there are two pieces of (involuntary) comedic-writing in the herald today..
..one is from the editorial writer roughan..
..where he has decided to ignore keys’ admonition not to gloat..
..to throw that caution to the wind..
..and he almost orgasms all over the page..in his gloating delight..
..the prose gets quite purple..
..and funny story..in doing so he reveals so much for one who hides behind the anonymity of the editorial-writer..
..and of course he also reveals so much of the ethos/imperatives of that rag he writes for..
..and roughan sees no dirty politics..
..(and we can presume no need for the cavalcade of inquiries underway as a result of that book..inquiries that urgent the chief ombudsman called the allegations..if proven..an attack on our democracy..
..but yeah..nah..eh..?…roughan sees none of that..to his eyes it is all so clean..
..it sparkles…)
..roughan also sees no problems with mass-surveillance..
..the list goes on and on..
..and his far-right beliefs..and the prescriptions of that rag he editorialises in..
..are laid bare..
..but the laugh-out-loud/guffaw of the morning is in the latest pile of steaming horse-shit from john armstrong..
..it comes at the end..
..when after this long list of moans about labour/cunnliffe..
..like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a top-hat..
..he presents his solution to labours’ woes..
..and..steel yrslves…!
..it’s shearer…!
(i know..!..i know..!..bloody hilarious..!..eh..?..)
@BM. The only thing missing from Bradbury’s article was the /sarc at the end. Now did you actually read it? Or like most Trolls did you just skim the title?
Why is it that the right wingers continuously tell the left who our leaders should be. We do not do the same to them. It is a waste of precious broadband having to download their idiot comments.
They really, really want Cunliffe gone and either mumbleface back or Robertson who does not command wide support. Why? They don’t care about Labour so it has to be something else.
I see Roughan is letting his erection do the writing again today. Were those “Democracy Under Attack” headlines all those years ago actually a declaration of their intent to manufacture opinion?
The herald needs taking out of circulation. Are they stalking David Cunliffe.? How much did Jason Eden get paid to disappear? Do all dear leaders famous sportspeople who tweeted on election day to vote natz get fined?
I hope Cunliffe gets to stay. If he can weather all the crap thrown at him over the last few months and not descend to gutter politics to try and counter key then he has shown great fortitude. He’s not perfect, but who is. Some of Labour’s policies were good and the country has lost out.
John key gloated some time ago that he only been pm for so many years and had already’ seen off’ Goff and Shearer.
Cunliffe going will only add to this perception that he is all powerful. It would be keys worst nightmare for Cunliffe to get back in with full support of EVERYONE!
Yep, Cunliffe should stay, otherwise the whole circus starts again. Nash is a bit player in the Dirty Politics book, god knows what kinda dirt Slater has on him. Opinion.
Just confirms it – John Armstrong has advanced dementia! Cos Shearer was so sparkling and effective the last time right? Shearer is the most dire leader that Labour ever had, no wonder Armstrong wants him back!
Watched Prime Time with Sean Plunket last night. Was very interesting with 3 Labour supporters/experts and Sean looking at a positive future for Labour.
Unable to link to any replay but hope someone else can. It was good.
i watched that..i thought how it was quite amusing how plunkett tried to trot out the handbag of cliches he and the corporate-media have been riffing on..
..and each of them was logically unpacked/dismantled by one of those three guests..(one of whom was rob salmond..)
..i got the feeling it didn’t go at all how plunkett wanted it to..
..and the takeaway fact for me came from the labour historian..
..who noted the labour pm’s who had faced defeat on their first attempt..
..and really..cunnliffe must hang tough..
..and not allow himself to be the whipping boy for all that was/is wrong with labour..
..in their campaign-strategy/f.p.p-thinking/policy-under-delivering..
..’cos the fact still remains..
..cunnliffe is labours’ best hope of/for victory in 2017…
..robertson is just another running-dog for the right..
..one who national/the media want..
..the right are scared of cunnliffe/a re-born labour…
..so you hang tough there..!..mr cunnliffe..
..this too will all pass…
..and then you can get on with doing what you do best..
..dismembering the bullshit of/from national in parliament..
..hanging key up on a hook..
..a task robertson has proven himself hopeless at..
I don’t like Plunket politics normally but am glad I watched the sanity of the experts. And yes Sean looked a bit miffed that the guests politely rubbished Sean’s negative talking points. It was interesting that he did not bring in Mr Hooten or his ilk in the false name of balance. No shouting down of common sense.
David Cunliffe is expected to stand down as Labour leader when he fronts the party’s ruling council today.
He has been under pressure to resign since a brutal caucus showdown this week…..
If true, this is terrible news, and an undermining of the democratic will of the membership by a right wing cabal prepared to risk the destruction of the Labour Party for personal advancement.
I knew that the ABC dominated caucus would make it impossible for David Cunliffe to lead them. And that they would do there very best to over undermine the democratic decision of the Labour membership.
And the fact that this scum has leaked the possibility of his resignation today, to the media shows that they want to cement it in, ‘He who can shape the argument, wins the argument’.
Faced with this total right wing revolt
What should David Cunliffe do?
Respect the democratic decision of the membership?
Give in? Overturning the democratic decision of the membership?
Or stick it out?
The caucus have made the situation impossible.
If David Cunliffe wants to continue, he has to abandon his revolting caucus and seek support somewhere else.
No one can continue when they are completely isolated, effectively without support, so David Cunliffe needs to seek it outside of his caucus. He has a few options.
Tracey Watkins lays out what she thinks they should be.
His options are to resign and seek a fresh mandate by standing again; resign and pull out of the race; or resign and take time to consider his position by leaving the timing of a leadership race in the hands of the council.
The third option would give the council room to delay a leadership contest till after a formal review into the party’s disastrous electionperformance has been held.
Cunliffe’s deputy, David Parker, would be the obvious caretaker leader in the interim.
David Parker is the black prince behind all the anti Cunliffe feeling in the Labour caucus, in my opinion there is no way that this right wing back stabber should be allowed anywhere near the leadership, even on an interim basis.
Cunliffe needs to take a hard line with his mutinous caucus.
If I was in Cunliffe’s shoes I would walk into that meeting and say, “I have decided to form a shadow cabinet with the Greens. Are you in, or out?”
If Robertson-Ardern is the ticket, then it may be prudent for political expediency for Robertson to quickly propose to Ardern with a ring, have an urgent drive-by hetero sexual wedding and come out singing Kumbaya for popular votes. Otherwise, it could be an arduous uphill task going simply by my instincts.
But on the contrary, being gay could actually be an advantage in the modern world. Not sure, though.
Personally, I have no problem. I am just thinking practically of the ‘real’ world.
Being progressive makes NZ feel good about ourselves I think. His being gay probably has as many pluses as minuses and is not the reason for him not being the one right now (the reason for me is that I am not over Cunliffe). It would be like saying the Democrats shouldn’t have gone with Obama as he wouldn’t appeal to racists.
The Paul Henry show journalist (Penfold) was pretty pathetic, making it all about what the LP caucus want, and ignoring the NZLP members’ freferences. She also was superficial in saying election results showed the electorate had rejected Cunliffe.
Early morning clarity bought a revelation of sorts to me. I finally realised why people don’t vote,.
By last night I had come to terms with the fact that if Robertson prevails that I could not vote for him or Labour and that’s after 45 years and thousands of dollars in donations.
I will not vote at all.
I could not live with myself for voting Nat, the Greens are one-dimensional and while I admire Winston’s longevity he does attract serious space-cadets.
I have been proud that Labour has been on the right side of all the big issues in my lifetime, United Nations, workers rights, Vietnam, nuclear testing, apartheid,gay rights etc etc.
I have bought my children up with the belief that it is a duty to support those less fortunate than ourselves and fortunately they have adopted those principles.
But if Grant Robertson thinks he is the answer after being comprehensivly beaten 14 months ago then I will walk away.
He did not get a majority in caucus, that is a myth, he got 16 votes out of 32 on the first ballot, I don’t know what he got on the second but it would not have been resounding.
I have heard that he is rude and dismissive towards those he does not agree with.
Winning bloody expensive elections unfortunately requires corporate donations, Robertson and Barnett as openly gay men will not get a cracker.
Jacinta Ardern as his proposed deputy will be subject to even more disgusting vitriol than Helen Clark had to put up with over her childlessness, ( mid-thirties, no kids, no husband or partner ) the arseholes are waiting in ambush.
A Labour Party with a gay Leader, gay smeared deputy, gay fundraiser and organiser, the Gay Party
Electoral fucking suicide.
Hullo sub 10%, if lucky.
BM are you dense or can you not read? For the umpteenth time Nash ONLY got in because McVicar split the right vote. And as for Shearer yeah right, been there, and tried him.
Now I wrote this really slow, so you shouldn’t have trouble understanding it this time around.
Apparently Ardern told the Paul Henry show that she is not interested in being leader – not now nor at any time in the future.
Sexuality has got nothing to do with who is best leader.
The Greens are multi-dimensional – they campaign on 3 planks, covering a range of issue: economy, fair society (issues of income, fairness at work); environment. it includes a focus on local issues re governance, transport, etc, plus international issues, GCSB, TPPA, asset sales, etc, etc. If they increase the number of MPs, it will strengthen the range of the areas they work on.
Hi Karol, sorry but for many sexuality and politics do matter. And if you want the majority concentrating on politics its best to not have any focus on sexuality. Agree?
Adrian, agreed with reservations about your gay comments.
I think the final caucus vote after Jones dropped out was something like 18-16* Robertson/Cunliffe but the incredibly biased msm NEVER report this because it doesn’t suit their agenda.
*somebody out there will remember the actual numbers.
Dear David Cunliffe
Many of the points above cover the points I wish to raise.
I differ from Adrian in one major respect, until last week I have not voted labour since 1984.
I voted in the hope that we would get a progressive Left coalition whose compromise of common Policy would urgently address the failings of 30 years of regressive thinking.
The massively funded Dirty tricks machine came after you continuously since the leadership contest.
The lack of support and sharing of load by your caucus has been criminal, but not unexpected as the desire by the membership to be rid of the centrist career caucus is pervading.
The increased intensity of media attacks post-election by the dirty tricks machine is your greatest compliment and the abiding reason why you should retain the leadership.
Why?
Its patently obvious that its you& your supporters the Right fears the most .
Those of us blessed with an IQ that exceeds room temperature can see clearly the shower of S***t that 19th century economic theory and 20th century “Growth” mindset is doing globally and the client state ,’yes its all for sale’ mentality of Brandkey is accelerating the demise of our society.
To you and the doubters , reflect on the fact that you & you alone in the Party are capable of managing an electoral triumph in 2017 .
Reflect also ,if that if every member of the caucus found themselves in that most hypothetical situation – out of a job and seeking new employment , you & you alone would be recruited instantly by any number of Business or NGO organisations , locally or internationally , whilst the rest would languish amongst the formerly employed for considerable time.
One more thing , Andrew Little , pick up the phone and call the EPMU and use your formidable skills to garner the support that Cunliffe needs.
Your leadership ambitions need a term or two in Government before the electorate & the media will consider you without a similar derision to the Gays & non-breeders.
No they’re not but I’m sure that National are happy that you think that they are as it’s the fallacious message that they’ve been spreading about the Greens over the last few years.
( boldsirbrian ….previously known as brian …. conflicting with other “Brian”s )
@ Rosie (5.1.1)
First an acknowledgement. I consistently refer to the Prime Minister as Dirty John. I will continue to do so until an inquiry (with terms of reference accepted by the Opposition) into Dirty Politics is completed, and in the event that he is exonerated. (btw, Where IS Jason Ede?)
However, I would prefer that Seymour be left alone from name calling. He is sincere, and believes in the policies he promotes. He has done nothing wrong. He has got his position as a gift from Dirty John.
I cannot recall any policy he has promoted that I agree with. The only positive I can say about the ACt party is that it is a couple of millimetres up from the bottom rung of a long ladder, where the Conservatives reside.
But Seymour is not the enemy. If he went, there would be others like Jamie Whyte who would fill the vacuum with equal nonsense. The policies that Seymour promotes are what should be targeted.
David Cunliffe needs to take his inspiration for his way forward from what he would have needed to have done if Labour had won the election and form a shadow cabinet with the Greens. Caucusing with the Greens would be the best way for David Cunliffe to counter and sideline the ABC creeps and also be very good practice for the future Left wing Labour/Green Government.
Never fear, The Herald panders to the Key groupies, it’s a third at best, rate newspaper, I certainly read it for sheer entertainment concerning their political posts. What a Joke, they are the main NZ paper? it is remarkable and boy do they talk shit. Really, what a joke of a newspaper, I’d rather read the UK Sun.
Reading Armstrong is like reading the writings of an insane man going through a bad patch. In touch with reality, one wonders, I watched him skulking around the Hagar book launch, looking like Gollum seeking his precious. Pathetic fellow, and O’Sullivan thinks she’s NZ press royalty, views clearly pro hard right philosophy.
Honestly all we read in the Herald is attacks on all other parties except Act and Nats. I mean they give Rodney Hyde and Bob jones opinion pieces to spout whatever they want. It’s a joke.
The rich have to much of a disproportionate representation for policy direction and access to government. they control the media, therefore controlling the population. Democracy? FJK, I think not.
“There are some really, really vile people out there.”—Mary Beard
Most of them work for the Murdoch empire
Radio New Zealand National, Saturday 27 September 2014
In a mostly excellent interview with Cambridge Univ. Professor of Classics Mary Beard, Kim Hill let herself down when she carelessly stated that the online trolls who abused Mary Beard’s physical appearance were “much viler” than the likes of A.A. Gill, who instigated the abuse. Normally, Gill reserves his venom for hapless but anonymous waiters and chefs; his attitude to powerful and intelligent people is normally one of groveling and toadying. Something about Mary Beard led him to go to his (rather limited and uninteresting) grab-bag of misogynistic smears. Ostensibly, it was her long grey hair and imperfect teeth that enraged him, but I suspect the real seat of his hatred was her principled opposition to the war-mongering U.K. government, which she expressed forcefully in the London Review of Books in October 2001. [1]
I sent Kim the following email, which I am pleased to say she read out on air straight after the interview….
“There are some really, really vile people out there.”—Mary Beard
Dear Kim,
You said that the trolls who swore at Mary Beard online were “much viler” than A.A. Gill, who had used his Sunday Times platform to mock her hair, teeth and general appearance. In fact, it is people like Gill, that buffoonish, ignorant, malicious restaurant critic-cum-political commentator, carefully constructing their insults from positions of power and privilege, protected by the media organizations that employ them, who set the tone of these campaigns of abuse.
As Mary Beard pointed out in her interview, “There are some really, really vile people out there.” And the fact is: we know who they are.
So three more years, it’s sinking in now, such a long time, he’s already has 6 years of promises, and excuses and lies all the way, what happened to his dream of a brighter future, easy to say, hard as hell to achieve eh Key.
This years low Fonterra pay out, which NZ seems to run on, small businesses will suffer, a lot of cash flow lost. Man we are in for rough times. Rough I say, batten down the hatches, Car and farm equipment dealerships will become rare as rocking horse shit. it’s all going to get very dire for rural NZ farming towns soon.
The backlash will start eventually, I have faith Key will get rid of himself as his failed ideology will see NZ slide ever further downhill on most measurements of government performance. Expect more outrageous crimes, 25% off benefits they promised.
National caring for their wallets business as usual.
Karol, of course sexuality has nothing to do with leadership ability but it has everything to do with perception, and politics is all perception.
The perception that the leader favours their own particular private politics mostly, be they a gay, a woman,an Aucklander, a South Islander, a righty, a lefty, a unionist.
The problem is when the perception is that they have surrounded themselves with others of similiar persuasion.
Then you have CAPTURE.
And voters do not like that, particularly if it does not reflect their own circumstances.
It makes them uncomfortable and they won’t vote for you.
Hi can anyone supply me with the link to the Keep David Cunliffe page on face book?
I don’t go on face book as such, but do have a profile, so maybe I should just log on myself. If anyone can help me let me know.
If people on this site want to keep Cunliffe, best thing is to join Labour its not that expensive and vote (hopefully we will get the chance) and sign the facebook page.
I finally became a financial member of Labour after waiting many months to see if they would become unified enough to be strong in the election. Eventually, I thought they had done this to a reasonable degree and joined. Now I want my money back if Cunliffe is rolled.
I like Shearer where he is. He is good at what he knows. Grant Robertson would be open to every muck raking, lying innuendos that key and his rabble could find. They would end up making him into the George Michael of NZ. Nothing would be too low for them to stoop to.
Leave Cunliffe in charge.
If the Labour Caucus dumps Cunliffe I’ll be switching to the Greens next election, because you can guarantee if Cunliffe is rolled Labour will swing back to the right to chase the “centre”. Instead of building more robust policy and going back to Clark’s strategy of targeting the party vote and start campaigning earlier in the three year cycle.
I guess the leadership wouldn’t be too unhappy with that if they are able to hoover up some votes from Winston and National. But how a chap who’s whole life has been in parliamentary and political circles and comes third in the party vote in his electorate is going to be able to present as a better option than Winston Peters or Key to the right of the party will be interesting, considering that has been all we’ve heard from Cunliffe opponents.
He’s never been a minister of anything, though I suppose he can say that if he’s doesn’t become leader he might never be the minister of anything…
Still it will be a completely fresh party. It will make 4 leaders in four years and begin to put Labour in some dangerous territory. If things start to go wrong? Changing the leader again would just continue the revolving door…I guess if Grant has got it he’s got at least until the next election. However, he should be spending a long time in South and West Auckland if he has, and in the Maori seats. Otherwise it comes across as this (Wellington) city liberal with a leadership team whose constituencies heavily supports the Greens, and who has avoided a vote from the party after being rejected by them the first time. Not having that support in my book, is just as bad or actually much worse than not having the support of Mallard, Shearer, Goff and Cosgrove, say.
Also, and I hate to say it- it is all about the fundraising. Seemed like they did start earlier, but couldn’t keep up the spend. Business is good for businesses, so there isn’t a lot of cash for Labour. Did think the two advertising campaigns presented a stark contrast as well. I liked Vote Positive and the posters that went up with policy, but the TV presentations seemed a bit weak and not flashy enough.
You seem to think that Robertson is bad.
I also see that the newspapers seem to be pushing Arden for deputy. She would seem to be even worse. At least Robertson managed to win in the electorate.
Can anyone tell me why Arden seems to attract supporters? What has she ever done, inside or outside Parliament?
Where did I say he was bad? Fresh start was the word I used.
However he needs to connect with the base that voted for Labour at this election and make sure they are happy. Is it any better a leader with an unhappy base than one with an unhappy caucus? Obvious statement I would have thought.
To also restate, this doesn’t seem like a move to the right like all the knowledgable pundits have been saying.
I think Cunliffe should stay firm and continue as leader or go for a fresh mandate from the membership. Those MPs who are not happy, are free to resign and be independent or start a new party.
After that, Labour should review their policies. Discard some, fine tune others and bring out new ones.
In my opinion, Labour needs to move to the centre in economic matters, but left in social justice matters and pragmatic in environmental policies.
Capital Gains Tax and Retirement Age Change : Rethinking, debate and public input (through online submissions or indicative referendum) is very necessary for these two policies before the public can feel comfortable to accept the required changes, if any.
A lot of comments seem to pander to week knee syndrome. It seems to be rather so that Mr Cunliffe must have hit a raw nerve with the opposition, why else do they have to go after him all guns blazing even if it costs a nat ministers job before the election? The fact that the rank and file labor caucus reacts as they are just shows learned behaviors. Think about it. Something must have scared the pants off the opposition who in turn paid in kind and the ABC’s where just falling for it. Perhaps the logic of sustainability was just too much as it would allow the country to remain in charge of its own destiny?
I don’t want to spoil the revelations of “This American Life”: It’s far better to hear the actual sounds on the radio, as so much of the meaning of the piece is in the tones of the voices — and, especially, in the breathtaking wussiness of the people at the Fed charged with regulating Goldman Sachs. But once you have listened to it — as when you were faced with the newly unignorable truth of what actually happened to that NFL running back’s fiancee in that elevator — consider the following:
1. You sort of knew that the regulators were more or less controlled by the banks. Now you know.
2. The only reason you know is that one woman, Carmen Segarra, has been brave enough to fight the system. She has paid a great price to inform us all of the obvious. She has lost her job, undermined her career, and will no doubt also endure a lifetime of lawsuits and slander.
So what are you going to do about it? At this moment the Fed is probably telling itself that, like the financial crisis, this, too, will blow over. It shouldn’t.
Fascinating.
Advice to Carmen. I want to help you with your career, I want you to be successful.
It’s really about how you are perceived. You have more sharper elbows, you are breaking eggs. Have a sense of humility. If I was a new person I would say Carmen you are very arrogant. You use ‘definitely’ too often. A lot of it is consensus building, ‘hey what do you think.’
I’m not questioning your knowledge-base.
But she needed to be more relational, quickly, in order to be (Carmen) ‘Not fired.’
Conflicts of interest were common and not handled properly.
Carmen complains about push-back. Peers – She asked direct questions, that needed to be asked, that weren’t wrong to ask. She is told that notes she took at meetings were wrong. That things written down were not said, or were not meant as definite statements. She is forced to put a small recording device on her wrist to ensure that her notes are correct.
The other business-line employees are in group-think it seems. They feel uncomfortable to state what they think before they know what their senior management think, not to be too different from their peers.
Carmen thought – The Fed had the authority to be a good regulator but was afraid to use its own power.
Many of the Fed regulators who leave go to work for the banks they are overseeing.
Carmen was fired. She has taken legal recourse and been turned down. One report on her firing says that it was because of her own faults not because of her unpopular findings by the Fed conciliators.
Given that parliament seems to be on a path to deliver a bigger surveillance state and less means for whistleblowers to expose its abuses or for journalists to scrutinise it, a bit of push back from the community might have been expected. This is, after all, a pretty important principle: public interest disclosure and press freedom.
Yet nobody, apart from the industry, the Greens and a couple of crossbench parliamentarians stood up for press freedom. The freedom warriors of the Coalition, and the accountability merchants of the ALP, waved the restrictions through without a backward glance. The community as a whole declined to be outraged.
[…]
But what I am saying is: wake the hell up. I have never been more resolved, in 18 years of practising journalism, of the absolute importance of our function in a democracy. I have never been more sure that the opportunity cost associated with doing this job is, actually, worth it.
I believe we matter. I know I’m not alone in that belief. Yet we act as though we don’t matter, and facts don’t matter, and truth doesn’t matter. Call this Dispatch this particular weekend a love letter to my profession, and an outpouring of grief at its failings.
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“We wuz robbed!” is the classic cry of the disappointed losers of a closely contested sporting contest – it is very much to the credit of the Black Caps that we heard no such sentiment from them following the stunning ...
The Youth Parliament is being held this week, and some of the youth MPs are campaigning for a lower voting age:Molly Doyle, 17, is one Youth MP who wants this to change. She is part of a non-partisan campaign run ...
Up till now, Australia has made its living by digging up coal and exporting it to other countries, destroying the global climate in the process. But now they have a new option: exporting solar power:The desert outside Tennant Creek, deep ...
Later this month, thousands of people are expected to march to parliament as part of the #HandsOffOurTamaraki movement. At its heart, the movement is about preserving whānau and demanding that the state stop removing children from their whānau, hapū and iwi. ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh The recent statements made by the former FARC commander, Carlos Lozada (legal name Julian Gallo), where, from his seat in Congress, he praised the Colombian Army demonstrate how low the farianos have sunk. Lozada began by ...
A Woman’s Place is on the Podium was a public meeting in London on 10 July to discuss women’s sports and the impact of transwomen competing against women. The venue was sold out with a packed hall of 750 people. ...
Last month I talked about the no-fly movement: people who refuse to fly or limit it to absolute necessity to avoid destroying the climate. Now, that movement has a somewhat surprising new member: Dutch airline KLM:Dutch airline KLM has launched ...
In the 1960's, humanity faced a terrible threat: global thermonuclear war. Nuclear weapons were uniquely destructive and dangerous, and if more countries got them, the logic of MAD and the pre-emptive strike would put us on a hair-trigger to destruction. ...
An occasional series where I will ponder allegations of anti-Semitism directed at the British Labour Party and its members.In this case, we are thinking about an allegedly anti-Semitic image shared by a Labour Party member. Its origins appear to be ...
Matariki has been and gone, but this year we saw a couple of op-eds arguing that it should be a public holiday, replacing the foreign monarch's fake birthday. And now, New Zealand Republic - a group which campaigns for an ...
The discussion on the quality of economic advice, which we reported last week, has spilled over into a discussion about whether so many senior appointments should be of non-New Zealanders. Recall I discussed the failure to develop career paths within ...
When Nicky Hager revealed US footage of the Operation Burnham raid, obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act, one of the obvious questions was whether Ministers had seen it - and in particular, whether they'd been told that it ...
Northern Ireland is the Alabama of the UK: a backwards region where women and gay people are denied fundamental rights. But Westminster has just decided to fix that:MPs have voted resoundingly to extend same-sex marriage and access to abortion to ...
There's a problem with "synthetic cannabis", and not just the one you think. It's the name.We're in the midst of a wave of news stories that link synthetic drugs to serious harm, through deadly road accidents and accidental overdoses (which ...
Ranjit Kauri, The Dancing Maharani and Other Stories, Swansea, Head and Heart, 2019, £6.99; reviewed by Don Franks Working people are not the same country to country. Our struggles for a better life take place in surroundings of very different ...
Let's Do Them! All Jacinda Ardern has to do to clinch the 2020 General Election is frighten the bejesus out of the electorate by describing in the most graphic terms imaginable what will happen to all the positive beginnings her ...
It may be that we have all misinterpreted the somewhat surprising “bromance” between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. It has been all too easy to assume that it is Kim who is cosying up to Trump rather than the ...
by Michael Roberts So the full circle is completed. The corrupt pro-business conservative New Democracy party in Greece that was ousted by the anti-capitalist Syriza party in 2015 has been returned to office in yesterday’s general election, with an outright ...
When the Australian government passed a series of new spy laws over the last few years, they pinky-promised that they wouldn't use them to spy on journalists and subvert freedom of the press. They lied:The anti-encryption laws passed by the ...
From 1975 to 1989, the spy agencies of South America's right-wing military dictatorships cooperated in Operation Condor, a joint campaign of extermination against the continent's left. Roughly 400,000 people were imprisoned, 30,000 disappeared, and 60,000 murdered - kidnapped, tortured, executed, ...
When she was standing for office, Jacinda Ardern promised she would take abortion out of the Crimes Act. And to be fair, there was some early action on that, with an immediate referral of the issue to the Law Commission ...
When the government introduced the Zero Carbon Bill, people rightly asked what they planned to do to reduce transport emissions, which basicly had no policy at all other than the ETS. Today, they responded, announcing a "feebate" system which would ...
At almost every level, the problem with medicinal cannabis is a lack of good information. In the US, FDA regulations make it hard to research. Most doctors aren't familiar with what research there is and most patients don't know either. ...
Redline is critical of Corbyn for his political weaknesses, but he’s no anti-Semite. There is no substance to the McCarthyist witch-hunt being run by the right wing, and the pro-Israel lobby inside and outside the Labour Party in the UK. ...
The government's billion trees program is the sort of policy which could make a real difference to our emissions and the fight against climate change. But climate scientist Jim Salinger isn't convinced:The Forestry Minister Shane Jones' one billion trees won't ...
Last month the government was celebrating another surplus. Meanwhile, children are starving:One in five children are living in households where putting food on the table is a struggle, according to a new report from the Ministry of Health. It found ...
Show Me The Money! The alternative to state funding of infrastructure is, of course, to fund it by taking on massive amounts of private debt. On this issue, at least, Auckland mayoral challenger, Tamihere, has some solid points to make. ...
If we are to avoid making the earth uninhabitable, we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to practically nothing over the next decade. But that will still leave us with the problem of the carbon we have already emitted, which ...
Former Waikato DHB CEO Nigel Murray allegedly misused public funds, spending more than $120,000 of public money on unjustified travel. He was forced to resign and the Serious Fraud Office began an investigation. But despite the SFO finding that the ...
Jeremy Corbyn, we are told, is being advised – not least by his deputy (as well as by some of his would-be successors) – that he must come “off the fence” on the Brexit issue if he wants to bolster ...
The End of Life bill has been read a second time and is now heading for the House for further debate. Personally, I support the proposal. I don't ever epect to take advantage of the Bill's provisions myself, but as ...
Before the substantive issue which this column is about – whether there has been a deterioration in the economic advice given to the government – a paragraph about the budget leaks.read more ...
Below is a translation of the editorial in the June 24 round of weekly workplace bulletins issued all over France by the revolutionary workers’ organisation Lutte Ouvriere. Last Saturday, 8,000 people took to the streets of Belfort (eastern France) to ...
Why hasn't Parliament followed the lead set by our local authorities and declared a climate emergency? The answer is the National Party:The Prime Minister’s admission that she is open to the idea of declaring a climate change emergency is nothing ...
Back in May the government released its Zero Carbon Bill. While much of the bill was welcome, there was one big exception: it contained a secrecy clause, requiring the Climate Change Commission to maintain secrecy over practically everything it does. ...
by Phil Duncan This past week has marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Stonewall Inn riots in Christopher Street, New York, the event generally regarded as kicking off the gay liberation movement. Quite a few articles have ...
Southland - land of coal-burning dairy farmers - has become the first region in the country to explicitly vote against declaring a climate emergency. Their reason? They didn't want to "devalue" the word "emergency". Its an argument addressed powerfully in ...
New Zealand has a problem with police chases: officers going after fleeing drivers like rabid dogs, without any consideration for proportionality or public safety, often with fatal results. And according to an in-depth article in the Guardian today, the UK ...
The first full week of the firearms buy-back and amnesty has produced a strong turnout as events roll out nationwide for the first time. “Momentum is slowly starting to build as community collection events are held across the entire country, ...
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...
Million-dollar start to gun collection eventsPolice Minister Stuart Nash says a solid start has been made to the gun buyback and amnesty after the first weekend of community collection events. “Gun owners will walk away with more than ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash has praised Police and gun owners after the first firearms collection event saw a busy turnout at Riccarton Racecourse in Christchurch. “Police officers and staff have put a tremendous effort into planning and logistics for the ...
Seventy-eight new Police constables are heading out to the regions following today’s graduation of a new recruit wing from the Royal New Zealand Police College. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the record high number of new Police officers being recruited, ...
Media statement on behalf of Sir Edward Taihākurei Durie and Donna Marie Tai Tokerau Hall: Māori Television has admitted publishing false allegations about former High Court justice, Sir Edward Taihākurei Durie, and his wife, Donna Hall, and it has ...
Announcement today by the Prime Minister of further gun law reform is being shrouded by fear, so that scrutiny of the law is seen as an affront to the victims of the horror attack in March. The Prime Minister acknowledged ...
Misgivings about the practicality and cost of a firearms register is likely to dominate feedback from rural areas on the second round of proposed Arms Act amendments, Federated Farmers says. ...
School Strike 4 Climate NZ organisers Sophie Handford and Raven Maeder delivered a clear message to over 600 local government mayors, chairs, chief executives and councillors at the recent LGNZ conference : make climate change a priority. ...
The Police Association, Te Aka Hāpai backs the government’s emphasis on public safety as the driver of its second tranche of amendments to New Zealand’s firearms law, announced today. ...
The growing housing shortage crisis about more than supply and demand- it is about inequity. Recently released analysis by Kiwibank shows that last year’s “severe” shortage of housing has worsened, with the shortfall growing from 100,000 to 130,0000 ...
One of the country’s largest district health boards has a severe shortage of hospital specialists, says the senior doctors’ union, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS). ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is joining opposition to possible regulations on the strength of nicotine vaping liquid. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “The Government would certainly benefit from regulations on the strength ...
The Meat Industry Association (MIA) is calling for significant changes to the Zero Carbon Bill with a new analysis using the Government’s preferred modelling indicating that the proposed methane targets are excessive if all other gases go to net zero. ...
Victoria University Feminist Organisation and ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa, in conjunction with the VUW Feminist Law Students, Organise Aotearoa, Fem Force, and with the support of VUW Student Association announced they are sponsoring a march ...
With the Government's firearm buyback scheme starting to draw over 30,000 police man hours away from fighting crime, the safety of law abiding citizens is being compromised. ...
Social Credit Party leader Chris Leitch is calling on the sale of Westland Milk to Chinese company Yili to be put on hold pending an approach to the Government by Westland Milk for funding assistance. ...
Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa seems intent on ensuring the Government’s vaping legislation will heavily target flavours and nicotine levels – a move that would be completely counterproductive to helping Kiwis quit smoking and achieving ...
A new website has launched in response to recent RNZ reporting about Police in Dunedin unlawfully entering people’s homes and breath-testing them. “I was disgusted when I saw what they cops were doing in Dunedin. Their behaviour undermines all of ...
The Head of the New Zealand Maori Council has called for the Government to hold an immediate investigation into the global cosmetics company Sephora after they were caught dumping waste hundreds and thousands of waste paper products embedded with ...
Hundreds of whanau and Maori leaders gathered at a hui in Mangere last weekend where they voted unanimously for an inquiry into Oranga Tamariki. The historic meeting called for a child welfare framework to be developed by Maori, for Maori. ...
Simon Shepherd: The government says its agreement with farmers, that they should pay for agricultural emissions, is historic. But there's no agreement on how. One proposal says farmers should pay a 5 per cent emissions tax. Another suggests farmers ...
The O’Brien Institute for Public Health at Calgary University has just released their report on fluoridation. This institute has, up to now, been staunchly in favour of fluoridation. However, yesterday, with regards to fluoride’s effect on the brain, ...
July 19 (BusinessDesk) - The government is looking to tighten control and impose harsher penalties after the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak revealed cracks in the country's stock management system. ...
Kia Anga Mua Ngā Hapū o Ngāpuhi (KAM) has reached a pivotal milestone following a hui yesterday at Waitangi with the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little. ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that the Government spent $133,530 on producing its ‘Wellbeing Budget’ document, a cost blowout largely driven by spending on graphic design and photography. The $133,530 price tag compares to $86,268 ...
Kahungunu Māori Language Awards. Nominations closed on 5 July 2019, and were judged by the Senior Management Team of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated. The judges wish to acknowledge the very high calibre of all nominations received making it a very ...
High Court of Australia Judge, Justice Stephen Gageler, will address recent criticism of court judgment delays in Australia, at the University of Canterbury (UC) on 23 July at 6.15pm. ...
This summary is provided to assist in the understanding of the Inquiry’s proceedings but does not constitute the official record. The full Minute is available at the link below. ...
The Tertiary Education Commission is laying charges under section 292A of the Education Act 1989 against three individuals for making a false representation for the purpose of receiving, or continuing to receive, free tertiary education from a tertiary education ...
New Zealand food businesses today welcomed a trio of new food safety tools, designed to make it faster, easier and more affordable to follow the rules and keep consumers safe. ...
AUT research shows that Māori children are almost four times more likely than those of European descent to be placed out of home by child protection services ...
The Government announced today that grants of up to $2,500 for energy efficient heaters are now available as part of the Government’s Warmer Kiwi Homes programme. ...
Fonterra’s use of coal has been the target of numerous grassroots campaigns in recent years. Last year 350 Aotearoa affiliated groups, Fossil Free Aoraki and 350 Nelson launched a petition dismissing the dairy giant’s initial target of no new ...
Information sessions on proposals for The Medicinal Cannabis Scheme take place in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch over the next fortnight. The sessions are open to anyone with an interest in learning more about the proposed scheme. ...
“Our children are our most vulnerable, most innocent victims and we do not want to see any more children harmed by these ‘known sex offenders’. The safety of our community must be the paramount consideration.” ...
“The announcement that Fonterra will immediately stop installing any new coal boilers or increasing capacity to burn coal is the signal that the biomass fuel supply industry welcomes” said Brian Cox, Executive Officer of the Bioenergy Association. ...
18 July 2019-- Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA) today welcomed Fonterra’s commitment to build no new coal plants, a “no brainer” for the climate crisis the world faces. The group has been urging this transition for six years now and ...
The increase in demand for cage-free eggs is set to continue according to animal rights organisation SAFE, who says the egg industry should expect this and prepare. ...
Wellington, New Zealand – 350 Pacific made a formal submission to the New Zealand Government’s Environment Parliamentary Select Committee on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, led by the Pacific Climate Warriors (PCWs) based in ...
There used to be a school of thought on the centre right side of politics that the best way to neuter the Greens as a political force would be to let them have a spell in government. Then, according to ...
Today (18 July) is Nelson Mandela International Day when the United Nations highlights the importance of humane conditions of imprisonment. In New Zealand our prisons are overcrowded and understaffed. At 214 prisoners per 100,000 people, we have the fifth ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa will take legal action over the lengthy delay in implementing pay increases for teachers. Novopay announced yesterday that teachers would have to wait until 11 September to see pay increases that they won when they settled ...
EDS has filed its submission on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill. The Bill sets targets for greenhouse gas reductions, provides for the government to set a series of carbon budgets, and sets up a new, independent, Climate ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has identified an absurd case of mission creep at Wellington City Council: the decision to spend $21,750 on two Consumer NZ investigations into different brands of bike lights. ...
The Motor Trade Association is welcoming the release of the Government’s new draft road safety strategy. MTA Chief Executive Craig Pomare says the association is pleased to see vehicle safety has been made a priority in the Road to Zero ...
The Department of Conservation continue to repeat the same old story about attacks on staff and how it is affecting their role in protecting our precious wildlife. NZ herald https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12249704 ...
The government's silence on the fact that the country's second-largest milk processor is on the brink of becoming 25% Chinese Government owned has been deafening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Martin Parkinson, secretary of the Prime Minister’s department, has cleared Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop of breaching the government’s code of ministerial standards with their ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentForeign affairs – Australia Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Ardern in ...
Sam Brooks reviews the second season of Big Little Lies, which generated as much social media conversation as its first season did critical acclaim, for better and worse.Light spoilers for the second season of Big Little Lies.Big Little Lies felt like the ...
ANALYSIS:By David Robie Indonesia recently hosted a bold public relations window-dressing expo in Auckland presenting itself as a “Pacific” nation while attempting to provide an unconvincing impression of normality in the two Melanesian provinces known collectively as West ...
Taxing vacant land would be too complex to implement and achieve little - it would be better for the Government to push local councils to implement rates based on land value rather than capital value. ...
The Māori Affairs Select Committee has recommended that anyone wanting to use the word 'Parihaka' for commercial purposes must get permission from the Parihaka Papakainga Trust. ...
European politics is a strange business. Where voters can choose candidates, who disappear after the elections. Where right-wing governments nominate left-sounding candidates. ...
Ruby Porter’s debut novel, Attraction, is a lucid, layered story of three young women on a road trip across the North Island. It’s one of the best books we’ve read this year. Here, Ruby writes about her grandmother – who ...
ByRNZ Pacific West Papuan fighters have killed an Indonesian soldier in a renewed threat to Jakarta’s road project there. State news agency Antara reported the hit-and-run attack on Saturday took place in Nduga regency, where pro-independence forces are ...
In 2003 the Silver Ferns won the Netball World Cup, breaking the Australian Diamonds’ 16-year winning streak. In 2019, they’ve just done the same thing. Leana de Bruin was a rookie in that 2003 team, and talked to The Spinoff ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Associate Professor, Criminology and Justice Studies, RMIT University A Perth man who pleaded guilty to distributing an intimate image of his ex-girlfriend without her consent has been sentenced to a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Piero Moraro, Lecturer in Criminal Justice, Charles Sturt University The Morrison government has introduced new legislation responding to recent protests by animal rights activists in Australia. The bill –named The Criminal Code ...
One of the many unspoken rules of British life is that when one is drinking at the pub with others, one buys rounds. For the naive New Zealander, it’s stressful AF, says Elle Hunt.At the pub one Friday night in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David King, Senior Lecturer, The University of Queensland Dry, moist, productive, hacking, chesty, whooping, barking, throaty. These are just some of the terms people use to describe their cough. While we’re deep ...
What if you could grow a house from seed or 3D print a new subdivision in a week? The housing sector is ripe for disruption – could technology be the magic bullet we need?Jo Aitken sounds like she’s pitching an ...
The architect of the incredible turnaround the Silver Ferns have enjoyed is now off-contract. So now that the World Cup has been won, how can Netball NZ keep Noeline Taurua on the books? Radio NZ’s Ravinder Hunia recounts the journey ...
By RNZ Pacific Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape wants Australia to close the detention centre it has been running on PNG’s Manus island for six years. According to Australian media, Marape has asked Canberra to give him ...
More must be done to tackle critical skill shortages in project management and leadership, the head of the Registered Master Builders Association says. ...
Fifteen tracks, 22 guests, one album. The Spinoff Music listens to Ed Sheeran’s No. 6 Collaborations Project and considers why each track really shouldn’t work – and the sometimes surprising reasons why they do.1. Beautiful People – KhalidKhalid and Ed ...
Emily Writes on her journey from reasonable trepidation to sweet love for the video game Minecraft.It was barely a week after I said to my sister “I don’t let the boys play any games” that my children’s Minecraft obsession began. ...
New Zealanders with life-shortening congenital conditions will have early access to their KiwiSavers after a man with Down Syndrome convinced the government to change the rules. ...
Sephora store employees may have swept some confetti down Auckland city’s drains on Saturday, and people got angry… at an entire generation. On Saturday, French cosmetics giant Sephora opened its first New Zealand store on Auckland’s Queen Street. Excited makeup enthusiasts ...
More than 20,000 Aucklanders don’t have access to regular showers or the ability to wash their clothing. Alice Webb-Liddall tags along on a shift with Orange Sky, who are giving homeless people back these basic needs.On an overcast Friday morning ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Senior Fellow, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University If the first week of the 46th Parliament was heavily ceremonial – dominated by the new governor-general, a raft of first-time MPs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University In a world run ragged by multiple crises and an unravelling of American global leadership, military confrontation in the Gulf poses risks ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Craig Dalton, Conjoint Senior Lecturer School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle Over recent months, the news has been saturated with headlines claiming we’re experiencing a “killer flu season”. Researchers ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Richard Braczkowski, PhD Candidate – Wildlife Cameraman, The University of Queensland Last week saw the release of the rebooted The Lion King, an attempt to capitalise on the billion-dollar success of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Fenner, Associate Professor at UNSW Art & Design, UNSW Over the past few weeks, artists from around Australia have been creating small artworks depicting the endangered black-throated finch and sending them ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Craig Campbell, Associate Professor, University of Sydney New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian made a “captain’s call” in recent months that raised the ire of many parents, teachers and education groups. She ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Beer, Dean, Research and Innovation, University of South Australia Australia’s biggest city is abuzz with news of yet another housing development declared unsafe for human habitation. This time it is apartments ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Many claim leadership positions around farming emissions, concerns rise about deported gang members in small towns, and superyacht predictions panned.Now apologies if you feel like this is repetition – we did ...
Against all odds, the Silver Ferns have won netball's World Cup for the first time in 16 years. And fittingly, one of the legends of the game sealed their incredible victory. ...
What are you getting out of your daily commute? University of Auckland Associate Professor Kim Dirks considers the health implications for getting from A to B. ...
If Beijing’s actions have any bearing on what will happen when the agreement of ‘one country, two systems’ expires, the Hong Kong people are unlikely to succumb quietly. ...
Six things councils can do right now to make the ’emergency’ worth more than the paper it’s written on.Councils are declaring climate emergencies across the country, but with only a decade to cut carbon emissions in half, it’s time for ...
Newsroom literary editor Steve Braunias passes his verdict on the annual list of the 100 favourite books of New Zealanders who filled out a Whitcoulls form. ...
Orchestral music performance is an art form, but how do you engage with something you’ve never experienced before? Samiyah Alghamdi and Anna Knox attend NYO Celebrates in Wellington and unpack what they hear.The National Youth Orchestra and the National Youth ...
Open mike 27/09/2014 
Open mike is your post.
In the wake of the March 15 mass-murder, the government moved swiftly to ban semi-automatic firearms, weapons for which there is really no case for being allowed to own in New Zealand. and now, it has announced phase two of ...10 hours ago
I have been unimpressed with Western corporate media coverage of the tensions involving Iran in the Straits of Hormuz. They repeat the line that Iran is the source of current tensions, that it is a major sponsor of terrorism, that ...2 days ago
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Much like Tuvalu, the manmade climate change Cult love to tell people the Maldives is almost totally underwater. In fact the dishonest Maldives Govt d on the same bandwagon, believing they would receive billions of dollars aid from other Countries ...2 days ago
As the entry on Wikipedia shows (and no, one doesn’t necessarily have to regard Wikipedia as the be-all and end-all of truth, because it isn’t on a great many things, to agree with the following): “…a fallacious argument that concludes ...2 days ago
by Daphna Whitmore The story of how the world awoke to a big injustice is starting to be told. The Pacific Games held this month in Samoa is another chapter. On the podium was Laurel Hubbard, the giant transgender weightlifter, ...3 days ago
Our conversations and push against specific supremacist and ultra-Nationalist groups, and the pseudo-intellectual underpinnings of them, need to mature at all levels. But in doing so, it’s going to have to include a more thorough and brutally honest self-examination ...3 days ago
Something I missed: not only did Youth MPs declare a climate emergency; they also launched a campaign to lower the voting age to 16:Youth Parliament week in Parliament has seen the establishment of Make it 16, a campaign to ...4 days ago
The proposed Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill treats biogenic methane emissions differently from all other carbon emissions. The latter are to be measured net so that emissions from fossil fuels can be offset by carbon stored in trees. ...5 days ago
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh This article aims to answer a simple question, whether the conflict is only a rural one or whether it is also urban. The verb ‘to be’ is conjugated in the present tense as ,despite what some ...5 days ago
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On Sunday July 7, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter announced their intention to review the Ministry of Health’s Funded Family Care policy and repeal Part 4Aof the 2000 NZ Public Health and Disability Act. These are festering injustices ...7 days ago
Belle is a lovely fifteen year-old border collie who belongs to our friends and neighbours at Bryan’s Beach, Michael and Judy Corboy. Belle, in her old age, can hardly see or hear, but – as a constant participant at social ...7 days ago
An occasional series where I will ponder allegations of anti-Semitism directed at the British Labour Party and its members.In this case, we are thinking about an allegedly anti-Semitic image shared by a Labour Party member. Its origins appear to be ...2 weeks ago
2 weeks ago
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The first full week of the firearms buy-back and amnesty has produced a strong turnout as events roll out nationwide for the first time. “Momentum is slowly starting to build as community collection events are held across the entire country, ...18 hours ago
Media statement on behalf of Sir Edward Taihākurei Durie and Donna Marie Tai Tokerau Hall: Māori Television has admitted publishing false allegations about former High Court justice, Sir Edward Taihākurei Durie, and his wife, Donna Hall, and it has ...7 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Martin Parkinson, secretary of the Prime Minister’s department, has cleared Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop of breaching the government’s code of ministerial standards with their ...1 hour ago
Sam Brooks reviews the second season of Big Little Lies, which generated as much social media conversation as its first season did critical acclaim, for better and worse.Light spoilers for the second season of Big Little Lies.Big Little Lies felt like the ...6 hours ago
Cross-party consensus on gun law reform was a one-time wonder. ...7 hours ago
ANALYSIS: By David Robie Indonesia recently hosted a bold public relations window-dressing expo in Auckland presenting itself as a “Pacific” nation while attempting to provide an unconvincing impression of normality in the two Melanesian provinces known collectively as West ...7 hours ago
Taxing vacant land would be too complex to implement and achieve little - it would be better for the Government to push local councils to implement rates based on land value rather than capital value. ...7 hours ago
The Māori Affairs Select Committee has recommended that anyone wanting to use the word 'Parihaka' for commercial purposes must get permission from the Parihaka Papakainga Trust. ...8 hours ago
European politics is a strange business. Where voters can choose candidates, who disappear after the elections. Where right-wing governments nominate left-sounding candidates. ...9 hours ago
A decade on from his darkest hour, can the NZ First leader again defy the odds and keep his political career alive? ...9 hours ago
Ruby Porter’s debut novel, Attraction, is a lucid, layered story of three young women on a road trip across the North Island. It’s one of the best books we’ve read this year. Here, Ruby writes about her grandmother – who ...9 hours ago
By RNZ Pacific West Papuan fighters have killed an Indonesian soldier in a renewed threat to Jakarta’s road project there. State news agency Antara reported the hit-and-run attack on Saturday took place in Nduga regency, where pro-independence forces are ...10 hours ago
In 2003 the Silver Ferns won the Netball World Cup, breaking the Australian Diamonds’ 16-year winning streak. In 2019, they’ve just done the same thing. Leana de Bruin was a rookie in that 2003 team, and talked to The Spinoff ...10 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Associate Professor, Criminology and Justice Studies, RMIT University A Perth man who pleaded guilty to distributing an intimate image of his ex-girlfriend without her consent has been sentenced to a ...10 hours ago
The second tranche of proposed far-reaching changes includes a gun register, tighter licensing rules, and five-year licences. ...11 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Piero Moraro, Lecturer in Criminal Justice, Charles Sturt University The Morrison government has introduced new legislation responding to recent protests by animal rights activists in Australia. The bill –named The Criminal Code ...11 hours ago
One of the many unspoken rules of British life is that when one is drinking at the pub with others, one buys rounds. For the naive New Zealander, it’s stressful AF, says Elle Hunt.At the pub one Friday night in ...11 hours ago
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there are two pieces of (involuntary) comedic-writing in the herald today..
..one is from the editorial writer roughan..
..where he has decided to ignore keys’ admonition not to gloat..
..to throw that caution to the wind..
..and he almost orgasms all over the page..in his gloating delight..
..the prose gets quite purple..
..and funny story..in doing so he reveals so much for one who hides behind the anonymity of the editorial-writer..
..and of course he also reveals so much of the ethos/imperatives of that rag he writes for..
..and roughan sees no dirty politics..
..(and we can presume no need for the cavalcade of inquiries underway as a result of that book..inquiries that urgent the chief ombudsman called the allegations..if proven..an attack on our democracy..
..but yeah..nah..eh..?…roughan sees none of that..to his eyes it is all so clean..
..it sparkles…)
..roughan also sees no problems with mass-surveillance..
..the list goes on and on..
..and his far-right beliefs..and the prescriptions of that rag he editorialises in..
..are laid bare..
..but the laugh-out-loud/guffaw of the morning is in the latest pile of steaming horse-shit from john armstrong..
..it comes at the end..
..when after this long list of moans about labour/cunnliffe..
..like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a top-hat..
..he presents his solution to labours’ woes..
..and..steel yrslves…!
..it’s shearer…!
(i know..!..i know..!..bloody hilarious..!..eh..?..)
I’d say Stuart Nash with the aim being for 2020, but I’d have a care taker leader for the next 6 months or so.
Nash is fresh and isn’t tainted like the rest of Labours politicians so he’d probably get a much better reception by the public.
Seems to get on really well with all sorts of people which is a real plus and he has a positive vibe to him.
Voters tend to like those sort of qualities.
hilarious..rightwinger bm comes out for/indicts..
..the rightwing outlier..nash..
(he who rode into parliament on the shoulders of far-right nutjob garth mcvicar..)
..i am sure the ever oleaginous nash will warm to yr words/endorsement..
..for others..it just confirms what they already know of him..
What, that he’s the best choice?
Even Martyn Bradbury agrees.
@ bm..
..really..?
..do u have a link for that..?
..and anyway..bradbury wants labour to move to the centre/right..
..his logic is that will leave room for more left parties to flourish..
..and there is a certain logic to that..
..but it would render labor down to a slightly larger nz first..
..the other imperative of course is that minor parties on the left can bang on about ending poverty..
..but if labour aen’t on board..
..it ain’t going anywhere..
..this forms the basis of my thinking..
..that labour can both end poverty..and look after the middle class..
..and getting back to yr point..
..nash is not the one to do that..
..and anyway..he will lose napier next election..
..he got no more votes than he did in ’11..
..and garth mcvicar carved-off 4,500+ from the tory side of the ledger..
..that won’t happen in 2017..
..nash will be riding his fire engine right outta town..
There you go.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/09/25/why-cunliffe-should-probably-just-let-nash-robertson-win/
not so much an endorsement from bradbury then..?
..more a surrender-letter..
..and definitely nuanced in yr claimed ‘endorsement’ of nash by him..eh..?
“..Stuart Nash has all the ambition of a piranha in a feeding frenzy..”
so..bm..you’re bullshitting yet again..eh..?
..is it a day ending in a ‘y’..?
@BM. The only thing missing from Bradbury’s article was the /sarc at the end. Now did you actually read it? Or like most Trolls did you just skim the title?
Why is it that the right wingers continuously tell the left who our leaders should be. We do not do the same to them. It is a waste of precious broadband having to download their idiot comments.
They really, really want Cunliffe gone and either mumbleface back or Robertson who does not command wide support. Why? They don’t care about Labour so it has to be something else.
Gee the other day, I asked who, in Labour, was actually better that Cunnliffe.
Perhaps I should apologise for wasting precious broadband with my idiot comments?? 🙂
yep i nearly lost my breakfast when he started talking about “honest journalism”.
Pleeeeese.
I see Roughan is letting his erection do the writing again today. Were those “Democracy Under Attack” headlines all those years ago actually a declaration of their intent to manufacture opinion?
The herald needs taking out of circulation. Are they stalking David Cunliffe.? How much did Jason Eden get paid to disappear? Do all dear leaders famous sportspeople who tweeted on election day to vote natz get fined?
I hope Cunliffe gets to stay. If he can weather all the crap thrown at him over the last few months and not descend to gutter politics to try and counter key then he has shown great fortitude. He’s not perfect, but who is. Some of Labour’s policies were good and the country has lost out.
John key gloated some time ago that he only been pm for so many years and had already’ seen off’ Goff and Shearer.
Cunliffe going will only add to this perception that he is all powerful. It would be keys worst nightmare for Cunliffe to get back in with full support of EVERYONE!
Cunliffe has shown he has amazing internal fortitude – he’s made of pretty sterling stuff – He MUST STAY!!
Yep, Cunliffe should stay, otherwise the whole circus starts again. Nash is a bit player in the Dirty Politics book, god knows what kinda dirt Slater has on him. Opinion.
+ 100
Just confirms it – John Armstrong has advanced dementia! Cos Shearer was so sparkling and effective the last time right? Shearer is the most dire leader that Labour ever had, no wonder Armstrong wants him back!
Watched Prime Time with Sean Plunket last night. Was very interesting with 3 Labour supporters/experts and Sean looking at a positive future for Labour.
Unable to link to any replay but hope someone else can. It was good.
i watched that..i thought how it was quite amusing how plunkett tried to trot out the handbag of cliches he and the corporate-media have been riffing on..
..and each of them was logically unpacked/dismantled by one of those three guests..(one of whom was rob salmond..)
..i got the feeling it didn’t go at all how plunkett wanted it to..
..and the takeaway fact for me came from the labour historian..
..who noted the labour pm’s who had faced defeat on their first attempt..
..and really..cunnliffe must hang tough..
..and not allow himself to be the whipping boy for all that was/is wrong with labour..
..in their campaign-strategy/f.p.p-thinking/policy-under-delivering..
..’cos the fact still remains..
..cunnliffe is labours’ best hope of/for victory in 2017…
..robertson is just another running-dog for the right..
..one who national/the media want..
..the right are scared of cunnliffe/a re-born labour…
..so you hang tough there..!..mr cunnliffe..
..this too will all pass…
..and then you can get on with doing what you do best..
..dismembering the bullshit of/from national in parliament..
..hanging key up on a hook..
..a task robertson has proven himself hopeless at..
+1000
I don’t like Plunket politics normally but am glad I watched the sanity of the experts. And yes Sean looked a bit miffed that the guests politely rubbished Sean’s negative talking points. It was interesting that he did not bring in Mr Hooten or his ilk in the false name of balance. No shouting down of common sense.
Thanks for the outline. I can never bring myself to watch Plunket. I understood Prime TV doesn’t do any ondemand of their shows.
They are owned by Sky, and hence you have to pay for their drivel if you want it on demand.
If true, this is terrible news, and an undermining of the democratic will of the membership by a right wing cabal prepared to risk the destruction of the Labour Party for personal advancement.
I knew that the ABC dominated caucus would make it impossible for David Cunliffe to lead them. And that they would do there very best to over undermine the democratic decision of the Labour membership.
And the fact that this scum has leaked the possibility of his resignation today, to the media shows that they want to cement it in, ‘He who can shape the argument, wins the argument’.
Faced with this total right wing revolt
What should David Cunliffe do?
Respect the democratic decision of the membership?
Give in? Overturning the democratic decision of the membership?
Or stick it out?
The caucus have made the situation impossible.
If David Cunliffe wants to continue, he has to abandon his revolting caucus and seek support somewhere else.
No one can continue when they are completely isolated, effectively without support, so David Cunliffe needs to seek it outside of his caucus. He has a few options.
Tracey Watkins lays out what she thinks they should be.
David Parker is the black prince behind all the anti Cunliffe feeling in the Labour caucus, in my opinion there is no way that this right wing back stabber should be allowed anywhere near the leadership, even on an interim basis.
UPDATE
Tracy Watkins is at it again:
Is Watkins a Labour caucus member?
Is she a fly on the wall?
Who is it, who keeps leaking the ABC narrative to her?
Cunliffe needs to take a hard line with his mutinous caucus.
If I was in Cunliffe’s shoes I would walk into that meeting and say, “I have decided to form a shadow cabinet with the Greens. Are you in, or out?”
If Robertson-Ardern is the ticket, then it may be prudent for political expediency for Robertson to quickly propose to Ardern with a ring, have an urgent drive-by hetero sexual wedding and come out singing Kumbaya for popular votes. Otherwise, it could be an arduous uphill task going simply by my instincts.
But on the contrary, being gay could actually be an advantage in the modern world. Not sure, though.
Personally, I have no problem. I am just thinking practically of the ‘real’ world.
Being progressive makes NZ feel good about ourselves I think. His being gay probably has as many pluses as minuses and is not the reason for him not being the one right now (the reason for me is that I am not over Cunliffe). It would be like saying the Democrats shouldn’t have gone with Obama as he wouldn’t appeal to racists.
Excellent and diplomatic responses from Marama Davidson on the Paul Henry show last night (sans Paul Henry) about Labour leadership – she said it was up to Labour and she hoped they would be a strong opposition like the Greens – or something like that.
The Paul Henry show journalist (Penfold) was pretty pathetic, making it all about what the LP caucus want, and ignoring the NZLP members’ freferences. She also was superficial in saying election results showed the electorate had rejected Cunliffe.
Early morning clarity bought a revelation of sorts to me. I finally realised why people don’t vote,.
By last night I had come to terms with the fact that if Robertson prevails that I could not vote for him or Labour and that’s after 45 years and thousands of dollars in donations.
I will not vote at all.
I could not live with myself for voting Nat, the Greens are one-dimensional and while I admire Winston’s longevity he does attract serious space-cadets.
I have been proud that Labour has been on the right side of all the big issues in my lifetime, United Nations, workers rights, Vietnam, nuclear testing, apartheid,gay rights etc etc.
I have bought my children up with the belief that it is a duty to support those less fortunate than ourselves and fortunately they have adopted those principles.
But if Grant Robertson thinks he is the answer after being comprehensivly beaten 14 months ago then I will walk away.
He did not get a majority in caucus, that is a myth, he got 16 votes out of 32 on the first ballot, I don’t know what he got on the second but it would not have been resounding.
I have heard that he is rude and dismissive towards those he does not agree with.
Winning bloody expensive elections unfortunately requires corporate donations, Robertson and Barnett as openly gay men will not get a cracker.
Jacinta Ardern as his proposed deputy will be subject to even more disgusting vitriol than Helen Clark had to put up with over her childlessness, ( mid-thirties, no kids, no husband or partner ) the arseholes are waiting in ambush.
A Labour Party with a gay Leader, gay smeared deputy, gay fundraiser and organiser, the Gay Party
Electoral fucking suicide.
Hullo sub 10%, if lucky.
I agree.
Which leaves Shearer or Nash.
BM are you dense or can you not read? For the umpteenth time Nash ONLY got in because McVicar split the right vote. And as for Shearer yeah right, been there, and tried him.
Now I wrote this really slow, so you shouldn’t have trouble understanding it this time around.
I can understand your anger.
Apparently Ardern told the Paul Henry show that she is not interested in being leader – not now nor at any time in the future.
Sexuality has got nothing to do with who is best leader.
The Greens are multi-dimensional – they campaign on 3 planks, covering a range of issue: economy, fair society (issues of income, fairness at work); environment. it includes a focus on local issues re governance, transport, etc, plus international issues, GCSB, TPPA, asset sales, etc, etc. If they increase the number of MPs, it will strengthen the range of the areas they work on.
They can’t get much more than 10%.
I put that down to their fundamentalist fervor and the lack of ability to compromise or negotiate.
The greens, my way or the highway approach to politics rather dooms them to political oblivion.
I put that down to their fundamentalist fervor and the lack of ability to compromise or negotiate.
Myths.
Exhibits A, B and C – MoUs, and the fact that National rejected any further MoUs last time round.
It was the Greens that asked to work with Labour.
Hi Karol, sorry but for many sexuality and politics do matter. And if you want the majority concentrating on politics its best to not have any focus on sexuality. Agree?
Adrian, agreed with reservations about your gay comments.
I think the final caucus vote after Jones dropped out was something like 18-16* Robertson/Cunliffe but the incredibly biased msm NEVER report this because it doesn’t suit their agenda.
*somebody out there will remember the actual numbers.
Another recruit. Welcome aboard.
Dear David Cunliffe
Many of the points above cover the points I wish to raise.
I differ from Adrian in one major respect, until last week I have not voted labour since 1984.
I voted in the hope that we would get a progressive Left coalition whose compromise of common Policy would urgently address the failings of 30 years of regressive thinking.
The massively funded Dirty tricks machine came after you continuously since the leadership contest.
The lack of support and sharing of load by your caucus has been criminal, but not unexpected as the desire by the membership to be rid of the centrist career caucus is pervading.
The increased intensity of media attacks post-election by the dirty tricks machine is your greatest compliment and the abiding reason why you should retain the leadership.
Why?
Its patently obvious that its you& your supporters the Right fears the most .
Those of us blessed with an IQ that exceeds room temperature can see clearly the shower of S***t that 19th century economic theory and 20th century “Growth” mindset is doing globally and the client state ,’yes its all for sale’ mentality of Brandkey is accelerating the demise of our society.
To you and the doubters , reflect on the fact that you & you alone in the Party are capable of managing an electoral triumph in 2017 .
Reflect also ,if that if every member of the caucus found themselves in that most hypothetical situation – out of a job and seeking new employment , you & you alone would be recruited instantly by any number of Business or NGO organisations , locally or internationally , whilst the rest would languish amongst the formerly employed for considerable time.
One more thing , Andrew Little , pick up the phone and call the EPMU and use your formidable skills to garner the support that Cunliffe needs.
Your leadership ambitions need a term or two in Government before the electorate & the media will consider you without a similar derision to the Gays & non-breeders.
No they’re not but I’m sure that National are happy that you think that they are as it’s the fallacious message that they’ve been spreading about the Greens over the last few years.
No it doesn’t as I’ve shown on here before.
Great shot illustrating Open Mike today. Good old Red Dwarf
Kryton: Mr Seymour, Sir, you’re a Smeeeeee.
Seymour: I’m a “Smeeeeee” ?
Kryton: Mr Seymour, you’re a Smeeeeee(g) heeeeee(ad)
Lols. I had a smile when I saw David “rimmer” Seymour on the cover of Open Mike today. David Seymour shall be known as Rimmer from now on.
Smeg head. Word of the day.
( boldsirbrian ….previously known as brian …. conflicting with other “Brian”s )
@ Rosie (5.1.1)
First an acknowledgement. I consistently refer to the Prime Minister as Dirty John. I will continue to do so until an inquiry (with terms of reference accepted by the Opposition) into Dirty Politics is completed, and in the event that he is exonerated. (btw, Where IS Jason Ede?)
However, I would prefer that Seymour be left alone from name calling. He is sincere, and believes in the policies he promotes. He has done nothing wrong. He has got his position as a gift from Dirty John.
I cannot recall any policy he has promoted that I agree with. The only positive I can say about the ACt party is that it is a couple of millimetres up from the bottom rung of a long ladder, where the Conservatives reside.
But Seymour is not the enemy. If he went, there would be others like Jamie Whyte who would fill the vacuum with equal nonsense. The policies that Seymour promotes are what should be targeted.
same Rosie, like twins, AND have you heard the way he speaks.
Dwayne Dibley ……..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6vU_Urxgbg
And Mr Rimmer as a Green Party activist…..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WgUktfdDy4&list=PL84D1DB7FE317550A
David Cunliffe needs to take his inspiration for his way forward from what he would have needed to have done if Labour had won the election and form a shadow cabinet with the Greens. Caucusing with the Greens would be the best way for David Cunliffe to counter and sideline the ABC creeps and also be very good practice for the future Left wing Labour/Green Government.
Never fear, The Herald panders to the Key groupies, it’s a third at best, rate newspaper, I certainly read it for sheer entertainment concerning their political posts. What a Joke, they are the main NZ paper? it is remarkable and boy do they talk shit. Really, what a joke of a newspaper, I’d rather read the UK Sun.
Reading Armstrong is like reading the writings of an insane man going through a bad patch. In touch with reality, one wonders, I watched him skulking around the Hagar book launch, looking like Gollum seeking his precious. Pathetic fellow, and O’Sullivan thinks she’s NZ press royalty, views clearly pro hard right philosophy.
Honestly all we read in the Herald is attacks on all other parties except Act and Nats. I mean they give Rodney Hyde and Bob jones opinion pieces to spout whatever they want. It’s a joke.
The rich have to much of a disproportionate representation for policy direction and access to government. they control the media, therefore controlling the population. Democracy? FJK, I think not.
But Richard, Armstrong suggested Shearer as leader. What could possibly go wrong? (sarc)
“There are some really, really vile people out there.”—Mary Beard
Most of them work for the Murdoch empire
Radio New Zealand National, Saturday 27 September 2014
In a mostly excellent interview with Cambridge Univ. Professor of Classics Mary Beard, Kim Hill let herself down when she carelessly stated that the online trolls who abused Mary Beard’s physical appearance were “much viler” than the likes of A.A. Gill, who instigated the abuse. Normally, Gill reserves his venom for hapless but anonymous waiters and chefs; his attitude to powerful and intelligent people is normally one of groveling and toadying. Something about Mary Beard led him to go to his (rather limited and uninteresting) grab-bag of misogynistic smears. Ostensibly, it was her long grey hair and imperfect teeth that enraged him, but I suspect the real seat of his hatred was her principled opposition to the war-mongering U.K. government, which she expressed forcefully in the London Review of Books in October 2001. [1]
I sent Kim the following email, which I am pleased to say she read out on air straight after the interview….
“There are some really, really vile people out there.”—Mary Beard
Dear Kim,
You said that the trolls who swore at Mary Beard online were “much viler” than A.A. Gill, who had used his Sunday Times platform to mock her hair, teeth and general appearance. In fact, it is people like Gill, that buffoonish, ignorant, malicious restaurant critic-cum-political commentator, carefully constructing their insults from positions of power and privilege, protected by the media organizations that employ them, who set the tone of these campaigns of abuse.
As Mary Beard pointed out in her interview, “There are some really, really vile people out there.” And the fact is: we know who they are.
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
[1] http://www.lrb.co.uk/v23/n19/nine-eleven-writers/11-september
Yep. Heard that. Agreed.
For instance we know who Armstrong & O’Sullivan are.
Vile ones in leading the Slater-like trashing of good people.
Good job too Morrissey.
So three more years, it’s sinking in now, such a long time, he’s already has 6 years of promises, and excuses and lies all the way, what happened to his dream of a brighter future, easy to say, hard as hell to achieve eh Key.
This years low Fonterra pay out, which NZ seems to run on, small businesses will suffer, a lot of cash flow lost. Man we are in for rough times. Rough I say, batten down the hatches, Car and farm equipment dealerships will become rare as rocking horse shit. it’s all going to get very dire for rural NZ farming towns soon.
The backlash will start eventually, I have faith Key will get rid of himself as his failed ideology will see NZ slide ever further downhill on most measurements of government performance. Expect more outrageous crimes, 25% off benefits they promised.
National caring for their wallets business as usual.
Yep Richard, one of the few consolations of the result is that Key has inherited a self-inflicted poisoned chalice.
Karol, of course sexuality has nothing to do with leadership ability but it has everything to do with perception, and politics is all perception.
The perception that the leader favours their own particular private politics mostly, be they a gay, a woman,an Aucklander, a South Islander, a righty, a lefty, a unionist.
The problem is when the perception is that they have surrounded themselves with others of similiar persuasion.
Then you have CAPTURE.
And voters do not like that, particularly if it does not reflect their own circumstances.
It makes them uncomfortable and they won’t vote for you.
Hi can anyone supply me with the link to the Keep David Cunliffe page on face book?
I don’t go on face book as such, but do have a profile, so maybe I should just log on myself. If anyone can help me let me know.
If people on this site want to keep Cunliffe, best thing is to join Labour its not that expensive and vote (hopefully we will get the chance) and sign the facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/cunliffeforleader
Here is the link.
I finally became a financial member of Labour after waiting many months to see if they would become unified enough to be strong in the election. Eventually, I thought they had done this to a reasonable degree and joined. Now I want my money back if Cunliffe is rolled.
I like Shearer where he is. He is good at what he knows. Grant Robertson would be open to every muck raking, lying innuendos that key and his rabble could find. They would end up making him into the George Michael of NZ. Nothing would be too low for them to stoop to.
Leave Cunliffe in charge.
If the Labour Caucus dumps Cunliffe I’ll be switching to the Greens next election, because you can guarantee if Cunliffe is rolled Labour will swing back to the right to chase the “centre”. Instead of building more robust policy and going back to Clark’s strategy of targeting the party vote and start campaigning earlier in the three year cycle.
I guess the leadership wouldn’t be too unhappy with that if they are able to hoover up some votes from Winston and National. But how a chap who’s whole life has been in parliamentary and political circles and comes third in the party vote in his electorate is going to be able to present as a better option than Winston Peters or Key to the right of the party will be interesting, considering that has been all we’ve heard from Cunliffe opponents.
He’s never been a minister of anything, though I suppose he can say that if he’s doesn’t become leader he might never be the minister of anything…
Still it will be a completely fresh party. It will make 4 leaders in four years and begin to put Labour in some dangerous territory. If things start to go wrong? Changing the leader again would just continue the revolving door…I guess if Grant has got it he’s got at least until the next election. However, he should be spending a long time in South and West Auckland if he has, and in the Maori seats. Otherwise it comes across as this (Wellington) city liberal with a leadership team whose constituencies heavily supports the Greens, and who has avoided a vote from the party after being rejected by them the first time. Not having that support in my book, is just as bad or actually much worse than not having the support of Mallard, Shearer, Goff and Cosgrove, say.
Also, and I hate to say it- it is all about the fundraising. Seemed like they did start earlier, but couldn’t keep up the spend. Business is good for businesses, so there isn’t a lot of cash for Labour. Did think the two advertising campaigns presented a stark contrast as well. I liked Vote Positive and the posters that went up with policy, but the TV presentations seemed a bit weak and not flashy enough.
You seem to think that Robertson is bad.
I also see that the newspapers seem to be pushing Arden for deputy. She would seem to be even worse. At least Robertson managed to win in the electorate.
Can anyone tell me why Arden seems to attract supporters? What has she ever done, inside or outside Parliament?
Where did I say he was bad? Fresh start was the word I used.
However he needs to connect with the base that voted for Labour at this election and make sure they are happy. Is it any better a leader with an unhappy base than one with an unhappy caucus? Obvious statement I would have thought.
To also restate, this doesn’t seem like a move to the right like all the knowledgable pundits have been saying.
Then they must get Phil Geoff as a leader? He would fit that bill.
“If the Labour Caucus dumps Cunliffe I’ll be switching to the Greens next election,”
Same here. May not be the Greens but it certainly won’t be Labour. They can go and get fucked.
I think Cunliffe should stay firm and continue as leader or go for a fresh mandate from the membership. Those MPs who are not happy, are free to resign and be independent or start a new party.
After that, Labour should review their policies. Discard some, fine tune others and bring out new ones.
In my opinion, Labour needs to move to the centre in economic matters, but left in social justice matters and pragmatic in environmental policies.
Capital Gains Tax and Retirement Age Change : Rethinking, debate and public input (through online submissions or indicative referendum) is very necessary for these two policies before the public can feel comfortable to accept the required changes, if any.
A lot of comments seem to pander to week knee syndrome. It seems to be rather so that Mr Cunliffe must have hit a raw nerve with the opposition, why else do they have to go after him all guns blazing even if it costs a nat ministers job before the election? The fact that the rank and file labor caucus reacts as they are just shows learned behaviors. Think about it. Something must have scared the pants off the opposition who in turn paid in kind and the ABC’s where just falling for it. Perhaps the logic of sustainability was just too much as it would allow the country to remain in charge of its own destiny?
An official look at the Fed and Goldmans. One statement – For 100 years there has never been transparency.
http://www.propublica.org/article/carmen-segarras-secret-recordings-from-inside-new-york-fed
Where Key got ethicstraining?
Carmen Segarra was sacked because they had, quote –
“lost confidence in [her] ability to not substitute [her] own judgment for everyone else’s.”
Fuckers.
Also, the transcript of the tapes:
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/sites/default/files/TAL536_transcript.pdf
This too:
I don’t want to spoil the revelations of “This American Life”: It’s far better to hear the actual sounds on the radio, as so much of the meaning of the piece is in the tones of the voices — and, especially, in the breathtaking wussiness of the people at the Fed charged with regulating Goldman Sachs. But once you have listened to it — as when you were faced with the newly unignorable truth of what actually happened to that NFL running back’s fiancee in that elevator — consider the following:
1. You sort of knew that the regulators were more or less controlled by the banks. Now you know.
2. The only reason you know is that one woman, Carmen Segarra, has been brave enough to fight the system. She has paid a great price to inform us all of the obvious. She has lost her job, undermined her career, and will no doubt also endure a lifetime of lawsuits and slander.
So what are you going to do about it? At this moment the Fed is probably telling itself that, like the financial crisis, this, too, will blow over. It shouldn’t.
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-09-26/the-secret-goldman-sachs-tapes
Fascinating.
Advice to Carmen. I want to help you with your career, I want you to be successful.
It’s really about how you are perceived. You have more sharper elbows, you are breaking eggs. Have a sense of humility. If I was a new person I would say Carmen you are very arrogant. You use ‘definitely’ too often. A lot of it is consensus building, ‘hey what do you think.’
I’m not questioning your knowledge-base.
But she needed to be more relational, quickly, in order to be (Carmen) ‘Not fired.’
Conflicts of interest were common and not handled properly.
Carmen complains about push-back. Peers – She asked direct questions, that needed to be asked, that weren’t wrong to ask. She is told that notes she took at meetings were wrong. That things written down were not said, or were not meant as definite statements. She is forced to put a small recording device on her wrist to ensure that her notes are correct.
The other business-line employees are in group-think it seems. They feel uncomfortable to state what they think before they know what their senior management think, not to be too different from their peers.
Carmen thought – The Fed had the authority to be a good regulator but was afraid to use its own power.
Many of the Fed regulators who leave go to work for the banks they are overseeing.
Carmen was fired. She has taken legal recourse and been turned down. One report on her firing says that it was because of her own faults not because of her unpopular findings by the Fed conciliators.
There is resistance.
Given that parliament seems to be on a path to deliver a bigger surveillance state and less means for whistleblowers to expose its abuses or for journalists to scrutinise it, a bit of push back from the community might have been expected. This is, after all, a pretty important principle: public interest disclosure and press freedom.
Yet nobody, apart from the industry, the Greens and a couple of crossbench parliamentarians stood up for press freedom. The freedom warriors of the Coalition, and the accountability merchants of the ALP, waved the restrictions through without a backward glance. The community as a whole declined to be outraged.
[…]
But what I am saying is: wake the hell up. I have never been more resolved, in 18 years of practising journalism, of the absolute importance of our function in a democracy. I have never been more sure that the opportunity cost associated with doing this job is, actually, worth it.
I believe we matter. I know I’m not alone in that belief. Yet we act as though we don’t matter, and facts don’t matter, and truth doesn’t matter. Call this Dispatch this particular weekend a love letter to my profession, and an outpouring of grief at its failings.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/26/the-acid-test-australian-journalists-must-ask-what-agenda-they-serve
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/22/australias-counter-terror-laws-will-restrict-our-free-speech-and-free-press