off the site again, except harder and more nastily. Learn to live within this sites rules or live without writing here. This is your warning.
Moving this thread to Open Mike as offtopic. ]
LPRENT CAN WE WATCH THIS SHIT PLEASE
[lprent: I do, every time he turns up under any name. ]
What “shit” is that ?
“and more nastily”
I have no idea what you are on about. I have never sent you anything and do not even know who you are. I have never been locked out. Why the hypersensitivity and hysteria ?
I must say I am surprised at your reaction. Clearly you don’t like the loyalties of John Key being questioned, or is it that you side with the rich, bankers etc ? Hard to fathom, have I missed something ?
Or MAYBE you don’t like me mentioning he is a Jew ?. Perhaps you should send your angry rant to the Times of Israel. Hint: Don’t for get to use trigger words like “anti-semite” and Holocaust™. The Times of Israel love being called names, being a conservative Hebrew news service and all.
Good luck with your endeavors to fight free speech. Should come in handy next time the chosen ones drop a shell on a school.
“free speech” does not include forcing others to publish your hate.
What “hate” ? Explain you accusation or withdraw it.
My comments about Key are pretty mild compared with others on this site. I even voted for him !
His loyalties ARE in question and I am left to wonder where they lay.
You can make no demands of me.
If you genuinely do not know why your comments are rightfully offensive, I doubt I am skilled enough as a teacher to explain it to you.
You’re more suited to the Daily Mail comments section.
So no answer then.
Amusing that a person who is so sensitive about bankers, Key and the rich etc being held to account, chooses to hang out at the Standard !
I’m sensitive about none of those things.
People who recycle racist caricatures and are too cowardly to admit their bigotry, on the other hand…
Again you make accusations with zero evidence and with no supporting argument. You can not even say why?
I voted for Key. I won’t again, but I did. The Jew is not a race, it is a religious cult.
People like you have blood on your hands. You refuse to speak out about any wrong done by Jews. Syria, Libya, Iraq are all human rights disasters because of the zionists lobby and Jews using America to destroy Muslim countries. And don’t even mention Palestine. You are a vile bigot and nothing more. They are not gods chosen and they are owed no special consideration.
John Key has the – right of return – [sic] to Israel. He is a Jew. It is quite proper to question the mans loyalties given his back ground and associations.
Yeah, I reckon you’ve made it clear to everyone exactly what you are.
Zero evidence?
Yeah, fuck off troll.
KrissCross
You seem to like stirring. You’ll do that and then say oh I am such an innocent free-speecher, if anyone takes offence that’s their choice. You seem to be sensitive enough about yourself.
It’s too easy to start a fight about contentious issues. We generally try to think how such issues can be made less so. It’s a good place to learn what others think, to discuss that, and do some thinking around your favourite subjects, if you are up to that.
If I mentioned JK was a Baptist would you have written that ?
Was the Times of Israel “stirring” ?
“Baptist banker” doesn’t quite have the same pedigree as what you actually wrote, and you’d have to be a moron to not know that.
1. Key is a banker.
2. According to the TIMES OF ISRAEL he is a Jew.
Would you prefer we tell lies ?
Jewish bankers do indeed have much to answer for. We should not be shy about addressing the issues. Your own intense burning hatred of free speech and honesty aside.
Just the mere mentions of the chosen master race and the place goes nuts. Even the moderator waded in and told a pack of lies in some sort of attempt to discredit me. Saying all sorts of things happened in the past that never did, accusing me of sending him messages and so on ! Hilarious.
@McFlock – wouldn’t surprise me if it was that loon Bluehorshoe posting under another account, can I suggest DNFTT ?
possibly, although BH is more into boasting about their intellect (against all available evidence).
This one just seems to enjoy being a bigot and then pleading ignorance to an absurd degree.
Meh. At least the sewer won’t be able to argue that this fucker turned up and their statements were accepted, but yeah – kris klan just likes the funny looks he gets for being racist. Done.
Ah yes because only one person could possibly be critical of the chosen ones and they MUST be crazy eh ?
How about a shot at the issue instead of the messenger bigot ?
Mr Flock, is the Times of Israel racist and full of hate for mentioning John Key is a Jew ?
Come on at least attempt one question. I will even let you call me an anti-semite so you can feel nice and [more] smug. 🙂
http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-zealand-jewish-pm-wins-third-term/
Ad, Still waiting for that answer. Are you struggling with it ?
What seems to be the issue ?
Perhaps anti Semite posts should be removed. It’s pretty offensive.
he also comes from a state house in Christchurch provided for him and his family by the generosity of New Zealand taxpayers and the New Zealand social welfare system
….as Andrew Little so eloquently reminded parliament and all New Zealanders yesterday
…this needs to be repeated again and again
GO ANDREW LITTLE !
Add didnt nz take his mother in as well as a refugee.
I have no idea what you are on about. I have never sent you anything and do not even know who you are.
I must say I am surprised at your reaction. Clearly you don’t like the loyalties of John Key being questioned, or is it that you side with the rich, bankers etc ? Hard to fathom, have I missed something ?
Or MAYBE you don’t like me mentioning he is a Jew ?. Perhaps you should send your angry rant to the Times of Israel. Hint: Don’t for get to use trigger words like “anti-semite” and Holocaust™
Good luck with your endeavors to fight free speech. Should come in handy next time the chosen ones drop a shell on a school.
You don’t understand – the problem with Hitler and Stalin and Mao and Pol Pot is not who they were but what they did. They did bad things.
The problem with John Key is that he is a liar, a thief and an abuser of the limited authority he temporarily bears.
His religion is not at issue, though his race, as a subnormal hyper-intelligent shapeshifting reptilian alien only one step ahead of the tacky luggage industry is certainly vexed. We need not resolve this however – he does bad things. This is ample reason to be done with him.
Do yourself a favour and do a dna test on your self – you may just be surprised by the results. Kriss X.
That said, anyone who brings up Jewish conspiracy is off the reservation. Because the reality is most conspiracy’s are exposed within in a few years, none longer than 30. So to think there is some grand conspiracy spanning over a century, shows you don’t know anything about the nature of conspiracy’s. People naturally gossip, brag or feel cheated – then talk. That is ultimately why conspiracy’s fail and/or are exposed.
Just found out about this – spreading the word …..
Tomorrow – Friday 28 August 2015 – is your last opportunity to:
“Give feedback on the Open Government Partnership
…..
New Zealand is part of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a group of countries working to make government more open, accountable and responsive to citizens.
The NZ government has created a 2 year Action Plan showing how it’s going to promote open and transparent government in New Zealand.
They’re asking for feedback on the Action Plan, to find out if New Zealanders think that the government’s meeting the OGP goals.
The consultation closes on 28 August 2015.
Between now and the end of August 2015, anyone in New Zealand can provide feedback on New Zealand’s Action Plan. You can provide feedback on any, or all, of the Action Plan commitments, or provide more general feedback on the OGP.
Give general feedback on the OGP and New Zealand’s Action Plan
Provide feedback on:
the Government’s Better Public Services (BPS) Results programme
BPS Result 10
the Government ICT Strategy and Action Plan to 2017
ICT Strategy Action Area 4
the 2013 TINZ National Integrity System Assessment Report
the Kia Tūtahi Relationship Accord
The government will use your feedback to create a self-assessment report for the OGP.
OGP member countries must report on their progress regularly. New Zealand’s self-assessment report will be published after 30 September 2015, with another report due in June 2016.
The report will show:
what the government has done to meet the grand challenges and principles of OGP,
progress so far,
feedback from New Zealanders on the initiatives, and
what the next steps are.
If you’d like more information about the Open Government Partnership or the Action Plan, contact NZOGP_ActionPlan@ssc.govt.nz.
———————————————————————-
Penny Bright
Over on NoRightTurn
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/open-government-were-doing-it-wrong.html
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/open-government-insulting.html
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/open-government-still-doing-it-wrong.html
There are plenty of reasons to not like/hate John Key.
Being a Jew is not one of them.
No one has suggested otherwise. Nice grab for the moral high ground though.
Fool, isn’t there an ACT party meeting or a Sensible Sentencing Trust klaven that you should be at?
Hurry away now!